H3 Multiplayer Server up Again

[hermanhum]

Joe Baxter and I decided to try out Bart Gauvin's first scenario, Ice Picket, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1208299786

We had both played this scenario in solitaire, but wanted to see how we would fare against an intelligent opponent and not just the AI. Joe commanded the USN while I played as the Soviets. Since we both had some knowledge of the opponent's forces and disposition, it would be interesting to see if we could improve upon the AI's performance.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1215749966

I had an Intell trawler shadowing his PhibRon. I didn't want it to be destroyed right away from a Harpoon missile so I had it hide behind a neutral fishing boat so that a Harpoon shot might just hit the wrong vessel.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1215749975

Joe wasn't about to get careless with his weapons. He sent in a flight of Sea Cobras to investigate before opening fire. I was thankful that he came within SAM range of my AGI, but then was heartbroken to watch both my SA-8 Gremlins miss their targets. There was no second chance as the helos pummelled my ship mercilessly with Hellfire ATGMs. I would soon have my revenge.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1215749994

K-305, a Victor III-class SSN, was moving to intercept the PhibRon. She was making her approach and had already gotten in behind the DDG Farragut. Unfortunately, in order to get within range of her Type 65 torpedoes, she needed to accelerate to 8kts from her creep speed of 5kts. At this point, she was counter-detected and her targets tried to flee in the opposite direction.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1215750021

She was only 10 miles away so she threw out her massive torpedoes on Bearing-only-Launch. Three salvoes of 650mm torpedoes were in the water as she tried to manoeuvre even closer. The enemy wasn't sitting back, either, as one Mk 46 after another was dropped into the water. She managed to evade 6 before one of her decoys malfunctioned during deployment and a weapon slipped through to detonate beside the reactor room. At a depth of 600m, death was instantaneous for the entire crew. After a long chase, one Type 65 caught the LHA Tarawa and evened the score.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1215750036

Even before the survivors had been fished from the cold Norwegian Sea, round 2 was already underway.

Thanks for a great session, Joe. I look forward to finishing this one on the weekend.

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

[FreekS]

AAR-MP: Gauntlet
Players: Herman Hum (USSR), Freek Schepers (NATO)
DB: PlayersDB
 
I played NATO and my mission was to escort two large (and noisy) freighters to Narvik. The escort consisted of one Perry-type and one UK Type 22 frigate.
I set up a sonarbouy patrol, about 15nm ahead of the convoy, the Type 22 on sprint-drift and the Perry close to the convoy for air defense.
 
The speed of advance needed to be 20 knots (max convoy speed) and I set up a slight zig-zag.
 
Narvik detected a Flogger before its radar was destroyed. I would be blind from now on.
 
I sent out occasional helo patrols on ship-recce mission (but manually controlled of course), to search up to about 90nm away (about the max Russian SSM-armed ships I was expecting). This was fairly hairy and I had to withdraw the helo''s regularly as the Flogger came close. By this time I was sure the Flogger or a sub would have found the convoy so I switched on the Perry's radar. The Flogger stayed just out of missile range but as it reached bingo I could send out another helo patrol far North.
 
Then I got a passive sonar contact from Perry on an unknown ship north - probably in the second or third CZ! I closed the Helo to get a classification and a firm target for my harpoons.
 
At that moment a sub was detected firing its torpedoes, my ASW helo was out of position. I deduced it was a nuclear sub by the old addage "if its a modern sub, he won't stop shooting". My convoy turned as the helo's rose to intercept. Some of the torpedoes were doing only 24 knots, but some were 50 knot long range monsters! Out of 8 torps fired, two hit to kill of my supply ships and the Perry, but not before the Perry had fired its 4 harpoons on the two Nanushka's racing south at 32 knots that my helo had just classified. The sub turned out to be a Victor and sank after the third torp had been dropped on it. I saw the Nanushka contacts drop off the screen, and hoped I'd killed them with the harpoons.
 
I hoped for a draw but minutes later my remaining ships were both hit (I think by Siren missiles) that the Nanuskha's must have just fired before dying. Thus Herman won the game!
 
I lost two merchants and two escorts, with my helo's aloft heading for Norway. Herman lost 2 Nanushka's and a Victor.
 
Great game, pretty quick, a little surprising to get a sonar contact on the Nanushka in maybe the 3rd CZ.
Well done!
 
Freek

[hermanhum]

Freek Schepers and I met to try out Gauntlet, made with the community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.

The Soviets will attempt to seize Norwegian bases in any all-out war. This will be done by physically seizing some bases and cutting off others from the rest of NATO. NATO must re-supply these bases using naval convoys. The success or failure of the convoys will be of paramount importance to both NATO and Soviet commanders.

This scenario is a re-make of a Harpoon Classic scenario from the original GIUK battleset and has yet been released. It is available only from the ANW MP server.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1214935373

I detected the convoy from the Victor SSN and moved to intercept at creep speed. I knew that she was quite vulnerable to helos so I tried to keep a Flogger on station to intercept any snoopers. Also, my Nanuchka missile boats could ill-afford to be detected since their missile systems had far less range than the American Harpoons.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1215881223

Things were going well, except I mis-calculated the endurance of my Flogger. The CAP ran out of gas and the relief was too far away. The enemy got a glimpse of my ships and promptly replied with a Harpoon salvo. The relief Flogger arrived to engage, but missed and all it took was two missiles to slip through to kill each of the missile boats. In an act of desperation, I salvoed their missiles on Bearing-Only-Launch.

The Victor was just about to launch, when the convoy decided to 'zag'. I didn't know if I had been detected, but assumed that I had, so I launched torpedoes from maximum range. The Flogger that was supposed to be keeping the helos off my back had been occupied trying to fight off the Harpoons so the sub was fairly quickly prosecuted. However, her torpedoes did manage to find suitable targets at the end of a long chase and victory was awarded.

Thanks to Freek for the great game and to HarpGamer for hosting it.

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

[hermanhum]

Joe Baxter, Jeronimo Chiecchio (a.k.a. Angle of Attack), and I met up for an afternoon of war on the ANW server. We selected Freek Scheper's new 3-sided scenario, Shadow the Boomer, made with the community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.

After several vicious carrier battles in the Barents Sea and with the ground war stalemated in the Nordic winter, negotiations started to end the war. Both parties observed a cease-fire, which held surprisingly well in the first week.

However, NATO feared Putin would make use of the cease-fire to bring his boomers to bastions prepared in the Barentz Sea. USN and Royal Navy hunter-killer subs were sent to stake out Severomorsk and be prepared to shadow SSBNs exiting the harbour.

[center]http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/788/shadowga1.th.gif[/center]

I was the Russian boomer while Joe played the American SSN and AoA had the British SSN. Since we had all played this scenario before, we each had a pretty good idea of the starting disposition of the other players. Without the element of surprise, we each decided to play the scenario differently from the way we played it our first time.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1215999632

My SSBN left port and headed for her first reference point where she was ordered to dive. While departing, my SSBN was making one heckuva racket so I decided to dive early. This turned out to be my undoing. As the SSBN dove, it was out of contact with Murmansk HQ. I knew that there were other submarines in the area, but did not think that they would detect and engage me. Man, was I wrong.

Not long after I dove, a Victor III fired a Type 65 ASW torpedo which caught and sank me. Since I had already lost the game, I didn't want to spoil the session for my opponents. (To be honest, I was hoping that they would do something that would prevent them from winning, too. i.e. shoot at each other, be sunk by one of my escorts,... )

Joe and AoA swept the area in vain. Joe engaged and sank a Tango and the Victor, but neither of them managed to achieve their Victory Conditions, either. They had both been hunting for me so diligently that they had forgotten to check their orders and leave the area by a pre-assigned time. So, we all technically "lost" the scenario. However, I played like crap, got caught at it, and deservedly sunk.

I hope that AoA and Joe still enjoyed themselves even with my dismal performance. Thanks to AoA and Joe Baxter for the game and to HarpGamer for the use of the server.

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

[FreekS]

Hey guys, nice to see that the timebomb I built into that scen to force players to follow the orders actually worked! In this case the Russian sub commander must stay in contact by travelling on the surface. Hope you guys had fun!
 
I've started some work on another 3-sided scen in your honor.....
 
Freek

[hermanhum]

Jeronimo Chiecchio (a.k.a. Angle of Attack), TonyE, and I met up for an afternoon of war on the ANW server. We were joined by a special guest, JasonH; a former sonar operator from Los Angeles attack submarines. We had our own "Ronald Jones (Jonesy)" in attendance. We selected Freek Scheper's latest 3-sided scenario, Shadow the Boomer, made with the community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.

After several vicious carrier battles in the Barents Sea and with the ground war stalemated in the Nordic winter, negotiations started to end the war. Both parties observed a cease-fire, which held surprisingly well in the first week.

However, NATO feared Putin would make use of the cease-fire to bring his boomers to bastions prepared in the Barentz Sea. USN and Royal Navy hunter-killer subs were sent to stake out Severomorsk and be prepared to shadow SSBNs exiting the harbour.

[center]http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/788/shadowga1.th.gif[/center]

I was the Russian boomer while AoA played the American SSN and Tony commanded the British SSN.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1216549410

Things were uneventful as my SSBN cleared the shore and headed out past the ice. I had no contacts, but my comrades in ships and submarines sweeping ahead to clear our path.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1216549425

As the SSBN neared the first reference point, a flash message was received from FFG Revostnyy. She was engaging an unknown submarine with USET-80 torpedoes! This contact turned out to be the SSN La Jolla. The torpedo struck home behind the sail and there was one less threat to my boomer.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1216549466

As my SSBN headed towards her deterrent patrol zone, another unknown submarine was detected. I tried to run past it, but the sonar room reported that it was close. I deduced that this must be the elusive Trafalgar-class SSN and she was barely making steerage at 1kt.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1216549477

As per my orders, I was cleared to engage any target within 5nm of my command. I fired two USET-80 torpedoes along with a rocket-powered super-cavitating Shkvall before fleeing at full speed eastward. Unfortunately, my evasion manoeuvre took me out of my designated safe-transit lane and into the patrol area of an Il-38 May. The MPA reacted quickly and dropped an ASW torpedo which subsequently exploded in the missile bay to flood and sink my SSBN. To further add to my embarassment, all three weapons targeted on the Trafalgar missed and Tony was awarded victory.

Thanks to AoA and Tony for the game and to HarpGamer for the hosting the game on their server.

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

http://www.harplonkhq.com/images/mainpic.gif

[TonyE]

ORIGINAL: TonyE

In a few weeks I will (almost certainly) stop running the two Stratsims ANW MP Servers.  This is your fair warning to take advantage of them now while they are still running.  It appears some others in the community are putting effort into getting a server up and running which would be excellent.

It has been fun to play some MP games with you and to watch even more of them being played. 

The servers will be shut down in about 16 hours. It has been a good run, hopefully we'll have some 24/7 servers back in the community soon.

[hermanhum]

Thanks so much for your support of the ANW community.  Every game I've played on the server was one more than I ever expected to play.

It's been a great run and I certainly hope that a new server will be available soon.

[FreekS]

Thanks Tony! I've had great fun with the games played!
 
Freek

[FreekS]

With the help of Tony and Herman my PC is able to function as a server for Harpoon3 ANW Multiplayer. It will use the PlayersDB database.
 
IP is 81.204.5.211
Port 14342
 
HOWEVER as this is my regular PC Harpoon ANW will NOT be running 24/7; rather I will switch it on 'by appointment'
So drop me a mail or find me on MSN if you want to play a game.
 
Freek

[hermanhum]

That's very kind of you to have your machine placed at the disposal of the players. [8D]

But you forgot to mention how someone can reach you on MSN.

Freek's MSN username is freek_schepers (at symbol) yahoo.com [:)]

[TonyE]

ORIGINAL: hermanhum

Thanks so much for your support of the ANW community.  Every game I've played on the server was one more than I ever expected to play.

It's been a great run and I certainly hope that a new server will be available soon.

Thanks Herman, Freek, ... [:)]

For those of you reading the thread here you've doubtless noted that the great majority of the scenarios played included Herman as a player. You might not like him or agree with him about many things Harpoon but few would experience multiplayer Harpoon without his devotion which required a whole lot more time and effort than my running the servers.

[Anonymous]

Hi Tony,

ORIGINAL: TonyE

The servers will be shut down in about 16 hours. It has been a good run, hopefully we'll have some 24/7 servers back in the community soon.

I had the chance to play a few times on your server. Thank you very much for giving that opportunity to the Harpoon players.

Ralf

[FransKoenz]

ORIGINAL: koelbach

Hi Tony,

ORIGINAL: TonyE

The servers will be shut down in about 16 hours. It has been a good run, hopefully we'll have some 24/7 servers back in the community soon.

Thanks Tony for the pleassant hours harpooning on your server [:D]
Also thanks for you detailed instructions for installing and maintaining a decent ANW-server, I hope to start serving in a short period as well [;)]

Pooner of the Century, when you ask me!

[hermanhum]

Today, we introduced Thomas Pope into the world of MP. On an impulse, he decided to buy the game so we opted to check out Dawn Patrol, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.

Thomas was the Big Bad Russians while I played the Norwegians.

We got off to a stealthy start, with both sides quietly probing for one another. I guess Thomas got a bit impatient and turned on the radar for his 'honeypot' lure. I tried to hold fire with one of my missile boats in order for the others to close. Unfortunately, I had already been detected and was soon sunk by a Siren before I could unleash Penguin SSMs.

The next Hugin on the scene did not make that mistake and fired her 6 Penguin right away. The resultant fireball told me that the score had been evened.

Now that I had his general location, all surviving missile boats converged. A second radar emission was detected so I sent another salvo of Penguin 'right down his throat'. Then a third boat popped up and I hit him with a salvo, too.

However, Tom wasn't sitting back. He replied quickly with a barrage of Siren SSMs and blew my 3 missile boats from the water before the Penguins claimed his last two boats. I was awarded victory soon afterwards.

Thanks for a fun session, Thomas. Hope that you'll be around for lots more MP games. And thanks to Freek for the use of his PC as the server.

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

[FreekS]

Yesterday, Silent Hunter, Herman and I met to play "Shadow the Boomer"; a three-side playable submarine scen for PlayerDB.
 
Silent Hunter played a USN Los Angelos-class, I had a UK Trafalgar, and Herman played the Russian Delta IV that exited the harbour with heavy escort.
 
At the start of the game, I had neutral contacts only (mostly fishing boats) and I approached Severomorsk harbour sprinting and drifting. During one of my drifts I detected an unknown submerged contact which seemed to be close and stopped. This could be an SSK, and as my orders were to shadow the Delta without being detected I spent nearly 2 hours creeping away and around him. I had a bearing and blade-count on the Delta, but no localisation.
 
Suddenly I heard distant torpedoes in the water; something was shooting and I heard a Delta running at 24 knots. Another submerged contact was detected ahead, and yet another one was detected running away later - sounded like a 688.
 
When the torpedoes had stopped the SSK behind me was gone, as was the unknown sub contact ahead. The Delta was still moving at 8 knots and as the bearing did not change I settled down to a 2 knot drift thinking he was coming my way. The 688 was back also, firing TLAMs to try to suppress the Bear-Fs and occasionally shooting at an escort. It seemed to be about 15nm off.
 
Some hours later I had a clear position on the Delta, it was 6nm ahead of me, turning left to course 339 and moving at 6 knots. I got in his baffles and closed the distance at 9 knots untill I was 2nm behind the boomer andcould monitor his course and speed.
Suddenly sonar called out "Torpedo, Topedo, Torpedo".  Two torpedo contacts were detected at the same bearing as the the Delta. I reacted automatically, firing 3 Spearfish (yes the 81 knot ones!) - one more than the number of decoys a Delta can fire at a time. The I turned and ran.
 
My spearfish killed the Delta and the Delta-s UUSET were moving at 29 knots and cound be outrun. I set course to my egress point and was awarded victory later.
 
It was great to really get into the baffles of a boomer undetected! Herman later told me he was shooting at the 688 and never had any indication another sub was shadowing him!
 
Freek

[CV32]

ORIGINAL: FreekS
It was great to really get into the baffles of a boomer undetected! Herman later told me he was shooting at the 688 and never had any indication another sub was shadowing him!

Thats pretty cool, Freek. Truly blind man's bluff, huh. [:)]

[hermanhum]

Great AAR. The perspective from my side as little different.

I ordered my SSBN to clear the harbour at maximum speed. I wanted to get out as fast as possible and then close in on my deployment point at creep speed in hopes losing any potential snooper. I followed orders and stayed on surface behind my accompanying icebreaker when sonar reported a torpedo in the water!

Evidently, a Victor III on patrol had mistaken me for an enemy SSN and opened fire with a Type 65-76 torpedo. I immediately dove and deployed a noisemaker. The decoy drew the torpedo away. There certainly would be a reckoning in the Severomorsk Submariners Club when we got home.

I managed to reach the seabuoy and dove according to orders. I could hear a Los Angeles-class sub cruising around at 19kts. He was engaging someone that I did not detect. It could have been one of the diesel submarines assigned to the area, but I had no idea where they were. Unfortunately, the SSKs did not kill the American submarine.

I set course for my second assigned position while keeping a wary eye out for the Los Angeles sub. As I was nearing my second patrol point, the data to the American boat firmed up and she was about 10nm away. I didn't have any SS-N-15 Starfish or SS-N-16 Stallions available, but I thought that a long-ranged USET-80 torpedo shot might at least send him running in the opposite direction and allow me to escape.

As soon as I fired the two torpedoes on Bearing-Only-Launch, sonar reported transients behind us! The Trafalgar had been shadowing me for quite some time and mistaken my torpedo attack on the Los Angeles as an attack on him, so he opened fire with his Spearfish. I tried to turn my torpedoes onto the newly detected contact, but the Spearfish struck before I had the chance. I guess I should have pulled a Crazy Ivan earlier.

[FreekS]

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?
 
Freek!

[hermanhum]

Ed and I haven't played in awhile, but we got the chance, today. We selected Freek Scheper's Pebble Island, made with the community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.

During the night of May 14th, 1982, SAS commandoes intended to attack the airfield on Pebble Island. The raid was to be carried out via helicopter from HMS Hermes, which had detached from the CVBG during the night to steam towards Pebble Island with a small escort.

While the force was still 6 hours away from their attack, American SIGINT was received which indicated that the Argentine aircraft carrier "de Mayo" had evaded British submarines and entered the 200nm exclusion zone.

A unique carrier battle was now brewing....

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1220482491

I played the Argentine side and sent my Trackers wide in hopes of picking up a stray radar emission or possibly even a visual detection. I didn't have much chance with my puny radar systems.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1220482516

Since I wasn't getting any reaction from the Brits, I decided to dangle some bait and ordered one of my Trackers to turn on her radar. That certainly drew attention and Harriers converged on the spotlight. The Harrier chased the Tracker and my Super Etendards were right behind the Harrier. It reminded me of that picture where one fish was chasing a smaller fish and then was followed by a bigger fish in turn.

The problem with bait is that it usually dies. The Tracker was running for her llife, but the Harrier got into Sidewinder range and blew it out of the air. Revenge was swift as the Super Etendards both launched Matra Magic missiles into the hot exhaust of the Harrier.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1220482534

I got a radar return from two ships that turned out to be DDG Glamorgan and FF Alacrity. I immediately sent out strike orders to the 6 Skyhawks waiting on the deck of Veinticinco de Mayo. They were hoping to make a stealthy approach, but the stupid AI bug caused them to climb and get picked up by radar.

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/attachm ... 1220482559

They dove back down to the deck and roared in at 31m and 600kts. One was killed by SAM/AAA fire just before she was able to release her bombs. The surviving five all released successfully and even managed to strafe the Glamorgan as they passed over her. She would eventually sink from flooding.

The enemy was not passive, either. A raid was soon detected at Pebble Island, but Super Etendards were on hand to defend. Four Harriers were brought down, but two Etendards were also lost. The enemy only managed to destroy a single AAA battery.

My surviving Tracker had just picked up the British carrier when we decided to save the game for another day.

Thanks to Ed for the game and to Freek for the use of the server.

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