"Good matchup for beginner game?" Topic

Greetings,
I am wanting to put together a game using shipwreck for a small cold war clash. Im thinking two surface ship per side of frigate size. What are some good matchups that will be an even game? I was thinking about Soviets vs USA but being an Aussie I was considering maybe a couple of Anzacs taking on some Indonesians maybe 3 ex Van Speijks? Im very new to the period so i'm not sure what kind of matchups will make good games

Reasonably balanced Cold War naval engagements are pretty much nil, but there is fertile possibilities for hypothetical.

Iceland v, UK, Cod Wars.
Turkey v, Greece, Cypriot invasion.
Turkey v, UK, Cypriot invasion.

Pakistan v, India, numerous.
Egypt v, Israel, 1967, 1973

Iran v, Iraq
Iran v, pretty much anybody

The Suez Crisis
Bay of Pigs

Syria v. Israel, Latakia

Tonkin Gulf,
China v. Vietnam, 1974

HMS Exeter gives a very thorough listing, and I like you Aussie vs Indonesian idea. Mal Wright designed an interesting campaign/scenario for that called Disputed Territory found here:
link

I would add some hypothetical actions that may give good gaming:

Egypt v. Libya border clashes from 70s thru 90s

Greeks vs Turkey

As my esteemed fellow gamers have said, one of the best things about modern naval is the number of "what-ifs" that may be tailored to fit the size of engagement you want.

One that my lad and I played a couple of years ago was based around the 1988 Black Sea Bumping Incident, but there are hundreds of similar situations – real or imagined – which provide similar scenarios.

TMP link

Quite topical as HMS Defender seems to have had a bit of a contretemps with the Russians yesterday in pretty much the same place.

I'll second Greece v Turkey – two reasonably matched sides with frigates, destroyers and land-based aircraft. Plenty there for a small scenario.

Nick