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A Cuban Crisis

Overall, the mission lives up to its 5-star difficulty, but it does so by lumping every encounter into the first couple minutes, rather than gradually providing the player increasingly difficult situations to deal with. If it were not for the underlying flaws in the game engine itself this mission could be manageable in its current configuration, however due to those flaws it quickly becomes overwhelming and difficult to navigate.

If you are a fan of widescale micromanagement, then this mission will definitely scratch that itch.

Please understand that I am not giving this mission 3 of 5 stars because I think it is bad. I recognize the potential that this mission has to be a true masterpiece, however with adjustments to pacing and scale, I have no doubt that this mission could fully achieve its potential.

My recommendations would be to slow down the first few encounters, and remove some of the necessity for such large scale micromanagement. Were it me, I would space the initial waves of fighters and bomber out a bit so that the player has just a little bit of breathing room to work with before being confronted with the next situation. Gradually increasing the demands on the player's attention, rather than dropping them into a multifaceted confrontation already in progress, would provide the space necessary to develop the multilayered strategies that this mission requires.

While you're busy sorting out all of that information, your screening fleet is intercepted by multiple submarines, which by themselves would not be a problem, however while you're dealing with those your attention is drawn away from the previously mentioned bombers who are now launching waves of anti-ship missiles at both your screening fleet and your carrier strike group.

Meanwhile your massive fighter formation in the gulf has forgotten that you had them on weapons free to deal with the waves of fighters that they spawn on top of, and to be honest, at this point you've probably forgotten to check already while dealing with the other attention sinks that exist within this mission.

The chaotic nature of the opening moments does a wonderful job of representing the intensity and brutality of modern naval warfare. The scale and ambition behind this mission are truly impressive, and it is clear that it is intended to present the player with a hefty challenge.

As of right now I give this mission 3/5 stars. Despite the shining potential that this mission has, it currently suffers from some pretty heavy pacing and scope issues which transform it from the masterpiece that it could be into the overwhelming state it currently finds itself in.

Within the first 30 seconds of taking control of your forces you are immediately beset by WAVES of fighters, you have not 1 but 3 submarines in direct harms way, and you have 2 surface fleets, that are nearly too far away to be of any assistance in clearing up the mess and whose only purpose seems to be to draw the players attention away from the main area of operations.

Within the next 30 seconds you are also confronted with massive waves of bombers with no nearby aircraft available to intercept, and due to game engine limitations, even launching fighters from the nearest airbase, some of the bombers are guaranteed to get through.