Herman

U.S. sub may have toured Canadian Arctic zone 'We don't have any idea what's going on up there': expert Chris Wattie, National Post Published: Monday, December 19, 2005 A U.S. nuclear submarine cruised through the Arctic Ocean last month -- probably passing through Canadian territorial waters -- but the federal government is refusing to say whether it gave permission for the voyage. However, experts say it is highly unlikely Canada was even notified of the USS Charlotte's northern tour, which included a Nov. 10 stop at the North Pole, because it has no way of tracking what goes on beneath the Arctic ice. And that could threaten Canada's claim to hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of the North, including the Northwest Passage route across the Arctic, said Michael Byers, who holds the Canada research chair in global politics and international law at the University of British Columbia. "This is very important -- it's crucial," he said. "Any unauthorized passage could have a serious effect on our claim." Prof. Byers said potentially lucrative oil and gas resources off the Queen Elizabeth Islands could slip out of Canadian control if foreign navies are operating in the Arctic without our permission. "The fact of the matter is that we've spent nothing on Arctic sovereignty over the past 20 years." Pierre Leblanc, a retired colonel and former commander of the Canadian Forces' northern command, said foreign submarines have been travelling through the Canadian Arctic for decades, but the federal government usually finds out about it only by accident. He said the nations controlling the submarines -- the Americans, British and French -- usually do not tell Canada when their vessels enter the Arctic. "We're relying on their goodwill to know if they're in our waters or not." The latest underwater trip through the Arctic came just before the federal election call last month. USS Charlotte, a Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine, left its home base in Pearl Harbor, sailed through the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia and cruised under the Arctic ice pack to the pole. The nuclear-powered sub spent more than 24 hours at the top of the world, giving its 154 crew members the chance to walk on the windswept ice and even play a quick football game in the -45C temperatures. The Charlotte then submerged and headed to Halifax for a port visit, en route to a refit at the naval base at Norfolk, Va. U.S. Navy spokesmen would not give details about the Charlotte's route, but the shortest southerly course would have taken it past Ellesmere Island, through the Nares Strait and into Canadian waters. Col. Leblanc doubts the Americans informed the Canadian government of the trip, let alone sought permission for it. "I don't think they told us a thing: I don't think they told anyone," he said. "In the submarine world, they don't tell anyone anything about where they go or when they go there unless they have to." If the Charlotte did sail through Canadian territory en route to Halifax, the U.S. submariners likely believed they were fully entitled to do so. Canada and the United States have disagreed for decades about the extent of Canada's territorial waters in the Arctic. Canada claims water 12 nautical miles out from the Queen Elizabeth Islands, and all the straits and inlets as its internal waters. The Americans say those are international waterways that are free for anyone to cross, including the Northwest Passage. Lieutenant-Commander John Coppard, a spokesman for the Canadian navy, would not say whether the U.S. sub strayed into Canadian territory, nor would he confirm whether the Americans sought our permission if so, or even notified Ottawa if the sub was to sail through the Canadian part of the Arctic. "We do not discuss the movements of allied [nations'] submarines," he said, adding: "One would expect that a naval vessel transiting Canadian waters would seek the appropriate diplomatic clearances." However, Rodney Moore, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs, said any notification would have come through military channels. "It probably wouldn't come to us and we wouldn't comment on it even if it did," he said. "If anyone had it, it would be DND [the Department of National Defence]." Bill Graham, the Defence Minister, did not return telephone calls seeking comment on the issue. David Rudd, the president of the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies, said successive federal governments have for decades pursued a policy he describes as "out of sight, out of mind." "It's an unspoken policy of willful ignorance," he said. "If the public doesn't know about it, they're not going to agitate for more spending to monitor the North and protect our sovereignty. And serious surveillance of the North is a very expensive proposition." Prof. Byers said Canada has only five small and ageing icebreakers, none of which is capable of operating year-round. "We have the longest coastline in the world, much of which is under ice for most of the year, and we don't even have an all-weather icebreaker," he said. "We don't even have a federal government helicopter north of 60 -- not a single one." He warned that if Canada cannot keep watch on its vast northern territory, we could lose control over the Northwest Passage, a 5,000-kilometre sea route through the Canadian Arctic that climatologists say could be open to commercial vessels within the next 10 years as a result of global warming and the retreating northern ice pack. "Our enforcement capability is embarrassing," he said. "[And] that sends a message to other countries that we aren't really serious about our sovereignty or about enforcing our laws in our own territory." Col. Leblanc said Canada is not even spending the bare minimum on northern sovereignty. While he was military commander in the North, he said even the handful of flights over the vast Arctic territory claimed by Canada were cut sharply. "The number of planned observation flights in 2000 was zero. In '99, there were two," he said. "And this is for an area the size of Europe." "We don't have any idea what's going on up there."

The 54th new scenario of the year! The sixth installment of "The Cyprus Affair" battleset has been released. NEW WORLD ORDER SERIES: THE CYPRUS AFFAIR CAMPAIGN #2 When the NSC made good on its promise to deliver SA-10 Grumble SAM systems to the Greek Cypriots in the spring of 1995 despite Turkish protests, the stage was set for another conflict in Cyprus. The presence of the advanced weapons shifted the delicate balance of power as it put nearly all aircraft operating from the Turkish side of the island at risk. NATO was embarrassed when regular Turkish forces stormed the island a few months later. It had not been aware of Turkey's intent to reclaim Cyprus once and for all. Hand-in-hand with the economic boom in the NSC came military modernization and revitalization; funding for which was fueled at least partly by an unprecedented level of arms exports. The NSC would no longer sit idly by while its national interests were decided by others. It launched a major attack against Turkey on June 3, 1995. The NSC did not believe that NATO would intervene in the Cypriot affair after having been snubbed by its Turkish partner and after the beating it had received in the Baltic conflict the previous year. The NSC was about to be proven wrong. #6 TIN MAN MISSION The Tin Man Missions comprise a series of attacks on key NSC-occupied bases in Cyprus and Turkey. The objective is to suppress enemy air defences and airfields in preparation for the liberation of these areas from NSC occupation. Author: Herman Hum, Brad Leyte This scenario requires the latest release of the PlayersDB v5.9.7 Get it via: StrategyZoneOnline, HarpGamer, SimHQ, PlayersDB Depot, SubSim, CombatAce, or Frugal's World of Simulation. SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare HarpGamer.com - Home of the HCDB.

AAR: Stage Fright [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon Classic scenario By Brad Leyte Barrackpore was just launching its routine patrols when a hangar containing three aircraft exploded in flame. INCOMING! There had been no warning whatsoever. So, the Chinese were trying to implement their own version of Pearl Harbour. Well, we would teach them, the Bangladeshis, and the Burmese that their new friends in Beijing are a long ways away. Port Blair was looking pretty exposed and understrength so all Flankers from Bangalore were immediately ordered to ferry over to bolster her defences. Airborne radar coverage over the Eastern provinces was desperately needed. Hopefully, the Phalcon AWACs would arrive in time to still do some good. An immediate alert warning was issued to all air bases: "Mother India is under attack. All commanders take all measures consistent with the preservation of your commands." Chabya was looking pretty exposed as the easternmost base. She was surrounded on three sides by bases now known to be hostile. Her commander elected to get his Combat Air Patrols [CAP] up and stack them over the base and pray for reinforcements. As the AEW assets were in distant Delhi and Bangalore, the Fulcrums launched from Hasimara and Cuttack to act as mini-AWACs for the less capable Fishbeds. This was quite ironic since the Fulcrums were originally designed to act in cooperation with Russian Mainstay AWACs. The fighters were swarming up from their bases in Burma and Bangladesh. The treacherous Chinese must have been plotting their dastardly attack for a long time. Savage air battles were fought over Hasimara and Barrackpore air bases. It was punctuated by fireballs from exploding aircraft as aircraft from both sides fell from the air. The little F-7 Airguard favoured by our enemies was notoriously difficult to detect. Our own MiG-21s were just as stealthy. However, the fact that our fighters were supported by their Fulcrum cousins, allowed the Fishbeds to claw most of the Airguards out of the sky. It was not without loss, but the price of victory was minimal. The furious dogfights between these two diminuitive fighter classes would later be known as the "Battle of the Gnats". Round one was won by India as the air was cleared of most of these pesky planes. On the southern flank, Su-27 Flankers from Henzada tried to mob the CV Vikramaditya. Defending Fulcrum fighters were able to beat off the larger Flankers, but all of their missiles were expended in the effort. Multiple waves of strike aircraft followed the fighter sweep and pummelled the facilities at Port Blair. There were serious concerns whether the reinforcements would even have a place to land after their long flight over water. Back over the sub-continent, attacks by Chinese-led forces were held, but just barely. The enemy's forces were totally fearless. They would advance stoically without regard to their own safety. While this accommodated the defenders' firepower, it soaked up all of their Air-to-Air missiles. Soon, every fighter had depleted their missiles and were forced to return to base. And still the Chinese came on. While the ground crews feverishly serviced the newly returned aircraft, the strike aircraft advanced inexorably. Chinese air strikes were preceded by Anti-Radiation Missiles [ARMs] which easily knocked out the defenders' SAMs before the masses of the PLAAF dropped their ordnance. Most bases were only damaged, but Chabya was hammered so mercilessly, that she was totally destroyed. With her demise, Total Victory was awarded to the Chinese and their Burmese/Bangladeshi co-conspirators. This round would go to the Chinese. However, one battle does not make a war. Thanks for kicking my butt with this very fine scenario. HarpGamer.com - Home of the HCDB. SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare

Here's another AAR by Dave Steinmeyer. It is re-printed here with permission from the author. AAR: Beach Reconnaissance [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon 3 scenario By Herman Hum I plotted my course for the first Named Area of Interest (NAI1). It's the one that's furthest SE. My course took me N, then I turned and approached the coast at right angles. After a few minutes, I got my first contact, a goblin to the E of my start point. I never really got a track on him, and lost him shortly after. The next pair of contacts as I approached NAI1 were both a skunk and a goblin to the NW. Again, I lost the goblin pretty quickly. Then I lost the skunk. Next, I had contact with a skunk to my N, somewhere between the first two recon areas, and a second skunk to my E, SE of NAI1. I quickly classify these as General Cargo Vessels. As I entered the first recon area, I went to periscope depth and immediately sniffed a pair of Mushroom radars off to the NW. But I had no way of knowing how far. I also pinpointed one of the general cargo ships, 5nm due west of my first recon area. I traversed almost the length of the first area when I remembered the guidance that -20m may be too deep. I set depth for -10m and instantly noticed a guard post. I turned away from the coast, went to shallow, and kicked it in the ass to full speed to put some distance between my boat and where I had to assume the guard post noticed me, but also to close some distance with the cargo vessel. I closed to 4nm, slowed to creep, and sent her to the bottom with one ADCAP Mod 5. I repeated the same procedures for NAIs 2 & 3 without incident. The Falcons made quick work of whatever buildings I discovered and marked as hostile. The whole time I spent moving up the coast, I was trying to catch up with the first cargo vessel I noticed, but he was moving at about 8kts in a straight line and I was forced to creep in and out from the coast. He eventually pulled away from me and I lost him. I did have to fight a VERY strong urge to venture into the two large fjords, but since there was still work to be done further N, I managed to resist the temptation. After I had cleared NAI3, discovering a guard tower on both banks of the entrance, things started to get a bit hairy. I kept getting goblin contacts all the way up the coast. But for the most part, they were spurious and sporadic. Now, they seemed to be coming more frequently, and they weren't just fleeting contacts. As if I didn't have enough to worry about, I also ID'd a Krivak III and a Grisha in the area, but the uncertainty factor for both was quite large. It was starting to feel like I was walking into the jaws of the beast! I decided to make for the southern tip of the barrier island off of Spitzbergen and hug the coast as I crept into the small strait between the islands. I was very pleasantly surprised to find how deep I could stay as I got very close to the southern point. I managed to enter the strait without incident, but quickly noticed the water getting more and more shallow. About halfway up the strait, all hell broke loose! The water was so shallow, that I was forced to surface. And it couldn't have happened at a worse time! A Hormone was only about a mile away as I broke the surface. Apparently, he was RTB somewhere on the main island, because he never made a turn for me. He must have, however, radioed to a base on the smaller island, because a pair of helos popped up out of nowhere and headed straight for me. They both dropped torps, between speed, decoys, and and a WHOLE lot of luck, I was able to dodge them all! As they were coming for me, I designated them as hostile, which launched the F-15s to come cover my butt! It took them a while to on station, but they did shoot down several Hormones. Including one that was hot on my trail as I was running for NAI4. The Eagles radars did detect four targets inside the inlet near NAI4. I figured that this was what I was looking for. Unfortunately, the mouth of the inlet was guarded by an HQ 9 (?) class FFL, which was immediately detected as hostile. A pair of ADCAPS and his hostility didn't matter too much any more. As I turned E, into the inlet, I was able to get all the way down to periscope depth! (WOO HOO!!) I ID'd the ships as a pair of Altay oilers, the general cargo vessel that eluded me earlier, and an Urga sub-tender. One pair of Mk48s was targeted on one of the oilers and the cargo ship. The Altay was sunk at her moorings. The cargo ship was a clear miss. The next spread of torps was one for each surviving ship. The second Altay and the sub-tender joined the first oiler at the bottom of the inlet. A second ADCAP swam right passed the cargo ship! DAMN! Helos were starting to swarm again, so I figured it was time to didi mao, so I could fight another day. But, as I turned for deeper water, I took one last parting shot at the cargo vessel that had frustrated my efforts to sink it. This time, I nailed it!! As I was leaving the N end of the strait, I noticed one of the sonar arrays called "SINK THIS AND YOU LOOSE." Even for a dumb guy like me, that's pretty easy to figure out! As I started to plot a wide berth around the array, I was awarded VICTORY! Herman, this scenario was a ton of fun! It started off slow, but the action and the tension steadily built up through the course of the game. The air strikes and air cover were nicely done. I'd love to see a similar scenario with one of the Virginia class boats that are specifically designed for littoral operations such as beach recons. It would be an interesting comparison. Here's the final breakdown: NATO Expenditures - 9 ADCAP Mod 5, 3 White Noise decoys, 2 Ensonification Bubblers. USSR Losses - 1 Juliett, 1 Victor III, 1 November, 1 Charlie II, (I never fired on an enemy sub, so I'm not sure what got 'em, but I'm glad it did!) 1 watch tower, 2 guard posts, 2 general cargo vessels, 1 Urga, 2 Altay AO, 1 HQ 9, and 5 Hormones. Thanks again for another great scenario! SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare HarpGamer.com - Home of the HCDB.

Over 150 new aircraft, ships, submarines, facilities, classes, countries, and weapons have been added to the PlayersDB. Get the PlayersDB 5.9.7 on HarpDB, PlayersDB Depot, or StrategyZoneOnline. Additions include: - AS-4 Kitchen missiles with various release altitudes so that designers and players are no longer restricted from using the ASuW Area patrol mission - Updates to USN, Chilean, Singaporean, Czech, Hungarian, and Thai Orders of Battle Mi-8 Hip C MEX 94 AV-8S Harrier II T 95 C-212-300 Aviocar CASA MEX 96 MD 500 Defender MEX 94 S-70B-7 Seahawk T 96 HU-16 Albatross MEX BO-105 MEX UH-1H Iroquois [Huey] MEX 96 Bell AB.212 MEX F-5E Tiger II MEX 82 C-130A Hercules MEX IAI-201 Arava MEX C-47 Dakota MEX AS 550 Fennec MEX PC-7 Pilatus MEX|Albatros AT-33 Shooting Star MEX Bell AB.205 Jet Ranger MEX AC 500 Aero Commander MEX Bell AB.206 Jet Ranger MEX 96 Radar AN/TPS-77 PAK 06|FPS-117 AAA 37mm/63 Type 88C x4 AAA 25mm Type 87 SPU x4 PS Benito Juarez MEX 99|Sierra PC Quintana MEX PS Holzinger MEX 91|Halcyon PS Uribe MEX 82|Halcyon DD Ilhuicamina [FRAM I] MEX 82 AGO Behr Paima PAK 82 PS Valle MEX|Auk PC Democrata MEX PC Combat Boat 90 HMN MEX PC Haijui PRC 87 LST Newport MEX MRCH Ocean Tug INTL - countless changes and improvements guaranteed not to crash any earlier scenario built with the PlayersDB SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare HarpGamer.com - Home of the HCDB.

Iran Bought Missiles From North Korea By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BERLIN DefenseNews Iran has bought 18 BM-25 missiles from North Korea which the Islamic Republic wants to transform to extend their range, the German press reported Dec. 16. ”Iran has bought 18 disassembled BM-25 missiles from North Korea with a range of 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles),” Bild newspaper said, citing a report from the German secret services. It added that Iran’s ultra conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wants to have the range of the missiles “extended to 3,500 kilometers”. The newspaper said that until now Iran only had Shehab-3 missiles with a range of 1,300 kilometers. It further cited the secret service report as warning that “with a longer range, and the probability that (Tehran) would try to equip the missiles with nuclear warheads, there is the risk that Iran could strike at Israel and parts of central Europe.” It added that according to the German intelligence services, Iranian experts were already working on fitting the missiles with nuclear warheads. The report comes amid outrage at remarks by Ahmadinejad calling the Holocaust a “myth”, and a warning from Tehran on Friday that it would respond in a “swift and destructive” way if attacked by Israel.

Looks like AGSI has decided to formally recognize these two bugs that I reported. Thanks for the confirmation. Check them out here. Username: Guest Password: Guest

Looks like Don Gilman confirmed the previous two bugs I already reported to AGSI. It appears as though the Neutrals report their sightings to the player and the OpFor reports sightings of Neutrals to the player, too.

Are you using any Neutral sides in your scenario? I've identified a similar problem with the Neutral side doing the reporting. I've also shown that when a Neutral side is present, the OpFor does report to the Player when it spots the Neutral units. I haven't bothered to nail down all the specifics. I'll report it to AGSI if and when I do so. Just curious to see if you are running into the same thing.

Here's another AAR by Dave Steinmeyer. It is re-printed here with permission from the author. AAR: Indian [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon 3 scenario By Freek Schepers As I started the scenario, I had a bit of trouble locating all of the transports I was supposed to have. I eventually found the thirteenth as part of one of the FFG TF east of the base. Here's what I did, I sent ten ships NW at flank to get the hell out of Dodge before the hell I figured was gonna break loose did so. They were to link up with the CG/DDG TF off the Horn of Africa. That part of my plan went off without a hitch. The two remaining transports were sent at flank to the ENE to link up with the two FFGs and the Rainier in that direction. Gave orders for the carrier to head SW at full to get away from the Straits of Malacca. I sent my two lone Hornets towards the carrier to provide some cover. Very shortly thereafter, the reached Bingo fuel and headed for DG. I then started picking up some ESM contacts, two near the carrier, one near the FFG TF. I launched helos from each and ID'd then as neutral shipping. Then my land based radar on DG picked up a contact south of the island. I re-directed the helo from the FFG group towards that contact, but it was gonna take a while to get there. Right at that time my tankers were ready for flight on Diego. I launched one which was unceremoniously blown out of the sky shortly after getting off the runway!! The skunk to the south was definitely hostile! Almost immediately after that, my land based radar picked up one, then two, three, eventually a dozen inbound vampires. At this point things were NOT looking good for the home team! I had plenty of a/c in shelters, none would be ready for a few hours at the earliest, a pair of Hornets coming in on fumes, and some big, unidentified, ugly mo-fo about 16nm south of my base, and no assets to hit him with. The only plus at this point was that the unknown was 48nm from the closest transport ship and I didn't think he could detect or classify them at that range. So the transports kept running like mad. By this time my four Matadors on the carrier were ready. I decided to gamble. I launched all four knowing full well they would never get to Diego in time, but maybe they could at least relieve the pressure from the bad guy parked off my coast. It turned out that all 12 missiles (Shipwrecks, I eventually found out) were targeted on the same facility, my aircraft complex. You know the one, yup, the one with my B-52s and P-3s. Well, four of the Shipwrecks missed, but eight plowed into the facility and turned it, and the aircraft, into a big-ass crater! Thanks for that! By then the Seahawk had classified the bad guy as the Petr Velikiy and I figured it was game over. But the BCGN had one more hand to play and that involved the shelling of my facilities on Diego Garcia. I lost my diesel tanks, control tower, av/gas storage, and my radar. Then to add insult to injury, The Petr Velikiy launched a pair of Ka-27s towards my nearest transports! Luckily, my Hornets were now approaching DG. They made short work of both helos, but one Hornet was lost to a Grumble on landing. It looked as though my transports would actually make it, when a third Ka-27 appeared off their stern. They clearly ID'd him, so I presume he ID'd them also. But oddly, no missiles were launched. The Matadors were about 20nm form the remaining Helix when they hit bingo. I decided to press on with the intention of landing at Diego. They launched a salvo of Harpoons from about 12nm, then headed for the airfield. 10 harpoons were shot down, one was decoyed and missed, and one managed to slip through. I don't know how much damage was done, but I did confirm that the Petr Velikiy "Appears damaged, on fire." The Matadors all made it to DG safely. Shortly after that, I was awarded victory! Came as a complete surprise, I thought I was getting my head handed to me! Anyway, I never saw what launched the Shipwrecks against DG. I assumed it was a sub and sent a helo that way when I first detected the vampires, but had no contacts. After my initial detection of the base at Mengzi, nothing happened there. No impact on the game. I'll look at it in the SE tonight or tomorrow and send some suggestions after I do. Another worthy addition to your series! Thanks! SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare HarpGamer.com - Home of the HCDB.

Here's an epic AAR by Dave Steinmeyer. It is re-printed here with permission from the author. AAR: Malakka [spoiler Alert] - Thailand A Harpoon 3 scenario By Freek Schepers Ok, as I take my initial inventory of what I have available, I'm none too happy. The ONLY air assets ready to fly are a pair Sea Kings out of Port Blair. No options but to launch one. Other than that, I've got 6 Falcons and 4 Tigers on Ready5 out of Korat and Surat Thani respectively, 6 more Falcons Ready30 at Takhli, and one Orion Ready30 at U Tapao. It's gonna be pretty damn hard to get a clear picture of what's going on initially. Now for orders... I send the Indian carrier TF south along the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, then SE towards the straits. Thai TF Andaman get orders to head SE to the Straits at full. Thai TF 1 is ordered due west towards the South China Sea, and TF Gulf of Thailand heads SE around the Exclusion Zone and then S to the 10 degree channel. As per standard operating procedures, all radars in the TFs are passive and all are running with ECMs active to deny the enemy, whoever that may be, as much info as possible. All SAM sites are ordered to go passive, the only radars I allow to radiate are the YLC-2 Early Warning radars and the weather radar on Car Nicobar. Once things get started, I am greeted by what can only be described as a nightmare and a blessing all in one. There are SO many merchants in the area, spread out over such a huge swath of ocean, I know right away I can't protect all of them. But, on the up side, the vast majority of them are Blue. Hopefully, that means I've got dozens of additional eyes out there looking for the bad guys! I also make a more frightening observation, I'm hemmed in by Red bases all around me. Some are entirely too lose for comfort. About a minute and a half later I get my first contact. It's the ESM track of a Nav radar NW of TF 1. It sure would be nice to have some helos ready for scouting! But, since it's just nav radar, I'll keep an eye on him, but not worry too much. My Sea King launches from Port Blair and immediately picks up another skunk running commercial nav radar. No biggie. I then get three simultaneous reports of bogies. They appear to be flying one each out of Butterworth, Kuantan, and Tengah. Their radar profiles indicate they're probably an F-18, a Fulcrum, and Falcon. Their bases are listed as neutrals, and that's good enough for me. I have a feeling I'll have my hands full soon enough. My next contact is a bogie running an ORB 32 radar some where near Singapore. Looks like somebody else is trying to get a picture of what's going on. Then a second one pops up, and I get confirmation from one of the merchants that what I thought was a Falcon, indeed is, and more importantly he's neutral. At the five minute mark, I have a Harrier and a Sea King ready aboard the Viraat, and four Tigers and six Falcons ready. I keep one each Falcon and Tiger on the ground and launch everything else. I send the Harrier N towards Great Cocos Island and Haingui to watch the back door and the Sea King S along the Nicobars. The Tigers leave from Surat Thani and race N the place themselves between their base and Mergui. The Falcons out of Korat are tasked with looking out to the NE. By now, another merchant informs me that the birds flying the ORB 32 surface search radars are Super Pumas out of Singapore. Interestingly enough, I even pick up the emissions from an AN/APS-145. Must be one of Singapore's E-2s. I'm starting to get a case of radar envy! On the approach to Grand Cocos, my Harrier detects a Gun Dish radar going hot, and decides to give it a wide berth. One of the Falcons picks up emissions from a pair of N001VE Zhuk radars about 175nm E of Korat, this is a rather unhappy development. But there are five Falcons and only two of them, right? By now it's 1230Z and I have several more aircraft ready. I no sooner get four Falcons off the ground from Takhli, when my EW radars pick up a pair of bogies 86nm NW of U Tapao heading for my radar at 540kts. So I dispatched a pair of Falcons to investigate. On closing to visual, they ID the bogies as Airguards and HOSTILE! The lead pilot moves in and let's loose one Sidewinder and begins to maneuver. As he gains the advantage on the second Airguard, he fires again. His first missile strikes its prey at the wing root on the port side. The pilot never saw it coming. The second Airguard pilot takes a snap shot at the guy who just killed his wingman. Right after his missile clears the rail, another Sidewinder hits home. His missile never locks on to his killer and goes wild. Two shots, two kills. And now for the bad news. As the first engagement played out between the Falcon and the Airguards, Falcons to the NE confirmed their fears. Not only is there one pair of hostile Flankers heading W, but now a second pair lit up their radars N of the first pair. The number of enemy doubled, my problems quadrupled! A lone Falcon dropped the southern pair of Flankers like a couple of bad habits. Unfortunately, he was knocked from the sky while doing so. In the north, one Falcon was lost before I could even pinpoint the Flankers. I vectored in four more and ordered the launch of my one remaining Falcon at Korat. One Falcon and one Flanker were lost in a mutual kill. Another Falcon managed to get a shot at the sole remaining Flanker before the F-16's wreckage was decorating the hills below. The Flanker nimbly dodged the shot. DAMN, I hate Flankers! While my two remaining Falcons pursue the Flanker to the N, my F-16 to the S picks up a pair of Badgers following in the path of the Flankers. He launches a pair of Sidewinders and the Badgers go down faster than a couple of cheap hookers! Back in the north, the last Flanker is eliminated in a mutual kill with another Falcon. 4 Flankers for 4 Falcons, NOT an exchange ratio I want to continue! Out over the Andaman Sea, a merchant reports sighting a Maritime Enforcer. My airborne Harrier is up near Haingui, so I order one of my Tigers watching Mergui W to deal with it. Now I notice something else, my radars are being jammed. No fair! That's my trick! A quick look around reveals what must be and EW bird somewhere over the South China Sea. Nothing a pair of Matadors off the Thai carrier can't handle. Another pair of Badgers shows up N of the first pair and is just as easily dispatched. Before their wreckage even hits the earth, a third pair appears slightly further N. Another Falcon, two more missiles, two less Badgers. A few minutes later, two more pairs pop up right in front of the Falcons. As I give the orders to intercept, a third pair arrives slightly further N. Shortly all 6 Badgers disappear in balls of flame. Now I get a report that reminds me I have made a serious error of omission. The supertanker Breuklen, within the Malakka Straits, report a visible goblin 3nm dead ahead. In my concern over the Flankers and Badgers trying to infiltrate to the N, I forgot to launch my one available Orion! I only hope it's not too late to rectify the situation as I belatedly order it airborne. My concerns are quickly proven true, as first one, then a another torpedo slam into the supertanker, breaking her keel and quickly sending her to the bottom. The environmental disaster is the least of my worries right now. After a brief game of hide and seek over the Andaman, my Tiger tracks down the Maritime Intruder and the plane and crew now sleep with the fishes. On the other side of my AO, the Matador's hunt for the EW plane pays off nicely as the southern of the two visually IDs a Chinese EW Badger. Bye-bye Badger! Time to worry again, I pick up two more Flanker radars to the NE. Both over southern Laos. Here we go again! Have I mentioned that I HATE Flankers?! After a few minutes of angst, the ESM tracks don't appear to be getting any closer. I only like to pick fights I can win, and this ain't one of 'em! After my Tiger offed the Maritime Intruder and was heading back to base, he picked up some odd radar signals right off the coast of Phuket. So I sent him to check it out. It's ID'd as a 412 class PGM and a second is picked up further S. A pair of Harpoons fired from the FFL Sukhotai in TF Andaman make short work of the gun boat. As my Tiger set off S to pin point the other gun boat, the Sea King out of Port Blair almost runs right into another of the same class nearly dead center in the Andaman Sea. He's only 15nm from the Sea King when he's noticed. Unfortunately, he's out of range of both the Thai TF and the Indian TF. And I have no ready air assets (AGAIN!) to hit him with. Bad luck again. My Tiger hits Bingo fuel before he can localize the other gun boat. I don't usually gamble, I prefer an unfair fight and a guaranteed win, but do throw the dice in this situation and send one of my two remaining Harpoons from TF Andaman towards the area of the second gun boat. At the same time, I launch another Tiger from Surat Thani to pick up where the Tiger returning to base left off. He quickly finds the second gun boat, alive and well. Apparently the BOL Harpoon missed! He increases to full throttle, dives to 600m above the deck and lets loose with three bursts of 20mm cannon fire. All three rake the little craft. The pilot is gratified to see a pair of secondary explosions as turns NW and heads to his patrol station over the Andaman. Just when I thought I was starting to get a handle on things, the Sea King I had acting as my eyes over the Andaman Sea visually picks up two bogies closing fast from the E. Less than a minute later the Sea King is a stain on the ocean's surface. I guess a pair of fighters slipped out of Mergui I send three Tigers N looking for paybacks. I quickly lost contact with the two bogies who took out the Sea King, so I order a Falcon from Takhli to head SW and join in the hunt. As one of my Tigers is racing NW, he stumbles across a Houxin class PTG 45nm SW of Mergui. While it's much larger than the little PGMs I've dealt with so far, it looks pretty under armed in the AA area. Just as the Tiger starts his attack run on the Houxin, another Tiger in the hunting party picks up a bogey heading in the direction of Mergui. Where there's one, there's probably two. He streaks off to intercept. In no time he picks up the second bogey and ID's them as Airguards. TALLY HO!! The Houxin proves to be a nice big target, but also capable of taking some punishment. It takes 11 bursts of cannon fire and two strafing runs to leave the ship dead in the water, burning and listing to starboard. Before heading N, the pilot reports seeing the crew abandoning the sinking ship. One more for the Good Guys! The lead tiger closes in on the two Airguards, firing one Sidewinder at each. The first one flies right by both planes. The second, however, flies true and scores a kill. The remaining Airguard pilot sprints for the safety of his base. But, he runs right into the loving arms of the other Tiger pilot who just sent many of his countrymen to their watery graves. And while his aircraft is now short on 20mm ammo to kiss with, he certainly doesn't hesitate to slip the Airguard some tongue in the form of a single Python 3. It proves to be the kiss of death. Let's revisit the situation NE of Korat. One of the ESM tracks has moved close enough to the Falcons I have on CAP that I cannot ignore it anymore. I vector in three F-16s and start looking for the bane of my existence, ANOTHER f#*%ing Flanker!! As soon as my closest Falcon makes a visual ID, he explodes in a ball of flame. Poor bastard never knew what hit him! I launch my one remaining Falcon from Korat, as the Flanker makes an aggressive turn right for another of my CAP fighters. As if he were psychic, the Flanker pilot heads for the Falcon with only one AIM-9M left hanging from the rails. But if he was one to run from a fight, the Falcon driver wouldn't be a fighter pilot, now would he?! He does what he's been trained to do, he closes with the enemy, strives for a superior position and fires. He banks so hard to port after taking the shot that he nearly blacks out. He is brought back to reality by the voices of his wing mates cheering and telling him he got the Flanker! He never saw the vampire from the Flanker that went wide and well below his Falcon. He turned W and headed for home. The last time we danced with Flankers up there, they were followed by a fair sized Badger raid. Let's see if past performance holds true. As proof of past predicting future, two Badgers soon pop up over a low ridge and right into the sights of a waiting Falcon. The Falcon doesn't even need to turn its radar on. Out over the South China Sea, one of the Thai Matadors I have scouting ahead of the carrier TF sniffs the emissions from a Chinese destroyer. I send him to get a closer look. I also launch a Seahawk off the carrier since it has a better radar than the Matadors. Just after lifting off from the Chakri Nareubet, the Seahawk gets the scent of a second Chinese DDG. Same area as the first. Back over the Andaman, one Tiger begins an attack run on the 412 class PGM out in the center of the Sea. A second Tiger hits bingo and turns for Surat Thani. Another is launched to replace him. And the Tiger who already sank one Houxin, finds a second while prowling the coast NNW of Mergui. This time the little 412 class PGM sees the Tiger roll in on the attack and opens up with one of its 40mm cannons. The gun crew proves its bravery by firing on the Tiger even as the first of three 20mm bursts pierce the aft hull and kill the engine. The second burst shatters the bridge, and the third rips a gash in the port side that starts the boat rolling over. The Tiger who is after his second Houxin of the day, is not as successful as in his first fight. He makes repeated passes on the PTG and expends all remaining 20mm ammo, but is only able to damage the ship. He is forced to call for help from another Tiger. As he is returning to base, cursing himself and thinking of how he could have executed the attack on the second Houxin more effectively, his radar picks up a pair of bogeys rising up from Mergui to meet him. Here's an opportunity to make up for his poor performance against the second missile boat. They are ID'd as a pair of Airguards. And just as efficiently they are dispatched with one Sidewinder each. No muss, no fuss. He is much happier now, as he returns to base. Despite his success, he is only human and you can only roll the dice so many times. The Tiger pilot is RTB for bingo fuel and down to his last missile, when a second pair of bogies take off from Mergui. This time, he's only 10nm from the enemy base. A Falcon is 26nm N and sent in to try to relieve the Tiger, but the bogies are the hunters now. He fires his last missile and dives for the deck. As if in slow motion, he watches a glowing white dot appear at his 11 o'clock high and guide itself into a steep dive that he knows will eventually intersect with his. At the moment he is able to pick out the details of the enemy missile, he smiles to himself and knows, at least for him, it's been a good war. The Falcon from Takhli fared only slightly better. He managed to take out one of the Airguards that fell the Tiger, but became so focused on doing so, that he did not pay attention to the AAA and fell victim to it. Although, the pilot was able to eject and survive in a Myanmar POW camp. It's now 1500Z game time, 3 hours since the start of the scenario. How about a little half-time report?! The ViConds at the start said no more than 8 tankers damaged, sink 4 subs, and sink 10 warships. Here's the score so far. I've lost one tanker to a sub in the straits, I've only just got a return from a sub running on the surface right before half-time. My Orion is 24nm away and closing fast. I sank one Houxin and damaged another. A Tiger is en route to finish it off. And while the little 412 class gunboats don't constitute much of a threat, they do technically count as warships and I've downed three of them. Back to the game! My strike and ASW capabilities just got a shot in the arm in the form of 2 Trackers and 4 Corsair IIs ready at Surat Thani. I also decide to do something about the annoying Zhuk ESM track that has been hovering over the northern Gulf of Thailand for a while. I sent three Tigers from U Tapao to deal with it. I hope the numbers will make up for the qualitative difference. I also send one of the Trackers out into the shipping lanes just E of the Nicobar Islands. The Orion closes on its prey in the Straits and finds an Indonesian/Malaysian Wasp already working the contact. Since this is very close to the area where the tanker Breukelen was lost, the Orion does not wait for positive ID. The first MK46 narrowly misses the sub, but the second nearly splits it in two. The Orion then heads for a patrol area further to the NW, near the tip of Sumatra. Back up north, another Zhuk radar is detected to the NE. I'm running out of Falcons to trade! Along the coast of Myanmar, one of my Tigers is approaching the wounded Houxin and detects a second contact further N, hugging the coast, trying to hide. We'll check him out later. The Tiger makes one pass and scores two more hits, damaging the PTG even more. One more hit should be the final nail in her coffin. But as the Tiger turns around for another pass, the belly of the plane is riddled with 14.5mm machine gun fire!! The pilot is forced to break off the attack and eject before the Tiger slams into the sea. The animal is wounded, but can still bite! I think I'll try to work smarter, not harder now. Since I have several Jaguars ready at Port Blair, I'll send a pair each against the wounded Houxin and the unknown skunk further north. Now I pick up a pair of Slot Back radars out of Haingui, probably Fulcrums. I'll keep an eye on them for now. The three Tigers I sent to deal with the Flanker over the Thai Gulf have flushed out their quarry. The flight leader engages the Chinese Flanker, fires a Sidewinder and is no longer the flight leader. In fact, he's no longer much of anything! But his wingmen close and find a chink in the Flanker's armor into which they fire a pair of Python 3's. It only takes one. The Fulcrums out of Haingui have either gone silent for now, or gone back to base. Either way, I've lost track of 'em. Now things go from not so bad to pretty bad, real quick. I get a mayday from the merchant tanker, Lady Sterling, about 175nm N of Banda Aceh. They have a visual of a C-801 ASM breaking the surface less than a mile from them. And it's heading their way. I vector in my airborne Tracker, my Orion, and launch a Sea King from Car Nicobar. It will probably be another case of too little, too late, but at least I now know where to hunt! The Lady Sterling is hit, slows to 2kts, but continues on course. She'd 23% damaged, but luckily no fires were started. The Seahawk scouting for the Thai carrier TF has reached its patrol area and is rewarded with two new contacts when its radar goes active. Both are in close formation with what I think are a pair of Chinese destroyers. By now, the two pair of Jaguars have crossed the Andaman to the coast of Myanmar. The northern pair immediately the previously unknown contact as a third Houxin PTG, null number 473. They are ordered to intercept. The Houxin opens fire with its 37mm cannon. Both Jaguars drop a pair of Mk13 1000lb bombs. Houxin 473 is struck by two. What's left of her quickly slips beneath the waves with all hands. The southern pair of Jaguars repeat the tactic. They split up and go in low and fast. The first Jaguar releases both bombs and turns for home. Before the second Jaguar can release its bombs, one of the first two smashes into the starboard superstructure of the Houxin, leveling the deck. All four Jaguars are RTB to Port Blair. One of the Matadors ahead of the Thai carrier TF closes in and gets an ID on one of the ships in formation. It's the Siping, a Chinese Jianghu IV class FFG. And she's hostile. I order the Matador to back off a bit, I've got the info I need. If one out of four in the formation is hostile, the other three ain't there to sing kumbaiya and hold hands! As the formation slowly gets closer to the Seahawk on patrol, I pick up some small airborne contacts flying around the formation, probably helos. And I'm surprised to find a 5th contact in the formation. The Thai carrier TF just has to lay low until the Harpoon armed Matadors are ready to strike! Unfortunately, I am forced to recall both of the Matadors and the Seahawk because I know have a pair of Flankers prowling the area between the Thai carrier and the Chinese surface group. Let's just hope the jamming is enough to not give the Flankers a good look at what I've got! I also notice an EW aircraft over the northern Andaman, as well as another Maritime Intruder, both probably out of Haingui. Time to rip their eyes out! I send the lone Harrier from the Viraat and an F-16 from Takhli to take them out. Now, I am also forced to greet a very unwelcome visitor. An Airguard is visually ID only 10nm NE of the Viraat TF and closing. The jig is up! Might as well light up all the radars 'cause I'm sure the party's gonna start soon! If he keeps coming, the SAM gunners will at least get some practice. It looks like the Airguard is making a low level run at the INS Brahmaputra. Two rounds from the 76mm OTO Compact and two bursts from the AK-630 CIWS and the Airguard is no more. But I'm sure he got a good look and a radio call before he died. To make matters worse, I pick up another bogey 77nm SE (!) of the Viraat TF closing on a Sea King from the carrier as it is RTB. The bogey turns out to be another Airguard who must have slipped past. He made a few cannon passes at the Sea King as he dove for the deck, but the attack was unsuccessful. I lost contact with the Airguard shortly after that. Things are going to hell in a hand basket now! Either the same Airguard I lost before or another one now shows up to attack a second Sea King I have out scouting. To add insult to injury, another C-801 ASM pops up RIGHT UNDER the Sea King that survived the attack earlier!! It seems the missile is headed for the same tanker that was hit earlier, the Lady Sterling. The second Sea King to be attacked is as lucky as the first, it avoids a burst of cannon fire by hitting the deck and heading NE. The tanker is hit again, thankfully no fires. She's 45% damaged when a third C-801 breaks the surface. WHY the F can't I find the sub launching the missiles!!!??? A bit further N, at least there's some good news. A Falcon has found the EW bird I noticed earlier, it's an EW Badger and it's not long for this world. That's the first bit of good news. The second is that the third C-801 missed the Lady Sterling. And the third bit of good news is that my Sea King has found the sub! It's not ID's yet, but it's definitely hostile. But the bastard fires another C-801 before the Sea King can close. The fourth ASM finds it's mark, setting the tanker ablaze. She's now 89% damaged. I vector in a Tracker to help with the hunt. The pair localize the sub, and three of the Sea King's four Mk11 depth charges later, there's no more contact. But, that's the last bit of good news. It seems there are at least two Airguards roving over the Andaman, and they have BOTH found my Orion. The Orion goes down in a spectacular trail of smoke and flame after being raked with cannon fire. The two Airguards then turn their attention to what must have been their real mission all along, one starts an attack run on the tanker Port Vendres, the other on the tanker Ilim. Both are hit by bombs and 34% damaged before the Airguards turn N and head home. But they are running straight for one very pissed off Harrier pilot. He had a third Airguard out run him earlier and is spoiling for a fight. Further N, the Falcon who downed the EW Badger earlier now runs across the Maritime Intruder. One Sidewinder and the Intruder is gone. The Harrier spots one of the Airguards, but is too damn slow to intercept. The he ID's the second. Now, he's finally in a good position. He closes and launches one, then two R.500 Magics. BOTH MISS!! He's too slow to chase the Airguard and engage with guns, so he makes for the Viraat. It's 1800Z and it's my turn to get dealt a good hand. My staff notifies me that several additional aircraft are ready. These include: 3 Sea Kings on the Viraat, 4 Sea Eagle armed Sea Harriers also on the Viraat, a pair of Lynxes in Thai TF1, 2 Rockeye armed Tigers and another Orion at U Tapao, and the 4 Harpoon armed Matadors I've been waiting for on the Thai carrier. It's time to PLAY!! I launch two Sea Harriers from the Viraat to intercept the escaping Airguards (it's personal now!). Even though they're armed with Sea Eagles, they still carry a pair of R.55o Magics each. I also launch all four Matadors from the Thai carrier. The ESM tracks from the Flankers have moved far enough away that if the Matadors stay low, I think they can get a good punch in on the Chinese surface group. The Harriers managed to intercept the fleeing Airguards, each Harrier fires it's two Magics at the Airguard... ALL FOUR MISS!!! These DAMN Indian Harriers SUCK!!! What's the point of even having aircraft on a carrier if they are so F*&%#ing USELESS!!!??? They're slow, have carry little ordnance, have limited sensors. God, what I wouldn't give for some REAL fighters and some force multipliers!! AAARRRGGHHHHH!!!! OK, I'm done venting now. I have managed to get a Falcon in position S of the Great Cocos Island to lay in wait for the returning Airguards. He doesn't have to wait long. He picks up one, then the second. Closes, fires, kills. Splash two. I told you it was personal. Out in the South China Sea, my Matadors have closed with and ID'd two more ships in the formation. The Siping was seen earlier, now we have IDs on the Huaibei, a Jiangwei FFG and the Kaifeng, a Luda IV DD. I don't want to push my luck, so I'll allocate four Harpoons each to the Huaibei and the Kaifeng. All eight missiles jump from their launch rails without problem. After launch the Qingdao, a Luhu class DDG is spotted. Just before the Matadors turn for home, they pinpoint the Siping and ID the Hangzhou. I now know which ship will be on the receiving end of the next round of eight Harpoons! Two of the four Harpoons targeting the Huaibei are shot down by the Qingdao, by the other two hit their mark. They leave the Huaibei a sinking, burning hulk. The point defenses on the Kaifeng manage to shoot down one Harpoon, but the other three fly true. All three strike her on the starboard side and leave her dead in the water. My Matadors have gotten too far away to give me any useful damage assessment, but I'd put money on the fact that the Kaifeng is on her way to the bottom of the South China Sea. It's 2045Z and things have significantly slowed down now. I've lost contact with the Chinese surface group in the South China Sea. I have not been challenged by anything in the air for nearly an hour now. I sent one of my Falcons scouting around Great Cocos Island and found a Hainan class patrol boat docked there. I think this is a job for the Corsairs! And while there in the area, maybe they can soften up the facilities on the island. As the Falcon completes his recon of the island, I pick up a Slot Back radar approaching from Haingui. The recon Falcon is bingo fuel, but I have another in the area to fend off the slot Back. The corsairs lift off from Surat Thani and head NW. After an uneventful flight across the sea, the Corsairs split up and make their runs on Great Cocos Island. They all dive to 600m and push their throttles to full power. The flight leader goes straight in from the SE. Other than the road base and the patrol boat in the harbor, the only other unit known to be there is a Shilka battery. He drops a stick of 12 Mk82 500lb iron bombs on the AAA battery, as well as pepper the area with some 20mm fire. The Shilka battery is no more. As he turns his attention to the airstrip, he is greeted by the muzzle flashes of a 57mm AAA site. He returns cannon fire and drops his remaining Mk82s. The AAA site is reduced to a greasy stain on the island. The second Corsair hits the airfield from the E. He drops his entire load on the road base, but is unable to get any solid BDA. Corsair number three heads in from the N and expends a dozen 500 pounders on the Hainan patrol boat. It sinks at it's moorings. The fighter's second dozen bombs are spent on the airfield. This time we have several confirmed hits. The last Corsair goes in from the S and targets the airfield. Again there are several hits. The pilot also sees a second ZSU-57-2 site N of the road base. He fires a few bursts of cannon fire at the site and is rewarded with at least one hit. The site is damaged, but still operational. Rather than tempt fate, he joins his wing mates and goes home. In the South China Sea, I seem to have developed a problem. I've got an ESM track of a Zhuk radar that suddenly went hot about 20-25nm N of the Thai carrier TF and it's heading S. I order two Matadors airborne, but doubt they'll make it up in time. Let's hope our SAM gunners are good! At about 14nm, it's positively ID'd as a Chinese Flanker. Let me tell you one more time how I HATE Flankers!! The Flanker is brought down without incident about two miles off the Kraburi's bow. A single Sea Sparrow off the Naresuan was all it took. Unfortunately, the TF was forced to light up their radars and I'm quite certain the Flanker pilot got a radio call out before he went for a swim. Now I need to keep alert for any aircraft flying in from the N, as well as any missiles that might be launched by the DDG group that I lost to the S somewhere! It's now 2250Z and my Jaguars are ready at Port Blair. A few minutes later, I pick up another bogey approaching my Thai carrier TF. This time I get him about 65nm out. His radar profile matches the last one... another FLANKER!!! DAMN. My Matadors are already further S and NW, with all the jamming I doubt he can pick them up. Looks like another live fire exercise for the SAM crews! Before this situation can develop, the Falcon I have on station between Great Cocos and Haingui gets a return on something low and slow, a helo maybe. It's about 35nm N. He steers N to investigate. At about 8nm the bogey is ID'd as a Z-9A Dauphin Haitun. This is NOT his lucky day! One Sidewinder M, and the fat lady is singing! Back in the South China Sea, the southern Matador picks up the scent of the DDG group I hit earlier, as well as a bogey running an ORB32 radar, heading N, looking for the Thai carrier. The bogey seems to be well away from the destroyers, so the Matador moves in like a preacher pushing redemption. What I thought was one bogey turns out to be two, and they're a pair of Z-9As. The bogey that was to the N is indeed a Flanker, but now he does the unexpected. He dives to low altitude and turns W, staying out of my SAM envelope. The Matador to the S takes one helo with guns and the other with a missile shot. To the N, The Flanker must have been able to burn through the jamming, because he climbs and starts hunting the other Matador. The two are closing at over 1000kts. The Flanker gets the first shot, a PL-10 that missed. The Matador closes and fires a Sidewinder. A second missile jumps from the rail of the Flanker, but the Sidewinder gets there first ending the Flanker's hunt. I launch a Seahawk to track the destroyers I have re-acquired to the S. Despite my success in the South China Sea, I a given some very bad news from the northern entrance to the Malakka Straits. The tanker Chattahoochee is struck by a torpedo and is sinking. CRAP! This is the second tanker sunk, with one more crippled. A Tiger also makes short work of an Airguard approaching the shipping lanes from the E. I send a Sea King and my last Orion to search for the sub. There are four other tankers following DIRECTLY behind the sinking Chattahoochee! I am happy to see an almost immediate report of a goblin, but it's not the one I was looking for. This report comes in from a Sea King on patrol for the Viraat TF. The contact is only 19nm in front of the TF! And 13nm from the nearest ship, the Brahmaputra. I dispatch the two helos I had on patrol and launch another two for good measure. I also vector in one of my Trackers. The first Sea King is on top of the contact in a matter of minutes. He releases asingle A-244 torp, but there's no confirmed hit. He continues the search. Further SE, where the Chattahoochee was sunk, I get three contacts from one of the sonobouys dropped by the Orion. One is a goblin, the other two are torps in the water! Less than 4nm N are the supertanker Nichio Maru and the LNG tanker Vlaardingin! As the helo and Orion work the contact, the torps quickly close the gap with the tankers. The contact is eventually ID'd as a Romeo class and somewhat localized, although no accurate track is established. Of the two fish running, one misses the LNG tanker, the other hits the Nichio Maru, causing serious flooding. She's damaged at 62%. The Sea King attacks with DCs with no apparent effect, as two more torps are heard. The Orion drops a Mk46 Mod2 and begins to circle. The Sea King is out of ammo and heads for Car Nicobar. The Orion's first shot is a no go. A second longer range shot is attempted, but it will take about three minutes to get there. A third enemy torp is now heard in the water! I order the Orion closer and drop another Mk46. After less than a minute of run time, this one misses too! The Mk46 dropped earlier is now less than 30 seconds from the sub. Unfortunately, a second torp strikes the Nichio Maru, setting her ablaze and sinking her. In a Pyrrhic victory, the Mk46 does hit and kill the Romeo. The one torp still running for the LNG tanker, misses by a wide margin. The hunt for the sub in front of the Indian carrier TF heats up as it is joined by a Tracker and several other helos. However, after nearly an hour, no further contact is established and it is lost. SITREP: DTG is now 040030JAN04. ViConds say sink 10 warships, I've got 9 so far. They also dictate sink 4 subs, I can only confirm 2. With the lack of good sonars, I'm finding this one tough! And I'm required to allow no more than 8 tankers to be damaged. It doesn't specify more than that, so I assume the worst and figure 1% damage is too much. So far, I've lost three and had one crippled at 89% damage and two more damaged at 34% each. I need to find some more subs QUICK!! OK, good news. At 0040 on 4 JAN, my Matadors are once again ready for action. I order them airborne with instructions to attack the Chinese DDG group again. I've got a Seahawk on station about 35nm E of the DDG group, when he picks up the ESM track of another Chinese destroyer further SW. The signature of this one looks like a Luda. How did I miss this one??? My Gulf of Thailand TF had just recently transited the area and is now near the eastern-most point of the Singapore Exclusion Zone with the new contact about 110nm N of their present position. They never got a hint of another destroyer in the area! Maybe they were lucky they didn't!! It also seems that the Myanmar air force still has some fight in it. I pick up a pair of Sapfir 29 radars out of Haingui moving to challenge the two Falcons I have on patrol near there. Seems to be time for some SMACKDOWN!! I bait the two bogies with the nearest Falcon and run interception with the other as lead. What I hoped would be one sided turned out to be just another trade. Two Falcons for two Fulcrums! DAMN! I now have to give orders to re-fit two F-16a at Takhli with air-to-air rather than the 2000lb bombs they were armed with. I have one other Falcon at Takhli that will be ready in 15 minutes. At 20nm from the Chinese DDG group, the Matadors unleash their Harpoons. Six are targeted on what I believe to be the Hangzhou, and two more on what I think is a frigate with no radars active. I'll leave the Qingdao be for now. Of the eight Harpoons fired, one hits the Hangzhou, three hit the other ship I'd targeted and four were shot down. The only damage assessment I get is that the ship I thought to be the Siping is sinking. If my count is right, that should be the tenth enemy warship to be destroyed. The Tracker that was acting as cover for the Viraat TF has hit bingo and must RTB. One of my few remaining Falcons arrives on station S of Haingui and picks up three skunks that weren't there before. They're all small contacts, stopped in the water and have no radar emissions. He heads in to check it out. I now need to take a time out to change my drawers, because a pair of torpedoes just ran right past the Thai ship, Makut Rajakumarn of TF Andaman and scared the crap out of me! They were spotted visually seconds before they missed their target. Discovering there's a sub in the area by having it send some torps your way is a helluva way to conduct ASW operations!! Fortunately, I have my Orion slightly to the N, and my other Tracker W of their location. I give orders for the TF to go active with what sonars they have and send in the two ASW planes. I just hope I don't run out of sonobouys before I get a contact. It takes some time for the planes to close the gap, but they eventually do so. They each lay a line of six sonobouys S of the TF as it rushes N. As they both begin to line up to lay another spread, I get a contact. It's between the two eastern buoys that the Orion laid. The Tracker is the first to the contact, he drops an active buoy and ID's the sub as a PRC Romeo. As he continues to strive for a track, the Orion takes a shot. The Mk46 makes its run with no results. A second is dropped N of the target. While the fish is still in the water, an accurate track is established. The torp closes with its prey and buries itself in the subs hull just fore of the conning tower before detonating. That's three! Back up N, near Hainan, a Falcon has ID'd the three ships that are just sitting there. It's the Dalian, a Luda III class DD, the Jinan, a Luda II DD, and hull number 620, a Shengli fleet oiler. This should be nothing more than a live fire exercise. I order four Sea Eagle armed Harriers from the Viraat to head N to deal with the DDs. Once they are N of Port Blair, I order the four jaguars from there to airborne to deal with the tanker. Now I notice something very odd... There are five tankers in a row entering the narrows of the Malacca Straits, about 150nm SSE of Butterworth in Malaysia. They are all passing very close to the coast. First in line is the Mobile Condor, followed by the Ridgewood, the Inebolu, the Norbay, and the Santa Ana. I suddenly get a report of the Ridgewood being on fire. No report of a weapons hit, no enemy sighted, nothing! The Ridgewood is 5% damaged and on fire. Upon further investigation, I see the Mobile Condor isalso 1% damaged. Suddenly, the fire on the Ridgewood spreads and she's 15% damaged! Nothing I can do except hope for the best. I launch a Seahawk from Surat Thani to take a look around down there, but like most things in this scenario, it will probably be another case of too little, too late. The fire on the Ridgewood spreads and grows. Engineering is now damaged and the control systems are on fire. The damage level has reached 47%. To add insult to injury, the next ship in line, the Inebolu is on fire and damaged has already reached 39%! Whatever it is that I cannot see or detect is sinking tankers better than the combined navies and air forces of China and Myanmar!! As I struggle to find a solution, I realize that the Seahawk I launched earlier is far too slow. I now launch a pair of Tigers from Surat Thani to go S and have a look around. It's a long shot, but I gotta try something. The Ridgewood is 59% damaged and the Inebolu is now 42% damaged. Both are still burning. The Harriers from the Viraat are 30nm from the Dalian and Jinan when they fire. Neither ship has any radar active. The Harriers are rewarded with six Harpoons hitting the Jinan, sinking her, and one Harpoon hit on the Dalian. A short time later, the Jaguars arrive on the scene. Rather than one lightly armed tanker to deal with, they have a wounded DD also. I send three to intercept the DD and one to dispatch the tanker. Two jaguars are destroyed by gunfire before they can mount their attack. One drops it's bombs, without a hit, and is shot down as it turns for home. The Jaguar sent to hit the tanker fares no better and is shot down on his approach. The loss of four Jaguars for NO GAIN!!! I HATE when that happens! It's now 0425 on 4JAN04 and I've solved a mystery. One of my Tigers prowling the coast of Malaysia spotted a terrorist platoon right where my ships were getting damaged! The ships have long since moved out of the area, but the Inebolu is 49% damaged and the Ridgewood is 76% damaged. Both Tigers move in to attack and wind up expending all of their ammo on the platoon, 16 Rockeye CBs and 54 bursts of 20mm cannon fire! After scoring over a dozen hits, the platoon is still there!! I checked the DB and found the reason... 5000 DPs!These are some SUPER BAD ASS TERRORISTS!!! I'm glad the Taliban didn't have big red S's on their chests like these guys do, or I might not be sitting here today!! At shortly after five in the morning, another of the Sea Kings I have on dipping sonar patrol ahead of the Viraat TF makes a find. While dipping with active sonar, he gets a contact about 10nm E, and slightly N of the TF. Not quite on, but close to the PIM. I slow the TF to creep and launch two more Sea Kings. I detach the two that were on dipping patrol and vector in two more Sea Kings from Car Nicobar that are about 10 to 15nm away scouting in front of some merchants. Within five minutes, three helos are on top of the unknown goblin and establish a solid track. Suddenly the contact goes from the amber of unknown to the scarlet of hostile with the release of a single torpedo. No ,more time to play. I first send in one of the Sea Kings who is getting a little light on fuel to make the first attack. He is armed with depth charges, so I don't expect too much. I am pleasantly surprised to see two confirmed hits and the contact disappear! Just before 0600 hours, I am awarded victory as the fleets of Myanmar and the PRC turn tail and head for their respective ports! Freek, GREAT SCENARIO!!! Sorry for the length of this AAR, but I always find a running commentary to be very useful. On the plus side, the tide of battle certainly flowed back and forth. Just when something would go my way, something in another area of the game set me back! But I never had the frustrating feeling of having NOTHING go my way. The air battles were very well matched and evenly balanced. I'm sure I didn't see everything the Reds had, I haven't opened it up in the SE yet. When I do, I'll send additional comments. The trick with the terrorist platoon was impressive! Your use of EW was well done. It added to the fog of war. Speaking of which, getting a real handle on the intel situation at any one time was quite a challenge. Mainly because of a lack of assets on the Thai/Indian side. At any one moment, I felt like I had only about a 50% idea of what was going on around me. Even though the Chinese did not use front line subs, that I saw, the scenario showed how deadly even old boats can be if the opposing navies are without good quality sonars! One suggestion, in your posted ViConds, you say "No more than 8 tankers damaged." At the end I found out I had to keep them from getting 50% damage. It would be nice3 to know I had that latitude. Other than that, thanks for a GREAT scenario! Now that I've played the 7th and 8th in the series, I'm gonna have to find time to play the rest! SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare HarpGamer.com - Home of the HCDB.

Blast from the Past Ever wonder how difficult it might be to have a submarine creep up onto the beach for reconnaissance? Well, here's your chance to find out. This is the first Harpoon 3 scenario that I ever wrote. It's been damaged and unavailable for most of the year, but we've finally been able to repair it and now present it to you on StrategyZoneOnline for use with the PlayersDB. Beach Reconnaissance Soviet submarines have scored many successes in the Atlantic convoy lanes through the profligate expenditure of torpedoes and missiles. By the third week of the war, many submarines are suspected to be low on fuel and munitions. However, the number of submarines returning to ports in the Kola Peninsula is far lower than expected. The level of subsurface activity in the Spitzbergen area is higher than expected. Investigate and see if these anomalies are coincidental or correlated. If the Soviets can replenish away from the Kola Peninsula, this would be a significant and strategic force multiplier. Author: Herman Hum This scenario requires the latest release of the PlayersDB v5.9.7 Get it via: StrategyZoneOnline, HarpGamer, SimHQ, PlayersDB Depot, SubSim, CombatAce, or Frugal's World of Simulation. SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare HarpGamer.com - Home of the HCDB.

On her way back to base, the Canberra detected two additional ships, HMS Lion and HMS Barrosa. The bombardment group quickly made steam to cut off this threat. The bombardment commander elected to attack HMS Barrosa first and easily killed her before the group came into range of Barrosa's gunnery. However, the CL Delhi now had to face the British cruiser, Lion. She was already short of ammo from her bombardment of the island and the destruction of HMS Barrosa. The Lion certainly had a better chance in a stand-up fight, but, just like in Africa, lions can be killed by a pack of hyenas. The Indian force easily outnumbered the lone British cruiser. CL Delhi engaged first and used up her remaining 152mm ammo and then it became a brawl. HMS Lion did indeed fight like her namesake and acquitted herself well. Frigates Kistna, Raiput, and Beas would answer no more squadron rolls. Their destruction distracted the Lion's gunners sufficiently so that CL Delhi could finally close the distance and kill the Lion with her secondary batteries. It came at a high cost. CL Delhi was down by the stern with 30% of her flotation destroyed. A strike of eight Canberra was finally able to kill the Eagle. Once the group's air cover was forced to ditch from lack of fuel, the rest of the formation was easily hunted down and exterminated by the heavy bombers. The Delhi bombardment force was able to track down and kill one additional SAG [surface Action Group]. The Viraat landing force was able sail directly into the harbour and disgorge her amphibious elements under the protection of the cruiser's guns. Within an hour, the commander of Her Majesty's forces on Gan surrendered. The sun had truly set on the British Empire. Thanks for another entertaining scenario.

AAR: Indian Expansion [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon 3 scenario By Paul Bridge Defence Minister Singh had no experience in military matters. He had been appointed for his connections and his political shrewdness. He saw his opportunity to rise further in the Indian government with his latest scheme. He sold the cabinet on his vision for India to rise above her former masters and prove to the world that the Indian Ocean was for the Indians. His plan called for their former imperialists to be lulled into a false sense of security at the negotiating table while the real voice of negotiation would be spoken by the air force and the navy. He proposed a surprise attack on the British forces as they were in transit and before they were able to arrive at Gan. The plan was approved. The die was cast. All naval units reported heavy jamming right away. Even though they were not yet in a state of armed aggression with the British Empire, evidently, the English were taking no chances and jamming all possible frequencies on the electromagnetic spectrum. The navy's task groups were ordered to flank speed and to close on Gan as soon as possible in order to bring her under the iron flail of their guns. With her squadrons of re-deployed bombers, she was judged to be the biggest threat. Some very interesting ESM contacts began to appear. Buccaneer radar was reported south of Ceylon. Evidently, the HMS Eagle had arrived in the area. Both Canberra PR [photo reconnaissance] aircraft were immediately launched to try and pin down the location of the carrier. It was hoped that the air force could get in a quick strike with Canberra before enemy forces were fully alert. As the recon planes closed on the area, a bearing contact was made on the suspected carrier. The commander decided to gamble and try to sneak in a quick attack by launching all available aircraft based on this flimsy evidence. The Ouragan bombers were escorted by MiGs and another pair accompanied the recon element. Although the carrier's location was not localized, CAP [Combat Air Patrols] were encountered. There had to be a carrier nearby. Rani flight moved to intercept. Their mission was to keep the fighters off of the spyboys. Unfortunately, this time, they engaged just as a missile struck one of the Canberra. The flight managed to loose their four Atolls to no effect. Out of ammo, they attempted to disengage, but one MiG was lost to another AAM before the survivor pulled out of range. This was an inauspicious beginning to the titanic conflict to come. The bright side of the engagement was that the delay allowed the surviving Canberra to localize a few ships. Although she was unable to classify the carrier, she classified sufficient ships that the carrier could be reasonably expected to be nearby. These reports were immediately forwarded to Trivandrum HQ. Intercept vectors were issued to the strike elements already outbound. The Indians didn't know it, but they were conducting a reasonable facsimile of a USN Alpha strike. Four MiGs were escorting the strike. The accompanying Canberra recon plane reported pursuit by Sea Venom fighters and urgently radioed for help. The Fishbeds were ordered to scratch this flea off her back. They were rudely surprised when the flight was wiped out! This was looking like a very bleak day for the Indian military, indeed. Again, their sacrifice was not in vain. They managed to distract the CAP sufficiently so that the Canberra strike element could make their ingress unopposed. Meanwhile, the other recon Canberra had ventured a little too close to the enemy ships and she caught the attention of a Sea Slug SAM. Luckily, she survived by the skin of her teeth. Evidently, the SAM didn't have her name on it. Showing prudence, she moved SE of TF in order to shadow it. The Canberra attack run ran right through the outer screen and directly over HMS Berwick. The valiant crews took no notice as the sky filled with angry puffs of AAA fire. They concentrated on their target, HMS Eagle. Soon enough, each of the bombardiers lofted their stick of eight 1000lb bombs and 32 of these weapons were on their way as the bombers pulled off target as fast as possible. Several hits were registered, but HMS Eagle was still steaming along at 19kts as the bombers made their egress out the other side of the formation. The Ouragans never got close enough to even see their targets as they were wiped out by the CAP. The Mystere were next to attack. They made their ingress from the other direction after the Canberra reported that the defending fighters appeared to be lighter in that quadrant. Two were killed by the AAA, but they managed to drop their bombs and rake her with SNEB rockets. She was still making about 12 kts when they broke off their attack. The backdoor seemed to be wide open so another flight of Canberra decided to try the same attack route. Thirty-two more bombs were released. Several more hits were seen, but she was still seen steaming at about 12 kts as the planes left the group. A beautiful two-pronged attack was then delivered by a combined Mystere / Canberra force. The Mystere delivered their bombs and rockets from medium altitude and kept the gunners focused on them while the velvet fist of the Canberra delivered forty 500lb bombs from high altitude. Although two Mystere were lost, the Canberra were able to drop most of their ordnance onto the Eagle. Unfortunately, the Mystere were at the edge of their endurance and had to bingo right through the CAP screens. One more lost as she was too short of fuel to even attempt evasive manoeuvres. The navy was facing its own tribulation. The 11th Destroyer Squadron was attacked by two Buccaneer. One was killed before releasing her Bullpups, but the other managed to launch four and they killed INS Rana before the attacker was killed in turn. It was small consolation to the men floating in the water. The 12th Frigate Squadron was attacked by four Hunter. Some minor damage was received in exchange for killing two of the Hunters. A continuous series of air attacks were directed at the Eagle. Although the orders indicated that damaging her to 50% of operational levels would be sufficient to prevent flight operations, there was no way to know of her current status. So long as she was able to conduct flight operations, she would remain a threat to the landing forces. The only way to be certain would be to sink her and the Indian air force meant to do just that. Flights of venerable B-24 Liberators managed to slam a few more one ton bombs into her, but she seem to almost ignore them. Closer to Gan, the two Hunters returned to the 12th Frigate Squadron and killed Kaveri, but both were killed in turn by Kaveri gunnery. Both killer and victim joined each other in eternal embrace beneath the waters of the Indian Ocean. By now, the Frigates Ganga, Godavari, Gomati had reached Gan and were conducting a bombardment of the facilities. Suddenly, they were surrounded by shell splashes! Somehow, the British had managed to hide a shore battery on the island. All three ships were killed in short order before they were able to retreat out of range. The bombardment group decided to wait for aerial reconnaissance to locate the battery before they closed to kill it. With the appearance of a Canberra recon plane, the 29th Commando Royal Artillery was quickly localized and reported to CL Delhi who promptly silenced them in a quick counter-battery shootout. The rest of the group then proceeded to flatten all the structures on the island.

Well, I think that things might have turned out very differently if I had not discovered three new game engine bugs in the process! I like the feeling of real world, "Oh, Sh*t", when something breaks down and doesn't work. I know that Brad couldn't have planned for it. When my Harrier landed and took a huge long time to get ready, I knew that the game wasn't meant to do that. It was a 'nice' surprise to have that particular monkey wrench thrown into the gears.

53rd Scenario posted this year! Another installment in the Harpoon 3 Battleset based upon Brad Leyte's "New World Order - Cyprus Affair" series, has been released. This is starting to look like a weekly TV Serial! SCARECROW - Scenario #5 - New World Order Campaign #2 [The Cyprus Affair] When the NSC made good on its promise to deliver SA-10 Grumble SAM systems to the Greek Cypriots in the spring of 1995 despite Turkish protests, the stage was set for another conflict in Cyprus. The presence of the advanced weapons shifted the delicate balance of power as it put nearly all aircraft operating from the Turkish side of the island at risk. NATO was embarrassed when regular Turkish forces stormed the island a few months later. It had not been aware of Turkey's intent to reclaim Cyprus once and for all. Hand-in-hand with the economic boom in the NSC came military modernization and revitalization; funding for which was fueled at least partly by an unprecedented level of arms exports. The NSC would no longer sit idly by while its national interests were decided by others. It launched a major attack against Turkey on June 3, 1995. The NSC did not believe that NATO would intervene in the Cypriot affair after having been snubbed by its Turkish partner and after the beating it had received in the Baltic conflict a year earlier. The NSC was about to be proven wrong. The first mission of the NATO task force, now known as Task Force Scarecrow, upon arrival on station between Cyprus and Crete, is to secure air and surface supremacy. This will be difficult. By now, the Turkish military is essentially non-existent, and will not be able to provide much support. SECRET - Flash Message 1605Z190695 Fr: CinC South To: CVBG 5.5 - Flag Eisenhower Comd Italy HQ Naples Subj: Conflict in Turkey - Arrival of CVBG in Cypriot zone 1. SitRep - The situation in Turkey is critical. Turkish military forces have been totally defeated and are unable to support NATO operations. Many former Turkish bases are now under NSC control. An exclusion zone has been declared against all NSC units in the area along the south coast of Turkey. 2. ORDERS - Maintain your position between Cyprus and Crete. Eject NSC surface combatants within your area and repel all intruders within the declared Exclusion Zone. Stand by for new operational orders. WarPlan Liberation Turkey is in progress. Author: Herman Hum, Brad Leyte This scenario requires the latest release of the PlayersDB v5.9.7 Get it via: StrategyZoneOnline, HarpGamer, SimHQ, PlayersDB Depot, SubSim, CombatAce, or Frugal's World of Simulation. SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare HarpGamer.com - Home of the HCDB.

AAR: Crimean River [spoiler Alert] By Brad Leyte The loss of weapons-grade nuclear material is the greatest modern-day fear of most Western leaders. That fear would become a reality if this mission were to fail. With only four Harriers in the entire operation, the heavy lifting was going to be left up to the pilots of the helicopter gunships and the Marines and Special Operations troopers in their slicks / Osprey. The Harriers were launched in order to clear a path for the air assault elements. Unfortunately, the pair of Harriers assigned to Simferopol air base declared mechanical problems and immediately returned to base. This meant that 50% of the available fixed wing assets were now declared unflightworthy and grounded indefinitely. This was a potentially crippling blow to the operation. The raid commander, in the finest tradition of Ranger "Can Do" spirit, elected to try and continue the mission without these vital assets. All "For Want of a Bolt"... The situation looked grim, indeed. Numerous Surface-to-air missile [sAM] sites were quickly picked up by their distinctive transmissions as well as three armoured columns were also detected approaching Simferopol and the two bridges needed by the ground elements to cross into the Crimea. The Apache, Super Cobra, and Little Bird helicopters were able to quickly destroy this threat with rockets and Hellfire AGMs. The operation still looked feasible. As the raid moved towards the nuclear sites, four Su-25 Frogfoot fighter-bombers attempted to intercept. The Harriers intercepted and destroyed three of them before the fourth was dispatched by a Super Cobra with a Sidewinder. The situation still looked nominal. The Harriers summarily dumped their load of bombs on SAM units in order to try and open up a breach in the defences. On their egress, both were shot down by the hideously lethal Grison-19 SAMs. The Apaches then took to destroying most of the defending armoured forces and many short-ranged SAMs surrounding the bases. However, once they tried to approach the bases, they were quickly and helplessly shot out of the air. The Pantzir and SA-19 Grison systems easily out-ranged the 4nm range of the Hellfire missiles. The Apaches tried to swarm the defending SAMs in hopes of overwhelming them in sheer numbers. Their lives and their helicopters were thrown away for no gain. Still, the commander tried to press the attack. His slicks had to get within 1nm in order to disgorge the assault troops. Sadly, they proved to be meat on the table for the voracious SAMs. After losing 30% of the assault element, the commander ordered a full retreat. To add insult to injury, a second wave of Su-25 Frogfoot fighter-bombers was launched from Russian bases. As they chased the retiring helos back to base, many more helos and Ospreys were shot down to them. Once they landed, National Command Authority ordered a full withdrawal from the region. They would have to get the fissile material another way. Thanks for another challenging scenario. Still don't see how I could have done any better, but then, again, not all battles can be won. Just like in real life. HarpGamer.com - Home of the HCDB. SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare

That's all lies, lies, and more da**ed lies. As usual, I will have to disagree with Brad. I voted for Brad as the Harpoon player of the year. His constant work on the HCDB is felt by not only the HCG community, he has gratiously allowed it be of use by the H3 community in the creation of the PlayersDB (and he doesn't even play H3, yet ). His unselfish nature and willingness to help anyone and everyone involved in computer Harpoon is why I have lost so many nights to the computer. Curse you, CV32! He's helped start up HarpGamer.com and the reason why ScenShare, FilesOfScenShare, and SZO were even feasible. There were many folks also deserving of the award, but Brad managed to edge them out. So that they aren't forgotten, I hope that everyone sees the work put out by Freek, Dave, Tony, Fred, Mark, Bruce, Frans, Vince, and all the others who continue to make this game fun! If I've left anyone out, it's because the Academy only gave me a finite period to say my thanks for the nomination. Well, as a sop to his pride, I will agree with Brad and vote for Ed Ladner as the man of the century. Don't say I didn't agree with you at least once a year.

How the devil did you manage to engage and shoot down a neutral?! I thought that the GE prevented any engagement of neutrals?

Planes directly inserted Planes directly inserted into a scenario may not properly re-build and, as a result, may cause a crash when the scenario is run with the Game Engine. Firing arcs ignored When firing manually, weapon arcs are ignored and all weapons may be brought to bear. Subs in groups Subs joined with groups are automatically assigned a formation patrol zone on the ASW axis that cannot be changed or modified. Large scenarios cause crash Starting large scenarios at high time compression rates may cause a crash. Work-around solution: Ensure scenario starts at 1:1 compression by hitting the "-" [minus] hotkey to bring the time compression rate down. Fixed ranges for bombs/rockets Maximum range for bombs and rockets is fixed at 2nm regardless of the range a database editor may assign.

I can happily report that MAD does work on subs at Shallow depth and does Not work on subs at Deep depth. I've tried to test MAD against subs at Int depth but can't seem to get the enemy subs to stay at that depth so that I can check on it! I'll let you know if I ever solve that one.

Sonobuoy hotkey --- GE HCCE B09 When the "." hotkey is depressed for Helos and Planes not currently at low altitude, the unit will drop down to low altitude. A second use of the hotkey is required to activate the dipping sonar/deploy sonobuoy. Dipping while cruising --- GE HCCE B09 Sonar range circle can be activated while helo is still at cruise speed. Only the range circle appears. The dipping sonar does not actually function until the helo is brought to hover. This can be misleading for players who might believe that the range circle indicates that the dipping sonar is actually operational. Dipping at Med Alt --- GE HCCE B09 Helos are able to operate dipping sonar at Med altitude. Unable to maintain depth --- GE HCCE B09 Sub orders are to cruise at Int. depth. The sub is able to start here, but then invariably alternates between Deep and shallow depth even if the orders do not specify either depth. I was originally trying to test to see if a MAD contact could be made against a sub at Int, but couldn't do the test since the sub would not remain at Int depth so that I could try to find it. Helo drops to low --- GE HCCE B09 When a helo is cruising at med altitude and the player orders it to hover, it automatically dives to low altitude.

Submarine insertion at Int depth Submarine are always inserted at Int depth regardless of the actual depth possible. Work-around solution: Order the unit to change depth right after it is inserted. The unit will then respect the actual depth at that point on the map. Max depth determined by engine Max depth that a submarine can dive to is determined by the engine / propulsion unit and not the depth field in the Sub Data annex. Relief patrols launch individually Aircraft assigned to area patrols may launch as a group when the patrol is first activated. However, relief aircraft arrive as individual units. Hidden units killed in a group Units that are meant to be Hidden / non-auto-detected can be hit and destroyed if they are part of a group and the group is the target. Empty sides All sides in a scenario must have at least one unit in it and one unit must be designated the flagship. If this unit(s) is missing, the scenario will crash when opened by the Game Engine.

Respectfully disagree, here. I am just finished building a few test scens and about to report this to AGSI. The sonar will activate with the nice yellow range circle when you hit the "." hotkey while the helo is cruising along. However, I am pretty certain that it doesn't work until the helo is put into hover. I think the fact that the range ring appears is a visual bug. Operationally, I think that the dipping sonar is properly simulated.

50th, 51st, and 52nd scenarios posted! Well, we've done it! Christmas comes early. Three new scenarios by three different authors have been released into the Harpoon community - two for Harpoon 3 and one for Harpoon Classic enthusiasts. These are the 50th, 51st, and 52nd scenarios to be posted to StrategyZoneOnline, ScenShare, FilesOfScenShare, and HarpGamer. That means 50 new scenarios have been produced for Harpoon Classic and Harpoon 3 and the year is not even over yet. Bravo, boys, and keep it up! Continuing on in his "Battle Ocean 90" series, Mark Gellis has posted his Hungry Lion [EC2003 NACV] scenario. Freek Schepers has released, Indian, the 8th scenario in his "21st Century Ocean Wars" battleset. Herman Hum has posted the fourth installment in the "New World Order - Cyprus Affair" battleset, Chastiser. HUNGRY LION – EC2003 NACV – CON90A1 It is 1990 and the world is at war. The Soviet Union has invaded and occupied Iran. The United States and its allies demanded that the Soviet Union remove its forces from Iran immediately and threatened to use force if necessary. The Soviet Union responded with a series of lightning strikes that destroyed a large number of military bases in Europe. The Soviets then initiated a massive campaign of submarine warfare designed to cripple the West. Their goal does not appear to be to invade Europe but to leave the West so weak that it will be unable to force them out of Iran until their control of that country effectively becomes the status quo. Blue Orders: Convoy AHS (Flag Bradley), Convoy AIS (Flag Scott), and Convoy ALS (Flag Wainwright) should proceed to Portsmouth. Avoid contact with enemy forces if possible, but you are cleared to defend yourselves against any threats. All other available surface and submarine units should patrol the sea lanes between the United States and the United Kingdom. Engage and destroy any enemy vessels or submarines you encounter. Air assets should provide support to the convoys and the surface action groups. Intelligence reports that the Soviets may attempt to attack British and French bases with long-range bombers. Be prepared to defend these bases. Author: Mark Gellis Mark's Scenarios This scenario requires the latest release of the HCDB that can be found on harpgamer.com INDIAN OCEAN - Scenario #8 - 21st Century Ocean Wars battleset The NATO-Russian war is 4 weeks old. Russia has suffered crippling losses to its long-range Naval aviation forces and to its submarines in the Atlantic and Pacific theatres. The US strategy of leaving the defence of the SLOCs in the IO to India, Thailand, and Singapore has failed when China, worried about its oil supply, claimed control over the Malakka Strait. The ensuing fight sank numerous oil tankers and crippled the Allied Navies in southeast Asia. The White House and State Department are at odds whether the Chinese intervention signals an alliance between China, Russia, and several SE-Asia nations.The US Navy is rushing reserve forces into the IO to defend the critical approaches to the Persian Gulf oil fields. Reserve troop flown to SE-Asia and the Persian Gulf Region must be matched up with their pre-positioned equipment on Diego Garcia to stabilise the region. The IO is in turmoil. Chinese naval forces have pushed through the Malakka Strait and destroyed the airbases and navy of Singapore. In a running fight, two of the escorting frigates of the Thai carrier Chakkri Nareubet have been sunk, but the carrier is still afloat and is heading for the IO. Chinese ships then entered harbour in Myanmar. India has withdrawn its forces from Port Blair after the sinking of the Viraat in the ten-degree channel by a torpedo. Oil tanker traffic is in turmoil with many tanker destinations being changed due to the war. About 20 have been boarded by Chinese prize crews. MISSION Primary mission is to destroy any enemy units inside the IO. The secondary mission is to escort the AK and AKR Maritime Pre-positioned ships from Diego Garcia towards the Malakka Strait (3 ships), Persian Gulf (5 ships), and Suez Canal (4 ships). Author: Freek Schepers This scenario requires the latest release of the PlayersDB v5.9.7 Get it via: StrategyZoneOnline, HarpGamer, SubSim, SimHQ, CombatAce, or Frugal's World of Simulation. CHASTISER - Scenario #4 - New World Order Campaign #2 [The Cyprus Affair] When the NSC made good on its promise to deliver SA-10 Grumble SAM systems to the Greek Cypriots in the spring of 1995 despite Turkish protests, the stage was set for another conflict in Cyprus. The presence of the advanced weapons shifted the delicate balance of power as it put nearly all aircraft operating from the Turkish side of the island at risk. NATO was embarrassed when regular Turkish forces stormed the island a few months later. It had not been aware of Turkey's intent to reclaim Cyprus once and for all. Hand-in-hand with the economic boom in the NSC came military modernization and revitalization; funding for which was fueled at least partly by an unprecedented level of arms exports. The NSC would no longer sit idly by while its national interests were decided by others. It launched a major attack against Turkey on June 3, 1995. The NSC did not believe that NATO would intervene in the Cypriot affair after having been snubbed by its Turkish partner and after the beating it had received in the Baltic conflict a year earlier. The NSC was about to be proven wrong. 1. SitRep The move to seize the Bosporous & Dardanelles was a mistake. The prospect of a modernized and ambitious New Soviet navy with a front yard on the eastern Mediterannean was too much for NATO to bear. The U.S. Sixth Fleet, standing off Italy and observing the conflict in Turkey from afar, has now been called into action. The task force will be entering an extremely hostile zone. Yesterday, the NSC launched a major airborne assault upon the Turkish contingent in Cyprus and all indications are that the island will be firmly under NSC control by tomorrow.NSC amphibious forces have seized Turkish territory around the Bosporous & the Dardanelles. Istanbul is under siege. NSC airborne assault against Cyprus is underway and will likely be successful by tomorrow. The prospect of NSC control of these areas is unacceptable to NATO security concerns. 2. ORDERS CVBG 5.5 - Flag Eisenhower - Proceed at best speed to Cypriot zone. Stand by for further operational orders upon arrival. A diplomatic solution is still possible but unlikely. Author: Herman Hum, Brad Leyte This scenario requires the latest release of the PlayersDB v5.9.7 Get it via: StrategyZoneOnline, HarpGamer, SimHQ, PlayersDB Depot, SubSim, CombatAce, or Frugal's World of Simulation. SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare HarpGamer.com - Home of the HCDB.