Scenario Design & Discussion

Here's Herman's half of the AAR...it pretty much sums it up, though from my perspective once I zeroed in on the sub I was forced to treat it like a cornered bulldog...let it expend its energy (torpedoes) before we got in too close with the ELMA's. A few too many beers and a bloody mary (BAAAAD Composite Warfare Commander!) led to some poor attention to detail that allowed a couple of my ships to be lost needlessly. That and the nine passes I made over the Kilo trying to drop ELMA's that wouldn't fire! But once the FSG's screamed in with the SET-65's his goose was cooked. Thanks to Herman for the great game and the scenario and Tony for the server. Brandon B…

Here's another excellent AAR from Freek Schepers XG file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare

I'll wait until we finish the scen to post my AAR...I regret not being a bit mroe conservative with my helo's at the onset and I'm poorly positioned now to defend my charges, but the situation is far from decided. And there was nothing little about the seas on my 'cruise'! Brandon Brandon came ashore from his little cruise in the Gulf and immediately came onto HarpGamer to look for a game of ANW. Can you believe this guy? He didn't even call his girlfriend before setting up a game with us. Now, THERE is a guy who has his priorities straight! [] We selected Matrix Siege made with the favourite database of Harpoon3:ANW, the PlayersDB. This sce…

AAR „Naval Infantry“ Scenario designed by Herman Hum Based on an original Harpoon Classic HDS-II-scenario Database: Players DB 7.4.7 A. Foreword: Herman rebuilds a lot of HC scens, especially those of the HC HDS-II-Battleset, with AGSIs permission. “Naval Infantry” belongs to the HDS-II-GIUK-Battleset, Herman´s favourite. In Norway Nato is down to two squadrons of Falcons and one of F-5s. Four Orions are stationed at Kevlavik and the main force are three diesel subs. This is what ought to do the job: to stop an full scale CIS amphibious landing at Bodo in the tracks. Therefore I have to sink three amphibious landing ships. B. My experience…

Here's another excellent AAR. It is reprinted here with permission of the author:

AAR: Operation Raffles - Invasion [spoiler Alert] By Paul Bridge Today was the day that Imperial forces would remove the Communist government from Indonesia. The British Empire might be on the road to granting her colonial possessions independence, but today, she would prove that the Lion Rampant still had her claws. After a quick examination of the forces available, I ordered the ready-force Canberra bombers aloft from Selatar - destination: Adisumarmo. After reading reports of how HMS Eagle was almost blown out of the water, the Badger bombers were judged to be the most lethal force in the Indonesian arsenal. I hoped that a swift strike on their home ba…

Here's an excellent AAR. It is reprinted here with permission of the author: 24 December 2003, 00:00:00 Zulu: First I took some time to study the scenario; what units are available and the best tactic to eliminate as many enemy targets as possible. Several aircraft are already airborne. 4 Backfire-C [no payload] aircraft have been ordered to return to Yelizovo AB. 4 groups with 4 Backfires each, armed with AS-4 Kitchen missiles are cruising east of Misawa. They have to close to a distance of less than 190nm in order to launch their deadly payload. Few fighters, as well as EW/AEW units, are airborne. My naval assets are 9 ships and 6 submarines. 2 SSK KILO …

Here's an excellent AAR. It is reprinted here with permission of the author: I tried Power Sweep from the NATO side. As I started the game, I got a passive sonar contact from my brit SSN that was behaving as a submarine; it course was quickly plotted to be right towards me so I calculated intercept time at 2 hours and started moving Kobben at 12 knots at periscope depth to cover the area left by my SSN. Two hours later the sub, now confirmed as Victor was at 6nm and two 81 knot torpedo's 'flew' towards it. destruction was instant w/o any chance of counterfire! I next moved the Brit SSN at 20 knots (it would not go to Flank) to cover the Norwegian Ko…

Here's an excellent After Action Report by Ralf Koelbach. It is re-printed here with at the request of the author. „Project Peninsula 94: Reconnaissance“ Scenario designed by Herman Hum Based on an original Harpoon Classic HDS-II-scenario Database: Players DB 6.4.9 A. Foreword: Herman likes to rebuild HC scens, especially those of the HC HDS-II-Battleset, with AGSIs permission. “Reconnaissance” is part of a group of scenarios which belong thematically together. The Nato side has eight first line subs and a very difficult mission: First to get six subs in designated search areas. Second, keeping them six hours there – weapons tight. After that weapon…

AAR: Sea King to Chile Incident [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon ANW scenario Author: Freek Schepers Jerome Chiecchio (a.k.a. Angle of Attack) and I elected to try out this hypothetical scenario set in the Falklands. One of the most mysterious events of the war happened on May 16th, when a Sea King was found burning and abandoned near Punta Arenas airbase. The British claimed a 500nm navigation error but, after the war, it became clear that SAS Special Forces had been planning a raid to take out the Exocet-armed Super Etendard aircraft which had sunk Sheffield and Atlantic Conveyor. Speculation on the nature of this operation still ranges from SAS-Hercules aircraft…

AAR: Syrian WMD [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon 3 Scenario By Scott Mackenzie Admiral Forrester read the Intel report one last time. Well, he thought, we've finally found where those WMDs, originally reported in Iraq, have ended up. We may not have found the weapons, themselves, but we certainly have located the technology for producing them. Those boys in the Agency finally got one right after all these years and now the USN was being called in to do what they do best - blow things up. As always, the AEW [Airborne Early Warning] aircraft were sent aloft first to establish the radar picture over the region. With all eight aircraft available, the resolu…

As a real fan of mountaineering and Argentina's Mount Aconcagua, I elected to play side. After examining my initial dispositions, I decided that since my troop transports were virtually defenceless and I had no idea where the Chileans had positioned their submarine, I had to see to their protection first. I re-organized my CTF to provide ASW support and to escort them to the disputed zone. All available aerial assets were also launched to attack the Chilean airbase at Punta Arenas. Since there was only one Chilean base in the region, I hoped to squelch her air operations with a lightning strike. My lone, slow Dakota recon asset was sent to look for the Chilean fle…

Here's another After-Action Report re-printed with permission from the author. For the first time since the Slag in de Java Sea in 1942 a joint UK/Dutch TF was going to war under Dutch command. Our mission was to prevent an invasion of the ABC-islands and reinforce them with marines. Initial operations went easy. Venezuala appeared to remain neutral and only some C130s were detected. US Navy recon units were out in force. I started flying my recon planes to find the two invasion forces that my intel had reported might be under way. I detected some patrol craft and a few separate destroyers and after 2 hours my recon plane was fired upon by a destroyer. The fi…

AAR: The Cyprus Question 1966 [spoiler Alert] By Quinton Van Zyl Admiral Feathergill, aboard the carrier Ark Royal, examined his Order of Battle one last time. As the mission of the task force was the liberation of Cyprus, he decided to re-arm most of his Greek air assets for AAW missions. They weren’t likely to be of much use over Cyprus and their limited range meant that they could only attack the Turkish mainland. That was the one thing he did NOT intend to do. He would try to keep the conflict centred on Cyprus and not allow it to escalate to attacks on Turkey proper. He immediately sent his reconnaissance assets aloft to try and pin down the location of…

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…

AAR: The Five-Pointed Star [spoiler Alert] By Quinton Van Zyl Wow, talk about walking into the lion's den. The Chief of Staff opined to the Admiral privately, "Pourquoi ne pas simplement les laisser prendre Djibouti?" << Why don't we just let them HAVE Djibouti? >> Of course, it was only in jest. He and the Admiral had expressed this same sentiment countless times before; on many different missions throughout the empire. The only response was the same response that had been given to him on every other occasion, "Pour l'honneur de la France." << For the Honour of France >> From the air, the Gulf of Aden really did resemble the op…

Here's another After-Action Report re-printed with permission from the author. The conflict started quite, French planes were buzzing overhead and I managed not to annoy them into hostility. I used the quite of the pre-dawn morning to drop Gurka's around the three Dessert Forts. Egyptians were not known for night-fighting after all. They were reinforced during the day but communication problems with my Indian friends prevented good damage reports, so as the conflict went on I supported them with flights of hunters in an attempt to breach the Forts to 50% damage. Fighters were dispatched overhead BP Torrey Canyon and the BP refinary. They strafed some dows …

AAR: Torpedo Run [spoiler Alert] By Paul Bridge After receiving our latest orders, I asked the Jimmy (First Lieutenant) to plot an estimated path from the last reported position to Jakarta. I planned to position the Oberon astride their Path of Intended Movement [PIM] at this point. If we were unable to intercept them from the front, I was dubious if we would be successful in a stern chase. As we made transit southward, we periodically rose to periscope depth to 'sniff' the air for electronic transmissions with our Electronic Support Measures [ESM]. Two small patrol boats were discovered a fair distance away, but were not a threat to us. A pair of G…

Klaus Behrmann's New World Order: Uppercut Bottom line up front: This was a wonderful scenario to teach humility and patience to the trigger-happy commander such as myself. Personally, I disliked the second SAG to the west - their presence is neither necessary nor explained, as far as I could see. They do offer a few Harpoons and Tomahawks, but nothing the main battle group couldn't deliver themselves. Besides... by the time their missiles strike, as a Pakistani I have no assets to speak of anymore, anyways! On the other hand, I thoroughly enjoyed this simple but quite challenging scenario. Give it a few days, and I may just try the NATO side. Basic Data: …

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.