Triassic Games have just released the latest update to Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age, and it contains a long awaited content area for naval combat fans but also for combat flight sim fans (who might look wistfully at this add-on and want to be in the cockpit of Harriers and Mirages). The Falklands War is the new focus with the additions of ships and aircraft representing the United Kingdom and Argentina.

Head to the South Atlantic

The year is 1982 and the Falklands War has brought a direct clash between the United Kingdom and Argentina. The war saw several key naval battles which included the sinking of the ARA General Belgrano and loss of the HMS Sheffield after being hit by an Exocet missile. It also saw Royal Navy Harriers dogfighting Argentinian Mirage III and A-4 Sky Hawks in close range combat. It’s the perfect scenario for the Cold War focused Sea Power title to tackle.

The new update is free and contains 80+ new assets, two new campaigns, a new replay system, a 3D global and tactical map system (with real time day/night display), and various other improvements across the sim. Some of those new assets include the Centaur-class, Invincible-class, Type 42, Type 82, Oberon-class, Sea Harrier FRS.1, Harrier GR.1 and GR.3, Vulcan B.2, Sea King HAS.5, and Wasp HAS.1 among many others for the UK side. For Argentinian forces we’ve got the Colossus-class, Comodoro Py-class FRAM II destroyer, A-4P and A-4C Skyhawks, Super Étendard, Alouette III and more.

Since I last wrote about the sim, it has picked up significant updates to both the simulation and core part of the sim as well as new gameplay modes. My favourite new addition is Task Force mode that is built into new campaigns. Task Force mode is similar to what we see with Career mode in Korea IL-2 series where you’re the task force commander with the ability to spend points to create your own task force with persistence across the force as the campaign evolves.

The two new campaigns, Falklands War 1982 (Britain) and Guerra de Malvinas 1982 (Argentina), make use of Task Force mode to help tell their story though they are, in this case, historically based. The developers say that these campaigns will offer a unique challenge:

Both campaigns draw on the historical setting while allowing operations and outcomes to diverge. Players should expect these campaigns to play very differently than previous Sea Power campaigns! The forces involved are very evenly matched, and so losses should be expected and careful tactics are required.

There are also new standalone scenarios that, among others, include “Operation Black Buck 1” where you’ll need to coordinate the Vulcan-bomber strike on Stanley airfield and Hunt for Belgrano where you command HMS Conqueror against the General Belgrano in a famous naval action.

Read about the latest update here and, if you’re interested in a naval combat sim, check out Sea Power here.