Scenario Design & Discussion

Happy first birthday to Harpoon ANW! Since the release, over 150 NEW Harpoon3 scenarios have been written for the PlayersDB. Here is another one. The 262nd NEW Harpoon scenario of the year! INVASION OF ANTILLES Elections in the Netherlands Antilles have seen gains for the political party seeking closer ties to Venezuela and its President, Chavez. The Government has fallen and the legal status of the islands is unclear; with Curacao an independent nation within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Aruba, and Bonaire seeking a similar status, and the three smaller islands of St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, and Saba being municipalities within the Neth…

File Name: Operation Andes Wind (2017) File Submitter: Mgellis File Submitted: 14 Nov 2012 File Category: Scenarios A few years in the future...a military coup has put a junta hostile to the United States in power in Chile. American citizens need to be evacuated before they can be detained and used as hostages. An amphibious task force, and two other ships, must complete this mission while protecting themselves against Chilean forces. Image: A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey on the flight deck of an amphibious assault ship. Navy NewsStand Photo ID: 051115-N-3527B-049; Author: United States Navy, Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Timothy Bensken. Click here to…

The First new scenario of the year has just been released! Incoming Mail is a rebuild of a scenario from the original paper rules of Harpoon as was published in "Battles of the Third World War." It is Dave's fourth scenario effort. Thanks for sharing it with the community. The Soviets have two weapons that can reach NATO convoys in the Atlantic: submarines and long-range aircraft. Long-range bombers on the Kola peninsula can easily hunt the Atlantic. With Iceland in Soviet hands, however, they can attack at will and their range would be greatly increased. A standard NATO convoy crossing the Atlantic would consist of 40-50 merchant ships. Eight to ten…

Just a thought... In any scenario, you could divide a particular nation into more than one side; the difference being how different parts responded to other sides. For example, you could have two French ships as "France Task Force 1" and a third ship as "France Task Force 2." France Task Force 1 is set to respond to to a potentially hostile side as Neutral, but the second task force (the one ship) has a loose cannon for a captain...he's set on Hostile, to model him panicking and shooting first even though it is against orders. He gets played by the AI. Since the two French task forces are Friendly to each other, I imagine one shooting at a supposedly neutral …

AAR: The Empire Strikes Back By Paul Bridge "I can smell'em", said Commander Pettigrew. "I can just smell skunks in those straits". The Queen had been attacked and our orders were to have the HMAS Melbourne and group attack the base at Hasanuddin. The only way to do this was for us to close the distance to the base. This meant that we had to travel through the Indonesian islands in order to close the range so that our Sea Venom could reach the target. Whether or not Cmdr. Pettigrew really could smell submarines was now immaterial. Orders were orders. Orders were also issued to the Eagle TG to make best speed towards the bases in the Western part of Indonesi…

The 126th NEW Harpoon scenario of the year! Steel Broom In response to requests from KlubMarcus and Sharker2003, this scenario has been written with plenty of contacts to give it that additional realistic feeling of maritime situational awareness. Keep up the excellent feedback and the designers will try to accommodate as many requests as possible. New World Order battleset #4 - Part 1 - The War with UBAN - Indian Ocean Persian Gulf - #6 STEEL BROOM In September 1995, one of the West's not-so-secret desires was fulfilled. Saddam Hussein, the mother-of-all dictators, was assassinated. However, this apparent good fortune has also kindled one …

File Name: Pledge 7: Mission to Bahrain 1981-1982 Part 1 File Submitter: Mgellis File Submitted: 27 Sep 2012 File Category: Scenarios Late in 1981, Islamic militants tried to seize control of the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain. In history, this coup attempt failed, but this scenario assumes that it succeeded, that the United States decides to restore the former government of Bahrain, but that the only forces available for this mission are the Kitty Hawk battle group, two submarines, and a group of amphbious vessels. First, American forces must make their way to the Gulf of Oman to gather intelligence. However, Iran has warned the United States not to interfer…

The 39th NEW Harpoon scenario of the year! Prelude Tensions between China and Japan are growing after another violent incident between Chinese fishermen and the Japanese Coast Guard in coastal waters off the disputed Senkaku Islands. The tiny little Islands of the Senkaku Archipelago suddenly became very important for both nations after the discovery of huge gas and oil reserves in coastal waters off the Islands. Both nations are prepared to risk a military conflict to get control over the area...... Author: Frans Koenz This scenario has been tested in both H3 and ANW and is more challenging in H3. With over 310,000 PlayersDB scen…

The 9th NEW Harpoon scenario of the year! Gwadar you up to? India vs China & Pakistan - Jan 24, 2015 China has been a net oil importer since 1993, with the bulk of its Middle Eastern energy imports being transported circuitously by sea via the Strait of Malacca. The country's rising demand for overseas oil, fuelled by its rapid economic growth, has raised concern about becoming over-reliant on this narrow waterway. An alternate supply route in the form of a road and an eventual pipeline from Gwadar, Pakistan to China's westernmost provinces would reduce the dependence. Moreover, situated opposite the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 per…

Axis of Evil II The largest scenario ever written for Harpoon3 has now been digitally re-mastered and is hereby re-released for your enjoyment. It is the Mother of All Monster scenarios. Be forewarned. Examine the Readme.txt file carefully. The magnitude of this scenario may cause problems for your computer and should not be attempted by those with processor-challenged systems. The Chinese economic bubble has burst and it has fallen into recession. The economic picture is mirrored worldwide. Russia is plunged ever further into social and monetary chaos. In an effort to raise hard currency, Russian resorts to selling almost everything within its arsenal…

The 44th NEW Harpoon scenario in the last 12 months! Oubliette The war in central Europe is bogging down. Although NATO has suffered horrendous losses, the Soviet armoured thrust has lost its momentum. There are rumours of growing dissension and unrest among the upper echelons of military command in Moscow. The risk of the Soviets resorting to the use of nuclear weapons in desperation has climbed considerably in the past few days. US Navy ballistic missile submarines, already deployed and at sea, have been directed to their patrol stations in case things 'go south'. Several of these boomers, including USS Tennessee, have been ordered to take up …

"IN EVERY CLIME AND PLACE" The 40th new scenario of the year! A Cold War scenario with NATO attempting an amphibious landing somewhere on the coast of Norway. The passages of the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom [GIUK] Gap remain an intense focal point even in time of peace. The GIUK Gap is THE single most significant choke point for Russian merchant and naval shipping. These waters are also rich with abundant fishing areas and valuable mineral deposits and disputes regarding them are common. The resources that Russian once counted on are no longer guaranteed and a hungry Bear is a dangerous thing, indeed. At the same time, the Western Democracies …

From what I've been reading, Europe and its vicinity in 2020 might a lot like the "Great Powers" before World War I. The main players... * E.U. * Russia and its allies (Belarus, some of the Black Sea nations, etc.) * An alliance of Turkey and Israel (and some of their allies, perhaps Georgia) Wild card players who are trying to be independent of these blocs include Norway (not part of the E.U.), Ukraine, and Kazakhstan; the major North African states don't qualify as great powers but are strong enough to make a difference in a conflict (e.g., Russia and Egypt are stronger than Russia by itself). I am assuming that Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Algeria do not for…

Related to my last post, here's a possible breakdown of Asia in 2020... China: Continues to grow as a global power India: Continues to grow as a regional player capable of global power projection In response to America having less global influence (not so much an American decline but that other nations like China are catching up), Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia have all taken steps to increase their navies and are more capable of handling convoy missions, anti-piracy missions around the world, even projecting power to an extent with helicopter carriers, etc. Iran, Yemen, North Korea, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Vietnam focus on building up their ai…

In 1980, leftist guerillas began a long and bloody campaign in Peru. As a scenario possibility...what if the Soviet Union had been pro-active in their support of the guerilllas, sending supplies, "military advsiors," etc., starting around 1981? First, how would they have done this? A full-scale invasion seems extremely unlikely. A blockade of Peruvian ports also seems unlikely, but the Soviets could probably have done this--a large visible task force and a squadron or two of submarines. Any thoughts on how plausible this is? The most likely to me seems a moderate form of support--effectively a task force that included supply ships, some way to move s…

Here's an excellent AAR. It is reprinted with here permission of the author: SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare HarpGamer.com - Home of the HCDB.

Related to my other posts on this subject, how likely are these 2020 possibilities... South Africa: Mostly capable of defending its own interests with a medium-sized air force and a good coastal navy; capable of convoy missions; not really able to project power Nigeria: Mostly capable of defending its own interests with a medium-sized air force and a good coastal navy; capable of convoy missions (they would need a couple of frigates to do this...who would they buy them from...England?); not really able to project power Most other African nations have little in the way of navies, but continue to buy aircraft...I'm going to guess mostly F-7s from China and other…

File Name: Pledge 3: Gambian Gambit 1981 File Submitter: Mgellis File Submitted: 15 Aug 2012 File Category: Scenarios DB Used: HUD 4 v1.1 b10 Authors: Mark Gellis Battleset: No Information A Marxist coup has seized power in the Gambia. Soviet and Libyan forces are in the area, offering support. The Forrestal and her battle group must eliminate these threats! (Image shows the Forrestal (CVA-59) with F-4 Phantoms parked on her deck. Image source: U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 1996.488.226.085) Click here to download this file

Here's an excellent AAR. It is reprinted with here permission of the author: SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare HarpGamer.com - Home of the HCDB.

30th Scenario posted this year! Freek Schepers has posted his latest scenario. This is his first scenario to use the Colonial Wars database by Paul Bridge. We sincerely hope that it is not his last for this database. CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS In this scenario the forces are arranged as they were in the Caribbean on October 22nd 1962; the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. After the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Cuba started re-arming with the most modern Soviet weapon systems. MiG-19 and -21 fighters armed with Atoll-AAM, SSM-armed missile boats, and SA-2 SAMs have been supplied to Cuba in early 1962. Training has been provided in the USSR and Soviet a…