Herman

I like the detail provided within the orders. It's a nice story background and very believable. I ran the scenario and promptly ordered my Wedgetail over to Dili. She detected the land convoy in motion and ordered the Hawks stationed at Dili air field to attack. Once they bombed the trucks and the AAA, victory was granted. Since the scenario was set for 7 days, I decided to continue playing. I stationed CAP over Dili and shot down the occasional F-16 patrol until there was no more. Meanwhile, the Corte Real group was sailing for Dili. They encountered a few Indonesian ships which they dispatched with gunfire and saved their SSMs for Indonesian vessels armed with similar weapons. Even though they didn't waste any SSMs, there weren't enough to sink the enemy and soon the Corte Real was overwhelmed by Harpoons and the group was wiped out south of Sumatra. This isn't meant as a criticism, but I'm not sure if there is any way that the Real group can survive. It is outside of AEW and CAP coverage from either Dili or Australia so it has to rely upon its own resources. None of the helos can carry ASuW weapons and the number of Harpoons is very limited as are the SAMs. The only potentially viable option appears to be to sail away from Sumatra as fast as possible and then sail around all possible interference. That might make for a long game without much/any action. I hope that this helps and does not hurt. Congratulations on posting up your first scenario!

AAR: Oubliette [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon Classic scenario By Brad Leyte The war in Central Europe is bogging down, and although NATO has suffered horrendous losses, the Soviet armored thrust has lost its momentum. There are rumours of growing dissension and unrest among the upper echelons of military command in Moscow. The risk of the Soviets resorting to the use of nuclear weapons in desperation has climbed considerably in the past few days. US Navy ballistic missile submarines, already deployed and at sea, have been directed to their patrol stations in case things go south. Several of these boomers, including the USS Tennessee, have been ordered to take up positions where they could potentially exploit depressed trajectory launches of their missile load, reducing warning time substantially. Blue Orders: *** FLASH *** FLASH *** FLASH *** START MESSAGE 1.0. SITREP: The Ohio class nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine USS Tennessee (SSBN-734) has been given orders to proceed to its deterrent patrol station in the Sea of Okhotsk, a few hundred miles northeast of Sakhalin Island off the Soviet coast. For several days now, the USS Tullibee has been conducting quiet subsurface reconnaissance in that locale, sanitizing the area in anticipation of Tennessee's arrival. The Tullibee has reported increasing Soviet naval activity in the sector in the last 48 hours, including an intercept of what appears to have been radio communications from a Yak-38 Forger pilot. 2.0. ORDERS: USS Tullibee SSN-597 > Continue quiet reconnaissance of the area prior to the arrival of SSBN-734. Once the SSBN arrives, withdraw to a position southeast of the Kuriles and await further orders. USS Tennessee SSBN-734 > Proceed to your designated deterrent patrol station at Point Echo Zulu northeast of Sakhalin Island at coordinates 51 29 N 145 12 E. Escort will be provided by SSN-721. Once on station, stand by for receipt of authorization codes for possible repeat possible depressed trajectory SLBM launch on priority targets. USS Chicago SSN-721 > Penetrate the Sea of Okhotsk and provide safe escort for the SSBN-734. It is imperative that the SSBN reach its patrol station safely. Own ship expendable to this end. The navigator plotted a course for Point Echo Zulu northeast of Sakhalin Island at coordinates 51 29 N 145 12 E. At our current speed of advance (8kts), SSBN Tennessee should be able to arrive at her designated deterrent patrol station in time. Since the SSN Tullibee was already in the Sea of Okhotsk, I would use her to scout the area before the SSBN's arrival. The nearest base was Naha, over 1500nm away. This meant that there would be no air cover as none of the P-3 Orion MPA had sufficient range to reach the area. The only plane able to reach the Sea of Okhotsk was the EP-3 Elint platform and she was unarmed. As she set out on her mission, SSN Tullibee immediately detected a submerged contacted. After working up a TMA [Target Motion Analysis], she generated a firing solution and launched two Mk 48 AdCap torpedoes at the target. They were counter-detected when they got within 2nm and the submarine raced to evade. It turned out to be a Tango-class diesel, but the Mk 48 torpedoes were easily capable of 40kts+ speed and they easily caught her. First on the scoreboard was the USN! I ferried my aircraft assets over to Naha from Andersen air field to give them just a bit more range and ordered the SSBN Tennessee and her escorting SSN Chicago escort to cross the Kuriles and into the Sea of Okhotsk. Soon, the SSBN detected several surface contacts. They tried to avoid contact and just let them pass, if possible, but the enemy wasn't playing along. The group consisted of a Mirka-class corvette and a Krivak-class frigate. Both had reasonable sonar systems that would be effective if they got too close. I decided not to risk detection of the SSBN so the Chicago engaged the Mirka with two Mk 48 torpedoes at a range of 7nm. Both vessels detected the weapons close to the Mirka and turned to flee. The Mirka was caught and one detonated under her keel, snapping it. The Krivak kept running and was a mission-kill as far as I was concerned for it cleared the way for the SSBN. After re-fueling at Naha, I ordered the EP-3 Aries to reconnoitre the region. She carefully and cautiously scouted and detected several Tu-142 Bears, Be-12 Mail, Il-38 May active in the area along with several hunter-killer ASW groups. She wove and weaved among them until her ESM detected Foxbats rising to intercept her. Pucker time. She dove to the deck and slunk out of the area, grateful to have escaped with her own skin. It was certainly a nervous time, but worthwhile since it gave me an indication of the forces arrayed against the SSBN. Not soon afterwards, the Chicago detected another submarine in her path. Although she never fully classified it, it was close and could not be allowed to get any closer. Two more Mk 48 torpedoes settled the issue and no return fire was detected. Unfortunately, someone else was having a spot of luck. The SSN Tullibee had detected a submarine in the SSBN's patrol area and was moving to investigate when she suddenly struck by a weapon without warning for a total loss of boat and crew. Sometimes, the enemy does something right, too. Chicago and Tennessee continued their ingress and soon came across a KPUG (Russian ASW group) centred on the CVHG Kiev. They tried to box around it and soon encountered a submarine in their path. Both subs slowed to a crawl in hopes of allowing their hunters to pass them, but Russians were not giving up so easily. Suddenly, the KPUG turned in their direction and all hope of remaining invisible disappeared. Chicago decided to engage the CVHG first as she carried most of the deadly Helix helicopters. Three Mk 48 AdCap Mod 5 were sent after her and two hits were sufficient to leave her dead in the water. Unfortunately, the KPUG refused to quit so the Chicago was forced to engage one escort after another. Next to die was the CG Kara as she sailed blissfully to her doom. She was soon followed by the DDG Kashin and then the FFG Krivak. Although tempted to sink the surviving valuable replenishment vessels, they were not part of the mission and torpedoes were limited. The sailors aboard Chilikin, Andizhan, and Kazbek would never know how lucky there were this day. With the primary threats sunk, the submarine group arrived intact at their deterrent patrol position and total victory was awarded. A nice challenging submarine scenario. Thanks for sharing it. FilesOfScenShare

EU report warns of trouble in Arctic over resources Territorial claims and access to new trade routes must be addressed, briefing document notes; former U.S. Coast Guard official predicts armed conflict Randy Boswell, Canwest News Service Published: 1:32 am Edmonton Journal The coming "scramble for resources" in the melting Arctic poses a potential political crisis for northern countries -- including Canada -- says a new report by Europe's top two foreign policy officials. The warning is contained in a briefing document about the expected impacts of global climate change, prepared for a summit of 27 European heads of government in Brussels later this week. The report, obtained on Monday by Canwest News Service, highlights last year's controversial flag-planting on the North Pole seabed by a Russian submarine -- which drew a particularly frosty response from the Canadian government -- and argues "there is an increasing need to address the growing debate over territorial claims and access to new trade routes" in the Arctic Ocean. Authored by the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and Europe's commissioner for external relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the study points to "potential consequences for international stability and European security interests" as the retreat of Arctic ice makes shipping and oil and gas exploration a reality in the region. Noting the "rapid melting of the polar ice caps," the report contends that "the increased accessibility of the enormous hydrocarbon resources in the Arctic region is changing the geo-strategic dynamics of the region." Solana and Ferrero-Waldner add: "As previously inaccessible regions open up due to the effects of climate change, the scramble for resources will intensify." The EU report is the latest in a string of recent warnings about looming clashes over Arctic resources -- including a prediction from former U.S. Coast Guard commander Scott Borgerson of possible armed conflict between the U.S. and Canada over Arctic sovereignty. "The United States should not underestimate Canadian passions on this issue," Borgerson, a fellow at the influential Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in an article titled Arctic Meltdown in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs magazine. "Unless Washington leads the way toward a multilateral diplomatic solution, the Arctic could descend into armed conflict." A top official with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also warned last month that Canada and the U.S. were headed for a clash over who owns undersea territory in the Beaufort Sea, along the offshore boundary between the Yukon and Alaska. And two teams of American and Canadian experts on international affairs -- including Borgerson, former U.S. ambassador Paul Cellucci and UBC political scientist Michael Byers -- recently conducted a "mock summit" on the Arctic that urged a rapid resolution of disputes over the Northwest Passage and other polar issues before serious conflict arises in the region. The European report also urges the development of an EU Arctic policy to guide the continent's approach to polar issues, and suggests the possible need to "revisit existing rules of international law, particularly the Law of the Sea" to settle anticipated territorial disputes in the Arctic and elsewhere. The Solana-Ferrero-Waldner report, which has already prompted widespread media coverage in Europe, includes the Arctic in a list of regions set to become hotspots for global conflict in an era of climate change. "Climate change is best viewed as a threat multiplier which exacerbates existing trends, tensions and instability," states the report, which also highlights potential drought in Africa, water shortages in the Middle East and coastal flooding in South Asia as possible triggers for major international conflict. Solana, in an accompanying statement also released to Canwest News Service, says: "What happens if the Northwest Passage becomes permanently passable? If handled well, this is a huge opportunity. But without an agreed international framework -- as is the case in the Arctic -- on how to assess and adjudicate territorial claims, political tensions are bound to rise." During a speech in Yellowknife on Monday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper reaffirmed his government's commitment to "strengthening Canada's Arctic sovereignty" and highlighted a new federal plan to procure a Polar-class icebreaker to help patrol the increasingly ice-free Arctic Ocean. "As Canadians, we see ourselves as a Northern people," Harper stated. "The great white North is as much a part of Canada's identity as the red maple leaf."

AAR: There's No Place Like Home [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon Classic scenario By Patrick Howard The time is the present, and the Kosovo crisis and the resulting Serbian invasion has led to long simmering tensions between Russia and the US exploding, with the sinking of an American submarine found within Russian territorial waters near Archangel. The Commander of the ASW frigate involved has been cashiered for his aggressiveness, but the loss of USS Dallas and 155 American sailors has the US public infuriated and the US government is bent on revenge. American diplomatic staff has been recalled and war is imminent. Unfortunately, the AFS Kuznetsov, with his escorts, is in the Atlantic on exercises; far from friendly ports and exposed to American attacks. The US has claimed that this task group is a threat to American shipping and must surrender to US forces. Your job is to get him and his escorts home safely in the face of overwhelming opposition. As a student of history, I had read about Xenophon and the 10,000 but never really felt that I understood it until I was faced with the same situation. The Kuznetsov group was operating off the Irish coast when she received orders to return to the Kola Peninsula. Unfortunately, receiving orders and actually carrying them out can be very different things. All I could see was an entire wall of potentially (probably) hostile bases. The more I looked, the grimmer things appeared. The previously powerful forces of Soviet Naval Aviation had fallen from regiments of Backfire and Badger bombers to only 5x Tu-22M Backfires, 2x Tu-95H Bear, and 4x Tu-160 Blackjack bombers on call to assist in the voyage home. Soviet doctrine called for regimental strikes by SNA against the American carrier battle groups and I had barely one squadron's worth of bombers. Soon, Elint reports started coming in from two surveillance trawlers in the North Atlantic. E-2 Hawkeye radar had been detected. Where there are Hawkeyes, there is a carrier. I couldn't localize the ships, but the AWACs gave me an idea of where they might be. As all routes back to the Kola seemed to be blocked, I decided that the only chance I had would be to blast my way through the carrier group so I shuttled all available aircraft down to Kaliningrad in hopes of re-inforcing the Kuznetsov for a combined attack. It was my only hope. I also ordered the BCGN Petr Velikiy out to lend assistance, but her meagre screen of two Udaloy destroyers was promptly engaged and sunk by torpedoes. The Ka-27 Helix got a measure of revenge by sinking one of the submarines, but there was no way that the BCGN could be risked to travel on her own through such treacherous waters so she was recalled. Once the bombers landed and re-fuelled at Kaliningrad, they had to fly a very careful profile out to the Atlantic. In order to avoid interference from the EU fighter patrols, they stayed at low altitude to avoid the radar from the UK as well as Lechfeld air base. Once past the radar fence, they made their ingress towards the suspected position of the carrier group. As they made their approach on the deck, the lead reconnaissance Bear reported that the strike group had been counter-detected by the Hawkeyes. Now, it was a race between the pride of Russia and the American Combat Air Patrols. All of the planes increased speed to full military power and activated their radar in hopes of surviving long enough to reach their release points. Today, luck was with the Russians as a Very Large contact was soon detected. With Bears approaching from different angles, it was fairly easily localized through triangulation. ESM also detected emissions from 2 Ticonderoga cruisers and one Arleigh Burke destroyer. This was going to be one tough nut to crack. As soon as they came into range, the measly strike force of 7 bombers released their AS-4 Kitchen missiles from maximum range in hopes that some might survive. The Blackjacks, armed only with shorter-ranged AS-65 missiles, tried to close the distance and were promptly shot out of the sky by SAMs. One Oscar-class SSGN was also in range and threw her 20 SS-N-19 Shipwreck missiles into the fray. Attacking three AEgis-equipped vessels with only 40 missiles seemed like hopeless odds, but the attempt had to be made. The escorts must have been distracted in their hurry to destroy the Blackjacks as the AS-4 Kitchens raced through the screen and promptly demolished the carrier! Victory was awarded right away. I wanted to see if I could make the trip all the way back to Russia so I continued onwards. It was a good thing that I managed to sink the carrier as the Kuznetsov was hit by at least two torpedoes on her voyage home. She limped along at 8kts with 77% of her flotation destroyed and never made it back to home waters before the scenario expiration. A really superbly challenging scenario. I can't wait to try out the next one. Thanks for sharing it. FilesOfScenShare

Defect Name: CTD on tanker launch Build: HCE 2007.000 Repeatable: Y Operating System: XP DB used: HCDB-080308 Scenario used: CTD on tanker launch.SCm Long Description: CTD when tanker is ordered to launch on a patrol mission Sequence to reproduce: 1. Run scenario from Red side 2. Order Midas tanker to any patrol point from ZTa (Afrikanda) 3. CTD when plane attempts to launch Expected behaviour: Tanker should launch on patrol mission Observed behaviour: Tanker patrol mission results in CTD CTD_on_tanker_launch.zip

Here's a list of all the ships that it seems to affect: ID: Name: 2575 Midway (-70) 2083 Midway (-65) 2366 Nimitz (1975) 2365 Enterprise (1976) 2364 Kitty Hawk (1961) 2363 John F. Kennedy (1975) 2065 Enterprise (1961) 2064 Hermes (1966) 2116 Essex w. SCB-144 (1965) 2080 Midway (-60) 2098 Hermes (1960) 2103 Essex (1960) 2220 Colossus Class (1969) 2222 Colossus Class (1956) 2206 Majestic Class (1955-) 2050 Kitty Hawk (1969) 2095 John F. Kennedy (1968) 2118 Essex (1960) 2093 Forrestal (1967) 2059 Enterprise (1967) 2092 Forrestal (1975) 2056 Enterprise (1971) 2219 Forrestal (1977) 2094 Forrestal (1960) It's interesting that they are all aircraft carriers.

The 170th NEW Harpoon scenario in the last 12 months! Bluff Cove On June 8 1982, one of the most tragic events of the Falklands war took place. Two amphibious ships embarked with the Welsh Guards were taking too long to unload at Bluff Cove and, when daylight broke, were found and bombed by the Argentine air force with heavy loss of life. Later investigations speak of inter-service rivalry between the British forces, and of a blatant disregard of the basic principles of amphibious operations. Author: Freek Schepers With over 179,000 PlayersDB scenarios downloaded in the last 12 months alone, the PlayersDB has proven itself the unequivocal players' favourite. Harpoon3.6.3 users can get the: Complete Harpoon 3.6.3 Library Harpoon ANW users can get the: Complete Harpoon ANW Library FilesOfScenShare

I'm still seeing same blank fields. Am I doing something wrongly? I've switched out the commondb.res files and then hit the Import button on the PE. After the import process is finished, the name of the DB shows: HC_65to80_DB-080229 so I think it was done correctly. Can't explain why I have blank fields and you don't. Is it because we might be using different commondb.RSR files?

Over 15 new aircraft, ships, submarines, facilities, classes, countries, and weapons have been added to the Harpoon3 PlayersDB with the official Database editor issued by AGSI. Get the PlayersDB-ANW on HarpDB, SubSim, or ughHQ. Get the PlayersDB on HarpDB, SubSim, or ughHQ. Additions include: Tiger HAD FR 12 FFG Cheng Kung ROC 08|Perry - countless changes and improvements guaranteed not to crash any earlier scenario built with the PlayersDB Harpoon3.6.3 users can get the Complete Harpoon 3.6.3 Library Harpoon ANW users can get the Complete Harpoon ANW Library FilesOfScenShare

Here is what I see when any of the three entries are brought up:

That may be the theory behind it, but does anyone have a solid example of this actually occurring? A large scenario like Backyard II has many air defence groups surrounding the base. I have not noticed it being any more or less aggressive if an attack is made on members within the group or outside of it. For example, if I attacked group ZZa, groups ZYa and ZXa were just as likely to shoot down my missiles and planes as ZZa was. I think that the group organization is irrelevant. If you are detected and within range, a unit will fire. This also explains the behaviour of submarine units and SSM units. Because all units share data in equally in HCE, once one unit "sees" you, all units see you. If a player finds himself surrounded by the enemy and is then detected by the AI, he will find himself under a immediate barrage by all available units right away regardless if he is only attacking specific units/groups.

ZZa is a yucky one, confirmed not that you didn't know that already... The code faces a bit of chicken and egg problem. Solution 1: Assume no enemy units are radiating. Choose to attack and all you have are ARMs. Weapon allocation dialog pops up, no weapons can be allocated, Target not radiating shows for all. Solution 2: Leave it broke. For the moment those are the only two options. I think a 'real' fix is possible, just escapes me at the moment how to do it with a reasonable amount of code. Note to Tony... Combat5.c: Is there possibly a simple solution for working around this? What would be the implications if ScenDesigners were simply told to not create Groups of air defences? Instead of adding AAA/SAM/Radar facilities to bases or grouping them together, would it be totally impossible to just insert them as "Individual Groups" (groups of just one unit)? I would think that it would add to the memory a bit, but would the game function any differently from what it currently does?

Looking good. Now I can build that scenario around the Pueblo Incident. I took a look at the Enterprise platform and it seems to have a number of details missing.

Man, first I get called all manner of names. Now, I can't even be named, at all?! Life's just not fair, I tell ya'...

Defect Name: CTD from multiple splits Build: HCE 2007.000 Repeatable: Y Operating System: XP DB used: HCDB-071223 Scenario used: Fortress Keflavik [GIUK] Long Description: CTD from group after trying multiple splits Sequence to reproduce: 1. Select group ABu 2. F8 and move both submarines into a new group 3. Order new group to divide, again, by moving both subs into new group 4. Order new group to divide, again, by moving both subs into new group Expected behaviour: Group should split into new group Observed behaviour: Attempt to split group results in CTD CTD_from_multiple_splits.zip

Jerome (a.k.a. AngleOfAttack) was determined to find a way for his beloved Argentine homeland to win in the "Pebble Island - variant", a hypothetical carrier battle between Argentina and Britain, so we decided to try it, again. Jerome took his usual side, Argentina. This scenario has a number of alternative starting points for all units involved and, this time, my carrier group was separated from her escorts (but not by a wide margin). I elected to put in a bombardment mission on the Pebble Island base as this was the most effective way to suppress it. Enroute to the base, a SeaKing detected a small task group of two ships. I guess that if my ships were separated at the start of the scenario, the same might have happened to AoA! I changed plans and decided to attack this isolated group in hopes of overwhelming it before the enemy could congregate. My DD Glamorgan and FF Alacrity sped towards the enemy at flank speed.and managed to intercept under the cover of the Harriers. The enemy tried to stymie my attack with a barrage of Exocets, but these were easily taken care of by the Harriers on patrol. Once in range, both ships lofted their Exocets. It was a tricky fire mission as I had to ensure that the SSMs would not strike the Hercules escort. I needed for them to lock onto the carrier so I set a Pre-planned Activation Point that was behind the escort, but in front of the carrier. The attack was wildly successful as 5 out of 8 Exocets struck the carrier. Now, it was time to get out of Dodge City. The escorts turned tail and raced back towards the Hermes to await the Argentine response. I thought that I was sitting in a good position with numerous Harriers on Combat Air Patrol with lots of Sidewinders to defend the Hermes when the Sea Darts started arriving. I had totally forgotten that the enemy had SAMs in addition to his SSMs. Soon, the Sea Darts had pretty much exhausted my supply of Sidewinders and Alacrity took a hit that damaged her by 17%. So long as a second ship didn't suffer the same damage, I could still win the game. The Argentine carrier was still operational so she launched her Skyhawks and Super Etendard. Their attack was well coordinated and nearly overwhelming. However, I had just enough Sidewinders left aboard to finish the job. All strikers were killed inbound before they got to bomb release range. I had only 4 Sidewinders left in the magazine! Although he still had some significant firepower remaining with his 2 other ships, they were too far away to prevent the bombardment of Pebble Island. Once the base was smashed, I was granted victory. Another fun match from AoA. Still fun the second time around. Thanks to HarpGamer for the hosting it on their server. Anyone looking for an MP game can drop a line here or look for us on HarpGamer pHp chat room or the HG mIRC chat room.

After months of manoeuvres, Pdqport (a.k.a. Toph) finally found time to try out ANW MP for himself. Since none of the Matrix scenarios work, we chose Power Sweep, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. This was SSN vs. SSN combat under the high seas. Chris took the Russians while I took the NATO side. Although he had only played H2 previously, Toph was quite adept at handling his boats and led me for a merry long chase before losing them one by one. The Tango-class diesel boat was especially hard to detect and localize. Thanks for a fun game, Chris, and thanks to HarpGamer for the use of their server. Anyone looking for an MP game can drop a line here or look for us on HarpGamer pHp chat room or the HG mIRC chat room.

The 290th NEW Harpoon scenario in the last 12 months! 4.0 Ice Picket Congratulations to Bart Gauvin for posting up his very first Harpoon scenario for everyone to enjoy. "Gunner98" is the 17th author to release a new scenario. Feb 14th 1994, Valentines Day. Less than 24 hours ago, Soviet forces struck all across Eastern Europe in a drive to seize the initiative and establish themselves as the dominant force in Europe once and for all. NATO, and particularly the Americans are not well positioned to challenge this sudden attack. There are two US CVBGs in the Persian Gulf area and a third transiting the Indian Ocean and a fourth patrolling near Korea. The KITTY HAWK CVBG is in the Med but expected to be heavily engaged there. The INDEPENDENCE and ABRAHAM LINCOLN CVBGs currently in Norfolk, Virginia are expected to sortie very shortly. The defences in Northern Norway were caught off guard, and much of the Soviet Fleet has left port. Russian submarine activity is very high, upwards of 100 submarines have been detected by SOSUS and the standing SSN patrols off the North Cape of Norway have been silenced. The lonely outpost of Jan Mayan, a small Norwegian island North East of Iceland, has rapidly become a pivotal point. Completely surrounded by Ice Pack, the few inhabitants of this forlorn outpost are realizing that both NATO and the Soviests are willing to brave the -50C temperatures and bone chilling winds to hold their remote piece of the earth. While NATO air and ground forces scramble to establish and outpost, rumours of Russians appearing 'out of no where' abound throughout the village. Author: Bart Gauvin 0.5 Advance Guards After the surprise Argentine invasion of the Falklands Islands, the British Defence ministry urgently ordered available Royal Navy units to the area. A mixed destroyer/frigate squadron with attached support ships had just finished operation Springtrain around Gibraltar. On April 16th, this group was the first to enter the waters around the Falklands. Argentina, meanwhile, was using her navy to reinforce the garrison in the Malvinas and to establish a blocking force for any early British units. Author: Freek Schepers With over 168,000 PlayersDB scenarios downloaded in the last 12 months alone, the PlayersDB has proven itself the unequivocal players' favourite. Harpoon ANW users can get the: Complete Harpoon ANW Library Harpoon3.6.3 users can get the: Complete Harpoon 3.6.3 Library FilesOfScenShare

"Pebble Island", a hypothetical carrier battle between Argentina and Britain, has been so popular that Freek decided to make a variant for it so that players could enjoy it even more. Jerome (a.k.a. AngleOfAttack) and I decided to try it out. Jerome took his usual side, Argentina. As the UK, my ViConds were, IMO, quite onerous. I had to: 1) Destroy the base on Pebble Island 2) Damage the enemy carrier by at least 10% 3) Protect two ships from 5% damage It's like being told to go off to war and be sure not to get hurt! :laugh: The only way to destroy the base effectively would be with naval gunfire. So, I sent the DDG Glamorgan and FF Alacrity racing in towards Pebble Island. Hopefully, they could accomplish their mission before the enemy could respond. They went about their mission demolishing one installation after another when the enemy appeared. The Argentines appeared to be surprised by the presence of the Glamorgan as she managed to quickly bring down one Super Etendard with her Sea Slugs while Harriers shot down another along with two Sky Hawks. The only surviving enemy aircraft were the helicopters. The Harriers began to chase them down. As they were approaching one fleeing helo, a thought suddenly dawned upon me. What if the enemy was leading me into a trap? The last time my Harriers were in hot pursuit of an 'easy target' over Pebble Island, I ended up losing 3 of them to an ambush! Just then, I lost contact with an enemy plane and decided to retire rather than risk 33% of my fighter force. After successfully pounding the daylights out of the base, the enemy was finally discovered in the northwest quadrant. I immediately sent my bombers out to fulfill the second ViCond. I assigned a ForCAP of 2 Harriers to deal with any unpleasant surprises they might encounter. I also ordered two Sea King helos to turn on their active radar in hopes of luring the CAP away from the ships. This worked exceptionally well as no fighters were encountered on the ingress. The strike force crept in at 30m altitude and managed to evade detection until the very last moment. They flew a dog-leg course in hopes of staying hidden from DDG Hercules for as long as possible and focused on what they thought was the carrier, the central ship of the formation. As they made their run in, they soon realized that the ship they were aiming for was actually the Hercules, herself! The one ship they wanted to avoid and they were flying right at it. The accompanying fighters pressed the attack to draw the fire from the mission-essential bombers. One bomber and one fighter quickly went down to her SAMs. Flak and SAMs got three more. Only three bombers survived to loft their 3x 454kg bombs towards the carrier and riddle her with gunfire before diving back to the deck for their egress. All three were shot down. There were no survivors. This was the most costly day for the Royal Fleet Air Arm since Korea. The Argentines were still operational and decided to try their luck on the offensive. The enemy flew a brilliant evasive course and came in behind my AAW ships! (Damn, they pulled my own trick on me!) As the ships scrambled in vain to re-position themselves for the new threat, the SAMs started bringing down the strikers. Luckily, there were two Harriers on CAP and their 8 Sidewinders made all the difference. One exceptionally brave Skyhawk aviator nearly got into bomb release range before a final volley of Sea Wolf missiles blew him out of the air. It was all too damned close. Althought the enemy was damaged, the ViConds had not been fulfilled. With no surviving air strike assets, the only thing to be done was put in an old-fashioned surface attack. Both sides were armed with Exocet SSMs so it was an evenly matched affair. As TF Hermes approached, the enemy ships launched their SSMs at maximum range. My four Harriers had since re-armed and were flying CAP. Their Sidewinders once again made an invaluable contribution to shooting down all the inbound SSMs. However, after they landed to re-arm, one final volley from the enemy managed to get through and two struck Alacrity. The UK riposte was quick in coming and British SSMs sank the Hercules, two other frigates, and damaged the CV. The British ships closed to gunfire range and sent her to the bottom to seal the victory. Another great scenario from Freek Schepers. Thanks to AoA for the match and to HarpGamer for the use of their server. Anyone looking for an MP game can drop a line here or look for us on HarpGamer pHp chat room or the HG mIRC chat room.

3 Programs, 3 Sets of Risks By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS Defense News Each of the U.S. Navy’s new ship designs brings its own set of potential problems: å The Carrier: The CVN 78 Gerald R. Ford design features a number of new elements over the previous Nimitz-class carriers, including a new hull, new reactor plant and redesigned flight deck. A new dual-band radar is being developed — the size of which is key to a much smaller island that enables new flight deck operation patterns — and the EMALS magnetic launch system represents a radical improvement. The Navy first planned to put off installation of the new launch system until later ships in the class, but it decided to move it to the first ship to placate former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s push for transformation. While the EMALS passed a critical design review in November, trials of the new system so far have involved only “test articles.” Real aircraft won’t be launched until 2009. Potential Worst Case: The EMALS system isn’t ready when the ship is complete and the carrier operates without the ability to launch conventional fixed-wing aircraft. å The Destroyer: The DDG 1000 Zumwalt advanced destroyer design incorporates 10 major new technologies. While Navy officials publicly remain steadfast in their confidence that the design carries little risk, experts note problems will likely occur in integrating so many new systems in a single platform. Concern also remains among a number of professionals that there might be stability flaws in the new tumblehome hull design, which has never been applied to a real ship. Those concerns might surface when the Navy begins open conversation about a new study of design alternatives for the CG(X) cruiser; a Center for Naval Analyses study reportedly is complete, but briefings have been closely held and public release of the study has been delayed several months. Potential Worst Case: Cost increases limit the program to only two or three ships. The hull proves unstable and results in a catastrophe at sea or severe restrictions. å The Littoral Combat Ship: Concerns about the LCS program have focused almost exclusively on the acquisition plan, which disintegrated over the past year due to cost overruns that have more than doubled the original $220 million per-ship price tag. But lost in the focus on the building plan is the fact that numerous concepts key to the LCS will need time to mature. The Navy will need years of experience to work out problems with the multiple-crewing and mission detachment plans; proper employment of the mission modules and their multiple, complex parts; numerous command-and-control issues; systems integration problems; concepts of operations for the ships; and logistics and training issues. The two competing designs have differing qualities, and the service will have only a relatively brief time to evaluate them before choosing a single design to build in 2009. Navy Secretary Donald Winter said last year the final design could well incorporate elements from each competitor, in effect creating a new design. Another consideration: The General Dynamics design introduces an aluminum-hulled trimaran into the Navy, which has never operated a warship with those features. Only a handful of commercial aluminum tri-hull ferries approach the size of the LCS, and none of those have been in service more than a few years. Long-term forecasts about the structural stability and integrity of the aluminum trimaran are based only on theoretical models. Potential Worst Case: The current mission modules prove too complex and are simplified. The aluminum trimaran hulls fail after a few years in operation and are scrapped. Affordability: Veteran government cost analysts outside the Navy have testified repeatedly to Congress that the Navy’s current 30-year shipbuilding plan is unaffordable. All forecast serious overruns for the carrier and destroyer, and correctly predicted last year’s LCS cost jumps.

A Beta version of the ANW Patch 3.9.0 is now available for those willing to test out experimental software.

Adolf Hitler's 'lost fleet' found in Black Sea Telegraph By Jasper Copping Last Updated: 1:52am GMT 04/02/2008 The final resting place of three German U-boats, nicknamed "Hitler's lost fleet", has been found at the bottom of the Black Sea. The submarines had been carried 2,000 miles overland from Germany to attack Russian shipping during the Second World War, but were scuttled as the war neared its end. Now, more than 60 years on, explorers have located the flotilla of three submarines off the coast of Turkey. The vessels, including one once commanded by Germany's most successful U-boat ace, formed part of the 30th Flotilla of six submarines, taken by road and river across Nazi-occupied Europe, from Germany's Baltic port at Kiel to Constanta, the Romanian Black Sea port. In two years, the fleet sank dozens of ships and lost three of their number to enemy action. But in August 1944, Romania switched sides and declared war on Germany, leaving the three remaining vessels stranded. With no base and unable to sail home - the Bosporus and Dardanelles were closed to them because of Turkish neutrality - their captains were ordered to scuttle the boats before rowing ashore and trying to make their way back to Germany. However, all three crews were caught and interned by the Turks. Now the submarines' hulls have been discovered by a team led by Selçuk Kolay, a Turkish marine engineer, who will present his findings to a shipwreck conference in Plymouth this week. Mr Kolay established the boats' positions through research in German archives, interviews with surviving sailors and by sonar studies of the seabed. He has already completed successful dives to the wreckage of one vessel, U-20, two miles offshore in about 80ft of water. He believes he has discovered another, U-23, at twice that depth, three miles from the town of Agva, but bad weather forced him to suspend diving until the spring. He thinks he is also close to pinpointing the third boat, U-19, thought to lie more than 1,000ft down, three miles from the Turkish city of Zonguldak. "It's one of the least well known stories of the war but one of the most interesting," said Mr Kolay. "It is a quite incredible story. To get to the Black Sea these boats had to be taken across the land, and once they got there they had no way out." All three U-boats had been operating against British shipping in the North Sea. U-23 gained notoriety for scoring one of Germany's earliest successes, sinking a British ship off the Shetland Islands days after war began. It was later commanded by Otto Kretschmer, known as "Silent Otto", the most successful U-boat ace. In 1941, Germany invaded Russia and decided it needed a presence in the Black Sea to harass Soviet shipping there. Unable to use the Bosporus, the only shipping route into the Black Sea, the boats were dismantled at Kiel and taken by canal to the River Elbe, and upstream to Dresden. Here, they were partly dismantled and taken by lorry to Ingolstadt, on the Danube, and then ferried downstream to the Black Sea and Constanta, where they were re-assembled. When Romania switched sides the crews were ordered to scuttle out of sight of the Turks so the submarines' locations would remain a mystery. Mr Kolay was helped by a map drawn by Rudolf Arendt, 85, the former captain of the U-23, showing where his crew came ashore. Mike Williams, secretary of the Nautical Archaeology Society, said: "This is a significant find because these U-boats were all scuttled, so they should be intact, like a sealed tube. They are unique survivors of the war."

Shemar came looking for some revenge, tonight. We decided to try some ASW so we chose Matrix Knight, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. This scenario was labelled an exercise in hunting and protecting SSBNs. Both sides had one SSBN and each had to destroy the other's SSBN without losing his own. I made the first contact with my Los Angeles-class SSN. I was just creeping along when the contact came in on the towed array sonar. After cutting back and forth across my path a few times, I was able to improve my targeting solution, but I never managed to pin-point the slippery sucker as he was only making 1kt and was running an ultra-quiet routine. I closed to approximately 6nm range and decided that I'd have to fire before he had a chance to counter-detect my boat. Tubes 1, 3, and 4 were fired and I turned to evade the expected counter-fire. I was not to be disappointed. I was certainly surprised when sonar reported a transient moving at 195kts! The nuclear-tipped Shkvall was heading in my direction so I beat feet out of the area at flank speed. Luck was on my side as the Mk48s caught the Delta IV. Two other USET-80s were also fired behind the Shkvall, but none of the three weapons ever got close enough to detect my boat before the Delta was destroyed. Part one of the mission was now complete. Now, I only had to ensure the survival of my own SSBN for 20 hours. I was not having much luck with my SSBN L'Inflexible. The first indication I had of enemy presence was the approach of two torpedoes! Arrgh. I ordered two F17 fired down the bearing of the incoming weapons and hope that their sensors would be sufficient to guide the weapons before I turned to flee. Soon enough, a veritable swarm of torpedoes was approaching after I started making more nose with my evasive manoeuvres. They were Mk24 Tigerfish and they were doing 29kts while I was running at 25kts. My own F17 fish went active and immediately detected SSN Spartan running at 28kts. The Tigerfish didn't get close enough to lock onto my SSBN, but the F17 caught Spartan as she twisted and turned. That was a close one. After slowing down and clearing the datum point, I resumed the patrol. Only once did I run across another sub, but was not counter-detected before I slipped away. After 20 hrs, victory was awarded. It could very easily have gone the other way. Thanks for another great match, Shemar. Thanks also to HarpGamer for the use of their server. Anyone looking for an MP game can drop a line here or look for us on HarpGamer pHp chat room or the HG mIRC chat room.

Over 91 new aircraft, ships, submarines, facilities, classes, countries, and weapons have been added to the Harpoon3 PlayersDB with the official Database editor issued by AGSI. Get the PlayersDB-ANW on HarpDB, SubSim, or ughHQ. Get the PlayersDB on HarpDB, SubSim, or ughHQ. Additions include: C-27J Spartan RO 09 FF Mowj IR 06 FF Zulfiqar [F-22P] PK 08 FFG Patrolship DK 11 FFL Milgem TR 10 HQ SA-20b Regiment|[s-300PMU-2] HQ SA-21a Regiment RUS 07 OPV Comandante IT 02 PCFG Kilic TR 98 PG Conrado Yap RP 93 PTM Orkan PL 09 PTM Skjold NO 99 SAM NASAMS II Battery x9 NO 06 SAM SA-20b Regiment x3|PMU-2 SAM SA-21a Growler Bttn RUS 07 SAM SA-22 Greyhound Btty RUS SS Ghadr IR 05 SSK Soryu JP 09 Su-20 Fitter C DZ 76 Su-22M-4K Fitter K DDR 83 - countless changes and improvements guaranteed not to crash any earlier scenario built with the PlayersDB Harpoon3.6.3 users can get the Complete Harpoon 3.6.3 Library Harpoon ANW users can get the Complete Harpoon ANW Library FilesOfScenShare

Shemar found 40 minutes free and decided to try out ANW MP for a game. Since none of the Matrix scenarios work, we chose Dawn Patrol, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. Shemar played the Russians while I took the Norwegians. Both of our groups maintained radar silence as we groped in the dark for the enemy. Suddenly, one of my missile boats stumbled across an unidentified craft running at 24kts. Since this is much faster than most fishing boats normally operate at, I decided to investigate. Once I got into visual range, it turned out to be a Nanuchka-class corvette! I immediately engaged with surface gunnery and activated the radar. I expected my little Hugin-class missile boat to be incinerated, but I hoped to take a few Russians with me. Soon enough, radar detected faint images near the horizon. I elected to engage them with Bearing-Only-Launched Penguins since the guns would probably kill off the Nanuchka nearby. Soon after the birds left their tubes, an SS-N-9 Siren was seen approaching. Both Nanuchka and Hugin sank quickly. Lucky for me, the Penguins also found a target at the end of their search. With two Nanuchka sunk, victory was awarded to the Norwegians. Thanks for a fun game, Shemar. Welcome to the community. And thanks to HarpGamer for the use of their server. Anyone looking for an MP game can drop a line here or look for us on HarpGamer pHp chat room or the HG mIRC chat room.