I am presently trying to play this game but no matter how many aircraft I launch my fleet is overwhelmed by missiles, torpedoes bombers etc in minutes, does anyone know how to survive long enough to

at least have a chance of hitting back? please keep replies with technical stuff in simple language

Good question . It is a nasty one where you may just have to use an older version of the game to stand any chance. I'm giving it a go in 2015.027 and could not prevent the loss of a couple of ships in that first volley.

 

I was hoping I could keep from radiating with my carrier group but it wasn't possible, I had to light up radars at the 30 second mark so my SAMs could fire against the incoming.

 

What I did do right away:

1. Launched an E-2 immediately and turned on radar to get eyes on any firing ships or tattletales.

2. Launched two Prowlers to provide some jamming to help out the air defense situation and turned on radars as soon as I could.

3. Launched a torpedo-armed ASW asset with a destination point located where I detected each group of incoming weapons in hopes of finding the attacker.

 

Followed up by:

1. Prosecuting contacts as expeditiously as possible.

a. I had Harpoons away at a couple of ships at 27 seconds game time.

 

Alternate strategies (aka cheat):

1. Try the first few minutes a number of times, there are alternate start points defined for the Red groups so there is a possibility you might not be detected straight away if you fire up the scenario enough times.

2. Use Show-All (really cheating!) to fire weapons at zero game seconds.

I assume you have a good handle on the game and have tried other/easier scenarios? One characteristic that makes HC a sim rather than a pure game is that there is no expectation that scenarios be balanced nor winnable.

In the first two minutes I lost most of the ships I would need for victory: CVN North Caroline and 6 other ships

the same advice still applies, http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?/topic/25205-fttw-2002-north-carolinaop-hercules/

The HCE hot keys (including the nefarious 'Show All') are here.

 

I would really work at devising a strategy before (if ever) resorting to the 'Show All' approach.