Bucha, Ukraine - 27 Feb 2022 - 15mm
Ultra-Modern Fighter Combat: Live Community Wargame (PLAAF vs. USAF/USN)
The year is 2028. After nearly a decade of continual escalations of tensions in the Straits of Formosa, the unthinkable has finally happened. The People’s Republic of China has committed to a conventional-forces invasion of Taiwan, and as the United States and her allies respond, full scale war erupts throughout the battlefields, skies, and seas across the western Pacific.
Join Bernhard and I as we imagine the opening air clashes of such a war, wargaming a scenario “AirWar C21” by Wessex Games. We’ll be looking at some of the most advanced fifth-generation, stealth-capable fighters that could participate in such a conflict, like the Chengdu J-20 “Mighty Dragon of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force and the Lockheed Martin F-35 “Lightning II” of the United States.
Sunday, August 15 – 2PM East US Time, 7PM UK Time
An expanded and more detailed overview of our hypothetical war, showing the situation on Day 5 of the imagined invasion. We certainly hope this kind of war never actually takes place, but (God forbid) if it did, these really are some of the units that would almost certainly be involved. Note the initial airborne drops (blue) have mostly failed, per design. These were diversions to spring Allied reponses prematurely, the real assaults were Army and Navy/Marine landings in red. Supporting landings are shown in yellow. Again, even most of THESE have failed, but two lodgements have been secured by invading PLA/PLAN forces.
The four types of aircraft that will feature in today's game. There are widely-varying levels of capability here, and each of these types have their own strengths and weaknesses. Well, except those poor J-11s... they're based on a 30-year old former Soviet design, but trust me ... given the updated missiles they carry, they still pack a deadly little punch.
Here's the map for today's game. It's an 8-foot by 5-foot table, with each grid measuring about 1 nautical mile.
The combatants for today's game. The Chinese certainly have an edge in numbers, but those J-11s are not fifth-generation stealth-capable craft like the J-20s, the F-22s, or the F-35s.
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