South Atlantic

Operation Paraquet: South Georgia, 20-26 April 1982. Historical Scenario.

Operation Paraquet: South Georgia, 20-26 April 1982. Historical Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the South Atlantic Battleset and the HCDA-110606 (Harpoon Commander's Edition Database 'Americas') Platform Database.

Image: Ice patrol ship HMS Endurance A 171 (in service 1967-1991), support ship and guard vessel for the British Antarctic Survey. Probably sailing off South Georgia, judging by the surrounding seascape. Photo by Alan Broomhead (ex Royal Navy), uploaded 2006, from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/UK side or from the Red/Argentine side. To avoid spoilers you should play a few times first the Blue side, and only later play the Red side.

Operation Paraquet was the first British movement to retake territory from the Argentine occupation in the South Atlantic War of 1982, defeating the limited Argentine Garrison in South Georgia.
A small task force with only two Wessex assault helicopters was centred on the RFA Tidespring and other heterogeneous elements, included the ice patrol vessel HMS Endurance.
It was a sort of very long range strategic guerrilla operation subsidiary of Operation Corporate, Operation Paraquet was a low intensity operation but with impressive state of art platforms and weapon systems.
At last, after a few hours, an assault by SAS, SBS and Royal Marines and a purpose bloodless naval bombardment demonstration the small Argentine garrison surrendered (less the infamous Lieutenant Commander Astiz unit of Buzos Tacticos, who did it the day after).
But before that the operation was in great distress, with the loss of both Wessex assault helicopters by very bad weather and bad luck, and after an emergency and improvised ASW action included the use of helicopter-launched air-to-surface missiles.
This scenario want to transmit the strange flavour of that distant waters campaign, with lack of air cover, very long distances and very few and sometimes rare elements.
Also, the player probably will be surprised by the lack of capabilities of sensors and weapons system (including dumb torpedoes), even counting with modern platforms to carry them as hunter/killer nuclear submarines, compared with the current types usually employed in the Harpoon simulation in more usual scenarios.
Last but not least the scenario try to simulate how the events could be developed slightly otherwise.

Enrique Mas, 21 September 2015.

503 downloads

Updated September 21, 2015

Drakeski's Passage

By rainman

"Drake's Passage" from the RED side. Not so hard, I think, if you're careful. Lots of bad guys....

314 downloads

Submitted January 11, 2010

Drake's Passage

By rainman

Russia (red) vs Chile, Argentina and Brazil. BLUE only. A carrier battle, or not. This scenario explores the ability of 2nd world navies against 1st world opponents. RED version to follow. Updated to include torpedo speeds in notes only, scenario is unchanged.

340 downloads

Updated January 11, 2010

Outside the Anglosphere

By CV32

Scenario Background:

Outside the Anglosphere

A Harpoon Commander's Edition (HCE) scenario for the South America battleset and the HCE Americas (HCDA) database.

This scenario is designed for play by the BLUE side.

Novelist Neal Stephenson is credited with coining the term Anglosphere, referring to a community of nations that share not only the English language, but a "cultural heritage of liberty under the rule of law, honoring democratic forms of government, capitalism, individualism, willing delay of gratification, and adhering to covenants and contracts regardless of clan or community ties". There are many nations outside the anglosphere, however, some of them found within the New World. In Latin America, politics have always been fluid and fragile, and the new roots of democracy, established within the last few decades, are especially delicate.

Having finally put their economic houses in order, Brazil and Argentina embarked on a vast military modernization program, taking full advantage of the eagerness shown by France, Russia, and China to supply them with weapons and technology in exchange for access to their vast natural resources. This coincided with the emergence of new (though perhaps not unexpected) left wing governments which showed fervent dislike for the Anglosphere, and took every opportunity to point out the old scars of colonial exploitation.

Argentina has now taken advantage of a large scale joint exercise with Brazil and France to once again seize the Malvinas (Falklands).

479 downloads

Updated October 19, 2009

Battle of the River Plate, December, 13, 1939. Historical Scenario.

By broncepulido

Battle of the River Plate, 13 December 1939. Historical Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the EC2003 Battle for South Atlantic The Americas Battleset and the HCWW-101110 World Wars era Platform Database.

Picture: Source Wikipedia Commons from Imperial War Museum. IWM caption : The German battleship Admiral Graf Spee in flames after being scuttled in the River Plate Estuary off Montevideo, Uruguay. 17 December 1939. This is photograph A 3 from collections of Imperial War Museums (collection no. 4700-01).

A very fast and furious encounter between the Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine, in middle of the Phoney War, decisive for aftercoming naval events. Good also for testing the artillery. I did played it many times, and the results can be surprising due to the hazards and random capability of the AI and the Game Engine mechanisms. Playable from Red or Blue sides.

December 1939. In this period of the phoney war, while a couple of months the German pocket battleship (classified as heavy cruiser or armoured cruiser for others scholars) Admiral Graf Spee had been commerce raiding since the start of the war in September, a very extent cruise while avoiding killing anyone but with no very impressive results. And she's now the only Kriegsmarine warship operating in far seas.
And the fate led she to fulfil the same destination as her predecessors in the South Atlantic in WWI, not far from the places where the CL Dresden and the rest of the East Asia squadron commanded by her name-sake Vice Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee were sunken 25 years earlier, almost entirely in the now forgotten First Battle of the Falklands (Malvinas) Islands.
Her own captain, Kapitan zur See Hans Wilhelm Langsdorff , a not Nazi sympathizer officer and old neighbour of the family of the own Maximilian von Spee, was himself a longstanding naval officer who had seen action at the Battle of Jutland.

Now, after a bloodless cruise, enfaced with a group he think is composed of CA Exeter and two DDs, Langsdorff must decide to fight or to flee.
His ship is superior in battle capabilities, and she's diesel engined with more rapid response than the steam engined British ships, but the enemy is faster, and aided by his very numerically superior forces,undoubtedly can speed-up and chase his slower ship at middle term.

More informations at http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/WH2Navy-fig-WH2Nav03a.HTML

Enrique Mas, September 2009.

652 downloads

Updated January 28, 2015

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