broncepulido

FONOPS off Venezuela 2020. Historical/Alternate History Scenario.
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for the Caribbean Basin Battleset and the HCDB2-170909 (or later) 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-Allied side or from the Red/Venezuela side. You should play a few times first the Blue/US-Allied side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red/Venezuela side.
 
Image: The littoral combat ship USS Detroit (LCS-7) travels in formation with the guided missile destroyers USS Lassen (DDG-82), USS Preble (DDG-88) and USS Farragut (DDG-99), as well as a Navy P-8A aircraft while conducting maritime security operations in the Caribbean Sea, May 11, 2020. Photo By: Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Anderson W. Branch, VIRIN: 200511-N-KK394-1564Y.JPG, took by a serviceperson on duty, and in consequence in public domain.
 
Freedom of Navigation is a principle of consuetudinary international law, relative to freedom movement of vessels of sovereign states without the interference of other states, with the exceptions provided by international law.
Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPS) are operations of naval ships transits to enforce and guarantee Freedom of Navigation in dubious or contested maritime zones, and codified as in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The U.S. Navy executes freedom of navigation operations with regularity. Though the U.S. is not a signatory to UNCLOS, it broadly supports UNCLOS framework for freedom of navigation, and the Navy routinely carries out transits and other operations to demonstrate the recognized limits of claimed territorial seas, most highlighted in the South China Sea.
The United States was the signatory of the 1958 version on UNCLOS which had many of the same provisions as the current treaty. When the required number of nation-states has ratified it, UNCLOS goes into effect and becomes part of international law for the entire world, including the US. UNCLOS was recognized and adhered to by the US since 1983 as part of the Reagan administration's ocean policy. US Navy FONOPS is based on UNCLOS.
Venezuela has from some time ago required prior notification for military operations between its 12 nautical miles territorial seas boundary and its EEZ boundary extended to 200 nautical miles, and it has challenged U.S. government vessels in this zone.
Also, the U.S. does not recognize the administration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, favoring political opposition leader Juan Guaido instead. 
In 2020, and in the aftermath of the March 31-April 1 night, when the Venezuelan patrol ship Naiguata (GC-23) was sunk by ramming of the reinforced arctic hull of RNMS Resolute cruise ship with Portuguese flag, under accusations of attempt to throwing the Maduro regimen, USN persists on its FONOPS operations.
Venezuela is determined in the control and identification on ships sailing its EEZ, and after the RNMS Resolute incident, the clash is almost inevitable.
This scenario is qualified as "historical" because the present forces are the same historically available at August 2020.
Enrique Mas, August 29, 2020.

Essequibo Crisis, January 2024. Hypothetical Scenario.
 
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for the Caribbean Basin Battleset and the HCDB2-170909 (or later) 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/UK-Allied side or from the Red/Venezuela side. You should play a few times first the Blue/UK-Allied side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red/Venezuela side.
Image: HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) with some 617 Squadron RAF "Dambusters" F-35B on deck (And perhaps some others USMC VMFA-211 "Wake Island Avengers" F-35B out of sight) during Carrier Strike Group 21 (CSG21), the ship first operational deployment, September 22, 2021. A work by UK government file is licensed under the Open Government Licence version 1.0 and took from Wikipedia Commons.
At the end of the very convulse 2023, with the almost two years long Russian invasion of Ukraine, the new Israel-Palestine crisis started on October 7, and before the current Houthis attacks on the civilian traffic in the near seas, another latent crisis exploded.
The Maduro's socialist regime of Venezuela, almost a puppet of Cuba and with increasing bonds with Iran, attempts to overcome its usual internal crisis with the very usual move of search an external enemy.
In this case the victim is its neighbour Guyana and the frontier Essequibo region.
The terrain is impassable and Brazil supports Guyana, and the question probably will be resolved in international justice courts, too long to be explained here.
But in this hypothetical scenario Guyana requested aid from the United Kingdom, materialized in a carrier strike group steaming and showing flag in the Venezuela EEZ, keeping presence for deterrent of the Maduro's pretensions over Essequibo.
The carrier strike group is limited by the lack of Royal Navy escorts (many in the Horn of Africa) and the low availability of F-35B and pilots (because the Eastern Europe Russian invasion of Ukraine), and the Venezuelan side is tempted of prevent its passage on its EEZ. Also, US refuses to support UK in this operation because the low risks and other commercial interests.
Alea jacta est.
 
Enrique Mas, January 21, 2024.

Battle of the River Plate, 13 December 1939. Historical Scenario.
 
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the EC2003 Battle for South Atlantic The Americas Battleset and the HCWW-101110 World Wars era Platform Database.
 
Picture: Source Wikipedia Commons from Imperial War Museum. IWM caption : The German battleship Admiral Graf Spee in flames after being scuttled in the River Plate Estuary off Montevideo, Uruguay. 17 December 1939. This is photograph A 3 from collections of Imperial War Museums (collection no. 4700-01).
 
A very fast and furious encounter between the Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine, in middle of the Phoney War, decisive for aftercoming naval events. Good also for testing the artillery. I did played it many times, and the results can be surprising due to the hazards and random capability of the AI and the Game Engine mechanisms. Playable from Red or Blue sides.
 
December 1939. In this period of the phoney war, while a couple of months the German pocket battleship (classified as heavy cruiser or armoured cruiser for others scholars) Admiral Graf Spee had been commerce raiding since the start of the war in September, a very extent cruise while avoiding killing anyone but with no very impressive results. And she's now the only Kriegsmarine warship operating in far seas.
And the fate led she to fulfil the same destination as her predecessors in the South Atlantic in WWI, not far from the places where the CL Dresden and the rest of the East Asia squadron commanded by her name-sake Vice Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee were sunken 25 years earlier, almost entirely in the now forgotten First Battle of the Falklands (Malvinas) Islands.
Her own captain, Kapitan zur See Hans Wilhelm Langsdorff , a not Nazi sympathizer officer and old neighbour of the family of the own Maximilian von Spee, was himself a longstanding naval officer who had seen action at the Battle of Jutland.
 
Now, after a bloodless cruise, enfaced with a group he think is composed of CA Exeter and two DDs, Langsdorff must decide to fight or to flee.
His ship is superior in battle capabilities, and she's diesel engined with more rapid response than the steam engined British ships, but the enemy is faster, and aided by his very numerically superior forces,undoubtedly can speed-up and chase his slower ship at middle term.
 
 
More informations at http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/WH2Navy-fig-WH2Nav03a.HTML
 
Enrique Mas, September 2009.

Operation Paraquet: South Georgia, 20-26 April 1982. Historical Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the South Atlantic Battleset and the HCDA-110606 (Harpoon Commander's Edition Database 'Americas') Platform Database.

Image: Ice patrol ship HMS Endurance A 171 (in service 1967-1991), support ship and guard vessel for the British Antarctic Survey. Probably sailing off South Georgia, judging by the surrounding seascape. Photo by Alan Broomhead (ex Royal Navy), uploaded 2006, from Wikipedia Commons.

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

Operation Paraquet was the first British movement to retake territory from the Argentine occupation in the South Atlantic War of 1982, defeating the limited Argentine Garrison in South Georgia.
A small task force with only two Wessex assault helicopters was centred on the RFA Tidespring and other heterogeneous elements, included the ice patrol vessel HMS Endurance.
It was a sort of very long range strategic guerrilla operation subsidiary of Operation Corporate, Operation Paraquet was a low intensity operation but with impressive state of art platforms and weapon systems.
At last, after a few hours, an assault by SAS, SBS and Royal Marines and a purpose bloodless naval bombardment demonstration the small Argentine garrison surrendered (less the infamous Lieutenant Commander Astiz unit of Buzos Tacticos, who did it the day after).
But before that the operation was in great distress, with the loss of both Wessex assault helicopters by very bad weather and bad luck, and after an emergency and improvised ASW action included the use of helicopter-launched air-to-surface missiles.
This scenario want to transmit the strange flavour of that distant waters campaign, with lack of air cover, very long distances and very few and sometimes rare elements.
Also, the player probably will be surprised by the lack of capabilities of sensors and weapons system (including dumb torpedoes), even counting with modern platforms to carry them as hunter/killer nuclear submarines, compared with the current types usually employed in the Harpoon simulation in more usual scenarios.
Last but not least the scenario try to simulate how the events could be developed slightly otherwise.

Enrique Mas, 21 September 2015.
​

Beira Patrol going hot, March 1966.
 
Image: HMS Eagle 1970, photograph by Isaac Newton, source: Wikipedia from the HMS Minerva (F45) web site http://www.hmsminerva.info/photos1.htm
 
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the South Africa Battleset and the HCCW-120614 Cold War Platform Database.
 
This scenario is designed for play by the British/Blue or by the Combined/Red side, to avoid spoilers is better to play many times first the British/Blue side, and only after the Combined/Red side. Is a long and probably difficult scenario. If you see it too difficult playing the Blue side, you can play the provided alternate scenario with the support of the South African forces.
 
Was it possible a naval blockade to a land-locked country?
After the unilateral independence of Rhodesia in 1965 (Renamed Zimbabwe from 1980), the United Kingdom with the United Nations support, both fearing the establishment of a white minority racist government, embargoed the oil exportations to Rhodesia.
The infamous Beira Patrol was established for his control by the Royal Navy. The Patrol lasted from 1966 to the Mozambique independence in 1975 as consequence of the Portuguese Carnation Revolution, with the new country government guaranteeing the sanctions to Rhodesia and the Patrol retired by UK. Initially the Beira Patrol was also equipped with aircraft carriers and late only with one or two frigates and shore-based planes (Based to 1971 in Majunga, Malagasy Republic), checking on oil tankers heading for Beira, in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique.
UN Security Council Resolution 221 (1966) ridiculously limited the oil blockade to the Portuguese port of Beira in the Mozambique colony, site of the Rhodesia-connected oil pipeline terminus (And Portugal was the oldest British ally!). Absurdly as the oil can enter by other ports, as Lourenco Marques (renamed Maputo after the Mozambique independence), or with the tankers sailing in the six nautical miles Portuguese territorial waters along the Mozambican coast, from South Africa to Beira! Also, only British forces were allowed to participate in Security Council Resolution, and the UK have not enough forces to effectively establish the blockade.
In this scenario the Carnation Revolution was some nine years earlier, the Mozambican independence almost instantaneous (as in 1975), some others African governments are deposed or clearly more pro-Soviet than historically, and the Soviet Union is supporting an difficult pact with the Ian Smith government, for sake of strategic interests.
Note: This scenario is labelled as "Historical" because the Rhodesian, Portuguese, South African (in the alternate scenario) and UK forces are as the historically deployed at the Beira Patrol start, including the carrier air wings. Clearly the crisis was quiet and without major incidents. They are two alternative scenario files, one with and another without South Africa supporting the old British Empire remains.
Unnamed places are:
ZYa, Beira (Portuguese Base Aerea BA-8) airport, BEW/FQBR, Mozambique.
ZXa, Lourenco Marques (Portuguese Aerodromo-Base AB-8 (confuse, not?!), now Maputo) airport, MPM/FQMA, Mozambique.
ZWa, New Sarum (now Manyame) Air Force Station, HRE/FVHA, Rhodesia.
ZVa, Thornhill (now Gweru-Thornhill) Air Base, GWE/FVTL, Rhodesia.
ACa, Majunga (now Amborovy) airport, MJN/FMNM, Malagasy Republic.
AKA, Bloemspruit AFB, BFN/FABL, South Africa.
AJa, Durban AFB, DUR/FADN, South Africa.
ANa, Langebaan AFS (now AFB), SBD/FALW, South Africa.
AFa, Pietersburg (now Polokwane IA) AFB, PTG/FAPP, South Africa.
ALa, Port Elizabeth AFB (now AFS), PLZ/FAPE, South Africa.
AMa, Simon's Town Port, South Africa.
AIa, Swartkop AFB, FASK, South Africa.
AGa, Waterkloof AFB, WKF/FAWK, South Africa.
AHa, Ysterplaat AFS, FAYP, South Africa.
 
Enrique Mas, April 2013.

A Dragon in South Africa, April 2015. Historical Training Scenario.
 
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the South Africa Battleset and the HCDB-140909 1980-2015 era Platform Database.
 
Image: HMS Dragon in the English Channel in 30 August 2011, photo by LA(Phot) Nicky Wilson, photo taked from Wikipedia Commons and in OGL (Open Government License).
 
This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/UK side or from the Red/South Africa side. Is a very simple and introductory scenario, inspired in the limited and criticized Type 45 ASW capabilities.
 
In April 2015 the British Type 45 air defence-oriented destroyer HMS Dragon was in good will visit to Cape Town and played some ASW exercises against the South African submarine SAS Manthatisi, a ten years old German build and designed Type 209/1400 conventional diesel-electric submarine.
As Type 45 is very criticized because her limited ASW capabilities (and many in the class also without anti-ship missiles), is a good time to essay a situation as that tested in the exercise.
Of course if you sink the enemy unit you win, but is a training exercise and actually shots weren't fired and none was hurt ...
 
Enrique Mas, April 2015

Note: In this scenario, to avoid spoilers, it is compulsory to play the Israeli/Blue side a few times, and only after play the Iranian/Red side.
 
This scenario also wants to be a study about the feasibility of a strike erasing the future nuclear capabilities of Iran.
My intention in this scenario was also to reproduce the Israel and Iran OOB in 2010.
 
Some months after the political and tactical semi-failure of the Mavi Marmara affair doctored by the IHH, a supposed Turkish Islamic charity, the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedom and Humanitarian Relief (May 31, 2010), a new Israeli coalition Government, leaded by the moderate Premier Shlomo Ben-Ami, ex- Foreign Affairs Minister and former Ambassador in Spain, very influenced by his pair of mysterious Spanish counsellors (Code-named Hello Kitty and SpongeBob SquarePants), is impelled by the Western Powers to actuate as a scapegoat and to stop the Iranian military nuclear program, doing the mission the Western Powers are afraid to do because his multiple political implications.
The strike must be realised before the imminent Iranian deployment of the new and powerful S-300/SA-10 SAMs, complement of the previous deployed long-range SA-5 Gammon.
 
Only credible and political admissible action is a conventional attack with Precision Guided Munitions, a limited and surgical strike without collateral damages will be also the only political acceptable Israeli option gullible for the mass-media.
The Heyl HaAvir and the Heyl HaYam are only five days to obtain the victory, before the US and other countries will be forced reluctantly to stop the strikes because the usual pressure of unoccupied demostrators worldwide the week-end after the first strike.
 
And the only possible income of the battle is the Total Victory, with the annihilation of at least all the designated targets: Bushehr comprising his nuclear reactor (ZPa) the Nuke Sites 1 (YSb), 2 (YRb) and 3 (YQb), the Terror Camps 1 (YDa), 2 (YCa) and 3 (YBa), and the TBM Site (YFb) (first you must to localize some of those targets).
 
Is compulsory for Israel to no lose more than 60 planes, to avoid a propagandistic victory by Iran.
 
Also, as a side diversion, the Israeli player must resolve the question of a undetermined number of apparent merchant ships with the manifested intention of repeat the facts of the first Gaza flotilla, supposedly waiting in front the Israeli coast, and a few armed blockade-runners. But in this time, if open hostilities with Iran are opened, the supposed civilian ships can be freely sunken.
 
You can expect also a imminent surface-to-surface missile attack after the breakout of the hostilities.
The pro-Iranian faction Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria can also provide some support to the Iranian side.
 
The air corridors between Israel and Iran are guaranteed (for both contenders) by the disengagement of the conflict by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and mostly Iraq, a sort of terra nullius (also, after the withdraw of the US forces, lefting only a embrionary air force in Iraq).
 
Enrique Mas, August 2010

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.

Operation Praying Mantis 1988, All-Out 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 a What if? scenario, with a full compromise of all the Iranian forces against the US side, without the prudence demostrated in the historical engagement.
In the historical scenario the US side decided 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

Battle of Baltim, 9 October 1973, Historical Battle.
 
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the Middle East Battleset and the HCCW-120614 Cold War Platform Database.
 
This scenario is designed for play by the Israeli/Blue or the Egyptian/Red side, to avoid spoilers is better to play the first time the Blue/Israeli side.
 
On the third day of the Yom Kippur War, a couple of days after the Battle of Latakia, on the 8-9 October 1973, a confrontation between Israeli and Egyptian fast missile boats outcome the same result as the previous combat. The same ships and weapons types as in the Battle of Latakia, the Israeli side only can rely on his superior electronics, ESM, ECM and decoys to win, also, the semiactive radar guided missile Gabriel I has less range but more precision than the Soviet SS-N-2a Styx/P-15 Termit. But, if the missiles are expended and they are enemy warships remaining, the Israeli boats are better and longer ranged guns.
 
Also, at front of the Israeli warships is the same Commander Michael Barkai, called Yoni, first arrived only with two boats on the Egyptian shores with a margin of some hours after the victory off the Syrian coast near Latakia. Up to ten missile boats assembled the Israelis north of Egypt, but as many of them have noy fully refueled after the mission in Syria they retire before the combat (of the four boats retired, only is historically determined the identity of INS Miznak, the initial flagship of Barkai).
 
On the Egyptian side, four Osa I missile boats sortied from Alexandria to protect the Egyptian north shore, and other four sortied from Port Said to flee to Alexandria but returned when the Israeli counter-offensive stalled.
 
Unnamed places are:
ZRb and ZUp: Baltim, Egypt.
ZTp: Damietta, Egypt.
 
Enrique Mas, November 2012.

Battle of Baltim, 9 October 1973, Hypothetical Scenario.
 
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the Middle East Battleset and the HCCW-120614 Cold War Platform Database.
 
This scenario is designed for play by the Israeli/Blue or the Egyptian/Red side, to avoid spoilers is better to play the first time the Blue/Israeli side.
 
On the third day of the Yom Kippur War, a couple of days after the Battle of Latakia, on the 8-9 October 1973, a confrontation between Israeli and Egyptian fast missile boats outcome the same result as the previous combat. The same ships and weapons types as in the Battle of Latakia, the Israeli side only can rely on his superior electronics, ESM, ECM and decoys to win, also, the semiactive radar guided missile Gabriel I has less range but more precision than the Soviet SS-N-2a Styx/P-15 Termit. But, if the missiles are expended and they are enemy warships remaining, the Israeli boats are better and longer ranged guns.
 
Also, at front of the Israeli warships is the same Commander Michael Barkai, called Yoni, first arrived only with two boats on the Egyptian shores with a margin of some hours after the victory off the Syrian coast near Latakia. Up to ten missile boats assembled the Israelis north of Egypt, but as many of them have noy fully refueled after the mission in Syria they retire before the combat (of the four boats retired, only is historically determined the identity of INS Miznak, the initial flagship of Barkai).
On the Egyptian side, four Osa I missile boats sortied from Alexandria to protect the Egyptian north shore, and other four sortied from Port Said to flee to Alexandria but returned when the Israeli counter-offensive stalled.
 
On this hypothetical scenario are included the Israeli and Egyptian warships who by few minutes retired and elude the historical battle.
 
Unnamed places are:
ZRb and ZUp: Baltim, Egypt.
ZTp: Damietta, Egypt.

Shore Bombardment of Haifa and the capture of Ibrahim el-Awal, 1 November 1956.
Historical scenario.
 
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the Middle East Battleset and the HCCW-120614 Cold War Platform Database.
 
This scenario is designed for play by the Israeli/Blue or the Egyptian/Red side, but it's a historical and very unbalanced scenario.
 
The almost forgetted Suez Crisis or Second Arab-Israeli War was a very interesting campaign with some novelties, as the History first heliborne assault. And ever the future Syrian president al-Asad participed in the shoot-down a British Canberra PR.7!
After the US refused to pay the building of the Aswan dam project, the Egyptian president Colonel Nasser decides to nationalize the Suez Canal on 26 July 1956 to pay for the dam building.
British and French, interested on the recuperation of the Canal and in the freedom of navigation, signed with Israel the then and for many years secret Protocol of Sevres on late October 1956.
On 29 October 1956 Israel attacks the Sinai Peninsula in the designated as Operation Kadesh.
With the alibi of protect the freedom of navigation in the Canal and his approaches (and because the secret treaty with Israel), Britain and France launched an ultimatum to the fighting factions calling to withdraw from within 16 km of the Suez Canal. When Egypt refused, the British and French launched Operation Musketeer to secure the Canal zone, with the ruse of separating Egyptian and Israeli forces.
Operation Musketeer, comprising a massive air strike (in part failed) from the carriers, Cyprus and Malta against the Egyptian airbases and airborne, heliborne and landing occupation, inclusive with heavy armour, of Port Said, his twin city Port Fuad and the Canal Zone.
Some days later, on 7 November 1956, as both President Eisenhower, the not-alligned States and the Soviet Union strongly opposed British-French military action, was acorded a cease-fire and the Anglo-French troops retired from the Canal Zone.
As a Egyptian counter-strike in the first hours of the war against Israel, the solitaire assignation of the Egyptian destroyer Ibrahim el-Awal (An old Hunt type I class frigate, previously also in service in the Nationalist China) to bombard the Israeli shore city of Haifa with the main Israeli port in the Mediterranean was almost condemned to failure because his lack of support, but only after firing some 160 shells of 4 inches on Haifa in 20 minutes.
After to be rocket-fired by two Israeli Ouragans, the Ibrahim el-Awal was seized by the Israeli forces and put in service in the Israeli navy as INS Haifa.
Only some hours later, with the intervention of Britain and France in secret vinculation with Israel through the Protocol of Sevres, with the alibi of protect the Suez Canal for sake of freedom of navigation, the Anglo-French strike and occupation of Port Said, his twin city Port Fuad and the Canal Zone begun.
 
Unnamed places are:
ZYp and ZVb: Baltim, Egypt.
ZpX: Damietta, Egypt.
 
Some warships and planes are represented by equivalent types of other countries.
 
Enrique Mas, December 2012.

Prelude to Musketeer, an hypothetical scenario about the capture of the Egyptian destroyer Ibrahim al-Awal.
 
Image: Dassault Ouragan at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim, 2004 by
Oren Rozen. Source: Wikipedia.
 
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the Middle East Battleset and the HCCW-120614 Cold War Platform Database.
 
This scenario is designed for play by the Israeli/Blue or the Egyptian/Red side, but to prevent some spoilers is better to play first the Blue side some times and only after play the Red side.
It's recommended to play the scenario in slow time compression, between 1 seconde and 1 minute most of the time.
 
The almost forgetted Suez Crisis or Second Arab-Israeli War was a very interesting campaign with some novelties, as the History first heliborne assault. And ever the future Syrian president al-Asad participed in the shoot-down a British Canberra PR.7!
After the US refused to pay the building of the Aswan dam project, the Egyptian president Colonel Nasser decides to nationalize the Suez Canal on 26 July 1956 to pay for the dam building.
British and French, interested on the recuperation of the Canal and in the freedom of navigation, signed with Israel the then and for many years secret Protocol of Sevres on late October 1956.
On 29 October 1956 Israel attacks the Sinai Peninsula in the designated as Operation Kadesh.
With the alibi of protect the freedom of navigation in the Canal and his approaches (and because the secret treaty with Israel), Britain and France launched an ultimatum to the fighting factions calling to withdraw from within 16 km of the Suez Canal. When Egypt refused, the British and French launched Operation Musketeer to secure the Canal zone, with the ruse of separating Egyptian and Israeli forces.
Operation Musketeer, comprising a massive air strike (in part failed) from the carriers, Cyprus and Malta against the Egyptian airbases and airborne, heliborne and landing occupation, inclusive with heavy armour, of Port Said, his twin city Port Fuad and the Canal Zone.
Some days later, on 7 November 1956, as both President Eisenhower, the not-alligned States and the Soviet Union strongly opposed British-French military action, was acorded a cease-fire and the Anglo-French troops retired from the Canal Zone.
As a Egyptian counter-strike in the first hours of the war against Israel, the solitaire assignation of the Egyptian destroyer Ibrahim al-Awal to bombard the Israeli shore city of Haifa and his port was almost condemned to failure because his lack of support.
This scenario speculates about the possibility of a open naval-centered fight in the first hours of Operation Musketeer, just before the Anglo-French intervention.
In the scenario the Egyptian side compromisses most of his naval assets in the sea to support the Ibrahim al-Awal mission, and both sides have assigned some air assets for support of his naval forces (about the 40% of each initial air force is represented in this scenario).
Is 1956, and air-to-air missiles and effective search radar in fighter planes are yet some years in the future. Israel has an heteroclit composition air force with even very vulnerable liquid-cooled engine F-51D propeller fighters and two operational B-17 Flying Fortress, Egypt has some few Spitfire F.22, Hawker Fury and Lancaster bombers in the reserves.
Both sides must use intensively ground control to keep track of the enemy and to direct his fighters to intercept the enemy planes. At that moment some countries, as Syria, haven't any ground-based radar, and Egypt has only an handful of them concentrated in the Canal Zone, the Soviet radars were not yet in service when Muskeeter begin.
 
Some warships and planes are represented by equivalent types of other countries.
 
Enrique Mas, December 2012.

The sinking of INS Eilat 1967, an alternative and hypothetical scenario.
 
Image: Project 183R Komar-class missile boat, enhanced by Esquilo from the book of Leszek Komuda "Mały okręt rakietowy", Wydawnictwo MON, Warszawa, 1974. Source: Wikipedia.
 
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the Middle East Battleset and the HCCW-120614 Cold War Platform Database.
 
This scenario is designed for play by the Israeli/Blue or the Egyptian/Red side, to avoid spoilers is better to play the first time the Red/Egyptian side.
 
In the aftermath of the Six Days War, only four months later, the Egyptian Navy achieved a technical and propaganda victory on 21 October 1967 with the sinking of the Israeli destroyer INS Eilat, the first warship sink in anger with a ship-launched anti-ship missile (In WWII some ships were sunk with anti-ship missiles, but all were air-launched), struck with three of the P-15 Termit/SS-N-2a Styx fired at her (A 75% hit rate).
One of the naval skirmishes of the Arab-Israeli Wars, this historical event marked the evolution of the naval combat for the next years, and forced the Israeli Navy to retire his destroyer-size ships, and to develop more advances in missiles and electronics.
The actual sinking of Eilat was a one-sided scenario, the Soviet-build and designed Project 183R Komar missile boats firing against the Israeli ships at some 13.5 nautical miles range, even yet inside the port (but is also worth of mention the exported Soviet missile boats were not equipped with ESM capable of provide targeting).
In this hypothetical scenario some little elements are added or changed to do the situation playable for both sides.
The embryo of the reconstructed Egyptian Air Force after the Six Days War debacle can provide some air cover, as also the Israeli Air Force, both forces with Mach 2 fighters equipped with short-range IR missiles and partly represented with a 20% of strenght, but with not all the ground strike types represented to center the scenario in the naval action.
 
Enrique Mas, January 2013.

Attack of the Drone Clones, mid-2013. Hypothetical Scenario.
 
Image: A MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle prepares to land after a mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The Reaper has the ability to carry both precision-guided bombs and air-to-ground missiles. Photo by U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson. Source: Wikipedia.
 
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the Middle East Battleset and the HCDB-130505 1980-2015 Platform Database.
This scenario is designed to be played mainly from the Blue/CIA-Saudi Arabia side. You should play many times first the Blue side to avoid spoilers, and only later play a few times the Red/AQAP-Yemeni side, if you've interest on it, but I think the victory conditions are almost impossible to get for an AI-controlled Blue side.
These aircrafts of many names, sometimes called pilotless, remotely-piloted vehicles (RPV), unhabited or unmanned air vehicles (UAV) or simply drones, were they of remote controlled or of autonomous flight, were in the aviation history from his begin, from the very early not manned flying prototypes (as the Samuel Langley's Number 5 of 1896), but those facts are not usually remembered. And later, from the First World War era Low Aerial Targets, Kettering Bug and Larynx, to the inter-wars Reginald Denny experiments and to the long series of Ryan Firebees from 1951, employed fully operational in Vietnam War (particularly for SAM sites hunting), in the Arab-Israeli Wars and in China overflights. As example to illustrate the extensive and widely use of drones historically, at least 578 drones were lost in action over China and North Vietnam between 1964-1975.
From the 1980s advances in electronics, computing, remote sensors technologies and the Digital Revolution made more factible practical application of them to air vehicles and to the current use of pilotless aircraft. They're the Drone Clones.
From Cold War end about 1991 and more from the September 2011 World Trade Center attack, the changing international situations and climate and the Global War on Terrorism recommend and permit the widely use of drones first on intelligence missions and supporting special forces operations, and later in strikes against terrorist and his leaders.
As stated, previously his limited previous use not was cause of technical limitations, the determinant fact for his employ is the political approval (tacit or explicit) of his use in countries harboring terrorists, and as stated a drone is a nimble, of not very instant manoeuvre and fragile aircraft and habitually without RWR, and if it's detected easy prey for a fighter (as demonstrated in the few occasions this has happened, as in Georgia in 2008 or in Iraq in 1999), as consequence his use requires the connivance of the state in the strike receiving end.
As conclusion, at the current state of art, drones strikes only can succeed on air supremacy conditions, without any opposition of enemy fighters.
But only on the last years, from the early November 2002 Yemen drone attacks against Al Qaeda terrorist leaders, with the diffusion of the Predator series and the targeted killing tactics and strategies the mass media do attention to these aircraft on his headlines.
This scenario is based on historical facts and has place in a very exotic country, with reminiscences of the Arabian Nights, near the Queen Balkis old Kingdom of Sheba and the skyscrapers of Sana'a, traversed by frankincense caravans or Three Wise Men, and south of the Empty Quarter Desert where perhaps lurk some innominate things without face neither soul near the nameless lost city of Iram of the Pillars, things without face neither soul as the headless aircrafts nowadays flying on his skies.
On this scenario the air supremacy is not guaranteed. Because the menace of radical Islamist compelling the Yemen government to prevent drone incursions targeting his leaders and militants, with the excuse to avoid risk to the Yemeni civilian population, the Yemen government in this scenario is forced to used his armed forces to prevent the drone incursions.
This scenario pretends also to show contemporary power relations and proxy actuations in the Arabian Peninsula.
 
Unnamed places are:
Saudi Arabia:
ATa Tabuk/King Faisal AB, TUU/OETB
AUa Jeddah/Prince Abdullah AB, JED/OEJN
AXb Jeddah/King Faisal NB, -/OEJF
Yemen:
ZFa Al Anad AB, -/OY74.
ZTa Al Hodeida IA, HOD/OYHD.
ZUa Taiz IA, TAI/OYTZ.
ZVa Sana'a IA, SAH/OYSN.
 
Notes: this scenario is qualified as historical because it shows the complete Saudi and Yemeni air OOB in 2013, and with 104 aircraft in the USAF inventory, MQ-9 Reaper is probably the armed drone employed by CIA from his not so secret base in Saudi Arabia for the attacks in Yemen.
 
Enrique Mas, May 2013.
 

The Maersk Tigris Incident, 28 April 2015. Alternate History Scenario.
 
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the Middle East IOPG Battleset and the HCDB-140909 1980-2015 era Platform Database.
 
Image: An MH-60S Knighthawk flies by the guided-missile destroyer USS Farragut (DDG 99) during a replenishment-at-sea evolution in the Arabian Sea on Dec. 4, 2012. The Knighthawk is attached to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 8 and is assigned to the Military Sealift Command USNS Bridge (T-AOE 10). DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kenneth Abbate, U.S. Navy.(Released). Origin: DoD and Wikipedia.
 
This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/US side or from the Red/Iranian side. You should play a few times first the Blue side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red/Iranian side.
 
From 28 April 2015 the container ship M/V Maersk Tigris, in operation from 2014, 62292 t DWT, chartered by the Danish company Maersk Line, world's largest container shipping company, and flagged in the Marshall Islands, which the United States bears security responsibility for, in one of the numerous 2014-2015 naval incidents, was intercepted and seized while she was transiting through the Strait of Hormuz sailing from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Jebel Ali (a UAE port near Dubai) by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) light crafts, after some warning shots over the bridge.
The ship was seized, as by the Iranian explanations, because an allegedly unresolved cargo claim
over unpaid debts brought by the Iranian company Pars Talaie ten years old (is usual to seize a ship because a court order, but only anchored or in port, never sailing or in transit).
But many analyst suspect is only an excuse of the theocratic Supreme Leader of Iran to justify to his people his naval capabilities, after the failure a few days earlier to use sea lanes to send weapons and support to the Yemen Revolutionary Committee and the Shia Islam's sympathizers Houthi fighters faction in the ongoing Yemen 2015 Civil War (Just near 23 April 2015 the Iranian frigate Alborz and the oiler and supply ship Bushehr were escorting nine Iranian cargo vessels off Yemen, but their access to the coast was denied by Saudi, Egyptian and American warships).
After the seizure, at current times (2 May 2015) in the real world M/V Maersk Tigris is anchored in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, waiting for the issue solution.
On this alternate history scenario the IRGCN fails a first attempt to seize Maersk Tigris, the ship flies and demand support from the near US forces, doing the military engagement inevitable.
Is of consideration Iran only compromises his Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) ships to seize Maersk Tigris, and not his regular Navy, probably to avoid escalation in the conflict and in case of failure use IRGCN as scapegoat, saying was IRGCN decision to seize Maersk Tigris.
One of the purposes of this scenario is to capture the speed, chaos and flavour of this type of asymmetrical engagements, and to test the swarm attack theories.
 
Enrique Mas, 2 May 2015.

Latakia Bastion advanced base, October 2015. Historical Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for The Middle East Battleset and the HCDB-150928 standard 1980-2015 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/Israel side or from the Red/Russian side. To avoid a few spoilers you should play a few times first the Blue side, and only later play the Red side.

Image: Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback strike fighter, in Russian service from 21 March 2014. Photo taked by Dmitry Terekhov in 30 August 2015 at MAKS 2015, retrieved from Wikipedia Commons.

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).
At last at the start of September 2015, and in face of the mild Western answer at his previous action (but aside constant and intensive military drills worldwide) Vladimir Putin decides to higher his stakes, His last decision surprised the World and was centred in a new theatre of operations for Russia: That was Syria and his four-year long civil unrest and war.
With the alibi of destroy the Islamists of Islamic State/Daesh, Putin start to place considerable warplane assets in Bassel Al-Assad International Airport (a simple and small base now called Khmeimim AB) and to fortify it. The base is near Latakia and Tartus, both Syrian Mediterranean ports of call with a discrete previous Russian military presence, limited mostly to intelligence and support dedicated ships. But actually the alibi was only aimed to neutralize and destroy with ground attacks not the Islamic State/Daesh forces, but other Syrian rebel forces, not so Islamist, menacing Russian ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the own Russian global strategic position.
But that's public excuses and covert actions could be a calculus error and more dangerous for Putin ambitions than he expects, as the region politics and power balances are all less easy. Probably at long run a decision more erroneous than the limited US support to Afghanistan Mujahideen in the 1980s, and one feeding growing concern in Israel ...
Note: this scenario was initially inspired in current fake claims posted in dubious Internet sites about the Israeli fighters fleeing as consequence of the presence of Russian fighters.

Enrique Mas, October 15, 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.

The Red Sea Sharks, mid October 2016. Hypothetical/Historical Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the EC2003 The Middle East Battleset and the HCDB-150928 1980-2015 era or the new HCDB2-170207 1980-2025 era Platform Databases. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.

Image: USS Ponce September 22, 2012. Personnel assigned to the underwater unmanned vehicle (UUV) detachment of Combined Task Group 56.1.4, make preparations to launch two UUVs during a mine clearance operation as part of International Mine Countermeasures Exercise 2012 (IMCMEX 12). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jumar T. Balacy/Released, took from Wikipedia Commons and in public domain.

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

With the world on the brink of an open war after four years of impending Second Cold War, but pending of the US presidential elections and the hard and transcendent struggle between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and with the Russian Northern Fleet reading the Admiral Kuznetsov CVBG to steam towards the Mediterranean and to support the Russian intervention in the Syria (Historically sailing from October 16, 2016, with other Russian surface forces in theatre, coming or going from the Baltic Fleet), another unexpected point of naval operations interest popped-up.
On October 1, 2016, the ex Incat-built very fast (and lightly built) catamaran transport ex Swift (HSV-2), operated by the United Arab Emirates' National Marine Dredging Company (and probably employed in some special operations activities) was surprisingly attacked and badly damaged by a Houthi Rebels shore-launched C-801 or C-802 anti-ship missile, fired from the coasts of the convolute civil war Yemen, in the Red Sea near the Bad-el-Mandeb strait.
The next weeks, on 9 and 12 October 2016 USS Mason (DDG-87) detected and shoot-down or deflects with decoys other attacking missiles. In retaliation, on October 13, 2016, USS Nizte (DDG-94) launched five cruise missiles against Houthis' mobile surface search radars near Ras Isa, North of Mukha, and near Khoka, neutralizing them (Probably of the Russian type Cape-M1E). At last on October 15, 2016, USS Mason detected another last but unconfirmed anti-ship missile attack from the Yemen shore. Also present in the zone were USS San Antonio (LPD-17) and USS Ponce (AFSB(I)-15), equipped with the first experimental and operational shipborne defensive LaWS laser (weapon not yet represented in the simulation).
In this scenario the US and Allied ships should cross Bab-el-Mandeb strait avoiding losses and keeping presence in the zone.
Houthi and other Shiite forces should neutralize the enemy ships, trying to multiply his actions through propaganda if any oppossition ship is sunk.
The historical actions and ships placement are compressed in a very short period of time.

Enrique Mas, November 4, 2016.

Al Madinah Attack and Makin Island Operations, January 30, 2017. Hypothetical/Historical Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the EC2003 The Middle East Battleset and the new HCDB2-170207 1980-2025 era Platform Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.

Image: Amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD-8) under way off the coast of Southern California with the embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Sept. 5, 2011. DoD photo by Gunnery Sgt. Scott Dunn, U.S. Marine Corps/Released, and took from Wikipedia Commons.

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

With the world on the brink of an open war after four years of impending Second Cold War, just pending the take of possession and first days of mandate of Donald Trump from January, 20, 2017, another repeated point of naval operations interest popped-up again, diverting in the headlines the situation in Eastern Ukraine, with a new intensification of the Russian operations supporting with GRAD rockets bombardment the separatist actions from 31 January 2017 in the Avdiivka sector.
After in October 1, 2016, the ex Incat-built very fast (and lightly built) catamaran transport ex Swift (HSV-2), operated by the United Arab Emirates' National Marine Dredging Company (and probably employed in some special operations activities) was attacked and badly damaged by a Houthi Rebels shore-launched C-801 or C-802 anti-ship missile, fired from the coasts of the convolute civil war Yemen, in the Red Sea near the Bad-el-Mandeb strait.
The next weeks, on 9 and 12 October 2016 USS Mason (DDG-87) detected and shoot-down or deflects with decoys other attacking missiles. In retaliation, on October 13, 2016, USS Nizte (DDG-94) launched five cruise missiles against Houthis' mobile surface search radars near Ras Isa, North of Mukha, and near Khoka, neutralizing them (Probably of the Russian type Cape-M1E). At last on October 15, 2016, USS Mason detected another last but unconfirmed anti-ship missile attack from the Yemen shore. Also present in the zone were USS San Antonio (LPD-17) and USS Ponce (AFSB(I)-15), equipped with the first experimental and operational shipborne defensive LaWS laser (weapon not yet represented in the simulation).
After those events, on January 28, 2017, the fist military operation of the Trump Administration obtained mixed results. A MV-22B tiltrotor raid of SEAL Team 6 operating from USS Makin Island (LHD-8), to capture computers and associated intelligence from AQAP in Houthi territory, Yemen, goes partly wrong, and a MV-22B and the life of Chief Petty Officer William "Ryan" Owens were lost.
Also present in the theatre is USS Cole (DDG-67), damaged in the 2000 Al-Qaeda bombing when in the very near port of Aden, and now updated with SM-3 and Ballistic Missile Defence capabilities.
Later, on January 30, 2017, an Al-Madinah-class Saudi frigate was attacked and damaged probably by a Houthi suicide boat off Al Hudaydah, Houthi Yemen.
This scenario speculates with those elements. The Saudi and US ships should cross Bab-el-Mandeb strait avoiding losses and keeping presence in the zone, blocking the Houthi access to sea lanes and its own enemy shores.
Houthi and other Shiite forces should neutralize the enemy ships, trying to multiply his actions through propaganda if any opposition ship is sunk.
The historical actions and ships placement are compressed in a shorter period of time.

Enrique Mas, February 5, 2017.

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.

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.

LCS in the Gulf, late 2022. Hypothetical Scenario.
 A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for The Middle East Battleset and the HCDB2-170308 new standard 1980-2025 Platform Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.
 This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/US side or from the Red/Iranian side. You should play a few times first the Blue side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red side.
 Image: The Freedom-variant littoral combat ships USS Wichita (LCS 13), USS Billings (LCS 15), and their embarked aviation detachments, as the in the photo MH-60S, participate in a maritime training exercise in the Caribbean Sea with the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Sioux City (LCS 11), July 4, 2021. This exercise marks the first time three Freedom-variant littoral combat ships are deployed and operating together. Sioux City, Wichita, and Billings are deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations to support Joint Interagency Task Force South’s mission, which includes counter-illicit drug trafficking missions in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Marianne Guemo/Released/A serviceperson on duty and in consequence on public domain)
 
This scenario is inspired by the "Pasdaran Swarm Attack" by Chris Carlson published in Harpoon Naval SITREP 61.
With the world centred early 2022 on the Russian menaces to Ukraine anything can happen the next months.
The deployment of Freedom-class LCS in the Persian Gulf for late 2022 was announced January 2022.
This scenario is simple on its planning and execution, but perhaps difficult to master.
US ships steam near the Saudi east coast, protecting the sea lanes in the Saudi territorial waters, while waiting for a probably Iranian harassment attack with minor and irregular units.
Because the complex world crisis land-based air (Or other type) support is not expected, as Gulf countries negate its bases use in this action for no irritate Iran.
At last the LCS are alone on first line of battle, just what they were not designed for.
 
Enrique Mas, January 30, 2022.

Big Dolphin in Small Waters, April 2023. Historical Hypothetical Scenario.
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for The Middle East Battleset and the HCDB2-170308 new standard 1980-2025 Platform Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.
This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/US side or from the Red/Iranian side. You should play a few times first the Blue side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red side.
Image: Mediterranean Sea, Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Florida (SSGN-728), equipped with a Special Forces dry deck shelter (DDS) and overflown by a CV-22B Osprey assigned to 7th Special Operations Squadron, 352nd Special Operations Wing (based primarily at RAF Mildenhall), in a special operations forces interoperability exercise, February 26, 2023 (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class Matthew Dickinson/Released/A serviceperson on duty and in consequence on public domain)
With the world centred early 2022 on the Russian menaces to Ukraine anything can happen the next months (This was an original phrase of the LCS scenario from where I took part of this text, posted January 30, 2022!) ... but that is now an alternate world.
In the nowadays real world, after her April 2006 SSGN conversion, USS Florida SSGN-728 after some months in the Mediterranean Sea sailed to the Persian Gulf, entering it April 2023.
Iranian claims surprised the international scene alleging one of its Fateh-class coastal submarines forced USS Florida to surfaced entering the Persian Gulf
This apparently simple scenario is developed to test the verisimilitude of those claims.
This scenario is simple on its planning and execution, but perhaps difficult to master.
I only hope this scenario is not similar to the infamous The Hunt for Red October game (1990).
Enrique Mas, May 6, 2023.

China in the Horn, late October 2023. Hypothetical historical scenario.
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for The Middle East Battleset and the HCDB2-170308 new standard 1980-2025 Platform Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.
This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/Western Coalition side or from the Red/Chinese side. You should play a few times first the Blue side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red side.
Image: USS Carney (DDG 64) while on patrol in the Mediterranean Sea Sept. 23, 2016. Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, for antiballistic missile duties and with the SeaRAM mount aft, is conducting a routine patrol in the U.S. 6th fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Weston Jones/Released, a serviceperson on duty, and in consequence on public domain, took from Wikipedia Commons).
 
At the end of the very military convulse year of 2023, with one and a half years of Russian invasion of Ukraine, other globe points were poles of interest.
This scenario is inspired in "Escape from Aden", published by Martyn Kelly in Harpoon SITREP 65, October 2023, but developing in late 2023 updated with multiple current events, and in consequence with more elements of complexity.
With the almost all out campaign of Israel against Hamas after the October 7 terrorist attacks, other actors were revealed as clearly supporting Hamas.
In fact, USS Carney was forced to shoot-down missiles and drones directed from Yemen to Israel through nine hours on 19 October 2023.
Also, news about the deployment of not one but at least two Chinese surface groups with the alibi of fighting piracy in the Indian Ocean and from its new (from 2017) base of Port Doraleh, very near (some six nautical miles!) to the Western Forces in Ambouli increased the tensions in other world regions.
In this hypothetical case, after the Chinese surprise invasion of Taiwan, the Chinese forces in the Gulf of Aden are forced to flight to the open Indian Ocean trying to escape its irremissible demise, reminiscent of the German cruisers trapped far seas worldwide in August 2014.
Also, as the Western Forces are caught off guard, have at its disposition only scattered, limited and irregular random assets to prevent the Chinese flight.
This scenario depicts the historical deployment of naval forces in late October 2023.
Could you prevent the escape of the Chinese forces, or as Chinese commander could you escape to the open Indian Ocean, East of Socotra?
Enrique Mas, November 12, 2023.