So, there I was...

[jrf773]

So there I was, Captain of the USS Hawkbill. Things had gone hot, and we got sent to war. We had a good patrol, sent them damned Russkies to the bottom of the Sea. Squadron radioed us, told us to return to port, with a Bravo Zulu on a job well done.

So, we pull into Holy Locke, and I was on the pier watching the weapons on-load. We'd had some issues with the sonar and the scopes, which had taken a hit from some of Ivan's RBU's, and moderate hull damage from that as well, we were lucky, it caused some flooding, and Ivan almost had us. I would claim it was skill, but it was pure luck that the sail bore most of the brunt of the impact. Neptune was watching our ass that day.

The skimmer pukes from the tender were taking care of the damage, and doing some minor repairs aft, where they wouldn't interfere with the weapons load. Weps was taking care of the weapons loads, and had more or less designated those duties to the TMC the FTC and the STC, but having broke a fingernail, STC was taking a shower in the Goat Locker and crying softly to himself. Things were going well, the team leaders barking out orders to the Team Members, with a load of 48's going down the weapons shipping hatch.

It was a cold and dreary day, ah hell, it was a **** assed day to be loading weapons. But Ivan wasn't going to take the day off, and neither could me. Security on the base must have been really lax, despite wartime conditions. Those damned shore duty monkeys were still on peacetime routine it looked like. Why? They let the damned newsboy on the pier.

Yeah, a newsboy. I kid you not. Had the old 1930's hat on and all, calling out the latest headlines, and selling papers for a buck. "Russians Take Greenland" "Ivan takes Greenland/Iceland". He had the gall to come up to me, and interrupt my weapons load. I was so pissed, I ordered the topside watch to shoot him. Topside watch shot him, and we stashed his body in the TDU, until we could get to sea to shoot a load of trash, and dispose of this annoying little turd. Annoying turds get flushed.

I thought I was screwed as well when I saw the Commodore coming down to the sub, where he informed us that we had failed our mission, due to the offloading of Harpoons and onload of 12 Tomahawks. Not to mention the damage from the RBU attack, I figured that squadron would wait unitl AFTER we were at sea and a available asset to sortie us. We couldn't do much sitting pier-side loading weapons. You'd figure out that somehow, the mucketey mucks up at CINCLANT FLEET would have this information, because I mean, why send a damaged unit out to sea, when there are others that can perform the same duty? Seriously? The Commodore even told me I sucked, and needed to do better, and I got sent to crank at the O-club for Midshipmen out on summer cruise. I wasn't happy.

But seriously, it seems a little odd to get missions while you are in port, when the same command that ordered you to rearm/repair/and R&R gives you orders as soon as you pull into port, WHEN THEY ARE THE ONES THAT ORDERED YOU THERE! A few times, I had to load new weapons for a strike, so offload the Harpoons for the Thawks, and I fail the mission, because loading the required Tomahawks as well as repairs from the attacks of the RBU's ( Had a Udaloy hit me right as I loaded in) took more time than allotted for the mission. I was still tied to the pier, loading weapons. Could we get missions AFTER we get to sea?

Also, it is highly annoying to get news briefs in port. Could the devs at KillerFish please lock the gate at Holy Locke so that the newsboy can't get in?

Otherwise, it is a solid game that takes me back to the good ole days of RSR. Spot on.

Only other thing I'd suggest is strike missions. Why not set up a launch basket for the boat to get into, and if you successfully launch birds in the basket, you get mission credit? Cause we can only control the first five waypoints in real life, then the data of the DTD's takes over, and if they get shot-down and don't hit the target, that isn't really our fault. Also, can the BGM-109C's not spiral in, and just impact the target? I like watching them impact. I think it is cool. The spiral in and hitting the water? Not so much, plus, it really pisses off the Russian fishermen, as we kill the fish. Comrade Commissar gives them the day off to fish, and we ruin it, with 80,000-100,000 pounds of high explosive. They might be Russians, but we don't need to ruin a perfectly good day by blowing up the water.

Just a few minor gripes, but if you'd fix em, I could quit shooting the newsboy, and stuffing his body in the TDU. That is really hard on the Muzzle Ball Valve. Not to mention, I really hate cranking for Middies. Annoying little turds that they are.

[Julhelm]

The russians do not take a coffee break just because you pull into port. The clock keeps ticking and you as captain has to make priorities as to how to make best use of the limited time you have. Unfortunately this means sometimes you cannot afford to repair damaged subsystems, or fully restock your weapons. And as in real life, some missions just cannot be won, and you have to reconcile with that.

The original Red Storm Rising worked this way and we decided to keep it.

[Delgard]

YEAH!!, and the Pier Pub should be open 24/7!

[Shadriss]

Originally Posted by jrf773

...but having broke a fingernail, STC was taking a shower in the Goat Locker and crying softly to himself.

Funny. Too bad that if STC isn't on the line, nothing ever happens. Not on any boat *I* was ever on anyhow... and your ship obviously was top heavy to actually have a TMC. They 1) don't exist anymore, and 2) MMWCs are pretty rare on the actual boats anymore... MMW1s usually handle that with STC or FTC as the Khaki rep in the Locker.

Nice write up though. Love the flavor.

EDIT: Oh wait - 80's campaign. Disregard the TMC bit.