Closing the Kurile Gap (The War That Never Was), 1989

The Soviet Pacific Fleet would have faced a difficult problem with geography if the Cold War ever went hot. Their largest base, Vladivostok, faces the Sea of Japan. Any units transiting to the Pacific either need to pass through the narrow Tsushima Strait, flanked by likely-hostile South Korea and Japan, or they need to head northwest and pass through the Kurile Islands. The Kuriles were taken from Japan at the end of WWII and are a source of friction between the two countries. The other major Soviet naval base, Petropavlovsk, opens to the Pacific. However, it is located at the end of the remote Kamchatka peninsula and has long, vulnerable supply lines. This scenario, based upon the book The War That Never Was by Michael A. Palmer, examines the Soviet Pacific Fleet's ability to break out through the Kuriles, and the US Navy's role in plugging the gap. This version is playable by the US side only. Editor's note: This scenario is very large and is meant to represent a theater-level campaign.