BOTA 23 – Odin’s Reckoning

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Author: IlDuce-17

Last revision: 24 Apr at 23:20 UTC

File size: 11.02 MB

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PART 23 – ODIN’S RECKONING

August 1985, the Soviet position in northern Europe is under pressure on every axis. In the Baltic, a covert CIA operation is unfolding in extreme secrecy as American officers and submariners attempt to extract a high-ranking Soviet defector from under the gaze of Soviet naval and security forces. At the same hour, far to the west, the broader campaign prepares for the end game. While that silent struggle plays out in the east, the main weight of NATO air and sea power is turning against occupied Norway. The two operations could hardly be more different in scale and method, yet both serve the same purpose, to fracture Soviet control and hasten the collapse of Ogarkov’s war.

That wider collapse has been made possible by the steady tightening of NATO’s maritime cordon. Task Forces LION and THUNDER hold the GIUK Gap and deny the Soviet Navy any meaningful route into the Atlantic. North of the gap, DRAKEN and VALKYRIE have sealed the Norwegian Sea, forcing Soviet naval forces back into the shelter of occupied ports and fjords. To the south and east, LEGATUS and CENTURION dominate the Kattegat, the Skagerrak, and the Øresund, closing the Baltic exits and cutting the sea approaches to southern Norway. What was once a forward bastion has become an isolated pocket. Southern Norway is still heavily defended, but it is now completely cut off from reinforcement or resupply by sea.

Since Operation Concordia a month earlier, NATO has exploited that isolation with mounting intensity. Carrier aircraft from Task Force IRONCLAD and land-based NATO air units operating from Britain have struck ports, supply depots, coastal installations, and transport infrastructure across occupied Norway. Chernavin’s fleet, broken by losses in the Atlantic and Norwegian Sea, no longer contests Allied naval control in strength. The Soviet Navy remains a threat beneath the surface, but as an organized instrument of sea denial it has largely failed. Ogarkov has been forced back onto the one arm of service still capable of contesting NATO’s advance in southern Norway, the Soviet Air Forces.

Marshal of Aviation Aleksandr Yefimov continues the Soviet’ ruthlessness. New Su-27 and MiG-29 fighters continue to be rushed directly from production into operational service and deployed forward into Norway to stiffen the air defence network over the south. Following the destruction of Stavanger Air Base in Operation Odin’s Spear, Bergen has assumed critical importance. It is now the principal Soviet air bastion in southern Norway, the base from which fighters, reconnaissance aircraft, maritime patrol platforms, and strike aircraft continue to operate against NATO’s growing concentration of force. So long as Bergen remains functional, any Allied amphibious landing in the region will face an organised and dangerous Soviet response from the air.

For NATO planners, Bergen is more than a target. It is the gateway to the liberation of southern Norway. British SAS and SBS reconnaissance teams, inserted covertly along the coast, have spent days building the target picture for the coming assault. Their reporting has confirmed that Bergen is shielded by a layered defensive system designed to keep NATO aircraft at distance and NATO shipping out of the fjords. At Telavåg, nineteen nautical miles southwest of the city, a major SA-5 Gammon battery dominates the southern approaches with long range coverage over the sea lanes from which any strike will come. Closer to the coast, Rubesh and Redut anti-ship missile batteries protect the fjord entrances and are in turn covered by SA-10 and SA-11 surface-to-air missile sites. Taken together, these systems form a dense defensive belt that must be broken before the amphibious phase can begin.

MISSION:
Operation Odin’s Reckoning is the methodical destruction of that belt. Task Force IRONCLAD, centred on USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, will lead a complex, layered air offensive involving carrier aviation, USAF strike and fighter units, and RAF support aircraft operating from northern Britain. The opening phase will be fought for control of the air and of the electromagnetic spectrum. Eisenhower’s F-14s, joined by USAF F-15s and F-16s and RAF Phantoms, will establish combat air patrols across the battlespace to break up Soviet fighter reactions and protect the strike corridor. At the same time, EA-6B Prowlers from the carrier and USAF EF-111 Ravens from Lakenheath will begin shaping the battle electronically, attempting to blind, confuse, and suppress the radar network around Bergen.

The first physical blow will come from over the horizon. USS Atlanta, USS Bremerton, and USS Arkansas are assigned Tomahawk strikes against the SA-5 site at Telavåg, timed to pass through the jamming corridors at precisely the right moment. Once the outer shield is breached, carrier-based A-6 and A-7 SEAD packages, supported by RAF Buccaneers, will attack the surviving radar and missile systems along the coast. RAF Tornados and USAF F-111Fs will then press home precision strikes against SAM batteries and anti-ship missile launchers guarding the fjords. Should any hardened targets survive, the newly introduced B-1B will be committed to deliver heavier bombardment. Only when Soviet air defences have been reduced and the local air picture brought under control will the final blow fall, with B-52Gs from Fairford striking Bergen Air Base and the infrastructure that sustains Soviet air operations there.

As dawn approaches on 31 August 1985, the contrast across the theatre is stark. In the Baltic, a handful of men risk everything in a covert extraction that may influence the political end of the war. In the Norwegian Sea, NATO prepares to unleash overwhelming force to shape its military endgame. Both actions are part of the same pressure campaign against an enemy that is being squeezed from every direction. If Odin’s Reckoning succeeds, Bergen’s defensive ring will be broken, Soviet air power in southern Norway will be crippled, and the road to amphibious liberation will open. If it fails, NATO will still land, but it will do so against a defended coast, under hostile air attack, and at far greater cost. The sea has already been closed to the Soviets. Now NATO means to close the sky.

***FULL CAMPAIGN MOD COLLECTION: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3718111590

***MOD NOTES:
I. "RAF TORNADO’S" – Mod Dependencies:
1. DO NOT enable "New Threat Upgrade" mod. This is deprecated and is not required for this mission. Note: SEAD loadout will not work, but GP bombs and GBUs still function.
2. DO NOT enable the "Eurofighter Typhoon" mod – it is not required for this mission.
3. DO enable the "Italian Navy Mod" as that provides the base Tornado model.

II. F-16 Pink Drop Tank Issue – to fix the pink drop tank:
1. Go to the drive where your Steam library is stored and find the usaf_tank_370_f-16.ini file that should be in the ammunition folder of the mod. This is the path: SteamLibrarysteamappsworkshopcontent12862203416372890ammunition

2. Scroll nearly to the bottom and find the following lines:
ResourcesMaterialFolder=aircraft/iriaf_f-5e/
ResourcesMaterial=iriaf_f-5e_mat

3. Change them to:
ResourcesMaterialFolder=aircraft/usaf_f-5e/
ResourcesMaterial=usaf_f-5e_mat

III. "B-1B" / "B-1B 1990s" MODS LOAD ORDER:
1. Enable both mods – the 1990s mod adds the 1980s/90s loadout.
2. In the Mods Load Order: put "B-1B 1990s" ABOVE the main "B-1B" mod.

This will direct the file to the correct references that are part of the base game and unpack when you start Sea Power.