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Just some random questions about how Harpoon works "under-the-hood".

A) I'm attacking a fixed base and want to minimize being detected, hence my radar is off and am flying at low altitude. As I close in on the target, the assistant tells me I should turn on the radar... Should I?? I generally leave it off as my thoughts are; 1) I know where the base is, it isn't moving and I do not require the radar to deliver my weapons, and 2) turning on your radar is akin to announcing to the world where you are. No need to make the enemy's job easier...

B) my F-14 is flying CAP when all of a sudden a MIG-31 appears near my E-3, yikes! I set up the F-14 to attack the MIG and see the heading/vector it will take for the intercept. I then decide to kick in the afterburner as it's a bit too close for comfort. Now when I select the F-14 again, it is still flying the same heading/vector as it was before. If I select "attack" again, the heading changes to reflect the now faster speed. My question is, "how often does the AI recalculate intercept headings/vectors?" I'm hoping the AI does it as soon as I change the airspeed and the display of the old vector is just some display artifact left over (lazy AI, get to work!)

C) How long does it take to refuel a plane? I've had it happen where a returning plane is way short of the fuel needed to make it back. I scramble off a lone plane with a tanker loadout, kick in the AB, rendezvous with the fuel-short plane, commenced the refueling, only to have the plane crash anyway! Granted, by the time the rendezvous occurred, the range circle was a 1/4" in diameter, but I did make the rendezvous!

In the above scenario, would I have been better to set the speed of the fuel-short plane to loiter? I know the fuel consumption drops, but gee, you're not going anywhere, just slowly using up the fuel waiting for help and if it doesn't arrive, you just spiral down into the cold, uncaring ocean… just seems sad…

D) Any limit on planes/tanker ratios? Seems I remember the old (H97) version that range was decreased as one added planes to the mission (e.g. a 10 plane sortie had less range than a 5 plane one), I assumed this was due to the take off/landing time requirements of a larger group. Seems now that if a single plane has the range needed, adding many more planes does not affect the ability to go-the-distance. Just a gut feeling here. I'm not proud of it, but I've done a 24 plane sortie with one tanker.... (theCase hangs head in shame)

E) How about multiple refuelings? I have successfully done a double refuel (one out, one back), but it's a bit hairy and sometimes it didn't work. Are there constraints in the AI against this other than the "NO REFUEL' message in the status box and the micro-management required to "join group"? Any workarounds?

All-in-all I love the game, especially, a) message log, b) group window zooms in more than 8x, c) WestPac, d) jamming, e) refueling return-to-home prompt, and f) better use of sounds. Thanks again to the HCE team.

ORIGINAL: theCase
Just some random questions about how Harpoon works "under-the-hood".

"Some" questions? Oy. [:'(]

A) I'm attacking a fixed base and want to minimize being detected, hence my radar is off and am flying at low altitude. As I close in on the target, the assistant tells me I should turn on the radar... Should I?? I generally leave it off as my thoughts are; 1) I know where the base is, it isn't moving and I do not require the radar to deliver my weapons, and 2) turning on your radar is akin to announcing to the world where you are. No need to make the enemy's job easier...

If your Staff Assistant (goofy fellow that he is) tells you are being detected by enemy radar, your risk of interception just shot way up, and in most cases you might as well energize it to see whats coming. That said, the enemy's fix on you may not be a solid one, and activating your own radar may give him that solid fix if he has decent ESM. No easy answer; depends on the tactical situation.

B) my F-14 is flying CAP when all of a sudden a MIG-31 appears near my E-3, yikes! I set up the F-14 to attack the MIG and see the heading/vector it will take for the intercept. I then decide to kick in the afterburner as it's a bit too close for comfort. Now when I select the F-14 again, it is still flying the same heading/vector as it was before. If I select "attack" again, the heading changes to reflect the now faster speed. My question is, "how often does the AI recalculate intercept headings/vectors?" I'm hoping the AI does it as soon as I change the airspeed and the display of the old vector is just some display artifact left over (lazy AI, get to work!)

I'll leave it to Tony to answer this one. Personally, I tend to micro manage my intercepts.

C) How long does it take to refuel a plane? I've had it happen where a returning plane is way short of the fuel needed to make it back. I scramble off a lone plane with a tanker loadout, kick in the AB, rendezvous with the fuel-short plane, commenced the refueling, only to have the plane crash anyway! Granted, by the time the rendezvous occurred, the range circle was a 1/4" in diameter, but I did make the rendezvous! In the above scenario, would I have been better to set the speed of the fuel-short plane to loiter? I know the fuel consumption drops, but gee, you're not going anywhere, just slowly using up the fuel waiting for help and if it doesn't arrive, you just spiral down into the cold, uncaring ocean… just seems sad…

I can't I've ever considered how long the refueling procedure actually takes, though its only "minutes". I'm sure its buried in the code, somewhere. Faced with a situation like yours, I'd simply put my fuel thirsty plane on cruise speed and a course to rendezvous with the tanker, get the tanker there as quickly as possible, and start praying. Hit forced immediate refueling (Alt+R) as soon as they are joined.

D) Any limit on planes/tanker ratios? Seems I remember the old (H97) version that range was decreased as one added planes to the mission (e.g. a 10 plane sortie had less range than a 5 plane one), I assumed this was due to the take off/landing time requirements of a larger group. Seems now that if a single plane has the range needed, adding many more planes does not affect the ability to go-the-distance. Just a gut feeling here. I'm not proud of it, but I've done a 24 plane sortie with one tanker.... (theCase hangs head in shame)

Tankers offload a quantity of fuel equal to the range of the tanker's own loadout. Example:

KC-10 Extender tanker loadout has a range of 7,500 nm
Now you join that KC-10 to a group of B-1 bombers (say 4 of them)
The KC-10 can give 1,875 nm of fuel to each B-1 (7500/4).

We continue to examine potential changes to the refueling mechanics to allow a tanker to offload fuel multiple times and decouple tanker fuel capacity from its loadout range.

E) How about multiple refuelings? I have successfully done a double refuel (one out, one back), but it's a bit hairy and sometimes it didn't work. Are there constraints in the AI against this other than the "NO REFUEL' message in the status box and the micro-management required to "join group"? Any workarounds?

Keep in mind that your recipient aircraft can be so far from home so as to be unable to take on enough fuel to make it back. This makes multiple refuelings necessary, and it can be dicey, as you say.

If I'm in a scenario where multiple refuelings are necessary, I set up either a chain of tankers along the route, or a "safe area" where tankers can orbit and refuel aircraft as they go into or come out of the combat zone. Rarely do I ever refuel more than twice.

Always try and work in more tankers than you absolutely need, because losing a bunch of aircraft because they ran out of gas is painful, embarrassing and does nothing for your career in command. [:'(]

All-in-all I love the game, especially, a) message log, b) group window zooms in more than 8x, c) WestPac, d) jamming, e) refueling return-to-home prompt, and f) better use of sounds. Thanks again to the HCE team.

Good to hear. [:)]

Thanks for the quick reply, I would like to have gotten back to this eariler, but work/life gets in the way of Harpoon too often for my liking.

ORIGINAL: CV32

Tankers offload a quantity of fuel equal to the range of the tanker's own loadout. Example:

KC-10 Extender tanker loadout has a range of 7,500 nm
Now you join that KC-10 to a group of B-1 bombers (say 4 of them)
The KC-10 can give 1,875 nm of fuel to each B-1 (7500/4).

This explains why several flights of F-16's splashed on a ferry loadout from Bermuda to the Azores (Lajes) with a KC-10 as their fuel supply. Sounds like I should keep a calculator handy while playing the game!

Thank you again for your insights! Just when I think I know how the game works, I learn something new.

ORIGINAL: theCase

B) my F-14 is flying CAP when all of a sudden a MIG-31 appears near my E-3, yikes! I set up the F-14 to attack the MIG and see the heading/vector it will take for the intercept. I then decide to kick in the afterburner as it's a bit too close for comfort. Now when I select the F-14 again, it is still flying the same heading/vector as it was before. If I select "attack" again, the heading changes to reflect the now faster speed. My question is, "how often does the AI recalculate intercept headings/vectors?" I'm hoping the AI does it as soon as I change the airspeed and the display of the old vector is just some display artifact left over (lazy AI, get to work!)

I don't know how often it recalculates, I know the weapons intercepts work on a sliding scale depending upon how far they are from the expected target position (i.e. more frequent updates as they get close to the target). The behaviour you see with the F-14 annoys me also and is a rather recent change to how the game works (i.e. after 2005 and before 2007).

Relative to the example of the KC-10 and 4 B1's... If their are 2 KC-10's with the group does each B-1 then get 3750 nm of fuel ? Do 4 KC-10's then provide each with 7500 nm of fuel...etc.?
 
Smitty

ORIGINAL: smitty

Relative to the example of the KC-10 and 4 B1's... If their are 2 KC-10's with the group does each B-1 then get 3750 nm of fuel ? Do 4 KC-10's then provide each with 7500 nm of fuel...etc.?

Smitty

That is indeed how it should work, though the B-1 should never take on more fuel than the loadout originally allowed. Test it out, help us narrow down the problems [:)]. This is definitely an easy thing to check, no big need to ask others, just do it and see if and how it works.