Old Gamers Never Die: South China Sea 2000 Campaign in 'Cold Waters' Ends with 'Mission Accomplished'

Final Outcome screen in Cold Waters' South China Sea 2000 Campaign game. (All game design elements in this and other screenshots are © 2017 Killerfish Games.)

The South China Sea conflict between the United States and the People's Republic of China has ended in a victory for America and its NATO allies and a humiliating defeat, and I can now say that I successfully completed my first Campaign in Killerfish Games' 2017 submarine game Cold Waters. 
 

© 2017 Killerfish Games

After 114 days of the war, the loss of five submarines — out of six total — under my command, and quite a few frustrating war patrols, my career as a seagoing combat officer in the late 20th Century U.S. Navy has come to a conclusion. The boats I commanded, along with their crews, did their part in destroying much of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) between October 2000 and February 2001 and ended (momentarily, at least) Beijing's aggressive foreign policy in East Asia and the Western Pacific basin. 

Transit Map showing the situation on Day 1 of the Campaign.

According to my final war patrol records, the six boats (USS Seawolf, USS New York City, USS Jefferson City, USS Hampton, USS Boise, and USS Alexandria)  I commanded during the war in China completed 29 missions, including the insertion of a SEAL team on Hainan Island in the South China Sea and the sinking of a PLAN Xia-class SSBN in the central Pacific. 

Altogether, we inflicted heavy losses on the PLAN and the Chinese merchant marine. Here is the final tally as entered into the official Navy records:

• 0 capital ships
• 61 other surface warships (157,174 tons)
• 41 submarines (155,850 tons)
• 27 merchants (286,310 tons)
• 599, 334 total tonnage

And despite the sad reality that I lost five of the Navy's finest attack boats to enemy action and some of their crew members, I was awarded the following decorations for bravery and determination in the face of the enemy:

• Navy Commendation Medal
• Distinguished Service Medal
• Bronze Star
• Silver Star
• Legion of Merit

Stepping out of the fictional milieu of Cold Waters and speaking from a player's perspective, I think I did well, considering that it was my first serious attempt to play through one of the game's three Campaigns since I bought the game last July. (The other two scenarios in Cold Waters are Cold War-turned-hot hypothetical conflicts between the Soviet Union and NATO. They are North Atlantic 1984 and North Atlantic 1968.)

Of course, I think I could have done better. I tried to play too many missions in one sitting, partly out of haste, but mostly it's because Cold Waters is so immersive and fun to play that often I don't want to stop. Unfortunately, I am not in my late 20s anymore and lack the stamina I had back when I could play Red Storm Rising  (the 1988 MicroProse game that inspired the designers of Cold Waters in the first place). And after one mission or two, I get a bit tired, both in mind and body. In turn, this affects my decision-making process and causes me to make mistakes. 

As a result, I lost five boats out of six, and I almost lost a sixth during my last mission of the war. When I played Red Storm Rising in Campaign mode, I lost boats, too. Just not five in a single campaign!  

 

I will play through the South China Sea 2000 campaign again before tackling the other two in Cold Waters. Just not any time soon!