Alternative history, quite a popular thing. They often like to discuss it in various companies. This is a discussion on the topic: “what if…". And there are many examples. What if Hitler had died in World War I? What if the Reds hadn’t carried out the revolution?? What if nuclear war comes?? The gaming industry regularly uses this technique. Hearts of iron 4 offers imaginary options for the development of various countries. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1,2,3 talks about a new world war. Metro series about life after nuclear war. Battlefield, Frontlines, Wargame, Red Alert, World in conflict and further further further. All of them in one way or another are some variation of the development of history.

But this article, as you already understand, is not about the game, but about one of the sources of inspiration for games about the confrontation between Russia and the USA. In a specific case about the conflict between the Warsaw Pact countries and NATO. (The primary source of all this, of course, is the Cold War, but it never came to the point of a direct confrontation. Which is good).

It just so happened that this book had been an eyesore on my shelf for quite some time and was calling: “Read me. Well, read it". In the end I gave up. Mainly because of the author of the book Red Storm – Tom Clancy (in the original. Red Storm Rising). Yes, the same one from whom Ubisoft received lifetime rights to games based on his books. Well, the title of the book was playing the Soviet Union anthem from Red Alert on repeat in my head. But how does this composition not fit with the book?.

A little about Clancy

Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. born April 12, 1947 in Baltimore County, Maryland. Attended Loyola Blakefield Catholic School in Tucson, Maryland, graduating in 1965. He also studied English literature at Loyola College in Baltimore, graduating in 1969. One day he noticed that he began to study literature because he considered himself not smart enough for physics. Before starting his literary career, he served in the US Army, but had to leave during the Vietnam War due to poor eyesight, and also spent some time in the insurance business.

Clancy always wanted to be a writer. One day he came across a newspaper article that said how a sailor uprising occurred on the Soviet ship Storozhevoy, which was subsequently suppressed. This fact prompted him to write a detective story on this topic. The cruiser became a submarine, the main rebel turned into a Lithuanian, and the Americans were involved in the story. Then Clancy did something truly brilliant. He spent a whole year turning his manuscripts into technical characteristics of the fleet, weapons, troops. And so he invented a new genre of literature – technothriller.

In this genre one can notice how meticulously, almost with accounting precision and specificity, almost every background-forming reality is described, especially technical and military ones – everything is clear, in numbers and only facts; the “cinematic” principle of novel composition, when several main storylines coexist, developing in parallel until the very end; constant change of perspectives (over the course of just a few pages the reader can end up in the White House, then in the Kremlin, then on board a combat helicopter, or suddenly in a diner in the suburbs of some state), creates the illusion of the scale of what is happening.

The Hunt for Red October became a bestseller. Translations, film adaptation starring Sean Connory. Clancy does not stop there and writes other novels. They are all super popular. As a result, Tom Clancy is awarded a personal audience with the US President himself at the White House.

Quite little is known about his unofficial life. He is very close to America’s military elite and is well versed in weapons. Of interest, in 1968, the American submarine Scorpio sank southwest of the Azores; after a short period of time, Clancy stated that, in his opinion, the cause of the death of the boat was its own torpedo, fired accidentally and turned 180 degrees. After some time, his words were confirmed by a federal commission consisting of many experts. When the accident with the Kursk submarine happened, CNN journalists immediately asked Clancy’s opinion. Then he refrained from commenting.

In 1996, Clancy participated in the development of a computer game SSN, and then wrote a book of the same name with the same plot. A colleague working on this project, Douglas Littlejohns (a former British naval officer), soon founded his own company, Red Storm Entertainment, which was acquired by Ubisoft Entertainment in 2000. It was she who launched and still supports several games with the obligatory “Tom Clancy’s” in the title.

Tom Clancy’s SSN is a submarine simulator for the Model 688i (Los Angeles-class Advanced Hunter/Killer Class Nuclear Submarine). The player commands the USS Cheyenne in a limited war against China for the Spratly Islands. Gameplay is limited to a single-player campaign of 15 missions, in which the player takes on the roles of an anti-submarine and surface ship, collects intelligence and launches cruise missiles from submarines.

Tom Clancy’s SSN is a submarine simulator for the Model 688i (Los Angeles-class Advanced Hunter/Killer Class Nuclear Submarine). The player commands the USS Cheyenne in a limited war against China for the Spratly Islands. Gameplay is limited to a single-player campaign of 15 missions, in which the player takes on the roles of an anti-submarine and surface ship, collects intelligence and launches cruise missiles from submarines.

On October 1, Publishers Weekly announced the death of Tom Clancy. He died at the age of 66 in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.

The red storm is rising

Clancy’s novel The Hunt for Red October was inspired by the game Harpoon created by Larry Bond. They soon met at a meeting of war game lovers.

Already friends, Clancy and Bond discussed www.evolutionbet-top.co.uk the future game "Convoy 84" about the battle in the North Atlantic, which Bond was working on at the time. Clancy was so fascinated by the idea of ​​the game that writing the novel “Red Storm” led to great discussions and many interesting acquaintances. Including having to spend a week on the missile frigate FFG-26. And for a more reliable description of the scenes in the Soviet Politburo, the authors questioned the Soviet traitor-defector Shevchenko. And for a more reliable description of the scenes in the Soviet Politburo, the authors questioned the Soviet traitor-defector Shevchenko.

USS Gallery (FFG-26) – Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate. This class was designed in the United States in the mid-1970s as a utility escort ship.

Although Clancy is mentioned as the sole author, he himself considers Larry Bond to be the co-author of his book, where “the only contract was a handshake».

Although Larry’s name as one of the book’s authors is not on the binding, this book is as much his as it is mine. We never thought about the division of labor, but we managed to finish the book as co-authors, although our only contract was a handshake. Plus, we had a lot of fun working on it. Let the reader decide how successful our cooperation was.

Red Storm is based on three American team games. Today there are only six pages left of the report covering the first game, where Clancy is mentioned as the main player on the Soviet side.

Military campaign

(Attention! The following may contain spoilers.)

Probably the most unpleasant moment of the book is its first chapter, which causes further conflict between countries. Mid 1980s. An engineer at the country’s largest Nizhnevartovsk oil refinery complex, Azerbaijani Tolmazov, with two comrades, penetrates the control center and, having destroyed its personnel, commits a terrorist attack, which leads to a monstrous fire that destroys the entire complex and drilling rigs, which became the reason for the beginning of the energy crisis.

After calculating the damage caused, the new Minister of Energy Mikhail Sergetov proposes to the Politburo a plan to save oil and energy resources, which proposes austerity for 3 years, but the plan is rejected due to political and other problems in various industries. And the commander-in-chief of the armed forces proposes to seize the countries of the Persian Gulf, where the Union so much needs oil. But for this it is necessary to suppress the NATO countries in Europe, since they will immediately react to such aggression.

Sergetov Mikhail Sergeevich – relatively young new energy minister. Throughout the book, he is the voice of reason for most of the Politburo, which has to make difficult decisions.

This is where we need to turn on the anthem and march with all the “cranberries” to capture Europe, so that the imperialists kneel, feeling the full power of the Red Army. But the book is still close to realism. Clancy describes very well the army’s preparation for the implementation of the Red Storm plan. Large-scale exercises and pre-preparations for military operations on land and at sea begin. The hierarchy in sergeants and enlisted personnel is being strictly restored. 5 generals are shot for falsifying documents about the real state of their units. Submarines are being re-equipped with new batteries, leading to a battery crisis. At the same time, the USSR is the first to make contact with Western countries in order to end the conflict and move on to open dialogue and the reduction of nuclear weapons. They even invite observers from the United States to the exercises. Strange inconsistencies are also noticed in the US forecasting department, which so far causes only minor concerns.

And half of the first volume is spent on this very preparation and reasoning. With plans, discussions and intrigues. Including intelligence activities and propaganda. The author shows how a combination of various factors shows the country’s preparation for a global, albeit short-lived war. Where, ironically, the USSR will have to stage a blitzkrieg, albeit with more global nuances. All this is reminiscent of a game in global strategy, where you need to take into account a thousand factors.

Describing the work of the intelligence service’s forecasting department, Clancy shows that no one really hates our country. Yes, another culture, so what?. But what kind of films are they making, what kind of literature and music do they have?. I remember my father’s stories about how radio amateurs picked up foreign stations. The realization comes that no one needs war. And now, after six months of intelligence training, political indoctrination and military training, the plan is ready for implementation. Need a reason. But not simple, but such that the whole country was ready to go to war. How to prepare such propaganda? And here the main evil shows its role. KGB.

A film by Sergei Eisenstein is shown on Soviet TV – Alexander Nevsky. Two analysts, Chuck Lowe and Robert Toland, enjoy watching this movie and discussing certain ideological images (which even caused me tenderness). They have already reported everything, but still, it looks like things are really heading towards a thaw. Without even paying much attention to the film. And at the same time, a provocation is being prepared in the Kremlin at night.

Robert Toland is an NSA analyst who has visited various headquarters, including the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.

A total of 10 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers were built, including the last, George W. Bush, which was commissioned into the fleet in 2009.

– Damn it! – Toland even stood up from his chair. – Just listen to how this song sounds! — The phonogram became almost perfect, even the interference associated with transmission via satellite did not interfere.

Get up, Russian people,
For a glorious battle, for a mortal battle
For our honest land
Get up, Russian people!

And in the morning there is a powerful explosion, during which the group dies children. Eight October students from Pskov – three boys and five girls, aged from eight to ten years – and three employees of the Politburo apparatus of the CPSU Central Committee.

The tragedy plunges the entire nation into shock, including Sergetov and Pavel Alekseeva, who notes to himself “The day of reckoning for all crimes will come”. This phrase is ultimately how the book ends. But it’s far away. And now all television is broadcasting the tragedy around the world.

Pavel Leonidovich Alekseev – Colonel General, Commander of the Kyiv Military District, later – Commander of the Western Front. The book presents him as an honest man who understands the global situation and is not ready to just waste the lives of soldiers. Together with Sergetov, they become victims of political games and difficult decisions.

This situation shows well how easily a crowd can be set up. But this is where hostilities, mistakes, accidents and the game of chess begin. In which the figures are actually the lives of different people.

New world

The USSR blames the German government for the terrorist attack, which supposedly could not come to terms with the division of Germany. Without blaming other NATO countries, the USSR issues an ultimatum to Germany. Many countries in the world decide not to enter into this conflict, considering it a conflict between two countries. The political “bomb” that intelligence promised worked. And during the negotiations, by an absurd accident, the operation to sabotage the NATO headquarters fails, and Germany, having delayed the negotiations, is preparing for an inevitable war.

At the same time, the USSR makes a daring landing on airfields in Iceland using a disguised transport ship under the command of Airborne Forces General Andreev. Why the island becomes a Soviet base. And submarines begin hunting for convoys that are carrying reinforcements from the United States to Europe.

Now I’ll leave out most of the plot. Because then the most interesting game begins.

The story introduces us to several more characters. Edward Morris (Captain 2nd rank in the US Navy, commander of the frigates Farris and Reuben James) and Daniel McAfferty (Captain 2nd rank in the US Navy, commander of the nuclear submarine Chicago). The first is involved in guarding convoys and hunting for submarines. The second – carries out reconnaissance and hunts for ships, then trying to escape from the hunt. Both cases show the hard work of the teams, their abilities and knowledge. How dangerous is this work and what is the price of victory and error?. In the second volume (I have a two-book edition) the traumas of war are well addressed. Not much time has been allocated for this, but these moments show how much war is a machine for processing people. The smartest and most capable people.

Edward Morris And Daniel McAfferty – commanders of various ships. Both face difficult tasks and emotional stress. At first, during the book, it shows how people break.