So I have played my first scenario of Carrier Battlegroup Solitaire. My summary is that it is a good way to spend a typhoon impacted Sunday, but I would like there to be more chance to finesse the game. In fact, the main decision you make during the game is what planes and crew you put on your carrier. Once underway, you just use what you have without much variation. Also. most of the map does not get used - there is not much maneuver.
I chose the simplest scenario to start with - clearing the Danish straits. There was a contact in the North Sea I had to address too.
Given the short range of the scenario, I opted for a land based aircraft to support my battlegroup. I was given three cruisers and two destroyers as escort. I put a few fighters (never used them) and few bombers and an anti sub helicopter (he was the main hero). I also put on board an Electronic War crew (to help with contact and keeping the soviet alert level down) and a (match winning) camera crew to report on my victories.
I was given an insultingly low leadership skill level - I'd need to play the campaign to increase it.
So my first move was obvious. Sail up to the Soviet contact and hit it with all my air assets. (I can't fly everything because of the limit of my flight deck, but I can put six planes aloft for each battle, and that sufficed.) It turned out to be a guided missile frigate escorting three subs. I had very little in the way of sub handling air power (just my helicopter and ground based P-3, so although I quickly dispatched the frigate, two subs were left at the end of the combat round.
Combat is arranged in inner and outer zones. In the first round, the two outer zones fight. In the second round, everyone left alive going into the inner zone for a final melee. So you can see my CV and helicopter in the inner zone being protected by the planes from the frigates anti-air.
Anyway, my battlegroup stayed in place next turn and launched again and cleared the subs from the map. Objective one complete.
Over the next two turns, I sailed quietly to Germany with only inclement weather to deal with. On arrival, though, I made sudden contact with an unexpected soviet battlegroup with two subs and a cruiser.
This time I put my destroyers in the outer zone to try to get the subs before they made it to the CV. The Soviet cruiser shot down an F-14, and the soviet subs damaged both my destroyers before they could get into action. My planes got rid of the cruiser, crippled one sub and damaged another. This meant another round with a damaged nuclear sub in the same zone as by CV!
Fortunately the sub went after damaged destroyer and sunk it. The cruisers accounted for the sub and my victory was complete. Well, only just. I was penalised heavily for my losses. It was the fact of the camera crew that my victory was assured. I got good footage and propaganda on all but the latest battle. (Perhaps the camera man was on the destroyer!)
Anyway a victory is a victory, so it called for wine and cheese.
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