[MarkShot]

Well, I have taken these suggestions and even created a contact spreadsheet so that I could be more methodical about contact management. (Normally, I just let the NAV map guide me.)

However, I am 30 minutes into an SCX scenario with about 10 contacts. At least 50% of the contacts have yet to be positively IDed ... otherwise there are surface hostiles, ASW helos, and an enemy sub or two.

It sure is overwhelming ... I need to take out the enemy subs and transit to my intercept location to take out two enemy cargo ships and the clock is ticking. Sometimes subsims are easier than real life, since their abstractions reduce complexity. However, at other times, I think they can be harder, since in real life you have teams of people working on these problems in parallel. Here you have Mr. BB, Mr. NB, Mr. Demon, Mr. Classifier, Mr. Plotter, Mr. Navigator, Mr. TMA, Mr. Commander and it is all me ... argh!!! I may have to admit that this current scenario is beyond my present skill level.

One thing SC does very well is FOW (fog of war). In many ground combat games, FOW is something that is retrofitted to the game space in an abstract fashion. SC's FOW pretty much is incorporated from the ground up. It's like trying to coordinate a night fire fight without night vision with occassional sounds and glimpses of movements while civilians are strolling through the woods too.

Now, you know why in WWII, subs were simply given a patrol area which they owned and were weapons free on any contacts in the area. Much easier.

Also, from my SC play, I have concluded that civilian and merchant ships have no business being in the combat area. I certainly don't plan to be on any cruise ships with Akula's and LA class boats exchanging war shots at each other under the waves!