Players: 2 – 10
Turn Limit: 7
Maps: Luzon and Malacca Strait
Level of Difficulty: High
Scenario Developer: Ian Brown (ian.t.brown03@gmail.com)
General Situation:
It has been three weeks since the eruption of the Taal Volcano shattered the existing order in the South China Sea. Efforts by the United States and China have reduced the immediate threat posed by pirate groups and the New People’s Army to the humanitarian crisis caused by Taal’s eruption. Yet the situation across the SCS remains uncertain. Nations whose coastal regions were devastated by tsunamis are focusing their limited resources on rescue and reconstruction. The shipping routes vital to keeping the region’s economies afloat are vulnerable. And competing factions are still vying to claim the mantle of legitimacy in what remains of the Philippines.
Yesterday, the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party upended the tenuous balance in the region by announcing that China would “assume direct and exclusive responsibility for uplifting its neighbors from Taal’s calamity.” Details on what this would entail quickly followed: PLA forces on Indonesia’s Batam Island archipelago would remain in place to “guard” the straits of Malacca. The government of Singapore must allow PLA “advisors” onto their territory for additional strait security. Chinese units on Luzon would protect their supported faction as the legitimate government of the Philippines. And the Americans, wherever they were across the SCS, were to leave within 24 hours—following that, the PRC would treat them as a hostile occupying force.
The governments of Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the American-backed faction in the Philippines immediately protested, only to find that sizable parts of their citizenry viewed Chinese counter-piracy and disaster relief efforts favorably and took to the streets to voice their opinions—in some cases, with violence. Still reeling from rebuilding their own countries, these governments have no resources to support military campaigns of their own, and so have asked Washington to defend their own sovereignty against Beijing’s aggression. But they have begged Washington to act quickly; if armed confrontation turns into a prolonged campaign, Chinese influence across their populations might force them to accept Beijing’s fait accompli.
Both the United States and the People’s Republic of China know that they have a small window to permanently alter the balance of power in the SCS. For Beijing, this a chance to cement their claims of primacy in the region against the one power able to oppose them. For Washington, this is the final and best opportunity to end years of China’s bullying, encroachment, and naked aggression. The local influence and goodwill each belligerent gained from their counter-piracy and disaster reliefs efforts could spell the difference between victory and defeat…
Order of Battle:
USMC/USN:
Deployed to the Malacca Strait map:
Task Force Houston
Task Force Miami
Task Force Chicago
Deployed to the Luzon map:
Task Force New York
Task Force San Francisco
In the Planning Stage, players must resolve the “Influence Impacts” calculations from the "Taal’s Fury” Planning section first before undertaking task force deployments, JCC selection, etc.
Units that were deployed to the Malacca Strait and Luzon maps must remain on that map, with the exception of unit losses (should be permanently removed from the campaign), and/or any units redeployed across maps using local influence point expenditures during the Planning Stage.
The USMC players may reassign units across task forces on the same map.
During the Planning Stage, units that were “in reserve” (not deployed to either map in Scenarios 1 and 2) may be assigned to any task force on either map.
Task Forces Houston, Miami, and Chicago deploy as follows on the Malacca Strait map:
Ground forces must initially deploy to hexes O16, P16, P17, or Q16. They may move to any other land hexes on the map during game turns.
Naval forces must deploy to the USN naval deployment zone (see Malacca Strait deployment map).
Task Forces New York and San Francisco deploy as follows on the Luzon map:
Ground forces deploy anywhere north of the -24 line of hexes (see Luzon deployment map).
Naval forces may deploy on any naval hex.
Command Points/JCCs: the USMC team has 40 Command Points to acquire JCCs during the Planning Stage of this scenario.
They may acquire additional Command Points during the Planning Stage using the “Influence Impacts” mechanics.
At the start of turns 3, 5, and 7, they gain 12 additional Command Points to acquire JCCs prior to the Action Stage of those turns.
The USMC team may select the “Assault Support” and/or “Host Nation Coast Guard” JCCs for this scenario if desired
See “special rules and considerations” for further JCC deployment constraints.
PLANMC:
Deployed to the Malacca Strait map:
Task Force Guangzhou
Task Force Tianjin
Task Force Nanjing
Deployed to the Luzon map:
Task Force Beijing
Task Force Shanghai
In the Planning Stage, players must resolve the “Influence Impacts” calculations from the "Taal’s Fury” Planning section first before undertaking task force deployments, JCC selection, etc.
Units that were deployed to the Malacca Strait and Luzon maps must remain on that map, with the exception of unit losses (should be permanently removed from the campaign), and/or any units redeployed across maps using local influence point expenditures during the Planning Stage.
The USMC players may reassign units across task forces on the same map.
During the Planning Stage, units that were “in reserve” (not deployed to either map in Scenarios 1 and 2) may be assigned to any task force on either map.
Task Forces Guangzhou, Tianjin, and Nanjing deploy as follows on the Malacca Strait map:
Ground forces must initially deploy to hexes Q17, Q18, R17, R18, or R19. They may move to any other land hexes on the map during game turns.
Naval forces must deploy to the PLAN naval deployment zone (see Malacca Strait deployment map).
Task Forces Beijing and Shanghai deploy as follows on the Luzon map:
Ground forces deploy anywhere south of the -24 line of hexes (see Luzon deployment map).
Naval forces may deploy on any naval hex.
Command Points/JCCs: the PLANMC team has 50 Command Points to acquire JCCs during the Planning Stage of this scenario.
They may acquire additional Command Points during the Planning Stage using the “Influence Impacts” mechanics.
At the start of turns 3, 5, and 7, they gain 15 additional Command Points to acquire JCCs prior to the Action Stage of those turns.
The PLANMC team may select the “Assault Support” JCC for this scenario if desired.
See “special rules and considerations” for further JCC deployment constraints.
Objectives:
USMC/USN:
Destroy all PLANMC units on both maps. This constitutes an instant victory.
Achieve an advantage in Victory Points (VPs) by the end of turn 7:
4 VP each for control of Singapore’s hexes on the Malacca Strait map (hexes O16, P16, P17, and Q16). Control requires a USMC/USN conventional or Proxy Force unit present, and no PLANMC units present, in the hex (SOF markers may not control hexes).
3 VP for each point on the Influence Meter.
2 VP each for control of an airfield or port on the Luzon map.
PLANMC:
Destroy all USMC/USN units on both maps. This constitutes an instant victory.
Achieve an advantage in Victory Points (VPs) by the end of turn 7:
4 VP each for control of Singapore’s hexes on the Malacca Strait map (hexes O16, P16, P17, and Q16). Control requires a PLANMC conventional or Proxy Force unit present, and no USMC/USN units present, in the hex (SOF markers may not control hexes).
3 VP for each point on the Influence Meter.
2 VP each for control of an airfield or port on the Luzon map
Special Rules and Considerations:
Turn and Impulse Sequence: while this scenario is distributed across two maps, actions are still considered to occur in the near-simultaneous turn/impulse sequence of Littoral Commander. Thus, teams can activate their task forces in whichever order they desire, regardless of which map a task force is deployed on.
For example, the USMC team could activate Task Force Houston (deployed to the Malacca Strait map) on their first impulse, and activate Task Force New York (deployed to the Luzon map) on their second impulse.
The “Action Point Pool” Event Card is in effect for the duration of the scenario.
With 5 task forces, this means that the “Action Point Pool” Event Card gives each team 17 Action Points each turn. These Action Points may be allocated across task forces as the teams see fit, and may be reallocated in different ratios across task forces at the start of each new turn.
The “Volcanic Eruption” and “Mission Kills” Event Cards are in effect on both maps for the duration of the scenario.
The “Civilian Shipping” Event Card is in effect on the Malacca Strait map only.
The Influence Meter is in play for this scenario; it begins set at 0 on both maps.
All Influence event triggers are in play for this scenario (see Littoral Commander rule 12.2).
Both teams should think hard about how often they fire LRS into an urban hex (containing city, town, port, or airfield). Per Littoral Commander rule 12.25, this is a big Influence penalty that will directly affect your ability to achieve your victory conditions the more you do it.
Initiative: the team with the highest cumulative positive Influence score from both maps following the Planning Stage has initiative. In case of a tie, the PLANMC teams have initiative and go first.
Rules of Engagement: both teams may engage in combat whenever they deem it appropriate.
The Tactical Network starting JCCs for each side begin the scenario with 2 cubes on their respective cards. This represents the degraded communications conditions caused by physical destruction from the volcano’s eruption and atmospheric interference from airborne debris.
JCC Constraints: due to the distributed nature of this campaign, certain JCC types have deployment/employment constraints:
Attached JCCs remain attached to their host units, on their host unit’s map, for the duration of the scenario.
Persistent JCCs—with the exception of any “Satellite” JCC—are deployed to a single map only. Their effects only impact the map to which they are deployed.
Persistent JCC Redeployment: prior to the Action Stages of turns 3, 5, and 7, when both teams receive new Command Point allotments to acquire new JCCs, they may opt to use Command Points to redeploy a persistent JCC from one map to the other. The redeployment cost is ½ of the JCC’s original Command Point deployment cost (round down; minimum of 1).
“Satellite” JCCs: any JCC with “satellite” in its title may use its effects on either map.
Any other JCCs not subject to the constraints above may be used on either map.
Cross-map Fires: units with infinite-range LRS capabilities may fire on targets on either map; however, if the target is not on the map of the firing unit, the firing unit’s LRS combat value is -4.