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Below is an installer that should bring any copy of the game purchased from Matrix Games up to the current build. https://www.harpgamer.com/downloads/HC2025.025_ComprehensivePatch.zip When you get to selecting an installation directory and Start Menu group, please double-check that they are correct before proceeding.

The official Harpoon 5 Jumpstart is released. This is a preview of the H5 rules in the form of a scenario playthrough. The Jumpstart is a free download. It can be downloaded here, and will be available soon at the Wargame Vault (http://wargamevault.com) or at The Admiralty Trilogy (http://www.admiraltytrilogy.com/). For your behind-the-scenes information, the Jumpstart scenario was run by me using SimPlot. There were actually three scenarios executed, with each one resulting in tweaks to the rules, data annexes, or the scenario graphics. The Guardian scenario contained therein is the third and final version. Some changes to SimPlot were also implemented to facilitate making data changes to the scenario. Some of these changes will find there way into the next SP update. Larry Bond has given permission to freely copy and distribute the Jumpstart. The H5 rules, data annexes, and Player's Handbook are awaiting final print proofing. We are almost there! HpnV Jumpstart 10 Jul 20.pdf

An item to keep in mind, if you already own Harpoon Ultimate, you have Harpoon 97 already (and a lot of other versions) via the 20th Anniversary launcher pictured below.

In hopes of being allowed to get an official patch distributed by Matrix Games, I threw together this overview list of improvements since the 2015.027 patch and thought you might enjoy: Staff Assistant – Added additional player dials to increase/decrease prompts to radiate. DB Structure – Increased magazine limit per platform from 127 to 32,767. DB Structure – Increased countries limit from ~127 to 1023, country width from 16 to 32 characters. DB Structure – Increased to 255 Aircraft, Ship Types. DB Structure – Increased to 128 runway sizes, 32 characters each. Scenario Editor – Show the same expanded set of loadout data the Game Engine (GE) shows. Game Engine – More improvements to allowing 255 units per group, up from 127 (continued bug fixing). Game Engine – Air to Air refueling improvements splitting tankers to RTB when their range is less than refueled planes. Game Engine – Added RWR sensor model. Game Engine – Increased number of formation zones from 4 to 64 (6 available in UI), max formation radius from 255nm to 32767nm. Game Engine – Formation-keeping works better than ever Game Engine – Started adding UUIDs to game structures (unit, group, …) to be able to globally track them. Game Engine – Scenario and Saved game lineage added to be able to track the history of a scenario or saved game. Most useful for troubleshooting but also other benefits. Game Engine – Saved games now store the orders, previously the user would lose access to the orders when loading a saved game. Game Engine – Added setting to force the AI to stay on plotted paths or if they can run off on their own volition. Game Engine – Torpedo noise level logic that was making torpedoes way too quiet fixed. Too short torpedo acquisition range logic fixed. Game Engine – Expanded maximum groups possible from 676 Red & Blue total to move than 1,300 groups for each of those sides. Game Engine – Nuclear detonations game crash fixed and more accurate/thorough destruction of units as a result of the detonation(s). Game Engine – User can change speed & altitude/depth of some individual units in groups. Game Engine – Dialog window sizing and position improvements. Game Engine – Revamped victory condition evaluation. Also record more meta information for AARs, etc. General – Tons of bug fixes. Game Engine - ExportDLL interface expansion. Every non-UI aspect of the game can be overridden as a result. This has been utilized to great effect. Don Thomas in Australia has written add-ons to automate aerial refueling, most of submarine prosecution, AAR generation, and more.

The code in AreaDefense loops thru the mounts from first to last looking for a valid weapon, not the optimal weapon. AreaDefense also tags the target missiles as crossing targets so that skips at least one range check (which doesn't take courses into account so would not have prevented the SAMs from firing. It is not a small undertaking to replace the AreaDefense logic. The ExportDLL interface allows it to be replaced without modifying the core game (which we can no longer do). In short, don't hold your breath on a fix for this one. The intriguing bit is that NewAreaDefense() which I wrote in the 2013 timeframe. It does check speed and bearings to see if an intercept is kinematically possible. NewAreaDefense was not completed.

AAR for this scenario, I hope it's in the right place. Thanks for this, it was very fun. I got Minvic with 60 A/C shot down, and 5 ships sunk. After that, it seemed like I was just making the rubble jump, so I moved on. What I found out is that the F-35 is almost invincible, even with the shorter range C7 AMRAAM.

Following a suggestion from someone else on the Steam forum, I was able to find an almost 30 year old fix! Dr. Who's Harpoon Pages https://www.harpoonpages.com/harpoon1.htm The 4/04/97 update can be downloaded and imported into the Harpoon Classic 97 folder to replace the NAVC.res file (I created a backup of the original file just in case). When I ran the scenarios using that updated file, the ships all appeared correclty as Okean class instead of Kalinin class. The website also includes an update for the EC2000 scenarios. Were there any old bugs you can remember from those scenarios - anything I should look out for before deciding whether to apply that update as well?

There aren't many sims that can claim the longevity of Harpoon. As TonyE has said, the community has been the key factor to both its success and long life.

It's been a long time dream by many of us to be able to limit the number of munitions available to aircraft. Recent additions to the game by TonyE just migh have us there. This is a screen shot of an early use of the new Stores Consumed feature that tracks most munitions as they are fired. They can be filtered by firing unit class, home base and side (amongst other). The listing is circled in the lower right of the screen. The information can also be exported to a text file for later perusal. An extension of this could be assigning $ values to munitions giving another dimension to 'scoring'.

HCE - 2025.011 - 2025-02-28 =========================== - Chg:32850 GE Non-air groups could have up to 30 minute delays in turning to an intercept course. Fixed by checking if a group has an intercept event during path navigation and if it does, recalculate the course much more often. (thanks donaldseadog) https://harpgamer.com/harpforum/topic/32850-delayed-turn-of-destroyer-to-engage-enemy/ - Chg:33573 GE Player was previously allowed to fire AAMs not capable of orbital altitude at enemy missiles at orbital altitude. CheckGroupWeapons now does an altitude check but only for missiles fired against missiles. Also applied these for Satellites. (thanks Enrique) https://harpgamer.com/harpforum/topic/33573-harriers-launching-aams-to-orbit/ - Chg:33224 SE Position dialog DIALOG316 when changing a group's position always showed East and North. Corrected. (thanks donaldseadog) https://harpgamer.com/harpforum/topic/33224-se-incorrect-label-for-west-longitudes/ - Chg:00000 SE Made the left mouse click Range and Bearing text at the bottom of the window show just like the GE by adding coordinates and water depth to the readout.

Ok, this was fun! Second run was better, the big enemy surface group was a bit further off. Sadly, it spawned in the vicinity of my smaller surface group, enveloping it with its SAMs, thus making it impossible to safeguard the smaller surface group from missile attack. The few aircraft in Cyprus were also not able to stop air attacks against the islands installations and I could not get my carrier aircraft over the island in time, since I had to manuever around the SAM envelope of the big enemy surface group. RED thus managed to pull of a minimum victory after annihilating my smaller surface group, sinking 3 of my ships. I did not give up and launched an all-out counterstrike. Repeated air strikes killed the enemy surface group and then one by one the enemy bases and supporting units died. Total victory was inevitable.

aviator, here is a list of Soviet nuclear powered submarines that were commissioned by 1990 and which were serving with the Northern Fleet at the time: Project 627 (NATO November) SSN: K-3, K-5 (decommissioned in January 1990), K-11, K-21, K-50; decommissioned in April 1990: K-11, K-21, K-50 Pr 658 (Hotel) SSBN: K-16, K-19 (in reserve since 1979, decommissioned April 1990), K-33, K-40, K-145, K-149 (went into reserve fleet in March 1990) Pr 667A (Yankee) SSBN: K-32 (did not deploy after 1986 due to reactor accident), K-137 Leninets (on missile patrol in the North Atlantic from 19 October to 31 December 1990), K-140 (out of service by 17 December 1990), K-214, K-228, K-241, K-245, K-249, K-253 (Yankee Notch conversion), K-395 (in drydock for Yankee Notch conversion), K-403 (sea trials of towed array pod), K-411 (completed Yankee Stretch conversion in 1990), K-418 (removed from active service in 1989), K-420 (Yankee Sidecar SSGN conversion, but torpedoes only by 1989), K-423, K-426, K-444; decommissioned in April 1990: K-32, K-140, K-426 [Note: In 1988 the director of US naval intelligence Adm Studeman told Congress that Yankee class SSBNs had ceased patrols off the US coast in late 1987 and were instead conducting "combat service patrols against theater targets" (i.e. staying close to home), presumably to compensate for the loss of the SS-20 under the INF Treaty.] Pr 667B (Delta I) SSBN: K-279, K-385, K-447, K-450, K-457, K-460, K-465, K-472, K-475 Pr 667BD (Delta II) SSBN: K-92, K-182, K-193, K-421 Pr 667BDR (Delta III) SSBN: K-44 (in post drydock sea trials), K-129 (had powerplant failure in June 1989, may not have been available), K-424, K-449 (went to Pacific Fleet in November 1990), K-487, K-496 Pr 667BDRM (Delta IV) SSBN: K-18, -51, -64, -84, -114, -117, -407 (not commissioned until late November 1990) Pr 670M (Charlie II) SSGN: K-209, -452, -458, -479, -503, -508 Pr 671 (Victor I) SSN: K-38, -53, -69, -147, -306, -323, -367 (did not deploy again after a reactor accident in 1985), -370 (may not have been available for deployment), -398, -438, -462, -481 Pr 671RT (Victor II) SSN: K-371, -387, -467, -488 (never returned to sea after 1988 drydock), -495, -513, -517 Pr 671RTM (Victor III) SSN: K-218, -244, -254, -298, -299, -358, -502, -524, -527 Pr 671RTMK (Improved Victor III) SSN: K-292, K-388, K-138 (operational from January 1990), K-414 (not commissioned until 30 December 1990) Pr 675 (Echo II) SSGN: К-1 (may not have deployed after 1989), K-22, K-28, K-35 (final deployment in 1989), K-47 (in refuel and overhaul, did not return until 1992), K-74, K-104, K-125, K-128 (not in active service after 1989), K-131 (did not deploy after 1984), K-170 (may not have been operational after turbine accident in 1988), K-172 (stayed in port after reactor leak in June 1989); decommissioned in 1990: K-28, K-74, K-128, K-172 (in April) Pr 705 (Alfa) SSN: K-123 (received a new reactor in 1990, probably not operational until 1992), K-316, K-373, K-432, K-463, K-493 (all but K-123 decommissioned in April 1990) Pr 941 (Typhoon) SSBN: TK-12, TK-13, TK-17, TK-20, TK-202, TK-208 Pr 945 (Sierra I) SSN: K-239, K-276 Pr 945A (Sierra II) SSN: K-534 (not commissioned until 26 December 1990) Pr 949 (Oscar I) SSGN: K-206 Minsky Komsomolets, K-525 Pr 949A (Oscar II) SSGN: K-119, K-132 (transferred to Pacific Fleet in late October 1990), K-148, K-410 (not commissioned until 22 December 1990), K-442 (not commissioned until 28 December 1990) Pr 971 (Akula) SSN: K-154 (commissioned but reportedly not operational until December 1993), K-157 (commissioned but reportedly not operational until November 1995), K-317 Pantera (not commissioned until 27 December 1990), K-328 (commissioned but reportedly not operational until December 1992), K-461 (commissioned but reportedly not operational until December 1991), K-480 I will further update this list with information about which boats might have actually been available for service.

As far as missiles are concerned I have notice some missiles rated as surf capable will hit the targeted ship. Some of the are Slam-er a land attack also variant of the harpoon and the Scalp EG of French design. If it has a surf attack flag it usually will attack the designated target assigned to it despite other ships. If it has sea attack flag it will attack the first detected after activation. These are my findings.

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Yeah, in general I think that as long as the annex ceilings exist, more focus is better. For example, e.g. a battleset that focuses on the Persian Gulf from 1990 to 2002. And its usually easier to be backward looking in historical context when developing a DB (and a battleset that employs it) than trying to predict the future.

Demo version 2025.025 has been uploaded.

"And this brings on an even bigger question, how many people still want to play this game? " That's something I sometimes wonder. Certainly the download of new scenarios isn't what it used to be but there is still obvious interest. Also time will tell but the Steam addition to the equation might well bring a new surge. I think HC is still a unique simulation, where the new programs are more a game. Taking into account current limits to database size when pondering this question I've wondered whether there's now a need to start a new (series 3?) DB from a more recent start date - an issue is that many nations still use quite old platforms. The main issue to my mind is the sheer size of the job of starting from scratch.

Progress is slow. The yanks must be running low on TLAMs, they've lost important surveillance, fighter and bomber AC and we're getting our bases stocked. But it still looks dodgy. Having lots of fun!

In a few weeks you should start seeing signs of the current Harpoon Classic build being published on Steam. Apparently, the publishing process has been prioritized again.

Taiwan Straight 2nd Crisis Escalated View File Scenario Background: On 24 and 25 August 1958 Chinese Communist (PRC) forces and Taiwanese (ROC) forces clashed in the vicinity of Dongding Island, which the Nationalist (ROC) troops controlled. The action was seen as an attempt by the communists to land on the island. This was the only naval and amphibious landing action during the crisis. ROC had begun to build military installations on the island of Kinmen (Quemoy) and the Matsu archipelago, very close to the Chinese mainland. The PRC shelled the islands of Kinmen (Quemoy) and the Matsu Islands in an attempt to take them from Taiwan, governed by the Kuomintang (KMT), and to probe the extent of American commitment to defend the Republic of China. The conflict also involved air, naval, and amphibious operations. Then U.S. secretary of state Christian Herter reportedly described it as the "first serious nuclear crisis". The USA provided military assistance in both material, especially aircraft and artillery, and a strong naval presence including naval escorts for island repleshments. The Communist Chinese government announced a unilateral ceasefire on 6 October 1958. However, on 20 October the PLA resumed artillery fire on Kinmen because a U.S. Navy warship had breached the PRC-declared 3 nautical miles exclusive zone from the coast of China that they claimed was a stipulation for their unilateral ceasefire agreement. In this scenario we play with the idea of the situation escalating, rather than subsiding. Use Database HCCW 140314 and for best play Game version 2025.023 or newer and ErrataGE.dll (download from harpgamer.com forum). Submitter donaldseadog Submitted 08/25/2025 Category WestPac  

This released on the weekend. It's H97 version 1.60.

Well, al least it all means Harpoon still has some future.

Since this is in theory the last build of the game related to the Matrix Games publishing of the game, we will list some workarounds here for serious issues that arise. Errata: 1. 2025-07-02 The Scenario Editor (SE) has multiple issues in the release build. Rather than using Wscenedt32.exe, please use Wscenedt32dbg.exe which does not show the same issues. An even better idea may be to rename Wscenedt32.exe to Wscenedt32rel.exe then copy Wscenedt32dbg.exe to Wscenedt32.exe so that you don't accidentally use the more troublesome build. a. This is resolved in the HC2025.025_ComprehensivePatch.zip installer. 2. 2025-07-02 The BattleSet Builder makes very washed out maps so we need to go back to an older version 2015.027. a. This is resolved in the HC2025.025_ComprehensivePatch.zip installer. 3. 2025-08-23 The HDSR.RSR file (for Malacca Straits BattleSet) was not included in the installer. a. This is resolved in the HC2025.025_ComprehensivePatch.zip installer.

AutoTesting results. This is a process that runs every built in scenario in autoplay mode (game plays itself) from first the Blue side, then the Red side. 2025.022 Release Build GE Original 4 no crashes HDSI no crashes HDSII no crashes HDSIII no crashes EC2000 no crashes EC2003 no crashes WestPac no crashes USNINew no crashes This is perhaps the best results ever. There were three crashes but upon re-running the scenarios they did not crash.

And yes, Doolitov´s Raid is my fav, too! This means Harpoon Commander´s Edition, the latest evolution of the Harpoon 1 / Classic line. There is similiar scenario in H2 / H3, "To protect the Queen". Playing it gives You a really good feeling about the differences beween the two Harpoon lines which both are so great, even after decades.

HCE - 2025.010 - 2025-02-27 =========================== - Chg:00000 GE Incremented DLL interface version to 41. - Chg:00000 SE ExportDLL SaveScen function added to tell the ExportDLL when the scenario has been saved in the SE. - Chg:00000 GE Both the GE and SE will load ExportDLLs in the \ExportDLLs sub-directory of HC. The GE will then load any ExportDLLs in \ExportDLLs\GE. The SE will then load any ExportDLLs in \ExportDLLs\SE - Chg:00000 SE ExportDLL interface enabled: ScenLoad StartGroup (much improved) UnitTop (much improved) - Chg:00000 SE ExportDLL made as many functions as applicable to the SE available to ExportDLLs to call (funcRefs). They haven't been checked for functionality: NewPtr DispPtr del_HarpoonEvent_list QueueHarpoonEvent CreateVictoryCondition CreateGroup disk_id_to_annex_id GetLoadoutIndex dllCheckLatLonDepth annex_id_to_disk_id ResetGroupCenter SetCourseUnit_Raw SetCourseGroup_Raw free_Unit free_Group ChangeActGroupPtr ChangeActUnitPtr

HCE - 2024.006 - 2024-09-04 =========================== - Chg:33611 GE Let AI submarine groups fire missiles against player ships again. AI should be able to fire missiles at 3/4 max range now instead instead of a range similar to their torpedo range. (thanks Enrique) https://harpgamer.com/harpforum/topic/33611-ia-submarines-dont-launch-anti-ship-missiles/

I couldn't resist giving it a try, looks promising. I should be able to get the build out in the next 24 hours for you to poke holes in it (or a bunch of ships).

It is comforting to see folks still producing scenarios and folks still playing them. In related news, it does look like F-16s in Ukrainian will be receiving both AIM-9X and AIM-120C8.

View File Coral Sea 25 Coral Sea 2025 Stop the Chinese advance with a scratch team. The title is "Coral Sea", however this may play out more like ADBA in February of 1942, which was a disaster for the Allies. Your results may vary. Uses Build 2023.11 or newer. Duck. Submitter rainman Submitted 07/13/2024 Category WestPac  

All of the subsurface contacts in the sim were originally submarines, so no surprise that the code assumes they are subject to magnetic detection.

Time for bed, I'm getting a feeling the csv file is OK (it took a while to work out for each class the order of mag items in the csv is reverse to the PE). The move to the commondb file is getting the number of items right but messing up if the first is deleted or overwritten. I'll look tomorrow at what happens when simply adding items

In the game there are: Torpedo Sub-Types: (these are stored in the F1 annex Guidance field so 66 = 'B', 78 = 'x', etc.) 'B' - Active/Passive seeker '2' - Double-wire guided None 'P' - Passive Seeker '1' - Single-wire guided 'S' - Straight-running Unknown 'X', 'x' - Wake following, term active 'A' - Active seeker (this one is not in the default PE for some reason) Torpedo Codes: DE Payload Quiet

51 years ago, twelve F-4s, from the 8th TFW, released Paveway “smart” bombs, to finally knock down the Thanh Hóa (Dragon's Jaw) Bridge in N.Vietnam (April 27, 1972). Previously, 871 conventional bombing sorties had only succeeded in scratching the bridge. Air Power

Remember to take the built-in WestPac scenario for a spin too.

HCE - 2023.004 - 2023-04-04 =========================== - Chg:32897 GE Rather than loosing attacks against submarines from close to a weapon's max range, now prompt to fire them from at most 2nm away. This could negatively affect weapons like CAPTOR mines that might ideally loose their torpedoes from farther away. It would be a good thing to test. https://harpgamer.com/harpforum/topic/32897-stand-off-asw-weapons-failure/ (thanks Enrique)

I'm guessing us mortals are of no help?

Attached is the last good saved game before air patrols became corrupt. Unit ID Test 1-39.0008.zip

HCE - 2022.009 - 2022-07-29 =========================== - Chg:00000 PE Added reference to Microsoft Scripting Runtime so that FileSystemObject can be used for reading .csv files. - Chg:00000 PE No longer uses the MS Access Import and Export Specifications, imports and exports are now done with file reader & writer and DAO.recordset. This works around Microsoft breaking the import and export spec functionality. As a side effect, it makes it easier to modify the structure of the database.

Thanks TonyE Confirmed fixed.

Oops, I'll fix the version required reference, thanks for feedback

AAR: WARNING, possible spoilers... I lost two Atlantiques in the ASuW role which got into Aster-range probably and one frigate which got killed by a torpedo fired by an undetected submarine. As long as the E2 and E3 keep their radars on, there is no need to turn the radars of the carrier group on and reveal your positions. The Rafales could easily intercept inbound aircraft and I shot down about 30 of them. Another 12 or so were killed in the air bases, which I repeatedly attacked with Scalps and Tomahawks from aircraft and ships. I managed to torpedo most of the enemy surface group with Amethyste, which prompted min. victory conditions after around 8 hours of gameplay. Thank you!

Hello, I'm a huge fan of the Harpoon game series. I have almost all editions in my collection (You can see it on pictures attached). I have a few questions about this great game that, despite having searched the web, haven't found an answer: The first question is about the game Harpoon. Has Harpoon Designers' Series III ever been released as a standalone game or only in the Harpoon Classic collection? Never seen it on ebay or amazon Was Harpoon 2: Battleset 4: Regional Conflicts 2 and 3 released as a standalone game or only as Harpoon 2 Deluxe Multimedia Edition? Today I've just bought Harpoon 2: Battleset 4 Regional Conflicts 1, and I'm just curious if other parts were published separately... Do any of You have any of the parts that are missing in my collection: Harpoon 3 Pro, Harpoon Advanced Naval Warfare, Harpoon Commanders Edition? These are very hard to find anywhere... If You are wiling to sell, contact me. Best regards and greetings from Poland to all Harpoon fans!

There is the issue of perception during game play (because of the effect of die rolls, principally.) And then there is the DB reality: Rafale (all versions), ATA/DATA values are 55/30 (the same as Eurofighter, for example.) By comparison, the F-14B/D is 45/25. As for Mica (all versions), its hit probability (pH) is 75. By comparison, the AIM-54C Phoenix is 55. Send an early fourth generation fighter up against a late 4.5 generation fighter, get bad die rolls, and viola ... these kind of results.

I play Harpoon for more than twenty-five years. First I considered it only as a game. Now, when playing harpoon or Command Modern Opearations I feel like using not game but professional program to simulate war conflict (I somewhere have read that professional version of CMO allows/will allow You to play multiplayer - WOW!) . For me, my collection Is a part of strategic wargame history: games with thick manuals with beautiful box pictures... Games that don't need GeForce RTX, but are beautiful. Games that are so complicated (I play it so long, but I'm still learning how to play it well) but can steal Your time for weeks and months. Games that You never get bored with, You come back to them regularly... Look, it has been 32 years since Harpoon was firste released (1989) and today, in 2021, we're running internet forum harpgamer.com, isn't it cool?! We create scenarios, mods, we discuss, chat with each other, no matter whether we are 20 or 50 years old! I'm very interested in games You mentioned, they will complete my collection - searching internet everyday to grab them. Of course You can share the email with Mr Gilman... It's a little bit intimidating for me that, with help of Internet, I can today contact/write to/chat with for example Don Gilman or Larry Bond, creator of such great games, that I played in my youth and I play now!

Reminder: Next Harpoon chat on Zoom is Friday November 12th @ 7:00 PM Central. Hope to see you there! Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88443754075?pwd=ZXhoVjdQdFpCbkczeUFwamduSWVtZz09 Meeting ID: 884 4375 4075 Passcode: 874700 One tap mobile +16699006833,,88443754075#,,,,*874700# US (San Jose) +14086380968,,88443754075#,,,,*874700# US (San Jose) Dial by your location +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 646 876 9923 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) Meeting ID: 884 4375 4075 Passcode: 874700 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdfSLC4a5A

Should anyone want to buy me a present, Mizu Super Yachts look a whole lot like warships on the outside and would be a prime choice of gift. Now if anyone does give me such a gift, I'll take it for one cruise, put it up for sale, quit my job, and write warfare simulations for the rest of my life. So win-win for all of us, right? MIZU 174' Oceanfast Superyacht For Sale Oceanfast Yachts (denisonyachtsales.com) [just an example]

Well they're much more spectacular Xmas photos than I could provide. While Tony had a white Xmas I sat in humid 35 deg C temps overlooking the western brim of the Pacific Ocean. I hope everyone relaxed a bit and were able to enjoy family and friends. Don

I'm loving the Harpoon V rules but find that I need to enter them slowly in order to get the hang of one portion of the rules before entering into another set (figure out SSM and SAMs before venturing to aircraft, subs, etc). To learn the basics I set up a very simple scenario that has great replayability and has been good fun each time I've played it. Scenario set up - March 22, 1988, 0600 local, 200nm SW of Tromso, Norway. Sunrise 0304, sunset 2230. Sea state 4, wind from 000, no clouds, visibility 60%. The Soviets have invaded West Germany and war is on. Unfortunately the start of hostilities found numerous merchant ships, NATO and Soviet at sea. The Norwegians aren't prepared and can provide no help shepherding the NATO ships back to port. NATO has one OH Perry class ship in the area and 5 NATO merchants at sea. The Soviets have 4 Nanuchkas at sea and 2 Soviet merchants. Forces - NATO - an OH Perry class ship and 5 merchants (I used the US Comorant class ship as a 'generic' merchant). Soviet - 4 Nanuchkas and 2 merchants (I used the same US Comorant ship as a 'generic' Soviet merchant). Map - a 250nm by 250nm map with Tromso near the NE corner of the map. The map is large enough to show Tromso in the NE, Narvik in the SE, and the sea north of Tromso (for the Soviet exit). Initial Set Up - the fun of the scenario is that all forces are distributed randomly. I used a simple RAND formula in Excel to figure out the 250x250 coordinate where each ship began. Using this random generation created very different strategies and sets of decision for both sides each time the scenario was played. Initially each merchant is randomly assigned a direction and its movement is plotted on that course until contacted. The OH Perry and Nanuchkas are free to plot their movement however they like. Initial Rules - the Merchants aren't aware the war has started. The OH Perry or Nanuchkas must contact each merchant and convince them that they are in danger and that they must return to port. Each 30 minutes there is a 75% chance that a merchant will receive the message. There is a 50% chance that the merchant will believe the message as genuine (this goes up 10% each subsequent contact). If the merchant believes the message as genuine there is a 75% chance that they will follow any instructions given (to return to port, turn off nav radar, etc.). Once a merchant has rolled to follow instructions they will do so for the rest of the game. If the OH Perry, its helo, or a Nanuchka come within visual of a merchant, the merchant will automatically follow instructions. Orders - The OH Perry is ordered to get the merchants to either Tromso or Narvik as quickly as possible and protect them. The Nanuchkas are ordered to seek out the NATO merchants and destroy them. Safety of the Soviet merchants getting around northern Norway is secondary. Victory Conditions - NATO - Each undamaged merchant returned to safety (at Tromso or Narvik) is worth 10 points. Each damaged merchant returned to safety is worth 5 points. Each Soviet merchant sunk is worth 3 points, each Soviet merchant damaged is worth 1 point. No points are scored for sinking or damaging the Nanuchkas. Victory Conditions - Soviet - Each NATO merchant sunk is worth 10 points and each one damaged is worth 5 points. Each Soviet merchant returned to safety (around northern Norway) is worth 3 points and if damaged 1 point. No points are scored for sinking or damaging the OH Perry. Victory Conditions - General - If a merchant goes off the map (instead of returning safely) then the opposing side is awarded 5 victory points. Game End - the game ends when all merchants are safely returned or sunk. Observations - Invariably with the random set up there will be a merchant fairly close to an enemy combatant and it will get picked off pretty quickly. Beyond that the Soviets have to decide whether to concentrate their forces in case they encounter the OH Perry or stay far apart to maximize their search. Early on the Soviets will normally have some luck detecting the nav radar of a merchant. Beyond that the deck is stacked against the Soviets because it's difficult for them to find the NATO units. The OH Perry has to decide whether to try to convoy the merchants or it can or simply tell them to return to port and then hunt down the Nanuchkas one by one (or avoid them). In all scenarios the Seahawks are the difference makers. Their ability to find the Nanuchkas without giving away the OH Perry location is key. The OH Perry has to be careful. Dealing with one Nanuchka isn't too bad. Two at a time is tough and if the Soviets concentrate 3 against the OH Perry then it's probably light's out for the OH Perry. I've played the scenario 4 times and each side has won twice. Variants - Because the Seahawk is such a big part of the NATO success try increasing the sea state to 5 where there is a chance that the Seahawk may crash on takeoff/landing. Another variant is to increase the sea state to 6 where the Seahawk can't be used. Overall - I'm still learning the rules and probably got a few of them wrong but it's been fun. The next iteration is to throw in a sub for each side so I can learn those rules. Aircraft is probably after that. ENJOY!!

There are about eight in-game hours left to chronicle in this final write-up. Don't worry, it will be over soon. In the meantime, to thank you for your patience, here's some potatoes: I discovered some new air contacts and sent F-16s to engage them. They turned out to be MiG-23MLKs and the Flogger-Ks proved to be a very tough customer. In this and the following the fight, I lost eight F-16s for six enemy fighters. Partly down to having some very tough customers, partly for leaving one unit's radar off... I did actually do another standoff attack shortly after this, sending five aircraft armed with Harpoons to attack the Soviet carrier group. I also must have launched some F-15s in a counter-air sweep at some point, because I downed two Flanker-Ds and three helicopters; two of the latter were AEW Helixs, so that was a useful bonus. However, Suffren came under attack by Sunburn missiles. Downing one didn't exactly mitigate the damage of the other four and that vessel sunk. Shortly after, Cassard came under AS-17 attack and it too succumbed. My standoff attack managed to launch 12 Harpoons at the carrier group, but all were downed. I lost an E-3 half an hour later. At 05:52 the strangest engagement of the battle occurred, when an air combat between MiG-25s and F-16s went into gun range, after one of the latter had been downed by AA-6s. The battle ran a grand total of 17 and a half minutes; my notes show an increasing incredulity at the situation. Eventually, the F-16s (who I tried to withdraw) finally down the Foxbats and I was also able to dock some of my ships.... At 0621 I reflected it had gone rather quiet. Guess what happened five minutes later...