Radio Reports

[Chubster]

Hi newbie here although not a virgin....sunk my first destroyer with manual settings :yeah:

Anyways....Keep trying to intercept sightings that come in via Radio Report but I am not having any luck. Obviously if they are miles away I do not bother but if they are in the general vacinity I will head in front of there projected path then search the area.

Nothing.....every single time.

So

A) What am I doing wrong
B) Are these Radio Reports even worth listening too

[Sammi79]

Just keep trying you will catch one eventually. There are many reasons why you would miss them, course changes, variable speeds etc... let alone the fact that the ocean is big and you have to be within about 10-15 miles to see them (in daytime good weather). You can hear quite a lot further underwater on your hydrophones I think maybe upto 30-40 miles?

If you get where you think they should be and you can't hear or see them, try to take into account shipping routes i.e where would they be going that may give you a clue. Sometimes you might be in the right place just arrived too quick, in which case you should wait, other times they might have increased their speed to 20+ Knts and left you in their wake.

I remember it took a while but eventually I caught one, from there you just get better at judging where they are going (to be) and it becomes easier.;)

[Chubster]

Cheers sammy....at least I know I am doing the right thing now :)

[KlassenT]

The only real suggestion I have is to put together some 'what if' scenarios for intercepts; for example, I'll usually consider...

What if target maintains course, and moves at 6kts for the next X hours? I'll estimate that distance and potential position with the ruler. What if they move at 9 or 12kts instead? This gives you a pretty good search range to cover, and lets you make a few risky gambles. If it's a small convoy, you don't have too much of a lost opportunity if they slip by you, so I may try and head them off supposing they're moving 9kts. The risk being that they could blow right by me if they're moving quicker, but like I said, if it's a low-priority target, you've lost nothing but a bit of time.

Other things to consider are logical course changes. If they're moving near a coast, and there happens to be an enemy-controlled port further along the coast, there's a chance they might just be following the coastline.

When all's said and done, it's an art, not a science; the only thing that'll really help you is practice and experience. ;)

[Admiral8Q]

I'm using TMO 1.9 now so I don't get the contact reports anymore. I like that actually. I cruise untill sonar or radar picks something up. It's more realistic, maybe, I don't know. I wasn't actually in the Pacific war.

[Keelbuster]

I'm using TMO 1.9 now so I don't get the contact reports anymore. I like that actually. I cruise untill sonar or radar picks something up. It's more realistic, maybe, I don't know. I wasn't actually in the Pacific war.

I'm using TMO 1.9, with map updates off, and I do get contact reports. They are fairly infrequent, but I get the occasional convoy or tf report, with approximate course (e.g., NNW) and exact speed. This is like it was in GWX 3.0. However, I find that the amount of evasion (course changes etc.) exhibited by convoys and TFs is much higher than in GWX, making them harder to intercept based on the reports. Also, I find that in TMO when I attack a convoy, it will almost certainly change course (often dramatically - like 90 degrees) after that. In GWX I seem to remember the convoys sailing on the same course, allowing one or even two overhauls and attacks before they zigged .

[danurve]

Frackin contact reports; if they are headed any direction away from me I usually don't bother. Which leaves a handfull headed my way, I've managed to catch up to about 1 in 10 of those. No way to garuntee it is even the one reported, ziggin and zagging away they are.
Summary: It's a crap shoot.