What? No Tanks?

Screen shot from the game (splash screen)

Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age

Nope, no tanks today, I've been too busy learning a new game on the computer. It's one of those games about which my former naval officer son once remarked, "Too much like what I do for work for me to really enjoy it ..."¹

And this one is pretty good.

I picked this up a few months back but haven't really had the chance to really get into it until now. I did play it once right after I got it, decided to jump straight in without playing any of the tutorials and got my ass kicked.

I was in charge of two ships doing gunfire support off the coast of Vietnam, feeling my way through the controls. A couple of enemy aircraft came on scene, seeing a MiG make a low pass over my flagship, unopposed because I forgot to tell the lads to engage, made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up.

Seeing BOTH of my ships dead in the water and on fire, really got my attention. This time, I'm going through all of the tutorials, multiple times no doubt, before going to sea again!

There's a lot to this game and it's going to take some time to get good at it, or I might suck at it forever, that happens. So bear with me, if the posts seem short, it's probably because I'm out at sea somewhere, stalking someone, or running from someone.

So far, I am very impressed.

It's something to watch your aircraft come up on the elevators (on a carrier) or come out of the hangar (helicopters on destroyers), watch them preflight, then launch. The graphics are pretty good, much sharper than the release trailer above.

I should note that this game is in "Early Release," which means we get to pay to play and provide bug reports and suggestions to the developers. I should note that I have zero problems with this. In my old job I remarked on more than one occasion that that was the sort of work I'd pay someone to let me do. So getting paid to do it was a bonus.

The time period is the Cold War, so think Sprucans and older non-nuke carriers as well as the first three nuclear carriers, USS Enterprise (CVN-65), USS Nimitz (CVN-68), and USS Dwight  D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). Hopefully they'll include Burkes at a later date. For now, I'm happy with what there is.

Here's a series of screen shots I took while launching a helo from USS Gallery (FFG-26). In the first shot you can see the port side hangar door opening. On the lower right of the screen is the flight deck window which indicates that I've got an SH-2F heading towards the launch point.

Screen shot from the game (Actual game play)

Now in the next screen you can see the helo is out of the hangar but hasn't moved to the launch point yet (the middle of the circle on the flight deck).

Screen shot from the game (Actual game play)

Once the aircraft is at the launch point, you can listen as the engines spool up, the sound is pretty awesome. After a short wait, the rotors begin to spin. Although you can't see it in the shot below, the rotors are spinning and it's shortly before the pilot "pulls pitch." If you look close, you can see the rotor wash on the sea from the helo!

Screen shot from the game (Actual game play)

Now the aircraft is airborne and awaiting your orders.

Really cool stuff if you ask me.

Screen shot from the game (Actual game play)

So if the posts seem short (maybe even non-existent), you'll know why.

Okay, sea and anchor detail have been called away, gotta run, see you when I get back. Virtually, of course.

Ciao!

¹He does play now, after being out of the Navy for over a decade.