Vertical learning curve: Strategy guide needed

[d1xsmle]

First, let me introduce myself. My username is 'Pongo de Mer' which pretty much describes what it says on the tin. Pongo is the name the Senior Service uses to describe ground pounders like me. De Mer indicates that I play naval wargames. Short story: the colour of my uniform was green, not blue. My first ever computer war game was Harpoon Classic 97. and I have bought every version of the game since. Currently, Command Modern Operations (aka Son of Harpoon) is loaded on my PC.

What I remember all too well is the vertical learning curve I experienced when I first attempted to play Harpoon. As a ground pounder, I could find my way around any game based on dry land (and still can) but this was like nothing I had ever come across before. I gained rapid experience to be sure, but only in getting killed in new and exciting ways. Clearly, more information was needed if I was to make any progress.

I ended up buying Harpoon II The Official Strategy Guide by Ed Dille, a former naval officer and Tom Basham, a former defense contractor. REVELATION!
First chapter excepted - which is dedicated to the Harpoon II interface - this book was a primer on 80's naval warfare in the missile age, aimed at beginners like me.

Suddenly everything started to fall into place. Chapter Two: Tools of the Trade was devoted to ships, submarines and aircraft. Chapter Three: Sensors. Chapter Four: Seapower and Maritime Strategy. Chapter Five: Mission Planning. Chapter Six: Rules of Engagement. Chapter Seven: Sea Control. Chapter Eight: Sea Denial. Chapter Nine: Power Projection. My copy, now very dog-eared through constant use, was the first book I reached for when Sea Power was released, for the information it contains is as relevant now as it was on the day I bought it.

I have just done a Google search for the Harpoon II Strategy Guide and I can report that it is now virtually unobtainable. If you find a copy it will be for silly money. It therefore strikes me that there will be a very real market for a Sea Power Strategy Guide, particularly as Sea Power looks like evolving into an all time classic. I can well remember reading requests for a Command Modern Operations (CMO) strategy guide, but CMO is so vast and ever changing that such a publication was never a realistic proposition. However, it would be for Sea Power, which has a much more narrow focus.

I would therefore ask the Triassic team to compose a strategy guide for Sea Power in various formats which will include PDF and hard copy. I'm certainly not expecting them to do it for free, but to sell it as separate DLC, part of a bundle and perhaps in Kindle or book format to be sold on Amazon. Nor at this stage am I expecting them to give it any sort of priority. There will certainly be little to no demand for it until the game is finally released.

Computer wargames have always been a niche product; detailed naval simulations even more so. It therefore makes sense to make them as accessible to the general public as possible. i feel that a Sea Power strategy guide would go a long way to accomplishing that aim.

Pongo de Mer

[Hobbygeneral]

Thank you very much for the information about the guide. This will be very helpfull.
Here is the link (there you can download it as a pdf.):
https://archive.org/details/harpoon-ii-guide