[It was inevitable. Whenever I write about the glorious decade that was the 1980s, my mind inevitably turns to the culmination of the Cold War that occurred in the final years of that golden age (one I consider to be the last gasp of traditional America). Fortunately for the world, that culmination was non-violent even if it could have easily been otherwise . Of course, as an avid Cold War wargamer, it is the now speculative violent end that continues to intrigue me. Eh, what can I do? After all, it was the Cold-War-Turned-Hot wargames of the 1980s that formed me into the gamer I am today. With that in mind, here is an AAR of a patrol by the submarine USS Jack in the opening days of World War 3, circa 1984. It is based on a session with Killfish Games' Cold Waters , their modern re-imagining of the Microprose sub sim classic, Red Storm Rising .]
Chapter 2: The Soviet Right Hook As we detailed in the previous chapter ( "Red July" ), STAVKA had conceived of the assault on the Fulda Gap not as their central effort but as a grand diversion to draw NATO forces away from other sectors of the West German front. As expected, NATO, long expecting Fulda to be central to a Warsaw Pact onslaught, took the bait and committed the bulk of its ground forces to holding off the fierce Soviet offensive. STAVKA waited three full days to ensure that NATO forces were fully engaged before committing their strategic reserve to opening a new front to the north of Fulda. Known as "Operation Gold Pluto," this daring Soviet plan would put NATO in a perilous position. Final unit dispositions of Operation Gold Pluto with operational overlay (courtesy 8th Guards Army Archives , Volgograd, 1985) Historical Redux If this sounds a bit familiar, it should: Operation Gold Pluto was based on the plan used by Germany during