From root@PRAM.CS.UCLA.EDU Fri Jul 3 19:05:36 1992 Received: by penzance.cs.ucla.edu (Sendmail 5.61c+YP/3.07pram8) id AA06996; Fri, 3 Jul 92 19:05:36 -0700 Date: Fri, 3 Jul 92 19:05:36 -0700 Message-Id: <9207040205.AA06996@penzance.cs.ucla.edu> From: cz@PRAM.CS.UCLA.EDU To: cz-dist@penzance.CS.UCLA.EDU Subject: CZ Digest v11 #1 (msgs 1-7) Errors-To: cz-request@PRAM.CS.UCLA.EDU Status: RO The Convergence Zone Date: 3 July 1992 Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Topics: (1) Editorial cz-request@pram.cs.ucla.edu (2) Sub Commander Wanted felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu (3) Re: Files Gone from Hilbert kxb@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (4) Amiga Data Format felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu (5) Re: OS/2 Compatability 2330.1244@compuserve.com (6) Re: NACV South Crossing dgil@ipsaint.ipsa.reuter.com (7) USNI Membership creps@copper.ucs.indiana.edu "The Convergence Zone" (or just "CZ" for short) is an electronic mailing list for the discussion of the Harpoon naval wargame series and related topics. Submissions: cz@pram.cs.ucla.edu Administration: cz-request@pram.cs.ucla.edu Archives: sunbane.engrg.uwo.ca (129.100.100.12): pub/cz via anonymous FTP ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri 3 Jul 1992 18:21:52 PDT From: cz-request@pram.cs.ucla.edu (CZ Administrator) Subject: (1) Editorial Message-Id: New members added since last issue: sacpms!dac@sactoh0.sac.ca.us (David A. Carlton) mf2x+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Raymond Feely) felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu (Felix Hack) lespa@pa.dec.com (Bob Lacey) dyfl@kbs.citri.edu.au (Daniel Lam) k17973@kyyppari.hkkk.fi (Ilkka Laurmaa) lip@hazelrah.cs.colorado.edu (Paul Li) petaja@kiloapo.ts.tele.nokia.fi (Juha Petaja) debec@ensta.fr (Michel de Becdelievre) solman@athena.mit.edu (Jason W. Solinsky) atristan@ucru1.ucr.edu (Andrew Tristan) A number of responses have come in on the subject of whether CZ should be a newsgroup or not. Here is a summary of what I have heard. A newsgroup could reach more people and would be easier to administrate (since I would not handle sign ups). The drawback is that many people don't get news, and there might be more pressure to get articles out faster. A mainstream group, like rec.games.harpoon, also has to go through a lengthy, tedious approval procedure. An alt group, like alt.games.harpoon, is much easier to get but is not carried by many sites. I could still maintain a mailing list which would cover sites without the proper newsgroup, but that eliminates any savings in effort. Since CZ has many obscure addresses on it, I think the mailing list would not be optional. If there is anything else you would like me to consider, please tell me at the administrator address. Hilbert's shutdown is described in message 3 below by Karl Buck. An effort is underway to find a new North American Internet scenario archive site. PC users can still use the archive at nic.funet.fi:pub/msdos/games/harpoon, but please be polite with our friends in Finland. Mac users can try to contact Gary Snow (pro-freedom!gsnow@clark.edu) who has most of the Mac scenarios. GDW recently sent out a letter stating that SITREP 12 has been delayed. It seems the their new role playing game is taking up all their time. For those wishing to subscribe, the SITREP is available from GDW for $8/year (4 issues) at: Harpoon SITREP P.O. Box 1646 Bloomington, IL 61702-1646 USA Tel: (309) 452-3632 FAX: (309) 454-3127 In the last article, Steve Creps (creps@copper.ucs.indiana.edu) gives the details in how to become a USNI member. I can personally say that the USNI is a great deal if you make moderate use of their book service. -ted (disguised as CZ Administrator) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jun 92 14:13:19 PDT From: felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu (Felix Hack) Subject: (2) Sub Commander Wanted Message-Id: In volume 4, msg 15 of CZ Terry Rooker mentions a second volume for Warship Commander II containing air and submarine rules. He writes that it was called Submarine Commander, and is presumably by Enola games. I've not seen this volume though I've searched stores extensively for such a thing. I know the first edition air/sub rules were called Sea Command, and it is a bit dated (1980). Does anyone know anything more about Submarine Commander? I very much want to get a hold of it and would gladly buy anyone's used copy, or even pay to xerox it. Strangely, when I wrote Enola some time ago asking if a 2nd edition air/sub volume existed they said that it didn't. If you know anyone who has this, or when I can buy it, please email. Thank you! -Felix felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jun 92 21:00:28 CDT From: kxb@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Karl R. Buck) Subject: (3) Re: Files Gone from Hilbert Message-Id: The Harpoon scenario and related files are gone from ftp.math.ksu.edu. Unfortunately, someone uploaded a file that was copyright 360 software bundled with some other files that were public domain. I did not notice the file until 360 called to (rightly) complain and ask for its removal. However, because of this complaint, the Department Head of Mathematics here at KSU does not want to put any files up for anonymous ftp. Well, that is the way it stands. Sorry for the trouble. Perhaps someone will start a similar service in the future. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Jun 92 06:06:59 PDT From: felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu (Felix Hack) Subject: (4) Amiga Data Format Message-Id: This is a description of some aspects of the data format used for Amiga Harpoon. The Mac layout may be similar, but the IBM data is compressed and cannot be edited. I wrote this in April of '91, but dropped the project because it was too time consuming, so it represents the latest knowledge I have. An Amiga program called dump_harpoon was written which used this info as a starting point. This program printed out all sorts of numbers about platform loadouts, sensors, weapons, etc. Whoever programmed it obviously discovered more than I did! However, I strongly feel that 360 should have provided an editing utility long ago. I did finally discover a fix for the type-65 torpedoes on board Echo class subs, but have since forgotten it. Sorry! (I sold all my computer Harpoon stuff because I wasn't satisfied with the game). A final note: I found that after changing the sensor suites on platforms (e.g. replacing one sonar with another, adding a radar, deleting a radar, or even just swapping the positions of two sonars, NOT changing the stats of a sonar or radar) it was necessary to load all scenarios into the scenario editor, and immediatly save them. It seems some of the data is stored in the scenario files, and the changes didn't 'take' otherwise. I take no responsibility for the mess you make of your data files. :-) Harpoon Data Format Document V1.1 This text file describes the data structure used in Amiga Harpoon. Although I haven't checked thoroughly, the Mac data also seems to follow this layout so this document should still be useful. However I understand the IBM version's data base is compressed, so no editing is possible there. Players may use a sector editor to change the information in the data base. There are several reasons one might wish to do so: - to fix mistakes - to update the data according to new information - to suit one's personal tastes The best source of data directly usable in the required format is the Harpoon 1990-91 Data Annex by GDW, intended for the manual game. I can also highly recommend Combat Fleets of the World (latest edition, unfortunately I can't afford to get every new one as they come out) and World Naval Weapons Systems (ditto). Naturally, you should never modify your original copies of data files. The following description is by no means complete but it represents most of what I have discovered thus far. The data is found in GIUK.dat (or NACV.dat, etc.). In GIUK.dat, most of the data is located (very roughly) around sector 250. In general the name of the system/platform FOLLOWS its data. Notation: Characters enclosed in quotes are ASCII, else they are hex. A hyphen stands for 00. Numeric data is generally in hexadecimal notation, e.g. 0A = 10 (decimal). For every system I will display a sample listing followed by a detailed breakdown. Sonars BQQ-5: - A0 - FA 02 50 3C "HBQQ-5 H" Breakdown: 00 A0: active detection range in hex and units of tenths of a mile. Thus, A0 (hex) = 160 (dec) -> 16 miles 00 FA: passive detection range, 25 miles 02: number of convergence zones 50: active detection chance (hex, 80%) 3C: passive chance (60%) H: hull sonar. T = Towed sonar, D = Dipping Sonar, 2 = H/T. The H at the end of the name probably has no game effect Radars SPY-1: 07 D0 40 50 4B "SPY-1 HF" Breakdown: 07 D0: detection range vs a large target. Thus 7D0 (hex) = 2000 (dec) -> 200 miles 40: Type, HF. 04 = SS, 08 = AS, 0C = AS/SS 50: detection probability (80%) 4B: unknown Torpedoes Mk48 ADCAP: - 4B - 96 - 96 - FA 1A 80 02 3C 28 50 01 32 "Mk48 ADCAP Torp" Breakdown: 00 4B: damage vs subs, 75 points 00 96: damage vs ships, 150 points 00 96: range at high speed, 15 miles 00 FA: range at low speed, 25 miles 1A 80 02: unknown 3C: max speed, 60 knots 28: min speed, 40 knots 50: probability of a hit, 80% 01 32: unknown SSMs Harpoon 1B: 2D 02 58 - - - 1E 02 31 01 4B - 0B 0B 03 23 - - "Harpoon 1B" Breakdown: 2D: Damage 02 58: max range, 600 tenths of miles, or 60 miles 1E: minimum range, 3 miles 02 31: speed, 561 knots 01: unknown 4B: probability of a hit, 75% 0B 0B: codes for the max and min altitudes the missile flies at, 0B = Very Low, 0C = Low, 0D = Medium, 0E = High, and so on I don't know what the remainining codes do. I am wary of such unknowns because they may interact with the known data in unpredicable ways. While they probably don't relate to numerical data like ranges and speeds, they could perhaps interact with height data to determine whether a missile on final approach is a 'crossing target' and so forth. Since the boardgame has two missile sizes I would expect one of the unknowns to represent this, but I haven't cross-compared yet. SAMs These are broadly similar to SSMs in layout. SM1ER: 05 - - 01 5E - 1E 05 9A 01 3C 3C 0E 0C 02 24 - - "SM1MR/RIM-66B" Breakdown: 05: damage (vs ships) 01 5E: air range, 35 miles 1E: minimum range, 3 miles 05 9A: Speed, 1434 knots 01: unknown 3C: prob. of hit vs surface targets, 60% 3C: prob. of hit vs air targets, 60% 0E: max altitude of target, high 0C: min altitude of target, low 02 24: unknown Stand-off ASW SS-N-14: 8A 68 0F 01 2C - 28 02 70 Breakdown: 8A 68 0F: unknown 01 2C: Max range 28: Min range 02 70: Speed Air-Air missiles Sky Flash: 01 0E - - 08 F7 0B - . . . . Breakdown: 01 0E: Range, 27 miles 08 F7: Speed, 2295 knots Subs Note that all sensors have implied reference numbers determined by the order of listing and starting at zero within each type. Hence the type 162 sonar, being the first sonar listed (sector 295 in GIUK.dat) is number 0, the BQQ-5, being the 16th, gets hex number 0F, and so on. This number doesn't appear within the sensor data itself. LA (not improved) sub Because there's so much code I'm going to exhibit it in pieces. First 1B 0F E8 9F [18 x FF] I presume the first four bytes relate to which weapons 'package' the sub carries, and perhaps firing arcs. The FF are most likely dummy placeholders/ Next is the sequence: B8 0F B8 10 B8 1C A8 0A [4 x FF] These are the sensors. The codes are two-byte pairs, with B8 standing for sonar and A8 for radar, followed by the ID number of the sensor as described above. The trailing dummy FFs pad out the listing. Other platforms with more or less radars and sonars would have a correspondingly changed number of FFs. Here "B8 0F" is the BQQ-5, "B8 10" is BQS-15, "B8 1C" is the TB 16 array, and "A8 0A" is the BPS-15 radar. Then follows: - 6B - 37 - 30 - 6E - F6 20 0F 05 02 03 00 08 1C 04 00 4E 00 6B : damage points 37 : An ID number for the text message to use when displaying the sub 30 : An ID number for the picture to use when displaying the sub 6E : Length in meters, used when displaying the sub F6 : unknown 20 : Maximum submerged speed, 32 knots 0F : Maximum surfaced speed, 15 knots 05 : Creep speed, 5 knots 02 : Code for max attainable depth, Deep. I believe it runs backwards, i.e. 01 = Very Deep 03 : unknown 00 : Nation ID, US. 01 = UK, 04 = USSR 08 : Type of vessel, SSN. 09 = SSGN, 0A = SSBN, 0B = SS, 0C = SSGN 1C : Also corresponds to type, value is 20 (decimal) greater than the previous byte 04 : unknown 00 : Class ID number. For example, Tango is 11, Sturgeon is 02 4E : Nuclear power. 44 = Diesel 00 : Hostile passive sonar modifier. Includes negative numbers. Example: Trafalgar is F6 = -10 (dec), Victor I is 0F = +15. Ships Sensor data is laid out the same way as for subs. Aircraft Again, sensors are as described for subs. Not yet done: It appears that weapons loadouts are not described within the platform data itself, but in another location that is 'pointed to' by platform data. Thus one can find many repeated data codes for "533mm Torp" each of which must contain information about a set of 533mm torpedo tubes for some specific submarine or group of submarines (if they have identical loadouts). I haven't yet matched these weapon launcher listings up against platforms, nor have I tried to decipher what their codes mean. Thus I am not yet able to eliminate the error whereby the Echo II sub gets the dread Type 65 torpedo. Ack! {Correction. There is a byte one can change to fix this, but I don't remember what or where} -Felix felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu GEnie: F.HACK1 ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jun 92 02:03:22 EDT From: 2330.1244@compuserve.com (Robin D. Roberts) Subject: (5) Re: OS/2 Compatability Message-Id: Regarding running Computer Harpoon under OS/2 2.0 I have found that it does run. Unfortunately, for obvious reasons, it is much slower. One advantage however is that OS/2 2.0's MSDOS 5.0 based emulation provides an enormous amount of free ram for those scenarios that you just can't get to fit any other way ... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1992 15:32:40 -0400 From: dgil@ipsaint.ipsa.reuter.com (David Gillett) Subject: (6) Re: NACV South Crossing Message-Id: Gavin Rewell asks about this scenario (in CZ v10 msg 46 and 48), which I have been enjoying recently. I've found that fighter cover from Brest and La Coruna is quite sufficient to protect the French task force. I did find myself slowing the French and Spanish task forces to creep speed, and spreading them out more, in order to improve their detection of hostile subs. And I ferried a couple of Seahawks to each of them, so that when I got nuclear release (after I had made a good dent in the population of Backfires and Bears with my Eagles and Phantoms) I had nuclear-capable choppers in each task force. (Okay, I admit it: I was playing to win, and not to simulate current naval doctrine.) I believe I also sent the S-3s to the Clemenceau for a while, since there was plenty of land-based ASW around the convoy. And the Fencers (I assume these were intended to be Harriers ...) I sent to England, loaded them with Keglers, and sent them on a one-way mission to Keflavik. The 'Seawolf' in this scenario, by the way, seems to be an ordinary Los Angeles class sub and not an SSN-21. The first thing I do with subs is put each sub in the center of its own group. That buys me three big advantages: precise location on the group display, individual depth control (mixed sub/surface groups don't allow depth control), and precision speed/course control. The latter is crucial, because a sub on sector patrol -- or changing sectors -- on the formation display seems to move at creep speed when the group is stopped, and full speed when the group is creeping. A sub in the centre of its own group stops when you stop the group and creeps when the group creeps, and that seems to make a difference. Dave Gillett ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1992 14:01:09 -0500 From: creps@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (Steve Creps) Subject: (7) USNI Membership Message-Id: Full membership in the United States Naval Institute is available to any current or former member of the Navy, Marines, or Coast Guard (and I believe their foreign counterparts). Associate membership includes anyone else with an interest in naval matters, and includes all rights and privileges except voting. I forget what the annual dues are, but I think they're $28. Also life memberships start at $450.00, depending on your age at enrollment. A phone number for membership inquiries is (800) 233-USNI. If and when you decide to join, if you were to find a current USNI member as a sponsor, I'm sure that member would be ever so grateful if you would give them his or her name and membership number; it gets the sponsor a couple of months free membership. I'm not trying to advertise myself (or I would give my membership number here), but if anyone is looking for a sponsor, and doesn't have a friend who is a member, feel free to contact me or any other member who makes his or her presence here known. You are not, however, required to have a sponsor in order to join. - - - - - - - - - - Steve Creps creps@copper.ucs.indiana.edu Associate (civilian) Member, United States Naval Institute ------------------------------ End of CZ Digest **************** From root@PRAM.CS.UCLA.EDU Wed Jul 15 12:37:07 1992 Received: by penzance.cs.ucla.edu (Sendmail 5.61c+YP/3.07pram8) id AA29935; Wed, 15 Jul 92 12:37:07 -0700 Date: Wed, 15 Jul 92 12:37:07 -0700 Message-Id: <9207151937.AA29935@penzance.cs.ucla.edu> From: cz@PRAM.CS.UCLA.EDU To: cz-dist@penzance.CS.UCLA.EDU Subject: CZ Digest v11 #2 (msgs 8-14) Errors-To: cz-request@PRAM.CS.UCLA.EDU Status: RO The Convergence Zone Date: 15 July 1992 Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Topics: (8) Editorial cz-request@pram.cs.ucla.edu (9) 360 Speaks 76711.240@compuserve.com (10) Re: Sub Commander Wanted trooker%xobu@relay.nswc.navy.mil (11) Surface Combat ummorea0@ccu.umanitoba.ca (12) Re: Read any Good Books? fontana@pavia.infn.it (13) PC v1.3 lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu (14) Mac Versions brockr@muvaxe.rferl.org "The Convergence Zone" (or just "CZ" for short) is an electronic mailing list for the discussion of the Harpoon naval wargame series and related topics. Submissions: cz@pram.cs.ucla.edu Administration: cz-request@pram.cs.ucla.edu Archives: sunbane.engrg.uwo.ca (129.100.100.12): pub/cz via anonymous FTP ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed 15 Jul 1992 11:58:38 PDT From: cz-request@pram.cs.ucla.edu (CZ Administrator) Subject: (8) Editorial Message-Id: New members added since last issue: vtp@lehtori.cc.tut.fi (Ville Pietikainen) rogers@itech.com (Bob Rogers) We are still looking for a North American scenario archive site. If anyone has any leads please contact me at the administrator address. Mark Lam (lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu) is working on setting up support for the PC funet archives. -ted (disguised as CZ Administrator) ------------------------------ Date: 04 Jul 92 13:05:22 EDT From: 76711.240@compuserve.com (Three-Sixty) Subject: (9) 360 Speaks Message-Id: CZ Readers, It is unfortunate that the FTP site at MATH.KS.EDU has decided not to allow Harpoon scenarios to be available following the USNI BattleSet Episode. In my discussions with the manager of the site I indicated that Three-Sixty did not have any problem with the continued availability of user-created scenarios, we were only concerned about the USNI BattleSet being available for download. The USNI BattleSet is a 5 scenario BattleSet that comes with Harpoon if purchased directly from the United States Naval Institute. USNI sells Harpoon through their bookstore. We have an agreement with USNI that provides them this unique BattleSet for their use only. The only way to get this BattleSet is to purchase Harpoon through the USNI. Please understand that Three-Sixty encourages the exchange of user-created scenarios. I feel bad that this incident has resulted in a loss for everyone, that was not my intention at all. I will contact the manager at the FTP site and see what I can do about getting them to permit exchange of scenarios, but I can't blame them for reacting the way they did. If anyone else desires to start an FTP site for Harpoon scenarios, please do, just be careful that proprietary software is not made available. Please contact me if you have any questions or if I can help in any effort to get scenario exchange back up to speed. Scenario are also available from the Harpoon Scenario Warehouse BBS located near New York City. The BBS can be accessed via modem at 516-829-2557. The BBS is very active so don't be surprised if you recieve a busy signal. The Harpoon Users' Group operates the BBS and is planning on starting one here in Texas and another one in Southern California. On to more agreeable things ... Harpoon V1.3 for PC is in final testing, as is the Harpoon Designers' Series. We have run into some snags with both but are working them out and expect to be finished within a week or so. Thanks to all who volunteered to beta test, there were many of you who asked for applications and we are sending out hundreds of packets, please do not be upset if you are not initially selected to test at this time, we need to consolidate our total testing population to the most optimum spread of configurations and computer types. We will have a major title to test just about every quarter so please hang in there (V for Victory PC version is coming as is Patriot). Please contact me at 76711.240@compuserve.com if you have any questions. I can also be reached by phone at 409-776-3047. Later, Carl C. Norman, Manager Customer Support Three-Sixty Pacific, Inc. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Jul 92 09:00:42 EDT From: trooker%xobu@relay.nswc.navy.mil (T. Rooker) Subject: (10) Re: Sub Commander Wanted Message-Id: Mea Culpa. I'm sorry for the confusion. As a friend of mine used to say, "I had a brain fart". There are only two volumes in the Warship Commander "series". The second is Sea Command. Unfortunately the last time I got a response from Enola games only WC II was still in print. Yes, both books are dated, even with the update of WCII. Presumably, the game mechanics are still accurate. The ship data is similar to Harpoon. You can do your own data update by translating the Harpoon data sheets to a WC II format. Actually the data in Harpoon is largely taken directly from Combat Fleets of the World (USNI Press), and if you find a copy of that book (or Janes) you can make your own ship information. You can also update weapon performance by extrapolating from weapon data in the existing game. I did this before WWC II was released and was close on everythin except the 16" guns. Again, sorry for the confusion. Email me if you have any other questions about WC II. Terry trooker@xobu.nswc.navy.mil ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Jul 92 22:51:38 CDT From: ummorea0@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Gene Moreau) Subject: (11) Surface Combat Message-Id: I had some time to kill this evening so I thought that I'd try the playing 'The Duel' from the GIUK battle set. I got within 250 nm, but decided to hold off my Tomahawks to combine with my Harpoons try to over load the defences. I got with in range and fired. It looked good. 112 incoming missles on the enemy surface fleet. I figured that alot, even half, should get shot down by the enemy SAM's. To my dismay, about 100 got shot down!! Of the remaining 12 or so that got though about, 5 hit. I sunk on ship and lightly damaged another. I know that you are suposed to fire ALOT to overload defences, but this is getting silly. Now on to my next peeve. I figured that I get in real close to finish them off with guns (yah, I here the snickering). Now they start firing, I detect 3 incoming missles. My ships fire automaticly to intercept. They get 2 and ignore the 3rd while firing at the ones farther out. The missle hits a ship and it sinks (didn't even sound nuclear). Now what's going on here? It takes me about 4 missles to sink a ship, but the computer can do it with one. What gives? -- Gene Moreau |"Hold up a one iron and walk, even God can't hit University of Manitoba | a one iron." Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | - Once struck golfer, Lee Trevino, on how not ummorea0@ccu.umanitoba.ca | to get struck by lightning. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 JUL 92 09:34 GMT From: fontana@pavia.infn.it Subject: (12) Re: Read any Good Books? Message-Id: Hello from the Med! In CZ v10 msg 36, todd.klaus@csu36.cfsat.honeywell.com asked for some books on Naval warfare and related topics. The first answer came up in msg 42 from tcomeau@stsci.edu. Here my tribute to the quest: Fiction book: 1) Laurence Delaney, "The Triton Ultimatum", 1979 It is mostly on submarine topics, with some interesting technical notes. 2) Harold Coyle, "Sword Point", 1990 A possible scenario in the Gulf, very realistic! Non-Fiction: 1) Antony Preston, "Fighting Ships", 1989 A good list of photos very impressive and a good introductory text to the naval warfare. Hope this may be useful to someone! -Drew Andrea Fontana INet:fontana@pavia.infn.it Department of Nuclear and Theoretical Physics Voice:39-382-392423/4 University of Pavia - Italy "Alcuni guardano le cose come sono e si chiedono PERCHE'? Io guardo le cose come potrebbero essere e mi chiedo PERCHE' NO?" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 92 11:55:59 MDT From: lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu (Mark Lam) Subject: (13) PC v1.3 Message-Id: Good news! Harpoon version 1.3 for the PC is just about finished up. I was fortunate enough to be chosen as a beta tester for version 1.3, and I thought I would pass along some of the new features that you can look forward to. Note, many of these were mentioned in the last issue of C3I, the Harpoon Users' Group newsletter, in an article by Carl Norman, Three-Sixty Customer Support manager. Bases can repair themselves. Runways are always under repair, as well as sensors. Don't count on taking out the radars once during a game. You can now order individual or Group ASW aircraft to drop sonobuoys whereever you want to, without interupting their normal search pattern. You can load user scenarios from the scenario selection screen. This means no more Alt-F1 sequences. Another nice feature is that double-clicking is now supported on a lot of selection screens. Anti-Radiation Missiles are just that: anti-radiation. Don't expect HARMs to destroy airbases anymore, nor will they destroy ships (unless you get lucky!). They will however, if they hit, kill the radar for a short period of time. Remember, the radars will come back on line after a while. Torpedoes work much more realistically now. Torpedoes now have to acquire their targets independently of the launching platforms. If they happen to acquire the launching platform in their search pattern ... :-). As I mentioned above, ARMs no longer kill bases. Neither do Harpoons. Also, land attack missiles (such as the Tomahawk TLAM-C) can't attack ships. SAM missiles are modeled better, in that the guiding radar has to have a lock on the target before the missiles will fire, and if applicable, the missiles will only impact if there is still a lock on the target. Realistic Rates of Fire have been implemented for missile and torpedo launches. The new sonar model, IMHO, is the best change to the program. It's too detailed for me to get into right now, but suffice it to say that your subs will become much more effective. The Seawolfs can actually sneak up on ships (I played Here there be dragons ... in IOPG, took my Seawolf right up underneath the Soviet fleet, and they never heard me until I fired my torps. And then, their return shots didn't come anywhere close to me! :-)) On the flip side, ASW is much more difficult. On playing the first NACV scenario, where your goal is to sink four subs, I never found one. I found lots of inbound torpedoes, but never found a sub. You can have your aircraft jettison their ordnance to live to fight another day. This has the side effect of reducing aircraft range, if there were drop tanks onboard. Aircraft endurance has been revamped also, so those range circles dealing with aircraft range come in a lot more handy now. Another nice feature added is that users of the Scenario Editor can make text files of orders for both sides, and these will be displayed in the program. In other words, when you select a user scenario, a box will come up containing the orders for your particular side. For existing user scenarios, you will have to change some of formatting, as word-wraps and such are handled automatically by the program. These are some of the major changes. There are others, but I don't want to spoil the whole thing! :-). To head off some questions, I don't know about Mac and Amiga versions of Harpoon 1.3. I know that they are supposed to come out, but as to when, and what changes from the PC version (if any), I don't know. Three-Sixty did a beautiful job with Harpoon 1.3! Kudos to them! You will definetely want to get this upgrade. Enjoy! -- Mark R. Lam InterNet Address: lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu Colorado State University lam@lamar.colostate.edu Fort Collins, Colorado ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1992 12:01 CET From: brockr@muvaxe.rferl.org (Tales from Topographic Oceans) Subject: (14) Mac Versions Message-Id: Good day people. Quick question. I'm running Harpoon on my Mac using version 1.0. Does anyone know how I can obtain a later version without having to pay out the nose? I recently bought the scenario editor and it won't work with version 1.0. I could actually buy it here in Germany where I live but, you wanna talk about paying out the nose? Most places here want about $300 for the software. I purchased my copy of harpoon from Macwarehouse but they don't supply any free, or minimal cost upgrades. Lemme know if anyone has any ideas. [Mod Note: I suggest trying to contact 360 and getting an upgrade directly from them. The latest version I know for the Mac is v1.01. It works fine with the Scenario Editor.] Thanks in advance. Richard Brock Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Munich, Germany Internet: BROCKR@RFERL.ORG ------------------------------ End of CZ Digest **************** From root@FICUS.CS.UCLA.EDU Tue Jul 28 17:14:02 1992 Received: by penzance.cs.ucla.edu (Sendmail 5.61c+YP/3.19pram11) id AA29548; Tue, 28 Jul 92 17:14:02 -0700 Date: Tue, 28 Jul 92 17:14:02 -0700 Message-Id: <9207290014.AA29548@penzance.cs.ucla.edu> From: cz@FICUS.CS.UCLA.EDU To: cz-dist@penzance.CS.UCLA.EDU Subject: CZ Digest v11 #3 (msgs 15-24) Errors-To: cz-request@FICUS.CS.UCLA.EDU Status: RO The Convergence Zone Date: 28 July 1992 Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Topics: (15) Editorial cz-request@pram.cs.ucla.edu (16) Survey lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu (17) Computer Version 1.3 paulwang@ocf.berkeley.edu (18) Modem Play dyfl@kbs.citri.edu.au (19) Re: Read any Good Books? pgolden@nhgs.vak12ed.edu (20) Missiles, Rapier, Radar sscotten@email.bony.com (21) Reloading s905066@otto.bf.rmit.oz.au (22) Mac Coprocessor brockr@muvaxe.rferl.org (23) Tidbits... gmartin@cory.berkeley.edu (24) Editor Versions zen%hophead@canrem.com "The Convergence Zone" (or just "CZ" for short) is an electronic mailing list for the discussion of the Harpoon naval wargame series and related topics. Submissions: cz@pram.cs.ucla.edu Administration: cz-request@pram.cs.ucla.edu Archives: sunbane.engrg.uwo.ca (129.100.100.12): pub/cz via anonymous FTP ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue 28 Jul 1992 16:31:55 PDT From: cz-request@pram.cs.ucla.edu (CZ Administrator) Subject: (15) Editorial Message-Id: New members added since last issue: trystro!kaya@think.com (Kaya Bekiroglu) slan@teal.csn.org (Todd Bradley) gmartin@cory.berkeley.edu (Martin Guerrero) kevin.hill@um.cc.umich.edu (Kevin Hill) emory!seaweed!ken@uunet.uu.net (Ken Seefried III) ksoutor@unlinfo.unl.edu (Kevin Soutor) The new North American scenario archive will probably materialize on Sunbane shortly. The official announcement should appear in the next issue. We still need someone who wants to administrate Amiga user scenarios. We are having problems with getting a European archive set up. If you have any leads, please tell us. I have been informed, if you still have Mac version 1.0, you can simply forward 360 your warranty card, and they will send you a free upgrade to Mac v1.1. -ted (disguised as CZ Administrator) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 92 12:51:58 MDT From: lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu (Mark Lam) Subject: (16) Survey Message-Id: I thought it might be interesting to see how the membership of CZ breaks down in relation to the version of the game they play (computer vs. paper), and what their favorite part of the game is. So, I decided to put this little survey together. Here's what I propose: fill out the survey and email it to lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu. I'll tabulate the data over the course of volume 11 (this was supposed to get into volume 11 issue 1, but I didn't get it together in time.) After the last issue of volume 11 is posted, I'll put the data together and present it to the group. Hopefully, this will spur some discussion as well as give people a feel for the list membership. ==== 1. What versions of the game do you have (computer/paper/both): a. What type of computer do you play Harpoon on: 2. Which version is your favorite, if you have both: ==== PAPER VERSION 1. Please rank your favorite types of scenarios (ASW, ASuW, AAW, other) with one being your favorite, two your second favorite, etc.: a. If you have one, what is your favorite scenario: 2. What Harpoon supplements do you own, other than the basic game (Ship Forms, ASW Forms, etc.): 3. Do you prefer large games (ie Carrier Battle Groups involved) or small games (ie two or three ships total): 4. Do you prefer a game with a referee or without: 5. How long does a typical game session last: 6. What is the single most important facet of the game that needs improvement: ==== COMPUTER VERSION 1. Do you own the Scenario Editor: 2. What BattleSets do you own, other than GIUK: 3. Please rank the BattleSets in order of preference, with one being your favorite, two your second favorite, etc.: 4. Do you prefer playing user scenarios or built-in scenarios: 5. What is your favorite type of scenario: a. If you have one, what is your favorite scenario: 6. What is the single most important facet of the game that needs improvement: ==== Please take a few minutes to fill this out and send it to me. I think the whole list will be interested in the results. Thank you! -- Mark R. Lam InterNet Address: lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu Colorado State University lam@lamar.colostate.edu Fort Collins, Colorado ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1992 13:18:22 -0700 From: paulwang@ocf.berkeley.edu (Paul Wang) Subject: (17) Computer Version 1.3 Message-Id: I talked to a representative at Three-Sixty about Harpoon 1.3 and here are some info about Harpoon 1.3. New sonar modeling: Torpedo now have search patterns giving wire-guided torpedos a big advantages since it can be controlled. Apparently this new modeling is suppose to make submarines actually challenging instead of being a moving target. New missile modeling: Phoenix missile now use inertial guidance (I assume other missles also) and after radar turn on can hit any plane in the area. That means if Phoenix missiles are fired into a group of dogfighting a/c it can hit your plane as well as the enemy planes. Phoenix missile hit problem at Vlow is also fixed. New base repair: Bases can now repair themselves. Things like weapon mounts and sensors will be fixed as soon as the damage is taken. Also, certain SAMs now need the radar to be active to be fired. HARMs will fail to hit when bases turn off their active radars. Harpoons etc will no longer able to attack bases. I think that only leaves Tomahawk TLAM as the only missile capable of hitting bases from ships. That's about all I got about the new features in 1.3. Apparently Harpoon 1.3 has been released and will start shipping Friday, July 24. It'll probably start appearing in stores first week of August. Three-Sixty is also offering a packaged deal with Harpoon Designer Series and 1.3 that'll cost $44.95 with UPS two day shipping. 1.3 by itself is $19.95 from Three-Sixty. If you buy the Designer series package deal you can also get any battleset for $15.00. I also asked the representative about the possibility of ever releasing an editor to change the specs on ships and missiles etc. The answer's no. Harpoon II is mentioned being released next year. It'll feature SVGA graphics and use of SoundBlaster (I also assume other sound boards too) Phew, that's about all I got out of that representative. One more thing I'm not totally clear is whether Harpoon 1.3 will be included in Harpoon Designer Series. Paul Wang paulwang@ocf.berkeley.edu paulwang@soda.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Jul 92 12:33:40 EST From: dyfl@kbs.citri.edu.au (Daniel Lam) Subject: (18) Modem Play Message-Id: Hi all: It seems to me that computer Harpoon is very well suited for 2-person play via modem or direct link. Does anybody know if this is on Three-Sixty's agenda? Daniel Lam ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Jul 92 17:11:09 EDT From: pgolden@nhgs.vak12ed.edu (Patrick S. Golden) Subject: (19) Re: Read any Good Books? Message-Id: On the "Read any Good Books?" thread started in CZ v10 msg 36 ... I'm not an avid reader of military fiction, or techno-thrillers, or whatever you call them. I've read my share, but they tire me after a while. Having been in the active military (and still a member of the naval reserve), I find many of the representations less than realistic. Maybe that's for two reasons: 1) I've never taken part in a global conflict on which the fate of the free world rests on who uses the most super-secret technology now available (a basic premise for most of these writers), and 2) My memories revolve around the people more than the hardware, and most of these writers don't capture people too well (especially Clancy -- I know that's heretical to those who feel Tom is the greatest thing to literature since the White Whale!) Having said all that (and presumably destroyed my credibility with a sizable percentage of the readership of CZ), allow me to recommend an author who does seem to capture the experience of modern life at sea -- David Poyer. Dave has several books out -- "The Med," "The Gulf," and, his latest "The Circle". (I will gladly e-mail location summaries for the geography-impaired!) While his novels have plenty of action, some of which are improbable, he captures the essence of what it's like to serve at sea in the modern Navy. "The Med" in particular recalled to me my most frequent memory of deployment: exhaustion (I once missed an entire country of port visits to catch up on sleep I missed from watchstanding!) Dave is an academy grad and still in the reserves, so he keeps current. Although I've gone on too long already (sorry about the length), and while this is not germane to modern naval operations, I can't resist plugging another author of the sea. Patrick O'Brian writes of the British Navy in the Napoleonic Wars, and he does so in a way that no one (not even Forrester) does. A master of the technical details of ships, O'Brian also has an eye for the period touches as only a scholar of the period can. His language follows the cadences of early 19th century speech and draws you into the rhythm. Try Poyer for modern fiction and give O'Brian a try when you're tired of haze gray. They're both in libraries and available in paperback. -- |-------------------------------| |++Patrick Golden++ | |Virginia Space Grant Consortium| |Hampton, VA (804-865-0726) | |pgolden@nhgs.vak12ed.edu | ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Jul 92 17:20:41 -0400 From: sscotten@email.bony.com Subject: (20) Missiles, Rapier, Radar Message-Id: Greetings, fellow Harpooners. I'm writing just to give my two cents on a few popular subjects. Gene Moreau (in CZ v11 msg 11) wants to know why it is that it took him four harpoons to sink a Soviet ship, but the Soviets could sink one of his ships with a single non-nuclear missle. That's because Harpoons carry a 500 pound warhead whereas most Soviet missle have 1, 2, or 3 thousand pound warheads. When attacking airbases with carrier aircraft, I've found the best strategy is to use FA-18's with HARMs followed A-6's with Walleyes. With other aircraft I try the same basic approach: an anti-radiation mission followed by an attack with a guided loadout. If I don't have a good anti-radiation plane, I use a very-low altitude attack with a guided or ironbomb load (whichever is more damaging). On the subject of the hardest scenario (started in CZ v10 msg 32) ... I've beaten Rapier (with nuclear release). I pulled back all the attack subs and sent the Imp. LA's creeping along the Soviet coast and down the inlets till they were as close as possible to the two nearest bases, then launched all my missles. The two bases were nuked and I pulled out the same way. The computer's most serious flaw in air combat seems to be that he never turns on the radar of his strike missions, even when they have fighter escorts, making them sitting ducks. Does anybody anybody know if this has been corrected in 1.3? Hagan Scotten sscotten@email.bony.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jul 92 9:17:05 EST From: s905066@otto.bf.rmit.oz.au (Gavin Rewell) Subject: (21) Reloading Message-Id: I am not sure what to make of this, so perhaps someone out there can help? I am running IBM v1.2, and was disappointed to discover that I have never (in around two years of play) had a NATO SAM/SSM/ASROC launcher reload. I have been notified by the computer assistant that a Kiev and Kirov have reloaded their SSMs (much to my dismay!) in the GIUK battleset a couple of times, but that is it. A couple of other people have said the same thing. However, I was shocked to see a friend's copy of the Battlebook that came with his Amiga challenger pack...it had a whole table saying that many weapons mounts were reloadable. Does anyone understand this? Gavin Rewell s905066@otto.bf.rmit.oz.au ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 10:32 CET From: brockr@muvaxe.rferl.org (The Black Knight) Subject: (22) Mac Coprocessor Message-Id: Hello all, A quick question. Does anyone out there who's running Harpoon on the Mac ever suffer from the system crashing whilst running a scenario? Occasionally I get an error message stating that a coprocessor is not installed and then the system hangs necessitating a reboot. Funny thing is, I do have a coprocessor installed. Richard Brock Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Munich, Germany Internet: BROCKR@RFERL.ORG ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jul 92 22:12:19 -0700 From: gmartin@cory.berkeley.edu (Martin Guerrero) Subject: (23) Tidbits... Message-Id: Some additions I might want to see in the next generation of Harpoon: 1) Tanker capability -- i.e. F-111s which can go from a U.S. Base to Libya for example via air based tanker. Tankers would make a great target, too. 2) Mines -- Mines are a real danger out there and somehow, they should be implemented. You have mine clearing ships, subs which have to go through Minefields in the Bastions, the Straight of Hormuz, etc. 3) Two player capability -- I know this is very difficult to do in real time or anywhere close, but at least make some workable alternative to two-player interaction 4) A Pacific Theatre Scenario with the U.S. Seventh Fleet! 5) Maybe a whole new Harpoon which is capable of handling old-time warships. One example is to relive Midway, Pearl Harbor, the U-Boat attacks, etc. I know you might have to do changes to the lack of missiles, missile defense, effective radar, etc., but wouldn't you like to relive these historical events? I'd certainly like to see some of our Corsairs against the Zeros once again. Or else our early fighters fight against the MIGs in Korea. Harpoon (computer) can be a good base for this type of set-up. Harpoon is user-friendly and I hope it stays that way. 6) Option to dock from the F3 screen. Everytime I want to dock, I have to wait for the ship to reach near port then I have to split a group. An option would be nice. 7) Stunning 3-D graphics! (yeah, right! But it's worth trying! 8-)) 8) B-2 Stealth Bombers 9) The F-22?? (or is going to be the F-23?) 10) A little bit more going into communications/intelligence, etc. -- For example, by destroying a commucations facility, or else the commanding ship, effectiveness will be reduced. Blabbed too much. Talk to you all later. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 15:32:09 -0400 From: zen%hophead@canrem.com (Nick Zentena) Subject: (24) Editor Versions Message-Id: Hi, Have there been any updates to the editor? My copy is version 1.0. Thanks Nick ****************************************** I drink Beer I don't collect cute bottles! zen%hophead@canrem.com ****************************************** ------------------------------ End of CZ Digest **************** From root@FICUS.CS.UCLA.EDU Mon Aug 24 15:46:50 1992 Received: by penzance.cs.ucla.edu (Sendmail 5.61c+YP/3.19ficus1) id AA04190; Mon, 24 Aug 92 15:46:50 -0700 Date: Mon, 24 Aug 92 15:46:50 -0700 Message-Id: <9208242246.AA04190@penzance.cs.ucla.edu> From: cz@FICUS.CS.UCLA.EDU To: cz-dist@penzance.CS.UCLA.EDU Subject: CZ Digest v11 #4 (msgs 25-32) Errors-To: cz-request@FICUS.CS.UCLA.EDU Status: RO The Convergence Zone Date: 24 August 1992 Volume: 11 Issue: 4 Topics: (25) Editorial cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (26) PC Archive Information lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu (27) Version 1.3 dans@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (28) Where is SLAM? zen%hophead@canrem.com (29) Re: Tidbits slan@csn.org (30) HDS Errors? zen%hophead@canrem.com (31) Airbase Strike fontana@pavia.infn.it (32) Good Naval Books felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu "The Convergence Zone" (or just "CZ" for short) is an electronic mailing list for the discussion of the Harpoon naval wargame series and related topics. Submissions: cz@ficus.cs.ucla.edu Administration: cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu Archives: sunbane.engrg.uwo.ca (129.100.100.12): pub/cz via anonymous FTP ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon 24 Aug 1992 13:56:11 PDT From: cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (CZ Administrator) Subject: (25) Editorial Message-Id: New members added since last issue: marv.conn@medinfo.jax.fl.us (Marv Conn) fontana@pavia.infn.it (Andrea Fontana) rayg@vnet.ibm.com (Ray G.) holmanji@ohsu.edu (Jim Holman) lapointe@mv83a.nusc.navy.mil (Kenneth Lapointe) alewis@icarus.weber.edu (Alan Lewis) pmadden@fnal.fnal.gov (Pat Madden) janm@moskva.docs.uu.se (Jan Mattsson) dennis@hecate.ngs.noaa.gov (Dennis Milbert) lim1!jon@cs.utexas.edu (Jon R. Nials) rinkleff@ksuvm.ksu.edu (Stuart C. Rinkleff) bande@lut.fi (Panu Rissanen) rouhier@wpdis02.hq.aflc.af.mil (Chuck Rouhier) penfold@bnr.ca (Harvey Schwartz) j.trolinger@genie.geis.com (John Trolinger) e.weller@bull.com (Ed Weller) mkbmfav@dutrex.tudelft.nl (F. A. Veer) rkwillis@digex.com (Robert K. Willis) glngar01@uctvax.uct.ac.za (Gary Glen Young) fzimmerm@erim.org (Fred Zimmerman) I must apologize for the long gap between issues. It has been nearly a month. For part of that month, I was on vacation and had to move my office. But I am back now. By next issue, I should have cleared the submission backlog. The good news is that the North American scenario archive is now up on the same site (sunbane.engrg.uwo.ca) as the CZ archive. Dan Corrin was kind enough to give us space there. Everything is now organized under the pub/harpoon directory, with separate subdirectories for cz and scenarios. The details for the PC section is included in an article below. Similar information can be found on the archive site for the other machine types. Please read the appropriate information before up/down-loading. Special thanks are in order to our scenario archive administrator team: Mark Lam (PC Admnistrator): lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu Gary Snow (Macintosh Administrator): gsnow@clark.edu Larry Cline (Amiga Administrator): lcline@agora.rain.com Kolin Hand (Drop-Off Site Administrator): hand@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov While sunbane will be our primary scenario archive, we are still interested in finding other sites which would be willing to mirror sunbane, especially in Europe. If you have any leads, please inform us. SITREP #12 came out about a week ago. The main item of note is a set of stats for land-based SAMs. A summary will appear in the next issue. -ted (disguised as CZ Administrator) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Aug 92 11:46:32 MDT From: lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu (Mark Lam) Subject: (26) PC Archive Information Message-Id: Welcome to the PC section of the Harpoon Scenario Archive! Please take a moment to read through this README to get a brief idea of how to submit scenarios and whom to contact if you have trouble with them. Some ground rules: When submitting scenarios, please use PKZIP to compress the files. We have a limited amount of space, and would like to have as many scenarios available as possible. Along with your scenario, include three text files. One text file should contain just general information, such as version of the program you ran your scenario on, version of the Scenario Editor that you created it on, memory requirements, and any editorial comments you would like to include. Also, leave an email address where other players can contact you with comments on your scenario. Your other two text files should be orders for both the BLUE RED side. To allow for HARPOON version 1.3 users to see the orders while in the game, use the following proceedure: 1. Put the name of the scenario on the first line of your file. HARPOON 1.3 will then put it in the center of the title bar. 2. Your orders file should have no control characters in them. HARPOON 1.3 will balk at this. This includes hard-carriage returns at the ends of lines. Only use these to separate paragraphs. HARPOON 1.3 will automatically word-wrap your orders. 3. The orders files should be named the same as the scenario file itself. See the example below: EXAMPLE: scenario is named ASSAULT.HP1 Blue orders file should be named ASSAULT.BL1 Red orders file should be named ASSAULT.RD1 Please note that the .hp1, .bl1 and .rd1 extensions will change based on the BattleSet you're using (in other words, an NACV scenario would have .hp2, .bl2, and .rd2 extensions.) 4. Note: we reserve the right to edit any of your documentation. This means spelling errors, typos, etc. If we make any changes, we will properly note them. BE ASSURED, we will NEVER edit the scenario itself. Also, we will never change the intention of your documentation (like telling the BLUE player he has to invade Keflavik when he/she really has to invade Narvik! :-)) To upload scenarios, simply set up an FTP session with spc7.jpl.nasa.gov (137.79.114.145). Then, drop me a note at lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu informing me that it's there. I will take the scenario from spc7.jpl.nasa.gov and run a virus check and see if the scenario loads properly into Harpoon. If your scenario does not pass those checks, I will send you email to inform you about it. If your scenario does pass, it will be uploaded to the pub/harpoon/pc sub directory at sunbane.engrg.uwo.ca and will be available to all. PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO UPLOAD ANY "PROPRIETARY" FILES! By this, I mean copyrighted material. Our former FTP archive site, hilbert.math.ksu.edu was shut down because the USNI BattleSet published especially for those Naval Institute members who bought the program through the USNI (and therefore not available to anyone else!) was uploaded to hilbert. We do not want to see this happen again! If you attempt to upload this type of file (ie any BattleSet or other part of the HARPOON/SCENARIO EDITOR programs) they will not be transferred to sunbane. Also, please only upload HARPOON scenarios. This archive is only for HARPOON scenarios. Take note: there will be an INDEX file in the pub/harpoon/pc sub directory listing all the scenarios in the directory, and will include each the address of the author (to encourage feedback), memory requirements, and a short, one-or-two-line description of the scenario, drawn from your text files. Following these guidelines will allow us to build a quality archive of scenarios to make available to all HARPOON users. Some addresses to take note of if you have any problems: Mark Lam (PC Admnistrator): lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu Gary Snow (Macintosh Administrator): gsnow@clark.edu Larry Cline (Amiga Administrator): lcline@agora.rain.com Kolin Hand (Drop-Off Site Administrator): hand@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov Thank you for taking time to read this. If you have any questions, please leave me an email. HAPPY HARPOONING! Mark R. Lam P.C. Administrator, Harpoon Scenario Archive lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jul 92 23:30:00 -0500 From: dans@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Daniel L. Schneider) Subject: (27) Version 1.3 Message-Id: With version 1.3, antiradar attacks are handled more realistically, so I've been experimenting with other loadouts to eliminate enemy bases. After toasting the radars with a first wave attack, I come in with antirunway loadouts and crater the airfields, reducing them to "small helopad". However, it seems as if aircraft are still able to take off from these cratered runways. My experience is with the the scenario "Mother of All Brawls" in the Designer Series new IOPG Battleset, playing Red. The Blue coastal airbase just south of Kuwait contains about 18 attack planes before the attack, (F-5's I think), but less than a couple of hours after the attack, reducing it to small helopad, there are F-5's everywhere, and no planes at the base, and the base is still a "small helopad". I know bases can be repaired, but this is only a couple of hours after tilling the runway, and the game still calls it small helopad. Dan dans@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 09:58:41 -0400 From: zen%hophead@canrem.com (Nick Zentena) Subject: (28) Where is SLAM? Message-Id: Hi, It's been mentioned that the new version does not allow Harpoons to be used versus bases. Does this mean that the SLAM version of Harpoon is modeled as a different missile or are we being deprived? Nick ***************************************************************************** I drink Beer I don't collect cute bottles! zen%hophead@canrem.com ***************************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 12:18:33 -0600 From: slan@csn.org (Slan Markovic) Subject: (29) Re: Tidbits Message-Id: In Volume 11, Issue 3, Topic 23, Martin Guerrero listed several things he'd like to see added to the next generation of Harpoon. It seems that many of the great sounding additions to the game are just beyond the capabilities of the DOS operating system. I recall seeing in several places in the documentation that there are a lot of features they would like to add to the game, but which had to be left out due to memory constraints. Of course, better operating systems (Mac and Amiga) don't have this problem. I was wondering if the Mac and Amiga versions do have additional features over the DOS version. Also, does anyone know if 360 has considered an OS/2 port? OS/2 seems like it would be the ideal OS for Harpoon, given that it can access all the memory of today's PC clones and it has great features like threads. I'm already impressed with Harpoon's ability to handle lots of things at once, but a multi-threaded version of it would be awesome. With respect to a two player modem version, it seems to me that the biggest problem wouldn't be in making it work, but in making the time scales synch up. For example, one of the nice things about computer Harpoon is that if nothing exciting is happening or if you're just out searching for subs, you can turn the time increments way up to 1 or 5 minutes. But what if the other player does want to do fine detail things at the 1 second setting? You're gonna get really bored waiting around for your opponent in real time. Just a few thoughts, Slan. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Aug 1992 19:20:55 -0400 From: zen%hophead@canrem.com (Nick Zentena) Subject: (30) HDS Errors? Message-Id: Hi, I just got the HDS. While trying to write a scenario for the HDS Med battleset I noticed that the Yugo sub class Sava is listed with LA VLS class weapons [Tomahawks and all the rest] Are their any other errors in the database I should know about? Nick ***************************************************************************** I drink Beer I don't collect cute bottles! zen%hophead@canrem.com ***************************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 6 AUG 92 11:06 GMT From: fontana@pavia.infn.it Subject: (31) Airbase Strike Message-Id: Hello to all the Harpooners around the World! There are several ways to striking an airbase heavily guarded by sam batteries and I'd like to syntethize various strategies, suggested in previous issues, and tested on our PC: The first idea is to strike with F18 configured Standoff (ie, armed with 'poons) and this guarantee a safety position of attack due to the range of 70nm. But the damage inflicted is very poor and the attack must protract in time and cannot be quick and effective. Even with successive waves of strike we cannot destroy or seriously damage the Opfor before 3 or 4 strikes, with a great waste of time and forces. Better to distinguish the primary from secondary objectives: first, we have to blind the enemy, by setting up the Intruder with HARM and sending an antiradar strike (the air coverture is now necessary due to the poor defense and manovrability of the A6, as result of many tries). Then a more effective attack can be sent arming the A6 with Walleye II, as suggested by D. Guidry in a previous issue (Vol. 8, Issue 3, Msg. 18). So, with a few bombs we can destroy an airbase within a tolerable risk factor. In this second case we have to send before the strike a coverture group in high altitude (F14 or F15 may works well) to guarantee protection for the strikers. A third chance is allotted in some scenarios (1990 Strike vs. Libya) of MEDC battleset: to strike with F111 configured guided. Here we didn't collect many data, but our impression is that the F111 is easily intercepted by enemy bandits or by SAM batteries. Very often, all squadrons of Aardvark were destroyed or heavily damaged before entering in operations area. Does anyone have suggestions on how to use effectively the F111? Moreover in this scenarios, how protect and defend the Incirlik airbase? The Syrian's strikes are very oppressive and we cannot manage to stop them, performing in the same time an attack vs. Libya. -Drew Andrea Fontana INet:fontana@pavia.infn.it Department of Nuclear and Theoretical Physics Voice:39-382-392423/4 University of Pavia - Italy ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 9 Aug 92 14:27:30 PDT From: felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu (Felix Hack) Subject: (32) Good Naval Books Message-Id: I've found the following books to be extremely valuable in helping me understand naval weapons and tactics. While reading good works of fiction (like Hunt for Red October) originally whetted my appetite, these books provide 'real' substance. They are among the core sources for many naval games. They should be useful to any players of Harpoon, computer or miniatures, as well as fans of the Victory Games Fleet Series, the Simulations Canada Fleet series, and players of Warship Commander. Combat Fleets of the World (Couhat, Baker, USNI) - This large book lists warships and auxiliaries, including coast guard vessels, for all nations. It is published biannually by the US Naval Institute. It's expensive (over $100), so I can't afford to get every edition. Still, most of the data from slightly older edition should be fine. In particular, if you want to know what ships were in service at what time, you'll probably need the contemporary edition. The latest I own is for 1988/89. World Naval Weapons Systems (Friedman, USNI) - The second edition of this book just came out. Almost as long as Combat Fleets, it is a thoroughly comprehensive reference for weapons and sensors for all currently deployed naval (and naval-related) forces. The book is particularly good at cautioning about the uncertainties of performance data, especially for Soviet systems. For example, while a certain specific range or speed figure is quoted under the main heading, the discussion will point out the source and uncertainty of such estimates. The section on modern Soviet torpedoes references the original source, a single magazine article. This cautionary approach is very welcome and refreshing, and reminds us how weapons data from various games is not carved in stone, but merely represents a best guess. There are very helpful and interesting articles that precede the main listings, which are divided into sections like strike warfare, ASW, anti-air warfare (AAW), etc. Each elucidates the principles of operation of the associated systems in some detail. After reading this you'll know why later US SAMS are more accurate than earlier Soviet ones, why anti-ship homing torpedoes use passive sonar and anti-sub homing torps use active sonar, and so on. Friedman also explains how the performance of a given weapon is not determined solely by its own physical characteristics, but is governed by the whole interaction of relevant ship systems. To fire a SAM, the search radar must detect a target. Target data is communicated to a fire-control system, which must direct a fire-control radar at the target, get a lock-on, and compute the relevant weapon firing parameters. Only then can you actually launch the weapon. If you only look at, say, the rate at which you can pump SAMs out of the launcher you'd be overlooking equally important contstraints set by the rest of your system. These include how quickly and accurately the information from the search radar is sent to the fire-control radar, how fast the fire-control radar can find and lock up the target, and so on. Here a fully automatic system like Aegis would have a tremendous speed advantage over older, manual systems. Soviet ships without centralized CIC facilities would be at a disadvantage. Modern Warship Design and Development (Friedman) - This book is a little old (c. 1980), but is extremely valuable nonetheless. Hey USNI, how about a new edition? The book discusses the important constraints and trade-offs that govern the design of modern warships. It is full of specific examples and talks about the gains and sacrifices that were made. For example, Soviet ships typically litter their decks with weapons systems, have a forest of radar antennas, and put in high-speed gas turbine engines. The trade-off is range and crew habitability. Gas turbines really suck fuel fast and require specialized space-robbing stack design. The small craw quarters mean conditions are not amenable to extended cruises. The relatively low standard of technical training for Russian conscript sailors means that things which break can't be fixed at sea. Thus, they have to have lots of missile launchers and radars so if some fail they'll have some left over that work. The choice of high speed along with the cramped conditions means that operational ranges are short. The amount of high explosives placed on and about the decks means that a weapons hit almost anywhere along the upper hull has a chance of setting off devastating secondary explosions. Western warships typically centralize their ammunition in below-decks magazines, thus the chances of a 'critical' hit are smaller. Ship survivability is discussed near the end of the book. It explains how passive defense (armor) has had to be sacrificed in order to save weight (armor weighs a LOT) that's needed for the ship's active systems (radars, electronics, missiles). The theory is that a ship can defend itself actively from missiles (i.e. jam them or shoot them down) and thus won't need armor. That's the theory, at least. Some modern ships nevertheless are well protected even against direct hits. For example, no large US CV has ever been sunk (including WW II) [I don't recall the exact WW II class name.] Modern carriers have extremely well protected central magazines, and their sheer hull size makes them tough to sink. Further, US ships are always overmanned so that there can be more damage control parties. Compare the records of Stark, Roberts, and Princeton to the Soviet Udaloy which recently burned beyond repair. The tradeoff is that you need to allocate more space to crew quarters. And so on. Fighter Combat (Shaw, USNI) - Not exactly about naval combat. This fantastic book offers a complete discussion of fighter weapons and tactics. There are all manner of suggested tactics and maneuvers for combat between one or several fighters, of similar or different performance. There is a valuable discussion of fighter weapons, including how they work, and when they'll work well and when not. Throughout there are choice quotes from fighter pilots through the ages. There is no other book like it. If you have any interest whatever in air combat, GET THIS BOOK! Over the years I've also bought a bunch of other books which are more notable for their pretty artwork than for sober technical discussions. They don't cite sources, and sometimes the data conflicts rather strongly with that in the 'core' references above. Still, at the time I couldn't afford Combat Fleets so there was no real choice. ------------------------------ End of CZ Digest **************** From root@FICUS.CS.UCLA.EDU Tue Aug 25 18:47:48 1992 Received: by penzance.cs.ucla.edu (Sendmail 5.61c+YP/3.19ficus1) id AA11963; Tue, 25 Aug 92 18:47:48 -0700 Date: Tue, 25 Aug 92 18:47:48 -0700 Message-Id: <9208260147.AA11963@penzance.cs.ucla.edu> From: cz@FICUS.CS.UCLA.EDU To: cz-dist@penzance.CS.UCLA.EDU Subject: CZ Digest v11 #5 (msgs 33-45) Errors-To: cz-request@FICUS.CS.UCLA.EDU Status: RO The Convergence Zone Date: 25 August 1992 Volume: 11 Issue: 5 Topics: (33) Editorial cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (34) Mac Versions ummorea0@ccu.umanitoba.ca (35) Re: Surface Combat yuqian@bvc.edu (36) Same Bug is Back frankie@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu (37) V1.3 Upgrade Price? yuqian@bvc.edu (38) CGA Tricks? atubbiol@ccit.arizona.edu (39) Re: Reloading yuqian@bvc.edu (40) Re: Tidbits lcline@agora.rain.com (41) DOS 5 + Windows 3.1 s905066@otto.bf.rmit.oz.au (42) SITREP 12 tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu (43) Amiga Archive Information lcline@agora.rain.com (44) Amstrad + MCGA Tricks yvesb@minas.lockheed.on.ca (45) Recent Naval Developments tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu "The Convergence Zone" (or just "CZ" for short) is an electronic mailing list for the discussion of the Harpoon naval wargame series and related topics. Submissions: cz@ficus.cs.ucla.edu Administration: cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu Archives: sunbane.engrg.uwo.ca (129.100.100.12): pub/harpoon/cz via anonymous FTP ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue 25 Aug 1992 17:38:47 PDT From: cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (CZ Administrator) Subject: (33) Editorial Message-Id: New members added since last issue: barnes@ektron.kodak.com (John Barnes) jbarnesi@nyx.cs.du.edu (John Barnes III) s1029708@giaeb.cc.monash.edu.au (Bob Blanchett) hards4@evans.ee.adfa.oz.au (Brad Hards) janne.mikkola@lut.fi (Janne Mikkola) brad_murray@mindlink.bc.ca (Brad Murray) atubbiol@ccit.arizona.edu (Unknown) This issue should finally clear out the backlog of articles. I had Felix Hack relay a question over to Larry Bond on Genie. Here is what Larry had to say on 12 August 92 about the 4th edition of the print game. (Note, the current edition is 3.2.) Thanks for your interest in Harpoon. There's no plan to bring out a 4th editon right now. It's a topic with GDW, though. Our annual planning meeting is coming up in late August at Origins and I'm pushing for the 4th edition there. If we do it, It won't appear before Origins '93. We have a new sonar system, but it's pretty intensive. We implemented it in version 1.3 successfully, but what works on a computer doesn't work for a manual game. We're working on it. So it looks like print game players will have to put up with the patch work of errata for a while longer. Amiga users will want to read Larry Cline's article below introducing the Amiga section of the scenario archive. -ted (disguised as CZ Administrator) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Aug 92 11:25:27 CDT From: ummorea0@ccu.umanitoba.ca Subject: (34) Mac Versions Message-Id: I was reading comp.sys.mac.games today and got this from a game release list: Game Title Company Release Date Notes - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harpoon Designer Series Three-Sixty September (ST,WG) ? More info needed Harpoon v1.3 Three-Sixty Fall (ST,WG) Bug fixes, etc.. Harpoon Challenger Pack: Signature Edition Three-Sixty August (ST,WG) ? What is this? Patriot Three-Sixty ? (ST,WG) New Series More info appieciated! Now what I want to know is how are all these versions relate to each other. What is the different between the plain Challenger Pack, that I bought last month, and the Signature Edition? Will there be an update availible from 1.1 to 1.3? What is the Designer Series? Is it a version done to better suit the Mac interface(just a small wish), or does it include better AI for the computer? As for the line about Patriot, is this the land version of Harpoon that Three-Sixty was talking about a while back? If so any one have any new news of that? In general are these release dates accurate? -- Gene Moreau |"I don't care where my dammed trailer is, just University of Manitoba | just get me another Scotch!" Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | -Jack Nicholson ummorea0@ccu.umanitoba.ca | ------------------------------ Date: 19 Aug 1992 13:24:06 -0500 (CDT) From: yuqian@bvc.edu (Suicidal Freshman) Subject: (35) Re: Surface Combat Message-Id: Comment: original message split into two articles In CZ v11 msg 11, ummorea0@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Gene Moreau) writes about the GIUK: Duel scenario ... > 112 incoming missles on the enemy surface fleet. I figured that alot, even > half, should get shot down by the enemy SAM's. To my dismay, about 100 got > shot down!! Of the remaining 12 or so that got though about, 5 hit. I sunk on > ship and lightly damaged another. I know that you are suposed to fire ALOT to > overload defences, but this is getting silly. One way I can win that scenario is use the SH-60 Seahawk or the LA sub to detect the battle group and move in the sub to knock down the Slava and the Kirov before my group's missle launching. To do this there are also a few ways. 1. Move the subs very close to the group (within the AAW circle) and launch your missiles. 2. Good old torpedos for 1/2 max range. Once the SA-N-6 ships are down, they are almost defenseless. Another way is to concentrate you missles to attack the Slava and Kirov. Maybe a few ships with SSMs (like the Sovremmy). Leave the Udaloy alone, they can do nothing. > Now on to my next peeve. I figured that I get in real close to finish them off > with guns (yah, I here the snickering). Now they start firing, I detect 3 > incoming missles. My ships fire automaticly to intercept. They get 2 and > ignore the 3rd while firing at the ones farther out. The missle hits a ship > and it sinks (didn't even sound nuclear). Now what's going on here? It takes > me about 4 missiles to sink a ship, but the computer can do it with one. What > gives? Look at the damage points for the Harpoon and SS-N-19 (or what ever), you will see a big difference. Now about that 3rd missile. Once missiles are coming, set you defense fire to heavy and 1/2 max range, you will stand a much better chance shooting down double digits incoming missles. It can be accessed via Alt-F8 (I think, check all the function keys). ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Aug 92 21:02:55 -0400 From: frankie@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu (Schick III Frank J. 410-997-0812) Subject: (36) Same Bug is Back Message-Id: I was using Version 1.3 of harpoon on the Yugoslav crisis in the designers edition of the MEDC. I was using my 486, with 4MB of XMS memory, and 2MB of EMS, and I had a flight of 4 planes landing at an airfield. The computer jumped them, but only shot down 1. The other planes had already landed. The computer showed 3 planes as landing. They never landed. They were the "flying dutchmen" of this scenario. I had halfway hoped that this bug from Version 1.1, and 1.2 would be fixed in Ver 1.3. Is this being addressed in Ver 2.0? frank j schick iii frankie@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu ------------------------------ Date: 19 Aug 1992 13:24:06 -0500 (CDT) From: yuqian@bvc.edu (Suicidal Freshman) Subject: (37) V1.3 Upgrade Price? Message-Id: Just one question: Are they going to upgrade registered owners free of charge like the previous versions? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1992 22:46 MST From: atubbiol@ccit.arizona.edu Subject: (38) CGA Tricks? Message-Id: Dear sirs: Please send me any information on the possabilities of using the Harpoon designers series on cga. Any tricks or are there any patches that would allow this? Do you have any FTP sites that may have this information? Thank You atubbiol@ccit.arizona.edu ------------------------------ Date: 19 Aug 1992 13:44:29 -0500 (CDT) From: yuqian@bvc.edu (Suicidal Freshman) Subject: (39) Re: Reloading Message-Id: Comment: slightly edited In CZ v11 msg 21, s905066@otto.bf.rmit.oz.au (Gavin Rewell) writes: > I am not sure what to make of this, so perhaps someone out there can help? > I am running IBM v1.2, and was disappointed to discover that I have never (in > around two years of play) had a NATO SAM/SSM/ASROC launcher reload. Harpoon is one shot only, no magazine; container is launcher. So is Tomahawk. SAM reload immediately after firing. ASROC reloads if you fire all of them from the oct-launcher. Combined launcher loads immediately after firing. > I have been notified by the computer assistant that a Kiev and Kirov have > reloaded their SSMs (much to my dismay!) in the GIUK battleset a couple of > times, but that is it. A couple of other people have said the same thing. They have a magazine. Another ship often see with reloading is Slava's SS-N-12. > However, I was shocked to see a friend's copy of the Battlebook that came with > his Amiga challenger pack ... it had a whole table saying that many weapons > mounts were reloadable. Yup, lots of them, I think the staff only tell you the SSM reloading. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Aug 92 2:33:20 PDT From: lcline@agora.rain.com (Larry Cline) Subject: (40) Re: Tidbits Message-Id: In CZ 11 msg 29, slan@csn.org (Slan Markovic) writes: > Of course, better operating systems (Mac and Amiga) don't have this problem. I > was wondering if the Mac and Amiga versions do have additional features over > the DOS version. Also, does anyone know if 360 has considered an OS/2 port? Unfortunately, the Amiga version lags behind the DOS version. Probably because of economic reasons, which is a shame. Also the Amiga version is somewhat more prone to problems than the DOS version. Mainly the features from Alt-F8 are not available. The one main advantage is the memory management. I can run scenarios on the Amiga that wouldn't even load on DOS. -- Larry Cline (Amiga Harpoon Scenario Administrator) lcline@agora.rain.com C_________ Industrial Graphics ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Aug 92 11:35:35 EST From: s905066@otto.bf.rmit.oz.au (Gavin Rewell) Subject: (41) DOS 5 + Windows 3.1 Message-Id: Comment: slightly edited Unfortunately, I need some help with my PC version. Due to getting a new 386-33 and the incredibly stupid way PCs are designed, I have had some problems running Harpoon v 1.2 under DOS 5 and the new Windows 3.1 memory management drivers ... could you help, or get someone else who could? The wonderful user-friendly nature of Harpoon means it gives me memory allocation error messages before crashing, often corrupting my FAT, and/or damaging the integrity of the save files. Thanks in advance. DAX ------------------------------ Date: Tue 25 Aug 1992 12:20:27 PDT From: tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu (Ted Kim) Subject: (42) SITREP 12 Message-Id: SITREP 12 contains new rules for Stealth technology, new weapon/platform data, (CIS LGBs, F/A-18E/F, F-22 ATF, Mod Udaloy, Nanuchka E), rules and information for land-based SAMs and the usual short news items. Some of SITREP 12 material is presented below by permission of Larry Bond. The new platform and SAM data will be presented in later issues. The Stealth rules add a new RCS class, Stealthy. Stealthy targets can be detected at 10% the range stated for Large targets. The relationship between the different RCS classes is: Class RCS Range Factor Large 10 m^2 1.00 Small 1 0.66 VSmall .1 0.32 Stealthy .001 0.10 Radar guided weapons targeted against stealthy aircraft have a -10% Ph modification. Most Stealthy planes also have IR stealth features as well. IR homing weapons targeted against such planes have a -10% Ph modification. Also, FLIR and IRST can detect such planes only at 25% of normal range. However, all IR benefits are lost if the plane is travelling at supersonic speeds. Some platforms are classified as "low-RCS" but are not truly Stealthy. Such platforms will have remarks stating that they are treated as a different RCS class. According to the "Alerts" section of SITREP 12, the CIS has cancelled both the carrier based version of the Fulcrum (MiG-29K Fulcrum D) and the follow-on for the Forger (Yak-141 Freehand). The US Seawolf SSN will be limited to 3 units. Iran has made a deal for 100 MiG-29s, 48 Mig-31s and 24 Su-24. -ted Ted Kim Internet: tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu UCLA Computer Science Department UUCP: ...!{uunet|ucbvax}!cs.ucla.edu!tek 3804C Boelter Hall Phone: (213)206-8696 Los Angeles, CA 90024 FAX: (213)825-2273 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Aug 92 2:44:13 PDT From: lcline@agora.rain.com (Larry Cline) Subject: (43) Amiga Archive Information Message-Id: Greetings to Harpooneers (particularly Amiga Harpooneers). Here is the README.AMIGA file from the Amiga Harpoon Scenario Archive. There are some scenarios in place already (mostly converted from PC scenarios) but I am looking for a lot more good Amiga scenarios. Please take the time to read this before sending or downloading any scenarios. It will save us both a lot of time. As of this moment, the amiga.index is current. Depending on time constraints, the index may lag a bit. Right now my plan is to add a amiganew.index for a couple of weeks when new scenarios come in, then join that to the existing index. The naming conventions for text files follow the PC v1.3 of Harpoon, strictly for convenience sake. If you do not use the conventions, then I just have to rename the files and/or separate them, which slows everything down. - ----------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the Amiga section of the Harpoon Scenario Archive! Please take a moment to read through this README to get a brief idea of how to submit scenarios and whom to contact if you have trouble with them. Some ground rules: OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER The system administrators of each FTP site and the Harpoon Scenario Administrators make no warranties, express or implied, with respect to this software, their quality, performance or fitness for any particular purpose. The software is provided "As Is". The entire risk as to their quality and performance is with the recipient. In no event will any of the aformentioned persons be liable for direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from any defect or effect in the program or datafile even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages. When submitting scenarios, please use LHarc to compress the files. We have a limited amount of space, and would like to have as many scenarios available as possible. If you are unable to ftp or do not have LHarc available, please contact me for other arrangements. I am currently using LHarc 1.30 and this program along with its documentation is available at wuarchive.wustl.edu in the systems/amiga/utilities/cli/archive sub directory as lharc-1.39.zoo if you do not currently have it. If you are sending a Scenario converted from the PC version with the utility from the Scenario Editor, please indicate this in the scenario description and give due credit to the original creator. I will be converting the available PC scenarios myself (for the benefit of those who do not have the Scenario Editor) so you might want to check before sending it up. Along with your scenario, include three text files. One text file should contain just general information, such as version of the program you ran your scenario on, version of the Scenario Editor that you created it on, memory requirements, and any editorial comments you would like to include. Also, leave an email address where other players can contact you with comments on your scenario. Your other two text files should be orders for both the BLUE and RED side. 1. The orders files should be named the same as the scenario file itself. See the example below: EXAMPLE: scenario is named ASSAULT.HP1 Blue orders file should be named ASSAULT.BL1 Red orders file should be named ASSAULT.RD1 Information file should be named ASSAULT.TXT Please note that the .hp1, .bl1 and .rd1 extensions will change based on the BattleSet you're using (in other words, an NACV scenario would have .hp2, .bl2, and .rd2 extensions.) 2. Note: we reserve the right to edit any of your documentation. This means spelling errors, typos, etc. If we make any changes, we will properly note them. BE ASSURED, we will NEVER edit the scenario itself. Also, we will never change the intention of your documentation (like telling the BLUE player he has to invade Keflavik when he/she really has to invade Narvik! :-)) (I will add a general statement requesting any comments to the author be Cc'd to me for possible inclusion into a commentary digest. These comments are subject to editing also.) 3. If I receive any useful comments from people playing a scenario, I will include a digest of these comments. If a scenario gets enough comments to justify it, I will make a file called SCENARIO.CMT where SCENARIO is the name of the scenario. Otherwise all the comments will be put in a digest called COMMENTS.TXT. To upload scenarios, simply set up an FTP session with spc7.jpl.nasa.gov (137.79.114.145) in the pub/uploads sub directory (please make sure it has a unique name). Then, drop me a note at lcline@agora.rain.com informing me that it's there. I will take the scenario from spc7.jpl.nasa.gov and run a virus check and see if the scenario loads properly into Harpoon. If your scenario does not pass those checks, I will send you email to inform you about it. If your scenario does pass, it will be uploaded to the pub/harpoon/amiga sub directory at sunbane.engrg.uwo.ca and will be available to all. PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO UPLOAD ANY "PROPRIETARY" FILES! By this, I mean copyrighted material. Our former FTP archive site, hilbert.math.ksu.edu was shut down because the USNI BattleSet published especially for those Naval Institute members who bought the program through the USNI (and therefore not available to anyone else!) was uploaded to hilbert. We do not want to see this happen again! If you attempt to upload this type of file (ie any BattleSet or other part of the HARPOON/SCENARIO EDITOR programs) they will not be transferred to sunbane. Also, please only upload HARPOON scenarios. This archive is only for HARPOON scenarios. Take note: there will be an INDEX file in the pub/harpoon/amiga sub directory listing all the scenarios in the directory, and will include each the address of the author (to encourage feedback), memory requirements, and a short, one-or-two-line description of the scenario, drawn from your text files. Following these guidelines will allow us to build a quality archive of scenarios to make available to all HARPOON users. Some addresses to take note of if you have any problems: Mark Lam (PC Admnistrator): lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu Gary Snow (Macintosh Administrator): gsnow@clark.edu Larry Cline (Amiga Administrator): lcline@agora.rain.com Kolin Hand (Drop-Off Site Administrator): hand@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov Thank you for taking time to read this. If you have any questions, please leave me an email. HAPPY HARPOONING! Larry T. Cline Amiga Administrator, Harpoon Scenario Archive lcline@agora.rain.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Aug 92 13:46:41 EDT From: yvesb@minas.lockheed.on.ca (Yves Boudreault) Subject: (44) Amstrad + MCGA Tricks Message-Id: Hello, A friend of mine bought a copy of Computer Harpoon for the PC after playing it on my Macintosh. He is not very computer litterate and could not get it to work on his PC. I tried to give him a hand but I am not very familiar with PC terminology and standards, so I was not able to install it either. A few phone calls to 360 did not help too much. Has anyone tried to install PC_Harpoon on the following hardware: Amstrad PC model 1640 with monochrome monitor It has something called MCGA mode (monochrome CGA ?). If anyone has experience with the AMSTRAD, I would appreciate help because I kind of gave up on trying to install it on the PC. Thanks. -- Yves Boudreault If I express opinions, they have to be mine. yvesb@minas.lockheed.on.ca ------------------------------ Date: Tue 25 Aug 1992 12:20:31 PDT From: tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu (Ted Kim) Subject: (45) Recent Naval Developments Message-Id: August 1992 USNI Proceedings described the Navy's new LX90 amphibious ship design. These ships are to replace the capability of the Austin (LPD-4), Charleston (LKA-1135), Anchorage (LSD-36) and Newport (LST-1179) classes which are to be retired. The new design is 684 feet long and can embark 700 troops, 25000 cubic feet of carge, 4 CH-46E helos (or equivalents) and 2 LCACs. No further details are given, but the illustration has two small missile launchers which look like the light-weight RAM mount. The USN amphibious fleet of the next century will consist of: 6 Wasp (LHD-1), 5 Tarawa (LHA-1), 8 Whidbey Island (LSD-41), 3 Harpers Ferry (LSD-49), plus some number (probably 11+) of LX90s. The plan is to have 11 amphibious ready groups (ARGs), each of which consists one LHD or LHA, one LSD, and one LX90. The Proceedings also summarized parts of RADM Sheafer's (Director of Naval Intelligence) testimony on 5 February 1992 before Congress. He stated that CIS "general-purpose" submarine production level stood at six per year. In 1991, the six submarines produced included the 26th (and last) Victor III SSN and submarines in the Akula, Oscar II and Kilo classes. The Sierra class is also still being built. Some Kilo production is for export. He also expected that the last Yankee SSBNs would be retired or converted in 1992. It also seems that the plan to equip submarines with the SS-NX-24 has been halted. For the future, Fleet ADM Chernavin has stated that the CIS will eventually be producing about two "general purpose" nuclear and two diesel-electric submarines (one for export) per year. Further cuts, though, may reduce the rate to about 1.5 per year. -ted Ted Kim Internet: tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu UCLA Computer Science Department UUCP: ...!{uunet|ucbvax}!cs.ucla.edu!tek 3804C Boelter Hall Phone: (213)206-8696 Los Angeles, CA 90024 FAX: (213)825-2273 ------------------------------ End of CZ Digest **************** From root@FICUS.CS.UCLA.EDU Mon Aug 31 15:38:32 1992 Received: by penzance.cs.ucla.edu (Sendmail 5.61c+YP/3.19ficus1) id AA13741; Mon, 31 Aug 92 15:38:32 -0700 Date: Mon, 31 Aug 92 15:38:32 -0700 Message-Id: <9208312238.AA13741@penzance.cs.ucla.edu> From: cz@FICUS.CS.UCLA.EDU To: cz-dist@penzance.CS.UCLA.EDU Subject: CZ Digest v11 #6 (msgs 46-56) Errors-To: cz-request@FICUS.CS.UCLA.EDU Status: RO The Convergence Zone Date: 31 August 1992 Volume: 11 Issue: 6 Topics: (46) Editorial cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (47) Re: Airbase Strike gjb@fig.citib.com (48) HDS bruce.macintosh@bonnie (49) Re: Reloading trooker@bombe.nswc.navy.mil (50) European Sales mkbmfav@dutrex.tudelft.nl (51) Radar in Desert Storm tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu (52) SS-N-2 Missiles felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu (53) Miscellaneous lapointe@mv83a.nusc.navy.mil (54) Making Scenarios ummorea0@ccu.umanitoba.ca (55) Volume 11 Index cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (56) CZ Guidelines cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu "The Convergence Zone" (or just "CZ" for short) is an electronic mailing list for the discussion of the Harpoon naval wargame series and related topics. Submissions: cz@ficus.cs.ucla.edu Administration: cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu Archives: sunbane.engrg.uwo.ca (129.100.100.12): pub/harpoon/cz via anonymous FTP ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon 31 Aug 1992 15:22:03 PDT From: cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (CZ Administrator) Subject: (46) Editorial Message-Id: New members added since last issue: gbrown@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil (Gary Brown) g_holt@icrf.icnet.uk (George Holt) eeiwmc@eeiua.ericsson.se (William McCarthy) mckee@hpmckee.fc.hp.com (Bret McKee) mckinney@athena.mit.edu (Ethan McKinney) I finally saw HDS for PCs in the stores. According to the box, it includes the version 1.3 upgrade as a bonus. This issue wraps up volume 11 and thus contains the usual index and guide. -ted (disguised as CZ Administrator) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Aug 92 19:41:19 EDT From: gjb@fig.citib.com (Greg Brail) Subject: (47) Re: Airbase Strike Message-Id: When striking an airbase using F-111s, try flying them at VLow altitude. According to the Battlebook, tne F-111s and Tornados in the MEDC scenario have terrain-following radar installed (and, in fact, this radar shows up in the on-line platform database). This is supposed to make it possible to fly these planes at VLow altitude without having them crash. Since many Soviet-made SAMs cannot intercept planes flying that low, you're pretty much immune to SAMs that way. The bad guys and gals will also have a much harder time finding your planes on radar. However, I have seen F-111s in the MEDC scenario crash at VLow altitude, so there may be a bug there. Nonetheless, try it. In fact, when your attacking planes get within SAM range of the base, do either of two things -- either drop to VLow altitude and hit the afterburner, or climb to High altitude and do the same. Of course, it's more fun to lob HARMs or Harpoons from 60nm away. However, you can't really do this in real life, and it takes an awful lot of Harpoons to wipe out an airbase. A few of those TV-guided bombs from the F-111 "Guided" loadout, however, will do the job quite nicely, despite their short range. greg ------------------------------ Date: 26 Aug 1992 11:24:50 EST From: bruce.macintosh@bonnie.astro.ucla.edu Subject: (48) HDS Message-Id: Before I go out and spend $40 on the designers series, I'd like to get some info from people who've purchased it about its worth. I've read everything about the 1.3 upgrade, so I'm more interested in the scenarios and platforms in the designers series upgrade: 1. Are the scenarios reasonable? That is to say, do they concentrate on conflicts that are likely or at least *possible* in the current world, as opposed to NATO-vs-(USSR/CIS) mass warfare? (Something like Russia vs. Ukraine in the Med, for example) 2. Are the scenarios balanced under the 1.3 rules? Tough enough to be interesting? 3. With the upgrade, will the scenario editor now allow you to put arbitrary forces on either side (to set up the aforementioned Russia vs. Ukraine, or any similar civil war, or shuffling sides in NATO ... ) Also, what kind of prices have people payed for the Designer's Series upgrade? Bruce Macintosh macintosh@bonnie.astro.ucla.edu UCLA Astronomy Department Infrared Imaging Detector Lab ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Aug 92 08:16:39 GMT-0500 From: trooker@bombe.nswc.navy.mil (Terry Rooker) Subject: (49) Re: Reloading Message-Id: In CZ v11 msg 21, s905066@otto.bf.rmit.oz.au (Gavin Rewell) writes: > I am not sure what to make of this, so perhaps someone out there can help? > I am running IBM v1.2, and was disappointed to discover that I have never (in > around two years of play) had a NATO SAM/SSM/ASROC launcher reload. In CZ v11 msg 39, yuqian@bvc.edu (Suicidal Freshman) responds: > Harpoon is one shot only, no magazine; container is launcher. So is Tomahawk. > SAM reload immediately after firing. ASROC reloads if you fire all of them > from the oct-launcher. Combined launcher loads immediately after firing. This answer is only 80%(?) correct. Reloadable launchers is very class dependant. For example there are (have been) ship classes with ASROC that did not have relaods. Only the Harpoon single cell launchers are not reloadable. Some ships fire Harpoon from the single arm launcher (specifically the Perry class). In this case the number of reloads is dependant upon the weapon mix in the magazine, and usually there are not many Harpoons. The vertical launching systems are a different animal, but the still the number of weapons of each type is determined by the initial loadout. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 09:07:40 +0200 From: mkbmfav@dutrex.tudelft.nl (Veer F) Subject: (50) European Sales Message-Id: In CZ v11 message 17, a package was mentioned which included Harpoon 1.3 for PC and the Harppon Designer Series and some BattleSets. Can anybody tell tell me if 360 takes European credit card orders for this package and how I can contact them by (snail) mail. Also what BattleSets are currently available. Thanks for the info, Frederic Veer mkbmfav@dutrex.tud.nl ------------------------------ Date: Thu 27 Aug 1992 12:07:10 PDT From: tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu (Ted Kim) Subject: (51) Radar in Desert Storm Message-Id: Radar is much less affected by environmental conditions than sonar and visual means. However, in some cases it definitely can be affected. In the August 1992 USNI Proceedings, there were some descriptions of Desert Storm experiences of Aegis cruisers. Iraqi Exocets were a potential threat to naval operations in the Gulf. The article stated that under ideal radar conditions, they could be faced with having less than a minute to engage a potential Exocet attack. However, conditions significantly degraded the performance of SPY-1A/B and other radars. Problems included the rocky Iranian coastal land mass, sand storms, oil fires and temperature inversions. These sorts of problems are apparently rare in blue-water deployment. Because the SPY-1A/B uses computer controlled electronic scanning, it was possible to apply "fixes" to the allocation of output power and computer processing to compensate for conditions. Other radars would be limited to minor adjustments and other ships would basically have to live with what they got. The Exocet threat (which is a seaskimmer) made the horizon-search frame time critical. On CG-55, SPY-1 was optimized for a 2 second horizon-search frame time, and maximum power and sensitivity in a 40 degree threat sector. However, this was not without cost. Instead of the 250nm+ nearly hemispherical converage, we usually associate with Aegis, the result was a "bizzare patchwork quilt" which was "nearly worn through in some areas". Probably, high altitude search was much more thinly covered. If the Iranian coast was considered to have high threat potential (thus demanding much wider detailed coverage), the ship would probably have had to consider a different deployment position. Other Aegis ships in the Gulf acted as CAP controllers. Environmental conditions limited performance here too, though this involved higher altitude tracking. Radar contact could not be continuously maintained beyond some 60-75nm. Beyond those ranges, controllers often had to rely on IFF symbols or 2-way Link 4A. In addition, there were some difficulties in integrating E-3A AWACS data links. Perhaps, Harpoon needs some environmental modifiers for radar also, especially in situations like those in the Gulf. -ted Ted Kim Internet: tek@ficus.cs.ucla.edu UCLA Computer Science Department UUCP: ...!{uunet|ucbvax}!cs.ucla.edu!tek 3680A Boelter Hall Phone: (310) 825-8524 Los Angeles, CA 90024 FAX: (310) 825-2273 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Aug 92 02:29:15 PDT From: felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu (Felix Hack) Subject: (52) SS-N-2 Missiles Message-Id: Some Notes on Soviet SS-N-2 SSMs It's always fun to set up naval actions with the latest and greatest. Kirov on one side, Aegis cruisers on the other, SS-N-19s screaming in at mach 3, SM-2s reaching out to counter them, SA-N-6s lancing out at mach 5, seeking to bring down massive volleys of Harpoons and Tomahawks, who will win? However, many potential naval battles don't involve the height of technology, they may be fought with ships designed 30 years ago and missiles little younger. How do these systems work, and how would they fare against one another? This article represents the results of some research I've been doing in preparation for running a Warship Commander game at an upcoming convention. Players of the manual version of Harpoon may find this interesting and useful, unfortunately the computer version is 'closed' to us, so we can't modify it. In addition to hard facts, I've insinuated my own assumptions into the analysis. Happily, my reference sources contradict each other just as much as I contradict them, so who's to say what's right and what's not? My sources are the following: World Naval Weapons Systems, Norman Friedman, US Naval Institute Press. My copy is the 1989 edition; my thanks to Ted Kim for relaying information from the 1992 edition. Combat Fleets of the World 1988/89, Couhat & Baker, US Naval Institue Press. Harpoon, Modern Naval Wargame Rules, Larry Bond, GDW games. Harpoon Data Annex 1990/91, as above. Troubled Waters, Chris Carlson, GDW games. Warship Commander II, Ken Smigelski, Enola Games. The SS-N-2, Nato codename 'Styx', was first deployed in 1958. It served as the main armament of patrol craft for the Soviet Union, and was widely exported. Many navies around the world still deploy Osa patrol boats with Styx missiles. Chinese variants of this missile include the famous land-based 'Silkworms'. The Iranians have deployed these missiles along the Persian Gulf, and they were frequently in the news during the Kuwaiti tanker escort operations in 1987. The countries that operate Styxes may have improved the design, especially the seeker heads. There are three basic types of Styx, SS-N-2A,B, and C. The SS-N-2A is deployed on Osa-I class boats. These small, fast boats would be useful in actions where they could sneak around near coastlines and at night. They would be dead in the open Ocean, and in any rough water their performance must be seriously compromised. Their main radar is called Square Tie, and it performs both search and fire-control functions. The missile needs information from the radar or an optical director prior to launch. This means that a picket ship would not be particularly useful, because it cannot usefully radio firing information back to the other Osas. However, with the relatively short range of the missile this is not a great concern. [This is my interpretation; I don't think these 200 ton ships have the plotting and communications facilities to facilitate firing based on second hand data.] Standard procedure would be to set the missile's range gate from 3 to 15 miles away. At least in the original version of the missile, firing at longer range required a manual plot, which greatly decreased accuracy. This is not represented in Warship Commander, and I haven't tried to come up with a model for it or Harpoon. After launch the missile flies straight out, and is not in communication with the launching ship. At the designated range, the active radar seeker turns on and seeks out the largest radar target, which the missile will strive to hit. If the target is too close to the point the seeker turns on, the missile won't be able to react in time to make the intercept. The missile has a minimum range of 5 miles in Harpoon (less in Warship Commander; in that game targets close to the minimum range have a good chance of being 'overlooked'). The missile flies at an altitude from 300 to 1000 feet, so it is not a sea skimmer, and being fairly large, should not be particularly difficult to detect. In Warship Commander, the Osa's Square Tie radar must spend one phase (one minute) between making initial radar contact with the target and allowing fire with SS-N-2. (Aiming the missiles optically incurs the same delay). This can be adapted for Harpoon: An Osa must spend one tactical turn tracking its target after initially detecting it. That is, if the target is first visually spotted or detected by radar on turn 4, missiles cannot be launched until turn 6. Note that Osas apparently have to point their bows directly at their targets when they launch. The SS-N-2A is reportedly not very capable against small targets. (In Warship Commander this applies to SS-N-1, all versions of SS-N-2, and SS-N-3. The chance of a SS-N-2A hitting an undefended ship is 80%, but against a small (<1000 ton) target this drops to 40%). The 'small' size class in Harpoon applies to ships of 1200 ton or less displacement; unfortunately the missile is already rated at 40%. Perhaps this low figure is meant to reflect the difficulty the missile, without modern ECCM gear, has against modern targets equipped with jammers and chaff. (These effects are explicitly represented in Warship Commander). However, in the Troubled Waters module for Harpoon, the Styx is assigned an accuracy of 87% in 1973 scenarios. In scenarios of that era, I would assign a 50% chance against small targets. In the modern era, I would drop this to 20%. Apparently, standard doctrine would be to fire 4 missiles at a destroyer, and 2-4 against a small target. Harpoon players should note that older missiles are not really intrinsically less accurate than modern ones; when fired against undefended target hulks I doubt Harpoons and Tomahawks hit twice as often as Styxes. Harpoon merely builds the assumed effects of target electronic warfare into the accuracy numbers, while EW is handled separately in Warship Commander. The SS-N-2B version of the Styx is reportedly capable of alternative IR guidance. This seems to require a separate missile. For example, the Chinese Styx-derivative HY-2 missile apparently has a radar homer, while the HY-2A uses IR. Warship Commander II states that missiles with radar/IR homing available use both simultaneously; I would not do that with SS-N-2B. The loadout of both types should be firmly specified beforehand, and players could shoot either or both types. The Harpoon data on SS-N-2A/B gives them CMD/TARH guidance. I don't agree with the command guidance, as that disagrees with data that the missile is independent after launch, and also would tend to limit the rate at which missiles could be fired. Replace this listing with I/TARH, and note that there is an alternative I/TIRH for SS-N-2B. SS-N-2B (and probably 2C) reportedly sea-skims on its final approach. This is too late to prevent early detection, but would hinder attempts to shoot the missile down by SAMs or large-caliber guns. The SS-N-2C is an improved long-range version of the Styx. It is carried by Soviet Mod Kashin destroyers, the Indian Navy's custom-built Kashins, and exported Soviet Nanuchka patrol craft, among others. The guidance is reputedly more sophisticated, incorporating home-on-jam functions in Warship Commander, and resulting in greater accuracy in Harpoon. It is not normally possible for the launching platform of an SS-N-2C to acquire its own data if it wants to shoot at 40 miles. This is well beyond the radar horizon, except under exceptional circumstances like radar ducting. Therefore, a forward observer is needed. Presumably the targetting information is relayed by radio to the launching ship, where a manual plot is constructed and the missiles are launched. To reflect the time delay involved in this operation, I would recommend that Harpoon players not allow firing of SS-N-2Cs on the turn following one in which a friendly unit found a target. The Band Stand radar used on Nanuchkas apparently has the same sort of delay as described above for Square Tie, so a Nanuchka finding its own target also suffers the delay. Note that the Styx is not capable of bearing-only launch (BOL). That distinction is reserved for missiles that fly beyond the horizon and can power their seeker heads for the whole time of flight. While the SS-N-2C can fly beyond the horizon, it cannot keep its seeker active indefinitely. The minimum recommended seeker activation range of SS-N-2C from the target is 5 miles, the maximum is 15. Therefore, do not allow BOL launch of SS-N-2 missiles in Harpoon. Range information is always required, as in Warship Commander. The SS-N-9 'Siren' is carried by Charlie-II class submarines and Soviet Nanuchka patrol boats, and succeeds the Styx. Although it has a range of 60 miles, it is not capable of receiving mid-course guidance commands. Apparently there is a specialized data link antenna associated with the Band Stand radar on Nanuchkas. The missiles can be fired based on information provided by a friendly unit. I would still require a one-turn delay in Harpoon as described above, but in Warship Commander this limited data link should allow firing without waiting an extra combat phase. I would appreciate comments on the facts and opinions expressed in this article. One point I'll mention right off is that I don't believe Osas have the same sort of data link that Nanuchkas have, and I am inclined not to allow Osas to fire their missiles based on second-hand information. I could be wrong. Since the range of SS-N-2A/B isn't much farther than the radar horizon of an Osa against a medium sized ship, the issue isn't critical. -Felix Hack GEnie: F.HACK1 Internet: felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 8:10:58 EDT From: lapointe@mv83a.nusc.navy.mil Subject: (53) Miscellaneous Message-Id: OK, I upgraded to PC V1.3 and lost my land attack harpoons. HELP!! How can my planes attack and still return unharmed? Or am I a brave little soilder and live with my losses? I was playing the IOPG Guam battle and received a message that Keyhole detected a ship using sonar. Isn't Keyhole a satellite? Sonar? Is there any comprehensive data on how harpoon thinks? What Harpoon takes into account when it decides if your subs can be heard? Most of the members try to use real tactics (best guess tactics) in Harpoon. From a player standpoint it would be good to know how Harpoon thinks and develop tactics from there. On of the major faults of Harpoon is the lack of reality, i.e. carrier groups must search for downed fliers. Ken LaPointe : Surface ships are just TARGETS!! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Aug 92 19:47:22 CDT From: ummorea0@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Gene Moreau) Subject: (54) Making Scenarios Message-Id: I've been playing around with making a few scenarios and I have a few questions that some of the more experienced players may be able to answer. First, how does the computer attack? Say, I'm trying to get a convoy somewhere and I want it to be attacked. If I give the computer recon aircraft and set some long distance air patrols over the area where the convoy will be traveling, will it spot it and set up it's own attacks, or do I have to set some base some where to airstrike it? Along that line as well, if I give him recon aircraft will it set up it's own long distance patrols, formation patrols, etc.? What do some of you people do for this? Now onto my next question. This one has to do with fleet organization for both Red and Blue sides. For instance, what kind of escort ships would be suitable for say Nimitz battle groups, Iowa battle groups, and some of the bigger Soviet ones such as the Kiev and Kirov groups. I kind of figured out some ones for the American one as I am a little bit more familier with those ships, but for the Soviet ones, I don't have a clue. Any suggestions for the above would be much appreciated. -- Gene Moreau University of Mantitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada ummorea0@cuu.umanitoba.ca "I don't care where my dammed trailer is, just get me another Scotch!" -Jack Nicholson ------------------------------ Date: Mon 31 Aug 1992 15:21:59 PDT From: cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (CZ Administrator) Subject: (55) Volume 11 Index Message-Id: Volume Issue Date Messages Author - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11 1 3 July 1992 (1) Editorial cz-request@pram.cs.ucla.edu (2) Sub Commander Wanted felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu (3) Re: Files Gone from Hilbert kxb@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (4) Amiga Data Format felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu (5) Re: OS/2 Compatability 2330.1244@compuserve.com (6) Re: NACV South Crossing dgil@ipsaint.ipsa.reuter.com (7) USNI Membership creps@copper.ucs.indiana.edu 2 15 July 1992 (8) Editorial cz-request@pram.cs.ucla.edu (9) 360 Speaks 76711.240@compuserve.com (10) Re: Sub Commander Wanted trooker%xobu@relay.nswc.navy.mil (11) Surface Combat ummorea0@ccu.umanitoba.ca (12) Re: Read any Good Books? fontana@pavia.infn.it (13) PC v1.3 lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu (14) Mac Versions brockr@muvaxe.rferl.org 3 28 July 1992 (15) Editorial cz-request@pram.cs.ucla.edu (16) Survey lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu (17) Computer Version 1.3 paulwang@ocf.berkeley.edu (18) Modem Play dyfl@kbs.citri.edu.au (19) Re: Read any Good Books? pgolden@nhgs.vak12ed.edu (20) Missiles, Rapier, Radar sscotten@email.bony.com (21) Reloading s905066@otto.bf.rmit.oz.au (22) Mac Coprocessor brockr@muvaxe.rferl.org (23) Tidbits... gmartin@cory.berkeley.edu (24) Editor Versions zen%hophead@canrem.com 4 24 August 1992 (25) Editorial cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (26) PC Archive Information lam@mozart.cs.colostate.edu (27) Version 1.3 dans@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (28) Where is SLAM? zen%hophead@canrem.com (29) Re: Tidbits slan@csn.org (30) HDS Errors? zen%hophead@canrem.com (31) Airbase Strike fontana@pavia.infn.it (32) Good Naval Books felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu 5 25 August 1992 (33) Editorial cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (34) Mac Versions ummorea0@ccu.umanitoba.ca (35) Re: Surface Combat yuqian@bvc.edu (36) Same Bug is Back frankie@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu (37) V1.3 Upgrade Price? yuqian@bvc.edu (38) CGA Tricks? atubbiol@ccit.arizona.edu (39) Re: Reloading yuqian@bvc.edu (40) Re: Tidbits lcline@agora.rain.com (41) DOS 5 + Windows 3.1 s905066@otto.bf.rmit.oz.au (42) SITREP 12 tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu (43) Amiga Archive Information lcline@agora.rain.com (44) Amstrad + MCGA Tricks yvesb@minas.lockheed.on.ca (45) Recent Naval Developments tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu 6 31 August 1992 (46) Editorial cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (47) Re: Airbase Strike gjb@fig.citib.com (48) HDS bruce.macintosh@bonnie (49) Re: Reloading trooker@bombe.nswc.navy.mil (50) European Sales mkbmfav@dutrex.tudelft.nl (51) Radar in Desert Storm tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu (52) SS-N-2 Missiles felixh@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu (53) Miscellaneous lapointe@mv83a.nusc.navy.mil (54) Making Scenarios ummorea0@ccu.umanitoba.ca (55) Volume 11 Index cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (56) CZ Guidelines cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon 31 Aug 1992 15:22:01 PDT From: cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (CZ Administrator) Subject: (56) CZ Guidelines Message-Id: Guidelines for The Convergence Zone Last Update: 24 August 1992 Author: tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu (Ted Kim - CZ Moderator) Welcome to The Convergence Zone! Goal "The Convergence Zone" (or just "CZ" for short) is an electronic mailing list for the discussion of the Harpoon naval wargame series and related topics. The Harpoon products include Harpoon, Captain's Edition Harpoon, Computer Harpoon, Harpoon SITREP, and various supplements for the print and computer versions. Naval topics are discussed in so far as they are related to the game or provide useful background. The goal of CZ is interesting discussions and material and just plain fun. Submissions Messages for submission to the mailing list should be sent to "cz@ficus.cs.ucla.edu". CZ is published in digest form. Volumes 10 and higher are in RFC 1153 compatible format. Earlier volumes are in an incompatible format. All messages are subject to possible rejection or editing by the moderator. Rejection should be pretty rare and only occurs if the subject of a message is wholly inappropriate or if the message is offensive. (Please keep flames to a minimum!) Editing should be pretty rare also. Reasons for editing include (but are not necessarily limited to) extreme length, obvious errors and really bad formatting. Any editing will be noted. Please double check your submissions for errors and try to stay within 80 characters per line. Administration Administrative requests should be sent to "cz-request@ficus.cs.ucla.edu". Once in a while, the moderator has to do real work, so please be patient. If several people on the same machine receive the CZ, please try to organize a local redistribution. When you signup, I will send you back issues from the current volume. Previous volumes are available from the archives. Archives After each volume is complete, it along with an index is placed on "sunbane.engrg.uwo.ca" (129.100.100.12) for access by anonymous FTP. Please be polite and don't FTP from 08:00 to 18:00 US Eastern time during a workday. The CZ archive volumes appear under the "pub/harpoon/cz" directory in UNIX compress format. The volumes are named v1.Z, v2.Z, etc. The index files are named i1.Z, i2.Z, etc. A few other items appear under separate names. The complete list is in the file "INDEX". Scenarios User written scenarios for Amiga, Macintosh and IBM-PC versions of the computer game are also stored on the archive site in the directories "pub/harpoon/{amiga,mac,pc}" respectively. Each directory contains a file called "INDEX" and one called "README". The "INDEX" file lists the contents of that directory. The "README" file describes the scenario formats, procedures for uploading, who administrates the directory, etc. The scenarios themselves are in compressed files. If "README" and "INDEX" are sufficiently long they too will be in UNIX compress format as "README.Z" and "INDEX.Z". ------------------------------ End of CZ Digest ****************