Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Material excerpted from Advanced Gaming Systems Inc., aka AGSI: What is Harpoon ? Tom Clancy used it as his database for his book The Hunt for Red October and again with Mr. Larry Bond to game out the convoy battles in Red Storm Rising. It was the naval miniatures rule set Harpoon authored by Mr. Bond. Those rules were successfully computerized in 1989 (Harpoon) on Macintosh and IBM PC compatibles, and a second product, intended as a replacement (Harpoon II), was created in1996. In spite of problems with various publishing firms, both products continued to thrive thanks to the international fan base connected by the Internet. After giving up on a planned third pro…

What is the HCDB? The HCDB is an acronym for what is now known as the Harpoon Commander's Edition Database, the official database that ships with AGSI's newest naval warfare simulation product, Harpoon Commander's Edition (HCE). The HCDB is available for download from the Downloads section of this website. Extract the zip file into your main HCE directory. It will overwrite your current 'commondb.res' file. To maintain multiple databases, be sure to rename your existing 'commondb.res' file. A *.txt file is also included in the zip which details the latest update. The design philosophy of the HCDB is to maintain, wherever feasible, backwards compatibility with …

The format for all HCE scenario file names is: *.sc* The first asterisk (*) is for the scenario filename assigned by the author of the scenario. The second asterisk (*) determines the BattleSet to which the scenario belongs. When you create a 'user scenario', there are typically four files generated by the Scenario Editor: *.SC* - the actual scenario itself *.BL* - the BLUE orders file *.RD* - the RED orders file *.BK* - a backup of the scenario file More on the filenames and the BattleSets here: Understanding HCE file names The stock scenarios supplied with HCE use either a built in, non-editable database (which is not updated) or a supplied, editable version of th…

What is the HCCW? The HCCW is an acronym for the Harpoon Commander's Edition Cold War Database, a new custom database that will focus on aircraft, ships, submarines and installations that appeared during the height of the Cold War, and more particularly, during the period from 1950 through 1975. Harpoon Commander's Edition is particularly well suited, I believe, to modeling warfare during this period - the dawn of the missile age. The models in HCE are relatively simple and lend themselves well to the emergent technologies of the period: missiles, radar, electronic warfare, weapon guidance, to name but a few. The current release version of the HCCW is availabl…

A BattleSet is a collection of scenarios that take place in some particular part of the world. A BattleSet will therefore always contain a map, and if you're in luck, one or more Scenarios. It may also, but not necessarily, also contain a Database. Pre EC2003 The twenty (20) oldest BattleSets in the Harpoon Classic genre, and included in HCE, are: GIUK - Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap NACV - North Atlantic Convoys MEDC - Mediterranean Conflict IOPG - Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf HDS1 - Harpoon Designers' Series BattleSet 1 - Enhanced GIUK HDS2 - Harpoon Designers' Series BattleSet 2 - Enhanced NACV HDS3 - Harpoon Designers' Series BattleSet 3 - Enhanced M…

Hot Keys in HCE http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?a...mp;showfile=417 http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?a...mp;showfile=416 Hot Keys in Harpoon Classic Gold Single Keystrokes B : Bearing only (BOL) weapon launch C : Centers the Unit Window around your currently selected Group D : Platform display F : Full report on the selected object when object is displayed in the dialog box I (and Alt+I) : Group and Unit ID display toggle for the map views M : Free memory display O : Show On Station rectangles for the player side (2008.068+) U : Units; selects the first unit of the currently selected Group (in the Unit Window) V : Sonobuoy display toggle X : Zooms out …

You can buy Larry Bond's Harpoon - Ultimate Edition from Matrix Games. There is a choice of physical or download (or both). The package includes many versions of both the H2/3 lineage and the H1/Classic lineage. Buy Harpoon Ultimate Edition from Matrix Games You can buy Larry Bond's Harpoon: Commander's Edition (aka HCE), released November 20, 2007, from Matrix Games here: Buy HCE from Matrix Games You can buy Harpoon 3: Advanced Naval Warfare (aka ANW), released June 14, 2006, from Matrix Games here: Buy ANW from Matrix Games Note that there are download and hard copy options, as well as HCE/ANW bundles!

What happened to moderating new posts? The HarpGamer Forums are no longer fully moderated. This means that your post will now appear on the board immediately. We do reserve the right to edit and/or delete inappropriate submissions after their posting to the forums, and we encourage you to ensure your post is compliant with the Forum Guidelines. I have built a scenario for Harpoon Commander's Edition, and I'd like some feedback. What to do? New scenarios are always welcome, encouraged, and even sought after. You will find a helpful, knowledgeable, and encouraging environment at HarpGamer for new scenario writers. All the major databases for HCE are found …

What is the HCWW? The HCWW is an acronym for the Harpoon Commander's Edition World Wars Database 'Americas', a new custom database that will initially focus on aircraft, ships, submarines and installations of the Second World War, and in due course, select platforms from the First World War. It is important to keep in mind the limitations of the current code when it comes to modeling WW1/2 era engagements, however, including: less than ideal modeling of aircraft guns; difficulty in modeling radio intercept; no limitations to communications; targeting based on formation center rather than unit to unit; etc. That said, I think there is still potential for extracting…

What is the HCDA? The HCDA is an acronym for the Harpoon Commander's Edition Database 'Americas', a new custom database designed to cover the North, South and Central America theaters, and to be used in conjunction with the upcoming BattleSet Builder. Until the advent of the BattleSet Builder, HCE (and Harpoon Classic) players have been limited to the North Atlantic, GIUK Gap, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and (the most recently added) Western Pacific theaters. The BattleSet Builder utility, however, will permit HCE players to create new battlesets (i.e. new maps) for virtually any area of the globe. The HCDA contains a wealth of new aircraft, ships, submarines …

Understanding Harpoon Classic and Harpoon Commander's Edition File Names SCENARIO FILE NAMES Each Harpoon Classic (HC) or Harpoon Commander's Edition (HCE) scenario has its own distinctive 8 letter file name followed by a 3 letter extension. The format for all HC/HCE scenario file names is: ????????.sc? The .sc? extension tells you which BattleSet to open for a given scenario. Original BattleSets: GIUK: *.sc1 NACV: *.sc2 MEDC: *.sc3 IOPG: *.sc4 Harpooner Designer Series 1 (HDS 1): GIUK: *.sc6 NACV: *.sc7 MEDC: *.sc8 IOPG: *.sc9 Harpooner Designer Series 2 (HDS 2): GIUK: *.sca NACV: *.scb MEDC: *.scc IOPG: *.scd Harpooner Designer Series 3 (HDS 3): GIUK: *.sce NACV…

Mostly ground forces oriented, but still useful and educational (in PDF): Soviet Army Operational and Tactics Soviet Army Specialized Warfare and Rear Area Support Soviet Army Troops, Organization and Equipment Soviet Motorized Rifle Battalion Soviet Motorized Rifle Company Soviet Tank Battalion Tactics Soviet Tank Company Tactics Heavy OPFOR Tactical Handbook Heavy OPFOR Operational Art Handbook NATO order of battle 1989 Bundeswehr order of battle West German Territorial Army order of battle Bundeswehr HQ units order of battle Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, 1988 (zip) Central Group of Forces, …

Something that I hope will help with trying to decipher the complexity (and sometimes absurdity) that promulgates Former Soviet Union/Russian weapon designation systems: Industrial Index Numbers These use a combined number/letter/number pattern that are fairly commonly seen. First digit: 2 - weapons systems that incorporate fire control systems and missiles 3 - early tactical missiles 4 - naval missiles 5 - strategic missiles of the PVO 8 - strategic ballistic missiles 9 - tactical missiles used by ground forces (replacing the use of '3' as noted above) Second letter: K - missile system, including the missile itself, launcher and fire control …

One of the biggest limitations currently found in HCE (as compared to ANW, for example) is the lack of a logistics model. This can effectively mean that you (as the player) or the AI (the computer) can launch strike after strike, or sortie after sortie, as quickly as the turn around of 30 minutes will permit. Moreover, the inventory of weapons and fuel on both sides is essentially limitless. In the past (and occasionally even now), scenario authors would try and get around this by providing instructions or notes to the player (typically contained in the Orders file or a readme.txt) directing the player to do such things as not change his available loadouts for air…

Looks like there´s some confusion how to work with this db series... About the DBs Those DBs are a series created by Enrique Mas (Planes) and René Haar (Ships, Installations partly planes) of DBs roughly splitted into chunks of aproximatly 15 Years. At the Moment it contains the HC-35to50-DB, the HC-50to65-DB, the HC-65to80-DB, the HC-80to95. An expansion into the Future HC-10toXX is in progress! And we have the HC-Weapons-DB a DB only conatining weapons and sensors. this file is our masterfile for weapons and sensors used by all timeline dbs, so each timeline db uses the same weapons set. For example an AIM-9 Sidewinder of a certain Version doesn´t change it´s va…

This chart of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum (courtesy of US DoD) might be useful to some of you ...

Thanks to Buddha for coming up with a graphic that shows the locations of carrier catapults and elevators as they are laid out in the Platform Editor:

A link to AGSI's HCE Database Editing Guide, a useful tool if you choose to venture into editing a database: HCE Database Editing Guide

The latest beta versions of the game, downloadable from the General HC Beta Testing forum here contain a 32-bit scenario editor. http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?/forum/33-general/ Get yourself up to speed with one of these recent builds and run Wscenedt32.exe from your game directory for the HC Scenario Editor (SE) Background: The HC Scenario Editor (SE) is a 16-bit program from the days of Windows 3.1. Windows has been a 32-bit operating system (with partial exceptions) since Windows 95 more than a decade ago. These newer Windows versions have something called the 16-bit Windows subsystem that emulates a 16-bit environment for older programs such …

1. What's new in HC2002 GOLD This list highlights some of the major changes you will find in HCGOLD but is by no means comprehensive. Platform Editor added: First ever in the 14 years of the Harpoon Classic Series Database updated using best sources, primarily Larry Bond’s H4 annexes Mobile Land Units now modeled for the first time ever in computer Harpoon New BattlesSets Added: WESTPAC and EC2003 (both featuring the player-editable DB) USNI BattleSet returns to the Classic series Scenario Converter: Converts original and user-created EC2000 scenarios to EC2003 New Orders Utility: makes adding orders to user-created scenarios a breeze SE Repeat Pat…