South China Sea - Wolfpack Missions - Enemy subs spawn at point blank range.

Hi all,



I'm having real difficulty with these missions, where you have a 3 sub wolfpack you have to intercept.


I'm in the Improved Virginia Class (quietest US ship in the mod pack) and travelling at 5kts when I intercept them on the Campaign screen, only when it turns to action stations I'm now virtually point blank (<30sec torp travelling time in <90db water) to the lead ship of the 3 enemy who is also on a reciprocal heading so I have no chance to evade using silent running, speed at 5kts, manoeuvre to get other side of layer from him if possible and get in his baffles if possible before being detected and attacked and after all the dodging and attacking the lead ship, I can never find the two other ships.



So instead of being detected and attacked I've tried to go on the offensive and instead attack the lead ship first which, again, always leads to a mission loss as, after evading the return torps fired, yet again I can never find the remaining two ships who have quite rightly run away bravely whilst I've been dodging torps.


Has anyone got any tips for this specific type of mission and wouldn't mind sharing them?


PS I've been playing Sub games since 668I in '97 in so I've got a very good understanding of sub tactics/terms so don't worry about "dumbing it down" for me

[Delgard]

Every mission that I have received gave me the choice as to how close, in kyds, I want to appear. The choices are 25, 20, 15, and 10...I believe. The choice is nice to have depending on the anticipated mission.

I usually choose a closer distance because my other fingers are on the "go silent" commands. It is the first thing I do.

Good luck!

[Deepmoc]

You should try to approach deeper an then ascend when you are in thier baffles od the last sub. In the ascwnd fire at point blank range.. UNder 2000 yards.. its a usually tactic.

In the Case you ge a counter shot. Go deep and then in a narrow angle sideways away in direction of the enmy torp before it goes active.
In the deep you can run faster.. without cavitation

[Bilge_Rat]

If you are trying a single mission, the devs had written in another thread that these are designed for quick combat actions.

things are different in the campaign.

Hmmm, Ok thats 3 answers which aren't really hugely helpful I'm afraid but thanks for answering anyway.


Delgard - At that screen I always choose "Man battle stations" rather than getting closer using 25kyds etc yet I still get spawned at 2-4kyds at most.



Deepmoc - This is the South China Sea, it's shallow water (250ft) in most places but even where there is deep water I almost always spawn so close that there is very little time to get deep enough to avoid detection before the enemy sub (who is sailing towards me) hears me.


Bilge_Rat - This is the South China Sea campaign, not single missions.

[Delgard]

I was thinking the campaign missions.

Anyway, I click through the ranges, usually settling on 15kyds or 20kyrds and then I click "Man Battle Stations". Immediately after that I go to silent running.

[VizlaN]

Originally Posted by IanH755

Delgard - At that screen I always choose "Man battle stations" rather than getting closer using 25kyds etc yet I still get spawned at 2-4kyds at most.

Two factors that I've noticed make a difference:
1) Your speed on map. If you are going full speed, it does not matter(also noticed I sometimes can't select "Close to") if you pick "Man battle stations" or "Close to Xkyds", they will be close and you will most likely start detected. Can sometimes avoid it if you immediately go reverse to slow down, but not always.

2) Whether you approach them undetected, or they approach you while you are detected by air assets on map. If you are detected by air assets and select "Man battle stations", you will spawn close and most likely already detected. If you select "Close to ≥15kyds" you will not spawn detected by vessels(varies, but seems to be most common), but there might be helicopter or aircraft close by.

To avoid constantly starting the engagement detected, avoid the above and be careful about using "Man battle stations", it generally seems random between 10->25kyds. Personally if I control the initial engagement and want to avoid looking for a plankton in the ocean select "Close to 15kyds" if submarine or 20kyds if surface vessels. There's still the odd chance you'll have a helicopter or plane nearby, but its rare.

PS, noticed reply above: I don't select a range and hit "Man battle stations", instead hit "Close to" after setting range. Not sure if there's a difference as I never tested it, but assume so since its two different buttons.

[Bilge_Rat]

yes, the speed you arrive on the map and the distance you choose have the biggest impact.

if you arrive at 20 knots and the enemy spawns close by and instantly detects you, then yes, weapons will fly fast. This is a bigger problem in the SCS map since you can spawn a whole lot shallower than 600 feet and be cavitating at the start.

I always choose 25k yds distance and at 5-10 knots you always spawn outside of contact range.

From what I have been able to figure out the enemy spawn points are somewhere between just outside max contact range and the maximum limit you choose, i.e. 10,15,25k yds. It seems at 20 knots, the enemy will spawn closer since at that speed you will detect enemy units at a much closer range.

As mentioned in the OP, I'm approaching at 5kts which, in the Improved Virginia class, means not moving on map screen and allowing the enemy to sail into me while I sit still.


I've now tried launching a MOSS at 90' to my heading as soon as I spawn but, again, I'm spawning so close (nowhere near the 25kyds I selected, more like under 3-4kyds) that the enemy lead ship can hear the launch and yet again it's a mission loss.


Starting to get a mix of annoyance and "why bother" with the game at the moment.