Cherarusian Narco Wars: the Basics

Chernarusian Narco Wars project is a private wargaming project intending to use the Arma 2 platform to develop scenarios and campaigns.

I currently use Arma: CO as the plaform, but adding others addons as well.

The basic story is this, as can be seen in my other page on the subject:

In 2011 a new Chernarusian permanent government was elected. The Cherarusian parliament is divided between the majority Conservative party and the Liberal party. Because of the civil war, in 2010 Chedaki political activists insisted and won a total of 10 at large seats out of 100. The 2011 elections gave conservatives 53 seats with Liberals gaining 37 seats. The Liberals also elected a charismatic leader named Jesus H. Cripez, who vowed to heal the wounds of the civil war and political divisions within the country.

In the 2011 elections liberals gains amounted to a total of 45 seats to conservatives 45. That suddenly made the Chedaki group very powerful and important to the Liberals and to Cripez's legislative agenda. One of the top legislative agendas for the Chedaki was autonomy for northern provinces, which they claimed would allow them to recover from the ravages of the civil war.

To that end Cripez proposed to allow some degree of autonomy to the northern provinces by allowing Chedaki dominated areas to collect and used their own revenues to rebuild their areas, to allow them to take over local radio and television stations in the north and to maintain their own security force. The proposal enraged conservatives who claimed that autonomy was the last thing Chernarus needed as it emerged from its civil war.

The result was another low level civil war which drove out many ethnic Chernarusians as well as some Russians from the area and plunged the area into a deep economic depression. The resulting chaos helped the Chedaki with recruitment to their security forces, but it also started some Chedakis to begin illicit drug production as well as distribution both to areas in the south and to Russia. Because of autonomy agreements the Chernarusian government was unable to intervene into the rapid growth of the illegal drug industry.

Conservatives complained daily to Cripez about drug problem developing in the north for weeks until the government finally relented to bring the military to bear onto the problem.

The Chernarusian Navy commandeered and set up a naval aviation squadron at the airstrip in Balota last January and began aerial and surface patrols on the eastern coast. The patrols went unarmed at first with only instructions to observe and report. On February 15th, one two plane patrol was fired on by four Chedaki coastal naval patrol boats just off the coast near Rify. One of the SU-25s sustained light damage, but the Chernarusian navy began to fly armed patrols this time with orders to fire only when fired on. A week later another patrol was fired on and one SU-25 was shot down, the pilot drowned.

 Thus began the Chernarusian Narco War Project, as the Chernarusian Naval Forces (CNF) took over most operations on the coasts and in the northern zones.  The Chernarusian Defense forces also deployed a large army contingent near Zhelenogorsk, and is conducting counternarcotics raids in the north.  You can find the Order of Battle here.

You can also find the CNF deployment Order of Battle here.

One of the bases of the project is the notion of limited warfare, where military forces have a quasi civilian function against guerrilla forces, and are constrained from using their full might.

For example, no artillery units or armor units are available to CDF or CNF forces in Chernarus, except under narrow circumstances.  A regiment of 21 BRDM armor cars are available as armored fire support, and to provide units for road patrols.  If the Chedakis or the NAPAs managed to get armor vehicles, the light infantry must deal with those units with available forces, subject to approval from the admiral.  I have a few scenarios whereby NAPA forces have used tanks and armored infantry to try to attack from the south, in which SU-25s had been authorized to deploy against those forces.

Another example is in air support.  Chernarusian forces are not allowed to use air power, except for transport purposes, or with approval from the theater commander.  When combat aircraft are used they are normally CNF aircraft loaded out with naval weapons such as torpedoes and deployed on naval missions including maritime patrols.  Those aircrcaft can be loaded out with the usual stores such as bombs if the mission calls for it.

What the net effect is expected to be and has been so far is a series of more challenging scenarios and campaigns which do test the player's mettle in Arma 2.