Ship Forms

The joys of naval wargaming are in the chase and the battle. The tension of not quite knowing the adversary’s exact force structure reproduces an essential feature of real-world naval action. The moment of truth comes when the battle is joined.

SHIP FORMS is published to provide materials to make both the chase and the battle easy-to-produce and easy-to-play parts of Harpoon. It does so by providing two things: prepared ship and aircraft forms, and a scenario generator.

Prepared Ship and Aircraft Forms: Complete sheets with information about selected ships and aircraft are included in a form which can be photocopied to prepare for a scenario. When reproduced, they serve as the ready reference sheet for the action. Each form includes statistics, rules reference sheet for the action. Each form includes statistics, rules references, notes, and other information. For better visual reference, both a side view and an overhead deck plan view of the ship was incorporated into the form. Hit boxes allow easy damage check-off were also included. The final product was intended to facilitate fast, easy-to-play Harpoon situations.

Scenario Generator: A Harpoon scenario generator is provided to assist in the specification and resolution of naval wargame situations. To make it manageable, the North Atlantic under modern wartime conditions was selected as the specific theatre of war and force structures were established based on available vessels and missions.

Specific rules for movement, search, and other details are part of the generator, which is structured to produce encounters between the task force operating in the North Atlantic, and to produce motivations for the two opposing commanders during these encounters.

The result is a short, easy-to-play chase sequence in which both sides are involved in search for (or possibly avoidance of) the other side, followed by one or more tactical engagements using the Harpoon game system.

The typical situation produced by this scenario generator can be resolved in its entirety in the course of an evening. The action is fast, easy-to-follow, and never dull.

Harpoon is Required: To use SHIP FORMS and play Harpoon scenarios with SHIP FORMS, a copy of the Harpoon modern naval wargame rules is required.