The following is a guide to collecting intelligence which has been written specifically for the BLUFOR team. For a quick overview of how the intelligence system in this MBX works in general, please refer to the Tips & Guidelines section of the Global Thunder MBX Game Guide.
Intelligence Sources
In this game you have four sources of intelligence:
Intelligence Agencies and Staffs
As in any MBX, you and your staff will receive continuous intel reports from the intel staff of your higher command. In this MBX in particular, you may also direct these intel efforts to some extent, which could help save time in tracking down useful information.
During Stage I, your main intelligence resource will be the Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA. The DIA is the central hub of the BLUFOR intelligence community, collecting data from the CIA, NSA, NRO, FBI and other intelligence agencies as well as through its own military channels. Most of the information in this guide pertains to using the DIA, but the same principles will apply throughout the exercise.
Using the DIA
The rule for using the DIA is simple: just order it to search for whatever facts or events you need to know about. You may be as broad or as specific in your search parameters as you like, but the more specific you can make your query the less time it will take to receive results. The amount of time it takes to fulfill a request varies according to how much information is being requested and the type, number and condition of assets available to probe this area of information. For example, a question such as "What defenses does the enemy have along this coast?" might only take a day or two (in geme terms) to answer -- if you have the proper military reconnaisance assets or undercover operatives near the 'coast' in question. If you don't, the same question could take several (game) weeks to answer.
If the DIA is without ample resources to meet your demand, or if the task you have given is particularly ambitious or time-consuming, the "DIA Director" [Umpire] will alert you of this and provide you with a rough estimate as to how long such a project will take. You can then decide to proceed, re-define the task, or scrub the project altogether and move on to a different request.
Each piece of information requested will be treated as a separate "task." You may give the DIA up to three different tasks at any one time. To see if you have any task "slots" available, check the Intel status box in your team's planning area, where you'll find a list of assignments currently being researched. If you do not use up all the task slots the assignment currently being researched will be completed sooner (but only slightly). Thus, if it is vital for your team to receive a particular piece of information as soon as possible, do not add a second or third assignment to the DIA work list.
Theoretically, you could leave the DIA on "auto-pilot" and not ask any questions at all. The DIA is on the job 24/7, regardless of whether you have given it orders or not. Whenever there are no pending requests, the DIA will take it upon itself to do a random survey of its datalinks and check for any news from sources that perhaps no one might have thought to check. (Here is where a lot of die-rolling comes into play, for those of you who are interested in the game mechanics).
Satellites and UAVs
Both satellites and high-value, operational-level UAVs will be modelled in this game, allowing the player to manage individual assets or leave the management of these units to their staff. For more information, see the document entitled, Satellites & UAVs. The main thing you need to keep in mind about satellites is that they often come with a very limited amount of on-board fuel which can be used to maneuver the satellite to a new target, if need be. Any request for redirecting satellites must be made directly to the Air Force Chief of Staff.
Directing the focus of your search
The "DIA Director" will in most cases play conservatively, meaning he will be thorough, but time-consuming. This ensures that at the very least, that no major intelligence gaffes occur (such as a country that was reported as being "neutral" suddenly firing an array of nuclear missiles at you!) Players may be able to speed up the process, however, if they are willing to risk "playing a hunch" and narrowing the search parameters somewhat.
For example, if you are anticipating going to war with India soon, requesting the DIA to provide information on all recent weapons purchases might be a smart thing to do. However, this kind of request could take a fair amount of time to research, since data is theoretically being compiled on every type of equipment there is. If you were to break this task down into smaller tasks and prioritize them, however -- for example, starting with long and medium-range missiles, then aircraft, then submarines -- weapons that would be the first to do you some harm, the DIA may yeild find some highly useful information in very little time indeed. If your hunch was correct and these weapons are indeed being deployed, you may now have time to organize a defense against this threat. In the meantime, the DIA can go on to the next level of priority in your list of search requests.
Adding manpower
Players can also do some of the research themelves. Locating maps (on the internet), or putting together tables or charts to help with planning (e.g., a mileage table showing the flight and/or road distances between several highly strategic locations in your area of operations). This will save your intelligence agencies and staffs for the important assignments that are more directly related to military operations.
Types of Intel
The game is set up to model, notionally at least, the various specialized departments that a real-life intelligence agency like the DIA would have. While you need not concern yourself too much with the actual game mechanics, it may be helpful to understand a bit more about how these departments work so that you can help keep the DIA running at top efficiency.
In this game, there are four basic types of intelligence that the DIA is capable of procuring:
HUMINT -- Human Intelligence. Generally this means any kind of information that has been observed or passed on by a person , as opposed to an electronic device -- espionage, counterespionage, and the interogation of a captured pilot all fit within this definition. This type of intelligence often provides you with the earliest leads on new developments in a war or battle, though is often sketchy and somewhat unreliable.
SIGINT -- Signals Intelligence. Any kind of intercepted electronic communications, such as radio signals, phone communications, codebreaking, etc. This type of intelligence is more reliable, though a crafty opponent can fool these devices occasionally.
IMINT -- Image Intelligence. Satellite and spy plane photography. This source of intel can be blocked by camouflage netting and other measures, but once a positive sighting is made it can usually be considered highly reliable -- especially if all spectra of imagery (photographic, infra-red, thermal, etc.) are consistent with one another.
DATA RETRIEVAL -- Intelligence gleaned from existing records, archives or reference materials. This data is the most reliable of all (though in a rare case, such records could conceivably have been tinkered with), and is generally easier to come by. However, it may take some work on the part of your team to sift through a lot of seemingly innocuous data and find patterns leading to important intel.
Efficiency vs. speed
Since your time for planning is limited, so too is your time for gaining intel. And the fastest way of retrieving information from the DIA is to do a "full court press" and have all of the DIA's departments working on one assignment. In other words, leaving two out of the three "task slots" empty.
However, unless speed is of utmost importance, it is probably best to cast a wide net and give the DIA a number of different projects to research at once. That way if only one of your three efforts pays off, the other two tasks can be stopped and redirected to exploit the lead.
When giving the DIA multiple assignments, try to choose misions that utilize the variouis "departments" efficiently. For example, obtaining information on NATO military doctrine would probably involve speaking to experts on the subject (HUMINT), while code-breaking would require ELINT satellites and computers (SIGINT) and requesting a report on weapons purchases would involve fact files (DATA RESEARCH), so all three projects could be conducted simultaneously without any one agency or department being too overloaded. On the other hand, if you ordered a codebreaking assignment along with a request to try and intercept enemy radio channels and try to determine the location of an enemy headquarters -- all three of which would require SIGINT assets -- you would create a logjam in one department and it would take some time to get all three projects completed.
There is no exact formula for all this, but you should be aware that the GM will be monitoring this sort of intel management to determine the rate at which teams will receive their intel.
Military operations
The second way to gain useful information is to aggressively seek it out through deliberate military recon and/or intelligence-gathering operations. In peacetime, this might involve deploying intelligence ships or conducting military exercises close to vital shipping lanes or NATO bases, which will give your forces an opportunity to monitor NATO facilities and forces up close as well as test their reaction time. In wartime (Stages II and III), you have even more ways of obtaining intelligence, such as reports from front-lines reconnaisance missions, aerial photo-recon missions, interogation of prisoners, captured maps or plans and intercepted messages, just to name a few.
Special operations are another way to gather detailed intel, as they can be conducted stealthily by trained personnel. Such personnel and equipment are in high demand, however, and once they are deployed early (Stage I) they may not be available later when hostilities break out. Permission for use of special operations must be obtained from the appropriate Chief of Staff (Army, Navy, Airforce).
Clandestine operations involving assassinations, inciting revolts or spreading misinformation among a population are options as well, and could be highly effective. The chance for success of such a mission is greater in peacetime, before enemy security is on the alert, but if detected it could have a catastrophic effect on world opinion, which would of course make the President higly upset. For this reason, all clandestine, covert operations must be expressly approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As far as the matter of scruples are concerned, well, you are left to your own conscience for that(!)
Your headquarters staff
One of the best -- and most fun! -- ways to collect intelligence is to keep a sharp lookout for "leads" in sitreps, news stories, maps and other pieces of information. This could be a small detail that is seeminlgy useless at first, but begins to gain importance once a pattern begins to emerge from the "wall of noise" that you will be experiencing in this game.
One great example of this occurred in the Battle of Brunei MBX, where a "junior" member of the US team was looking over some bits and pieces of information regarding a recent "secret weapon" purchased by Malaysia involving a sizeable sum of money. The important information had been deleted in most cases -- except for one, where the word "Kokums" was tucked away in fine print on one purchase order. The player knew little about the military and almost nothing about the navy, but got curious, and did a search on the Internet. He discovered that Kokums was the name of a Swedish shipbuilder, whose particular area of expertise was submarines. This immediately alerted the higher command players, who did not expect Malaysia to own any subs (according to their "official" intellgence). This action led to aggressive ASW operations which, in at least one instance, prevented a potentially catastrophic loss of their Marine amphibious vessels. All because one player took the time to research the word "Kokums."
Collecting intel through US allies
Additional intelligence may be passed on to you through the DIA's connections to the intelligence services of other countries. However, our allies have their own worries and will not always be actively seeking intel in our behalf. Thus, if there is an particular request for substantial piece of intel that you need that our friends in the UK, for example, might easily acquire for us, you should request this intelligence directly through the DIA.
Bear in mind that proposals for obtaining intelligence with other countries, while possible, may take time to coordinate and put in motion.
Final note
If after reading this guide you have any pressing questions regarding how the intelligence system works in this game, please feel free to contact the GM. If you are only mildly confused and wondering how it will all work... good! That's exactly the feeling you should have at this point. More will become clear as the game unfolds. After all war is a great teacher!
RT.