General

Set up - An A-6E launches 2 Harpoon IC at a Kara class Soviet CG. The Harpoon will reach the Kara in 5 segments (2.5 minutes). The Kara detected it and rolled poorly on the Combat System Reaction table getting a total reaction time of 6 segments. So, the Harpoon will reach the Kara before the Kara can react with its Osa-M or Shtorm SAM systems. The Kara is broadside to the incoming Harpoons and, as such, has a 76mm gun and at least one 30mm CIWS that can shoot at the Harpoons. The Kara's MR-600 3D radar saw the Harpoons at launch, the MPZ-301 LAS radar for the Osa-M, the 4R60 Grom radar for the Shtorm, the MR-105 director for the 76mm, and the MR-123 director for…

Hello all from Windsor in the UK. I have a copy of Harpoon 4.1 and High Tide but never gotten round to playing it. The release of Harpoon V gives me the nudge to really give it a go. I've ordered the print books from wargame vault and downloaded the quickstart. Does anybody have any general advice for a sensible way to go about learning the game? In my experiments in the past, keeping track of unit locations and separation was a bit of a faff, do people recommend going straight to SimPlot 2 for that? TIA for your suggestions, Windscale.

Hi All, This pod (ALQ-248 AOEW ES pod) starting in 2021 can be loaded onto an MH-60R but the stat line doesn't give any kind of clutter value it just says "Detects location and course of TARH msls? Possibly create false targets". How should I interpret this game play wise? Should it be able to detect incoming TARH's at whatever the radar horizon is? Can I use it to make a false signature of say a B size ship for example? Thank you all for you help in advance btw. Really appreciate this community!

High Tide Annex S Land Surface -to-Air Missiles provides Acquisition Radar and Acquisition Range vs Large (nm). After a limited check it does not appear that the radar data found in both High Tide and the Smarter Radar article meet the Percentage of large formula found in 4.2.2.1 Size of Contacts. That formula was multiple the Large 100%; Medium 62%; Small 40%; Very Small 18%; Stealthy 10%. Anyone aware of the formula, if there is one? Thanks

Here is an elementary question for resolving combat with the Ground Combat System - NOTE: I have never been accused of being a mathlete and last night "worse". Once the opposing forces ratings are calculated and modified, the instructions advise you to divide your rating by the opponent's and then the opponent's rating by yours to come up with simple odds. Each player rolls the D6 secretly and applies the result to himself. Last night I totaled up the the two forces found in HNR2003 and after doing the calculations the results were something to the effect of US 2.2 and Iranian 0.46. When I then take these figures to the Combat Results Table, I believe that I …

In Annex "S" Surface-to-Air Missiles, as examples, both the 9k31M Strela-1M (SA-9b) and 9K35M3 Strela-10M3 (SA-13) have "Y" in their respective "Optical Back-Up" column, but what is it back up to? There are no associated radars with these two systems. Is there some other IR or similar sighting capability not referenced in Annex "S"?

Just received sitrep 31 and Naval Review 2003. I already own Naval Review 2009 Looking over the new air rules, gonna try them this weekend. Just looking them over quickly, I may use parts of both. I like the randomness of disengaging from a dogfight. Also, I am not sure if it is appropriate to use pilot quality for air to air missile combat. Definately for guns. Seems much less complicated to end a dogfight. I am guessing that the dogfight is no longer "sticky".

At the last minute I was able to get time off from work and drive down to Lancaster, PA for the Cold Wars 2019 convention. There I met Larry Bond, Chris Carlson, Mike Harris, et al. I played Dawn of the Battleship with them on Friday, and Dance of the Vampires (abridged) on Saturday. Saturday they also gave a presentation on the Chinese navy and a closer look at the proposed air defense rule changes for H4.2. Larry and Chris said they would do a writeup on the DotV game, but I don't know in what publication/web page that will appear. When I find out I will let you guys know. I can tell you that the new rules will greatly reduce the complexity of a mass missile r…

If my earlier "SA-9" and "Back-Up Optical Sighting" posts were not clear, how about the questions/assumptions posed a different way. Is it safe to assume that in H4.1 all of the land-based SAM's found in Annex S without inherent radar systems are intended to be part of an overall air defense coordination network which will facilitate targeting information from radar systems – to C2 nodes - to those firing units? That a radar set or anti-air system with an inherent radar should be part of the scenario T/O. That those systems with an inherent radar capability (SA-6b with Straight Flush or SA-8 ) may have an optical sighting back-up only if duly noted in Annex…

Hi boys, I have another question for you experts. My question is about the rules for launching missiles from a ship. The manual (i refer to H.3 annex 1990-91, but you can answer also referring th H.4 paper rules) says that the general procedure stipulates that a ship may engage: - As many targets as it has directors (so one target per director) - Weapons without directors, may engge only one target for the turn (Although they may fire Opinions more than one weapon per turn at the target (apart Aegis exception) - Unless otherwise Stated in the remarks, each weapon (except guns) may fire only one round (missile, torpedo) for tube (...) So, if I understand, for example, a s…

Just watched the movie "Hunt for Red October". Is the Red October Typhon in the data annex (dont have my copy here to quote page number) meant to represent the sub from the movie? Is it a real type, or a work of fiction? (sorry for dumb questions).

Would the AN/AAS-38 Nite Hawk FLIR targeting pod take up a hardpoint, in place of another weapon, when completing an F/A-18 data forms? Thanks

This is a post on HCE regarding the FREMM ASM towed sonar Captas and Sonar 2087... "I was lacking H4.1 data on both these sonars when they were created in the HCDB. If anyone has H4.1 data or suggested provisional data, I'd be glad to receive it." Does anyone have info on these? Thanks.

F-15E strike mission An F-15E is approaching enemy air space. A Mirage 2000 is scrambled to intercept. Initial range is 80nm and the Mirage picks the F-15 up on radar. Its not until the planes reach 60nm the F-15 picks up the Mirage. Both planes are at medium altitude. The planes close quickly, and engagement turns (30 second turns) ensure. The F-15 is armed with a Sidewinder AtA missile which has a range of 9.5nm, giving it more reach than the Magic the Mirage is carrying (6nm). The F-15 fires both its Sidewinders at 9nm. 6.3.3.2.2 says that 1 in 5 AtA missiles clear the rails but fail to function. Die rolls of 6 and 8 mean both of these AtA miss…

I have a SH-60B Block 0 Seahawk that lights its APS-124 SS radar from medium altitude attempting to find a Large surface contact. The radar LOS from the chart on pg 5-3 of the rules indicates that the maximum LOS is 175nm. The APS-124 maximum range for a large target is 160nm - so, 160nm is the maximum detection range. Section 5.2.5 of the rules for Airborne Surface Search Radars (SS) states that "these radars will pick up surface contacts and VLow air contacts at one-tenth of normal range". Question 1 - If I'm reading that correctly the detection range to a large ship will be 16nm (160nm max of the APS-124 SS divided by 10). Is that correct? Question 2 - If…

While attempting to fill in an H4.1 ship data form, I've run into a brain-freeze. I was trying to replicate the O.H. Perry example found on page 2-4 of the H4.1 Rulebook. A Mk75 76mm Naval Gun in Air Defense mode has a 3.5nm Air Range, 0.40 01-50% Ph/Mt, a 0.25 51-100% Ph/Mt, a maximum altitude of High, and RA/EO. How was the Air Range Close of 1.9 and Air Range Far of 3.8, in the example, calculated? There will be more questions as I crawl through this process. Thanks,

Once Harpoon5 is published, will this forum's name be changed to reflect the most current version, or should there be a new forum while preserving the H4 content?

Is the "accuracy bonus" discussed in 6.3.4.2.4 that a weapon, such as JDAM, is resolved on the Dive Bomb Table (Low or Medium depending upon the altitude it is launched)? Per DaveS (msg #3689) on the Admiralty Trilogy Yahoo Group: "If a GPS guided weapon is used against a nonmoving target it gets the bonus and you would use the Low or Medium altitude dive bombing tables as appropriate. If the target is moving and the weapon does not have terminal guidance, treat it as a dumb bomb (if it does have terminal guidance, treat it as a PGM)." Short answer: yes, the GPS accuracy bonus is resolving it on the respective dive bomb tables.

When a ship has more than one radar for the same purpose, say Air Search, if a ship CO chose to utilize one of them, under what circumstances would he not just utilize all of them? I would assume that redundancy is the key, so if one it lit, they all might as well be. Thanks, Pete

The following are procedures you can use to make background maps for Harpoon/Simplot scenarios. Presently, there are no "official standards" for SimPlot maps. I am still experimenting with various color combinations to make the gaming experience better. If a scenario does not require the presence of land features or specific starting points, ending points, or objectives, then a background map is not necessary. Procedures for using Internet maps: 1) Using your favorite Internet mapping website, select an area of interest for your scenario. If the area is not very large, then you may be able to get the entire area within the screen. 2) Using your fa…