By Stealth and Sea

By Stealth and Sea is probably my first “full-blown” Wargame (is Wargame one word?). Certainly the first one that’s nautical in nature, especially focusing on submarines (of sorts), which I think are cool. I’d say a modern nuclear submarine is near the pinnacle of human engineering. But, the “subs”/torpedoes in this game are far removed from current sub technology, and they break-down a lot.

At first I thought this manned torpedo was a Kamikaze-type thing, but the two-man crew (wearing diving gear) would get underneath an enemy ship and manually detach a ‘warhead’ from their torpedo and attach it to a ship, then hopefully escape before being captured (or dying). Scuttling the torpedo after warhead placement was often part of the plan.

After the initial setup in the ‘introductory’ game, you make a couple of “Fault Checks” on you SLC’s (SLC is an Italian acronym for the “manned torpedoes”) before the mission even really starts. So, before you even ‘set sail’, you may have ballast tank issues causing you to be unable to submerge, therefore making you more ‘detectable’. You might have transmission problems causing your movement capabilities to be reduced. Perhaps your warhead inadvertently detached from the torpedo and you need to take the time to reattach it. Your battery could go dead. There are many technical issues that need to be continually resolved throughout the mission.

It’s cool how the game is historically accurate. The names and placement of the ships in the harbor are historically accurate. Even the names of the SLC crew members are real. In the first mission, which takes place at Gibraltar, you pilot your 3 SLC’s towards the harbor to sink some enemy ships. There are cargo ships not in the harbor you can try to sink, but they’re worth less points. To enter the harbor, you have to bypass anti-torpedo nets protecting the 2 entrances. Additionally, you have to constantly be weary of up to 4 Patrol Ships that are constantly looking for you, anxious to eliminate your adversarial ass.

You can travel faster and turn more easily if you’re on the surface, but you’re more easily spotted by patrol craft, so you need to balance surface and submerged travel. If the crew on any given SLC is uninjured, you get 2 ‘Action Points’ per SLC per turn, but if injured, only 1. Moving (faster or slower), turning, surfacing, submerging, detaching and attaching the warheads, repairing problems, ‘healing’ an injured crew, evading an anti-torpedo net, and scuttling the torpedo all take Action Points to accomplish. Oh, yeah, your crew members can also have breathing gear and/or wetsuit issues, as well as facing stamina concerns. Shit, it’s always something!

In the Campaign Modes, you can eventually improve your torpedo, warheads, breathing gear, crew skills and more. I have a good ways to go before becoming a true naval nemesis, but for now, it’s time to sink some assholes!

This is/was the human torpedo Siluro San Bartolomeo (non-nuclear version 😄).

Image Source: military-history.fandom.com

P.S. I liked this game enough that it prompted me to purchase another Wargame! 😋

@Cadet Stimpy Great info Mike! How's the replayability?

@Derek I'd say it's pretty good, even if you were replaying the basic game. But with several additional missions included, there's quite a bit. You can also play historical campaigns and compare your results with actual historic outcomes. You can play custom campaigns, too, as I mentioned above, where you can beef things up, but in response, the Royal Navy will significantly improve their harbor defenses, such as adding dive teams and shore-based mortar fire. Here's a Link to the Mission Guide, if ya wanna check-out the missions.