SUBWAR 2050 Helpful Hints from Michael Powell General Combat Tips ------------------- The essence of being an expert sub pilot is firstly the ability to stay undetected when needed, and secondly to be able to win a battle when you have been detected. Use the noise profile bar on the cockpit as your principal guide. If you want to remain stealthy, try to keep it below 50%. This involves staying at low power and making smooth gentle turns. Stay close to a thermal layer if you can, as it makes is easier to duck from one side to the other. If you are detected, and if your enemy is using active sonar you will find it difficult to avoid, your speed of response is the biggest factor. If you have a good contact, release a guided torpedo in the general direction as quickly as possible. If the torpedo locks on, this should force your enemy to take evasive action, usually diving deep, which should allow you to move in for the kill, unmolested. If the enemy has fired the first shot, assess the torpedo for it's range. If its a long way off, get your own shot in before taking evasive action. Try to get the torpedo on your tail, using the Tactical View and Current Contact View to help. When the torpedo is about 200m away either release a decoy, or turn tightly to create a 'knuckle' or pocket of turbulence. Don't turn all the way round as you'll run straight into it. A more aggressive, but riskier approach is to confront the torpedo head on and shoot it down with an unguided rocket. If you can achieve this you can attack much more quickly. Campaign & Mission Tips ----------------------- North Atlantic -------------- 1. Hunt the Robot You must kill all 6 mining robots on the seabed. If you remain undetected at the end of the mission you get the coveted 'stealth bonus' payment. 2. Power Station You must ensure the protective ring of mines around the station is destroyed before sending in the demolition crew. Protect the team from attack while they fix the charges. Lastly don't forget to give them the 'rejoin formation orders' before leaving. 3. Das Boot The objective here is solely to identify the sea bottom debris to establish which are part of the U-Boat and which are not. Try not to get side- tracked into unnecessary dogfighting. 4. The Extraction This is another mission relying on you to defend your troop carrier on a dangerous exploit. Watch out for the proximity torpedo mines as you break through the final thermal layer, they can be shot down if you're accurate with a rocket. Don't shoot the domes until you get the all-clear from the demolition team. 5. Shooting Mother All hell can break loose on this mission if you let things get out of hand. Try to prioritise attacking subs and kill them in order of their threat to the explosives drone. 6. Miner Forty-Niner On this mission, always remember that the prospecting rigs advance along the ocean bottom, and if you get caught up in a dogfight, don't let them drift too far away into another ambush. 7. Routine Patrol The main point here is to get back as quickly as possible to the carrier, it can survive a few direct hits, but time is of the essence. 8. The Net Just make sure you destroy all the installations, as it's easy to miss one, especially if you stay on passive sonar. 9. Raid the Titanic Of course, your main objective here is to disable the vessel towing the nuclear charge. Don't on any account shoot the charge itself as you will almost certainly spread radio-active material over a wide area and render the sector useless to your side. As soon as you cripple the vessel, head back to the base as Babbage subs will mount a heavy conventional attack. Antarctica ---------- 1. Save the Whale The ring of mines forming the perimeter of the whale corral are controlled by a hexagonal shaped master control mine. Destroy this and the other mines can no longer move. The central seabed building is a sensor array, if you destroy this first it will delay the arrival of backup forces. Apart from these, don’t shoot the whales, you’ll be docked pay for tarnishing the company’s image. 2. Iceberg Ahoy! Make sure you defend the two towing subs as your primary objective. The Mitso-Haachi attackers may attempt to draw you off by attacking you or your wingmen, leaving the tugs to the second wave. Also, don’t let the iceberg get caught in the crossfire. 3. Rescue at Rig 5 This time, defend your troop carrier at all costs. This vessel is weak and cannot survive many hits. 4. The Krilling Fields Try and stay stealthy throughout this mission; Richteur don't want witnesses, so don’t leave any. If you can remain undetected you qualify for a 'stealth bonus'. 5. Deadline When you reach the cable junction, you will see a listening device already there. Mitso-Haachi have beaten you to it - destroy this device and replace it with your own. Again, leave no witnesses. 6. The Spy in the Fridge The key here, as in mission 3, is to protect your valuable passenger after she has been picked up. Any enemy subs will try to distract you. 7. Tiptoe through the Minefields Fairly simple mission - just stay quiet. 8. Is there Anybody out there? You must use your wingmen well to succeed in this mission. Give them their own targets as soon as you can, and attack your own. If they destroy their victim, re-assign them. 9. Icebreaker Assign your wingman to attack the enemy defenders while you concentrate on taking out the base. South China Sea --------------- 1. The Eco-warriors As you patrol the area, you will be attacked by enemy subs and a surface ASW vessel. Although these should be destroyed as quickly as possible, do not ignore the tidal power generators themselves. Saboteur subs will attempt to lay charges and destroy the installations. It will take them about 1 minute to fix the charges, giving you time to intercept. 2. Hoist the Jolly Roger This mission is fairly straightforward. Just be aware of mines from surface vessels. 3. Defending the Geishas It's easy to become confused in the melee of combat in this mission, so try to defend each leg of the supporting structure in turn as they are attacked. The main structure will survive even if only one leg remains. Also be careful your torpedoes or rockets don't collide with GeishaWorld in the battle. 4. Lights! Camera! Action! Try and put on as impressive a show as possible, without going over the top and shooting the camera boat itself. 5. Fishing Rights This one relies on you being as stealthy as possible. If you do get attacked, your best option is to flee as your sub doesn't have a great deal of firepower. 6. The Repair Convoy Defend the power stations and repair subs as best you can without damaging them yourself. Be wary near power stations, the noise from them will drown out sonar, and make you liable to a surprise attack. 7. Second Strike Approach the area stealthily, when you get to within about 1km of the target platform, switch to full speed and go for an all-out attack. You should be able to get several shots in before the enemy can retaliate. 8. Closing the Pipeline The important part of this mission is to be careful to only destroy those structures in the briefing. The sea is shallow and heating effects at shallow depths mean that a single thermal layer exists between the surface and the bottom. 9. Tanker Raid Make sure that you don't rupture any of the oil dracones when destroying the towing submarines. Norinco will launch an attack to try and make it look as though you have caused an environmental disaster so be careful. 10. Beijing Gambit Simply destroy as many of the surface vessels as possible. Beware of depth charges and sinking debris from surface explosions. 11. Beijing Checkmate The best strategy here is to allocate the ASW vessels to your wingman, and attempt to get the Admiral's helijet yourself. You may need to help your wingman out though, if he gets into serious trouble. Sea of Japan ------------ 1. No Artificial Colourings or Flavourings This is one of the more difficult stealth missions. The robot patrol subs have extremely sensitive passive sonar arrays, so speed should be kept down to no more than 15 knots, and turns should be kept smooth. The mines need to be dropped with great accuracy so make sure you're at he correct waypoint. Once you've placed the mines get out as swiftly as possible, but again, avoid detection if at all possible to collect a stealth bonus payment. 2. Satellite Down The first sub you encounter will be an enemy reconnaissance type. Destroy this as quickly as possible, as the Takada and Obechii towing subs will be battling it out over the satellite. You can join in on your side, but be careful not to destroy the satellite by mistake. If the friendly towing sub gets destroyed, all is not lost as you can recover the satellite yourself. By passing closely over it, the salvage will be brought into tow, and you can head for the carrier. 3. To Catch A Thief Begin by shadowing the experimental sub closely on its test track. You will encounter an enemy sub about halfway round the circuit, but do not be too distracted as the experimental sub is just about to be hijacked. You will see its sonar symbol change from blue to red as a result. He will head off at high speed to meet an enemy carrier at a pre-arranged rendezvous point. The mission can be won by destroying him as soon as he turns red, but you can gain extra combat bonuses by letting him lead you to the enemy carrier for a valuable kill. 4. The Dumping Ground Stock up with as many rockets as you can hold for this mission, as the barge subs are heavily armoured and have several tough escorts to deal with. 5. Submarine Graveyard The area involved is at the extremes of your maximum depth so be careful. Any slight hull damage will be magnified in its effect by the immense pressures at these depths. Your consolation is that the enemy has the same problem, and one torpedo hit should be enough for a kill. 6. Tourist Attraction Locate the Neon as quickly as possible to defend it from any attack. Be wary also of a second attack wave, as you escort the towing sub to the surface. 7. Blind Run The targets are buried in the bed of the deep trench. Make sure each is destroyed before proceeding. You can outrun most enemy attackers in the later stages of the mission, but beware of torpedo mines in your route. 8. Harbour Bombardment The harbour entrance is guarded by several proximity mines while inside the harbour itself are 2 sonar tracking torpedo mines. The attack cannot begin until you have placed the transponder inside the harbour and the entrance is clear. If you take too long the attack wave will itself be the subject of a strike by the counter-attacking Tokuda vessels. One of the surface vessels in the harbour is an ASW ship, so destroying this will help your cause. 9. Earthquake! Your first priority should be to destroy the 4 torpedo-mines set at the corners of the base. Once these are clear and any defence wiped out you should be able to place the bomb. It should be dropped down the shaft at the centre of the installation. Be sure to come to a dead stop before releasing the bomb so that it will drop in a straight line. You will get a confirming message if you are close enough, and you need to evacuate the area at top speed to avoid being caught in the shock wave. An alternative method is to abandon all thoughts of stealthy attack and charge in at maximum speed, hoping to catch the enemy off guard. Remember though, you only get one chance with the bomb. Brought to you by the SUBWAR Development Team and MicroProse On-Line Services. MPS*BBS (410) 785-1841. Copyright 1994 by MicroProse, Inc. * Spectrum Holybyte, Inc.