Wolff
Recruit
I decided to give The Bastion a try. The Bastion was written by Herman Hum and made with the community's favorite database, the PlayersDB.
Description written by Herman Hum:
'NATO Intelligence has determined the possible locations of several Soviet SSBN patrol areas. One of the newest and best NATO submarines has been ordered to enter one zone, where a Typhoon-class SSBN is probably hiding. The patrol zone is located under the Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ), in a minefield. The NATO sub is to destroy the sub and its escort, showing the Soviets that NATO is capable of beating its best in its home territory.The Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) is an area of large ice floes covering roughly 75% of the sea surface. There is no possibility of air or surface units operating in these waters. The collision of ice chunks creates a high background noise, while their melting affects the local water salinity, which does strange things to sound beams. Additionally, the uneven underwater surface of the ice floes causes massive reverberations for active sonar.'
This scenario was inspired by the situation described in the "Battles of the Third World War" compilation from Game Designers' Workshop.
Assets available to me:
SSN San Juan
My mission was to proceed to reference point: BASTION and hunt for Soviet Submarines. Minefields were presumed to be in the area of the Soviet Sub Bastion.
Cruising on a northerly course at 19 knots, the scope was clear. As the San Juan approached the ice, a faint sub contact was detected. It was an Akula Class Soviet Sub very close.
Immediately, I fired one torp, changed course, and increased speed. The Akula went to flank and began to run to the east attempting to evade the torp.
The speed of the Akula was impressive and the San Juan could not keep up. I decided to turn back to the north and continue toward the reference point. I kept an eye on the Akula and noticed it had turned back toward the San Juan, obviously it had successfully evaded the torp and was looking to fire one of her own.
Turning back toward the Akula, both adversaries fired simultaneously. I ordered the San Juan to flank speed and changed depth. A sonar operator reported the torp had hit the Akula and contact was lost with the Soviet torpedo.
Satisfied the Akula was no longer a factor, the San Juan proceded cautiously toward the reference point once again. Nearing the point now and concerned about mines, the San Juan switched on her active sonar. To the surprise of the crew a Soviet Typhoon popped up and fired.
Firing a quick shot, I ordered the San Juan to flank once again and changed course. The Typhoon worked to evade the American Torp. I would never get the chance to see if the torp was successful or not. While the San Juan was evading, contact was lost with the Soviet Torp. Unfortunately the San Juan was rocked with a violent explosion from what seemed to come from out of nowhere. All hands were lost, making her the second NATO sub to go missing within the last 24 hours.
I do not know if she struck a mine or if that Soviet torp had found its target.
This is a great scen and really appeals to the sub hunter like me. The accoustics must really be affected by the ice as it seemed the subs were able to get extremely close before detecting each other. It was exciting to have a large sub right in front of me and without much warning.
Thanks to Herman for a great scen that I'm sure I will play many, many times!
Description written by Herman Hum:
'NATO Intelligence has determined the possible locations of several Soviet SSBN patrol areas. One of the newest and best NATO submarines has been ordered to enter one zone, where a Typhoon-class SSBN is probably hiding. The patrol zone is located under the Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ), in a minefield. The NATO sub is to destroy the sub and its escort, showing the Soviets that NATO is capable of beating its best in its home territory.The Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) is an area of large ice floes covering roughly 75% of the sea surface. There is no possibility of air or surface units operating in these waters. The collision of ice chunks creates a high background noise, while their melting affects the local water salinity, which does strange things to sound beams. Additionally, the uneven underwater surface of the ice floes causes massive reverberations for active sonar.'
This scenario was inspired by the situation described in the "Battles of the Third World War" compilation from Game Designers' Workshop.
Assets available to me:
SSN San Juan
My mission was to proceed to reference point: BASTION and hunt for Soviet Submarines. Minefields were presumed to be in the area of the Soviet Sub Bastion.
Cruising on a northerly course at 19 knots, the scope was clear. As the San Juan approached the ice, a faint sub contact was detected. It was an Akula Class Soviet Sub very close.
Immediately, I fired one torp, changed course, and increased speed. The Akula went to flank and began to run to the east attempting to evade the torp.
The speed of the Akula was impressive and the San Juan could not keep up. I decided to turn back to the north and continue toward the reference point. I kept an eye on the Akula and noticed it had turned back toward the San Juan, obviously it had successfully evaded the torp and was looking to fire one of her own.
Turning back toward the Akula, both adversaries fired simultaneously. I ordered the San Juan to flank speed and changed depth. A sonar operator reported the torp had hit the Akula and contact was lost with the Soviet torpedo.
Satisfied the Akula was no longer a factor, the San Juan proceded cautiously toward the reference point once again. Nearing the point now and concerned about mines, the San Juan switched on her active sonar. To the surprise of the crew a Soviet Typhoon popped up and fired.
Firing a quick shot, I ordered the San Juan to flank once again and changed course. The Typhoon worked to evade the American Torp. I would never get the chance to see if the torp was successful or not. While the San Juan was evading, contact was lost with the Soviet Torp. Unfortunately the San Juan was rocked with a violent explosion from what seemed to come from out of nowhere. All hands were lost, making her the second NATO sub to go missing within the last 24 hours.
I do not know if she struck a mine or if that Soviet torp had found its target.
This is a great scen and really appeals to the sub hunter like me. The accoustics must really be affected by the ice as it seemed the subs were able to get extremely close before detecting each other. It was exciting to have a large sub right in front of me and without much warning.
Thanks to Herman for a great scen that I'm sure I will play many, many times!
