Sending contact Reports..

[MENTAT]

Is that fraggin option does actually anything?

I see no benefit in sending a contact report so far?

[danlisa]

Is that fraggin option does actually anything?

I see no benefit in sending a contact report so far?

If you are within range of a friendly airbase you will recieve air support. You may even recieve ship support is there are any friendly's close by.(I have not experienced this)

Air support will only assist you based on a percentage chance. Sometimes you're lucky, sometimes you're not.

[Brag]

Now, we have 2 options for contact reports.

In-game: contact reports may bring action by the Luftwaffe or other U-boats.


The Spinnennetz (see sticky thread). Your E-mailed contact reports are entered into the intel map. You can use the intel map to plan your patrol.

On my present patrol down to the Gulf of Guinea, I've ran into lots of good traffic, whereas before the intel map, it was like sailing on an empty ocean.



Location:
http://www.operationspinnennetz.isaf.us/ (http://www.operationspinnennetz.isaf.us/)


Look it up, and good hunting :up:

[GoldenRivet]

In GWX in an early career i have had my skin saved in the North sea when i was being fired at by a destroyer at long range... fired off a contact report through the radio man and crash dived... after the DD made a few near miss depth charge runs i noticed 4 bombers approaching... "wonderful - he brought friends" i thought.

on closer inspection (i was using external camera at the time) i discovered that these were in fact condor bombers. they dived on him and dropped several bombs sinking him.

thus i escaped certain death in the shallows of the north sea by firing off a quick contact report.

on another occasion i was in a Type II long ago... no deck gun and had used my last torpedo on a large merchant... he wasnt sinking and i had no way of bringing him down, called in the report and stuka dive bombers made short work of him... and i still got credit for the sinking!

i think in stock SH3 contact reports do little for you...

but i have noticed recently that i have been sending contact reports in the atlantic near the azores and have seen on more than one occasion 4 german U-boats come patrolling out of nowhere in search of convoys... they never found the convoy, but at least they made an effort!

[MENTAT]

so how long does it take for them to respond?

I used my last torp to a merchant once and he didnt sink but was disabled. (0 Knots) I sent for a contact report, nothing happened.. I waited there for a support or something but it was difficult to wait as attack TC only allows 32x.

So it is a tiring business to wait there considering they also send distress call and can soon find some hurricanes on top of you.

If someone explains the working mechanics of this feature, we can surely make better
use of it.

[ichso]

Didn't I read somewhere around here that sending in contact reports gives you some renown points too ?
Or is that wrong ?

[Goose_green]

The only thing I ever got out of sending a contact report was a polite and curt thank you from BDu, nothing more nothing less. Although I have never had the chance to receive any air support from Goering's fly boys, I've always been too far out in the Atlantic when sending one, and too far away from any Luftwaffe bases:cry:

[TarJak]

From what I know about it when you send a contact report and you are within range of a Lutwaffe base or there are German warships in the vicinity then they will come to the position you sent.

I suspect that there is actually a percantage chance of them turning up somewhere in a file that determines whether they do or not. I can say that I have seen both air and see forces attack a target that I have reported. It certainly doesn't always happen but the closer you are to an airbase the better the chances of them turning up in good time. I assume the air units have to scramble from the airbase and they travel at the speed they travel so the further away you are the longer it will take.

Keep trying it and see what happens. It certainly won't help in mid atlantic or on the US coast as unless there is a German naval unit close by you are on your own.

[Sawdust]

I'd heard that submitting contact reports will give you more contact reports in return. I don't know if that was wishful thinking or if there is some truth to it, but I always like to issue a contact report for any ships that I'm leaving behind, un-sunk for whatever reason.

[KeptinCranky]

Hmm, this sets me to thinking....
In GWX there's a few historical events scripted that have active German surface ships like Bismarck,

I don't know if this works but...

Wouldn't it be something if Bismarck got diverted to your location if you call in a contact on a convoy and it's close enough.... you'd be stalking the convoy and suddenly you see flashes on the horizon and a ship blowing up...then Bismark and Prinz Eugen clean up the rest of the convoy...

I wonder.....:hmm: Bismark doing what it was meant to do instead of sinking HMS Hood and getting sunk for her troubles.

you might even be able to keep diverting the ships or planes to new contacts if you're in a traffic-heavy area like in the Mediterranean

[patterchon]

When i use the report contact function, then it only says "No radio messages recieved!"
What is that? That has nothing to do with contact reports in my eyes...
Any ideas?

[Tobus]

I always try to report contacts, although for some reason the report doesn't always "work", nothing being transmitted, even if I have escorts and multiple cargoes in sight.

When I managed, especially in the North Sea, I usually see condors, Ju88's and Stuka's come to do some dirty work, usually 4 of them. Also sometimes some destroyers or even a bigger ship, but have witnessed this only once.

In the North Sea, usually within the hour after transmitting, help will appear.

Later in the war, I don't risk it, because HF/DF immediately tells all escorts where I am. Realistic, but deadly and ruining my chances of surprising those fat cargoes and tankers.

[Canovaro]

I don't send contact reports anymore in game.
They go on the Spinnnennetz contact report form and when I have a couple I add them to the intel map.
That way something is really done with the reports, and that's more satisfying.

[TarJak]

I have seen the Luftwaffe doing raids of their own accord as well. In one Med patrol I saw two consecutive air raids on Valetta harbour as I apprached and left the next day and I had not sent a contact report. I think these are in the RND or SCR layers. the one problem with this is that the fluffy booted fly boys in Gorings flying circus tend to steal your renown.

The contact reports are fine early war but in RL the German skippers continued to transmit and BDU demanded quite a bit of radio traffic of them despite the risk of HF/DF detection which they discounted.

I do send them most times as this is what the RL skippers did.