Onkle Karl

I bought it but haven't played it. YouTube videos look promising though.

Many thanks.

I am so thankful that the Harpoon V world continues to make improvements, corrections, and enhancements to the rules and data books. Is there any errata available that would show what, specifically, the Jan 8th, 2021 changes were for each of the Harpoon V publications? That would make it a lot easier to fix platform sheets that may have an error on them, identify sections of the rules that perhaps I've been playing incorrectly, and digest new information or rules. Thanks a bunch in advance.

Many thanks for the reply. When I referee I may assign a random +/- arc. The variability has less to do with developing a firing solution and more to do with where to begin dropping sonobuoys or putting down a dipping sonar. Having a trapezoid (like the diagram at right) will make it a bit more difficult (and fun) for the searcher trying to get a firm contact on the sub. Bit more suspense too. Thanks again for the insight on how it all works.

Has anyone played this game? I'm thinking of laying out the money to buy it for COVID enforced isolation. Just curious as to thoughts on the game and whether anyone who has tried it would recommend the game. Thanks.

When searching for a sub using passive sonar I'm a little confused on how the initial detection works. I understand the tables, calculating the probability, etc.; however, when contact is made I'm not sure how accurate the initial location is. I've included a simple diagram of 2 squares (searching ships) that have made passive contact with a sub. The next step is for a helo or ASW plane to go find the sub based on the 2 ships' passive contact. I understand that the passive sonar contact won't tell me range or depth but does give direction. Is the passive sonar direction like the diagram on the left where each ship knows exactly what direction the sub is from the ship? Or, is there some 'cone' of uncertainty about the contact (i.e. direction +/- 10 degrees) like in the diagram on the right? In the case of the diagram on the left seems like 2 ships could find the exact position (but not depth) of a sub with passive sonar (which seems a bit dodgy to me but maybe that's how it works). I can't find this specifically stated in the rules and any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Many thanks. The Kara above thanks you as well.

Set up - An A-6E launches 2 Harpoon IC at a Kara class Soviet CG. The Harpoon will reach the Kara in 5 segments (2.5 minutes). The Kara detected it and rolled poorly on the Combat System Reaction table getting a total reaction time of 6 segments. So, the Harpoon will reach the Kara before the Kara can react with its Osa-M or Shtorm SAM systems. The Kara is broadside to the incoming Harpoons and, as such, has a 76mm gun and at least one 30mm CIWS that can shoot at the Harpoons. The Kara's MR-600 3D radar saw the Harpoons at launch, the MPZ-301 LAS radar for the Osa-M, the 4R60 Grom radar for the Shtorm, the MR-105 director for the 76mm, and the MR-123 director for the 30mm CIWS all picked up the Harpoons on the way in. Pretty much every sensor on the Kara can see the Harpoons when they get into gun range. Question - I get that the SAMs haven't figured everything out and can't shoot. My question is with the guns. The ATA rating on the 76mm is a 2.0 with the director and 0.63 without. The ATA rating on the 30mm CIWS is a 5.4 with the director and a 1.54 without. Are the gun directors tied into the Combat System Reaction table result? In other words, because the Kara can't react in my example above does that mean that the gun directors can't react either? If the gun directors can't act in the example above I'm assuming that all guns would fire with local control (i.e. the 76mm using its 0.63 ATA and the 30mm using its 1.54 ATA). Is that correct? Am I missing something basic in the rules and I have the above all wrong? Thanks for any help.

In Harpoon scenarios that may span a few days or longer are there any tables or rules for aircraft readiness? For example - An A-6E flies off the carrier and returns in 4 hours, is readied in an hour, and flies off for another 4 hour patrol. How many times in a row can it do that before it needs a longer down time for maintenance, etc.? Another example - There is a squadron of 24 P-3Cs based in Iceland. How many of them would reasonably be expected to be mission ready (i.e. not down for maintenance, etc.)? Could all 24 get launched at once consistently or should xx% be expected to not be available at a given time? Perhaps this is too far into the details; however, any thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks. My screw up. The Size A sonobuoys I used as an average of 27kg (the simple average of the range in the book). On rereading the 'America's Aircraft' table I used 27kg as an average and I should have used 27lbs. as the average. My screw up. Sorry about that.

That's exactly what I'm trying to do. The sonobuoy weight does make a big difference. For example - I'm loading a 1990 S-3A for an ASW Patrol. It has 2 external fuel tanks and 4 Mk46 Mod 5 torpedoes. Total load is 61% with a range of 3200nm. If I also include a load of 60 sonobuoys at an average weight of 27kg/sonobuoy then my load goes to 94% and range to 2400nm. Maybe I'm reading the 'America's Aircraft' entry for the S-3A incorrectly and it can have a loadout of 4 torps OR sonobuoys (but not both). If I'm reading it correctly and the S-3A can carry torps and sonobuoys then the sonobuoy weight does make a difference. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I can see the sonobuoy range of weights on Annex K-2 of America's Aircraft. However the range for a Size A sonobuoy (7-17.7kg) is kind of broad. Any specificity available? I'm assuming passive sonobuoys weigh less than active ones but I'm not sure.

That makes way more sense. Thanks.

I'm doing helo loadouts and I can't figure out how much various sonobuoys weigh. Any help is appreciated.

I have a SH-60B Block 0 Seahawk that lights its APS-124 SS radar from medium altitude attempting to find a Large surface contact. The radar LOS from the chart on pg 5-3 of the rules indicates that the maximum LOS is 175nm. The APS-124 maximum range for a large target is 160nm - so, 160nm is the maximum detection range. Section 5.2.5 of the rules for Airborne Surface Search Radars (SS) states that "these radars will pick up surface contacts and VLow air contacts at one-tenth of normal range". Question 1 - If I'm reading that correctly the detection range to a large ship will be 16nm (160nm max of the APS-124 SS divided by 10). Is that correct? Question 2 - If that's correct, does the 'divided by 10' always get applied to the maximum range of the radar set or applied to the Radar LOS (if it happened to be less than the maximum range of the radar set? Question 3 - If the airborne SS range is limited to 10% of range versus ships or VLow air contacts when would it ever use it's full range? i.e. what else is it going to detect other than surface targets? Land? I don't think it can pick up any aircraft above VLow...maybe it can. Thanks in advance for the help.