Herman

The 275th NEW Harpoon scenario of the year! SHARKS OF STEEL - PIG BOATS 2 At first, the world considered the declaration of war nothing more than a formality -- a joke. How could Russia successfully stage a war against Spain? Sure, the Spanish had vetoed the EC trade agreement with their large eastern neighbour, but they had their reasons. The problems could be evaluated and resolved. The declaration of war, though unnecessary, was somewhat understandable. In any case, the two nations were so far removed that nothing would come of the "war" -- right? The EC was completely shocked by the blitz the Russians conducted against the Spanish fleet. In only a few hours, the Iberian fleet ceased to exist, aside from a few patrol boats and one or two frigates. Did the remainder of the EC assist in the battle? Wasn't there a defensive agreement in the EC treaty? When Russia began assuring the EC that only the Balearic Islands would be the subject of the war, many European nations hesitated in joining the fray. The Russians were obviously angry and may actually invade the little-defended eastern borders of the Community. Britain, however, did not hesitate. Within an hour of the initial hostilities against Spain, Britain warned the Russians to back off. Then, a Russian amphibious formation was spotted moving towards Gibraltar. With no other nations assisting, Britain ordered what few subs it had in the Western Med to battle stations. Had the British not been conducting ASW and bottom-contour mapping of the Gibraltar region, Spain would have lost the Balearic Islands. They still might. Original designer: Cass M. Johnson Author: Herman Hum With over 72,000 PlayersDB scenarios downloaded in the last 23 weeks alone, the PlayersDB has proven itself the unequivocal players' favourite. Harpoon3.6.3 users can get the Complete Harpoon 3.6.3 Library [PlayersDB-7.4.7] The HDS II NACV Battleset is available at: HDS II NACV Battleset Just unzip the file(s) into your Harpoon3 folder normally found at C:\...\Harpoon3 Scenarios can also be loaded individually at: http://www.GameSquad.com/forums/downloads....o=cat&id=36 This scenario requires the latest release of the PlayersDB v7.4.7 Get it via: ughHQ, GameSquad, HarpGamer, SimHQ, Matrix, SubSim, or Frugal's World of Simulation. Harpoon ANW users can get the: Complete Harpoon ANW Library [PlayersDB-7.4.7-ANW] Just unzip the file into your ANW Databases folder normally found at: C:\Matrix Games\Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare\Databases Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare

Tonight, Jerome (a.k.a. Angle of Attack) and I were determined to finish off our scenario with Flight of the Governor, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. After evading the lone torpedo salvo, the evacuation ships quickly returned to their course for St. Maartens. There was another sub out there and no clue to it's location. As usual, when it rains, it pours. Once again, a submarine was detected. However, soon afterwards, a second was detected, too. Free from the Su-30 threat at last, I launched the Lynx to prosecute the sub contact that lay astride our path. It was a calculated risk. Hopefully, the sub in the aft quarter was too distant to be a threat. Soon after launch, the Lynx dipped her sonar and localized the sub about 11nm from the frigate and closed to point blank range before releasing her Mk46 torpedo. She didn't want to give the sub any time to fire a final barrage of torpedoes before her death. The plan worked and no torpedoes were detected from that quarter. The stern quarter was another matter. 12 torpedoes were detected, but they were only running at 28kts while the ships were fleeing at 23kts. They soon ran out of fuel. This was near the 12 hour game limit. The scenario expired and I think that I won, but can't be sure due to the ever-present Victory Condition bug. Thanks, AoA, for making truly realistic and challenging game and to HarpGamer hosting it. 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.

Tonight, Jerome (a.k.a. Angle of Attack) and I were determined to finish off our scenario with Flight of the Governor, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. After evading the lone torpedo salvo, the evacuation ships quickly returned to their course for St. Maartens. There was another sub out there and no clue to it's location. As usual, when it rains, it pours. Once again, a submarine was detected. However, soon afterwards, a second was detected, too. Free from the Su-30 threat at last, I launched the Lynx to prosecute the sub contact that lay astride our path. It was a calculated risk. Hopefully, the sub in the aft quarter was too distant to be a threat. Soon after launch, the Lynx dipped her sonar and localized the sub about 11nm from the frigate and closed to point blank range before releasing her Mk46 torpedo. She didn't want to give the sub any time to fire a final barrage of torpedoes before her death. The plan worked and no torpedoes were detected from that quarter. The stern quarter was another matter. 12 torpedoes were detected, but they were only running at 28kts while the ships were fleeing at 23kts. They soon ran out of fuel. This was near the 12 hour game limit. The scenario expired and I think that I won, but can't be sure due to the ever-present Victory Condition bug. Thanks, AoA, for making truly realistic and challenging game and to HarpGamer hosting it. 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.

Jerome (a.k.a. Angle of Attack) tried to finish off our scenario with Flight of the Governor, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. Having shot down the bulk of his Su-30s, the only thing left for me to do was evacuate the embassy personnel aboard the Maersk Explorer and the frigate, Van Galen. However, AoA wasn't giving up without a fight! As the little rag-tag evacuation force made its way to St. Maarten, a submarine contact was detected Normally, this would not present much of a problem. I ordered my SH-14D Lynx helicopter aloft to prosecute the contact. Luckily, I had kept my eye on the radar screen because coming out of the SE was another Flanker! (Just how many of those things did Hugo buy!?) There was no way that my Lynx was going to survive an encounter with a Flanker, so I quickly ordered it back to the ship. So, another Mexican Standoff ensued. I could not prosecute the contact because it was protected by the fighter and the fighter lacked the ability to attack my ships. Something had to give. As my orders directed me to make St. Maartens best possible speed, I would just have to close with the submarine and engage the old fashioned way, with a broadside torpedo launch. I ordered the Van Galen to make flank speed towards the sub contact in hopes of screening my merchants from retaliatory attack. However, AoA had his own ideas. Once he knew that had been detected, he sent a lone torpedo towards my ships and hope that he could break contact while my ships evaded the diversionary attack. It was a beautiful idea since it screwed up my plans and might just prevent me from achieving my Victory Conditions as I had to get my ships as close to St. Maarten as possible. My ships turned to run until the torpedo ran out of fuel. This burned both fuel (and Time!), since I was headed in the wrong direction. In 'retaliation', I hinted to Jerome that I had a sub in the Aruba area waiting to return the favour. In fact, I had no sub at my disposal, but it was entertaining to watch AoA pound the waters with his sonar searching in vain for a sub that wasn't there. This was probably as close to a real life situation as we could get. Just the mere hint of a submarine's presence can cause a frenzy of activity in one's enemy. At this point, we decided to call it a night and saved the game for completion tomorrow, hopefully. Thanks, AoA, for making this game so realistic and to HarpGamer for the use of their server. We crashed it three times, but it always came back up. Bravo 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.

Jerome (a.k.a. Angle of Attack) tried to finish off our scenario with Flight of the Governor, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. Having shot down the bulk of his Su-30s, the only thing left for me to do was evacuate the embassy personnel aboard the Maersk Explorer and the frigate, Van Galen. However, AoA wasn't giving up without a fight! As the little rag-tag evacuation force made its way to St. Maarten, a submarine contact was detected Normally, this would not present much of a problem. I ordered my SH-14D Lynx helicopter aloft to prosecute the contact. Luckily, I had kept my eye on the radar screen because coming out of the SE was another Flanker! (Just how many of those things did Hugo buy!?) There was no way that my Lynx was going to survive an encounter with a Flanker, so I quickly ordered it back to the ship. So, another Mexican Standoff ensued. I could not prosecute the contact because it was protected by the fighter and the fighter lacked the ability to attack my ships. Something had to give. As my orders directed me to make St. Maartens best possible speed, I would just have to close with the submarine and engage the old fashioned way, with a broadside torpedo launch. I ordered the Van Galen to make flank speed towards the sub contact in hopes of screening my merchants from retaliatory attack. However, AoA had his own ideas. Once he knew that had been detected, he sent a lone torpedo towards my ships and hope that he could break contact while my ships evaded the diversionary attack. It was a beautiful idea since it screwed up my plans and might just prevent me from achieving my Victory Conditions as I had to get my ships as close to St. Maarten as possible. My ships turned to run until the torpedo ran out of fuel. This burned both fuel (and Time!), since I was headed in the wrong direction. In 'retaliation', I hinted to Jerome that I had a sub in the Aruba area waiting to return the favour. In fact, I had no sub at my disposal, but it was entertaining to watch AoA pound the waters with his sonar searching in vain for a sub that wasn't there. This was probably as close to a real life situation as we could get. Just the mere hint of a submarine's presence can cause a frenzy of activity in one's enemy. At this point, we decided to call it a night and saved the game for completion tomorrow, hopefully. Thanks, AoA, for making this game so realistic and to HarpGamer for the use of their server. We crashed it three times, but it always came back up. Bravo 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.

Misha1971 and I tried to finish our game of Save the Queen, made with the PlayersDB. It was another spell-binding engagement. After slaughtering a good portion of my fighter cover, we settled into an uneasy "phony war". Neither side ventured forth with both just protecting their surviving assets. The situation could not last forever. I tried to approach the Russian battlegroup for a submarine attack, but, evidently, one was detected as a swarm of ASW helicopters was detected in the vicinity of one. The RAF commander could not allow the RN to take such a heavy blow if the SSN were lost. One CAP flight was detailed to eliminate the hunters. From my previous experience with the phenomenal Russian SAMs, I ordered a dog-leg approach to minimize exposure to them. Meanwhile, my other SSN also had an uninvited guest in the form of an Akula SSN. Once his general position was identified, a pair of Spearfish torpedoes was launched from a range of 15nm. It was going to be a long shot, but I felt that the 70kt torpedoes would be able to catch him. When they were half-way to the target, they must have been detected as he kicked his sub into high gear and ran at 35kts. However, he was unable to evade the Spearfish and they caught him at the end of their run. Returning back to the other SSN, the Tornadoes were able to 'scratch the fleas' off its back. Hopefully, that would give him sufficient room to manoeuvre clear. After the helos went down, the Sierra Strike consisting of Tornado GR.1B, Sea Harrier, and Nimrods made their ingress. The Tornado and Nimrods were able to successfully release their 64 combined Harpoons and Sea Eagles, but the Nimrods detected SAM emissions just as the last weapons fell off their racks... We saved the game for future completion. I wonder which of my planes will survive. Another great session, Misha, and thanks to HarpGamer for playing the gracious host. 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.

TracyV came back for his second ANW game right afterwards. This time, we chose to play Airlane Gambit, made with the community's favourite ANW database, the PlayersDB. I commanded the NATO defenders of Lajes while Tracy controlled a Russian amphibious invasion force. With my two Sentry aircraft, I was quickly able to locate the approaching task group and it certainly looked impressive with BCGN Frunze, CG Slava, and CG Azov as escorts. However, there were only two DDG Soveremenny-class destroyers as escorts, so I would play my ace-in-the-hole, SSN Seawolf. With such impressive AAW ships, the matching ECM capabilities were awesome, too. Once they were activated, my radar picture was severely reduced. To help in the penetration by the Seawolf, I launched an ASuW strike with my 8 available P-3 MPA [Maritime Patrol Aircraft]. They targeted both with 16 Harpoon missiles, each. Against such SAM defences, I thought I might have a 50% chance of killing both. As it turned out, one kill was all I got . Thankfully, it was on the side that the Seawolf was already making its approach. The Seawolf was able to sneak in past the thin ASW screen and made her way past the Slava and Sovremennyy. She wanted the heavy amphibious ships. She timed her approach and attack to coincide with a second strike from Lajes airfield. 10 A-6E Intruders armed with 4 AGM-84 Harpoons each launched everything they had at the Slava along with 2 frigates firing 8 Harpoons each. As the missiles flew over the Seawolf, she added 8 more from her torpedo tubes. She hoped that the Russians would not realize that there was a submarine in their midst when they saw the Harpoons. Although 64 missiles might appear impressive, they were easily swatted from the sky by the defences. In retaliation, the Russians obliterated my two frigates with Shipwreck missiles. As Seawolf vainly tried to re-load with torpedoes for her second assault, the computer kept re-loading with Tomahawks. After a number of tries, 6 tubes were re-loaded with Mk 48 torpedoes. This would have to suffice. Once into the heart of the convoy, she aimed 3 torpedoes at the BCGN Frunze and one each at Ivan Rogov-class LPDs and support ships. The BCGN exploded in a thunderous explosion from a combined force of nearly 1500lb of explosives under her keel. along with the amphibious ships. Now, it was a race between the torpedo re-loading teams and the enemy torpedo crews. Once again, the AI would only allow me to re-load one tube at a time with Mk 48 torpedoes. CG Azov managed to drop a torpedo right behind Seawolf. For all their surprise, the Russians reacted quickly and efficiently. Only a Mk3 decoy saved the Seawolf. In response, she fired her first torpedo back at the Azov when she turned on her engines and ran at flank speed. Her torpedo killed the Azov. Now that the escorts were out of the way, she took her leisurely time dispatching the survivors. Once done, Tracy conceded defeat as he could no longer fulfill his Victory Conditions. With the exception of the torpedo re-loading bug, it was a really fun time by both sides. Thanks for the game, Tracy, and HarpGamer for the use of the 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.

Another busy day for Harpoon ANW, PlayersDB, and the HarpGamer server. Three separate sessions were played with five different people. Misha1971 came aboard hoping to continue our saved game of Sea Okhotsk. Unfortunately, we had to abandon it due to the server constantly dropping me out of the session from scenario size. It was a real shame since it was developing quite nicely. Instead, we chose to play another PlayersDB scenario, Save the Queen. We barely got started, but it seems to be turning into a real barn-burner. I took the UK side while Misha commanded his motherland's forces. My orders were to defend the UK from Russian attack. I had a pair of E-3D Sentry aircraft at my disposal so I decided to make the best use of them. Soon after launch, they picked up emissions from the approaching Russian task force. They took up position NE and NW of my CVH group and were accompanied by 4 Tornado fighters, each, as a Combat Air Patrol. After the radar picture firmed up and, without much other activity, I decided to send my CAP on an offensive sweep to cull some of the enemy's CAP and AEW aircraft. Bad idea. Four fighters, two AEW helos, and 2 ASW helos were confirmed. Both CAP flights crept in at Medium altitude to avoid radar detection. Once close enough to the enemy CAP, they let loose with AIM-120 AMRAAM and targeted 4 on each fighter with a pair on each AEW helo. Three were shot down along with the two helos. While preparing a second volley for the surviving fighter, my planes started disappearing! Apparently, Misha had deployed his BCGN and Slava cruisers (prime AAW defense platforms) far in front of his ASW screen! What I thought were harmless ASW frigates turned out to be deadly SAM-spewing cruisers. They quickly blew 7 of the 8 Tornadoes out of the sky. Their loss was bad enough, but now there was nothing standing between the surviving fighter and my AEW aircraft! Son of a B... As I desperately tried to scramble more fighters, his survivor got close enough to blast one Sentry and another group closed on the second Sentry. My surviving Tornado managed to get three of the Fulcrum interceptors, but the last one closed and loosed a single AA-10 Alamo that incinerated the AEW platform. Damn, and double-damn. Curse all sneaky Russians. Now, I was essentially blind. I still had AEW helos from the CVH, but they were very limited in capability. Even so, Misha tried to punch out all my AEW with more Fulcrum flights. Luckily, a second flight of Tornadoes arrived in time to kill the Fulcrum. I am going to miss the Sentry coverage, though. To make matters worse, Misha ordered his nuclear submarines to attack. He said that he was trying something with them and wondered if I had detected them. However, I am not someone who gives my opponents Free Intelligence during a game, so he can check this thread after we finish the match. I did detect his Akula and Victor (?) subs as they moved. We saved the game at this point and will pick it up, tomorrow. Great opening session, Misha. Curse all sneaky Russian bastages, though. 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.

IAF Jaguars ‘sink’ USS Nimitz, F-18s return the favour to INS Viraat Manu Pubby IndianExpress Posted online: Saturday, September 08, 2007 at 0000 hrs Print Email Malabar Exercise: From tracking nuclear submarines to managing 200 aircraft and taking on deep-sea terror threat, five Navies cover sweeping range of maritime operations ON BOARD USS Kitty Hawk (150 miles west of Port Blair), September 7: As the small green dots approached closer on the radar screen, the Indian officer sitting deep inside USS Nimitz knew it was too late to save the ship. Jaguar maritime fighters of the Indian Air Force (IAF), operating from the Car Nicobar air base, had managed to come dangerously within striking range to successfully launch anti-ship missiles on the super carrier. Related Stories What the Navy learnt from MalabarIndia stalls payments to Russia for upgrading Il-38 patrol aircraftThe swing stateGoodbye MiG-21, new-look Tezpur air base to welcome latest aircraftService chiefs lock horns over posts’ upgradation Ad Links Indian Express News Aircraft Carrier Picture Navy Gifts The IAF registered its first “kill” of the day — none less than the mighty nuclear powered Nimitz with its compliment of 85 fighters. But the young officer, on a cross attachment to the US ship, barely had time to feel proud. The battle had begun in earnest and the target now was India’s lone aircraft carrier. INS Viraat, however, proved easy meat for the joint striking force of US F-18 Super Hornets and IAF Jaguars with the American fighters deliberately flying over the ship to drive home their air-superiority skills. With the five-nation Malabar 07-2 naval exercise entering its final two days today, the buzzword on board the Kitty Hawk — the US carrier coordinating the 30-warship mock battle — was the level of “interoperability” achieved by the participating Navies of India, US, Australia, Japan and Singapore. From tracking and destroying a nuclear submarine, operating three aircraft carriers in close proximity, managing air traffic for over 200 aircraft spread over just 150 X 200 km (roughly the size of airspace between Mumbai and Pune), supporting an amphibious assault to taking on a deep-sea terror threat and tackling piracy, the five countries jointly carried out pretty much the entire range of modern maritime operations. “We didn’t just get a chance to operate together but also the opportunity to assess our own capabilities by comparing them with the latest technology in the world,” says Vice Admiral R P Suthan, commander in chief of the strategic Eastern Command, who is the “tactical commander” for the mock battle over the next two days. The location is less than 200 miles from the Chinese listening post in Coco Islands and touches the strategic Malacca Straits. But the US is quick to deny that this is an alliance to contain the military might of the Asian economic giant. “This has not been put together as a signal against anyone. It is meant to bring Naval professionals together to practise,” Vice Admiral William Crowder, Commander of the Seventh fleet, the largest forward deployed fleet of the US Navy, told reporters on board the super carrier. The war game is scheduled to culminate in a final mock battle involving all battleships over the weekend. The detailed scenario has not been revealed but is likely to be an intense air-dominated battle fought between two divided groups of the flotilla. However, USS Nimitz, which headed home today after reaching the end of its deployment period, will be missed by the Indian fighters.

Wow, yesterday was a really busy day on the server. Three separate sessions were played with three different people and we welcomed a new Harpoon ANW player to the MP battlefield, Tracy Vierra. TracyV was eager to start and said that he had been playing for nearly a year so we opted to jump right in with the recently revised Matrix Siege, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. This is an exercise between NATO missile and a USN destroyer/frigate combination. I commanded the polyglot force for NATO. I was hoping to execute a pincer attack from the north and the south at the same time. Unfortunately, Tracy's Super Cobra stumbled upon my northern gunboat screen and revealed my intentions. It was shot down, but it also drew and immediate USN reaction. Harpoon missiles slammed into two of them and left them sinking in the Kattegat. Luckily for me, he sank the less useful gunboats and left me with my missile boat intact. A second helo came snooping. This one very expertly flown and wisely kept out SAM range. Nicely done, Tracy. It was simply maddening to watch this helo sitting outside the edge of SAM coverage while directing a second Harpoon volley. This time, I lost two valuable missile-firing Flyvefiskin missile boats. Arggh, and I didn't have a clue where his ships were! Finally, "Radar Contact to the NW Bearing 351!" Even then, they were vague. At the rate I was losing missile boats, I decided to fire now instead of waiting for a simultaneous attack with my northern groups. 24 missiles streaked towards the DDG Burke. Only one, maybe two, got through the withering SAM fire, but it wasn't enough to sink him. My boats immediately turned to run for their lives. Only minutes later, the northern group came into range and volleyed their 16 Exocet missile. Once again, the impressive SAM defences swatted them from the sky. However, they did get very close. If only they could have launched together, the groups would have swamped the defences. As it stood, all my SSMs were expended and there was no way a gunboat was going to be able to survive a gun duel with a destroyer. With nothing to stop him, Tracy sailed his force past Laeso Island for victory. A nicely played game for a newbie. Tony Eischens was observing the game and taping it for a soon-to-be-released video. He was also impressed how you managed to kill most SSMs with a single SAM. Great shooting! Welcome to the world of Harpoon MP. Thanks for the game, TracyV, and to HarpGamer for 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.

Wow, yesterday was a really busy day on the server. Three separate sessions were played with three different people and we welcomed a new Harpoon ANW player to the MP battlefield, Tracy Vierra. TracyV was eager to start and said that he had been playing for nearly a year so we opted to jump right in with the recently revised Matrix Siege, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. This is an exercise between NATO missile and a USN destroyer/frigate combination. I commanded the polyglot force for NATO. I was hoping to execute a pincer attack from the north and the south at the same time. Unfortunately, Tracy's Super Cobra stumbled upon my northern gunboat screen and revealed my intentions. It was shot down, but it also drew and immediate USN reaction. Harpoon missiles slammed into two of them and left them sinking in the Kattegat. Luckily for me, he sank the less useful gunboats and left me with my missile boat intact. A second helo came snooping. This one very expertly flown and wisely kept out SAM range. Nicely done, Tracy. It was simply maddening to watch this helo sitting outside the edge of SAM coverage while directing a second Harpoon volley. This time, I lost two valuable missile-firing Flyvefiskin missile boats. Arggh, and I didn't have a clue where his ships were! Finally, "Radar Contact to the NW Bearing 351!" Even then, they were vague. At the rate I was losing missile boats, I decided to fire now instead of waiting for a simultaneous attack with my northern groups. 24 missiles streaked towards the DDG Burke. Only one, maybe two, got through the withering SAM fire, but it wasn't enough to sink him. My boats immediately turned to run for their lives. Only minutes later, the northern group came into range and volleyed their 16 Exocet missile. Once again, the impressive SAM defences swatted them from the sky. However, they did get very close. If only they could have launched together, the groups would have swamped the defences. As it stood, all my SSMs were expended and there was no way a gunboat was going to be able to survive a gun duel with a destroyer. With nothing to stop him, Tracy sailed his force past Laeso Island for victory. A nicely played game for a newbie. Tony Eischens was observing the game and taping it for a soon-to-be-released video. He was also impressed how you managed to kill most SSMs with a single SAM. Great shooting! Welcome to the world of Harpoon MP. Thanks for the game, TracyV, and to HarpGamer for 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.

The 274th NEW Harpoon scenario of the year! EU5-Tin Canary The Canary Islands are located just South of the Atlantic entrance into the Med. Owned by Spain, they have represented a strategic control point since the days of ancient Rome. One of the islands, Grand Canaria, hosts a large Spanish military base complete with hardened aircraft shelters and underground bunkers. From this base, the EU can interdict any shipping moving in or out of the Med. As long as Gran Canaria is functional, the US can not re-establish their LoC through the Med. Russia has officially sided with the EU and has committed substantial surface forces to complement the French units already in the theater. Together they are prepared to oppose a pair of American carrier groups. Author: Eric Weincam This scenario has been tested for Harpoon ANW. With over 70,000 PlayersDB scenarios downloaded in the last 22 weeks alone, the PlayersDB has proven itself the unequivocal players' favourite. Harpoon ANW users can get them at: Complete Harpoon ANW Library [PlayersDB-7.4.7-ANW] The EU4 Series Battleset is available at: EU4 Series Battleset Just unzip the file(s) into your ANW Databases folder normally found at: C:\Matrix Games\Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare\Databases Scenarios can also be loaded individually at: http://www.GameSquad.com/forums/downloads....=cat&id=118 This scenario requires the latest release of the PlayersDB v7.4.7-ANW Get it via: ughHQ, GameSquad, HarpGamer, SimHQ, Matrix, SubSim, or Frugal's World of Simulation. Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare

Jerome (a.k.a. Angle of Attack) decided to try out the "Hugo's Folly" battleset inspired by Freek Schepers. To get a full appreciation of this fine collection, we wanted to start from beginning to end. The first scenario is Flight of the Governor, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. I played the Dutch while AoA commanded the Venezuelans. I did not control many forces. I had a frigate, two coast guard vessels, and merchant ship, a pair of passenger planes, and a single F-16 Falcon. Facing down the entire Venezuelan military was not going to be an option. To get a feel for the upcoming onslaught, I launched my Lynx helicopter for a quick radar picture. The area was cluttered with civilian vessels of all types. The governmental offices were still operational so I was getting a direct feed from the maritime and aerial authorities who tracked all the merchant traffic in the area. I moved my frigate closer to the island to try and help shield her with the Sea Sparrow battery. As soon as Flanker radar was detected, I landed the helo. I didn't want her to face the potential AA-10 Alamo missiles. My orders were not to engage unless attacked. Unfortunately, the computer had its own ideas. Once the Flankers were in range, missiles started firing regardless of whatever I tried to do to stop it. Oh well, so much for attention to orders... Jerome was facing the same problem. He approached civilian airliners and tried to identify them visually in hopes of spotting the one carrying the Governor. Unfortunately, he couldn't prevent his planes from wasting their AA-11 Archer missiles on innocent and defenceless targets, either. So, I guess the problem "balanced" itself out. We both called this phenomenon, Another Genuinely Stupid Idea. After one hour of game time, the Governor was ready for evacuation by plane or ship. A helo flew onto the waiting Maersk Explorer which then raced off towards the dubious safety of St. Maarten at flank speed accompanied by the frigate and coast guard vessels as escorts. This was a decoy and the Governor decided to leave on one of the the Maritime aircraft. Unfortunately, the island was currently surrounded by Su-30 Flankers. In an attempt to distract from his departure, he sent one of the Maritime Fokkers on a decoy mission towards Mexico and had all the civilian airliners surge. Hopefully, the large number of aircraft would take time for the Venezuelans to track down and verify so that he could make good his escape. To his horror, the Venezuelans just shot the civilian airliners full of evacuees right out of the sky due to Another Genuinely Stupid Idea. Luckily, he was still sitting on the runway with the surviving Fokker. The Flankers tried to bomb Aruba and came in at low altitude to deliver their ordnance. One was promptly shot down by a Stinger ManPADS. (It was obviously flown by an inept Flunker.) The situation was pretty much a Mexican stand-off. The Governor could not leave the island and the Venezuelans could not bomb it. However, they didn't need to as there was an entire invasion fleet approaching. The little rag-tag evacuation fleet detected incoming Otomat SSMs on radar. One tracked onto a coast guard vessel and blew it clean out of the water. Seeing as the Venezuelans decided to open fire from their ships, the FFG Galen returned fire at frigates Urdaneta and Soublette with four Harpoons, each. I suspected that a full salvo would be required to sink a vessel, but I was optimistic (wildly so) that I might be able to get both in one volley. The SAM gunnery of the frigates was good and only one missile struck home, leaving the Urdaneta on fire. If I was lucky, she would sink on her own. Meanwhile, under cover of the missile attack, the Governor decided that this might be the opportune time to make good his escape. Accompanied by the lone Falcon, he set off at low altitude; hoping to evade detection. Sadly, luck was not with the man, today. A Flanker soon returned to intercept him. The F-16 Falcon manoeuvered aggressively to deflect the attack. Both planes were expertly flown and AAMs were exchanged with neither side getting the upper hand. The deciding factor was the detection of two additional Flankers coming to join the fray. There was no way that one Falcon would be able to fend off 3 Flankers so the Governor ran back to Aruba airport; hanging his final hopes on finding an opening in the Flanker interdiction patrols in which he could escape through. The situation looked extremely dire. When all hope seemed lost and facing imminent capture, the cavalry arrived in the form of USAF Falcons! Hurrah! Evidently, my American friends had decided to play a role and a pair of Falcons intercepted and shot down the remaining Flankers. Now, the coast appeared to be clear for the gubernatorial departure. [The best part of the episode (like the best part of most MP games) was listening to Jerome question the fate of his planes ] At this point, we decided to call it a night and saved the game for completion another time. Thanks, AoA, for a really great game incorporating real life strategies and diplomatic exchanges. As always, the banter is probably the best part of most MP games. 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.

Harpoon ANW welcomed an old Harpoon2 player, Michael Veksler (a.k.a Misha1971) back to the fold. He's been playing since the old H2 days and still remembers the floppies and the great manuals that came with H2. After experiencing much frustration using the OriginalDB and the ANW DB, he wanted some bug-free play so we selected Dawn Patrol, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. Misha was born in Minsk, so it was just natural for him to take the Russians while I played the NATO side. Although a bit rusty, Misha soon remembered all the commands that came with H2 and was soon employing them with great zeal. Unfortunately, he turned on his radar and revealed his location thus allowing me to approach his position from three separate axes. A combined missile strike from 3 Hugin PTM missile boats was enough to overwhelm his anti-air defences and leave 2 Nanuchka-class boats burning on the water. Misha fought back tenaciously and managed to kill 4 of the attackers before succumbing to a final volley from FFL Goteborg. A nice game with another old-timer resurrected from the Harpoon2 community. Thanks to Misha for the game and to HarpGamer for 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.

China's Army Hacked Pentagon Network Deutsche Presse-Agentur | September 04, 2007 Military.com China's Army hacked into a computer network at the Pentagon in an attack that has US officials concerned about the growing regularity and sophistication of China's technological assaults, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. Computer specialists with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) penetrated an unclassified network used by policy aides to US Defence Secretary Robert Gates in June, resulting in a weeklong shutdown of the system, the newspaper said in a report that quoted unnamed US officials. The PLA has demonstrated the ability to conduct attacks that disable our system ... and the ability in a conflict situation to re-enter and disrupt on a very large scale," a former official was quoted as saying by the Financial Times, adding that China's Army has also hacked into the networks of US defence companies and think tanks. The penetration of the Pentagon network three months ago came after the US Defence Department had staved off the hacker attacks for several months and as China's military has been testing the Pentagon networks hundreds of times a day for the past few years, the British newspaper said in a report from Washington. An unnamed senior US official told the Times that "no doubt" existed that China was monitoring e-mails sent on unclassified US government networks. The report was not the first accusing China's Army of breaking into the computer networks of foreign governments. Germany's Der Spiegel news magazine reported two days before German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in Beijing last week that Chinese hackers had infiltrated German government computers with spy programs. The article said intelligence services suspected hackers in the Chinese army were behind the online attacks on computers in Merkel's offices, the Foreign Ministry, the Economics Ministry, and the Research and Development Ministry. The first spy programs were found several months ago, it added, citing an investigation by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, and the Federal Office for Information Security. Although Wen and Merkel did not address the charges in Der Spiegel's report when they spoke to reporters August 27, Wen vowed that his government would take measures to eliminate hacker attacks. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman also said during Merkel's visit that Beijing opposes and has outlawed computer hacking and is cooperating with other countries to combat computer crimes.

Over 14 new aircraft, ships, submarines, facilities, classes, countries, and weapons have been added to the Harpoon3 PlayersDB. Get the PlayersDB 7.4.7-ANW on Gamesquad, HarpDB, or ughHQ. Get the PlayersDB 7.4.7 on Gamesquad, HarpDB, or ughHQ. Additions include: FFG Barbaros NG 82|MEKO 200 PTM Gepard Type 143A DE 82 SS Tikuna [improved Tupi] BR 05 - 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 [PlayersDB-7.4.7] Just unzip the file(s) into your Harpoon3 folder normally found at C:\...\Harpoon3 Harpoon ANW users can get the Complete Harpoon ANW Library [PlayersDB-7.4.7-ANW] Just unzip the file(s) into your ANW Databases folder normally found at: C:\Matrix Games\Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare\Databases Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare

After beating Jerome (a.k.a Angle of Attack) during our first ASW confrontation in Watch that First Step, he asked for a re-match and we decided to switch sides to see if I could do any better . This scenario is made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. Having played the USN side last time, I had an idea of just how sensitive the sonar was on the SSBNs. I was hoping to catch the SSBNs as they deployed from the Gulf instead of trying to hunt them in the wide ocean. This proved to be my undoing. I had an Alfa-class SSN closest to the mouth of the Gulf. She was super fast at 42kts, but she was also super noisy. I remembered picking up her acoustic signature almost immediately. I had to assume that she had already been detected. My long-ranged sensors quickly detected the 2 USCG WHEC cutters and the DDH Iroquois. I ordered the Alpha to attack and try to destroy the nearest cutter. When she got within 12 nm, the enemy cutter turned away. I suspected that she had already been detected and that the Alpha would soon be under attack, so I ordered her to maximum speed. The Russians built her as an "interceptor" submarine and she would prove it today. The WHEC cutter could only make 29kts at maximum speed while the Alpha closed on her at 42kts. At a range of 4nm, she started firing 70kt wake-homing torpedoes. I didn't know if they would start chasing targets on the other side of the ocean, so I ordered the Alpha to continue closing on the target. Meanwhile, Jerome had attacked with an Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft. I was hoping that my phenomenal speed would allow me to survive long enough to at least kill the cutter before my own death. A Mk46 torpedo (quite possibly fired from the target) caught the Alpha and imploded her titanium hull. She was soon joined at the bottom of the ocean by the cutter as three torpedoes slammed into her. The next target was the Canadian destroyer, Iroquois. She had a respectable sonar and could carry deadly helicopters, so she had to die. A Sierra II-class SSN crept up on her and let loose with 2 Type 65-76 torpedoes. Although she did counter-detect the attack and managed fire a Mk46 down the bearing of attack, the fantastic range of the Type 65 allowed me to engage her from outside the range of the Mk46 return fire. The two torpedoes chased her down and broke her back. The Sierra returned to her hunt for the Ohio SSBNs. The search for the SSBNs was not going well. My decision to attempt to interdict them near the coast was a bad idea. I had a smaller area to search for the SSBNs, but the enemy also had a smaller area to protect, as well. One Victor III-class SSN was creeping in when she detected a torpedo attack (probably from another Orion) upon her. With over four torpedoes chasing her, she knew it was only a matter of time to her destruction. In order to get some use from her weapons, she rose to shallow depth and fired off her SS-N-15 Starfish and SS-N-16 Stallions on Bearing-Only-Launch attacks. Right after she launched, a torpedo killed her. Fortunately, a nuclear-tipped Stallion also landed close enough to the surviving USCG cutter to take it out, too. The pesky Orion MPA killed my Akula-class SSN and left me with only 2 submarines before I realized the folly of my decision. The two survivors retreated to conduct their hunt in deeper waters. With both sides creeping around at 5kts, it made for a very long game. Occasionally, Jerome would drop a torpedo on a vague contact in hopes of goading me into moving and making noise. Once or twice, it nearly worked, too! I had to resist the temptation to react to every torpedo I heard in the water. Finally, my two subs made a detection in the SW corner of the map. Unfortunately, so did Jerome. No sooner had I started moving towards the Ohios than a torpedo was dropped right in front of my surviving Victor III-class SSN. Damn, it was only 3nm away. I couldn't take the chance that it might have acquired me, so I hit the gas and ran at 30kts. Sadly, I was unable to evade and the Victor ate the torpedo at a depth of 600m. My sole surviving sub was the Sierra II. She decided that this was for all the marbles so she loaded her tubes with every available Starfish and Stallion before creeping up to shallow depth. Once there, she gambled. Sonar estimated that the subs could be no further than the first Convergence Zone (34nm), so she decided to lob her two conventionally armed Stallions into the 34nm region in hopes of spooking the SSBNs into flight. In the middle area, I dropped a couple of Starfish to provoke the same reaction. And, in case I had him in the direct path and he was close, I launched a USET-80 torpedo to cover the area from 0-10nm. I would save the nuclear-tipped Starfish / Stallion once he started moving for the coup de grace. My plan worked like a charm. Once the torpedoes dropped into his neighbourhood, his SSBNs reacted and revealed themselves. It was easy to send him to the bottom with a final volley nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, the game ended in a draw since I had lost too many submarines in accomplishing my goals. A truly superb game with many nail-biting encounters. Thanks to Jerome and to HarpGamer for the use of the 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 273rd NEW Harpoon scenario of the year! TRADE BARRIER The rise of the European Community in the mid-1990's had a dramatic effect on the political and economic divisions in the world. Following the prolonged recessionary period which ran rampant throughout the world during the early 90's, the EC was the first economic body to rebound and the recovery was astonishing. What some felt was retribution towards the United States for "forty years of tyranny," the Community took steps to ensure that the Western Hemisphere took a back seat to the new world economic superpower. Soon enough, the EC's actions against the United States and Canada led to dissension within the EC itself. Britain, still closely tied to its allies in the West, continued to ignore Continental demands to isolate the USA. Over the next several months, a new alliance slowly developed between those English-speaking nations of the world which retained close cultural links to the United Kingdom; Britain, Canada, the United States, New Zealand, and Australia, along with several smaller associates. The English Speakers Community, or ESC as it was named, thought still somewhat weaker than the overly aggressive EC, began an assertive campaign to recapture the world economic market. In the middle sat the Russian Confederation, replacing the dead Commonwealth of Independent States. Russia was a vast, untouched market for the goods of either alliance. The EC was first to initiate open trade with their one-time enemy. Unspoken agreements became the basis for the EC's demands that the ESC remain out of northern Asia. The Russians, however, began to feel trapped in bargains and understandings to which they had never given assent. Moscow, dedicated to remaining neutral in the developing struggle between Europe and the West, announced it would send a "trade convoy" to America as a move to open new markets for its own goods. The EC was furious and announced that such a convoy would be in violation of trade agreements. The move was seen as an affront to "Russia's European brothers," and that force would be used, if necessary, to prevent the West from receiving "European" trade goods. Russia's only response was silence and a large military escort for the ships. Author: Herman Hum With over 63,000 PlayersDB scenarios downloaded in the last 21 weeks alone, the PlayersDB has proven itself the unequivocal players' favourite. Harpoon3.6.3 users can get the Complete Harpoon 3.6.3 Library [PlayersDB-7.4.7] The HDS II GIUK Battleset is available at: Harpoon Designer Series II GIUK Battleset Just unzip the file(s) into your Harpoon3 folder normally found at C:\...\Harpoon3 Scenarios can also be loaded individually at: http://www.GameSquad.com/forums/downloads....o=cat&id=36 This scenario requires the latest release of the PlayersDB v7.4.7 Get it via: ughHQ, GameSquad, HarpGamer, SimHQ, Matrix, SubSim, or Frugal's World of Simulation. Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare

Eds had some time this past weekend and was in the mood for a little ASuW action so we decided to play Matrix Siege, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. This scenario has a frigate and destroyer from the USN vs. a combined force of 15 European missile boats. The numbers looked good, but the capabilities were far from equal. We both elected to remain under EmCon. I was hoping to close the range for my weapons before revealing my forces and Ed was hoping to remain undetected. We were both successful. Just as my separate groups were about to trap his force in between them, a Sea Cobra helo appeared and my plans unraveled. It was quickly shot down, but not before it revealed the disposition of my southern groups. Before I knew it, two ships exploded in fireballs. Since my presence was known, there was no sense in hiding so all radar became active. Unfortunately, Ed seemed to know my position, but I had no idea where his ships were. As my missile boats went to flank speed to close the gap in hopes of launching their missiles before their destruction, a radar contact revealed the frigate and 8 missiles were immediately fired from the northern group; and none too soon as both missile boats blinked out of existence soon afterwards. Their crews would have been happy to learn that the enemy frigate soon joined them at the bottom of the Kattegat. One target remained, the Arleigh Burke destroyer. Faced with 10 missile boats, this seemed like easy prey. However, never underestimate the power of a lone AEgis-equipped vessel. Soon, I was losing more gun boats to Harpoon SSMs. Luckily for me, he was expending his valuable ordnance on gunboats and not the more powerful missile boats; a group of 7 of which finally found the range. They loosed 22 SSMs at the Burke and turned to run for their lives. I thought that the game was well in hand until 4 of the missiles suddenly veered off and struck a neutral cruise liner passing by. The rest of the salvo acted correctly and remained locked upon the destroyer. Several struck her, but could not sink her. With my missile tubes empty, there was no point in continuing the attack since the 127mm gun on the destroyer had far greater range than any projectile weapon carried aboard my puny vessels. The game turned out to be a draw. I had lost too many ships in the pursuit of my objectives and the loss of the frigate prevented Ed from accomplishing his mission. A superb afternoon of cat and mouse thanks to Ed and to HarpGamer for the use of their HUD3 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 272nd NEW Harpoon scenario of the year! EU4-Azore Spot The Europeans were stung by the loss of Lajes field in the Azores. They had not expected the US to take such an aggressive action, especially without the support of a Carrier Battle Group. Now, the US is trying to get the location fortified before the Europeans can counter, and the Europeans want to re-take (or at least neutralize) the location before the US carriers get out of Norfolk. Author: Eric Weincam This scenario has been tested for Harpoon ANW. With over 60,000 PlayersDB scenarios downloaded in the last 20 weeks alone, the PlayersDB has proven itself the unequivocal players' favourite. Harpoon ANW users can get them at: Complete Harpoon ANW Library [PlayersDB-7.4.7-ANW] The EU4 Series Battleset is available at: EU4 Series Battleset Just unzip the file(s) into your ANW Databases folder normally found at: C:\Matrix Games\Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare\Databases Scenarios can also be loaded individually at: http://www.GameSquad.com/forums/downloads....=cat&id=118 This scenario requires the latest release of the PlayersDB v7.4.7-ANW Get it via: ughHQ, GameSquad, HarpGamer, SimHQ, PlayersDB Depot, Matrix, SubSim, or Frugal's World of Simulation. Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare

Navy crew crisis hits warships Article from: Herald Sun Ian McPhedran August 23, 2007 12:00am THE navy's warships are under threat because of a chronic shortage of qualified engineers and warfare officers. Insiders say the situation is so dire the number of principal warfare officers on the navy's five guided missile frigates has been cut from four to just one or two. On the eight Anzac class frigates, PWO numbers have fallen in some cases from three to one. And on some ships the shortage of engineers is so acute they are under way for only 12 out of every 24 hours. Similar shortfalls are occurring with weapons electrical engineering officers. The navy said current shortfalls were: 35 per cent for marine engineering officers, 28 per cent for weapons electrical engineering officers and 16 per cent for principal warfare officers. It denied the shortages posed a risk to the fleet. "Although current shortages mean that some positions at sea are not filled, manning levels have not been altered," it said in a statement. The Collins class submarine fleet has regularly been reduced from six to five because of crew shortages on the oldest boat, HMAS Collins. Even six-figure salaries for 25-year-olds are not solving the submarine crew crisis. "Retention in critical navy employment categories is being addressed through a range of financial and non-financial measures," the navy said. At-sea deployments, of up to six months at a time, are being blamed for the crisis. Skilled technicians are in high demand in the booming resources-driven economy. As the Government begins to build up to four new hi-tech destroyers and two massive amphibious transport ships, under a $10 billion plan, the demand for personnel with specialised technical skills will increase. The Government has moved to address the staffing crisis with a $3 billion, 10-year plan aimed at everything from pay to housing. Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has spoken openly of his concerns about specialist navy officers. Defence denied that any of its warships were in danger of being tied up, but insiders have said crew shortages have become so acute ships will spend less time at sea. Young officers serving at sea have said the lower staffing levels also generated heavier workloads for them. As crew numbers fall, more highly qualified crew are required to undertake menial tasks such as cleaning. "That is not what we joined for," said one sailor who had just been offered "big bucks" to quit the navy.

I wonder why? I thought that they already field the Arrow SAM which is claimed to be similarly capable.

Hunting Red October - Sonar Top Guns By Geoff Meade Sky's Defence Corespondent Updated: 00:32, Wednesday August 22, 2007 For the first time the Ministry of Defence has opened the doors of its highly secret top gun school for sonar operators. For 30 years, during the cat and mouse game of the Cold War, when Royal Navy boats and RAF surveillance planes tracked the seas for Soviet submarines, the school was one of the services' closest guarded secrets. Sky's Defence Correspondent Geoff Meade has been allowed inside. If it wasn't for the combination locks on the doors and the notices warning operators to secure documents under lock and key before leaving the building, it could be almost any hi-tech industrial park. But close to the site of Farnborough's famous air show, hand-picked candidates struggle to refine what they call the black art of identifying vessels just from the sound they make. Stop watches gripped and with headphones clamped tightly they try and pick out the telltale sign of a potential enemy from thousands of sea bed recordings. Computer monitors show what look like transmissions from the far side of Venus. These human bats are able to pick out the patterns of specific ships by measuring the image with trellis-like dividers Britain's "A" course - short for "Advanced Acoustics Analysis" - is reckoned among the toughest in the world. America sends its operators to what's the pinnacle of professional training. To succeed you need a good ear, patience and mind-bending powers of concentration. Submarines may be known as the silent service. Underwater is anything but tranquil. These men and women have to pick out the distant sound of a warship's propeller amid a clutter of merchantmen and oil drilling. Even in the deep ocean there's the cacophony of sea life from the "chatter" of several million shrimp to the booming of sperm whales communicating at low frequency across hundreds of miles. "On a billion pound submarine, it comes down to one guy, sitting at his sonar set," said Steve Street, one of the four trainers. The work can be so intensive that in a submarine at battle stations, operators can only work in a maximum of 45-minute stints. And although the sonar on Brtain's latest "Astute" class nuclear boat is so sensitive it can detect ships leaving New York while sitting in the English Channel, the technology is a mixed blessing, overloading the operator with too much information. "The best bit of kit we have is still the Mark One Human Ear," jokes Richad Horsburgh, who served years on anti-submarine patrols. He demonstrated by playing an underwater recording. To me it sounded like a muffled swishing sound. In six seconds, Richard's trained hearing identified it as a freighter, steaming at 10 knots, empty and in rough seas. Disappointingly, there were no candidates from the latest course available to interview. However, after what they'd endured over the past month they were probably all lying down in darkened rooms and definitely not playing soothing sounds of whales and dolphins. Bookmark this page (what is this?)

Since our previous encounter left doubt in the mind who actually won and who lost the scenario, Jerome (a.k.a Angle of Attack) and I decided to settle our differences where matters of honour are normally handled; the electronic battlefield. We decided to help play-test one of the scenarios re-built for the impending HUD3 database release, Watch that First Step. A version of this scenario is also available for the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. One of the first steps to war is the deployment of the SSBNs to their patrol areas. Although the oceans offer a great many places to hide, there is only one submarine support base and only one way in or out. I took the USN side attempting to deploy the Ohio SSBNs and Jerome undertook the Russian side attempting to destroy them. The scenario starts just as the SSBNs begin to clear the Gulf. Not long after, WHEC Hamiliton detected a sub nearly in her baffles! It was within 6nm. This was Danger-Close! At that range, she was vulnerable to all sorts of ASuW weapons. She immediately let loose a salvo of Mk46 torpedoes from her Port tubes as she desperately tried to leave the area at flank speed. Luckily, three helicopters and one Orion Maritime patrol plane were in the vicinity. If she were sunk, they could at least avenge her. Luck was with the USCG, today. No incoming torpedoes were detected, but the Mk46 appeared to have missed, too. Soon enough, the helos arrived and began to prosecute the submarine. It turned out to be a Victor III class SSN and it was very capably driven. Although the sub as blanketed by sonobuoys, it struggled valiantly to break contact. Only after the expenditure of 16 aerially delivered torpedoes was she finally sunk. It was remarkable. If all Russian sub drivers were this good, it was going to be a long war. As the forces began to unite, a second sub contact was detected by DDG Iroquois. One again, helos and Orions converged on the target. This sub turned out to be an Alfa-class SSN; a real sprinter. The contact was quite vague, so a very large area had to be searched. I decided to use the faster Orions for the general search and hold back my helos. I ordered the the SeaHawks to hover. Luck must be smiling on me, today, for one SeaHawk found herself right over the Alfa! This sub, too, required nearly 8 torpedoes to finally sink her. Once the destroyers made their rendezvous with the SSBNs, they formed a wedge to 'plow' the path for their charges. Hopefully, any enemy sub would engage them before they could reach the Ohios. One SSBN reported a distant fuzzy sub contact. The accompanying Orion immediately took off to investigate. The vague nature of the contact meant another wide area search. After dropping a few sonobuoys near the Ohio, I guessed that the sub was quite a distance away. I measured out a distance of 34nm (the range to the first Convergence Zone [CZ] ) from the Ohio reporting the contact, placed a Reference point on the map, and flew towards it to start my search. When she arrived at the reference point, her very first sonobuoy found the lurking submarine. "X" really does mark the spot! It would also mark the grave of the Russian sub as 4 Mk 46 torpedoes caught her. Just as the SSBNs were approaching their patrol area, a final sub was detected. This one turned out to be an Akula-class SSN, one of the best in the Russian inventory. Sonobuoy, after sonobuoy, was dropped in an attempt to localize her. However, I was never able to pinpoint the slippery character even though the sonobuoy field was thick enought that I should have been able to nearly walk on them. To add further shame to my frustration, the Akula managed to fire a long-range Type 65-76 wake-homing torpedo at my escorts 21nm distant! Enough was enough. I decided to drop a single torpedo to goad my assailant into moving and it worked. The Akula sped off at 35kts and clearly revealed herself to everyone within 100 miles. Four torpedoes were sent after her and they caught her twisting and turning at maximum depth. My SSBNs are only a few hours away from their final destination, so the game is well in hand. Barring a catastrophe, the game is all but won. Another superb effort from Jerome and thanks to HarpGamer for the use of their HUD3 server. The HUD3 seems to be holding up very well with the submarines quite stealthy. The initial detections seem to appear at quite some distance even for supposedly quiet submarines, but attempts to localize them are a cast-iron b****. 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.

Jerome (a.k.a Angle of Attack) demanded revenge, so we decided to re-play Freek Schepers's, Nordkapp scenario, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. Same scenario, same sides. Since we already knew each other's Order of Battle, I didn't try to hide my positions or identities. As soon as my helicopters were aloft, I immediately activated the radar and the jamming equipment aboard the ships to try and blind my enemy. As our forces closed on each other, I tried my former tactic of quick attack. The FFG Heemskirck was slightly outside the protective SAM umbrella of the FFG Zeven de Provincien so I tried to launch a sneak attack in hopes of killing her and the 8 Harpoon missiles she carried. 8 Switchblade SSMs were fired in a volley once the prey had been fully localized. As they neared their target, I was about to rejoice in killing the frigate when, all of a sudden, they turned and struck a distant neutral cruise liner. Looks like a court-martial for me. I'll blame it on A Gust of Sunspot Interference. Unfortunately, there was still a fully armed frigate out there. I had to fire my second salvo of SSM Sunburn missiles at her. Three managed to get through the defenses and leave her ablaze from stem to stern. However, she was able to unleash her own SSMs in reply before she was hit. As before, a single wave of Harpoon missiles were unable to penetrate my defences. This time, he also included the missiles from FFG Zeven. Luckily for me, the two attacks were sequential and not simultaneous. This allowed me sufficient time to shoot down all the SSMs even though it exhausted my SAM inventory on the Neustrashimyy. With no additional offensive weaponry available, the little KUG [surface action group] tried to close for a gunnery engagement. The Adm. Chebanenko had a 130mm gun with a range of 9nm. Unfortunately, my ships were out-ranged by the FFG Zeven with her 127mm gun and 11nm range. Getting close was going to be a challenge. This was to be my undoing. By only focusing on the gun range of my opponents, I neglected to take into account her SAM battery. Only when I was near the 12nm mark did I realize my short-sightedness. My squadron immediately broke up and tried to flee, but they were not successful. The SAM defences did an admirable job, but several Standard missiles struck the ships before they finally retreated outside of sight and SAM range. The damage suffered slowed down my ability to effectively chase the PhibRon. On a second approach, I sent my sole undamaged frigate around the islands in an attempt to box in my prey while the other two ships pressed from the West. They started to launch USET-80 torpedo attacks from maximum range in order to herd the prey into a kill zone. Also, I was trying to distract attention from the ASW helos he had out hunting for my sub. If I was lucky, the sub would come into play as the hidden dagger. But, today, I wasn't lucky. Jerome was very diligent with his dipping sonar and soon found my sub on her way to intercept the LPD. They dropped both depth charges and ASW torpedoes and she never even heard the weapon that destroyed her. My futile surface torpedo attack failed miserably. The weapons simply didn't have sufficient fuel to reach their targets, but they did keep the PhibRon busy evading them. Long enough that we declared the game a draw. A superb game from Jerome 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.