broncepulido

Return to Origins. Overture 1989.
 
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for the GIUK Gap Battleset and the HCDB2-170909 (or later) 1980-2025 era Platform Database. This scenario is designed with Advanced Scenario Editor Build 2017.012 and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/US side or from the Red/USSR side. You should play a few times first the Blue/US side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red/USSR side.

Image: A port beam view of the Belknap-class guided missile cruiser USS Biddle (CG-34) underway during Operation Desert Shield. Observe SPS-48E height-finding radar in the foremast and SPS-49(v)5 radar in the mainmast, both result of the NTU upgrade completed July 1987 (replacing previous SPS-48C and SPS-40 radars), and also Phalanx CIWS and Harpoon missile mounts (U.S. Navy photo released or took 1990-11-30 by CW02 Ed Bailey, USN/Released, took by a service person on duty, and in consequence in public domain. Took from Wikipedia Commons).
 
This scenario is inspired in the recently released Harpoon V jumpstart scenario.
After the overture movements of WWIII in May 1989, detached surface units of the carrier force striking Soviet targets at the Murmansk Oblast, steaming the Norwegian Sea, are returning South trying to evade the scarce Soviet forces on pursuit.
Fight will be fast and short but hard.
 
Enrique Mas, July 18, 2020.

Western Sahara Tin Can Sailors, Tagomago Ordeal, September 21, 1985. 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.

Image: Spanish Armada Fletcher-class destroyer D-22 Almirante Ferrandiz (Ex USS David W. Taylor DD-551) patrolling the Western Sahara banks near Canary Islands on 1985. Photo by Francisco Tevar Banos, took from http://www.losbarcosdeeugenio.com/principal_en.html, with its webmaster authorisation, and subject to a Creative Commons license.

In this scenario, to avoid spoilers, it is better to play the Spanish/Blue side first a few times, and only after play the Polisario Front/Moroccan/Red side, and keeping in mind the special considerations scripted in the Red Orders when playing Red side.

My aim in this scenario is to capture the flavour of small and very limited conflicts, almost naval guerrilla warfare. It's also inspired by the inclusion of the Lepanto/Fletcher class destroyers in the Harpoon HCE/HUCE DataBase and of course in the vivid historical events of our Spanish recent past.
In the first eighties, when the then modern and indigenous Descubierta class frigate was introduced in the Spanish Navy, the venerable Pacific War veterans Fletcher-class destroyers (nicknamed Los Cinco Latinos) were detached from the original Destroyer Squadron 21 (On that time renamed Escort Squadron 21) homeported in Cartagena, and scattered between the different Spanish local sea commands or Zonas Maritimas.
D-21 Lepanto and D-22 Almirante Ferrandiz were from 1980 detached from the Destroyer Squadron 21 and employed on secondary roles as High Seas Patrol ship in the Canary Islands Maritime Zone (Lepanto was later transferred to the Cantabrian Sea Maritime Zone from 1983).
This scenario shows an amalgamation of a series of difficult, confuse, bad narrated, censored and much unknown incidents between the Spanish patrol forces and the Western Saharan Polisario Front and the Moroccan Forces, fighting for the control of the old province of Spanish Sahara.
As examples on 1980 Almirante Ferrandiz was apparently strafed by a Moroccan Mirage F1, and on 1985 in other incident the Anaga-class patrol gunboat Tagomago (PVZ-22) was attacked from the shore by unknown origin (Very probably Polisario Front) 12.7mm and 106mm recoilless shots, causing one dead, and Almirante Ferrandiz was called on her help.
After the Spain retreat on 26 February 1976, the Western Sahara territory was claimed by the own Saharawis integrated in the Polisario Front, by Morocco, by Algeria and by Mauritania.
Both Polisario Front and Morocco were trying to execute maritime actions as vindication of the disputed territory control, basically exerting control of the Spanish and other fishermen traditionally fishing on the Western Sahara bank. Morocco trying it with action as an apparent transnational law enforce, and Polisario Front executing attacks with inflatable boats, shore gunfire and murdering and kidnapping of fishermen and its crews.
We must remember Western Sahara economy is bases almost exclusively on fishing which employs two thirds of his labour force, but now they are suspicions about the existence of reasonably exploitable off-shore oil fields, but his exploitation is today dubious because the international law.
The European Union fishing agreements with Morocco (EU-Moroccan Fisheries Partnership Agreement, FPA) include Western Sahara. But they are many doubts about if this is adjusted to the international law, as Western Sahara is not part of the territory of Morocco under international law. As legal excuse, according to the legal services of the European Parlament, the agreement does neither include nor exclude the waters of Western Sahara from its geographical scope, and it would thus be up to Morocco to comply with its international obligations. In consequence, in order to remain in compliance with international law, the FPA should be limited to the territorial waters of Morocco proper, excluding Western Sahara.

Enrique Mas, January 2012 - November 25, 2017.

A Passage to Lebanon, May 1980. Hypothetical Post-Colonial Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for The Middle East 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.

Image: HMS Bulwark (R08) in her last commission period 1979-1981, as ASW and assault helicopter carrier (Commando Carrier), equipped then with different Westland Sea King variants. Overflown on this photo by four Sea King, a Wessex and two Gazelle. Image courtesy of http://www.navyphotos.co.uk Navy-photos for fair use, and took in fair use from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/UK side or from the Red/Syrian side. You should play a few times first the Blue side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red side. It's probably a difficult scenario.

This is a post-colonial scenario inspired in the Paul French article on SITREP #53 of October 2017. It's inspired on his scenario, but done more complex, as only Computer Harpoon can provide, doing easy the management of higher number of units and platforms.
In the turmoil of the long Lebanon Civil War (1975-1990), on mid-1980 and with the events exacerbated pointly by the Bashir Gemayel efforts to consolidate all the Christian Maronite fighters factions under his leadership of the Kataeb Phalangist Party militia in the Lebanese Forces Party, United Kingdom decided to extract its last nationals and a few selected collaborators from Lebanon.
With that aim, a makeshift task force is constituted on Mediterranean Sea, if possible with the support of HMS Bulwark carrying the 45 Commando Royal Marines (Ship and commando historically present in the theatre), and composed mostly of second line Royal Navy ships.
As the UK permanent military forces were retired from Cyprus from 1974, as consequence of the Turkish invasion, practically only the Task Force ships and a few allied air assets are, if present, available to the British commander at RAF Akrotiri.
The UK warships are mostly second line warships, as the main Royal Navy elements are deployed in the North Atlantic, to prevent the Soviet constant menace, but it's possible the presence of one or two state of art warships.
The scenario is some ways similar to the 1982 South Atlantic Campaign against Argentina, with the same case of dissimilar land based air forces against a naval task force. And as explained and as in 1982, the British Task Force ships are not equipped with updated ECM and decoys.
Is also showed the UK embarked fighter gap present at those times (By two years, between the HMS Ark Royal (R09) last launching of a Phantom FG.1 on 27 November 1978, and January 1981. As although the effective entry in service of Sea Harrier was on 31 March 1980, it was no aircraft carriers on sea except HMS Bulwark (R08, only with helicopters and not ready for Sea Harrier), as HMS Invincible (R05) was commissioned only on 11 July 1980, embarking 800 Naval Air Squadron first time on January 1981, to be later transferred to HMS Hermes (R12) on June 1981, who was in refit from May 1980 to May 1981), fighter gap present also now in our current times of 2017 (By ten years at least on our times, from when the latest Harrier GR.9 of the Naval Strike Wing were retired in 2010, to when F-35B comes into service on HMS Queen Elizabeth deck, scheduled for 2020).
To put us in the historical situation, the previous month of April 1980 was the failed US raid in Iran Operation Eagle Claw to liberate the US hostages of the embassy in Iran, and the take over by Iranian terrorists of the Iranian embassy in London, resolved by a SAS assault on 5 May.
As consequence of the regional unrest, the Syrian government of Hafez al-Assad decides can't consent the presence of an UK task force near its coastline, fearing a new Western intervention perhaps in support of Israel or of the Lebanese Forces Party (In opposition to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon 1976-2005, with Syria supporting its own pro-Syria PLA faction opposed to Israel and to the Christian Maronite forces, but with too much nuances to explain it here), and improvises an operation to prevent the positioning of the task force near Syria.
The confrontation is now settled.

Enrique Mas, November 19, 2017.

Second Cold War ASW Warfare in the Sea of Japan, late November 2017.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the Western Pacific 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 very probably more funny, fast and furious than the precedent and similar "ASW Forms, Harpoon 3 Battles of the Third World War", settled some twenty-five years before, on late August 1991

Image: The Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force anti-submarine warfare helicopter destroyer Hyuga (DDH-181) during Annual Exercise ANNUALEX 21G. On deck two SH-60J (two first ones) and two SH-60K behind, with ESM sensors relocated up in the nose middle. November 17, 2009, photo by John M. Hageman, U.S. Navy, a serviceperson on duty and in consequence in public domain, took from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/Allied side or from the Red/Russian-? side. You should play a few times first the Blue side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red side.

An anti-submarine warfare derivative scenario from the precedent "ASW Forms, Harpoon 3 Battles of the Third World War, late August 1991", with updated and contemporary Orders of Battle and better and more realistic warships and submarines availability and deployment.
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The scenario is settled at the start of a contemporary Second Cold War going hot because many causes, the opening movements and contacts, and the first days of true combat.
At November 2017, few weeks after the WWIII start in Europe after the Putin's Russia invasion of the Baltic States after the Zapad-17 drills and the subsequent NATO response, in the Far East Japan was keep neutral to avoid a second front for the NATO and other allied Western forces.
In the Sea of Japan trading lanes and fishing zones were maintained open and accessible, but with the months pass the tension was increasing.
At last, Russia decided to attack the Japanese maritime traffic to create a Far East second front and alleviate the pressure in the main European/North Atlantic theatre of operations.

Note: the scenario is qualified as "Historical" because the forces present in the scenario were the historically deployed or very near to the zone of operations in November 2017, including the US Navy ships forward deployed to United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka (and not damaged in recent collisions!), the most modern Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force submarines and warships, basically those from Sasebo District Fleet and Sasebo Naval Base, the Russian Pacific Fleet, and the Chinese North Sea Fleet.

Enrique Mas, October 29, 2017.

ASW Forms, Harpoon 3 Battles of the Third World War, late August 1991.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the Western Pacific 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.

Image: Only three years later of the scenario date and to show the forces concentration level in the region, a 24 May 1994 aerial view of the United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka naval base. The ships tied up at the piers are (bottom to top) the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force destroyers Sawagiri (DD-157), Asagiri (DD-151), the helicopter carrying destroyer Kurama (DDH-144), the destroyer USS O'Brien (DD-975), the Japanese guided missile destroyer Kongo (DDG-173) and the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) with VLS, first of Flight II. At the top, off to the right, is the amphibious command ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19). To the far right at Berth 5 are four Japanese Yushio-class submarines. Official US Navy photo by PH1 (Photographer's Mate First Class) H. Johnson, U.S. Navy, a serviceperson on duty, and in consequence in public domain, took from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/Allied side or from the Red/Soviet-? side. You should play a few times first the Blue side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red side.

A Sea of Japan scenario inspired by some good old scenario booklets of the Harpoon 3 series of the late 1980s edited by GDW, of great value for fun testing of generic tactics and weapons. Actually is a mix-up of originally random table generated ASW operations centred scenarios, do easier as only the Computer Harpoon can provide. And also reflecting all the knowledge acquired the last years in some matters, as about Soviet/Russian and others platforms characteristics, OOBs and historical deployments.

The scenario is settled at the start of the conventional WWIII as was forecasted for the whole World for circa May 1991 and later in some of the GDW edited booklets, the opening movements and contacts, and the first days of true combat.
At August 1991, after three months of WWIII start, in the Far East Japan was keep neutral to avoid a second front for the NATO and other allied Western forces.
In the Sea of Japan trading lanes and fishing zones were maintained open and accessible, but with the months pass the tension was increasing.
At last, the Soviet Union decided to attack the Japanese maritime traffic to create a Far East second front and alleviate the pressure in the main European/North Atlantic theatre of operations.

Note: the scenario is qualified as "Historical" because the forces present in the scenario were historically deployed or very near to the zone of operations in August 1991. As example, Japanese Mitsubishi SH-60J Seahawk were first deployed just in August 1991, USS Truxtun (CGN-35) departed Bremerton for her WESTPAC deployment on 16 August 1991, and the Soviet naval vessels are those historically deployed at that time in its Pacific Fleet.

Enrique Mas, October 28, 2017.

Operation Lancette, May 15, 1981. 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.

Image: Sister ship of R98 Clemenceau, a port quarter view of the French navy's aircraft carrier R99 Foch underway during exercise Dragon Hammer 1992. On the crowed deck are present F-8E(FN) Crusader fighters (not yet F-8P), Super Etendard attack aircrafts (not yet modernized), Alizé ALM ASW aircrafts, a SA.321Gb Super Frelon assault, transport, utility and SAR helicopter of Flotille 32.F or 33.F (To 1980 employed for ASW, but replaced on that task by Lynx), and a AS.365F Dauphin 2 helicopter of Escadrille 23.S replacing Alouette III on board the French carriers from 1990 in "Pedro"/SAR tasks. May 1992 photo by PHC (Chief Photographer's Mate) Jack C. Bahm, a US serviceperson on duty, and in consequence in public domain, took from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/French side or from the Red/Soviet side. You should play a few times first the Blue side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red side.

An apparently simple and introductory scenario based on historical facts.
In the heydays of the Cold War at a time of particular tension, two days after the Pope John Paul II assassination attempt in Rome instigated by the Bulgarian/Soviet Secret Services, was the moment of one of the most scaring naval situations in the Cold War.
Just when the R98 Clemenceau CVBG and his reduced peacetime escort was sailing from Toulon for the exercise Coriolan, was detected a submarine contact by the ASW picket (Destroyers D640 Georges Leygues and D632 Guepratte) only 50 nautical miles from Toulon and actively stalking the carrier group.
The subsequent Operation Lancette was launched, resulting in the chase of the unknown submarine continuously for more than eighteen hours and with the submarine alternating creep speeds with peaks of 28-30 knots and even passing below the Georges Leygues towed sonar array. La Royale (French Navy) employed both forward escort destroyers, Lynx helicopters and Atlantic ASW planes based in the very near BAN Nimes-Garons, and at last forced her to surfacing. Ultimately she was visually identified on surface at night from a Lynx helicopter of the Georges Leygues as a Soviet Victor-type SSN and compelled to quit the area.
But this scenario represents the possibility of the things going wrong and hot, and both sides firing in anger at the enemy forces.
This scenario also could gives an idea of the difficult submarine hunting, the difficult of hunting surface ships with submarines without long range target determination, the limited sonar ranges and convergence zone feasibility on a sea with high levels of salinity and density, the high limitations of small diesel-electric submarines employed as hunter-killers against SSN (the French SSN force was then yet two years on the future), and about the necessity of employing half of the French Aeronavale ASW forces to catch only one submarine, even when she was fortunately emplaced very near to a main ASW air base.

Enrique Mas, December 4, 2011 - October 14, 2017.

Sea Breeze 2017 going wrong. Historical/Alternate History 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 2017.012 and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/NATO-Ukraine side or from the Red/Russia side. You should play a few times first the Blue/NATO-Ukraine side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red/Russian side.

Image: Cmdr. Peter Halvorsen, commanding officer of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64), participates in a press conference in Odessa, Ukraine, during exercise Sea Breeze 2017 July 12. Observe the shielded 12.7mm M2 machine-gun added in the extreme bow (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Weston Jones/Released, took by a service person on duty, and in consequence in public domain).

From the eventful year of 2014 the World was beginning the so-called Second Cold War, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB lieutenant colonel) was showing clearly his plan to recover the Russian Empire and later Soviet territories for reinstitute the greatness of his Russia, and to guarantee his passage on the History as saviour of the Rodina.
From May 2014 Putin was provoking in succession the Crimea, Ukraine, Donetsk, Baltic States, October 2014 Swedish submarine incursion, G-20 Brisbane meeting naval crisis, November 2014 Faslane submarine incident, frigate Yaroslav Mudryy February "Channel Dash", April 2015 Finnish submarine incursion (for many observers causing the pre-mobilization of Finland reserve forces), Russian intervention in Syria from 30 September 2015, shoot-down by Turkish F-16 fighters equipped with AIM-120 AMRAAM on 24 November 2015 of a Russian Su-24M as consequence of the repeated unlawful overflights of Turkey by Russian warplanes based in Latakia, and after two months of repeated warning, March 2016 detection by the French of a Russian submarine near Bay of Biscay and its SSBN base, the propaganda stunt of the deployment of the only one Russian aircraft carrier Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov steaming (a lot, literally) from Kola Bay towards Eastern Mediterranean from October 15, 2016, and with constant and multiple Russian overflies with military warplanes entangled in potential incidents with commercial flights in Europe, so far as at the Portuguese shores.
That without counting in other unrelated naval incidents aside the upcoming Second Cold War, just as the Iranian seizure of the merchant Maersk Tigris in 28 April 2015, the shore-based anti-ship missile attacks against the catamaran transport ex Swift (HSV-2) and US destroyers on the Red Sea in October 2016 and the ulterior retaliation, the first military operation of the Trump Administration on January 28, 2017, the MV-22B tiltrotor raid of SEAL Team 6 operating from USS Makin Island (LHD-8) against Houthi Yemen, the later January 30 incident, when an Al-Madinah-class Saudi frigate was attacked and damaged probably by a Houthi suicide or drone boat off Al Hudaydah, Houthi Yemen, and the constant and intense naval drills as Sea Shield, Dynamic Manta, Dynamic Mongoose and the new anti-ballistic missile exercise Formidable Shield 2017. (And without counting in great landlocked actions, as the complex counter-Daesh operations in Middle East).
And meanwhile, more towards Far East a less perceived and growing problem was China, as reflected in the transfer of the 60% of the USN and USAF combat forces to the Pacific Theatre of Operations from 2012, move to be completed by 2020.
For many observers the continuous and large NATO and partners military exercises shows to Russia the Western will to resist his threats, keeping a tense peace.
The Russian were also executing continuous exercises and operations, and showing them without many explanations in propaganda news reports, from Zapad-17, projected for 14-20 September 2017 to continuous ASW exercises.
Between all those events, from 10 to 22 July 2017 exercise Sea Breeze 2017 was developed in the Black Sea, with many phases and targets, and with limited NATO and Ukrainian forces.
Sea Breeze 2017 counted with 31 participant warships and 29 aircrafts of 17 nations with some 3000 personnel.
Mainly was in part an ASW exercise, in part a surface warfare exercise, in part an amphibious exercise, culminated with light forces landing in the uninhabited Tendra Spit sandbar, near Kherson, Ukraine (City named by the same placement classical antiquity region of Chersonesus).
The main ASW exercise was executed between Odessa, Ukraine, and the disputed Sevastopol, in the 2014 Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula.
Was also developed a little propaganda in Russian-controlled media about the lack of ASW capability of the Western.
But many world parts were in high tension because other causes.
Not only the Chinese vindications on "terraformed" territories in South China Sea and the USN answer with Freedom of Navigation (FON) patrol are forcing the camel back and contributing to the world turmoil, but also the incredible direct menaces of North Korean President Kim and his constant and provocative launching of ballistic missiles, overflying Japan and other habited zones.
As consequence of that instability, anything can happen in any time in any place, and probably Sea Breeze 2017 will be not an exception.

Of course this is a training exercise and actually shots, torpedoes and missiles aren't fired and nobody is hurt ... or perhaps yes.

This scenario is qualified as "historical" because the present forces are the same historically available.

Enrique Mas, October 12, 2017.

Operation Praying Mantis 1988, historical engagement.
 
Note: This scenario is designed mostly to be played from the US/Blue and it's better to play that side in first place, and to play it later from the Iranian/Red side because it can be a little frustrating and boring, but the victory is also possible.
 
Operation Praying Mantis was the Reagan administration answer to the Irani attacks on neutral tanker shipping and inmediate consequence of the mining deployed from the LST Iran Arj against the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) on 14 April 1988. This operation is often cited as one of the five historical naval actions to decisively stablish the USN supremacy in a determined theater of operations. It also marked the U.S. Navy's first exchange of anti-ship missiles by ships.
In the context of Iran-Iraq War the Tanker War phase (1984-1988) was one of the more complex post-WWII campaigns from the naval viewpoint.
Both Iran and Iraq attacked oil tankers and merchant ships, including those of neutral nations, to deprive the opponent of trade earnings. As higher stage answer the Iranians might close the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping, but as United States had threatened several times to go to war if the Strait was closed the Iranians refused to take the risk,, limiting their attacks in retaliation first to Iraqi commercial ships but also extended to neutral shipping. After several Iranian attacks on Kuwaiti and other neutral shipping, the United States Navy started in March 1987 to escort Kuwaiti tankers the United States after had reflagged half of Kuwait's fleet of twenty-two tankers. In April 1987, the then Soviet Navy also started escorting Kuwaiti tankers.
Praying Mantis was a one-day retaliation strike focused in oil rigs and other instalations where the Iranians small forces were based to assault the neutral and Western shipping. Those had included bases for the minelaying operations that damaged the USS Samuel B. Roberts.
The US forces were organized in three groups and with air support and air defence of the CVN-65 USS Enterprise Carrier Air Wing Eleven, escorted by CGN-35 USS Truxtun and FF-1063 USS Reasoner:
VF-114 Aardwarks with F-14A Tomcat.
VF-213 Black Lions with F-14A Tomcat.
VA-22 Fighting Redcocks with A-7E Corsair II.
VA-94 Shrikes with A-7E Corsair II.
VA-95 Green Lizards with A-6E/KA-6D Intruder.
VAW-117 Wallbangers with E-2C Hawkeye Group 0.
VAQ-135 Black Knights with EA-6B Prowler ICAP I (ICAP II from late 1988).
 
Surface Action Group Bravo, targets Sassan and Rahkish/Rahksh oil platforms (renamed Salman and Resalat after the Islamic Revolution):
DD-976 USS Merrill, with 1xSH-2F.
DDG-8 USS Lynde McCormick.
LPD-14 USS Trenton, with 4xAH-1T, 2xCH-46, 2xUH-1, and the USS Samuel L. Roberts SH-60B.
 
Surface Action Group Charlie, target Sirri oil platform (renamed Nasr after the Islamic Revolution):
CG-28 USS Wainwright.
FFG-56 USS Simpson, with 1xSH-60 and 1xUH-60.
FF-1069 USS Bagley, with 1xSH-2F.
 
Surface Action Group Delta, composed partly of former escort ships from the Enterprise group, with target the Iranian warship FFL Sabalan, because her reputation for deliberately attacking the crew quarters of neutral ships:
DDG-16 USS Joseph Strauss.
DD-975 USS O'Brien, with 2xSH-2F and 1xUH-60.
FFG-24 USS Jack Williams, with 2xSH-2F.
 
The rest is history ... or not.
 
Historical Note:
This scenario represents aproximatively only the historically engaged forces, as the US side decides to not attack mainland Iran to prevent a escalade, and the Iranian response was limited to a few warships and warplanes and not launching shore-based SSM (they are contradictory reports about that) because the Iranian fears to US retaliatory strikes over mainland Iran, and as in the case of the Gadaffi's Libya on 1981 and 1986, the fear of heavy losses on his own side could weak his position as regional power (In the case of Iran we should remember was in war with Iraq on 1988, and the outcome of Praying Mantis also forced Iran to settle the peace with Iraq).
In the historical aftermath, Iran losed the FFL Sahand, the PTM Joshan (after be notified many times of "stop your engines, abandon ship, I intend to sink you", Joshan launched the last operational Harpoon in the Iranian Navy againts the CG-28 USS Wainwright who decoyed it, receiving in interchange a salvo of six Standard SM-1 and one Harpoon) and some three PG type Toragh/Boghammar based in the Abu Musa Island to attack commercial shipping, and also the FFL Sabalan resulted crippled, but was returned to service on 1989. The oil platforms of Sassan and Sirri, employed as bases for the attacks on commercial shipping, rested unoperative after the previously demanded evacuation and subsequent combined attack of warships, Cobra helicopters and SEAL and USMC teams. The attack against the Rahksh oil platform was called off to ease pressure on the Iranians and denote a desire for de-escalation. The FFL Sabalan not was sunk also because when Defense Secretary Carlucci asked Admiral Crowe, then CJCS, what he thought about launch another strike to finish she, Crowe responded, "Sir, I think we've shed enough blood today".
 
Enrique Mas, January 2012
 
Edited 7 January 2012 because bad characters in the text file.

Harpoon 3 Battles of the Third World War, May 1991. HCDB2 version.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the EC2003 Battle for GIUK Gap Battleset and the HCDB2-170909 (or later) 1980-2025 era Platform Database.

Image: Soviet CVH Baku Project 11434 circa 1988 (from 1990 named Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Gorshkov. Decommissioned in 1996, heavily modified in Project 11430, and in service for India from 2013 as INS Vikramaditya), including her distintive and probably never operational massive phased-array radar Mars-Passat/Sky Watch. US Navy photo and in consequence in Public Domain, took from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/Allied side or from the Red/Soviet side. You should play a few times first the Blue side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red side.

A North Atlantic-GIUK scenario inspired by some good old scenario booklets of the Harpoon 3 series of the late 1980s edited by GDW, of great value for testing generic tactics and weapons. Actually is a mix-up of individual sea-operations centred scenarios on a great sea extension as only the Computer Harpoon can provide. And reflecting all the knowledge acquired the last years in some matters, as about Soviet/Russian platforms, OOBs and Soviet/Russian carrier air wings composition.

The scenario is settled at the start of the conventional WWIII as was forecasted in the North Atlantic for circa May 1991 in some of the GDW edited booklets, the opening movements and contacts, and the first days of open combat.

Enrique Mas, September 30, 2017.

Big Lizzie and Big George, August 2017, Historical/Alternate History Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for the GIUK Gap Battleset and the HCDB2-170714 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/NATO side or from the Red/Russia side. You should play a few times first the Blue/NATO side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red/Russian side.

Image: The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) transits alongside the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) during exercise Saxon Warrior 2017, Aug. 8. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Daniel Gaither/Released, and in consequence in public domain, took from https://www.dvidshub.net/search/?q=Saxon+Warrior+2017&filter%5Btype%5D=image&view=list&sort=publishdate&page=6

From the eventful year of 2014 the World was beginning the so-called Second Cold War, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB lieutenant colonel) was showing clearly his plan to recover the Russian Empire and later Soviet territories for reinstitute the greatness of his Russia, and to guarantee his passage on the History as saviour of the Rodina.
From May 2014 Putin was provoking in succession the Crimea, Ukraine, Donetsk, Baltic States, October 2014 Swedish submarine incursion, G-20 Brisbane meeting naval crisis, November 2014 Faslane submarine incident, frigate Yaroslav Mudryy February "Channel Dash", April 2015 Finnish submarine incursion (for many observers causing the pre-mobilization of Finland reserve forces), Russian intervention in Syria from 30 September 2015, shoot-down by Turkish F-16 fighters equipped with AIM-120 AMRAAM on 24 November 2015 of a Russian Su-24M as consequence of the repeated unlawful overflights of Turkey by Russian warplanes based in Latakia, and after two months of repeated warning, March 2016 detection by the French of a Russian submarine near Bay of Biscay and its SSBN base, the propaganda stunt of the deployment of the only one Russian aircraft carrier Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov steaming (a lot, literally) from Kola Bay towards Eastern Mediterranean from October 15, 2016, and with constant and multiple Russian overflies with military warplanes entangled in potential incidents with commercial flights in Europe, so far as at the Portuguese shores.
That without counting in other unrelated naval incidents aside the upcoming Second Cold War, just as the Iranian seizure of the merchant Maersk Tigris in 28 April 2015, the shore-based anti-ship missile attacks against the catamaran transport ex Swift (HSV-2) and US destroyers on the Red Sea in October 2016 and the ulterior retaliation, the first military operation of the Trump Administration on January 28, 2017, the MV-22B tiltrotor raid of SEAL Team 6 operating from USS Makin Island (LHD-8) against Houthi Yemen, the later January 30 incident, when an Al-Madinah-class Saudi frigate was attacked and damaged probably by a Houthi suicide or drone boat off Al Hudaydah, Houthi Yemen, and the constant and intense naval drills as Sea Shield, Dynamic Manta and Dynamic Mongoose 2017. (And without counting in great landlocked actions, as the complex counter-Daesh operations in Middle East).
And meanwhile, more towards Far East a less perceived and growing problem was China, as reflected in the transfer of the 60% of the USN and USAF combat forces to the Pacific Theatre of Operations from 2012, move to be completed by 2020.
For many observers the continuous and large NATO and partners military exercises show to Russia the Western will to resist his threats, keeping a tense peace.
The Russian were also executing continuous exercises and operations, and showing them without many explanations in propaganda news reports, from the Zapad-17, projected for 14th-20th September 2017 (Incidentally, Russia is planning to transfer its 1st Guards Tank Army for exercises to western Belarus in September 2017), to continuous ASW exercises. Culminating in many simultaneous Naval parades as a great propaganda feast on Navy Day, July 30, in St Petersburg, Kronstadt (including some visiting Chinese warships), Kaliningrad, Novorossiysk, Sevastopol (in the illegally occupied Crimea), Vladivostok and Tartus (Syria).

Between all those events, from 26 June to 16 August 2017 the new British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth steamed from Rosyth for six weeks for her first operational sea training cruise (Arriving after in Portsmouth with five Merlin ASW helicopters on desk, as forecasted in the previous HMS Queen Elizabeth scenario). First, UK Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon, writing in "The Telegraph" on 27 June 2017, stated about the "dilapidated" Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, and how "the Russians will look at this ship with a little bit of envy". Two days later, in response, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov mocked the UK's new ship, saying "The British aircraft carrier is nothing more than just a huge easy naval target".
At last, to support his official claims, President Putin decided to clarify the question, ordering the Northern Fleet submarine forces to provoke an "accidental" and "confuse" incident, simulating a training error, to get the result of see HMS Queen Elizabeth in the North Sea bottom.
As in the same period the tense situation was depicted in a scenario showed in the harpgamer.com website, NATO decides to escort HMS Queen Elizabeth the rest of her cruise with the forces and with the excuse of the near exercise Saxon Warrior 2017 (July 1 - August 10), centred on the USS George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group (GHWBCSG).
In opposite way, President Putin decides to maximize the probabilities of a submarine targeting training "accident" to sink HMS Queen Elizabeth, and send to compromise in this task almost all available Russian resources in the region, both Northern and Baltic Fleets, concentrated to sink the British carrier.
But many world parts were in high tension because other causes.
Not only the Chinese vindications on "created" territories in the South China Sea and the USN answer with Freedom of Navigation (FON) patrol are forcing the camel back, are contributing to the world turmoil, but also the incredible direct menaces of North Korean President Kim ("Grandson") to launch four ICBM to arrive some 30 Km of Andersen AFB in Guam, with a term finishing on August 15, 2017.
As consequence of that instability, and to exploit that window of opportunity, with a probable back-channels Russian nuclear blackmail over Sweden, Poland, Germany and Denmark to neutralize its military forces, Putin decides to act.
This scenario is qualified as "historical" because the present forces were the same historically available.

Enrique Mas, August 18, 2017.

God Save the Queen! July 2017, Historical/Hypothetical Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for the GIUK Gap Battleset and the HCDB2-170611 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/UK/NATO side or from the Red/Russia side. You should play a few times first the Blue/UK/NATO side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red/Russian side.

Image: HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) is floated out of her dock for the first time in Rosyth, Scotland in 17 July 2014. MOD photo in Open Government License v1.0, and took from Wikipedia Commons.

From the eventful year of 2014 the World was beginning the so-called Second Cold War, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB lieutenant colonel) was showing clearly his plan to recover the Russian Empire and later Soviet territories for reinstitute the greatness of his Russia, and to guarantee his passage on the History as saviour of the Rodina.
From May 2014 Putin was provoking in succession the Crimea, Ukraine, Donetsk, Baltic States, October 2014 Swedish submarine incursion, G-20 Brisbane meeting naval crisis, November 2014 Faslane submarine incident, frigate Yaroslav Mudryy February "Channel Dash", April 2015 Finnish submarine incursion (for many observers causing the pre-mobilization of Finland reserve forces), Russian intervention in Syria from 30 September 2015, shoot-down by Turkish F-16 fighters equipped with AIM-120 AMRAAM on 24 November 2015 of a Russian Su-24M as consequence of the repeated unlawful overflights of Turkey by Russian warplanes based in Latakia, and after two months of repeated warning, March 2016 detection by the French of a Russian submarine near Bay of Biscay and its SSBN base, the propaganda stunt of the deployment of the only one Russian aircraft carrier Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov steaming (a lot, literally) from Kola Bay towards Eastern Mediterranean from October 15, 2016, and with constant and multiple Russian overflies with military warplanes entangled in potential incidents with commercial flights in Europe, so far as at the Portuguese shores.
That without counting in other unrelated naval incidents aside the upcoming Second Cold War, just as the Iranian seizure of the merchant Maersk Tigris in 28 April 2015, the shore-based anti-ship missile attacks against the catamaran transport ex Swift (HSV-2) and US destroyers on the Red Sea in October 2016 and the ulterior retaliation, the first military operation of the Trump Administration on January 28, 2017, the MV-22B tiltrotor raid of SEAL Team 6 operating from USS Makin Island (LHD-8) against Houthi Yemen, the later January 30 incident, when an Al-Madinah-class Saudi frigate was attacked and damaged probably by a Houthi suicide or drone boat off Al Hudaydah, Houthi Yemen, and the constant and intense naval drills as Sea Shield, Dynamic Manta and Dynamic Mongoose 2017. (And without counting in great landlocked actions, as the complex counter-Daesh operations in Middle East).
And meanwhile, more towards Far East a less perceived and growing problem was China, as reflected in the transfer of the 60% of the USN and USAF combat forces to the Pacific Theatre of Operations from 2012, move to be completed by 2020.
For many observers the continuous and large NATO and partners military exercises show to Russia the Western will to resist his threats, keeping a tense peace.
The Russian were also executing continuous exercises and operations, and showing them without many explanations in propaganda news reports, from the Zapad-17, projected for 14th-20th September 2017, to as in this case an apparently limited ASW exercise between an old and a new submarine (Incidentally, Russia is planning to transfer its 1st Guards Tank Army for exercises to western Belarus in September 2017).

Between all those events, on 26 June 2017 the new British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth steamed from Rosyth for six weeks for her first operational sea training cruise. First, UK Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon, writing in "The Telegraph" on 27 June 2017, stated about the "dilapidated" Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, and how "the Russians will look at this ship with a little bit of envy". Two days later, in response, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov mocked the UK's new ship, saying "The British aircraft carrier is nothing more than just a huge easy naval target".
At last, to support his official claims, President Putin decided to clarify the question, ordering the Northern Fleet submarine forces to provoke an "accidental" and "confuse" targeting incident with real torpedoes, simulating a training error, to get the result of see HMS Queen Elizabeth in the North Sea bottom.

Enrique Mas, 16 July 2017.

Operation Wooden Leg, October 1, 1985. Historical Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for The Middle East Battleset and the new HCDB2-170714 1980-2025 era Platform Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.

Image: 120 "Desert Giants" Squadron Boeing KC-707 refuelling Israeli F-15, at the June 28, 2011, Israeli Air Force Flight Academy ranks ceremony. Took from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played mostly from the Blue/Israeli side, the Red/PLO-Tunisian-Libyan is also fully playable, but perhaps not winnable.

Operation Wooden Leg was a historical strategic long-range operation of the Israeli Air Force, aimed to retaliate the PLO headquarters in Tunisia after a series of terrorist attacks the precedent weeks, aimed at Israeli citizens in Israel and Cyprus.
Was executed by the new and longer range F-15C/D Eagle/Baz, which carried approximately 2000 lbs of additional internal fuel than the previous F-15A/B. The first new model F-15C/D were received by Israel from the Peace Fox II contract, later increased by others of Peace Fox III, and active from 6 June 1982 in the 106 "Second Baz/Spearhead" Squadron.
Were employed GBU-15 TV-guided bombs, one carried by each of six F-15D (106 "Second Baz/Spearhead" Squadron), and Mk82 dumb bombs, six carried by each of two trailing F-15C (133 "Kings of the Twin Tails" Squadron).
The F-15, with national and squadron insignia and individual aircrafts names obscured with brownish waterwashed paint, were refuelled over the Mediterranean by a pair of flying-boom equipped Israeli KC-707 tankers.
The operation was a complete success, without any Israeli losses.
Could you replicate the Israeli achievement in this apparently simple scenario?

Enrique Mas, August 12, 2017.

Exercise Dynamic Mongoose 2017. 26 June-8 July 2017. Historical Training Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the EC2003 Battle for GIUK Gap Battleset and the HCDB2-170714 new standard 1980-2025 Platform Database. This scenario is designed with the Advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/NATO side or from the Red/NATO side. You should play a few times first the Blue side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red side.

Image: Ensign Paris Bess, from Troy, Ohio, observes an Allied NH90 NFH Caiman ASW helicopter, fly over a U.S. Navy Improved Los Angeles-Class submarine from the bridge of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams (DDG 95) at start of exercise Dynamic Mongoose 17 (DMON17) June 27, 2017. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Colbey Livingston/ Released, and in consequence in Public Domain).

From the last years constant NATO and partners military exercises are a guarantee to prevent any Russia temptation to resolve with an open war its internal issues, with another military offensive action after the Georgia, Crimea and East Ukraine actions.
From the eventful year of 2014 the World was beginning the so-called Second Cold War, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB lieutenant colonel) was showing clearly his plan to recover the Russian Empire and later Soviet territories for reinstitute the greatness of his Russia, and to guarantee his passage on the History as saviour of the Rodina.
From May 2014 Putin was provoking in succession the Crimea, Ukraine, Donetsk, Baltic States, October 2014 Swedish submarine incursion, G-20 Brisbane meeting naval crisis, November 2014 Faslane submarine incident, frigate Yaroslav Mudryy February "Channel Dash", April 2015 Finnish submarine incursion (for many observers causing the pre-mobilization of Finland reserve forces), Russian intervention in Syria from 30 September 2015, shoot-down by Turkish F-16 fighters equipped with AIM-120 AMRAAM on 24 November 2015 of a Russian Su-24M as consequence of the repeated unlawful overflights of Turkey by Russian warplanes based in Latakia, and after two months of repeated warning, March 2016 detection by the French of a Russian submarine near Bay of Biscay and its SSBN base, the propaganda stunt of the deployment of the only one Russian aircraft carrier Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov steaming (a lot, literally) from Kola Bay towards Eastern Mediterranean from October 15, 2016, and with constant and multiple Russian overflies with military warplanes entangled in potential incidents with commercial flights in Europe, so far as at the Portuguese shores.
That without counting in other unrelated naval incidents aside the upcoming Second Cold War, just as the Iranian seizure of the merchant Maersk Tigris in 28 April 2015, the shore-based anti-ship missile attacks against the catamaran transport ex Swift (HSV-2) and US destroyers on the Red Sea in October 2016 and the ulterior retaliation, the first military operation of the Trump Administration on January 28, 2017, the MV-22B tiltrotor raid of SEAL Team 6 operating from USS Makin Island (LHD-8) against Houthi Yemen, the later January 30 incident, when an Al-Madinah-class Saudi frigate was attacked and damaged probably by a Houthi suicide or drone boat off Al Hudaydah, Houthi Yemen, and the constant and intense naval drills as Sea Shield, Dynamic Manta and Dynamic Mongoose 2017. (And without counting in great landlocked actions, as the complex counter-Daesh operations in Middle East, nor the Chinese naval issues and challenge).
For many observers the continuous and large NATO and partners military exercises show to Russia the Western will to resist his threats, keeping a tense peace.
The Russian were also executing continuous exercises and operations, and showing them without many explanations in propaganda news reports, from the Zapad-17, projected for 14th-20th September 2017, to as in this case an apparently limited ASW exercise between an old and a new submarine (Incidentally, Russia is planning to transfer its 1st Guards Tank Army for exercises to western Belarus in September 2017).
The exercise simulated in this scenario, Dynamic Mongoose, is an almost yearly ASW drill executed from 2012. In the 2017 edition, as novelty, were employed two sonar research vessels (depicted with similar ones in the scenario) Italy/NATO ITS NRV "Alliance" A5345 research vessel, and German Type 751-class "Planet" (With SWATH-type hull).Those were probably employed to experiment new future sonar systems, to cover the possible recuperation of the Russian submarine fleet, and the dismantling of many SOSUS stations after the Cold War end.
Dynamic Mongoose 2017 was developed near Iceland, with participation of Icelandic elements, now in the way to be converted in true armed forces.
Probably part of the exercise, as showed in this scenario, was to control the passage of Russian submarines between Greenland and Iceland, but this is only an informed guess.
For comparison, you can play also the previous Dynamic Mongoose 2015 scenario.

Of course this is a training exercise and actually shots, torpedoes and missiles aren't fired and nobody is hurt ...

Enrique Mas, 1 August 2017.

Barents Sea Russian ASW Drills, June 2017. Historical Training Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for the GIUK Gap Battleset and the HCDB2-170611 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/Russia side or from the Red/Russia side. You should play a few times first the Red side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Blue side.

Image: The only one modernized Russian Udaloy.class destroyer, Vice-Admiral Kulakov inward bound to Portsmouth Naval Base, UK, for a five-day visit, 24 August 2012. Photo by Brian Burnell, took from Wikipedia Commons.

From the eventful year of 2014 the World was beginning the so-called Second Cold War, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB lieutenant colonel) was showing clearly his plan to recover the Russian Empire and later Soviet territories for reinstitute the greatness of his Russia, and to guarantee his passage on the History as saviour of the Rodina.
From May 2014 Putin was provoking in succession the Crimea, Ukraine, Donetsk, Baltic States, October 2014 Swedish submarine incursion, G-20 Brisbane meeting naval crisis, November 2014 Faslane submarine incident, frigate Yaroslav Mudryy February "Channel Dash", April 2015 Finnish submarine incursion (for many observers causing the pre-mobilization of Finland reserve forces), Russian intervention in Syria from 30 September 2015, shoot-down by Turkish F-16 fighters equipped with AIM-120 AMRAAM on 24 November 2015 of a Russian Su-24M as consequence of the repeated unlawful overflights of Turkey by Russian warplanes based in Latakia, and after two months of repeated warning, March 2016 detection by the French of a Russian submarine near Bay of Biscay and its SSBN base, the propaganda stunt of the deployment of the only one Russian aircraft carrier Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov steaming (a lot, literally) from Kola Bay towards Eastern Mediterranean from October 15, 2016, and with constant and
multiple Russian overflies with military warplanes entangled in potential incidents with commercial flights in Europe, so far as at the Portuguese shores.
That without counting in other unrelated naval incidents aside the upcoming Second Cold War, just as the Iranian seizure of the merchant Maersk Tigris in 28 April 2015, the shore-based anti-ship missile attacks against the catamaran transport ex Swift (HSV-2) and US destroyers on the Red Sea in October 2016 and the ulterior retaliation, the first military operation of the Trump Administration on January 28, 2017, the MV-22B tiltrotor raid of SEAL Team 6 operating from USS Makin Island (LHD-8) against Houthi Yemen, the later January 30 incident, when an Al-Madinah-class Saudi frigate was attacked and damaged probably by a Houthi suicide or drone boat off Al Hudaydah, Houthi Yemen, and the constant naval drills as Sea Shield and Dynamic Manta 17. (And without counting in great landlocked actions, as the complex counter-Daesh operations in Middle East).
And meanwhile, more towards Far East a less perceived and growing problem was China, as reflected in the transfer of the 60% of the USN and USAF combat forces to the Pacific Theatre of Operations from 2012, move to be completed by 2020.
For many observers the continuous and large NATO and partners military exercises show to Russia the Western will to resist his threats, keeping a tense peace.
The Russian were also executing continuous exercises and operations, and showing them without many explanations in propaganda news reports, from the Zapad-17, projected for 14th-20th September 2017, to as in this case an apparently limited ASW exercise between an old and a new submarine (Incidentally, Russia is planning to transfer its 1st Guards Tank Army for exercises to western Belarus in September 2017).

This is a good, fast, apparently simply and tense scenario to introduce new players in the Harpoon basics.
Of course this is a training exercise and actual shots, torpedoes and missiles aren't fired and nobody is hurt...

Enrique Mas, 1 July 2017

Sub Hunt off Faslane 2014. Historical scenario/Alternate history scenario.
 
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the EC2003 Battle for GIUK Gap Battleset and the HCDB-140909 1980-2015 era Platform Database or the New Standard HCDB2-170611 1980-2025 era Platform Database.
 
Image: Royal Air Force Sentinel R.1 visits the National Test Pilot School at Mojave, 29 October 2007. Photo by Alan Radecki. From Wikipedia Commons.
 
This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/NATO side or from the Red/Russian side. You should play a few times first the Blue/NATO side to avoid spoilers about force presence, and only later play the Red/Russian, but the victory conditions are probably difficult to get for an AI-controlled Blue side.
 
After UK did retire all the Nimrod MR.2 ASW and maritime patrol aircrafts in 2010 (and his ill-fated projected replacement Nimrod MRA.4 in 2012), the island nation was hopeless without a credible defence even of his nearest sea lanes (we can add to these very erroneous decisions others recent ones, losing full weapon capabilities in others fields, as the air-launched Sea Eagle anti-ship missile in 2000, the Sea Harrier in 2006, the Harrier in 2009 and the anti-radar ALARM missile in December 2013).
Few time later, in the event full year of 2014 the President of Russia Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB operative) was showing his plan to recover the Russian Empire and later Soviet territories for reinstitute the greatness of his Russia, and to guarantee his passage on the History as savior of the Rodina.
After provoked from May 2014 the Crimea, Ukraine, Donetsk, Baltic States, Swedish submarine incursion, G-20 Brisbane meeting naval crisis, and constant and multiple overflies with military warplanes incidents, a less published but remarkable incident happened in the seas surrounding Scotland and the approaches to strategic British SSBN base of Faslane (HMNB Clyde).
In late November 2014 the periscope of an unidentified submarine was perceived near to Faslane base, and UK was forced to request support of the Allied for get some ASW aircrafts, after the Nimrod debacle of 2010.
Two American P-3C Orion (Of VP-4 "Skinny Dragons", based at NAS Sigonella, Sicily), two Canadian CP-140 Aurora, one French Atlantique 2, and one useless for the task British Sentinel R.1 (ASTOR) were deployed to RAF Kinloss in Scotland.
The situation was not very covered by the media, probably because the temporal proximity of the October 2014 Swedish Submarine Incident, and because the incertitude of the situation.
 
Enrique Mas, 18 December 2014.

Operation Opera, June 7, 1981. Historical Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for The Middle East Battleset and the new HCDB2-170522 1980-2025 era Platform Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.

Image: Israeli Air Force F-16A Netz '243', aircraft flown by Colonel Ilan Ramon in Operation Opera. This was the eighth and last to drop its bombs onto the reactor. CIAF, Brno-Turany, 4 September 2004. Image by KGyST, took from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played only from the Blue/Israeli side. The Red/Iraqi Saudi side is programmed, but not fully playable.

Operation Opera was a historical strategic long-range operation of the Israeli Air Force, aimed to prevent the supposed use by Saddam Hussein's Iraq of a French supplied nuclear reactor to build nuclear weapons.
The experimental reactor Osiraq (Or Osirak, composite word of the Osiris type reactor and Iraq or Irak) was placed at Al Tuwaitha Nuclear Center, near Bagdad.
The reactor was previously attacked without results by the Islamic Republic of Iran with F-4E Phantom on September 30, 1980 (Operation Scorch Sword), as only were attacked the auxiliary installations to avoid the risk of radioactive fallout, because the limited intelligence on the target status.
Also previously to the Israeli attack, another Islamic Republic of Iran Air force attack against the H-3 airfields complex, on 4 April 1981, degraded the capabilities of the Iraqi Air Force.
Operation Opera was executed by the first batch of brand new F-16A, received by Israel from July 1980.
Were employed only Mk84 dumb bombs, two carried by each F-16A, but at least eight of the 16 bombs launched hit the reactor dome, a notable achievement. Some bombs were equipped with very long time delayed fuses, to prevent reconstruction attempts.
At last, the reactor was destroyed in the 1991 Gulf War, including the Package Q Strike attack of 19 January.
Could you replicate the Israeli achievement in this apparently simple scenario?

Enrique Mas, 28 May 2017.

Clash of DDGs, Spratly Islands 26-27 October 2015. Historical Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the Western Pacific Battleset and the HCDB-150928 1980-2015 era Platform Database or the new HCDB2-170522 New Standard 1980-2025 era 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 side or from the Red/Chinese side. To avoid spoilers you should play a few times first the Blue side, and only later play the Red side.

Image: The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen (DDG-82) during a scheduled port visit in Da Nang, Vietnam, on 7 November 2009. Cmdr. H.B. Le, commanding officer of Lassen was visiting Vietnam for the first time since he and his family fled the country in 1975. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Daniel Viramontes/Released) 091107-N-7280V-386. Photo in public domain because taked by a US serviceperson on duty and publicly released, taked from Flickr.

After the full of naval, military and security incidents year of 2014 and the not less eventful first eight months of 2015, the World was beginning the so-called Second Cold War. Mostly as result of President of Russia Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB lieutenant colonel) actions, provoking in succession the Crimea, Ukraine, Donetsk, Baltic States, October 2014 Swedish submarine incursion, G-20 Brisbane meeting naval crisis, November 2014 Faslane submarine incident, frigate Yaroslav Mudryy February "Channel Dash", April 2015 Finnish submarine incursion (for many observers causing the pre-mobilization of Finland reserve forces), and with constant and multiple overflies with military warplanes entangled in potential incidents with commercial flights in Europe. That without counting in other unrelated naval incidents, just as the Iranian seizure of the Maersk Tigris in 28 April 2015 (and neither counting in landlocked actions, as the ISIS operations in Middle East), and at last, the use by Russia of Latakia as advanced air base from operations against the opposition to the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from 30 September 2015, with unpredictable consequences.
But meanwhile, more towards Far East was China a less perceived and growing problem.
In some places of the South China or East Philippine Sea multiple countries claimed Spratly Islands archipelago (Chinese: Nansha islands, Filipino: Kapuluan ng Kalayaan, Malay: Kepulauan Spratly and Vietnamese: Quan dao Truong Sa), China was for years mongering his plans and established a permanent base at least from 1987, and 1988 included a naval battle against Vietnam, the Johnson South Reef Skirmish. Also at least from 1995, as denounced by Philippines, China was building structures with military capabilities, including from 2012 more relevant structures, as the 3000+ meters long (Very Large Airport in Harpoon parameters) runway in Fiery Cross Reef, and more important, building artificial reefs and islands above previous simple shoals. At last in an undetermined date late April 2015 China claims as territorial waters the 12 nautical miles circling his "new" islands.
As the US official doctrine is Freedom of Navigation (FON), and as in this case with fears about a decision not to send naval vessels into the zone would inadvertently help the Chinese build their own case for sovereignty in the area, some air and surface elements of US Navy begin to orbit near the Chinese claims, but not crossing the 12 nm line.
Between the first incidents were a VP-45 Pelicans' P-8A Poseidon in surveillance mission carrying a CNN TV team inside, warned by the Chinese to no flight 12 nm near of Fiery Cross Reef on 20 May 2015, and the trailing for some hours of the USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) by the Chinese frigate Yuncheng (571) on 11 May 2015.
At last, from the late hours of 26 October 2015, USS Lassen (DDG-82) implement the Freedom of Navigation (FON) near the Chinese occupied Subi and Mischief Reefs in the Spratlys, and a clash of destroyers was possible.

Enrique Mas, 27 October 2015.

Alternative Naval Prelude to Desert Shield, 2 August 1990: Alternate History Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for The Middle East Battleset and the HCDB-150928 standard 1980-2015 Platform Database or the HCDB2-170507 new standard 1980-2025 Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ Game Engine or later.

Image: USS David D. Ray (DD-971) firing an ASROC from the VLS circa 1991 after her Improved Spruance conversion. Original photo published in All Hands magazine, February 1992, US Department of Defence photograph, and as consequence in public domain.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/US side or from the Red/Iraqi side. To avoid a few spoilers you should play a few times first the Blue side, and only later play the Red side.

This scenario is basically a transliteration for Harpoon HCE/HUCE of Andy Doty's Harpoon 4 (paper rules) scenario "Desert Storm 1990", published in Naval SITREP 49 (October 2015), and with the original author permission.
An almost pure modern naval scenario, Andy Doty's scenario was inspired by his personal experience on duty in USS David R. Ray (DD-971), on her first cruise after the Improved Spruance with Vertical Launch System (VLS) conversion. In concrete at the dawn of 2 August 1990,when USS David R. Ray was in patrol in the northern Persian Gulf, and was called to investigate rumours of Iraqi warships in the Persian Gulf, just when Saddam Hussein was concentrating Iraqi troops in Kuwait border.

Enrique Mas, 20 November 2015.

Kuznetsov at Bay, November 9, 2016. Hypothetical/Historical Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for The Middle East Battleset and the HCDB-150928 1980-2016 era Platform Database or the HCDB2-170507 new standard 1980-2025 Platform Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.

Image: Admiral Kuznetsov on the Mediterranean in 1996. USN photo in public domain, took from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/NATO side or from the Red/Russian side. You should play a few times first the Blue/NATO side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red/Russian side.

With the world for months keeping on the brink of an open war, just the day after the election of Donald J. Trump as 45th President of the United States on November 8, 2016, Russian media denounced the incursion of a Dutch submarine near his Admiral Kuznetsov carrier battle group on Mediterranean Sea, near Cyprus and Syria, and commenting she was repelled by the escort warships.
The only one Russian aircraft carrier Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov was steaming (a lot, literally) from Kola Bay towards her Mediterranean deployment from October 15, 2016, pretending to be employed in anti-Daesh operations, but most as a propaganda and power showing stunt because her limited air wing (some ten Su-33 with SVP-24 navigation/attack system, employing 500 Kg dumb bombs, only four MIG-29KR/KUBR, and an undetermined number of Ka-52K and other helicopters). The CVBG arrived into theatre near November 4, 2016, and started limited air-to-ground attacks against supposed Daesh forces near November, 12 (a two-seater MIG-29KUBR was lost by technical issues on November 13, only a day after the symbolic strikes begun).
Also, after the faked coup in Turkey by the Erdogan Administration on July, 15, 2016, employed as alibi for a pogrom between the Turkish civil and military servants, in the Universities, in the Media and in the Arts, all them accused of Gulenist Terrorists (in fact, the moderate Islamist Fethullah Gulen, now exiled at Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, was a political ally of Erdogan for near 38 years), Turkey was approaching Vladimir Putin's Russia.
As consequence, in this Alternate History scenario, and to affirm the Trump declaration to go towards a 350 ships' navy and increase the compromise with NATO of the European Allies, NATO submarines are forced to show Admiral Kuznetsov to demonstrate her futility.
The hostilities will be limited to the forces in theatre, and some diplomatic excuses related to Syria, confusion in cooperative orders, Freedom of Navigation, errors of navigation, and economic compensation will be provided to guarantee the situation far of the escalation and from a total conflagration.
In change, Russia will lose his only aircraft carrier, an important propaganda tool, and his capability to use a high sea fleet with air cover.

Remember the Second Cold War was originated middle in the second presidential term of Vladimir Putin, from May 2012. As related, after the full of naval, military and security global incidents year of 2014 the world was beginning the so-called Second Cold War. Mostly as result of President of Russia Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB lieutenant colonel) actions, provoking in succession the Crimea, Ukraine, Donetsk, Baltic States, October 2014 Swedish submarine incursion, G-20 Brisbane meeting naval crisis, November 2014 Faslane submarine incident, frigate Yaroslav Mudryy February "Channel Dash", April 2015 Finnish submarine incursion (for many observers causing the pre-mobilization of Finland reserve forces), Russian intervention in Syria from 30 September 2015, violation by Russian military helicopters of the Finnish and Georgian borders on 10 December 2015, March 2016 detection by the French of a Russian submarine near Bay of Biscay, violation by Russian military helicopters of the Polish border on 18 April 2016, the confuse Russian submarine B-265 Krasnodar incident with Polish warships (and the consecutive Putin sack of Russian Baltic Fleet numerous commanders), the HMS Montrose confuse and dangerous encounter with the new Baltic Sea Fleet Russian corvette Soobrazitelnyy in middle of the BALTOPS 2016 exercise in June 2016, and with constant and multiple overflies with military warplanes entangled in potential incidents with commercial and military flights in Europe. That without counting with other unrelated naval incidents, just as the Iranian seizure of the Maersk Tigris in 28 April 2015, or the mid-October 2016 launching of anti-ship missiles against UAE and US warships from the Yemen shores and the successive retaliation with cruise missiles by US forces (and neither counting in landlocked actions, as the continuous counter-Daesh operations in Middle East).
And all those incidents without counting others more towards Far East with China as a less perceived and growing problem, and his own many types generated incidents. China was building structures with military capabilities, including from 2012 more relevant structures, as the 3000+ meters long (Very Large Airport in Harpoon parameters) runway in Fiery Cross Reef (finished at March 2016), and more important, building multiple artificial reefs and islands above previous simple shoals for claiming territory, and for. At last in an undetermined date late April 2015 China claims as territorial waters the 12 nautical miles circling his "new" islands.
As the US official doctrine is Freedom of Navigation (FON) worldwide on international waters (same in Baltic and Black Seas), and as in this case with fears about a decision not to send naval vessels into the zone would inadvertently help the Chinese build their own case for sovereignty in the area, some air and surface elements of US Navy begin to orbit near the Chinese claims, but not crossing the 12 nm line.

Will be vital for both sides to prevail these two first days of theatre-limited conflict, for Russia as propaganda and to show his force keeping presence on the Eastern Mediterranean, for NATO side (less Turkey) to show resolution and positive results in the opposition against Putin's Russia just in the border of his new cryptoally the Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Enrique Mas, November 20, 2016.

Bubiyan Turkey Shoot, January 29, 1991. Historical Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for The Middle East Battleset and the new HCDB2-170430 1980-2025 era Platform Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.

Image: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Leftwich (DD-984) at anchor off Sitra, Bahrain, Persian Gulf, on 16 May 1993, one of the US Navy warships present at the action of Bubiyan. Of interest in this photo is USS Leftwich was one of the only seven Spruance-class destroyers no refitted with VLS vertical missile launcher replacing the forward ASROC mount and its under-deck magazines, but receiving two light ABL armoured containers both sides of the ASROC launcher, each one capable of four diverse types of Tomahawk cruise missiles, of anti-ship or anti-fixed ground installations variants. As in the other Spruances not equipped with VLS, in USS Leftwich the ASROC was deleted circa 1991, as showed on the photo. Also, in the Bubiyan action Leftwich was equipped with two SH-3 Sea King helicopters, no with a SH-2 Seasprite as showed, in the Bubiyan action the US Navy helicopters were not yet armed with anti-surface missiles. Official photo by OS2 John Bouvia, a serviceman on duty, as consequence in public domain, and took from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/Saudi/US and Coalition side or from the Red/Iraqi side. You should play a few times first the Blue/Saudi/US and Coalition side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red/Iraqi side.

The Battle of Bubiyan, named by the near Island of Bubiyan, was the greatest naval engagement of the 1991 Gulf War for the liberation of Kuwait, invaded previously from 2 August 1990 by Iraq. It was in part mostly a one-sided and confuse melee where the bulk of the Iraqi Navy was engaged and destroyed by Coalition warships, airplanes and helicopters. A few units fled to Iran, just as in the case of the Iraqi Air Force.
Also related to the Bubiyan action was a simultaneous attempted Iraqi amphibious assault to the coastal town of Khafji in Saudi Arabia, achieving a temporary propaganda victory in that sector with the Iraqi ground forces. This movement was spotted by the Coalition naval forces and subsequently destroyed the amphibious force. The last action of the Iraqi Navy was to fire two supposed Silkworm Chinese anti-ship missiles from a shore launcher at the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63); but one was intercepted midflight by a ramjet-powered Sea Dart surface-to-air missile from the British destroyer HMS Gloucester, and the other splashed on the water.
After the Bubiyan action, the Iraqi Navy ceased to exist as a fighting force at all, leaving Iraq with very few ships, all in poor condition.
This scenario is inspired in that with the same historical name in "Troubled Waters", one of the original 1992 "Harpoon" booklet supplements, I think the only one I have not had (The others were purchased in a real physical game store some twenty-five years ago!) and found and purchased through Internet only two weeks ago.
The scenario represents the first night of the fight, and tries to reflect the chaos and randomness of the historical situation, and just as represented in "Troubled Waters", with very few licenses and historical updates.
Is an apparently simple scenario, but difficult to master.
The forces are a little scarce, appear very randomly in the scenario, and their capabilities are very diverse, for more fun and scenario replayability. Many of the ships and aircraft are of interest, as are modelled in the Harpoon Database depicting the special modifications developed for service in the Gulf War of 1991 campaign.
The scenario can be considered historical, as all the forces present were historically present and the randomness represents the chaos and confusion of the melee.

Enrique Mas, 1 May 2017.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for the Mediterranean Battleset and the HCDB2-170407 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 side or from the Red/Russian side. You should play a few times first the Blue side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red side.

Image: USS Ross (DDG-71) fires a Tomahawk land attack missile the night 7 April 2017 against the Syrian airbase of Al-Shayrat. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Robert S. Price, and in consequence in public domain, took from http://navylive.dodlive.mil/2017/04/07/u-s-navy-destroyers-launch-strikes-on-syria

In the very complex world situation of early 2017, and as consequence of a successive chain of events begun with the taking charge of Vladimir Putin as 4th President of Russia in 2012, USS Porter (DDG-78) was a very busy warship under the command of CDR Andria Slough, former deputy director for the Joint Maritime Ballistic Missile Defence Operations and Training.
After her participation in exercises Sea Shield and Dynamic Manta 2017 (Both depicted in previous Harpoon HCE/HUCE scenarios), on 6 April 2017 she and USS Ross (DDG-71) were called to launch Tomahawk missiles against the Syrian military airbase of Al-Shayrat.
Both were two of the four Burke-class destroyers forward-deployed at Naval Station Rota, Spain, for Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) tasks and SeaRAM, integrated in the new CTF-64, created in July 2015 (It was a crash program, as the four Rota destroyers are equipped with an older Aegis baseline that requires the ship to operate in a BMD mode or switch to the traditional aircraft and cruise missile defence role, and in consequence without SeaRAM are almost without self defence missiles, counting only with the Phalanx) and arriving the first ship at Rota in 24 September 2015.
The Tomahawk salvo of 59 missiles was ordered by President Trump to prevent Syria's President Assad to use again nervous agents against civilians in Syria, as employed previously a few days earlier on April 4 in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, where several dozen civilians, including many children and women, were killed by what appears to be sarin gas.
As was suspected the presence of Russian technicians in the Syrian base to be attacked, the missile strike was warned with time to Russia, the base evacuated before the arrival of the missiles, and the human victims were scarce or none.
In the attack aftermath, on 7 April 2017, agency news reports informed of the Russian Black Sea Fleet brand-new multipurpose frigate Admiral Grigorovich sailing from the Bosphorus Strait to Eastern Mediterranean, suggesting a possible Russian naval retaliation against the US ships launching the missiles.
The much-hyped in the news Admiral Grigorovich is the first Russian ship of Project 11356, a derivative of the old Project 1135/Krivak, and exported from 2003 to India as Talwar-class/Krivak V.
Of course that was a usual movement of Russian warships going to and fro, but this limited scenario speculates on the possibility of a Russian retaliation on those premises.

Enrique Mas, 9 April 2017.

Reagan against China (and F-35B first blood), December 2016-early 2017. Hypothetical/Historical Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for the Western Pacific BattleSet and the new HCDB2-170401 (Previously 170122) 1980-2025 era Platform Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.

Image: Aircraft assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 14 perform a diamond formation flyby over the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) during a Tiger Cruise air power demonstration. U.S. Navy photo of 18 October 2009 by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Torrey W. Lee/Released, and took from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played from the US/Blue side or from the Chinese/Red side. To avoid spoilers you should play a few times first the US/Blue side, and only later play the Chinese/Red side.

The scenario is based in current historical events, mainly the steaming of the just formed Chinese aircraft carrier CV-16 Liaoning CVBG thought the Bashi Channel in the contested sea area from 26 December 2016. But it was very improbable the political motivation in either side capable to generate an open war. At least President Obama had wanted to leave to posterity and to President-Elect Trump a strange and complicated legacy, to force the new incumbent to keep a very strong and militant posture against China.
Also, one of the aims of this scenario is to show how numerous and modernized are the Chinese forces at the current times, forgetting the usual conception about they're obsolete and simple forces (but depicting also his lack of enough naval helicopters, tankers and EW aircrafts).
Is showed the more accurate possible Chinese order of battle (December 2016) of his three fleets attack submarine force, his People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) air elements, some very few People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) combat elements, and a few PLAAF strategic elements, as UAVs, AWACS or ELINT aircrafts.
Worth of remembering is, after the full of naval, military and security incidents year of 2014 the World was beginning the so-called Second Cold War. Mostly as result of President of Russia Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB lieutenant colonel) actions, provoking in succession the Crimea, Ukraine, Donetsk, Baltic States, October 2014 Swedish submarine incursion, G-20 Brisbane meeting naval crisis, November 2014 Faslane submarine incident, frigate Yaroslav Mudryy February "Channel Dash", April 2015 Finnish submarine incursion (for many observers causing the pre-mobilization of Finland reserve forces), Russian intervention in Syria from 30 September 2015, March 2016 detection by the French of a Russian submarine near Bay of Biscay, the propaganda stunt of the deployment of the only one Russian aircraft carrier Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov steaming (a lot, literally) from Kola Bay towards Eastern Mediterranean from October 15, 2016, and with constant and multiple Russian overflies with military warplanes entangled in potential incidents with commercial flights in Europe. That without counting in other unrelated naval incidents, just as the Iranian seizure of the Maersk Tigris in 28 April 2015 (and neither counting in landlocked actions, as the counter-ISIS operations in Middle East).
But meanwhile, more towards Far East a less perceived and growing problem was China, as reflected in the transfer of the 60% of the USN and USAF combat forces to the Pacific Theater of Operations from 2012, move to be completed by 2020.
In some places of the South China or East Philippine Sea multiple countries claimed Spratly Islands archipelago (Chinese: Nansha islands, Filipino: Kapuluan ng Kalayaan, Malay: Kepulauan Spratly and Vietnamese: Quan dao Truong Sa), China was for years mongering his plans and established a permanent base at least from 1987, and 1988 included a naval battle against Vietnam, the Johnson South Reef Skirmish. Also at least from 1995, as denounced by Philippines, China was building structures with military capabilities, including from 2012 more relevant structures, as the 3000+ meters long (Very Large Airport in Harpoon parameters) runway in Fiery Cross Reef (finished at March 2016) and other smaller finished in Mischief Reef, and more important, building artificial reefs and islands above previous simple shoals for claiming territory, and equipping them with advanced weapons. At last in an undetermined date late April 2015 China claims as territorial waters the 12 nautical miles circling his "new" islands.
As the US official doctrine is Freedom of Navigation (FON) worldwide on international waters, and as in this case with fears about a decision not to send naval vessels into the zone would inadvertently help the Chinese build their own case for sovereignty in the area, some air and surface elements of US Navy begin to orbit near the Chinese claims, but not crossing the 12 nm line.
Between the first incidents were a VP-45 Pelicans' P-8A Poseidon in surveillance mission carrying a CNN TV team inside, warned by the Chinese to no flight 12 nm near of Fiery Cross Reef on 20 May 2015, and the trailing for some hours of the USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) by the Chinese frigate Yuncheng (571) on 11 May 2015. Late, from 26 October 2015, USS Lassen (DDG-82) implement the Freedom of Navigation (FON) near the Chinese occupied Subi and Mischief Reefs in the Spratlys, and a clash of destroyers was possible, but avoided with the humble and shy behaviour of the US side, transiting without radars illuminating or the helicopter flying.
Other previous very important situation, and after some months without US aircraft carriers in the region, was from 1 to 8 March 2016, when the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) Carrier Strike Group (JCSCSG or Carrier Strike Group Three) transited the Luzon Strait on the contested area. Other possible incident in our timeline was the sailing of the cruiser USS Chancellorsville between Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Mansiloc Spanish historical name) and Mischief Reef on late March 2016, when was persistently trailed by Chinese frigate Yueyang (575) but the action was limited to an exchange of weather pleasantries.
But perhaps in the December 2016 transit of the Liaoning CVBG another outcome would have been possible ...

Enrique Mas, 24 January 2017.

Battle of Chancellorsville: The Red Badge of Courage, March 2016. Alternate History Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition introductory scenario for the Western Pacific Battleset and the HCDB-150928 1980-2015 era Platform Database or the HCDB2-170401 new 1980-2025 era Platform Database . This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.

Image: USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) steams port side of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise in 8 July 2010. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Stephen M. Votaw, a serviceman on duty and in consequence in public domain, took from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/US side or from the Red/Chinese side. To avoid spoilers you should play a few times first the Blue side, and only later play the Red side.

The scenario is based in current historical events, mainly the navigation of the USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) on the contested area in late March 2016, as is the US clear aim to keep open to all maritime traffic the region sea, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. But is very improbable the political motivation in either side capable to generate an open and all-out war.
Is basically an introductory scenario, inspired by the (continuous) current events.
After the full of naval, military and security incidents year of 2014 the World was beginning the so-called Second Cold War. Mostly as result of President of Russia Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB lieutenant colonel) actions, provoking in succession the Crimea, Ukraine, Donetsk, Baltic States, October 2014 Swedish submarine incursion, G-20 Brisbane meeting naval crisis, November 2014 Faslane submarine incident, frigate Yaroslav Mudryy February "Channel Dash", April 2015 Finnish submarine incursion (for many observers causing the pre-mobilization of Finland reserve forces), Russian intervention in Syria from 30 September 2015, March 2016 detection by the French of a Russian submarine near Bay of Biscay, and with constant and multiple overflies with military warplanes entangled in potential incidents with commercial flights in Europe. That without counting in other unrelated naval incidents, just as the Iranian seizure of the Maersk Tigris in 28 April 2015 (and neither counting in landlocked actions, as the ISIS operati
ons in Middle East).
But meanwhile, more towards Far East was China a less perceived and growing problem.
In some places of the South China or East Philippine Sea multiple countries claimed Spratly Islands archipelago (Chinese: Nansha islands, Filipino: Kapuluan ng Kalayaan, Malay: Kepulauan Spratly and Vietnamese: Quan dao Truong Sa), China was for years mongering his plans and established a permanent base at least from 1987, and 1988 included a naval battle against Vietnam, the Johnson South Reef Skirmish. Also at least from 1995, as denounced by Philippines, China was building structures with military capabilities, including from 2012 more relevant structures, as the 3000+ meters long (Very Large Airport in Harpoon parameters) runway in Fiery Cross Reef (now finished, at March 2016), and more important, building artificial reefs and islands above previous simple shoals for claiming territory. At last in an undetermined date late April 2015 China claims as territorial waters the 12 nautical miles circling his "new" islands.
As the US official doctrine is Freedom of Navigation (FON) worldwide on international waters, and as in this case with fears about a decision not to send naval vessels into the zone would inadvertently help the Chinese build their own case for sovereignty in the area, some air and surface elements of US Navy begin to orbit near the Chinese claims, but not crossing the 12 nm line.
Between the first incidents were a VP-45 Pelicans' P-8A Poseidon in surveillance mission carrying a CNN TV team inside, warned by the Chinese to no flight 12 nm near of Fiery Cross Reef on 20 May 2015, and the trailing for some hours of the USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) by the Chinese frigate Yuncheng (571) on 11 May 2015. Late, from 26 October 2015, USS Lassen (DDG-82) implement the Freedom of Navigation (FON) near the Chinese occupied Subi and Mischief Reefs in the Spratlys, and a clash of destroyers was possible, but avoided with the humble and shy behaviour of the US side, transiting without radars illuminating or the helicopter flying.
Other previous very important situation, and after some months without US aircraft carriers in the region, was from 1 to 8 March 2016, when the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) Carrier Strike Group (JCSCSG or Carrier Strike Group Three) transited the Luzon Strait on the contested area.
And the last possible incident in our timeline was the sailing of the cruiser USS Chancellorsville between Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Mansiloc Spanish historical name) and Mischief Reef on late March 2016, when was persistently trailed by Chinese frigate Yueyang (575) and the action was limited to an exchange of weather pleasantries, but other outcome was possible, re-enacting Stephen Crane's Battle of Chancellorsville-inspired The Red Badge of Courage ...

Enrique Mas, 1 April 2016.

The Krasnodar Incident, late April 2016. Historical Scenario/Alternate History Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition introductory scenario for the EC2003 Battle for the GIUK GAP Battleset and the HCDB-150928 1980-2015 era Platform Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.

Image: The new diesel-electric submarine B-265 Krasnodar with the Russian Navy Saint Andrew's Cross flag raised on her commisioning day 5 November 2105 on the eve of Submariner Day, near Saint Petersburg, and before to be transferred to the Black Sea Fleet. Photo credit Mil.ru, Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, took from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/Polish side or from the Red/Russian side. To avoid spoilers you should play a few times first the Blue side, and only later play the Red side.

The scenario is based in current historical events, mainly the Russian media propaganda stunt about a hypothetical subsurface collision between the just commissioned Russian conventional submarine Krasnodar and the Polish submarine Orzel in the Baltic Sea, in a time period when Orzel has not quitted the Gulf of Gdansk waters. This scenario depicts a derivative and open-fire limited submarine war, but is very improbable the political motivation in either side capable to generate an open and all-out war.
Is basically an introductory scenario, inspired by the (continuous) current events.
After the full of naval, military and security incidents year of 2014 the World was beginning the so-called Second Cold War. Mostly as result of President of Russia Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB lieutenant colonel) actions, provoking in succession the Crimea, Ukraine, Donetsk, Baltic States, October 2014 Swedish submarine incursion, G-20 Brisbane meeting naval crisis, November 2014 Faslane submarine incident, frigate Yaroslav Mudryy February "Channel Dash", April 2015 Finnish submarine incursion (for many observers causing the pre-mobilization of Finland reserve forces), Russian intervention in Syria from 30 September 2015, violation by Russian military helicopters of the Finnish and Georgian borders on 10 December 2015, March 2016 detection by the French of a Russian submarine near Bay of Biscay, violation by Russian military helicopters of the Polish border on 18 April 2016, and with constant and multiple overflies with military warplanes entangled in potential incidents with commercial and military flights in Europe. That without counting in other unrelated naval incidents, just as the Iranian seizure of the Maersk Tigris in 28 April 2015 (and neither counting in landlocked actions, as the ISIS operations in Middle East).
And all those incidents without counting more towards Far East with China as a less perceived and growing problem, and his own generated incidents. China was building structures with military capabilities, including from 2012 more relevant structures, as the 3000+ meters long (Very Large Airport in Harpoon parameters) runway in Fiery Cross Reef (now finished, at March 2016), and more important, building artificial reefs and islands above previous simple shoals for claiming territory. At last in an undetermined date late April 2015 China claims as territorial waters the 12 nautical miles circling his "new" islands.
As the US official doctrine is Freedom of Navigation (FON) worldwide on international waters (same in Baltic and Black Seas), and as in this case with fears about a decision not to send naval vessels into the zone would inadvertently help the Chinese build their own case for sovereignty in the area, some air and surface elements of US Navy begin to orbit near the Chinese claims, but not crossing the 12 nm line.
Between the first incidents were a VP-45 Pelicans' P-8A Poseidon in surveillance mission carrying a CNN TV team inside, warned by the Chinese to no flight 12 nm near of Fiery Cross Reef on 20 May 2015, and the trailing for some hours of the USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) by the Chinese frigate Yuncheng (571) on 11 May 2015. Late, from 26 October 2015, USS Lassen (DDG-82) implement the Freedom of Navigation (FON) near the Chinese occupied Subi and Mischief Reefs in the Spratlys, and a clash of destroyers was possible, but avoided with the humble and shy behaviour of the US side, transiting without radars illuminating or the helicopter flying, the 1 to 8 March 2016 sailing of the USS John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group on the contested area, and the sailing of the cruiser USS Chancellorsville between Scarborough Shoal and Mischief Reef on late March 2016, when was persistently trailed by Chinese frigate Yueyang (575) and the action was limited to an exchange of weather pleasantries.
In this Alternate History case, the new Polish nationalist leaders (incumbents from August and November 2015) decides the Russian subsurface navigation of Gulf of Gdansk, near the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad (containing the old Prussian cities of Konigsberg and Pillau), can't be tolerated, and will be opposed by any means necessary.

Enrique Mas, 1 May 2016.

HMS Montrose at BALTOPS 2016, June 2016. Historical Scenario/Alternate History Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition introductory scenario for the EC2003 Battle for the GIUK GAP Battleset and the HCDB-150928 1980-2015 era Platform Database or the HCDB2-170401 New Standard 1980-2025 Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.

Image: The new Baltic Sea Fleet Russian corvette Soobrazitelnyy with the Russian Navy Saint Andrew's Cross flag on 30 June 2012 in Saint Petersburg. Photo credit Vitaly Repin, took from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/NATO side or from the Red/Russian side. To avoid spoilers you should play a few times first the Blue side, and only later play the Red side.

The scenario is based in current historical events, mainly a sideshow of the NATO's BALTOPS 2016 drills, in particular the close encounter between the British frigate HMS Montrose and the Russian corvette (Russian designation) Soobrazitelnyy. This scenario depicts a derivative and open-fire limited confrontation, but is very improbable the political motivation in either side capable to generate an open and all-out war.
Is basically an introductory scenario, inspired by the (continuous) current events.
After the full of naval, military and security incidents year of 2014 the World was beginning the so-called Second Cold War. Mostly as result of President of Russia Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB lieutenant colonel) actions, provoking in succession the Crimea, Ukraine, Donetsk, Baltic States, October 2014 Swedish submarine incursion, G-20 Brisbane meeting naval crisis, November 2014 Faslane submarine incident, frigate Yaroslav Mudryy February "Channel Dash", April 2015 Finnish submarine incursion (for many observers causing the pre-mobilization of Finland reserve forces), Russian intervention in Syria from 30 September 2015, violation by Russian military helicopters of the Finnish and Georgian borders on 10 December 2015, March 2016 detection by the French of a Russian submarine near Bay of Biscay, violation by Russian military helicopters of the Polish border on 18 April 2016, the confuse Russian submarine B-265 Krasnodar incident with Polish warships (and the consecutive Putin sack of Russian Baltic Fleet numerous
commanders) and with constant and multiple overflies with military warplanes entangled in potential incidents with commercial and military flights in Europe. That without counting in other unrelated naval incidents, just as the Iranian seizure of the Maersk Tigris in 28 April 2015 (and neither counting in landlocked actions, as the counter-Daesh operations in Middle East).
And all those incidents without counting more towards Far East with China as a less perceived and growing problem, and his own generated incidents. China was building structures with military capabilities, including from 2012 more relevant structures, as the 3000+ meters long (Very Large Airport in Harpoon parameters) runway in Fiery Cross Reef (now finished, at March 2016), and more important, building artificial reefs and islands above previous simple shoals for claiming territory. At last in an undetermined date late April 2015 China claims as territorial waters the 12 nautical miles circling his "new" islands.
As the US official doctrine is Freedom of Navigation (FON) worldwide on international waters (same in Baltic and Black Seas), and as in this case with fears about a decision not to send naval vessels into the zone would inadvertently help the Chinese build their own case for sovereignty in the area, some air and surface elements of US Navy begin to orbit near the Chinese claims, but not crossing the 12 nm line.
Between the first incidents were a VP-45 Pelicans' P-8A Poseidon in surveillance mission carrying a CNN TV team inside, warned by the Chinese to no flight 12 nm near of Fiery Cross Reef on 20 May 2015, and the trailing for some hours of the USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) by the Chinese frigate Yuncheng (571) on 11 May 2015. Late, from 26 October 2015, USS Lassen (DDG-82) implement the Freedom of Navigation (FON) near the Chinese occupied Subi and Mischief Reefs in the Spratlys, and a clash of destroyers was possible, but avoided with the humble and shy behaviour of the US side, transiting without radars illuminating or the helicopter flying, the 1 to 8 March 2016 sailing of the USS John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group on the contested area, and the sailing of the cruiser USS Chancellorsville between Scarborough Shoal and Mischief Reef on late March 2016, when was persistently trailed by Chinese frigate Yueyang (575) and the action was limited to an exchange of weather pleasantries.
In this Alternate History case, the confuse identification between the British and Russian warships conducts to an open fire case.

Enrique Mas, 24 July 2016.