By David "Hunter" Proeber

  STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS

McArthur's rapid advance to the Yalu made several assumptions that proved to be fatal. First, he disobeyed Truman's orders. Secondly, he failed to assess or obtain adequate intelligence about the nature of threats north of Pyonyang. Third, he failed to provide adequate support for operations that outran their supplies. Those are all errors at the operational level of war.

In his book, "The Air Campaign - Planning for Combat" USAF Col. John A. Warden III, defined four levels of war that can be applied to planning air combat in Chosin: China's revenge. The first level, the grand strategic level, a country decides whether it will participate or wage a war. President George Bush's decision to retake Kuwait is an example where a decision is made at the grand strategic level.

The second level, the strategic level, defines the number of troops and resources a country will commit to a war. In Falcon T.E. engagements, we can control those levels. In Chosin: China's Revenge, China's forces have already been deployed as well as U.S. ground forces. While I'll make some recommendations for U.S. air deployments later, based on Gulf War estimates, those decisions are left to the gamer.

The third level, the operational level, is where commanders attempt to formulate tactical plans that consider the strategic and grand strategic prerequisites set down by their civilian leaders. It is here where McArthur failed as a commander following his brilliant victory at Inchon. You'll be asked to make these same operational decisions before you begin scheduling flights in your ATO.

The fourth level, the tactical level, is where we make specific decisions whether to attack an air base at Antung or rescue a trapped infantry brigade at Chosin Reservoir by flying massive CAP missions against attacking Chinese forces. Those decisions are dictated by strategic supply. If we have enough air power, we can do both. In limited wars we are most likely fighting under budget constraints.

TURN BASED PLAY

While the war waged by the Chinese in Chosin: China's Revenge is continuous, you'll be required to adjust your force levels and deployments as the campaign evolves, in between flights. We know the Chinese are coming from the north, but what's the best way to stop them from winning the war? Flying a few F-16 missions here or there isn't going to cut it. In fact, there are two or three ways for the Chinese to win this thing and they will if you haven't effectively figured out a way to stop them within 16 hours into the campaign.

In order to conserve forces, you should hold back some assets for DCA flights as well as develop an operational plan that stops the Chinese advance. Key to this victory is understanding the way flights are assembled in Falcon.

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The following is my suggested method to play out Chosin: China's revenge.

FORCE LEVELS

First, decide how many air units you will allocate to your campaign. Based on Desert Storm data for a localized war such as Korea (and with some adjustment for compression of our campaign into 24 hours as well as airplane turnaround after a combat flight) you may deploy the following assets:

• 4 squadrons of F-16s every four hours
• 2 squadrons of A-10s every four hours
• 2 squadrons of F-15s every four hours
• 2 squadrons of F-15Es every 12 hours
• 4 squadrons of F/A-18s every four hours
• 6 squadrons of KC-10s every four hours
• 6 squadrons of KC-135s every four hours
• 1 squadron of EF-111s every four hours
• 1 squadron of EA6Bs every four hours
• 2 squadrons of B-52s every 12 hours
• 1 squadron of F-117s every 24 hours
• 2 squadrons of AH-64s every 12 hours

That's a formidable array of aircraft, but you'll need every one of them to turn around 500,000 very determined Chinese against an army on the retreat.

Go to Operational Planning.