Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Harpoon 4 is the fourth edition of the Harpoon game-series originally published by Adventure Games.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Paper-and-Pencil
Record choices and results directly on a personal sheet.
Dice Rolling
Roll dice to introduce uncertainty into actions, production, movement, or resolution.
Line of Sight
Visibility between pieces determines valid targets, movement, or effects.
Simulation
Model a real or imagined system through detailed cause-and-effect rules.
Read the full game description
Harpoon 4 is the fourth edition of the Harpoon game-series originally published by Adventure Games. The era of modern naval combat began on October 21, 1967 when Egyptian missile boats launched four Soviet made Styx surface-to-surface missiles and sank the Israeli destroyer Elath at a range of 13.5 nautical miles. The face of naval warfare changed forever! Harpoon 4 handles all aspects of modern maritime combat: surface, sub-surface, and air. Harpoon 4 is a system of detailed but comprehensible rules covering the many facets of modern naval actions. Consistent rating systems and evaluations of the capabilities of modern naval vessels, aircraft, submarines, and helicopters make it possible to achieve realistic results when simulating known situations, by extension Harpoon 4 also achieves realistic results with hypothetical scenarios. Harpoon 4 can answer questions like: Are carriers powerhouses or sitting ducks? Can transatlantic convoys survive in a modern wartime environment? In the cat-and-mouse games between US and Russian submarines, which is better? Extensive examples in the rules book actually take you through mini engagements that span less than a page of text. The set of die-cut counters included in the game, along with the Quickstart rules, make it possible to take this game home and play a scenario in an evening.