Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age

[undercovergeek]

That reminds me - quick question - can you save mid mission?

IIRC that's what killed naval war for me

[undercovergeek]

And......... I'm a gamer with some common sense and in game experience but no expert - does the game introduce you to radar helpfully or are you thrown in at deep end (see what I did there)

Watching all the let's plays and there are a few experts like Wolfpack who switches air search radar on and surface radar on for ships and planes intermittently and I assume at all the right moments and in the comments a lot of veterans are saying it's refreshing to see someone use radar properly instead of the guys who switch it all on and wonder why they're getting pummelled

[Jarhead0331]

That reminds me - quick question - can you save mid mission?

IIRC that's what killed naval war for me

Not in the early access build I have, but this must be a feature in the full release as some of the missions can be very long.

[Jarhead0331]

And......... I'm a gamer with some common sense and in game experience but no expert - does the game introduce you to radar helpfully or are you thrown in at deep end (see what I did there)

Watching all the let's plays and there are a few experts like Wolfpack who switches air search radar on and surface radar on for ships and planes intermittently and I assume at all the right moments and in the comments a lot of veterans are saying it's refreshing to see someone use radar properly instead of the guys who switch it all on and wonder why they're getting pummelled

There are no tutorials included with the current build. However, in the main menu there is an option for tutorials so they will be in the final release. Of course, I cannot comment on what topics they will cover or how deeply they will treat the various core concepts, such as EMCON use and discipline, etc. There is also an encyclopedia and unit database that lists unit capabilities, armament and sensors, but in its current form it does not provide any details on the nature or usage of the systems.

[Jarhead0331]

And......... I'm a gamer with some common sense and in game experience but no expert - does the game introduce you to radar helpfully or are you thrown in at deep end (see what I did there)

Watching all the let's plays and there are a few experts like Wolfpack who switches air search radar on and surface radar on for ships and planes intermittently and I assume at all the right moments and in the comments a lot of veterans are saying it's refreshing to see someone use radar properly instead of the guys who switch it all on and wonder why they're getting pummelled

There are no tutorials included with the current build. However, in the main menu there is an option for tutorials so they will be in the final release. Of course, I cannot comment on what topics they will cover or how deeply they will treat the various core concepts, such as EMCON use and discipline, etc. There is also an encyclopedia and unit database that lists unit capabilities, armament and sensors, but in its current form it does not provide any details on the nature or usage of the systems.

I stand a little corrected on the above with respect to the encyclopedia. Within each platform's entry, the weapon systems and sensor equipment can individually be selected with each having its own entry. The information is relatively basic, but I think it is sufficient to understand how best to employ them. 

[Jarhead0331]

Some overdue screenshots...

Tanker escort duty through the Strait of Hormuz



Destroyer anti-submarine operations with an SH-3



SH-3 recovery operation



Opposed transit through the Strait. Black enemy map symbols represent destroyed targets. The Iranian Navy has paid a heavy price today.



The mission editor gives you the whole world to play with, although no anchorages or airbases on the US coast? Most of the action is focused in Europe and the Middle East



The main menu interface. Sea Power will feature tutorials and mods!



Finally! Carrier Ops.



Preparing to launch an E-2C



Hawkeye prepped on Cat1



Hawkeye away!



Readying F-4Js for CAP



F-4Js on way to launch points



The USS Ranger



F-4Js away!



SH-3 hunting for Iranian midget subs

[Destraex]

WOW. That looks amazing! Your screenshots are brilliant.

[Redwolf]

Not bad.

I didn't think they could put extensive carrier ops in.

[undercovergeek]

Sea Power is now available for purch.........

<click>

[Jarhead0331]

Some more...

A VPAF Mig-17 closing in on the USS Thomas



This is the USS Sterett shelling some North Vietnamese missile boats



Good hits from guns



Editing fleet formations is exceptionally simple



Flak exploding near those Mig-17s



Shells lighting up the sky

[Skoop]

The Hype is really and for once well deserved.  This thing has everything I could want in a naval sim, only gripe is that it's so good, I'd love to do pve coop with friends and family to share the experience.  Also, I've learned with some of these games, co-oping a strong single player games makes for fun and less micromanaging in larger scenarios.  Still day one purchase though and my vote for game of the year. 

[Jarhead0331]

Starting to build my first scenario centered around a transit through the Strait of Hormuz. Player controls a CVN battle group centered around CVN 70, the USS Carl Vinson. The Scenario takes place in June 1989.

Here I've set up the player battle group sailing due North and I've added a number of different neutral civilian vessels also transiting the strait. The variety in merchant and civilian vessels is very notable. General cargo vessels, container ships, car transports, roll-ons and roll-offs, super tankers, multiple types of fishing vessels, etc. All kinds of scenarios that can be set up with these. 

In any event, next I'm going to start adding enemy (ie. Iranian) assets and see where this goes. I don't want anything too complex, but I want to show off the capability of a late Cold War era US carrier fleet, so the Iranian Navy and Air Force will be in the AO to see what trouble they can cause.

Any requests or suggestions?



The bigger picture.

[Con]

Mines
And mine layers

[Tripoli]

Silkworm batteries.  And Boghammers, if the database has them.

[Tripoli]

You could also add F-4s and F-14s for the Iranians.  "Back in the day", the Iranians also had 10 Combattante II (Kaman-class) fast attack boats armed with four Harpoon or C-801/C-802 missiles.  These are probably not in the database.  However, they also had two Sumner-class (Babr-class) destroyers -the Babr and Palang.  with four paired elevating Standard SM-1MR surface-to-surface missile launchers.  US versions of these may be in the database, so it could be possible to put them in the Iranian OOB. (If memory serves, these ships didn't really do too much sea time during this period due to maintenance/age issues.  The Iranians also had a UK DD that similarly didn't do too much sea time, for the same reasons) See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Zellars