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The Second Korean War is the fifth campaign of Wargame: Red Dragon. It was released as part of a free DLC that shared its name.

Background[]

With the Iron Curtain having fallen and much of Eastern Europe having overthrown their communist leaderships, the Soviet Union looks ready to crumble, but a last ditch coup removes Mikhail Gorbachev from power and re-institutes the communist party into the Soviet government. With all the Eastern European allies now gone, communist states in Asia now look to settle some old scores with the West with Soviet support.

Events[]

Timed Events[]

Note: turn numbers are displayed during COMPUTER's phase. In a turn, COMPUTER moves first.

Turn 3[]

Turn 4[]

Turn 5[]

  • Daguet Division is available at either Seoul, Mokpo, Yeosu, Busan or Sonchon.

Turn 6[]

Turn 9[]

  • The Chinese 1st Marine Infantry Regiment spawns in Naval Sector Bravo if Qingdao is not captured by BLUFOR.

Turn 10[]

  • ALAT is available at either Seoul or Sonchon.

Turn 11[]

  • ANZAC Air Force is available at all airfields
  • 501. Tank Battalion of the Daguet Division is available.

Turn 13[]

Turn 14[]

Turn 16[]

  • 44-FS 'Vampires" and 415-FS 'Nightstalkers' of the US Air Force are available

Activated Events[]

  • Capturing any North Korean territory will cause Chinese Battlegroups to start spawning at Shenyang over a few turns.
  • PLAYER reaching Tanchon will cause Soviet units to start spawning at Vladivostok on the next turn.
  • Destroying the Kuznetsov Naval Group will trigger an in-game prompt at End Turn that the Soviet carrier Kuznetsov is sunk by a US submarine.

Currently Uncertain Conditions[]

  • When REDFOR forces starts a partial retreat from South Korea to consolidate defenses in North Korea based on player progress.
  • When the Chinese "Flying Dragon" Special Unit spawns at Shenyang.
  • When China starts the operation to exfiltrate North Korean officials, which starts a turn timer. China sends its 2nd Aviation Regiment to Pyongyang. By the end of the timer, the operation succeeds during COMPUTER's turn and the 2nd Aviation Regiment will move out of Pyongyang to Ongjin in the same turn.
  • When the Soviet "Red Banner" Marine Regiment spawns at Naval Sector Oscar. This should be 2 turns after PLAYER reaches Tanchon. Note that the marine unit spawns regardless of whether PLAYER occupies or has units in Naval Sector Oscar.
  • When the Soviet Marine Air Assault Regiment deploys at Vladivostok

Tips & Tricks[]

General[]

  • Neither of the regions of Shenyang or Vladivostok can be captured. For example, that means marine units from the 3rd Marines Expeditionary Brigade cannot disembark at Vladivostok, even though naval groups can refit off Vladivostok in Naval Sector Oscar.
  • In the beginning of the campaign, the player may choose to retreat towards Busan without putting up a fight and instead elect to preserve forces while waiting for reinforcements. If retreating, remember to reassign air units.
  • Air units are destroyed when their assigned air base is captured by the enemy.
  • *spoiler alert*
    AI will assign their air units from Pyongyang to Daejon if player decides to retreat. Player can thus leave Daejon, wait till COMPUTER assigns their air wings there, and destroy them by helicopters or paratroopers.
  • The best battle tactics are probably similar to real warfare: use mortar and artillery support whenever possible; use infantry not in the outer most buildings but in town centers for ambush whenever possible (same for forests); use air support whenever possible; use helo for wide recon coverage and against tanks. Curiously, the player is never without all of the above in Second Korean War.
  • Helicopter units can move 2 tiles and then attack, *spoiler alert*
    thus allowing them to cut off enemy supply routes by flanking a neighbouring territory. For example, when attacked, moving a helicopter unit to the origin territory of the attacking REDFOR units and then to the attacked territory can cause the attacking REDFOR units to lose its only supply route in the upcoming battle and the helicopter unit is still available for battle. Even a supply or recon unit that cannot initiate battles on its own can capture supply routes. The helicopter unit may even come from the attacked territory. All these may be the more gamy aspect of Red Dragon singleplayer campaigns.
  • Armor units typically cannot move and attack in the same turn. After moving an armor unit into enemy territory, however, it can be attacked by the enemy during COMPUTER's turn. Player thus need to predict ahead of time, the necessary support units upon REDFOR counter attack.
  • Remember to R&R un-used units before End Turn. R&R replenishes Cohesion, which increases Deployment Point income in the next battle. *spoiler alert*
    USS Enterprise, for example, may see a second battle after the first Admiral Kuznetsov Naval Group encounter. R&R USS Enterprise while its naval component stands idle.
  • (As of version 510064564,) *spoiler alert*
    AI does not turn off the weapon on radar guided AA units in anticipation of player SEAD planes. At the same time, AI rarely uses its air superiority fighters unless it is in response to player ground attack aircraft but excluding multi-roles. As a result, the player can win the most of the battles in Second Korean War with the singular strategy of spamming anti-tank missiles from either planes or helos after proper SEAD sweeps.
  • Airborne units initially based in Japan can be reassigned to mainland airbases to extend their range.
  • The US Air Force and Panzerbrigade 14 do not get event cues when they become available, be sure to check for them as you progress through the campaign (although you will be alerted when the F-15 and F-117 squadrons become available).
  • Occupying Pyongyang, Qingdao, and Chongjin will end the campaign immediately after the battle that results in the capture of the last of the three territories. This leads to two things:
    1. Total Victory of the whole campaign does not require occupying the whole of Korea, thus avoiding potentially numerous battles in Sonchon and Jonchon should the PLAYER desires so;
    2. The game will jump out of the current campaign immediately upon victory. If the player wishes to save their campaign in Total Victory state, the player should load the auto-save from winning that last battle immediately, re-save elsewhere and thus preventing the auto-save from being over-written.

Pyongyang related[]

  • Cutting all supply routes of REDFOR-held Pyongyang is not possible unless Souchon has been captured by BLUFOR and is uncontested. *spoiler alert*
    (This is different from other territories where supply route capture does not require occupation of the connecting territory.)

Chongjin related[]

  • Due to the lack of direct naval route to Chongjin, airborne units landing in Chongjin from Naval Sector Oscar will start with sector Delta only and thus without a supply route. This is similar to air insertion in other areas without following a supply route from friendly territory.
  • *spoiler alert*
    The AI will always push all of its Soviet forces out of Chongjin to attack the player, leapfrogging them with a helicopter squadron will allow you to capture Chongjin without immediate battle (and possibly boxing in sizable Soviet contingents in Kilju). Should the player desires, battle with Soviet forces can be avoided by capturing Qingdao and Pyongyang before such a move (could be within the same turn). Capturing all 3 territories uncontested ends the campaign in Total Victory immediately.
  • *spoiler alert*
    Once the Soviet units starts spawning in Chongjin, they will continue spawning for several turns. However there will be a short gap in between that can be used by the player to take Chongjin without battle.

Qingdao related[]

  • The Qingdao Defense Division is a strong naval contingent, especially when reinforced by additional REDFOR naval units. At full strength, and when reinforced, it is not suitable to attack Yellow Sea from Naval Sector Echo, which starts with no additional deployment point income. Instead, attacking from Naval Sector Charlie allows BLUFOR easy access to high income naval tiles at the beginning of the battle. The sector situation can be seen using the Show Map function in the Intel section.
  • *spoiler alert*
    Unless the player also commits the UK 40th Commando Royal Marines, the (naval) invasion on Qingdao starts with no land sector. On paper, AI will assault BLUFOR beachhead non-stop to make it difficult for the player. In reality, AI assault will come piecemeal due to the lack of initial deployment points, making REDFOR units easy slaughter for BLUFOR naval vessels and thus making a Total Victory a foregone conclusion for the player. For that reason, not having an initial land tile makes Total Victory easier. (A Total Victory by BLUFOR routes all REDFOR units in Qingdao, thus allowing its capture within one turn.) However, the player should beware that AI will deploy REDFOR naval units in Alpha in order to attempt an intercept on BLUFOR's landing. It is thus best to bring at least two units from 9e BIMA so that the initial naval engagement starts with overwhelming numerical and quality advantage for the player. REDFOR naval strength at Qingdao (ie. not in Yellow Sea) can be viewed in the naval section of the land units at Qingdao.
  • *spoiler alert*
    AI will never attempt to take back Qingdao after the player captures it.

Trivia[]

  • This is the only campaign in the Wargame series that takes place in the Post-Cold War era.
  • There was a real life attempt at overthrowing Mikhail Gorbachev by communist party hardliners in August 20, 1991. The footage of MBTs and IFVs in Moscow during the opening cutscene are from the real event. The putsch was orchestrated by hardliners opposed to Gorbachev's reforms decentralizing the power of the Soviet Union. While the Coup succeeded in the game, leading to the alternate timeline of the campaign, in real life the only violence during the coup happened after civilians blocked the passage of an IFV column heading towards Moscow's White House. After two men where shot trying to cover the view slit of one of the IFVs, the crowd turned violent and set fire to one of the vehicles. The infantrymen shot dead another man while escaping. The bloodshed broke the morale of the troops, who gave up on their support of the coup and moved out of Moscow, leaving the party hardliners without manpower to overthrow the government, thus the coup failed after only two days. The event is considered a pivotal point in the collapse of the USSR, with several countries declaring their independence in the aftermath and the Soviet Supreme Court extinguishing the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on the 29th. The Soviet Union was oficially dissolved in December 26.
  • The footage of fighting is form the First Chechen War (Dec. 1994 - Aug. 1996).
  • The Baltic States declared their independence in March 11 - May 4th 1990. After issuing an economic embargo, Moscow kept troops in the states alleging it was for defending ethnic russians in the country. After Gorbachev called for the reinstitution of USSR constitution in Lithuania in January 10 of 1991, Soviet Troops began taking lithuanian government buildings and strategic posts by force. By January 13, 14 civilians where killed by Soviet troops, leading to global condemnation of the Soviet Union attacking a sovereign nation. A Peace Treaty was signed in January 31.

Example Campaign - a player-driven story[]

See Second Korean War - Example Campaigns.

Gallery[]

Campaign Map[]

Minor victory[]

Major victory w/ Chongjin[]

Major victory w/ Qingdao[]

Total victory[]

See also[]

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