Caucasus aflame.

[McMonkey]

I have just spent a few hours sorting out my hard drive, organizing scenario folders etc...

While I was doing this I started compiling some of the units I downloaded from the graphics threads and thought of Caucasus Aflame. This collection is a bit of a mess right now. It will take ages to sort all of the units into categories for the scenario league, but I thought they may come in handy for this project!

I think you may have modified a few of them yourself!

How it this project progressing?

[McMonkey]

Woopsie! I uploaded a JPEG by mistake!

[tanelorn]

Not at all a the moment. It is a thing at work, as usual. Come October, I'll have something, depends on where I 'll be posted.

[fairline]

The Shilka is in the modern units thread Tim, along with some other bits and bobs that may be useful

[tanelorn]

Thanks. A lot. Getting down to it asap.
The Chinese J-7's and Type-55 derivatives you included are a nice option for those not in Moscow's favor.
Bits and bobs rule.

[Heresson]

Cool. Looking forward to playing it.

[tanelorn]

I'll do my best.

Aha!
Confirmation of my previous claim about Armenian forces in
Nagorno-Karabach, from the Austrian army site:

Oppositionskräfte:
Bewaffnete Armenische Gruppe
(20 000 - 25 000)
inklusive 8 000 Mann aus den armenischen Streitkräften (in Nagorno-Karabach)

316 MBT (T-72, T-55)
324 ACV (BTR-70/-80, BMP-1/-2)
322 Artillereigeschütze (D-44, D-30, D-20, 2A36)
44 Mehrfachraketenwerfer (BM-21, KS-19)

Not exactly what I call detailed... I suppose that the T72's include 20 tanks missing from Armenian lists and dozens ex-Azeri trophies, less than 100 total.
I mean, this makes statements like "the road to Baku is open" relevant, official lists of regular forces show another picture entirely.

[Heresson]

I don't see Southern Ossetia represented on the map?
A shame the map doesn't reach a bit futhern south, so that the city of Van could be included. I'd like to capture it, playing as Armenia

Are You going to represent Kurds in some way?

[tanelorn]

I am working on it. Ts'hkinvali stands for S.Ossetia, it is NW of Gori. I am still working on the map. Van is a nice objective for Armenia, what an oversight! I thought it was more to the south of the lake...
My research has shown that significant assets of the Turkish 3rd army are stationed in Mamak, closer to Ankara. Some delayed delivery event fixes that without having to enlarge the map.
The thing is that the (major) Eskisehir, Diyarbakir, and Rostov airbases are off-theatre to all directions...
Maps for secondary airfields are hard to spot.
Kurds will be spawned and active as barbs from the start and as event created units for the secessionist civ after some research (to allow for cross-faction rivalry and dubious allegiance).

[Heresson]

I really like the idea of this scenario. Of all the current conflicts etc, Caucasus ones interest me the most... I am partly Armenian, so...

[Heresson]

You should make events assuring that if someone captures Baku, he, not Azeris, will receive oil revenues. It can easily be done.

[EZRhino]

I'm really excited to see more of this Just the discussion in this thread is adding to my interest of this conflict.

[Heresson]

it's also a shame there's no Iran. It is vitally concerned in Azerbaijan

[GhostOfDisco]

Well, there's always the Barbarian slot...

[tanelorn]

Actually, I've considered Iran but I've decided against it.
Iran's geopolitical situation is such that post 2003 intervention is not an option.
Iran's position is complex, because they are ethno-linguistically and historically related to the Christian Armenians but they are (Shia) Muslims, like the Azeris who are (mostly Shia) Turks (or Turkified Iranians -baffling?).
My estimate is that the Armenian/Azeri conflict generally has progressed along nationalistic, not religious grounds.
The Iranian Caucasian border region is populated by Azeris. There are more Azeris in Iran than in Azerbaijan. Despite (or even because of) this voiced some support for Azerbaijan in the early 90s before some wacko leader raised irredentist claims against them. So, during the most crucial point of the conflict Iran supplied electricity to Armenia instead.
A strong & confident Azerbaijan might look south of its border, see. And they have an open dispute over the oil-rich waters of the Caspian sea.
If Iran supports either party openly, they risk internal problems with their Azeri minority.
If they have one strategic trade & political partner in the region, that's Russia. My bet is they wouldn't risk vexing them. Empowering any Sunni radical groups or Turkey goes against their interest too.

I bet they are all focused on capitalizing on the power vacuum the US withdrawal will leave in Iraq. Any intervention here would be a foolish distraction.

Iranians may be a lot of things (as everyone else is), but they sure ain't stupid.
With the Americans currently on their doorstep, they 'd better be very careful. Ahmadinejad sure talks a lot, but that's mostly talk for internal consumption, I think. What the Iranians actually plan to do is not necessarily relevant to what he says.

Besides, Tabriz, the only Iranian population center of consequence in the region is conveniently off the map.