CMANO - The Pole Positions DLC Offers a Chilling View of Submarine Clandestine and Covert Ops

If you play CMANO, I'm sure you already picked up a copy of the Pole Positions DLC. A continuation of the Command LIVE series, you are now to command clandestine and covert US operations in the Arctic region. Or to counter them, if you play as the Russians.

In this single-scenario DLC, the Russians are almost done installing an underwater Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS), and the US is quite concerned about it. The scenario description is quite detailed, almost enough to prime the writing of a Tom Clancy's style novel. I liked the environmental storyline of the ice cap receding and I found myself chuckling at the thought of Al Gore making a third movie entitled "An Inconvenient SOSUS".

Those red squares are the infamous underwater sonars that need to be inspected in the hopes of catching the Russians meddling with them.

I have played the scenario from the US side and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the amount of units is not overwhelmingly high. In Pole Positions, you will have to use your admiral skills in a wise manner. There is a lot of water to cover and the risk of being detected and identified is high. Deploying Navy Seals to upload spyware on one of the land-based data collection centers is listed as one of the tasks. Quite exciting stuff!

I can see Russia from here.

Make sure to check out this DLC and if you have time grab a copy of the following books to put you in the mood:

• Red November: Inside the Secret U.S.-Soviet Submarine War, by Craig Reed
• Stalking the Red Bear: The True Story of a U.S. Cold War Submarine's Covert Operations Against the Soviet Union, by Peter Sasgen

Cheers,