broncepulido

Notes on some platforms: - For sake of scenario simplification B-2A Spirit are flying from a near Jordan base (Muwaffaq Salti AB, AMa), avoiding the use of air refuelling. - Also for simplification only are showed three air bases in the zone with US Air Force elements probably employed in the operation: Muwaffaq Salti AB, Jordan (including the 7x B-2A Spirit, perhaps another as extra reserve at 50%), Al Kharj/Prince Sultan AB, Saudi Arabia, and Al Dhafra AB, UAE (with worthless for this scenario A-10C). - On this scenario it’s not employed B-2A Spirit Blk30 20 entry #8447, but B-2A Spirit Blk30 12 entry #8196, as is the only one equipped with the loadout #55455 including GBU-57A/B MOP. - Very probably all the frontline US F-16 in the scenario should be equipped with APG-83 AESA radar from circa October 2020, update to be finished 2027 (In fact the represented F-16CM40 of 555th Fighter Squadron, Triple Nickel (Aviano, Italy), are of one or the first unit equipped with, the present F-16CM50 were historically of 480th Fighter Squadron, Warhawks (Spangdahlem, Germany), in this action). To be historically correct use five B-2A Spirit equipped with GBU-57A/B MOP against Fordow Uranium Enrichment Plant (WIb); one B-2A and another as reserve (perhaps is available even another reserve B-2A at 50%) equipped with GBU-57A/B MOP against Natanz Nuclear Facility (WJb); and Tomahawk cruise missiles from the USS Georgia SSGN against Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center (YTb). - The Iranian air defences are simplified to reflect its attrition by the previous Israeli attacks, same its remaining air force at the strike date is an informed guess. - Iranian bases with surviving Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) aircrafts are Tabriz, Mashad, Hamadan, Esfahan, Dezful, Omidiyeh, Shiraz, Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Bandar Abbas, Tehran-Mehrabad and Oghab 44 underground air base. - SA-17 represents some survivors of other Iranian (supposedly efficient), Russian or indigenous medium range SAMs. SA-20b represent the only survivor (of four) Iranian S-300PMU-2 SAM to previous Israeli attacks, and the only one indigenous Bavar-373. - For sake of scenario simplification are employed Chinese DF-25 and Iranian Shahab-3 to represent the many types of Iranian ballistic missiles. 50% of each. - MRBM salvos are scripted for fun, and should not target more than Tel Aviv and Al Udeid, with some 30x MRBM targeting Tel Aviv and some 6x MRBM targeting Al Udeid (The seven KC-46A based at Al Udeid were evacuated the previous days). This represent both sides were adverted by the adversary about its incoming attack, to prevent casualties and escalation of the conflict (By the same motive the Iranian player should not attack other Blue bases with aircrafts, as this should alter the victory conditions with a too easy victory for the Red side). Islands/Oil platforms are not historically verified, and only simulate Iranian advanced observation posts.

View File Operation Midnight Hammer, night of 21-22 June 2025. Historical Scenario. Operation Midnight Hammer, night of 21-22 June 2025. Historical Scenario. A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for the Middle East Battleset and the HCDB2-170308 new standard 1980-2025 Platform Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later. This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/US-Allied side or from the Red/Iranian side. You should play a few times first the Blue side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red side. Image: A B-2A Spirit and two F-15E Strike Eagles fly in formation across the Pacific Ocean Near Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, on July 8, 2005. The deployed fighters and bomber represent Pacific Air Force's projection of Global Strike and resolve for U.S. allies in the Pacific theatre. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo, from Wikipedia, pictured by a serviceperson on duty and in consequence on public domain.) When I started to design this scenario about August 2025 my idea was to represent the turmoil of 2025. From August 2025 to today the turmoil has increased and the scenario and its goals are now apparently almost straight and simple. It represent a high moment of the Twelve-Day War between Iran and Israel (13-24 June 2025), with US forces purposely obliterating the Iranian nuclear program, after previous Israeli strikes softening the Iranian air defences (and most of the Iranian aircrafts were evacuate to Eastern Iran to avoid destruction, doing from three to five single sorties while Midnight Hammer). My idea was to represent the flavour of an almost deserted Iran, but capable to get a moral and propaganda victory if some few US aircraft are destroyed. The scenario is only four hour long, but should be played many times at slow pace to avoid unpredictable loses and outcomes. Could you replicate the US achievement in this apparently simple scenario? Enrique Mas, January 11, 2026. Submitter broncepulido Submitted 01/11/2026 Category Middle East  

Upcoming simulation game, perhaps of interest: https://airdefendergame.com/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/3985030/Air_Defender/

Flight International's World Air Forces Directory 2026 available now at: https://www.flightglobal.com/defence/2026-world-air-forces-directory/165267.article

Not a complete site, but many curious data, mostly posted because is the official Dassault web site and difficult to find! https://www.dassault-aviation.com/fr/passion/avions/dassault-militaires/mirage-iii/

A very interesting list/inventory of Indian Air Force MIG-21s (to be retired September 2025) on the very chaotic bharat-rakshak site, found casually and otherwise very difficult to find!: https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/indianairforce/database/aircraft/listing.php?qacid=50#google_vignette As other examples: https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/indianairforce/database/aircraft/C-1539 https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/indianairforce/database/aircraft/

With some considerations of AI use in wargaming: https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/2025/07/29/wargaming-is-having-its-moneyball-moment/

About the 2023 integration of Compact FLASH dipping sonar on Algerian Super Lynx Mk140: https://www.military.africa/2023/03/thales-integrates-compact-flash-dipping-sonar-system-to-algerias-super-lynx-helicopter/

Thanks you very much Don. I keep working on Harpoon, DB limitation aside. I started an Operation Sindoor scenario and other B-2A attack on Iran, but too complex to fast finish them. Also waiting about the next Harpoon reléase on Steam.

Some (very few) sources: Inspirated by a post by Mackie Folsom on the Navy General Board FaceBook group, of July 12, 2025: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Cs57Uu9b1/ https://www.military.africa/2022/07/little-known-naval-skirmish-between-algerian-navy-and-israeli-submarine/ https://www.elsnorkel.com/2021/10/Incidente-entre-un-submarino-Israeli-y-submarinos-y-buques-de-superficie-argelinos.html The original Twitter or similar posts: https://x.com/DarikMk/status/1443522455847456768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1443522455847456768%7Ctwgr%5E0d8a4abfa545f047ce90ed1125210ba59a691c7e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.elsnorkel.com%2F2021%2F10%2FIncidente-entre-un-submarino-Israeli-y-submarinos-y-buques-de-superficie-argelinos.html https://t.me/infantmilitario/60383 Probable near place: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kal%C3%A2a_des_Beni_Abb%C3%A8s Inspiration for scenario name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Sea_Sharks

Notes on some platforms: - Algerian mixed-up LPD Kalaat Beni Abbes (2014, San Giorgio advanced derivative with ASTER 15 SAMs) is represented by CVH Garibaldi 02 #2319. - Algerian Erradii-class frigates (2016, MEKO A-200AN) are represented by South African Valour-class #3088 (MEKO A-200SAN). - Algerian Adhafer-class corvettes (2015, Chinese made with some Western systems) are represented by Pakistani Zulfiqar F-22P-class #3046.

View File The Med Sea Sharks, September 27, 2021. Historical Scenario. A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for the Mediterranean Battleset and the HCDB2-170909 (or later) 1980-2025 era Platform Database. This scenario is designed with Advanced Scenario Editor Build 2017.013 and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later. This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/Israeli side or from the Red/Algerian side. You should play a few times first the Blue side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red side. Image: Algerian Navy LPD Kalaat Beni Abbes (L-474) on April 2, 2016, a San Giorgio-class derivative with very reinforced weapons, included sixteen ASTER 15 missiles. She is also employed as ASW ship capable to carry up to five Super Lynx Mk140 ASW helicopters, intended also for use in the MEKO A-200AN frigates, and equipped from 2023 with Compact FLASH dipping sonar. Photo by Messaoud Mesbouk, and took from Wikipedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. This scenario was inspired yesterday by a comment by Mackie Folsom on the Navy General Board Facebook group, and fast researched a little time. It’s not clear its historicity, but at least a very interesting story and scenario. Basically at September 27, 2021, an unnamed Israeli submarine was collecting data on Algerian Navy drills, probably to know sound signature of Project 06361/Kilo II submarines opening tubes and launching 3M14E/SS-N-30B Sagaris land-attack cruise missiles. On the Algerian side was claimed their forces ride out the Israeli submarine presence, forcing her to surface and quit the area. For many and the lack of sources (Read the sources links on the Harpgamer website) is simply a foul propaganda action by the Algerian side, but none is clear or definitive. Anyway is basis for an interesting scenario, but in this play both sides are more aggressive and some boats could be past of The Med Sea Sharks. Enrique Mas, July 12, 2025. Submitter broncepulido Submitted 07/13/2025 Category MEDC  

English variant: https://mig-21.de/english/default.htm

From here, EMALS and other Ford-class problems, "Naval Air: 2USS Truman Gets Dent": https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htnavai/articles/2025041502847.aspx#gsc.tab=0 Quote: "...EMALS less reliable than the older steam catapult. EMALS was also more labor intensive to operate and put more stress on launched aircraft than expected. Worse, due to a basic design flaw, if one EMALS catapult becomes inoperable, the other three catapults could not be used in the meantime as was the case with steam catapults. This meant that the older practice of taking one or more steam catapults offline for maintenance or repairs while at sea was not practical. The navy admitted that in combat if one or more catapults were rendered unusable, they remained that way until it was possible to shut down all four catapults for repairs. During the initial at-sea tests the EMALS failed once every 75 aircraft launches. The standard for steam catapults is one failure every 4,166 launches. The landing and recovery system also had reliability problems, failing once every 76 landings, which is far below the standard of one failure per 16,500 landings. In effect, these problems with launching and recovering aircraft make the Fords much less effective than the older Truman and other Nimitz class CVNs"

The best guidance keeps being Admiralty Trilogy/Harpoon updated paper rules and databases (I sometimes discord in some data and approaches, but mostly minor issues): https://www.wargamevault.com/browse/pub/7981/Admiralty-Trilogy-Group?src=browse7981

With many details on nuclear deterrence and submarine intelligence operations: https://thinpinstripedline.blogspot.com/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJJYiZleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHSb-yAgxz_zdbn8mXkrtQuDJLLcGYd1hOOv-_vp_jS5Vtjt5ab6UwujhQQ_aem_vOGvQWFxIMI41GIN8kAfyA

I'll see, thanks!

All great ideas, thanks for sharing!

Other issue, this more trascendent, about the Baka 250 Kg weapon employed by the SemiSubDroneSwarm (The SurfDroneSwarms were eliminated in the approach to the small surface group and in consequence not employed and tested, later will see to test them). The SemiSubDroneSwarm approached the Chinese main group without problems, and fired the machine guns against the ships apparently without problems. But when near the target ships, many problems: - Blank dialog about possibility of torpedo attack (photo 1), but the Baka is clearly at last a missile flying very low at 50 knots as showed in photo 2 (only later, perhaps when the SemiSubDroneSwarm are nearer to the targets, is opened a dialog permiting missile attack, allowing launch the Baka with effect in the target and destroying the launcher boat, as originally pretended). - Another blank dialog (photo 3) popping up when the torpedo attack possibility is pressed, opening the dialog but showing none allowed target.

Some irregularities detected running the scenario, mostly related with edition of platforms. First, the edited Submarine entry 4107 for SemiSubDroneSwarm: Not clear if is a single semisubmersible drone or a group of five drones, but not very relevant at last. Attached is two photos, one of the modified/upgraded sensors in my personal use HCDB2 entry 4107 "Intrepido (U206A)", with CSU 83 main sonar and Kelvin-Hughes radar, and three other sonar systems added by me (The original 4107 "Intrepido (U206A)" has only the CSU 83 sonar). In the edited entry 4107 for SemiSubDroneSwarm I see the CSU 83 has been replaced with Cluster Bay/Gulf, and the Kelvin-Hughes with a simpler periscope radar. But the edited entry as SemiSubDroneSwarm keeps, I think is not pretended, my other three added sonar systems, i.e. SemiSubDroneSwarm keeps the other three sonars not showing only the pretended Cluster Bay/Gulf sonar, and that is a surpresive outcome, at least for me.

Played at last (very busy these months in RL). Simple but great, funny and interesting scenario, thanks Don!!!

Also, many scenarios are vague about victory conditions trying to simulate "fog of war", because usually you don't know very well the enemy, its forces or its aims and targets.