Command: Modern Operations: Stage a hypothetical Spain vs. Morocco war

If you are attracted to military simulation and are intrigued by how a clash between Spain and Morocco In a modern wargame, you've come to the right place. Here we bring together the best of the community, academic analysis, and playable scenarios to understand how Command: Modern Operations (CMO) addresses this hypothetical conflict.

Beyond entertainment, we are talking about a title used as a teaching aid and even with prestige among professionals. From exercises of the Cold War From realistic crises in Ceuta, Melilla, or the Chafarinas Islands, the CMO ecosystem offers a perfect laboratory for exploring tactics, capabilities, and policy decisions with unusual depth.

What is Command: Modern Operations?

'Command: Modern Operations' is a wargame for PC that allows you to simulate multi-domain operations from World War II to near-future scenarios. What's distinctive about it is its engine realistic simulation which integrates sensors, doctrine, logistics and contemporary rules of engagement.

The scope and rigor of CMO have attracted serious institutions: its success reached such a point that the game It caught on with the Pentagon military, cementing its reputation as a useful tool for practicing decision-making and testing operational concepts without firing a single shot.

Scenarios and updates: from the Cold War to real-life conflicts

The community frequently updates the scenario list and the Community Scenario Package, adding missions ranging from hypothetical NATO-Warsaw Pact clashes to contemporary campaigns. This continuous flow keeps the game alive with user-created content very knowledgeable.

Along with alternate history of the Third World War, the authors have also incorporated real operations reinterpreted. Versions focused on the operation stand out Leo Ascendant and in the recent Israeli airstrike campaign about Iranian infrastructure, which tests air defense in depth, electronic warfare and Marking advanced

Spain vs. Morocco in CMO: from the community to think tanks

Among the recent contributions stands out a scenario that imagines a limited confrontation between Spain and Morocco in the near future. In CMO it has appeared as 'Chafarinas, 2029', where the crisis escalates from the grey zone to the air-naval coercion, focusing on freedom of navigation and control of air space.

This type of exercise does not remain in the recreational world. An academic analysis suggests that Ceuta in 2030 two plausible war scenarios—one against the Islamic State and another of high intensity against Morocco— using methodologies METT-TC y PESTELThe confluence of the wargaming community and strategic analysis offers a comprehensive vision difficult to obtain separately.

'Chafarinas, 2029': briefing, mission, and intelligence

The stage'Chafarinas, 2029' starts after a 2028 marked by the deterioration of bilateral relations. Morocco intensifies its strategy of the gray zone around Ceuta and Melilla with migratory pressure, economic isolation and information campaignsThe trigger was the emergence of activists on the island of Isabel II and the subsequent Moroccan declaration of a air and naval blockade of the islands.

Spain reacts cutting off traffic air and sea operations in the Strait and the Alboran Sea and begins a freedom of navigation mission. The Audaz Group —with the BAM Audaz escorting an auxiliary vessel—acts to prevent escalation, supported by the frigates F-105 Christopher Columbus y F-85 Navarra, and with reinforcements in transit: F-101 Alvaro de Bazan y F-111 Bonifaz. The S-81 Isaac Peral submarine supports discreetly.

The Spanish mission is to achieve the positive control from the sea and the sky to supply the Chafarinas. If there is armed opposition, the selective use of force against units responsible for the blocking, avoiding attacking Moroccan bases on its territory so as not to open a wide war without guaranteed allied support.

In intelligence, Morocco would have deployed Barak-8 and MICA for air defense, with F-16V in Sidi Slimane and F-16C / D in Ben Guerir; even the use of F-5 with an anti-ship role from Meknes. On the surface, they would operate the OPV Rais Bargach, the FREMM Mohammed VI and SIGMA Tarik Ben Ziyad, with SIGMA Sultan Moulay Ismail in the Atlantic. On land, artillery off Chafarinas and near the Strait and up to four Harop battalions long-range. An early step of the satellite Paz would update the tactical framework.

Success is also measured by air logistics: supplying with a CH-47F Chinook based in Melilla in less than seven hours, which forces the player to coordinate air and sea under temporal and media pressure.

Modding and databases: Spanish community resources

Several coexist in CMO databases —DB3k y CWDB— and that complicates things for new editors: what in one DB is a hangar, in another can be a hotel. A creator of the Spanish community solved this problem by converting air and naval bases from Spain, Morocco and Western Sahara to both DB.

The work includes new versions of the Zaragoza Air Base (with secondary track and ex-American zone) and the Valencia-Manises Airport (with and without historical military zone), in addition to the network of early warning radars Spanish in four periods - from the EAC in 1958 to the integration of Lanza and RAT-31 3D—.

For Morocco the base was added Ben Guerir, and in the Sahara they were rebuilt from scratch Laayoune, Dakhla and Smara with bunkers and depots adjusted to their actual location. This type of mod makes missions easier. historical and plausible and reduces technical friction for designers.

Prequel and campaigns: NAIL and the assault on the Canary Islands

The Spanish-speaking CMO scene has pedigree. The Community Scenario Package features pieces like Green Tide (2013), about a fight over extraction platforms off the Canary Islands, or the celebrated duo Building a Cage (prequel) and Canary's Cage (2005), which imagines the emergence of a North African Islamic League (NAIL) and the consequent Spanish defense.

A particularly detailed NAIL scenario places the start of an amphibious operation against the Canary Islands on 15 September 2005. The coalition—with Algeria, Libya, Egypt and Morocco— concentrates resources to block and strike the Spanish forces while escorting three Bartral landing ships to the islands.

At sea, NAIL aligns three submarines (Romeo, Foxtrot and the Algerian Kilo 012 Rais Hadj Mudaberk), two Nanuchka II (801 Rais Hamidou and 416 Ziyad), the F-951 Najim Al Zafir (Type 53) with HY-1J, the F-611 Mohammed V (Floréal), two discovered —F946 Abu Qir (Harpoon IC) and F501 Lieutenant Colonel Errahmani— and two Egyptian Perry (F916 and F911) with towed sonar, SAM and SSM missiles, CIWS and four helicopters SH-2G Seasprite. It even employs a 35 m fishing vessel to obtain information in the north of the islands.

In the air, the coalition combines 10 Mirage F1EH (Sidi Slimane), 5 MiG-29C and 7 MiG-25P (Meknes), 9 Su-24MK2 (Casablanca) armed with short-range AS-14s for anti-ship strike, 2 KC-130H, 2 Falcon 20 ECM, 2 E-2C Hawkeye (Marrakech), 14 F-16CG Block 42, 5 MiG-25P and 14 Su-22M-3K (El Aaiún) with missiles anti-radiation to neutralize the island's air defense.

Intelligence estimates at least a Galerna-class submarine Spanish, up to half a dozen surface vessels, F-18 of the 46th Wing and reinforcements from the peninsula, with P-3B Orion, helicopters Seahawk y NASAMS II on land. NAIL's objectives are clear: escort the LSTs, neutralize Spanish ships and minimize damage to Canary Islands bases for later use.

Ceuta 2030 on the drawing board: two operational scenarios

The most exhaustive academic work on a Spain-Morocco conflict takes Ceuta in 2030 as its basis. It outlines the foreseeable state of the forces, the advantages and disadvantages of both armies and two scenarios of pure combat: insurgency and High intensity.

Actors and trends until 2030

For Spain, the recovery of long range fires, the entrance of the S-80 Plus submarines, ammunition reserves for a month of high-intensity combat and a C-UAS capability limited but useful for creating local bubbles. Among the shortcomings: loss of carrier-based air superiority (without F-35B after Harrier retirement), weapon degradation chivalry and operational difficulties of the 8×8 Dragon due to its logistical footprint.

A flotilla is planned for Morocco underwater smaller than the Spanish one but comparable, growing professionalization, HIMARS, AH-64 Apache, armored modernization, major human reserve by the return of military service, US-trained special forces and a notable leap in cyber capabilities with Israeli support. As ballast: lack of Integrated IADS, lower average professionalism and limits of prolonged sustainability.

Scenario 1: Urban warfare against the Islamic State

A type of explosion is planned Marawi concentrated in Ceuta, with 500 combatants and 500 auxiliaries, abundance of commercial drones, tunnels and foreign propaganda support. Morocco would maintain a passivity calculated. Spain would receive limited aid from USA from Rota (ammunition, special forces, ISR).

The mission: to eradicate the organization by protecting the civil populationThe enemy operates with centralized command and vulnerable communications (mobiles, simple radios), mortars, experienced shooters and improvised explosive devices, with proximity logistics and rear tunnels.

The land of El Príncipe —with dominant heights such as the University Hospital, historic forts, narrow streets, terraced roofs and overhead cables— favors urban defense. The tunnels and “no go zones"raise the cost of any hasty incursion.

Spain would resort to Legion, Regulars, MOE, sappers, COAAAS, tanks Leopard 2E and VCI Pizarro, with the support of MQ-9 Reaper, FAC of EZAPAC and, if necessary, naval fire of F-110 with 127/64 Vulcan. Key: integrate infantry, armored vehicles and uas and banish prejudices about the use of cars in the city.

The winter weather in Ceuta does not prevent operations, except for occasional rains and floods local. Civil management —evacuation corridors, rescue of hostages, psychological operations—becomes decisive for social and political support.

Scenario 2: High-intensity war with Morocco

To open this option, previous changes are contemplated: international recognition of the Sáhara Occidental To Rabat, the monarch was replaced with a break in the doctrinal balance and a hardening of the Spanish position. The US and France would be neutral, the EU would provide moderate political and material support, and Algeria would take advantage of this to put pressure on Polisario.

The Moroccan objective would be to take and occupy CeutaThe initial deployment would include maneuvers with redeployments of heavy forces, purchase of gondolas and wagons for transport, new bases in the north and information operations that blame Spain. The bilateral economy is would break —with an impact on the automotive industry— and remittances and assets would be frozen.

To attack Ceuta, Rabat would need to divide its forces across multiple fronts: Melilla, Algeria, the Atlantic coast and Sáhara OccidentalThe probable striking force: a paratrooper brigade through the western mountains and a mechanized brigade pushing from Tarajal through El Príncipe, with occasional amphibious incursions. Self-propelled artillery and rockets (HIMARS) would cover the axis, while the F-16 would protect capital and strike naval targets.

Spain would have some 8 brigades of Earth and the Marine Infantry Brigade, but should allocate part to the Canary Islands and Melilla. The Navy would impose a zone of naval air exclusion partial flooding near the Moroccan coast, with increasing underwater risk due to the modernization of Rabat. logistics to sustain Hacho and the city would become critical.

The Ceuta terrain is a funnel: 21 km coastline, narrow perimeter and urban gorges that favor the defender. Heights like Renegado, Anyera, or Hospital dominate the avenues of approach; even losing them, experiences like bakhmut indicate that progress can be halted for weeks at prohibitive costs.

In PESTEL, politically Spain would seek condemnation in UN, EU and NATO; economically, a study estimates the additional cost at about 16.500 millones de euros (2020), assumable with debt and possible community support. The blockade naval Spanish would be imperfect but deterrent; Tangier-Med would be within reach of the artillery Spanish, with global commercial impact. Socially, indignation in Spain would ensure cohesion; technologically, the advantage would be in IA and drones of Mini/Micro categories; environmentally and legally, there would be risks of waste and it would be key to adhere to Montego Bay, Geneva, The Hague and the UN Charter.

In Operational Law, Spain could establish exclusion zones air and naval, exercise the right of visit and registration on the high seas and modify innocent passage in the Strait, respecting proportionality and distinction. A relevant burden is the adherence to the Ottawa Treaty, which limits the use of anti-personnel mines.

Legal, logistical and technological implications

These scenarios demonstrate that the last-mile logistics And the legality of coercive measures is as decisive as missiles. Supplying Ceuta or Chafarinas requires creativity: heavy helicopters, smaller boats, convoys under temporary A2/AD bubbles and, where appropriate, submarines or logistics submersibles.

The technological component —Electronic Warfare, C-UAS, AI for small UAS and multi-sensor ISR— tips the balance in small and urban spaces. Whoever integrates the kamikaze drones Mini/Micro and systematically take them down will give you a decisive tactical advantage.

Why do these scenarios appeal to Spanish players?

Because they combine rigor and emotional proximityThe player can contrast high-level decisions—avoiding escalations, selecting rules of engagement—with tactical dilemmas very specific: protecting civilian vessels, prioritizing targets in a layered defense, or balancing speed and collateral damage.

In addition, the Hispanic community contributes layers of realism with exact mods of bases, radars and airfields, and a catalogue of scenarios that range from Harpoon converted to CMO to NATO-Russia conflicts, the Falklands or DACEX exercises. This foundation is reinforced with guides such as “The Good Admiral"and with documents on hybrid threat published by Defensa, bringing the game closer to serious analysis.

All of the above leaves a clear idea: CMO is an ideal environment to experience the tension between strategy, politics and military technique, and Spain-Morocco a case study that, played wisely, teaches as much as it entertains.