Yeah, I hear ye!
My basic premise was to use the mod as a base and concentrate on having specific wars. I don't know if a battlescenario would fit into a modern war? Since if the USA is at war, the chances of NATO also being at war are high, and if CHC is at war, the chances of RUS, IND and BRA also being at war are probably as high? I mean, localised conflicts seem to be a thing of the past. Aren't we really in a WW1 type situation, where it is all the inter-connected alliances, which when war comes, will make it so much bigger?
A battlescenario, I'd have to create something new and specific. Whereas if I just use the mod in 2003, I can concentrate on the war, and not have to create a whole new "thing" first?
Quite the opposite. The likelihood in today's world of any global war or even war between internationally recognized countries, except in a few cases involving minor countries with a poor reputation (such as Libya, Georgia or Iraq - or the bloodless war between Sudan and Chad a few years ago) was lower than it had ever been before in history during the 90 and early 21st century. Although we it is possible we are gradually moving towards a more dangerous world now - while there are no signs that we will keep moving to that direction or that it wouldn't stop moving there at some point. Today's world is definitely one of regional and local conflicts, however rarely limited to national borders. The will of participating in war is also lower than it has ever been before, with alliances meaning less than ever before as most NATO countries for example feel no real need to fully commit to conflicts that doesn't threaten or affect them severely or directly, generally contributing only token assets. NATO has turned into more of a symbolical organisation than a real alliance - it would probably require a full-scale nuclear strike by Russia for all NATO members and most partners of it to commit everything they can to the defence of NATO members.
These are some possible battlescenarios that could be considered plausible within the timeframe of 2003-2020.
- Russia, South Ossetia, Abkhazia vs Georgia 2008 and possibly a fictional continuation in the near future.
- Chinese-Japanese naval and air conflict over the disputed Senkaku-Daioyu islands, possibly with some American aid given to Japan. The goal of the Japanese side would be to avoid a full-scale war by balancing success with good diplomacy simulated by chains of events and decisions and convince the Americans to pressure the Chinese to back down or commit sizable enough forces to do so.
- Fictional Venezuelan-Colombian war over the FARC and ideological issues. Most likely in the Chavez era?
- Libyan Civil War - with or without the historical situation of western air and covert support for the rebels
- Fictional follow-up to the Libyan Civil War involving a breakup of the Libyan Civil War into different regional factions.
- Syrian Civil War. Fictional or possible Western and possibly Israeli or Turkish intervention a possibility, but never all three at the same time - Western being by far the most likely with Israel providing mainly air cover, intel, bases and logistical and technical support.
- Fictional Chinese-Taiwanese war that doesn't involve direct American aid - would be most interesting in the early years before the Chinese start to obtain a significant technological edge and superior air force to the Taiwanese.
- Fictional US Bush-era invasion of Iran or Syria.
- Historical US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 (may not be 2003 but should still be doable).
- Fictional new Indo-Pakistani war, possibly with Pakistan propped up by China and India facing increased internal instability from extremism and secessionist groups (they already have that to an alarming extent, although so does Pakistan) - western powers have difficulties picking any side and may stay neutral.
- Internal conflicts in Africa, such as
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Mali_conflict
- Fictional Sudanese refusal of South Sudanese independence resulting in war, with South Sudan most likely receiving support from the outside world, from the African Union in particular.
- Proper historical representation of the Second Congo War.
- Historical war in Somalia, involving secessionist states like Somaliland, Puntland as well as insurgent groups, Ethiopia, nominal African Union and US covert involvement and the outside world-backed Somalian Federal government.
I imagine smaller conflicts like Northern Mali will be among the easiest to make and could be a good area for experimenting, if you or anyone else is up for it. I guess it should mostly be event-driven and decision-driven.
