Mgellis

The Taking of Sakhalin, from the HUD3 GC1 battleset AAR by Mark Gellis I am taking the role of Japan. It is 1994 and I have to escort amphibious ships to a landing point on Sakhalin. The Russians, not surprisingly, are eager to stop me. They have a task force in the area and some submarines, including an Oscar, according to my intelligence briefing. I have my task force, a trio of submarines, and about 20 aircraft at Sapporo. Before starting, I set up patrol missions for the submarines, as I am playing at full realism and will not be able to control them otherwise. I’m sending all three on sub hunts. This scenario was prepared for the HUD-4 (v1.1 b10) simply by opening it in the scenario editor and rebuilding all platforms; the revised scenario was then saved. Scenario seems to load properly. I made a point of keeping an eye out for database errors. In this scenario, I did observe one database error that might have affected gameplay; it will be discussed in detail later in this AAR. 20:00. Set course for task force. I’m going to hug the coast and hope that helps. Sending up a Hawkeye and a P-3. 20:09. Putting up two Eagles and…Vampire! Vampire! I’ve got incoming missiles headed for my task force. I’m going to full active sensors on the task force. My SAMs are already firing at the incoming group of missiles. Where the hell did they come from!? 20:13. Missiles are downed. RIM-66s seem to handle them fine. 20:15. More planes ready at Sapporo. 20:18. Another pair of incoming missiles, fired by something to the west. Both missiles downed by 20:19 by SAMs. 20:21. More incoming missiles and an air contact. Sending F-15 s to look at the air contact. 20:24. More missiles down and more missiles coming in from the West—it has to be the Oscar that has been reported in the area in my intelligence briefing, but where is he? 20:37. The contacts have been ID’d as hostile and the Eagles are taking them down. More missiles incoming! If I did not have a Kongo in this task force, I would probably be dead already. 20:41. J-Eagles splash one bogie. Incoming missiles destroyed by SAMs. Eagles are out of missiles, so I’m putting up two more and two F-4s with SO loadouts. And now there are more incoming missiles! 20:50. The barage of incoming cruise missiles seems endless, but my SAMS are handling them. 20:58. More missiles down and no ships hurt. 21:00. I have lost track of my subs. They’re on patrol and I wish them good hunting. 21:07. Another air contact to the northwest…sending Eagles to check it out. 21:11. Eagles returning to base. Low on fuel. But now the bogies that ran away are coming back. Sending two of my F-4s after them. They’ve got Sparrow-Ms, too, so they can double as interceptors. 21:22 Two unidentified contacts close by. I’ve got F-4s looking hard at them. One bogie is hostile and fires but its missile does not hit my F-4. Instead, it is shot down. Closing on other bogie. ID’d as a Flanker and shot down with an AIM-7M. The victorious F-4s are going home. No other bogies in sight right now. 21:27 Two more bogies are up. Sending Eagles to look at them. 21:45. Sending a P-3 to patrol the passage between Japan and Sakhalin. Good place to put a submarine. 21:48. Bogies hostile…F-15s taking them on. The F-15s start to head back to base. A curious bit of game behavior is that the AI will sometimes decide it is time for an aircraft to come home even if it has a bit of fuel or ammunition left. I am not sure what causes this. One can order the aircraft to do something else, but its default instructions are now to head home and one has to “nag” it a little to keep it on any other task. In this case, a bit of fancy flying lets me maneuver the F-15 into range of one of the bogies and take it down with its last missile. 22:29. Got a bogie headed towards my task force. No clear ID. If he gets too close to my ships, I will down him and face a board of inquiry later if I have to. 22:34. Bogie is hostile and firing missiles at the task force. He stays out of range so I cannot get him with a SAM. No ships hit, though. 23:15. More bogies going after task force. I’m shooting down missiles and getting a couple of them, too, but not as many as I want. My task force is still okay, though. 00:15. I’ve been having the P-3 drop sonobuoys in the channel but no contacts so far. 03:03. More air contacts. Putting up two Eagles. 03:22. Contacts are hostile. Hostile bogies splashed with AIM-7Ms. 03:56. New air contact to the west of the task force, which is now nearly at the channel between Sakhalin and Japan. 04:09. Eagles splash another bogie. 05:43. Sub contact in channel and not where one of my patrolling subs should be. Hostile? Sending the Orion to check him out. 07:15. Various air contacts appear, but do not get close to task force anymore. 08:17. I sent a pair of F-15s to investigate two air contacts. Both were hostile. Both are destroyed, but I have lost one F-15 to their missiles. 08:42. Hostile sub spotted. I know he is hostile because he is shooting at me! I am returning fire. Oh, no! The dreaded database ASROC error has reared its ugly head! Some ASROCs do not fire properly in the HUD-4. It is very annoying! However, the error has been reported to the database editor and the editor thinks he has the problem solved and the fix will be in the next release of the database. Meanwhile, I have no intention of giving up just because one weapon does not fire! I’ll shoot back with anything I’ve got, and I’ve got a Kongo-class destroyer with VLS ASROCs that are NOT affected by the database error. And I’ve got other ships with other torpedoes. I’m sinking this sub! Four torpedoes on their way, baby! 8:48. A destroyer, Yamagumo, appears to have been sunk by torpedoes from the sub. But the sub appears to have been sunk, too, so it’s an even trade. 8:54. Oh, no! One of my amphibious ships, the Ojika, is sinking, too! One of the torpedoes fired by the enemy sub must still have been running. In retrospect, as the sub fired its torpedoes before I was able to shoot back, the failure of some of the ASROC weapons was probably academic in this case. My two ships probably would have been sunk no matter what I did. 12:00. Surface contacts spotted to the West. Sending F-4s with missiles to investigate. 12:30. Ships hostile and firing. I’m firing with missiles and trying to get out of there! 12:40. All four F-4s lost! At least one of the ships in this task force have some serious SAM capability. 22:22 I’m getting close to the target area and suddenly another of my ships, the Umigiri, is sinking! I’m not sure what hit it. Submarine? I search for the submarine, but to no avail. And he keeps shooting at me. By 0:600 of the next morning, I have lost all but three of my ships. I am not surprised at 20:00 that I learn I have not achieved the victory conditions. I did sink the one submarine and I shot down about eight enemy aircraft (including Flankers and a Tu-95), but I lost several aircraft and more than half of my task force. The high command is not going to be very happy with me. I’ll probably get a choice between seppuku and having to watch the live action version of Sailor Moon. Although I lost, I liked this scenario. It’s got some sneaky surprises in it and you need to really need to be on your ASW game to win.

Yes, I checked a bunch of them and none of them could fire their ASROCs (or they were expended but never showed up as missiles, torpedoes, or anything else, and never did anything). So adding the CDL as a comm should fix the problem? Okay. Good to know. Thanks again for all your work on this. Mark

Sounds good. I just hope Matrix releases 3.11 soon! (I wonder if they're thinking about releasing it AFTER Thanksgiving, and closer to Christmas, in the hopes that doing so will help generate more buzz, more sales, etc.)

Sorry for the extra work, Gunny! But I suppose it's better someone finds it now than after a big release. I know you were thinking about doing a regular, scheduled release of betas so people could have the newest fixes, etc. more quickly, like once every month or something...any more thoughts on that?

All I can think of when I see this picture is, "This man is not married, is he?" If he is, somehow I just don't see his wife being very happy with him right now...

Related to this, I checked the ASROCs with a few other ships. They either do not fire at all (Mk 16 mod 1 and Mk 16 mod 2) or they expend torpedoes but the torpedoes never show up as anything on the screen and do not do any damage to their targets (Mk 112). I recommend a complete review of any ASROC-like weapon...if they're using the same basic principles, data, database entries, etc., they may have share the same problem(s). I don't know if there are any others besides these three, the two Mk 16s and the Mk 112, but these three are definitely FUBAR right now. And, unfortunately, the error would have to show up on a weapon that was put on a lot of American ships, so it could have an impact on gameplay in a number of scenarios. The VLS version of the ASROC (on the later Spruances, etc.) does not seem to have the problem--the torpedoes work and sink subs when I test them--but I'd review them anyway to be on the safe side. I might be missing something. Mark

Not sure if this is a database error or something else... MK112 ASROC will "fire"--it notes a decrease in weapons in the MK112, but no torpedo appears on the screen to indicate that a weapon has actually fired. "Fired" all 8 from one ship at a nearby submarine and they never a) appeared or appeared to do anything. Tested with a DD 151 Asigiri Mark

So the missiles will work now? Good. Thanks, Gunny. I'm eagerly awaiting the newest version of ANW and the newest version of the database. When will they be out!? When!? (Actually, since you've corrected a couple of important bugs recently, should a "beta 12" be released anyway, even if the official database won't be out for...a few weeks? Or however long it is going to be?)

Sorry...forgot to mention, for people unfamiliar with the scenario editor for Harpoon 3 ANW, this is a very simple process. You just use Edit --> Scenario Rebuild --> Rebuild All Units. So it's just one command. It's designed to make updating a scenario from one version of a database to a newer version of the same database simple.

“Assault on Zion,” from the HUD3 GC1 battleset AAR by Mark Gellis Taking the Israeli side…looking for PLO boats…must sink them before they do bad things… This scenario was prepared for the HUD-4 (v1.1 b10) simply by opening it in the scenario editor and rebuilding all platforms; the revised scenario was then saved. Scenario seems to load properly. I made a point of keeping an eye out for database errors. In this scenario, I saw no problems with weapons firing, ships not having any fuel, or any other database errors. I may have missed something, but nothing that was vital to the scenario. I did notice in the rebuilt scenario in the scenario editor that there were some odd behaviors, such as the air base disappearing whenever I switched to “display groups,” but showing up fine as its separate elements and with group and elements listed properly in the Order of Battle window. It did not seem to affect gameplay in any way, though. I am sure there is an interesting technical reason for this odd behavior, but as it did not affect playing the game I’m not going to worry about it. 6:00…scenario starts I have three Saar 4 missile boats and four aircraft—a Hawkeye and 3 A-4s at Haifa. I’m putting up my Hawkeye and 2 A-4s up from Haifa. I’m leaving one A-4 in reserve. I’m sending the Hawkeye a little northwest of the Reshev…going active…wow, lots of contacts…I’m looking for the ones that seem to be heading towards Israeli ships…and I will send A-4s to look at them… 6:14. Swinging the Hawkeye by two ships nearest to my missile boats, worth the risk here…they are both Neutral. There are two fast-moving contacts to the north, so I’m sending an A-4 to check them out. 6:21. First contact is a dhow, neutral, going after second contact to the north. I have spotted another fast-moving contact to the West and am sending another A-4 to check it out. 6:23. The second northern contact is hostile and my A-4 takes him out without even waiting for me to give him orders—weapons free and all that. The A-4 is ordered to return to base because it has fired off all its weapons. I try to send it to do a little more scouting (it has plenty of fuel left) but it ignores my orders and goes home. I am not sure if this counts as "bug" or not, and I have no idea if it is caused by something in the database or in the game engine. 6:39. The contact to the West turns out to be hostile and the second A-4 sinks it and goes home. 6:40. I start searching the region with the Hawkeye, checking out as many contacts as I can. This continues until 7:13, when the third hostile contact identifies itself as hostile by shooting the Hawkeye down. Ack! 7:15. Harpoon missiles from the Yafo sink the third hostile contact. 8:14. Victory conditions achieved 8:14. I sank all three jihad ships and Haifa did not suffer any attacks. On examining the scenario in the editor later on, it is interesting that the jihad had Osa II missile boats (who was stupid enough to sell these things to terrorists!?) and that both Syria and Egypt also had their own Osa II missile boats in the region. Doubtless, this is a trap being set for players; if one sees the terrorists have Osa II boats but simply starts to shoot at anyone who has an Osa II, you would end up hitting neutral ships and getting in trouble for it. To sum things up, I would say this was a fun scenario, but perhaps not challenging enough. With three A-4s, it is too easy to find and sink all three jihad ships before they can get a shot on either Israeli missile boats or targets in Israel. I lost my Hawkeye, but that was just stupidity on my part. I should have kept the Hawkeye at a distance and used the A-4s to check out any specific suspicious contacts. Thoughts? Observations?

I'm not sure if this is a problem with the database or something I am doing wrong, but I've been testing the AIM-7 missiles (as carried by various versions of the F-4) and I am having a lot of trouble. I cannot get either the AIM-7C or the AIM-7E to fire at ANYTHING. I've tried them against T-34 Mentors AND against 737s, so it's not the type of aircraft that's creating the problem. I recommend a complete review of the AIM-7 variants for the HUD-4 database as soon as it is practical to do so, all of them, in case I've missed something, although I think the AIM-7M is okay. (Getting the AIM-9D to fire is a PAIN, as it will not acquire targets unless you are really close, but it WILL fire, so I'm assuming that's not an error.) Thanks. Mark

Pason-2: “Channel Engagement” Scenario by Ralf Koelbach. AAR by Mark Gellis Played on November 4, 2012 Pason-2 was prepared for the HUD-4 (v1.1 b10) simply by opening it in the scenario editor and rebuilding all platforms; the revised scenario was then saved. Scenario seems to load properly. I made a point of keeping an eye out for database errors. In this scenario, I saw no problems with weapons firing, ships not having any fuel, or any other database errors. I may have missed something, but nothing that was vital to the scenario. Looks like a nice, simple “search and shoot” scenario. 13:01. I set up a simple zig-zag course up and down, north and south, across the mouth of the channel, just to make myself a bit harder to target. At 13:15, I put up a Seasprite. My first pair of flying eyes. I already have a couple of passive surface contacts, so I’ve got things to look at. The first one, close by, to the SE, is probably a merchant but I will make sure. I keep the chopper low and passive. I tweak the course to close on the contact. At 13:43, the first contact it is identified as a Ro-Ro, and neutral. I will now turn northeast towards the other contact, which is more suspicious. 13:57…it is now clear that some of these ships are Soviet. I have an Azov and a Sovremenny. I am now going to use the chopper to get a better fix before I launch missiles. I put the chopper Very Low (11 m) to keep it hidden. 14:20. I have another clear identification, a Slava, but no clear fix on her position yet. At 14:24, it’s clear a Grisha is in the group, too. At 14:35, I’ve got a Bingo warning for the chopper’s fuel and it is heading home. I did get a clear fix on one ship but no ID. At least I know where they are, though. I will launch another helicopter and get a better fix. 14:41, I’ve got a Lynx 88 in the air, at VL, heading to the cluster of contacts. 15:30, I have a clear fix on an Azov…still “yellow,” but there is only one navy with an Azov, so I’m firing. Letting the chopper hover. Firing 15 anti-ship T-hawks. 15:50. Chopper on Bingo. Something (maybe the Slava?) just got clipped got clipped with missiles, but no clear data. I’m putting up another Seasprite and keeping everyone at passive. As far as I know, no one knows where I am yet. At 16:42, I see an air contact! But it’s slow; it must be another chopper. I now have multiple ship contacts with clear identification and clear fixes on location. Firing more T-hawks. At 16:50, Skunk 91 is still a mystery…I am closing on it. Wait…it’s an Udaloy. 17:05. I have lost another SeaSprite, but I know now where a lot of the bad guys are. And I’m still passive Emcon. 17:58. I am now setting an intercept course for the Soviet battle group. I think I’ve killed a couple of the smaller ships, but I cannot tell. 18:48. I am sending out another chopper at Very Low to get more clear information. 19:02. Chopper destroyed. 19:22. Putting up another chopper but sending it around and behind…perhaps I can avoid the cruisers and their SAMs? Again, keeping it passive and very low. If I can get them in Harpoon range before they know exactly where I am, I’ll have a real advantage. 20:01. Helicopter at Bingo and heading home. Sending another one up on roundabout southern course. No clear fix this time, but he lived. 21:25. Got a hard fix on a Grisha and a Tarantul. Firing Harpoons. 21:29. The helicopter is reporting hits on both the Soviet ships. Only two left and I’ve almost got a hard fix on position. Firing Harpoons now! A massive volley. But they’re shooting at me now, I think. Going Active and Weapons Free to deal with incoming missiles. 21:33. More harpoons at Azov. Both sides taking hits from missiles. I have only one damaged ship, though, the Rommel, and my SAMs are keeping their other missiles down. 21:36. I’m swinging the Seasprite by the cruiser to see - - chopper destroyed at 21:37:16! 21:38. Firing more Harpoons at the remaining Soviet destroyer; the cruiser is no longer moving. 21:45. Firing my last five Harpoons at the destroyer. Only one hit, but it is enough. He’s dead in the water. Victory conditions achieved 21:59:55. I seem to have fired on a neutral ship by accident! Tsk! I suspect the captain of the Kinkaid will be cleared, though, considering the circumstances (I can also “document” that I never fired if I did not have a clear ID on an enemy ship; the hit on the merchant has to be due to a navigation error on the missile or the ship just getting in the way by accident). As for the cost, one damaged warship and four helicopters lost in exchange for two cruisers, two destroyers, one light frigate, and two missile boats, and seven helicopters. A definite win, although not without casualties. This is a nice little scenario. Good pacing and suspense. Good action. Hard to win if you’re not careful, not too hard if you’re very cautious, as suggested in the orders. Good work, Ralf, and thanks!

Okay, I lied, I ended up going back to the HUD-4 for the newest scenario I'm working on, but I'm still curious what people think of the ANW database, etc.

I was just curious what people thought about the ANW DB? What are its main strengths and weaknesses? Having used the HUD-4 for a while, I think I'm going to try my hand at putting together a few ANW scenarios now, just to try something different. Any advice or recommendations? Also, just curious, are any updates planned for the future, especially since I understand ANW 3.11 is supposed to be released fairly soon? Thanks. Mark

Type 037 class submarine chaser http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_037_class_submarine_chaser "The Type 037 class submarine chaser, also known as the Hainan class, is a class of submarine chaser of the People's Republic of China's People's Liberation Army Navy, designed by China to replace the Soviet S.O.-1 class submarine chaser. Early units had Dual Purpose Mk.26 76.2 mm guns and Russian RBU-1200 ASW rocket launchers, but eventually, these were replaced by Chinese Type 66 twin 57 mm guns and Type 81 ASW rocket launchers (the Chinese version of RBU-1200)." --Wikipedia (I'm not sure how different these are from the Type 37 missile boats that are already in the database, and the OTHER type 37 sub chaser I just posted a request for...I'm guessing they are a different class, though. And China seems to have a zillion of them!) ANW HUD 4 v1.1 b10

Haiqing class submarine chaser http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiqing_class_submarine_chaser "The Haiqing class are a submarine chaser/patrol boat of the People's Liberation Army Navy. There is some disagreement over the type designation of this class, some sources claim it is Type 037I, while others claim it is Type 037IS." --Wikipedia "Unlike western navies, the PLAN does not have dedicated patrol boats in its inventory, instead, a variety of naval vessels ranged from minesweepers to fast attack craft are deployed for patrol duties. The Haiqing class is one of such Chinese designs and it is a cross between gunboats and the submarine chaser, based on Type 037 (Hainan class). These boats were first built by the Qiuxin Shipyard of Shanghai, and later by Huangpu Shipyard." ANW HUD 4 v1.1 b10

Type 206 class gunboat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_206_class_gunboat "The Type 206 class gunboat is a gunboat of the People's Republic of China's People's Liberation Army Navy. Also known as the Huludao class, it is a simplified version of the Type 037 class submarine chaser (also known as the Hainan class). Used for patrol duties, it has slightly reduced displacement, but has an enlarged superstructure." --Wikipedia ANW HUD 4 v1.1 b10

Type 56 Corvette http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_056_corvette "The Type 056 corvette is a Chinese light warship that entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2012 as a replacement for the Jianghu class frigate and the Type 037 series of patrol vessels." --Wikipedia ANW HUD 4 v1.1 b10

He was always very good at playtesting and finding bugs, and was a great help in this respect. This was always openly acknowledged and well known. He will claim that he was banned from HG for bug lists but nothing could be further from the truth. Mark, you've quickly discovered that there is no reasoning with this person. We have zero interest in being associated with what is a pervasively negative and destructive crusade. As I said earlier, folks are free to talk about and promote HUD4 here as you wish, but no more chatter about the PDB machination, please. You don't need the latter to do the former. Absolutely, and I apologize for griping about him as much as I did--my only excuse is that parts of this experience have been--how shall I say it?--very frustrating.

Another thing that might be done is to post a list of actual bugs and errors and the status on them. As much as I hate to admit it, Mr. Hum does sometimes spot real errors that need to be addressed. He can then use this as "proof" that the HUD-4 is terrible, bug-infested, etc. He is always going to say that, of course, but if there was a list of known bugs and errors, and status on them, it would demonstrate to OTHERS that there is an ongoing effort to make the HUD-4 as good as it can be. It might also encourage people to use the HUD-4 to test scenarios, find and report additional bugs, if there are any, which will ultimately lead to the database being improved.

Well, I've got my twelve up. The way I figure it, you guys owe me 36 HUD-4 scenarios. Get to work!

Romania is one of the Black Sea powers and now a member of NATO. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Armed_Forces http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Naval_Forces http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Air_Force 1. The country should be added to the country menus in the scenario editor 2. Country-appropriate platforms in the database should be linked to that country, with dates of service, etc. 3. As time allows, country-specific platforms or country-specific variations on existing platforms should be added to the database. Thanks! ANW HUD 4 v1.1 b10

Zimbabwe has a small air force, but with some capable combat aircraft. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe_Defence_Forces http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_of_Zimbabwe 1. The country should be added to the country menus in the scenario editor 2. Country-appropriate platforms in the database should be linked to that country, with dates of service, etc. 3. As time allows, country-specific platforms or country-specific variations on existing platforms should be added to the database. Thanks! ANW HUD 4 v1.1 b10

Uzbekistan has about 100 combat aircraft in its air force. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_Uzbekistan 1. The country should be added to the country menus in the scenario editor 2. Country-appropriate platforms in the database should be linked to that country, with dates of service, etc. 3. As time allows, country-specific platforms or country-specific variations on existing platforms should be added to the database. Thanks! ANW HUD 4 v1.1 b10

Uganda recently bought some Flankers. That could be interesting... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda_People%27s_Defence_Force 1. The country should be added to the country menus in the scenario editor 2. Country-appropriate platforms in the database should be linked to that country, with dates of service, etc. 3. As time allows, country-specific platforms or country-specific variations on existing platforms should be added to the database. Thanks! ANW HUD 4 v1.1 b10