I came of age in the Cold War. The decade of the the 1980’s was junior high, high school, and college for me. It was also my first complete decade of wargaming having taken in Jim Day’s Panzer (Yaquinto, 1979) at Christmas 1979. Among the (then new-to-me wargames in the 1980s was Harpoon, a set of miniatures rules for modern naval warfare. My first Harpoon rules set was Harpoon II in 1983 from Adventure Games followed by Harpoon III from GDW in 1987. I was also a fan of Tom Clancy books, especially The Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising, both set in the Cold War of the 80’s and published in 1984 and 1986 respectively.
As the 1980’s came to a close I joined the U.S. Navy. I was in officer training in late-1989 when the Berlin Wall fell. Although the Soviet Union was collapsing, my follow-on specialty training still focused on “The Big Bad Bear” and we learned all about Backfires and Kirovs and Shipwrecks (oh my!). The training on the Soviet military served me well enough in the Gulf War against Iraq that had much Soviet kit in its inventory.
When Admiralty Trilogy Group published the first edition of High Tide in 2003 I dutifully bought the book and played a few scenarios, but in the post 9/11 Navy the thought of World War III at sea seemed rather disconnected from reality. If one was to wargame the 1980s, smaller wars like the Falklands in 1982 or the Tanker War in the Persian Gulf from 1984 to 1988 seem more relevant to today and worthy of exploration. For the past twenty years I admired High Tide from afar.
High Tide is a collection of scenarios covering the naval confrontation between the US/NATO and the USSR/Warsaw Pact at the end 1980s, when both navies were at their peak of power. First released by Clash of Arms in 2003, it has been updated using twenty years of new history, as well as converting it to be compatible with Harpoon V. In addition to scenarios and historical sidebars, it has annex data for non-US, UK, or Russia (already covered in our Navies series annex books) countries in NATO and the Warsaw Pact, such as France, Italy, East Germany, and Poland. Only those “rest of the world (RoW)” ships that are required for the scenarios are included, but all the annex data is there.
Compiled from ad copy for High Tide Second Edition and High Tide, 2nd Edition Forms
Today, I think there is a tendency for Americans to look back on the Cold War and see those of us that were there and ready to fight it as a bit crazy. Did we really expect to see ships sinking in a rain of missiles like in Red Storm Rising? How could we ever seriously think about nuclear war at sea. As one who was there I assure you we not only thought about it, but made serious study to try and improve our chances of living through it.
The new High Tide Second Edition that was released in mid-July 2024 by Admiralty Trilogy Group hit me differently. As we look at a return to a Cold War against Russia—and also now the People’s Republic of China (PRC)—I wonder what lessons can be learned from looking back at (almost) fighting a peer or near-peer adversary. It is with those updated spectacles I look at the new edition.
Back to the (never) future
Fortunately, the first Cold War never went hot. If it had, however, High Tide Second Edition provides a glimpse into how the naval war at sea might have occurred. The High Tide Second Edition rule book is broken down into three major sections: a set of stand-alone scenarios, a campaign, and the famous Annexes of data that describes all the weapons platforms of that day. Of the three major sections of the High Tide Second Edition rule book, the campaign game is the most interesting. Less a formal campaign then a linked series of scenarios, the campaign tell its own Red Storm Rising-esque history of a fictional war.
In at least one way High Tide Second Edition goes beyond the “conventional” pop culture depictions of World War III and includes scenarios for fighting a tactical nuclear war at sea. For those who really want to see a “Cold War Gone Hot” and dare experiment with a nuclear strike on a carrier battlegroup or against a stalking Soviet cruise missile submarine there is material in here for you. I await to hear the glowing reports….
You can’t tell the players without a program
Released at the same time as High Tide Second Edition, the data annex compilation High Tide, 2nd Edition Forms includes 187 Form 10s (for ships) from 162 ship classes and 84 aircraft Form 20s which brings all those weapons platforms up to the current Harpoon V standard. Although technically a repeat of the Data Annexes in the core High Tide Second Edition rule book the organization and illustrations make the Forms book a welcome accessory when setting up a game. I was a bit surprised, however, to see the Forms book cost more that the rule book, coming in at $25 against $20 for the rule book.
While many Harpoon players will likely buy High Tide Second Edition for the scenarios and data annexes, I certainly hope they take time to read the historical notes as well. More so than any scenario introduction do, the historical articles and sidebars relate the story of the U.S.—and Soviet—Navy in the 1980’s. Taking the history of the Cold War at Sea and the wargame Harpoon as shown in High Tide Second Edition together there are lessons to be learned from the never-history of yesterday that could be applied to a future fight that just as hopefully never is realized. If that fight comes, however, let’s hope the U.S. Navy has not forgotten the past….
Feature image generated with WP AI using prompt “soviet cruise missile submarine launching missiles”
The opinions and views expressed in this blog are those of the author alone and are presented in a personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of U.S. Navy or any other U.S. government Department, Agency, Office, or employer.
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