Welcome to Dr.Zli's contest

As you all probably guessed from the teasers posted in this thread, this contest has something to do with the cold war and naval forces.
In this contest we will pit 10 fierce warriors against one another in a deadly game that may very well end with a global thermonuclear war ;)
Of course, I can't put you in charge of strategic nuclear forces but hardware you will command in this contest may well provoke the other side to use more drastic measures ;)

Let us start with the description:

1. The contestants

10 players in 2 teams consisting of 5 members will compete against each other in a scenario that will involve a fictional confrontation of NATO and USSR naval groups in the North Sea theater.
Teams will be made of 4 captains and 1 intelligence officer/"handler"
4 captains will be represented by ships deployed in the north sea area and the intelligence officers will receive orders from naval commanders, implement those orders by ordering to the 4 captains in the field and be responsible for intelligence gathering/evaluation and low scale strategic decisions.
I will be a gamemaster in this game and coordinate the moves and orders, doing all the rolls and calculations and producing maps and other media to further present all the info to the teams.

2. The Simulation

It's not expected from you to know everything and keep track of everything, main focus of this contest is creativity and teamplay. Teams need to cooperate and fulfill mission parameters and one piece of software that I'll use to simulate the outcome of their decisions is this

Harpoon is a very old game that has every right to appear on this site and one game I spent countless hours playing, replaying and enjoying. I hope you will through this contest all experience the level of suspense and great gameplay this game offers :)

I will also keep track of your inventories along with the game and have the last word in any calculation to keep things fair and balanced.

The game has settings for realistic weather effects and although it lacks several of the sonar quirks that are used by modern naval forces I'll try to emulate those things in my sitreps intelligence officers or captains in the field will receive.

3. Execution

players will be in teams which will be asked to establish communication between themselves before we begin. Team intelligence officers will be in direct contact with me and I'll provide them with:

- mission parameters
- aerial/satellite photos of theater
- theater intelligence
- dynamic updates of data about forces involved
- roleplayed communication from other field commanders/superiors

It will be their job to utilise that data and formulate orders for captains in the field.
Captains in the field are responsible for implementation of orders they receive but must remain vigilant for bulletins only they may receive and situations only they might resolve because there won't be time to consult higher authority

All team members can of course contact me for clarification or explanation of everything they don't understand or wish to clarify during the game.

Game turns will be simultaneous and every team must keep their orders secret. Final orders must be delivered to me so I can implement them in simulation and see their outcome.
Turn duration will be 1 hour until forces get close enough that long and short range artillery can be used.
4. Outcome

After each turn, teams will receive updates to the sitrep and decide what to do next. The audience at forums will receive written accounts of action from the perspective of team members. Information given should not be very specific about your position, intentions and damage received but try to be informative enough so that forum members may enjoy the show.
I will post all the data that may be interesting to people watching the show in the forms of short stories, data from the frontlines and other random data you may find interesting.
If nobody is able or willing to write stories I will do that for teams that are unwilling but bear in mind that creative and well written accounts of your exploits and mishaps may bring you bonus points in the final score

5. Strategic decisions and random events

Since intelligence officers will be in charge of the mission, they will receive a set number of points to spend on strategic assets before the mission starts. These assets may include AI units that may be available to assist the main battlegroup, ASW aircraft/ships, strategic bombers, Bonus satellite sweeps of targeted area and much more. Also, points may be used to boost the score at the end of the game which may give you a win if the results are tied

Random events can and will happen during the mission and will include random breaks of equipment, changes in primary or secondary mission targets, introduction of tertiary targets and many more devious things. Both teams can and will be screwed with this :>

Weather will be realistic and may help you or hinder you in your missions

6. Missions

At the begining of the game, both teams will receive their starting orders and primary and if applicable secondary missions. The game ends when the primary objectives of some team are fulfilled or when one team is destroyed.
If a player's ship is sunk, the player is considered saved and may be granted command of any remaining AI ships if applicable. If not, he is considered to be with the survivors on one of the remaining ships and still participates in the decision making process and can help with advice. Also, players in that state may be given command of secondary forces (eg. ASW helicopters) so that they may be helpful in some other way.
If a ship is destroyed so completely and unexpectedly that there would be no way of anyone survivng the disaster, player is considered KIA and can't give any orders but can still participate in informal group chats and help with advice.

Each kill, mission target or great decision you make will be tallied by me and added to your ending score. Nobody will be informed about their score until the end of the game to keep things interesting ;)

Orders, actions and things you do that are so awesome might and will give you bonus points in the final score but try not to overdo it since you might endanger the mission you're on.
Actions above and beyond the call of duty might earn you medals which can and will bring you great rewards at the end.

7. Rewards

BASIC things the winning team will get:

1 GoG worth 9.99$ to team commander
1 GoG worth 9.99$ to most valuable member (voted by team members)
4 GoGs worth 5.99$ to the rest of the team members (each member gets one GoG)
Loads of fun everyone gets from participating in this contest :P

Additional gogs may be won by gaining medals which can be obtained by daring acts of bravado and actions that result in major losses inflicted to the other team.
Registrations are still open, as soon as we get 10 people I will contact you via PM with further details

first participants that have entered are:

NATO

1. Rodzaju
2. Fujek
3. doccarnby
4. nmillar
5. Vitek

USSR

1. stoicsentry
2. WhiteElk
3. Al1
4. Damnation
5. empty

BACKGROUND
*taken from HARPOON's battleset description

The Norwegian sea is the rectangular area enclosed by Iceland, Norway, Greenland, and the north polar icecap. It is essentially a closed body of water. It can be entered from the north by going under the ice cap or around North Cape, and from the south through the straits between Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom. This latter entrance is often called the "GIUK gap".

All of these entrances can be mined, patrolled, and otherwise monitored by today's sophisticated electronic sensors.

If the Soviet Union and NATO ever go to war, the Norwegian Sea will be one of the most fought over bodies of water in history. The geography of the Atlantic and each side's strategic goals in wartime make this almost inevitable.

NATO has based its strategy on a defensive war, slowing down and attriting (using slow unit-by-unit destruction) the Soviets until they are convinced that the terrible risk they took was in vain, and they cannot fulfill their war aims. The only problem with it is that the massive Soviet Army can probably win unless massive reinforcements from the US get across to Europe quickly. Ninety-five percent of these American and Canadian troops, weapons, and supplies would have to come by sea. There are not enough aircraft in the world to move it all by air.

It takes a fast ship four or five days to cross the Atlantic, a slow ship twice that long. The war material must be unloaded at a busy port and then moved on an overloaded and probably besieged transportation system to the front. Starting the stream of reinforcements early and smoothly is one of NATO's top priorities. In concert with this effort to move supplies, NATO naval forces would be attempting to attack Soviet forces as they advanced along the Norwegian coast (the "Northern Flank"), pinning down Soviet Naval forces and perhaps even putting them on the defensive. This might draw valuable Soviet assets away from the central front.

Finally, NATO submarines would attack "The Bastion". This is a semi-enclosed area of water, such as the Kara Sea, or under the ice, where the Northern Fleet's ballistic missile submarines would hide, escorted and shielded by nuclear attack subs, Soviet ASW aircraft, and hunter-killer groups of Soviet ASW surface ships. [These same NATO subs could also conduct Tomahawk strikes on Soviet bases on the Kola Peninsula.] Soviet strategy is not the mirror image of NATO's. The Soviet Navy's most important mission is to support and protect the ballistic missile subs, in their Bastions, keeping them secure until they are needed, or for use as a bargaining chip for post-war negotiations.

Their second priority is to defend the homeland from strikes by NATO. To do this they will try to detect NATO units as they enter the Norwegian Sea, classify them (so that they can determine the probable threat they pose), and attack them with submarines and aircraft.

Next, they will support the Army's efforts in Norway, trying to gain sea control along the coast and providing air cover and "sealift" or cargo support. The Soviet Navy could easily support a series of small "coast-hopping" assaults, each one outflanking the defenders.

Finally, they will send submarines and long-range aircraft into the Atlantic to attack the supply convoys that NATO will send across. Although the convoys have a high priority for NATO, it is much lower for the Soviets since only a few submarines sent into the Atlantic will force NATO to commit strong forces to escorting convoys. Consider the fact that fourteen German U-Boats were able to sink 450 Allied ships between January and July of 1942!

This may change, though. Soviet and NATO doctrines are both moving away from a nuclear (short) war to a conventional (long) war strategy. The longer the war, the greater the importance of sea lines of communication become.

Both side's missions will draw them into the Norwegian Sea. It is the buffer between two enemy fleets, the highway to enemy waters, and a goal in itself.

Edt: Sorry, I'll wait.

welcome aboard, you can learn as you go, no prior knowledge is necessary

Oh, thanks. I can't wait.

we need 4 more participants, but if nobody enlists we'll start tommorow :D More games for the people who enlisted :D

Are you going to apply more AI to even out teams if there's an uneven number of human participants?

sure, I've already calculated best ratio of forces and AI groups present and if we have fewer human players some people will get 2 ships to command plus AI units would be around to assist.
If you get to the point you need my number i'd pm it to you :P Welcome to NATO :)

woop woop i dont know what youre doing but its a competition.

EDIT: sorry cant play have to study :(

ok ;) Finish up that school so you can have fun like us, the old farts ;)

will do XD

I'd like to join :D

Edit: Also, I hate commies! :p

We're sad to hear that comrade, Major Nikolaev would like to talk with you about your political views when you get back from your assignment :)

Well damn him then! But well, shooting capitalist ships is not too bad either :p