General

TACTICS 101: ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE (ASW): PART 2 - THE TOOLS OF ASW In Part 1, we learned the basics of naval oceanography, and in large part, how sound behaves in the subsurface ocean environment. Now, in Part 2, we move to the tools of anti-submarine warfare (ASW), the sensors, platforms, and weapons. Much of the material contained here is probably "old hat" to seasoned Harpoon players, and certainly generally available to anyone who is willing to take the time and effort to dig up the information. The purpose of this "Tactics 101" discussion, however, is to provide a workable foundation for those who may be completely new to naval warfare and its concepts. Pa…

TACTICS 101: NAVAL FORMATIONS - PART 1: THE FUNDAMENTALS Although far more detailed than is necessary for the purposes of Harpoon Commander's Edition (HCE), Part 1 of this discussion about naval formations will help to establish the fundamentals and could be useful for other versions of Harpoon (principally Harpoon 4.1 paper rules) and other naval wargaming efforts. Part 2 will focus on the step by side assembly of a naval formation within HCE. Part 3, in turn, will deal with adding fixed wing aircraft and helicopters to a naval formation. So what is a naval formation? A naval formation is an ordered arrangement of two or more ships. Naval formations s…

TACTICS 101: NAVAL FORMATIONS - PART 2: ASSEMBLING A FORMATION IN HCE Part 2 of this discussion on Naval Formations will focus on building or assembling a naval formation in HCE using the game's formation editor. We will use the Scenario Editor (SE) here, but the principles are equally applicable to use of the formation editor within the Game Engine (GE). To illustrate naval formations in general, let's build one of the more popular formations - a US Navy carrier strike group (CSG). As was discussed in Part 1, the components of a naval formation comprise the main body and the screen. Within HCE's formation editor, the screen is further broken down into the …

TACTICS 101: NAVAL FORMATIONS - PART 3: SHIPBOARD AVIATION In Part 2 of this discussion on naval formations, we added the ships and submarines of the Reagan carrier strike group (CSG). Now, in Part 3, we'll move to the task of adding the CSG's aviation assets, namely, its fixed wing and rotary wing (helicopters) aircraft. When it comes to adding shipboard aviation to the mix, assembling the formation is much the same as it was with ships and submarines. However, the aircraft we are now hoping to add must firstly be added to (or associated with) a particular ship that is already part of the formation. This is because that aircraft will be based aboard and o…

This is the first in what will hopefully be a series of discussions on tactics in HCCE, inspired in part by Pete's suggestions. The first topic will be power projection or strike planning: These are my personal comments on Strike Planning. I like to borrow from the USAF's Targeting Guide, which is far more complex than necessary than required by HCCE, but it contains helpful principles and guidance. For example, for the purposes of this exercise, I assume that we have already determined what target we want to hit and what objectives we hope to achieve by hitting that particular target. Let's assume, as well, for the sake of our assessment, that our target is …

TAITENNEK'S HARPOON PAGES HC/HCE UPDATE A NEW SECTION IS ONLINE!!!! WESTERN PACIFIC BATTLESET 12 exiting scenario's from various author's. Have fun! Frans Koenz [aka Taitennek]

SPECIAL REPORT!!!!!.......... TAITENNEK'S HARPOON CLASSIC PAGES is online! Visit My Website: www.taitennek.com Comments, critics, and questions are welcome at: classic-mail@taitennek.com I hereby invite scenario-designers to post their work on my website, please mail me for further information. I also invite AAR-authors to post their reports. Have fun! Greetings, Frans [aka Taitennek]

I found a useful tanker trick that I haven't seen posted here I'd like to share. It comes in handy for real long range missions that takes a couple of refuels to make. Attach a couple of tankers to a F-15, send them out for the long range mission. Make sure your game time is running in real-time (1 second game-time equals 1 second game-time) for the next step. Select the group after takeoff and split 1 tanker from the group. When you are prompted to set a course for the new group, select yes then cancel the next menu item. Now go into the join menu and join this tanker to the other 2 aircraft. Later on, when you refuel, only one tanker will refuel your unit. If you…

First, I may be over-generalizing the screen names, so forgive me as I am not in front of my home computer. When a unit is first detected, but not classified, the icon appears in yellow on the main screen. Once detected and classified, it appears in red as a solitary icon representing any number of actual ships/aircraft/subs. In this case, lets talk surface ships. In the Pakistan Blockade scenario, the Indian group was first three, then seven, and finally eight platforms represented by the single ship icon as they were classified. Do enemy units that have been detected and classified appear individually in the more detailed upper left-hand screen? It does show in…

What is the range for terminal guidance flag? How many nautical miles? Does it depends of the range of the weapon?

I don't think it's mentioned often enough just what a great bunch of members we have in this group. A week or so ago, I upgraded to the Ultimate Edition, and completely lost the SE. Within a day, Tony had me back up and running again. This morning, I was attempting to do DB update in ANW, and bolluxed things up to the point I couldn't load a scenario. This time it Was Ralf who saved me from what I thought would be a complete reinstall. I heard back from him with a solution in less than 2 hours. Try getting action like that, (gratis no less), from Microsoft sometime. Thanx to all, Buddha

I just want to give a shout of thanks to broncepulido for the issue reports he has created the last week or so. It is heartening to see them documented. Please support him and the game by verifying his reports (i.e. does the problem happen for you too?), adding detail, and adding your own thoughts on what the correct behavior might be. My Harpoon time is currently focused on the XML scenario file experiment so I won't get to the issues for a while, show your support by taking part in the issue tracking process. Thank you

Operation "Redundancy" has been completed. Operation "Sunday Morning" will again be in effect.

Anyone know what happened to the H.U.L.L.? The last posts there are pretty old, both by me. Buddha

I was squarely smoked in the Labyrinth, WPAC 8.0, by the Neuron UCAV and the Hammer AASM GBU, I only know it was Neuron as it turned on radar for a look just before launching (could be an AI improvement, go all the way passive for stationary targets, ouch!). I still wonder how to defend this threat but can't find the chink in their armor, other then planting a CAP on the direct route between the enemy AB and my HVU, which is just gaming the game. One option could be to rather have the CAP try to intercept the weapons they deploy, the Hammer AASM, only those are even harder to detect than the platform. Looking in the DB the GBUs (JDAMs, EGBU, Hammer AASM and t…

I noticed this in HC2002, and now in HCE (which I have recently purchased)- TLAM missiles are listed as being for SURF targets, yet they are unable to target ships. There is a separate weapon for each of TASM and Tactical Tomahawk, but neither of these are implemented in most of the USA VLS platforms. This seems to neuter the CG-47/DDG-51/SSGN-726 as ASuW platforms, as well as limiting the capabilities of the SSN-688/21/774.

At Grumble's sugerence, I start this new topic. Today Tony has do a lot of changes in the HCE 2009-82 Game Engine, with a very impressive list of recovered features http://harpgamer.com...e-notes/page-11 The neutrals no detecting more enemy units for the player's side also speeds up the gameplay a lot! (as in WWII scenarios the neutral merchants reporting one and other time previously detected enemy units). Testing the drone scenario I see the gameplay is very improved, now the game runs very smooth, perhaps not slowed because the neutral detecting enemy units. The air-to-ground guns are effective now! I hope to test ASuW weapons against submarines latest, and other …

toolbox version 1.6.0 + requires GE 2017.05+? What is GE 2017.05? and where do I find it? I have 2015.027 Thanks

Apologies for bothering you again with another trivial question. This time I have a "how to do it" query about Toolbox IFR procedure to which, I hope, someone can give me a step-by-step "idiot's guide" I'm using Toolbox V171-3 in build 2021.006. The problem (well, for me its a problem!) is this: I have an air group which is returning to a base which is 950nm away. The group comprises: 000: 1-KC-135R (endurance: 942mins/7222nm) with 5799nm fuel available 001: 5-F-16-C/D Blk30/32 (endurance 101mins/774nm) 002: 1-F-16-C/D Blk30/32 (endurance 11mins/90nm) Obviously, I need to pass fuel from 000: to 002 as a priority and then have 000: …

New for this version 2.4.2.1 Of Toolbox A new Page KBShortCuts which includes a handy rundown of some of the shortcut keys that give features not obtained through the main F keys. Fixed a bug in the exact fix indicator and 'Cover' function in Attack Tab when player is Red. The toolbox size and position within the harpoon window will be remembered in subsequent games. to remember position follow instructions in settings page. Air Group Formation page gives an indication if the selected air unit is NOE (Nape Of Earth) capable and if its IFR (In Flight Refuel) capable. Air Refuel Page - when you enter this page it now automatically updates the Group …