Warfare Sims a mis en ligne une première vidéo permettant de voir fonctionner Red Pill. Rappelons que ce wargame est ce qui se rapproche le plus d’une simulation de guerre aérovanale moderne avec un rendu graphique style Google Earth (et ici une bande-son digne du Monde du silence). Pour mieux comprendre le déroulement de l’action, en l’occurrence l’attaque (hypothétique) d’un convoi grec en route vers Chypre par des Phantoms F4 E 2020 (turcs a priori), voyez le résumé après la vidéo, et si besoin passez la vidéo en HD pour mieux lire les différents textes décrivant les évènements.
Dans un registre similaire, sachez que Matrix a annoncé il y a quelques semaines la sortie de Larry’s Bond Harpoon Ultimate edition, une compilation célébrant 20 ans de Harpoon, qui est toujours la référence en terme de simulation aéronavale moderne. Notez que les possesseurs de Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare ou de Harpoon Commander’s edition peuvent au passage bénéficier d’une ristourne de 25 %. Pour plus d’infos, voyez le communiqué ci-après, ou directement chez Matrix.
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We prepared a short piece from one of our tests setups; a squadron of “OPFOR” F-4E-2020 strikers attacking a small Greek convoy bound for Cyprus, off the coast of Rhodes. The Phantoms are armed with two AGM-65G missiles each; the convoy is composed of two Jason-class LSTs, escorted by the frigates Hydra and Adrias. Test scenario made with the Red Pill air/naval wargame. Some time-points to note:
Start – The attacking Phantoms are flying at medium altitude and are detected early, which allows time for a suitable response. The “EL/M-2032” text over each contact is the active emissions detected from it – in this case, the radars of the aircraft as they search for the convoy.
0:32 – We are changing the doctrine option “Engage non-hostiles” doctrinal option for the surface group. This will enable the escorts to start engaging the incoming contacts as soon as they are within their weapon envelope, well before they are positively identified as hostile. Repeated runs of this test scenario have shown this option’s state to be one of the most crucial factors of the outcome.
2:50 – Hydra starts engaging the foremost Phantoms with her ESSM missiles. The dotted red lines are the illumination beams for the SARH seekers of the missiles. Hydra has two STIR illuminators so she is “painting” two aircraft concurrently, guiding two missiles at each.
3:45 – The Phantoms detect the incoming missiles and begin evasive maneuvers. Some escape; others don’t. The complex interactions of weapons, targets, seekers, countermeasures and expendable decoys parade through the message log.
4:08 – We select the Hydra and bring up the weapons window to observe the decrease in her SAM inventory as it is being depleted.
5:53 – The surviving strikers manage to get close enough to begin launching their AGM-65G missiles at the surface group. Things become tricky now; the Mav-Gs are a smaller, faster target than the Phantoms and the window of interception is shrinking rapidly.
6:00 – The incoming missiles are close enough that Adrias, disadvantaged by its position on the other flank, can start shooting her Sea Sparrows at them. Some of the vampires, however, are getting through.
6:47 – As the “leakers” are approaching, all ships begin engaging them with their guns. Despite the “wall” of defensive fire, a single Maverick-G slams into the side of Hydra. Though not taken out of action, she sustains significant damage and some of her systems (including her primary long-range air-search radar) are knocked out.
7:00 – We bring up the damage-control window to inspect the damage on the Hydra in greater detail.
The surviving Phantoms turn for home, while the convoy presses on. The first attack was repulsed, but at a price – and follow-up air/missile attacks will now be much more difficult to counter.
***
Harpoon Ultimate edition
David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “If you like modern naval combat, Harpoon is the most detailed and realistic simulator on the market. The Ultimate Edition of Harpoon contains virtually everything from this fantastic product’s long lineage and it deserves a place in any naval warfare fan’s game library!”
Harpoon – Ultimate Editionis the best and most comprehensive compilation of computer Harpoon games ever assembled! The two flagship products in the Harpoon line up, Advanced Naval Warfare and Commander’s Edition come highly expanded and improved from their previous versions. Advanced Naval Warfare comes with a full suite of editors, upgrades and expansion to the sonar models, boarding actions, encrypted databases, and more! Commander’s Edition sports an all new EMCON AI, an expanded WestPac BattleSet, a greatly improved HCDB database, and more!
To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Harpoon and give fans who enjoy playing the older versions a great archival edition, Harpoon – Ultimate Edition includes more than 20 previous releases of Computer Harpoon including Harpoon 3 v3.63 and Harpoon Classic. This allows players who have databases or scenarios tied to these older versions to continue to enjoy them for years to come, and it will also allow new players who purchase the Ultimate Edition access to this rich older content.
Features include:
* The most complete anthology of computer Harpoon ever assembled with builds stretching from Harpoon Alpha 880916 all the way to the latest and greatest versions of Advanced Naval Warfare (v3.10) and Commander’s Edition (v2009.050)!
* Plenty of extras and bonuses like new editors, more documentation, and improved art
* Tons of features and improvements to both Advanced Naval Warfare and Commander’s Edition
New Features for Harpoon – Advanced Naval Warfare
* Encrypted databases
* Boarding actions
* Sonar upgrades to model sonar closer to the actual Bond/Carlson models
* Includes all the powerful editors
o Game based Scenario Editor (H3SE)
o Game based Database Editor (H3DC)
o MS Access based Reimer Database Editor (H3RE)
* And more!
New Features for Harpoon – Commander’s Edition
* Expanded WestPac BattleSet as seen in the HCE Demo!
* New EMCON AI that tells the AI when to turn on sensors and prompts player to turn on sensors. It is now much more intelligent and at times sneaky.
* An Updated HCDB Database
* Many new hotkeys for a wide variety of interface controls
* Implemented a new Escort jamming model with greater variability in the protection a jammer can offer nearby groups against distant radars.
* And more!
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