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| Image taken from Amazon.com, IP is GDW/FFE |
The locations are varied, and wide ranging, and while I understand the wide ranging tableau didn't allow for some detail in the adventure descriptions, I remember being a bit let down as to the level of descriptions of some of these places, it almost felt a bit cardboard.
That said, it is a solid adventure, and one can make a campaign out of it very, very easily. The ending is a bit of a climactic payoff, but it might be a bit over-the-top (Romanian guerrillas managing to have the firepower to dislodge the remains of the Soviet Army from their country with nothing more than what a submarine can carry? Bit of a stretch), but it has some potential, one might just have to play around with it a bit.
Then there is the small issue of a spy on board who's trying to sabotage the entire mission? That also leads to a bit of fun drama..and the referee can choose who the spy is...adds to replay value if you ask me,
I do like how it segways into the final adventure, Boomer. You can almost hear the "Next time on Twilight: 2000!" TV voice as you get handed the partial communique.
But how does this do for fodder for miniatures games?
Skirmish Games
As fodder for Skirmish games, this is where the modules shines, in my opinion. You have a number of missions where you have to recover DIA assets, and these missions are tailor made for rules like Black Ops. If done right, they could provide a tense, cat-and-mouse like game that would give everyone a good bit of fun.
Some other ideas?
- A party of angry locals is chasing a shore party back to the sub for any number of reasons, the players have to evade pursuit, and the locals get points for any shore party members they capture or kill. And any captured members simply cannot be left to the locals...so one's going to have to rescue them..so there goes some more games.
- The Turkish DIA officer's attempt to seize the submarine for his own nefarious ends..it would make an awesome skirmish game as both sides fight it out on the deck..and perhaps inside the submarine.
- A bit AU for the adventure...but doable. Say the Popovs are taken by Soviet Spetsnaz and are being held in some small port town in Romania in an attempt to draw out the sub. A small shore party is sent in to rescue the Popovs, and kill the Soviets?
Larger Games
There isn't a whole lot of larger games to be had to be honest in this module, except for perhaps gaming out the uprising in Romania, but that would to be honest, better played out by a series of skirmish games.
But there is another quirky game you can do? Many pirate bands and such are going to want the sub. And you can't go wasting a Mk-48 on a cabin cruiser? So, what to do? MK-19s on the conning tower work well. And the sub can do thirty knots..so it might make an interesting fight..or the sub might simply dive away?
Another thing to mention, this adventure and Boomer both have capsule Harpoon scenarios in them, They are simple affairs, and with the right group of players, lend themselves to a new genre? Post apocalyptic naval wargaming?
Next time, we're going to take a look at Boomer! Stay tuned folks, we have more reviews to come!
I think you summed up what my opinion was on this module with: "I remember being a bit let down as to the level of descriptions of some of these places, it almost felt a bit cardboard." That's just how I felt. So much potential that just fell by the wayside.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Grimace, and I'll add this: there would have been more than a skeleton crew. You'd think that at Norfolk )or Little Creek, which is more likely given Norfolk Naval Shipyard took a 500 KT weapon....) there would be sailors from disabled subs that could help form a crew, and not just enough to maintain watches. Finding a hundred or so sailors with sub experience would not be that difficult, even in T2K.
ReplyDeleteAnd more realistically, this would not have been the Last Submarine. There would be more out there, and one reason I never did buy into the wholesale decimation of the USN as depicted in the backstory.
I also never bought into this being the last submarine the USN had - maybe the last fast attack sub on the East Coast - ok I can buy that - but all the boomers are gone, all the PACFLT boats, etc..? No way on earth especially the boomers. And the war winning idea is to give Vlad the Impaler's long lost descendant a few crates of weapons and take on Soviet tank divisions that still have fuel? How about a few TLAM-N's saying "goodbye Ploesti!" (which is what my GM came up with)
ReplyDeleteAnd I also agree with Matt on the crew - if the UBF can get a crew together to run the sub then its pretty obvious the USN can put most of a full crew together - there is no way with that few men that the sub would have sailed - especially if it really was the only sub they had left
Oh and that last battle in Romania - I would say it would make a good miniatures battle but not one that would last long - 144 Soviets and two T-72 tanks against 29 partisans and a few characters - more like a massacre than a fight
ReplyDeleteAnother great review. I never got to play Mediterranian Cruise. I owned it and I do remember one of the friends I played with at the time was super stoked to play it - because he was a HUGE fan of Harpoon! (He ended up joining the navy after high school).
ReplyDeleteFirst line should refer to Mediterranean Cruise.
ReplyDelete"segue"
Whoops, fixed!
Delete