Harpoon Tactical Guide

This section provides a hands-on guide to winning a game of Harpoon. Just as Harpoon ls not meant to show you all the prob- lems of a real-life fleet commander. thls section does not try to teach you everything you need to be a real-life commander. Harpoon concentrates on some of the major tactical declsions a real-world admiral wouIdh(lV'e to make in a war at sea. This ls where you can look to'\.lllderstandWi'l¥;~;!!ieclsions have to be made. and what the possible results .could be;· . NAVAL WARFARE TODAY Modem naval war:f~,piffers radically from the classic naval warfare of World War n. In; 1939.crt;the start of that war. there were few types of naval units. and few things they could do to each other. Surface units fired guns or torpedoes at other surface units. fired guns at aircraft. and dropped depth charges on submarines,f'Mcraft dropped bombs or torpedoes on ships, and dropped depth charges on submarines. Submarines torpedoed merchant ships, taking on warships only if they were in the right place at the right time. The only sensors available were sonar (brand new and overrated). radar (still secret). and the lookout's eyes. ~(lV'alwarfare 1iftyY',ElClIS1ater ls totally different. New classes of Weapons and sensors,h(lV'egiven entirely new types of capabilities to naval vessels. aircraft, and S\ll:?Iligrines. The helicopter. nuclear propulsion. nuclear weapoIlS.FUR (Forwarci.,f..<)<)king Infra-Red). guided missiles. and many other systems have spread across the naval spectrum and multiplied the possibili- ties for detection and destruction of an opponent. Where before armored dreadnoughts or hundreds of carrier aircraft slugged it out. now one aircraft. one mlssile, or even just one declsion may decide the victor. The tare accounts of modem naval combat reveal it to be much more intense than World War II, compressing the same violence into a fraction of the time. In World War II, ships steamed in column and then deployed into battle formation; reaction times were measured in hours. Naval units today must aIwCIys be in combat formation; attacks may be launched within seconds of detection. As might be expected, the capabilities of naval weapons have been irn- proveds~ce 1939. Ngyql. ...' their basic nature unchanged. have ~q~~ranQ'~.. . 'Q,"'l. Torpedoes run farther, faster. and are smc41erthQ,n theiiW ..... ;..arU counterparts. Radars have greater range. greater resolution. and .gr~er reliability. Everything that the belligerents used in World Warn ls still used, but with greater power and greater effec- tiveness. As also might be expected. totally new naval capabilities have been developed since World War n. Technology has produced new naval weapons and equ1pmenttomeet the needs of modem naval operations. Helicopters give evensp:!gll,ships an ability to increase their range and ability to project attacks, Satellites allow nava…