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BOTA 03 - What Lies Beneath

PART 3 - WHAT LIES BENEATH:
With Scandinavia fallen and NATO battered on both land and sea, Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov has turned his gaze to the deeper game—the control of the Atlantic lifeline. His strategy has evolved from swift conquest to long-term strangulation. By projecting Soviet naval power into the central Atlantic, Ogarkov seeks to sever the transatlantic artery through which American reinforcements and materiel flow into the European theatre. If the sea lanes fall, so too will Western Europe.

Even before the first Soviet tanks crossed into Finland, Ogarkov had quietly set the pieces in motion. Under the cover of diplomatic deception and with NATO’s attention fixed on the Baltic, the Soviet Navy executed a bold maneuver: redeploying the TAVKR Vilnus—a powerful Orel-class aviation cruiser—through the Bosporus, across the Mediterranean, and into the Atlantic via the Straits of Gibraltar. Evading NATO detection through weather fronts, emissions control, and submarine screening, the Vilnus and its escorts have now surfaced as a dire threat—deep in NATO’s strategic rear.

Now operating northwest of the Canary Islands, the Vilnus Carrier Assault Group sits astride NATO’s convoy routes, threatening not only to interdict reinforcement shipping, but to strike into the Mid-Atlantic and even menace the southern GIUK Gap. Its presence has thrown U.S. Atlantic Command into crisis. With major surface forces tied up in the North Sea and Arctic evacuations, few assets remain to counter this breakout. The mission falls instead to two silent predators: USS Boston and USS Birmingham.

MISSION:
These Los Angeles-class attack submarines have maneuvered into position under strict emissions silence, hugging thermoclines and navigating the rocky seabed of the eastern Atlantic. Their objective is surgically precise: penetrate the Vilnus screen and sink the carrier before it can begin air operations. The stakes are as enormous as the risks. The Soviet group is bristling with anti-submarine escorts, sonar-equipped destroyers, and helicopter patrols. Soviet nuclear-powered attack submarines lurk in the depths, adding a deadly layer of complexity.

Ogarkov’s ambitions hinge on control of the Atlantic. If the Vilnus succeeds in anchoring Soviet presence in these southern waters, the entire maritime war could shift in Moscow’s favor. American convoys rerouted to avoid interception would suffer delays and attrition. NATO’s ability to reinforce the British Isles and continental Europe would wither. A strangled NATO would soon become a fractured NATO—isolated, outnumbered, and encircled.

What Lies Beneath is more than a hunt—it is a reckoning. In the deep blue silence of the eastern Atlantic, two American submarines now carry the weight of the Western alliance on their torpedoes. They are alone. There will be no backup, no rescue, no margin for error. In these depths, victory depends on stealth, audacity, and perfect timing. The world above holds its breath. Below the waves, the battle for the Atlantic is about to begin anew.

CAMPAIGN:
The Battle of the Atlantic campaign unfolds in a dark reimagining of 1984, where Cold War tensions erupt into full-scale war. After seizing power in the Kremlin, Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov launches a lightning invasion of Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Soviet forces pour across Scandinavia and surge into the Norwegian Sea, threatening to sever NATO’s transatlantic lifeline and dominate the GIUK Gap. In response, the U.S. Atlantic Fleet and allied NATO naval forces mobilize for a desperate stand to preserve control of the seas.

From the fog-choked Baltic to the windswept North Atlantic, players will command Task Forces through a series of missions: from the defense of Gotland and interdiction of Soviet amphibious landings, to high-stakes carrier battles in the mid-Atlantic and convoy escorts across submarine-infested waters, to full-scale amphibious warfare. In this struggle for maritime supremacy, every decision counts—and the future of Europe hangs in the balance.

A 25+ mission linear campaign, The Battle of the Atlantic, is inspired by famous naval battles of WWI and WWII. This is my first attempt at developing missions and a campaign. Please let me know in the comments about any bugs or suggestions.