You might notice we have a new submarine now. I had to restart Dosbox to get its built-in screenshots functioning, then I discovered it takes unacceptably small pictures, and had to go back to GIMP and regular screencaptures. It's the same, functionally, and the Chicago starred in the novel of the same name as this game, so it's probably also lucky.
This is the loadout/repair screen for when you're in port. You'll notice the times. You're ordered on missions via a message form I'll show later, and have to take time off from your missions unless you're badly damaged or flat out of weapons to come back here to Holy Loch, Scotland (Hey Aldo, would you know where that is?) and get your boat fixed up and rearmed. If you
are badly damaged or out of weapons, you'll get orders from COMSUBLANT (Commander, Submarines, Atlantic Fleet) to come back home for repair and/or rearm. Otherwise, you're always on the clock with another assigned mission, but rearm and repair is at your discretion if you think your boat is getting too beat up or running low. However the time means enemies are still moving while you're doing this, and it takes time to return to Holy Loch to rearm/refit and time to transit back to operational areas.
We have room for 26 weapons in our torpedo room, and 12 Tomahawks of either land-attack (TLAM) or antiship (TASM) variaties in our VLS tubes. We have 20 Mark48 ADCAP torpedos aboard. (ADvanced CAPablities, by the way. The ADCAP is several knots faster and has nearly twice the fuel of the original Mark48; the game also includes a theoritical version of the Mark48 called SWIMOUT for the Seawolf, which does exactly what it says on the tin, rather than being noisily expelled from the tube in a blast of compressed air. Such a version was never made because swimout option is now standard and ended up being unworthy of a designation change.) These are how you kill hostile submarines and they work nicely on surface ships too. Only a Typhoon can take more than one Mark48, and no surface ship is going to be able to handle 2,000 pounds of Torpex detonating under his keel. They also have wire guidance to direct them, but only under certain conditions I'll point out in combat.
I've already removed the four Harpoons you're automatically loaded out with, because frankly Harpoons suck compared to the glory that is the Tomahawk Anti-Ship Missile (TASM). Nobody takes a hit and lives, though on rare occasions they'll intercept the missile just before impact. The TASM also has a very long reach, far longer then Harpoons or our ADCAPs. The all-TASM fit in our VLS tubes is how it came, but later on we may be ordered to load TLAMSs for a land-attack mission.
We also have six SeaLance aboard. I'm not terribly fond of the weapon, it's difficult to use, but we'll keep them since they're much longer ranged then our Mark48 ADCAPS. And they may provide a chance for lulz later.
IF YOU WANT ME TO TRY AND USE THE SEALANCE ON THE FIRST SUB I COME ACROSS, SAY SO NOW. IF YOU WANT ME TO TRY TO USE IT ON A SURFACE SHIP, WHILE IT WOULD BE EXTREMELY LULZWORTHY, NOT GONNA HAPPEN...in this update or the next, anyways.
We also have the mast-mounted Stingers. They're not useful against ships or fixed-wing aircraft (of which there are none you can engage or be engaged by in this game), and of course they're no good against submarines. What they do allow you to do, however, is wreck some ASW helicopter pilot cockjockey's day. We may not get the chance, you have to have your periscope up or turn on your radar to see a helo, but we'll see.
And lastly there's the damage section at the bottom. You usually get damaged in roughly that order for each light torpedo or RBU hit. (RBUs are ASW mortar bombs, short ranged, but they fire lots of them and you can't dodge them. We're not getting that close to a Soviet surface ship if I can help it though.) Heavy torpedos such as those launched from submarines or non-standoff versions from surface ships, however, can take out more than one, or do it out of order. Losing your towed array is a big damn deal, as it makes you blind for about 75 degrees behind you and majorly cuts down on your sonar performance. If your passive sonar goes too, you're stuck running active sonar or radar to find targets. This is basically sticking up a big "FIRE TORPEDOS IN THIS DIRECTION" sign, as well as warning all non-combatant ships, SSG/SSGNs (cruise missile subs), or SSBNs (ballistic missile subs) in the area to run the other way as fast as they can. You can still fight this way, if you have mad torpedo dodging skills, however. Torpedo tube damage reduces you to two working tubes, from four in our case. Annoying, but not critical. Propeller linkage damage, on the other hand, is a big damn deal. You're reduced to seven knots at maximum power, two at minimum. You can't dodge torpedos at that speed, and your mobility to intercept enemy task forces on the theater screen is greatly reduced.
Once all these things are damaged, the next hit sinks you. Hopefully, that's not going to happen.
These are our current orders:
It's a relatively simply task. You know the saying about how there are only two kinds of ships, submarines and targets? We're going to be proving that.
This is the theater screen, seen only in campaign. You'll notice some stuff moving around. I'll detail it all here, though not all of it's in the shot; you'll probably see it later.
We're the v with a dot centered thing, all done up in yellow.
The straight-wing yellow plane thingies are P-3 Orions and friendly. They'll find targets for you. The little yellow starburst is a SOSUS sensor, which will also find targets for you. (In reality they extend between the UK, Iceland, and Greenland, and also between the tip of Norway and the icepack, though those usually get knocked out as the Soviets take that part of Norway. You only see one here because they flash.) The swept-wing red planes (none visible right now) are TU-141 Bear F ASW aircraft. Fortunately, they don't actually drop torpedos on you. Unfortunately, they detect you and some hostile ships will proceed to that location in an effort to beat you up, take your lunch money, and sink your submarine.
There are also other x-like starbursts which run across the screen pretty quick to represent Western and CCCP satellites (you can see a CCCP one over there past the UK and Iceland), which will respectively find targets for you, and find you. (How that works for the Soviet ones, I'm not quite sure, since non-acoustic ASW is a crock of ****. Oh well.)
The little thingie with red borders and a yellow center dot on the Scottish coast is Holy Loch, our base. You'll also notice the red/green land bits. That's territory respectively controlled by NATO and the USSR.
The Soviets have two task groups at sea, unless you sink one, one of which will be a decoy for your target group. (Of course, this does not prevent you from sinking them both anyways for the greater glory of your score.) Both are visible here, each as a diamond with a dot in the center. They're close, so they overlap. Those are Soviet surface groups, and without engaging them, there is no way to know which is the target group. (A diamond with no center dot is a submarine group.) As for us...we're on our own. No friendly submarines or surface ships will appear in this game. They're out there, mind you, and you will occasionally be told about their handiwork, but you're not going to see them.
Here we have the prebattle screen. It tells you about the local conditions, including shallow water and surface pack ice if it's present, and what direction to expect the enemy in. It also gives you a chance to check your torpedo tube loadout, remaining weapons, and damage via the "XO, Report Ship Status" line (we currently have 4 Mark48 ADCAP in the tubes, 16 more in the torpedo room, and full magazines of VLS TASMs and Stingers; it basically looks just like the port screen minus times and options to load/unload), check your mission orders, and save (the "Computer Log" line). The "All Hands, Battle Stations" takes our Imp. LA to General Quarters and we transition to tactical battle.
You can giggle at the displays being so very wrong for sonar or anything else if you like. I know I do.
And no, I've got no clue if I'm about to engage the 'phibs or a dummy group. We're very close to the Norwegian shore in central Norway, but we were recently detected by a Bear (I can't take too many screenshots of the theater screen while still making the intercepts, sorry), so it's anyone's guess. We can only find that out in tactical.
So what'll it be, folks? Attack with torpedos, or unleash the fury of our 12 VLS tubes?
