Sega Genesis - Super Battleship - Jolly Roger

Released in February of 1993, this game seemed innocent enough. I received it as a Christmas gift later that year. No matter how many times I tried, I could not beat the 'Jolly Roger' level... I've picked up the game and put it back down numerous times over the last two decades, but never beaten it until today.

Today, I tell you, of the brave soldiers who fought to disrupt the merchant supply lines near Ilocana island. (NOTE: This isn't historically accurate... not even a little)

Jolly Roger

Day 1: It was a cold day in the Pacific Theater aboard the Battleship Africa when we received our orders. Pacific Command had lost their bloody minds. Our orders were to take on a full armada, an entire naval fleet of ships, with a half-stocked battleship, and destroy the merchant fleet supplying the enemy. Moral was low, but our orders clear. Captain Moses ordered all ahead full, and we proceeded East at 24 knots.

Day 2: The enemy fleet comes into range on radar. It's worse than we imagined and they've already spotted us. Two carriers, four destroyers, a handful of cruisers, and sonar picked up what sounds like a submarine headed our way. The enemy is positioned perfectly in deep water between the two islands, there's no time to go around and they're directly between us and the merchant fleet. Still we proceed on our course.

Day 3: The enemy took a pot shot at us, close enough to the ship to spray water on the deck. Had we been closer to land our crew would already have jumped ship, this mission was doomed to fail before it had even started. In order to avoid certain demise, we veer South East and continue at 24 knots.

Day 4: The enemy has closed enough ground to start firing upon us. We manage to outrun them twice, but suffered some damage. Our sonar is out, but we already know the enemy submarine is coming for us, it's only a matter of time. Despair sets in, but we manage to take stock of our armaments. We had 30 shells, 2 missiles  and a dozen depth charges. Barely enough to sink 1/4 of the enemy fleet...

Day 5: We're approaching the shore line of Ilocana Island, the enemy has already trained it's sights on us and the shore batteries are eagerly waiting for us to come into range. It's only a matter of time now, we're trapped between the enemy navy and the islands Eastern harbor.

Day 6: The enemy submarine finally makes its move, we were hit with a torpedo without any warning. We're now without steering and sonar. Even our bow guns, useless as they may be against our underwater foe, were disabled. Unable to return fire, we set course in the only direction our broken rudder would allow. FORWARD!

Day 7: As if invited, we steamed into Ilocana Harbor at full speed, with guns raised and missiles primed. Before the enemy could even fire a shot, we launched one of our two STS missiles across the harbor and annihilated the enemies barracks and communications tower. The island erupted into panic as we continued to bear down on the shore.

Day 8: With the enemies land communications disabled, and our ship blocking the mouth of the harbor, the islanders had no idea what was in store for them. We issued demands for additional missiles and supplies or face additional bombardment. Little did they know we were down to our last one.

Days 9-18: The ruse worked! The enemy islanders began supplying us with missiles in return for sparing their lives. We happily fired them off away from the island sinking enemy ship after enemy ship. Without communications the islanders had no idea reinforcements were so close, we had done it! Or so we thought...

Day 19: The enemy submarine, immune to our onslaught of missiles and shells, had entered the harbor under our very noses. A volley of torpedoes made that quite clear. We had no time to celebrate, only enough time to steam forward in the only way we could. We ran aground.

Day 20: The enemies merchant fleet grew nearer and nearer to their destination while we had idled in the harbor. The submarine had caught us so very off-guard that we didn't even think to deploy our depth-charges. Now useless, they sat below deck, waiting for a lucky torpedo to send us all to our watery graves.

Day 21: Knowing our death was all but certain, we fired our remaining missiles far and wide, the merchant fleet was far enough away, far enough to be faint shadows on a dimly lit radar display, far.. but not far enough. We sank ten of the twelve merchant ships! We had broken the enemies supply line and decimated their fleet. A cheer broke out on deck as the radar tech called out each blip as it disappeared. By the tenth cheer the crew had lost all sense of order. We had been stranded on a foreign shore, our ship all but sunk if not for the rocks we had run upon, our weapons exhausted, and the enemy submarine closing in for it's final kill; but we had already won.


SPOILERS: How to beat the Jolly Roger level: Head southeast at the start of the mission. Hit start to retreat from any battles you encounter. Continue moving diagonally as fast as your can until you reach the shore, there is a small harbor you can enter. Fire a shell or a missile at the troop barracks on land to take over the port. You will now be restocked at the end of each turn. Use every turn you can to fire a single missile at the merchant ships. Aim for the furthest one you can reach. If attacked, return fire with a single missile and sink them. The submarine will hit you every turn but there isn't much you can do but persevere if it keeps its distance. You should be able to sink 10 merchants within 20 turns. Good luck!