👻 Spooooooooky Submarines in IADS: The Game!

Madonna and I recently got to play a full Maritime Expansion game of IADS: The Game with a brand new player at Your Hobby Place - Alexandria. (Thanks for the games, Henry!!) In it, Henry was all about the stealthy, stealthy submarines, so I wanted to take a post to talk about all my favorite parts of those two cards... the Attack Submarine and the TBM Submarine! Wait. Where did they go?...

Before I start, I wanted to give a few more shout-outs to my Joint Coalition partners in crime for the IADS: The Game Expansion. Isaac, Sean, Rob -- I loved chatting about what capabilities might be like for these different weapon systems. Truly, an OceanGate-Deep thank you for the good times and for helping with the game.

Also. I want to point out that your initials spell out ISR. Intel FTW, right Jesse?? Maybe the real Heavyweight Torpedoes... are the friends we made along the way.

Anyway, here's where we landed for submarines:

🛳️ Submarine Overview

The Attack Submarine and the TBM Submarine both have the "Vessel" Special Capability, meaning that they can only move on surfaces that are pre-defined as maritime areas. On top of that, though, both also have "Subsurface" which means they can only be hit by torpedoes. This special ability also prevents the first two Detects against them.

🔱 Loadouts: Attack Submarines & TBM Submarines

When it comes to armament, submarines in IADS: The Game carry Heavyweight Torpedoes (HWTs) and Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs).

Side note: Apologies to my nuclear weapons homies at STRATCOM, but we didn't include any nuclear warheads in IADS: The Game -- you might bring them in as a house rule, but I think it would end like one of our favorite movies, "Wargames".

Side note side note: Madonna looks like Ally Sheedy.

If you haven't seen "Wargames", actually stop reading and watch it. Here's a trailer.

The Attack Submarine and the TBM Submarine differ most in their loadouts:

- Attack Submarines carry three HWTs and one SLBM, while

- TBM Submarines carry one HWT and three SLBMs.

HWTs: Roll biggggggg, 4x dice. Aircraft carrier can boat in formation with one other vessel and can shoot LWTs -- together boating 7x dice right the boat in your boating face without a single boating Upgrade.

SLBMs: Shoot like the traditional TBM card (launching in Action 1, and Impacting in Action 2), but don't get the "Multiple Re-entry Vehicle" Special Capability. Just like the normal TBM, they can reach out and touch any place in the battlespace, but might be affected by TBM Defenses from Ground-Based Air (and Missile) Defense unit cards like the Advanced SAM and Dispersed SAM unit cards.

🥷🏽 Silent Running = Ninja Mode

Last! Coolest ability! Ninja around with the "Silent Running" Special Capability. Both submarines must deploy to the HQ, but can "Silently Run" once per game out to anywhere on the map... because tHeY wEre aLwaYs thErRrE...!! OoooOooooo....👻

This ability takes two actions, but with a little strategy, planning, and intel, teleporting on top of a detected enemy vessel can quickly yield tons of Attrition Points!

💭 Final Thoughts

Love submarines in our game and relish any opportunity we get to play with the Maritime Expansion. Submarines can really bring a devastating power to bear real world, just like they can in IADS: The Game. To all my real life Submarine homies out there (whether you call yourselves "submariners" or, more correctly: "submariners"), fair winds and following seas!

- Ric