Command: The Silent Service
“There are submarines, and then there are targets…”
They are out there, in the vast expanse of the sea. You don’t see them, and you’re not supposed to; they reveal themselves only reluctantly, when in port or transiting a shallow passage. They’ve grown from an unsuccessful, almost laughable nuisance, to a practical weapon in fleet battles, to the scourge of seaborne transport lines, and ultimately to mobile undersea fortresses that can end life on the planet in less than 10 minutes. A junior branch compared to their centuries-old naval surface warfare counterparts, submarines have nevertheless seen and done it all, both in peacetime and wartime. And it takes a special kind of people to handle and operate them – for one, claustrophobics and fragile nerves need not apply. These people often share more in common with their direct adversaries from foreign, even hostile nations than with their comrades in the other services. Like their boats, they are discreet, persistent and deadly. They are submariners. They are The Silent Service.
Undersea warfare from post-WW2 to the present: Explore the progression of submarine operations from the Korean War right up to today’s headlines. Witness first-hand how technological advances like the snorkel, nuclear power, cruise and ballistic missiles, silencing measures and advanced sonars, computers and torpedoes have radically expanded both the remit and capabilities of the submarine platform – and how its hunters on the surface and in the air improved their own gear and tactics to keep up in the race.
Stars and workhorses: Take charge of some of the most famous boats and classes of the post-war period – and some that you may have never heard of. USS Nautilus, the first-ever nuclear-powered submarine – and her counterparts beyond the Iron Curtain, the November-class. HMS Swiftsure, nemesis of the Soviet Northern Fleet in ’77. USS Parche, the most highly decorated vessel in the US Navy. Sturgeon-, Los Angeles- and Seawolf-class, frontline of the US sub force from the 1960s to the late-00s. Soviet/Russian conventional and nuclear-powered attack subs, worthy adversaries of NATO during the Cold War and beyond. Giants of the deep like the carrier-killer Oscar-class and the ballistic missile-toting Delta-class. And much more…
The busiest platform at sea: If you thought subs are only good for sinking ships and other subs, prepare to be amazed. Lay minefields right on the enemy’s backyard with them being none the wiser. Launch carefully-plotted cruise missile attacks against defended land targets. Creep up to surface vessels close enough that you can take underwater hull and screw photos – and remain undetected. Detect and record sensitive electronic emissions, the ones that radar/comms operators dare activate only when they think nobody’s around to sniff. Provide unseen escort to merchant ships in the middle of a crisis. Shower distant land targets with ballistic missiles armed with multiple nuclear warheads. Tap undersea communications cables in the worst moment of the Cold War. Covertly deliver special-operations teams ashore, or deploy swimmer delivery vehicles (SDVs) against capital ships to eliminate them out of the blue. And of course hunt down anything on the sea surface or underneath it, from miniscule patrol boats all the way to battleships, supercarriers and strategic missile submarines, using an array of torpedoes, missiles and other means. The depths are your domain – and your playground.
The Silent Service is a standalone expansion for Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations, 2013’s Digital Wargame of the Year: play as a single, separate game, or add it to your collection of scenarios for CMANO. Eighteen standalone scenarios, played either in ascending difficulty or chronological order, walk you through the nuances of modern submarine operations, in control of a wide range of submarine classes from both the East and West, in conditions ranging from peacetime to crisis to all-out war.
Can you fill the shoes of the legends of The Silent Service?
FEATURES:
* A standalone expansion for Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations, 2013’s Wargame of the Year: play as a single, separate game, or add it to your collection of scenarios for CMANO
* 18 intense standalone scenarios written by Rory Noonan, CMANO community veteran: Each scenario is accompanied by era-authentic mission briefings placing you into the scene of action
* A wide range of introductory tutorials, designed to teach you how to get into the game in an approachable and accessible way
* Underwater warfare utilizing CMANO’s award-winning simulation engine – with new wrinkles specific to the submarine domain
Game Discussion
Steam User 66
One of the great things about Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations is that, apart from the powerful scenario editor, you can enjoy the creativity of the community with hundreds of free scenarios, lots of them of high quality. Then, why would you want to pay some hard earned bucks on some more scenarios? And that’s a very good question.
The standalone expansions of Command usually include very high quality scenarios (at least those I’ve played: Northern Inferno, Chains of War and this Silent Service), encapsulated in lineal campaigns (you must achieve a certain amount of points in one scenario to be able to play the next one) that range from easy, simple missions to get you started, to multi task force air/naval battles. Apart from that, they always include some scenarios that take advantage of the latest additions to the core game (it was laser weapons and partial damage on aircrafts on Chains of War, for example). Luckily, you can play the scenarios as single missions, outside the campaigns, if you cannot get the passing points: I must confess that I have not been able to finish some of them, which is no small feat given that I’ve played Harpoon since the 90s, and Command since the beta testing!
Silent Service offers you 18 scenarios grouped in several campaigns that show a wide variety of the typical submarine missions: intelligence gathering, land attack with cruise missiles, antishipping role, deployment of Special Forces teams, even nuclear ballistic missile tests. The time span goes from 1950 to 2017, including a 6 scenario WW3 campaign in 1985. Apart from the typical US Navy and Soviet/Russian subs, you can “drive” Royal Navy, French and even Indian navy nuclear subs in some of the scenarios.
One of the things I liked most in this expansion is the detail put on the scenario briefings. All of them are PNG images that resemble “real life” messages to the subs, each with a different touch whether it is from the USN, the Red Banner North Fleet, or Northwood HQ, Royal Navy. It is really a nice touch.
The most interesting thing this expansion has brought, in my opinion, along with update to v1.14, is the screen showing which sensor/platform has detected a given contact, with a historic (heck, I’ve waiting for it for some years XD). Although not essential in the more usual scenarios, I think it is absolutely paramount when dealing with subs, both from the submarine’s viewpoint and from the ASW platform’s point of view. Knowing if the contact that just appeared on the screen has been picked up with the bow sonar or the towed array can provide you with some tactical info immediately. Yes, this info is shown on the Message Log upon detection, but it can be lost very easily if there are lots of messages, and it was not repeated during the rest of the time. For instance, if the contact is held by the towed array but not any longer by the bow sonar, it could mean that the contact has gone below the layer, or that it is going away.
However, it has to be admitted that sub ops are not for everybody. They are, usually, more complex than “normal” operations involving surface vessels and fixed wing aircraft. Subs are, almost always, outnumbered and outgunned, not to say outpaced if helos or other ASW aircraft are present. They have to rely on their on board sensors (lacking the range and accuracy of the even more simple radar), which gives them a rather limited tactical picture (there are some ways around this, including SATCOMs, etc. that are included on the expansion – they have their advantages and, of course, disadvantages). They require a different approach, more patience and cunning, which might not suit everyone. When a successful stealthy approach finds its marks, though, and you can slip away undetected, it’s a total blast XD
So, to sum it up, I would recommend this expansion to any serious Command user because of the quality of the scenarios, to anyone wanting a challenge, and especially to those sub ops aficionados, who will enjoy it immensely. Would definitely not recommend it to those of you who find sub ops extremely difficult or boring. This is not for you. Although, if you can have a glimpse of one of the scenarios, you might change your opinion.
Steam User 35
Command: The Silent Service is the latest series of DLC campaigns (others include Shifting Sands, Northern Inferno, and Chains of War) available as either a campaign to the base engine, Command: Modern Naval and Air Operations, or as a standalone series of campaigns that can be purchased and played without the base engine. As a standalone however, you lose the scenario editing capability and some other options only available in the more expansive base engine.
TSS comes with 18 scenarios starting from the 1950's era of low tech passive and active sonar arrays, surface patrols to prevent using one's batteries, short ranged RADAR and less smart weapons. It was an era of a more up close and personal style of warfare. It culminates in the early 21st Century, where nuclear power plants allow unrestricted sailing and stalking targets, limited only to the amount of food stores aboard. The 21st Century also bring advances of towed arrays sonar, wire guided torpedoes, land or ASM cruise missiles, sub launched ICBMs and even Special Forces delivery capabilities, including additional accommodations for their dedicated delivery vehicles. The DLC even includes 6 linked WW3 scenarios, based in the mid 80's, when NATO and Warsaw Pact had an equal number of strengths and weaknesses to make for a true challenge.
Given the diversity of missions and era's, the DLC allows one to progress from easier missions of simple avoidance in a singular sub to more advanced missions using multiple submarines. There are even some scenarios where it's you versus an armada and the likelihood of you surviving is not in your favor.
Graphically, many have complained in the past that this series lacks a 3D component and indeed, there is little, aside from terrain relief features on the overhead map display. Instead, this series represents what a Commander in a CIC type environment would see. Real world naval Commanders do not see their enemy's or their own assets destroyed in 3D graphics in a CIC, instead information such as sensor or weapons range rings are depicted, so at a glance, one knows what's within their grasp of coverage.
What TSS showcases instead, is a detailed database for entities that are represented in the simulation. This detailed database is then merged with platforms painstakingly refined to match their real world counterparts in form and function, not injecting unrealistic parameters to defy reality. It also boasts an improved User Interface that allows the user to modify immediately one's speed, depth, weapons and sensor coverage. Additionally, the scenarios were scripted to provide detailed information on one's mission objectives, including some nationalistic liberties in the descriptions, to make one feel they are part of the nation's military being played, in other words, you are able to play both sides in many of the missions, making for excellent re-playability.
Some may feel intimidated by the genre, based on a lack of knowledge into specific military tactics or weapons employment. This particular DLC introduced new submarine tutorials that ease that new virtual submariner into the genre. There are also video bloggers, such as Stoic Frog, Kushan, Historical Gamer and Balloogan with detailed walk through videos and tutorials. Submarines are not for those in a rush to complete, especially using time compression. You need patience and time to analyze and develop your surroundings, then design a course of action that will either make or break the success of the mission. The beauty of simulation though is if you fail, one need only restart the scenario, though hopefully after analyzing why it failed the first time.
On a final note, the development team keeps this and their other titles' up to date, adjusting, tweaking and fixing various anomalies or identified bugs. They absolutely support their customers and take to heart their job in giving a world class product worthy of representation to true naval aficionados and historians, and even garnering interest by real world military leaders and instructors. Kudos Dimitris and company for another fantastic DLC and special thanks to Apache85 for his attention to detail and dedicated scenario builds. I got my virtual fourth point of contact handed to me more than a few times playing this DLC.
Steam User 16
Thumbs up but actually RATHER MIXED. This review is based on playing 4 sub tutorials. I like the details and I still have a lot to learn. Being used to subsims like Dangerous Waters and Silent Hunter 5, I was a bit annoyed that I couldn't seem to fire decoys manually. I am still messing around with the manual/automatic system. Of course, the focus of the game is not so much on individual action but on strategic action. I could imagine I will come to appreciate the doctrine settings once I am more experienced. Having said that, the sensors seemed to work erratically. You would expect to see a chopper at periscope depth from 4 nm away. Instead its mark was all over the place. At such moments, I'd want to peek through the periscope myself to verify its position. Having read some parts of the manual gave me the impression the developers took a lot of factors into account when it comes to sub warfare. But not having implemented the breaking of wire after manoeuvring (in the case of wire-guided torpedos) makes me frown. High speed breaks it, significant change of depth or direction doesn't (at least in my experience).
Gameplay: Quite a steep learning curve, but that's not a problem considering that it is a fairly hardcore simulation. The tutorials are fairly clear. Though the UI seems a bit overwhelming at first, things quickly make more sense. I like the slow pace of the game. It's a game of patience and stealth. 7/10
Graphics: Nothing impressive, probably because of the focus on simulation. 5/10
Sound/Music: Nice soundtrack but very repetitive. Sound effects are lacking, hardly helping immersion. 5/10
Overall: It's not the graphics or the sound/music that makes this game attractive, it's probably the strategical depth (pun intended).
Can't wait to prove my first impression wrong! And I hope the developers will improve realism even more.
Steam User 12
Great addition to the main game and it comes with an excellent tutorial package that teaches the core mechanisms of the game, how all the sensors work, and what tactics to implement. These tutorial missions are easy to understand and well written which will help you to learn all the needed skills to complete every scenario that comes with this expansion.
I really recommend this as a stand-alone game to new players before buying the Command: Modern Air and Naval Operations (CMANO). Be aware that this is dedicated to only submarine warfare and you will only be looking at the tactical map as seen in the screenshots. For those that already own CMANO, this expansion adds well-made and interesting scenarios to challenge yourself.
Steam User 14
THIS IS NOT A GAME. The basis of silent service is to accurately depict combat from a more substantial aspect, one that is rarely included within simulations or realistic military games alike. It is challenging and will most likely demand your full attention, however, the reward of destroying enemies and their allies is captivating enough to keep you playing.
Steam User 0
I love complex simulations, and this one is very complex. You won't be able to just load a mission and sink the enemy fleet. This game requires skill and the way to acquire that is to practice and read the manuals.
I recommend it!
Steam User 0
Just wondering what this license for producton stuff is about to play?