AAR: Interfet-Stabilize [Spoiler Alert]
Harpoon ANW scenario for the PlayersDB
by Freek Schepers







Although this scenario has not yet been released, Tony and I decided to give it a try on the HarpGamer ANW Server. Anyone else interested in this scenario can also try it out there, too. In order to preserve the element of surprise if Tony should decide to play this scenario solitaire, I commanded the Indonesians while Tony took the UN forces.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19314&stc=1&d=1179508069

My orders were to destroy several troop transports carrying soldiers for the Interfet operation as it is much easier to destroy units while they are embarked on ships than after they disembark and deploy. Several contact bearings were reported by submarine so I launched an unarmed Super Frelon helo to triangulate the contacts.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19315&stc=1&d=1179508079

Once the convoy was solidly pinpointed, the submarine was ordered to dive and creep along at maximum depth. The convoy path would take it right overhead and she did not need to make any extraneous noise. Strangely, FF Anzac seemed to accelerate and pull away from the rest of the group at 31 knots. Luckily, she was still running directly towards the SS Cakra. When she was only 2nm away, I decided to launch a spread of torpedoes. I knew that she was not my main target and that I might be revealing myself early, but I was following the adage of "the bird in hand...." In addition, she held a potential inventory of 8 Harpoon missiles that could wreak havoc among my approaching ships.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19316&stc=1&d=1179508086

The spread of four SUT torpedoes broke the surface 1 nm away from their target. An alert lookout must have noticed them as the ship began immediate evasive manoeuvres. Although the ANZAC was able to flee at 31 kts, the range was too short and the 34 kt torpedoes soon caught her and cut the SSMs available to the UN in half. Yahoo!

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19318&stc=1&d=1179508104

Unfortunately, turnabout is fair play, too. Soon afterwards, a salvo of Harpoon missiles was detected from the surviving NZ frigates. After one was shot down, I went onto the chat channel to boast about my excellent gunnery. Meanwhile, a second wave of missiles demolished both of my own Harpoon-armed Ahmad Yani missile boats before they could fire their missiles. Argggh! Moral of the story was: "Don't gloat during combat." I only had two more boats armed with the shorter-ranged Exocet. One "good" outcome of the Harpoon attack on me was the fact that one of the missiles started tracking a local fishing boat and blew her out of the water. Now world opinion would turn against the UN for harming civilians.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19317&stc=1&d=1179508095

On the East coast of Timor, FF Hasnuddin detected the fast ferry, Jervis Bay rounding the point and set her ablaze with old-fashioned gunfire. Luckily, she did not try to escape with her phenomenal 42kt maximum speed as the frigate was only capable of 24kts in pursuit.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19319&stc=1&d=1179508115

Back to the Amphibious convoy, a Mandau-class missile boat silently crept up on her prey. She maintained EmCon to prevent the Kiwis from ascertaining her exact identity as she was getting navigational cues from the orbiting Super Frelon helo. A second helo armed with Exocet missiles launched to try and coordinate a pincer attack with the Mandau. Just as they arrived to simultaneously deliver Exocet from the surface and the air, fire control radar was detected from the frigate! The tattletale helo exploded in a fireball, but she had done her duty and 6 Exocets were sufficient to overwhelm the little frigate's defenses. The Mandau did not live to see the results as she fell victim to return fire.

At this point, just when I thought things were getting interesting, Tony conceded defeat. With only one frigate left to protect the convoy, he didn't think that it would be sufficient to accomplish the mission. We saved the game in case he changed his mind.

Thanks to Freek for another superb scenario and to Tony for a great game. It was too bad that I had the opportunity to help test this scenario during development, but I tried not to take advantage of my prior knowledge.

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Another great AAR re-printed here with the permission of the author.



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Jerome (a.k.a Angle of Attack) had a little down time from flight operations tonight, so we decided to play Freek Schepers's, Nordkapp scenario, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19849&stc=1&d=1187411654

I took the Russian side to hunt for the Dutch PhibRon while Jerome played the NATO ships attempting to leave the area.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19850&stc=1&d=1187411680

As soon as my helicopters were ready, I sent them airborne to scout for the enemy. They detected the FFG Zeven de Provincien, FFG Heemskirck and LPD Rotterdam hugging the coastline. I checked the range and it was only about 60nm -- I was well within SAM range! I prayed that I would be able to dive fast enough to get out of the SAM envelope. I guess my prayers were answered since no Standards arrived to blow my Helix helos from the sky. Whew! :smoke:

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19851&stc=1&d=1187411693

With a firm location in hand, my little force of frigates closed the range. I also managed to manoeuvre a sub in front of the Phibron. Everything looked perfect.

Once they were all in range, I decided to try and kill the FFG Heemskirck as a priority. Both FFGs held 8 deadly Harpoon missiles, but the Zeven should have been a much tougher nut to crack with here phenomenal SAMs. 8 Switchblade SSMs were allocated to the Heemskirck and 8 Sunburns to the Zeven. I only allocated the Sunburns to the Zeven to keep her busy. As it turned out, the Zeven didn't have her radar on, so she ate them and blew up in a huge fireball! Scooooooooooorrrrrre! :laugh:

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19852&stc=1&d=1187411707

The Heemskirck was actually able to shoot down all of her assailants. :OHNO:

She survived long enough to return fire with her Harpoons. Amazingly, the LPD turned around! Argggh. The sub had her in their sights, but wanted to wait just a little bit longer to minimize the run time on her torpedoes when she turned tail and ran. She'll never know how close she came...

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19853&stc=1&d=1187411719

However, Russians make good point defenses. A lone frigate salvo had no chance of penetrating and they were easily swatted aside. With all SSMs expended from both sides, the Russian frigate force manage to chase down the LPD and blast her from the water with old fashioned naval gunnery.

A really great round of MP play. Thanks to Jerome for a fun game and to HarpGamer for hosting it.

Anyone looking for an MP game can drop a line here or look for us on HarpGamer pHp chat room or the HG mIRC chat room.

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AAR: Azore Loser [Spoiler Alert]
Harpoon: ANW scenario
By Eric Weincam



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Jerome (a.k.a Angle of Attack) demanded revenge, so we decided to re-play Freek Schepers's, Nordkapp scenario, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. Same scenario, same sides.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19864&stc=1&d=1187679292

Since we already knew each other's Order of Battle, I didn't try to hide my positions or identities. As soon as my helicopters were aloft, I immediately activated the radar and the jamming equipment aboard the ships to try and blind my enemy.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19865&stc=1&d=1187679301

As our forces closed on each other, I tried my former tactic of quick attack. The FFG Heemskirck was slightly outside the protective SAM umbrella of the FFG Zeven de Provincien so I tried to launch a sneak attack in hopes of killing her and the 8 Harpoon missiles she carried. 8 Switchblade SSMs were fired in a volley once the prey had been fully localized. As they neared their target, I was about to rejoice in killing the frigate when, all of a sudden, they turned and struck a distant neutral cruise liner. Looks like a court-martial for me. I'll blame it on A Gust of Sunspot Interference.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19866&stc=1&d=1187679322

Unfortunately, there was still a fully armed frigate out there. I had to fire my second salvo of SSM Sunburn missiles at her. Three managed to get through the defenses and leave her ablaze from stem to stern. However, she was able to unleash her own SSMs in reply before she was hit. As before, a single wave of Harpoon missiles were unable to penetrate my defences. This time, he also included the missiles from FFG Zeven. Luckily for me, the two attacks were sequential and not simultaneous. This allowed me sufficient time to shoot down all the SSMs even though it exhausted my SAM inventory on the Neustrashimyy.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19867&stc=1&d=1187679330

With no additional offensive weaponry available, the little KUG [surface action group] tried to close for a gunnery engagement. The Adm. Chebanenko had a 130mm gun with a range of 9nm. Unfortunately, my ships were out-ranged by the FFG Zeven with her 127mm gun and 11nm range. Getting close was going to be a challenge.

This was to be my undoing. By only focusing on the gun range of my opponents, I neglected to take into account her SAM battery. Only when I was near the 12nm mark did I realize my short-sightedness. My squadron immediately broke up and tried to flee, but they were not successful. The SAM defences did an admirable job, but several Standard missiles struck the ships before they finally retreated outside of sight and SAM range. The damage suffered slowed down my ability to effectively chase the PhibRon.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19868&stc=1&d=1187679339

On a second approach, I sent my sole undamaged frigate around the islands in an attempt to box in my prey while the other two ships pressed from the West. They started to launch USET-80 torpedo attacks from maximum range in order to herd the prey into a kill zone. Also, I was trying to distract attention from the ASW helos he had out hunting for my sub. If I was lucky, the sub would come into play as the hidden dagger.

But, today, I wasn't lucky. Jerome was very diligent with his dipping sonar and soon found my sub on her way to intercept the LPD. They dropped both depth charges and ASW torpedoes and she never even heard the weapon that destroyed her.

My futile surface torpedo attack failed miserably. The weapons simply didn't have sufficient fuel to reach their targets, but they did keep the PhibRon busy evading them. Long enough that we declared the game a draw.

A superb game from Jerome and thanks to HarpGamer for the use of their server.

Anyone looking for an MP game can drop a line here or look for us on HarpGamer pHp chat room or the HG mIRC chat room.

Since our previous encounter left doubt in the mind who actually won and who lost the scenario, Jerome (a.k.a Angle of Attack) and I decided to settle our differences where matters of honour are normally handled; the electronic battlefield. We decided to help play-test one of the scenarios re-built for the impending HUD3 database release, Watch that First Step. A version of this scenario is also available for the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19869&stc=1&d=1187749867

One of the first steps to war is the deployment of the SSBNs to their patrol areas. Although the oceans offer a great many places to hide, there is only one submarine support base and only one way in or out. I took the USN side attempting to deploy the Ohio SSBNs and Jerome undertook the Russian side attempting to destroy them. The scenario starts just as the SSBNs begin to clear the Gulf.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19870&stc=1&d=1187749874

Not long after, WHEC Hamiliton detected a sub nearly in her baffles! It was within 6nm. This was Danger-Close! At that range, she was vulnerable to all sorts of ASuW weapons. She immediately let loose a salvo of Mk46 torpedoes from her Port tubes as she desperately tried to leave the area at flank speed. Luckily, three helicopters and one Orion Maritime patrol plane were in the vicinity. If she were sunk, they could at least avenge her. Luck was with the USCG, today. No incoming torpedoes were detected, but the Mk46 appeared to have missed, too.

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Soon enough, the helos arrived and began to prosecute the submarine. It turned out to be a Victor III class SSN and it was very capably driven. Although the sub as blanketed by sonobuoys, it struggled valiantly to break contact. Only after the expenditure of 16 aerially delivered torpedoes was she finally sunk. It was remarkable. If all Russian sub drivers were this good, it was going to be a long war.

As the forces began to unite, a second sub contact was detected by DDG Iroquois. One again, helos and Orions converged on the target. This sub turned out to be an Alfa-class SSN; a real sprinter. The contact was quite vague, so a very large area had to be searched. I decided to use the faster Orions for the general search and hold back my helos. I ordered the the SeaHawks to hover. Luck must be smiling on me, today, for one SeaHawk found herself right over the Alfa! This sub, too, required nearly 8 torpedoes to finally sink her.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19872&stc=1&d=1187749898

Once the destroyers made their rendezvous with the SSBNs, they formed a wedge to 'plow' the path for their charges. Hopefully, any enemy sub would engage them before they could reach the Ohios. One SSBN reported a distant fuzzy sub contact. The accompanying Orion immediately took off to investigate. The vague nature of the contact meant another wide area search. After dropping a few sonobuoys near the Ohio, I guessed that the sub was quite a distance away. I measured out a distance of 34nm (the range to the first Convergence Zone [CZ] ) from the Ohio reporting the contact, placed a Reference point on the map, and flew towards it to start my search. When she arrived at the reference point, her very first sonobuoy found the lurking submarine. "X" really does mark the spot! It would also mark the grave of the Russian sub as 4 Mk 46 torpedoes caught her.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19873&stc=1&d=1187749911

Just as the SSBNs were approaching their patrol area, a final sub was detected. This one turned out to be an Akula-class SSN, one of the best in the Russian inventory. Sonobuoy, after sonobuoy, was dropped in an attempt to localize her. However, I was never able to pinpoint the slippery character even though the sonobuoy field was thick enought that I should have been able to nearly walk on them. To add further shame to my frustration, the Akula managed to fire a long-range Type 65-76 wake-homing torpedo at my escorts 21nm distant!

Enough was enough. I decided to drop a single torpedo to goad my assailant into moving and it worked. The Akula sped off at 35kts and clearly revealed herself to everyone within 100 miles. Four torpedoes were sent after her and they caught her twisting and turning at maximum depth.

My SSBNs are only a few hours away from their final destination, so the game is well in hand. Barring a catastrophe, the game is all but won.

Another superb effort from Jerome and thanks to HarpGamer for the use of their HUD3 server. The HUD3 seems to be holding up very well with the submarines quite stealthy. The initial detections seem to appear at quite some distance even for supposedly quiet submarines, but attempts to localize them are a cast-iron b****.

Anyone looking for an MP game can drop a line here or look for us on HarpGamer pHp chat room or the HG mIRC chat room.

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Eds had some time this past weekend and was in the mood for a little ASuW action so we decided to play Matrix Siege, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.

This scenario has a frigate and destroyer from the USN vs. a combined force of 15 European missile boats. The numbers looked good, but the capabilities were far from equal.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19903&stc=1&d=1188254942

We both elected to remain under EmCon. I was hoping to close the range for my weapons before revealing my forces and Ed was hoping to remain undetected. We were both successful.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19904&stc=1&d=1188254953

Just as my separate groups were about to trap his force in between them, a Sea Cobra helo appeared and my plans unraveled. It was quickly shot down, but not before it revealed the disposition of my southern groups.

Before I knew it, two ships exploded in fireballs. Since my presence was known, there was no sense in hiding so all radar became active. Unfortunately, Ed seemed to know my position, but I had no idea where his ships were.

As my missile boats went to flank speed to close the gap in hopes of launching their missiles before their destruction, a radar contact revealed the frigate and 8 missiles were immediately fired from the northern group; and none too soon as both missile boats blinked out of existence soon afterwards. Their crews would have been happy to learn that the enemy frigate soon joined them at the bottom of the Kattegat.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19905&stc=1&d=1188254964

One target remained, the Arleigh Burke destroyer. Faced with 10 missile boats, this seemed like easy prey. However, never underestimate the power of a lone AEgis-equipped vessel. Soon, I was losing more gun boats to Harpoon SSMs. Luckily for me, he was expending his valuable ordnance on gunboats and not the more powerful missile boats; a group of 7 of which finally found the range. They loosed 22 SSMs at the Burke and turned to run for their lives.

I thought that the game was well in hand until 4 of the missiles suddenly veered off and struck a neutral cruise liner passing by. The rest of the salvo acted correctly and remained locked upon the destroyer. Several struck her, but could not sink her. With my missile tubes empty, there was no point in continuing the attack since the 127mm gun on the destroyer had far greater range than any projectile weapon carried aboard my puny vessels.

The game turned out to be a draw. I had lost too many ships in the pursuit of my objectives and the loss of the frigate prevented Ed from accomplishing his mission.

A superb afternoon of cat and mouse thanks to Ed and to HarpGamer for the use of their HUD3 server.

Anyone looking for an MP game can drop a line here or look for us on HarpGamer pHp chat room or the HG mIRC chat room.

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After beating Jerome (a.k.a Angle of Attack) during our first ASW confrontation in Watch that First Step, he asked for a re-match and we decided to switch sides to see if I could do any better . This scenario is made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19921&stc=1&d=1188641386

Having played the USN side last time, I had an idea of just how sensitive the sonar was on the SSBNs. I was hoping to catch the SSBNs as they deployed from the Gulf instead of trying to hunt them in the wide ocean. This proved to be my undoing.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19922&stc=1&d=1188641403

I had an Alfa-class SSN closest to the mouth of the Gulf. She was super fast at 42kts, but she was also super noisy. I remembered picking up her acoustic signature almost immediately. I had to assume that she had already been detected. My long-ranged sensors quickly detected the 2 USCG WHEC cutters and the DDH Iroquois. I ordered the Alpha to attack and try to destroy the nearest cutter.

When she got within 12 nm, the enemy cutter turned away. I suspected that she had already been detected and that the Alpha would soon be under attack, so I ordered her to maximum speed. The Russians built her as an "interceptor" submarine and she would prove it today. The WHEC cutter could only make 29kts at maximum speed while the Alpha closed on her at 42kts.

At a range of 4nm, she started firing 70kt wake-homing torpedoes. I didn't know if they would start chasing targets on the other side of the ocean, so I ordered the Alpha to continue closing on the target. Meanwhile, Jerome had attacked with an Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft. I was hoping that my phenomenal speed would allow me to survive long enough to at least kill the cutter before my own death. A Mk46 torpedo (quite possibly fired from the target) caught the Alpha and imploded her titanium hull. She was soon joined at the bottom of the ocean by the cutter as three torpedoes slammed into her.

The next target was the Canadian destroyer, Iroquois. She had a respectable sonar and could carry deadly helicopters, so she had to die. A Sierra II-class SSN crept up on her and let loose with 2 Type 65-76 torpedoes. Although she did counter-detect the attack and managed fire a Mk46 down the bearing of attack, the fantastic range of the Type 65 allowed me to engage her from outside the range of the Mk46 return fire. The two torpedoes chased her down and broke her back. The Sierra returned to her hunt for the Ohio SSBNs.

The search for the SSBNs was not going well. My decision to attempt to interdict them near the coast was a bad idea. I had a smaller area to search for the SSBNs, but the enemy also had a smaller area to protect, as well. One Victor III-class SSN was creeping in when she detected a torpedo attack (probably from another Orion) upon her. With over four torpedoes chasing her, she knew it was only a matter of time to her destruction. In order to get some use from her weapons, she rose to shallow depth and fired off her SS-N-15 Starfish and SS-N-16 Stallions on Bearing-Only-Launch attacks. Right after she launched, a torpedo killed her. Fortunately, a nuclear-tipped Stallion also landed close enough to the surviving USCG cutter to take it out, too.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19923&stc=1&d=1188641419

The pesky Orion MPA killed my Akula-class SSN and left me with only 2 submarines before I realized the folly of my decision. The two survivors retreated to conduct their hunt in deeper waters. With both sides creeping around at 5kts, it made for a very long game.

Occasionally, Jerome would drop a torpedo on a vague contact in hopes of goading me into moving and making noise. Once or twice, it nearly worked, too! I had to resist the temptation to react to every torpedo I heard in the water.

Finally, my two subs made a detection in the SW corner of the map. Unfortunately, so did Jerome. No sooner had I started moving towards the Ohios than a torpedo was dropped right in front of my surviving Victor III-class SSN. Damn, it was only 3nm away. I couldn't take the chance that it might have acquired me, so I hit the gas and ran at 30kts. Sadly, I was unable to evade and the Victor ate the torpedo at a depth of 600m.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19924&stc=1&d=1188641427

My sole surviving sub was the Sierra II. She decided that this was for all the marbles so she loaded her tubes with every available Starfish and Stallion before creeping up to shallow depth. Once there, she gambled. Sonar estimated that the subs could be no further than the first Convergence Zone (34nm), so she decided to lob her two conventionally armed Stallions into the 34nm region in hopes of spooking the SSBNs into flight.

In the middle area, I dropped a couple of Starfish to provoke the same reaction. And, in case I had him in the direct path and he was close, I launched a USET-80 torpedo to cover the area from 0-10nm. I would save the nuclear-tipped Starfish / Stallion once he started moving for the coup de grace.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19925&stc=1&d=1188641435

My plan worked like a charm. Once the torpedoes dropped into his neighbourhood, his SSBNs reacted and revealed themselves. It was easy to send him to the bottom with a final volley nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, the game ended in a draw since I had lost too many submarines in accomplishing my goals.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19926&stc=1&d=1188641443

A truly superb game with many nail-biting encounters. Thanks to Jerome and to HarpGamer for the use of the server.

Anyone looking for an MP game can drop a line here or look for us on HarpGamer pHp chat room or the HG mIRC chat room.

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Jerome (a.k.a. Angle of Attack) decided to try out the "Hugo's Folly" battleset inspired by Freek Schepers. To get a full appreciation of this fine collection, we wanted to start from beginning to end. The first scenario is Flight of the Governor, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/6025/flightxm8.th.gif



I played the Dutch while AoA commanded the Venezuelans. I did not control many forces. I had a frigate, two coast guard vessels, and merchant ship, a pair of passenger planes, and a single F-16 Falcon. Facing down the entire Venezuelan military was not going to be an option.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19941&stc=1&d=1189076419

To get a feel for the upcoming onslaught, I launched my Lynx helicopter for a quick radar picture. The area was cluttered with civilian vessels of all types. The governmental offices were still operational so I was getting a direct feed from the maritime and aerial authorities who tracked all the merchant traffic in the area. I moved my frigate closer to the island to try and help shield her with the Sea Sparrow battery. As soon as Flanker radar was detected, I landed the helo. I didn't want her to face the potential AA-10 Alamo missiles.

My orders were not to engage unless attacked. Unfortunately, the computer had its own ideas. Once the Flankers were in range, missiles started firing regardless of whatever I tried to do to stop it. Oh well, so much for attention to orders...

Jerome was facing the same problem. He approached civilian airliners and tried to identify them visually in hopes of spotting the one carrying the Governor. Unfortunately, he couldn't prevent his planes from wasting their AA-11 Archer missiles on innocent and defenceless targets, either. So, I guess the problem "balanced" itself out. We both called this phenomenon, Another Genuinely Stupid Idea.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19942&stc=1&d=1189076427

After one hour of game time, the Governor was ready for evacuation by plane or ship. A helo flew onto the waiting Maersk Explorer which then raced off towards the dubious safety of St. Maarten at flank speed accompanied by the frigate and coast guard vessels as escorts. This was a decoy and the Governor decided to leave on one of the the Maritime aircraft. Unfortunately, the island was currently surrounded by Su-30 Flankers.

In an attempt to distract from his departure, he sent one of the Maritime Fokkers on a decoy mission towards Mexico and had all the civilian airliners surge. Hopefully, the large number of aircraft would take time for the Venezuelans to track down and verify so that he could make good his escape. To his horror, the Venezuelans just shot the civilian airliners full of evacuees right out of the sky due to Another Genuinely Stupid Idea. Luckily, he was still sitting on the runway with the surviving Fokker.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19943&stc=1&d=1189076435

The Flankers tried to bomb Aruba and came in at low altitude to deliver their ordnance. One was promptly shot down by a Stinger ManPADS. (It was obviously flown by an inept Flunker.) The situation was pretty much a Mexican stand-off. The Governor could not leave the island and the Venezuelans could not bomb it. However, they didn't need to as there was an entire invasion fleet approaching.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19944&stc=1&d=1189076442

The little rag-tag evacuation fleet detected incoming Otomat SSMs on radar. One tracked onto a coast guard vessel and blew it clean out of the water. Seeing as the Venezuelans decided to open fire from their ships, the FFG #%&*$# returned fire at frigates Urdaneta and Soublette with four Harpoons, each. I suspected that a full salvo would be required to sink a vessel, but I was optimistic (wildly so) that I might be able to get both in one volley. The SAM gunnery of the frigates was good and only one missile struck home, leaving the Urdaneta on fire. If I was lucky, she would sink on her own.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19945&stc=1&d=1189076449

Meanwhile, under cover of the missile attack, the Governor decided that this might be the opportune time to make good his escape. Accompanied by the lone Falcon, he set off at low altitude; hoping to evade detection. Sadly, luck was not with the man, today. A Flanker soon returned to intercept him. The F-16 Falcon manoeuvered aggressively to deflect the attack. Both planes were expertly flown and AAMs were exchanged with neither side getting the upper hand.

The deciding factor was the detection of two additional Flankers coming to join the fray. There was no way that one Falcon would be able to fend off 3 Flankers so the Governor ran back to Aruba airport; hanging his final hopes on finding an opening in the Flanker interdiction patrols in which he could escape through. The situation looked extremely dire.

When all hope seemed lost and facing imminent capture, the cavalry arrived in the form of USAF Falcons! Hurrah! Evidently, my American friends had decided to play a role and a pair of Falcons intercepted and shot down the remaining Flankers. Now, the coast appeared to be clear for the gubernatorial departure. [The best part of the episode (like the best part of most MP games) was listening to Jerome question the fate of his planes ]

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At this point, we decided to call it a night and saved the game for completion another time.

Thanks, AoA, for a really great game incorporating real life strategies and diplomatic exchanges. As always, the banter is probably the best part of most MP games. And thanks to HarpGamer for the use of their server.

Anyone looking for an MP game can drop a line here or look for us on HarpGamer pHp chat room or the HG mIRC chat room.


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Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/FilesOfScenShare/

http://www.HarPlonkHQ.com

HarPlonkHQ

Wow, yesterday was a really busy day on the server. Three separate sessions were played with three different people and we welcomed a new Harpoon ANW player to the MP battlefield, Tracy Vierra.

TracyV was eager to start and said that he had been playing for nearly a year so we opted to jump right in with the recently revised Matrix Siege, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.

This is an exercise between NATO missile and a USN destroyer/frigate combination. I commanded the polyglot force for NATO.

I was hoping to execute a pincer attack from the north and the south at the same time. Unfortunately, Tracy's Super Cobra stumbled upon my northern gunboat screen and revealed my intentions.

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It was shot down, but it also drew and immediate USN reaction. Harpoon missiles slammed into two of them and left them sinking in the Kattegat. Luckily for me, he sank the less useful gunboats and left me with my missile boat intact.

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A second helo came snooping. This one very expertly flown and wisely kept out SAM range. Nicely done, Tracy.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19966&d=1189379545

It was simply maddening to watch this helo sitting outside the edge of SAM coverage while directing a second Harpoon volley. This time, I lost two valuable missile-firing Flyvefiskin missile boats. Arggh, and I didn't have a clue where his ships were!

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Finally, "Radar Contact to the NW Bearing 351!" Even then, they were vague. At the rate I was losing missile boats, I decided to fire now instead of waiting for a simultaneous attack with my northern groups. 24 missiles streaked towards the DDG Burke. Only one, maybe two, got through the withering SAM fire, but it wasn't enough to sink him. My boats immediately turned to run for their lives.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19968&stc=1&d=1189379606

Only minutes later, the northern group came into range and volleyed their 16 Exocet missile. Once again, the impressive SAM defences swatted them from the sky. However, they did get very close. If only they could have launched together, the groups would have swamped the defences. As it stood, all my SSMs were expended and there was no way a gunboat was going to be able to survive a gun duel with a destroyer.

With nothing to stop him, Tracy sailed his force past Laeso Island for victory. A nicely played game for a newbie. Tony Eischens was observing the game and taping it for a soon-to-be-released video. He was also impressed how you managed to kill most SSMs with a single SAM. Great shooting!

Welcome to the world of Harpoon MP. Thanks for the game, TracyV, and to HarpGamer for hosting it on their server.

Anyone looking for an MP game can drop a line here or look for us on HarpGamer pHp chat room or the HG mIRC chat room.

http://www.Gamesquad.com/forums/

Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/FilesOfScenShare/

http://www.HarPlonkHQ.com

HarPlonkHQ