ScottoT

Have you checked out the Tactics 101 series here? Thank you, no I had not. Doing so now!

Is there a good way to determine which ship would be in what positon in the battle group formation based on known position of the enemy? I know for example that the CVN is at the center of the CBG, with the other ships placed X nm from that "center".. I understand there are differing variables based on the enemy... so there isn't necessarily a stock anwser. But I am wondering if I am not placing my ships properly, to defeat/detect the various threats. Thanks for the prompt and informative answer CV32.

Good afternoon, While I am not a newbie when it comes to playing HUCE, I am not convinced that I am using the ships in my missions in the correct role. Is there a book or something that some of the HUCE vets can recomend that explain what (as an example) what ship is a good anti-sub platform, while another is best used to perform in an anti-shipping role or which one should be best stationed in the formation to provide the best Anti-air defense role. I know that some of the basic scenarios don't require this information, but I am wondering if my 'flaws" as Battle Group Commander are prohibiting myself from experiencing this wonderful simulation to the fullest. Thanks for your help in advance.

Brad, maybe my response earlier came across as sounding like no assistance has been offered. That is entrirely not the case. I have found myself being treated as a lost friend, and been offered help at every turn. I can only speak for myself to say that I am aware of the manual, but the 153pg manual isn't something that I have printed out in its entirety, or have handy as I am finding my way thru various scenarios. Scott

Joe, now I understand why you asked this question. I was just reading a thread that talks about ALT+ R...indicating some sort of refueling evolution. I wasn't aware how to organize this... I think there are many in the Harpoon community that know the commands and "shortcuts" and have learned them thru various means. While that is great and allows them to operate the game more seamlessly, there are those like Joe, and myself who are still trying to figure it all out.

I can not find an oil platform to be used as a "base" which will be the target for this scenario. Is this something that I will have to manually create and insert into a Database?

Brad, What I was thinking of, was some sort of scenario in which victory for the attackers gets them within .5 nm of the Terminal, as a victory condition. The premise being that then the plane/ship would detonate explosives on board creating a massive conflagration. Obviously there is no way to simulate that sort of victory condition in Harpoon that I am aware of. The attacking forces would use some sort of civilian aircraft (Cessna plane) or Fishing vessel (Dhow??) with explosives onboard to "trigger" the attack. In the scenario I am envisioning, numerous vessles would be present in the area, most of them innocent civilian type craft, conducting their own routine traffic in the vicinity of the Oil Terminal. Fishing, transporting goods, etc etc. Many would come on some sort of course that would trigger some sort of alert by the defenders, but none would be following a plotted course to get within the "defensive barrier"...except for 1 plane or ship that bears down directly on a line towards the terminal. As I have said, I am not certain that it would be possible to even put this sort of a scenario in place. There are people like yourself that are much more familiar with Harpoon that could answer the question. Scott

Yesterday on TV, I saw a documentary about the Al-Basrah Oil Terminal off the coast of Iraq. Has anyone designed or considered designing a scenario regarding this current situation? And is it even possible? Just being honest, I don't know about the databases to know if there is a way to create the sort of situation that forces in the Gulf are currently facing. Obviously, some sort of civilian airplane attack on the Terminal is not possible, with no civilian type airplanes in the database. Are there any ships that can be created that would be able to try and attack the terminal? The defending forces while centering on a CBG, the primary defenses were "brown water" Frigates, and Destroyers of the US, Australian, United Kingdom navies, along with patrol craft from Iraq and other gulf nations.

Yes, the interface definately takes a lot of getting used to. Good luck in making the adjustments.

I opened the scenario up with the SE, and I see that, unlike the other Red bases, no airstrikes are entered for Kirovsk. No long distance patrols either for that matter. I don't know if this was intentional, or an oversight by the designer. You might try editing this particular item and then playing it as a user scenario to see what happens. Buddha Buddha, I too went into scenario editor to see what the RED forces were comprised of, that is how I found out the Backfires were listed. I just thought maybe I didn't play the scenario out long enough to get them involved. Since I am so new in returning to the game, I will leave it to the experts to do any editing. I'll just break crap! My guess is, that the designer didn't schedule any air strikes as an oversight. But I could also be incorrect with that guess too. Scott

Thanks CV32! I'll be checking that link out sometime this weekend. Did I post this thread in the incorrect spot in the forums?

One of the things I was wondering is has anyone played this scenario thru the entire time limit? One of the things I noticed was I had numerous sorties of Badger G's at Keflavik and Fulcrum and Flanker attacks on my AWACS aircraft. I stoped playing after sinking all the Red surface forces, which was from the log, approximately 16 hours into the scenario. During that time I never once saw any attack of the Backfire bombers from Kirovsk. Has anyone seen them? or is this some sort of glitch in the scenario?

I played using HCE 2009.043-2009.50 on my Windows XP desktop. I want to try and play it again using ANW, but that particular edition creates Blue Screen of Death, so I am hesitant to run it on this computer. I might install ANW on my laptop and see if it crashes there.

I have to admit, I got TOTALLY lucky with the sub kills. There was no particular skill involved on my part ot get the sub kills. As it happened, the "random" placement of one of my Oberon class subs was within 20nm of a Victor I and an Echo II. I never saw or detected another sub the rest of the way thru the scenario.

Greetings everyone, I just completed my 3rd attempt at Fortress Keflavik scenario. The simulation gave me the opportunity for victory after achieving the minimum conditions, but I decided to try and sink all Red force surface vessles. Mission accomplished. Does this make me some sort of scoundrel? For those of you who have played this particular battle, have you found a way to compeltely anihalate and sink ALL Red Force vessles, surface and sub? Also were you able to do any damage to the Red Force airfields? I sank all the Red Surface forces, and 2 subs at a cost of 10 aircraft. Any ideas or suggestions?

Welcome back! I play HCE exclusively. I have never really gone far into the others, because the feel of HCE is more to my liking. Consequently, I can't offer any comparisons. I couldn't have said it any better myself, although I would add that, personally, I am interested in WWII era and onwards... and I'm more oriented towards the air side of things than the naval side. Joe K Thanks Joe, I too have been finding myself involved with WWII era sims as well, probably due to the various computer enhanced TV shows on History Channel or Military Channel which show some of the key battles in WWII "in living color".

Thank you for your quick, and concise responses. I see from some of the statements, that the "battle" over Harpoon- which is better, still rages on....sigh. Tony, and the rest of you Harpoon veterans, please know that I am certainly not trying to stir a debate which will most likely not ever end. One of the reasons why I STOPPED playing Harpoon in the past involved the message board battles due to asking an innocent question, that ended up "kicking open a hornet's nest", as to which was a better sim, between what is now HUCE or ANW. I too want to play for enjoyment Tony, but also appreciate, from my own naval service, some of the depth of being involved in CIC during a modern war scenario. Alas, as a "lowly" enlisted man I was never in position to see what went on but could imagine being there due to some of the reading I had done via, Tom Clancy and Larry Bond, which ultimately made me find Harpoon in the first place. I am finding myself playing HUCE at the moment, but wish to expand my knowledge and familiarity with ANW, and would like to be able to try and enjoy some of my time in that world as well. So, I guess it will just be a trial and error situation that I will have to spend time working over.

Good afternoon everyone. I have recently purchased the Matrix Games Harpoon Ultimate Commander's Edition as well as Harpoon 3 -3.9.4 after not playing Harpoon for ages. One of the things I have noticed is that UCE is more "user friendly" and easier for a relative Newbie like myself to get up and playing.. While Harpoon 3 appears to be more difficult. That being said, I guess I am frustrated with H3 even though I am perceiving it to be the more "accurate" simulation for playing against the computer AI, as opposed to UCE as being more of an "advanced video game" version of Harpoon. Is my own perception? or am I missing something. What I want to be able to do is play accurate simulations of modern naval combat, using the "latest" data. Facing the challenges of what modern Naval commander would face. I hope that this makes sense, and would respectfully ask for help from those of you who have been using both versions. Which version do you play more, and why? Thank you all in advance. Scott