Late Morning/Midday, Sunday, November 17, 2024, Miami, Florida
Hi, there, Constant Readers.
It’s a warm but gray-shrouded late fall day in South Florida. The temperature is 81°F (27°C) under mostly cloudy conditions. With the wind blowing from the east-northeast at 11 MPH (18 km/h) and humidity at 53%, the heat index is 85°F (29°C). Weatherwise, we expect mostly cloudy skies and a high of 81°F (27°C) on this subtropical Sunday.
Yesterday was one of my two resting days, so I didn’t work on Reunion: Coda. Instead, I spent some of my leisure time trying to figure out Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age, a new Cold War-turns-hot wargame designed by Triassic Games and published last Tuesday by MicroProse. I didn’t attempt any of the NATO vs. Warsaw Pact scenarios; I’m still learning the basics of naval warfare as depicted in Sea Power, so I chose a less complicated scenario that put me in charge of Iranian naval and air units during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1989).
I can’t say that I won a magnificent battle worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Trafalgar, Midway, or Leyte Gulf; I did destroy the Iraqi naval and air units involved and badly damaged an enemy oil platform, but I lost all my ships and at least one aircraft in the process. The game declared I won a Decisive Victory, but if so, it was a Pyrrhic victory. Pyrrhic victories aren’t Nelsonian or Mahanian, I’m sorry to say.
Still, Sea Power is fun to play even if you’re new to it and understand that it is still incomplete and in early access. If you’ve played Harpoon, Command: Naval and Air Operations or Fleet Command, you’ll understand the gameplay due to Sea Power’s similarities with those earlier naval sims. Additionally, one of the main designers was one of the leading figures at Killerfish Games and worked on Cold Waters, so Sea Power has many visual similarities to that 2017 submarine warfare game, too.
I don’t plan on playing too many games today, though. I need to carve out some quality reading time on this late autumn Sunday, and I certainly don’t want to get burned out on Sea Power by diving in every single day.
Wishing you all a peaceful and trouble-free Sunday. Take care and enjoy the day!
A Certain Point of View, Too 
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