Harpoon simulates modern naval warfare. Its rules tell how ships and aircraft move, detect enemy contacts, and attack them. Weapons inflict realistic effects, and proper naval tactics produce accurate and believable results. The die-cut counters included in the game make it possible to take this game home and start playing.
Tom Clancy's books Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising used Harpoon as a source. (The game was not based on the books.) To quote from the Author's Note in Red Storm Rising "(Harpoon)...served as a primary source for The Hunt for Red October" and "... a macro-wargame or campaign game which, using the" Harpoon system, would fight out a new Battle of the North Atlantic. I thought this was fascinating and we began talking about building a book around the idea...'. Larry Bond is given co-copyright to Red Storm Rising.