Harpoon /Command Modern Air Naval Operations

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Admittedly this is a long shot but I was just wondering if anybody remembers playing the naval warfare strategy game "Harpoon"?

I was a big fan back in the early 90's (and probably should have spent more time on my degree rather than on a 486DX 100mhz swapping floppy disks).

I'd love to play a modern version of the game and can't decide between Harpoon (Commanders Edition) or CMANO so if anybody has played either of them (or has any other suggestions) I would be interested in hearing them.

[8bit]

Yes, I loved Harpoon. I had it on Amiga and I don't think many of the add-ons, expansions, sequels etc. made it to that but spent many hours playing the base game nonetheless. Haven't played anything like it in a long time, will have a look at those.

[kowalski655]

I tried CMANO, insanely complex & detailed,I got a Steam refund in the end.
Im worried I may not have given it enough effort, but with (IIRC) crap tutorials & info, I couldnt spare the time. I suspect a LOT of YouTube viewing would be needed.
On the plus side you do have lots of scenarios, and a standalone sub version, and I do have the stand alone bit:Northern Inferno, (I must have got it for a pittance in a bundle LOL) Might give it a try once I can get on YT
Another old one is Fleet Command, I think there's a mod somewhere for it to bring it into the 21st century,& dirt cheap on Steam at the minute,on its own or bundled with 688(I) & Sub Command
If subs are your thing then the much more recent Cold Waters is very good,& 30% off ATM.

[anonymous-user]

Harpoon was brilliant.

Was there a great little falklands mission?

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 23 June 05:18

[LimaDelta]

CMANO is amazing, if it is your thing...

Pros

• Detailed. In fact, every military unit, sensor and weapon since the end of WWII until the near future modelled.
• Sand box. The whole world, any country, any scenario. The scenario editor can allow anything giving essentially unlimited re-play potential
• Single player. In a world of MMO type games it is nice to have something to absorb myself in without tying up bandwidth, worrying about network reliability etc.
• Scenarios. There are hundreds of community scenarios (of varying complexity and quality), as well as official release DLC campaigns. You will not run out of ideas for your next scrap.
• Good balance of big-picture strategy and tactics but without the minutia of micromanaging units. For example, by setting doctrine (essentially RoE) you can effect how your units will behave on encountering a new target, coming under fire, becoming damaged, etc. You do not need to constantly 'actively-control' every aircraft, ship or land unit in your ORBAT.
• Can overlay user imagery on the world map, for example, to provide detailed satellite target information for a strike package.

Cons

• No fancy graphics. NATO style markers moving slowly around a simple global map is not going to impress anyone in 2018
• Sound. Erm, just turn it off. There is a mod which will read out your message log, but I haven't tried it yet.
• Not cheap, about £60 IIRC plus some DLC is charged for.
• Takes a surprisingly high spec system to run well, especially on the more complex scenarios (put it on an SSD if you can). Multiple monitors make it better too, though I just use duet and my iPad mini to run the message log as a separate screen.
• Some 4k issues. It is not perfect on 4k yet, some of the fonts are incredibly small and there are bugs with the font scaling.
• Single player, there are some mods which allow multi player, but there is no manufacturer supported 1v1 or multi player options, so you will have to make do with battling the AI (which still follows doctrine in the same way as your own units, along with an assigned proficiency level).

I love it. I have many hundreds of hours on record, but then I have been a military geek since the mid 1980s. For me it is just about my perfect game. The current scenarios cover just about everything. I am writing a few (for my own use really) that are missing from the current line up, including Operation El Dorado Canyon (F-111 strike against Libya), The Battle for Konna (FAF Mirages in Mali), plus a fictional scenario featuring the Charles de Gaulle carrier group supporting operations against rebels in French Guiyana who have taken hostages at the new pad construction site of the Guiyana Space Port. The scenarios can be as detailed or basic as you want, as real or hypothetical. I also wrote a scenario for retaking Gib from the Spanish to try out the new QE carrier and play out F35 vs Spanish Harriers, Hornets and Eurofighters. (It's ok - we won!).

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El stovey said:

Harpoon was brilliant.

Was there a great little falklands mission?

Edited by El stovey on Saturday 23 June 05:18

Not that I recall (and I had all the expansion packs).

[anonymous-user]

Countdown said:

El stovey said:

Harpoon was brilliant.

Was there a great little falklands mission?

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 23 June 05:18

Not that I recall (and I had all the expansion packs).

Maybe it was a different game? I think it’s a game that doesn’t need modern graphics. I’d like it on my iPad.

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kowalski655 said:

I tried CMANO, insanely complex & detailed,I got a Steam refund in the end.
Im worried I may not have given it enough effort, but with (IIRC) crap tutorials & info, I couldnt spare the time. I suspect a LOT of YouTube viewing would be needed.
On the plus side you do have lots of scenarios, and a standalone sub version, and I do have the stand alone bit:Northern Inferno, (I must have got it for a pittance in a bundle LOL) Might give it a try once I can get on YT
Another old one is Fleet Command, I think there's a mod somewhere for it to bring it into the 21st century,& dirt cheap on Steam at the minute,on its own or bundled with 688(I) & Sub Command
If subs are your thing then the much more recent Cold Waters is very good,& 30% off ATM.

I'm playing Fleet Command at the moment and, IMO, it's a pale imitation of Harpoon. The AI is rubbish, the interface isn't great. it seems impossible to co-ordinate multi-platform strikes on targets, and there doesn't seem to be the same levels of nuance in terms of technology and training differences between different countries.

Yes, I bought it on Steam with the 688(i) and Sub command package. Ive completed 688(i) which was good, not tried Sub Command yet.

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LimaDelta said:

CMANO is amazing, if it is your thing... @ lots of other useful stuff

Thanks LD. That's [b]exactly[/] what i was looking for. The positives are all stuff that I enjoy and the neagtives don't bother me at all. It's on my shopping list

[kowalski655]

Countdown said:

I'm playing Fleet Command at the moment and, IMO, it's a pale imitation of Harpoon. The AI is rubbish, the interface isn't great. it seems impossible to co-ordinate multi-platform strikes on targets, and there doesn't seem to be the same levels of nuance in terms of technology and training differences between different countries.

Yes, I bought it on Steam with the 688(i) and Sub command package. Ive completed 688(i) which was good, not tried Sub Command yet.

Never played Harpoon (on a PC, may have played a similar tabletop wargame,I used to have a fair few modern ship models) I agree Fleet Command isn't the greatest,but probably worth trying,for the cost of a pint at the minute.
From what you say,I think I need to give Northern Inferno another try when I get back from holiday

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Serendipitous...........

It appears that Steam is having a sale and there's a 67% discount on CMANO so I have purchased

[Puggit]

Yep, I had the original Harpoon. I remember constantly sending up the helicopters on anti-sub missions!

[Kaelic]

Huge fan of harpoon for near on 25 years started playing at Uni and always had it installed since then.

You could buy the super duper version recently from some sort of war gaming website so made sure I got a copy.



Loved the GIUK missions against the russians, always good for a quick 12 hour game haha

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Well, started playing CMANO and it is MASSIVE!!! I think you could spend months on this and barely scratch the surface. The AI seems to be generations ahead of Harpoon which is great for realism but makes the game incredibly complex. For example launching radar guided missiles results in the enemy planes flying at 90 degrees in order to (I assume) break radar lock.

Unfortunately it's not one of those games that you can just jump into so I'm slowly working my way through the tutorials

[LimaDelta]

Countdown said:

For example launching radar guided missiles results in the enemy planes flying at 90 degrees in order to (I assume) break radar lock.

Glad you are enjoying it. You are right RE the radar. The doppler effect is a change of frequency of a wave (reflected or emitted) as an object moves towards or away from the observer (like a police siren passing you or the red shift of light in an expanding universe). Beaming (flying at a perpendicular path) a missile (and trying to get below it), reduces the doppler effect as you no longer moving towards or away from the missile with reference to the background clutter making you are harder to track, and may result in breaking lock altogether.