Any tips on convoy attack?

[gimpy117]

so im kinnda new at the finer points of GWX and it's A LOT harder to attack a convoy, so how do you guys do it??

any tips?

[Brag]

Yuo will find lots of detailed tips and proceedures on my kielman webbie , the link is on my signature. :D

[GoldenRivet]

Shadow the convoy for a few hours at night and monitor the escorts. over time you might notice a pattern of when they break away from the group and execute a zig zag search pattern.

try to time it so that you are closing in on the convoy (on the surface) from either the 10:00 or 2:00 position just as one of the flanking escorts is at the outer limit of his search pattern.

when you feel you have established a comfortable firing position, order ahead slow and submerge to periscope depth and commence your attack.

for evasion i recommend going under the convoy. the confusion and collision hazards above you will sometimes prevent the escorts from responding with an effective or organized attack.

once you have evaded attack, head back to the left or right side of the convoy just at the limit of visual range and follow them again... repeat the process for a few days until you have managed to chip away at the merchants sufficiently.

good luck!

[Sniper_Fox]

heh, i just wait till its around 10 oclock at night till about 3, and then i rush in, ALL AHEAD FLANK! fire all my torps and go under the convoy, then after loading torps, ill come up periscope depth and launch all bow and aft torps at all available targets, and then fire the deckgun:arrgh!: and personally man my 37mm AA gun. till the destroyers and escorts close in and start firing at me... with luck they hit the surrounding convoy, then ill dive deep under the convoy after sinking about 5-10 ships ( always target the biggest ship first, thats yer prize!) then execute your best escape and evade manuvres.

sometimes to throw sh!t into the wind ill take on one of the escorts...:rock:

some of you may call me crazy... i just say ive got balls... and hell Hindrich Willembrock did the same!

plus what destroyer is gunna expect a crazed lone wolf attacking his ducklings headon like that? if you manage to take out the destroyer escorts ( good luck with that however... ive done that ONCE! and ive failed countless times:rotfl: )

the convoy is like lambs to the slaughter... especially if you get inbetween them!

as golden rivit says... shadow em... thats the key... establish a pattern, and report the contact in... aparently if you do that a bunch of times and shadow the convoy a few days ( its worth it trust me... id rather take out 10 ships in a few days and take decent-severe damage from one convoy then endlessly search for 5 ships.) subs will show up on your contact update, and eventually show up at the convoy, giving the 3-4 escorts a reaaal hard time

4-5 uboats vs 3 destroyers? not enough depthcharges to go around! :)

[Jimbuna]

I'll give you one.....don't get overly greedy and start taking chances. Better to live and fight another day. http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/pirate.gif

[danurve]

With 1.03 now late `41 I often use less then calm seas to my advantage.
I try to get right in front of the convoy, watching for escorts of course or +7500 in front of any eyes. Then I'll make right for them. You oviously can't keep a scope extended, and if you take a peek watch your scope meter. Most of the time a swan or maybe a quad stack will be at point. Now you know the convoy isn't far ahead. Here you need to change your course away from the lead escort inner cone. Once your past the cones points you can alter your course for the convoy - dead ahead again and even take a peek.
You see most of the jucier targets, heavy tankers, cargos, factoy ships are often in one of the inner columes. Flanked by other cargo ships and smaller tramps & such. Pick your targets, here's where a pair of TII's pay off. You have to use your head when selecting pistols, in heavy seas magnetics are problematic. Alot of times though under keel shots pay off big time. If your aob and distance is right when you adjust your course you'll have time to get off 4-5 forward shots and 1-2 stern. Watch your speed, by now your boat is somewhere right smack in the middle so it is hard not to get greedy. If you do you'll get spotted. Use the marker tools, keep an eye on cutting in front of ships. You can use the cover of the convoy to your advantage as well.
I have been using this method and slammin serious tonnage in GWX. I've even escaped without needing to crash dive or give away my position. From there I use the hydrophone and check on the convoys general course, and when the escorts give up on me then several times flanked to the port/starbord side, outmanuvering - swinging around it's course and slam like two more merchants from a side attack. If you forget to monitor the side escort - your done. Type VII boats are very manuverable for this jazz. Typical patrol is around 40-50k, last one was ET16, weather is usually crappy.

Say, where ARE these uber escorts I've heard so much about. :arrgh!:

[gimpy117]

thanks guys

[torpedobait]

I don't do much surface attacking, even in the early "easy" years. But if I find a weakly escorted convoy like I did this morning, watch out. I found a convoy in CG85 with only two escorts. The lead was a Polish destroyer (first one I ever encountered in the Atlantic). He spotted me first and started firing as I paralleled the convoy on the surface. I sent a report, then dove to P depth and ran at flank speed for a few minutes. Went to ahead-slow, silent running, and changed course 20 degrees right. He ran in and depth charged the spot he thought I should be in, then circled around and picked me up on his ASDIC. I let him come in and went to flank speed hard-to-port as he began his run. Turning away gave me just enough room to avoid his water bombs. Then I immediately cut speed and turned back towards his course. He slowed, moved straight ahead about 150 meters, and then slowly turned to port to cross about 350 meters in front of me. I set a torpedo to Fast/Impact at 1.5 meters depth, and fired when he was at about 20 degrees to starboard of my course. I confess to using automatic calculations - I hate Math! - I used an aiming point just behind his bow wave and ripped one at him. He went down like a pole-axed logger after a Saturday night barn dance. Liking my chances with only one escort remaining, I stayed at P depth, went to flank speed and headed for the convoy. The Black Swan trailing the convoy heard me and charged. I used exactly the same tactics, which almost backfired, because he had those damn side launching K-charges (I think that's what they are). Almost got me with one, but it went off too deep. I slowed, let him turn in front of me as he came around for another search, and broke his back with a second bow shot. SWEET!

Now with no escorts, I surfaced and ran amok in the convoy. Total haul was 19 kills including the two escorts (that count includes 3 merchants I nailed on the way to my patrol area) for 85,750 tons gross (83,102 merchants and 2,648 for the escorts. I totally wiped out the convoy using all remaining torpedos and my deck gun.

Nice way to start a Monday morning!

I have used these escort-kill tactics on a number of occasions with great success. Just make sure you can evade the initial charge, have a bow and stern torpedo set to very shallow depth to catch him no matter which way he turns, fire within 301-500 meters, and make extra sure he is roughly perpendicular to your course within 20-40 degrees anyway. He won't be able to evade, trust me!

One other effective anti-escort tactic is to use a cripple as a shield. If I hit a medium cargo with just one shot, they often take forever to sink. If the escorts are being their usual aggressive selves, I sneak along side the merchant at P depth, match speed or hover if she's dead in the water, and wait. The escorts usually ping me, and then start circling the cripple. He may come by too close for a bow shot, but that means he'll be just right for the stern tube. Repeat as needed!

Good hunting, Captains. And remember, it's a Jungle Out There!

[Abd_von_Mumit]

torpedobait, what realism setting do you use? Do you watch them with external camera or event camera?

As to the crippled ship, how can you be sure she's not going to explode and sink rapidly (it happens to others, you see)? :)

[torpedobait]

I run at about 80% - I don't use manual torpedo targeting or event camera. i do use external camera occasionally because it looks so cool out there. I love to watch them sink! Oh, and although it doesn't affect the realism factor, I set the water opacity (?) to 20 so I can see better underwater. I know it's a "cheat" of sorts, but I'm in it for the fun, too.

You can close on cripple with a few periscope sightings and attention to your course and speed. The idea is to get there before the escorts start pounding on you. As for explosions, you are absolutely correct. My new way of getting around that is to go beside and beneath the merchant, only rising to periscope depth when I see it start going down. There isn't much of a window there so I doubt I'm going to be as effective. It's better to follow a Live ship when they come after you. No explosions to worry about.

[Schwuppes]

as golden rivit says... shadow em... thats the key... establish a pattern, and report the contact in... aparently if you do that a bunch of times and shadow the convoy a few days ( its worth it trust me... id rather take out 10 ships in a few days and take decent-severe damage from one convoy then endlessly search for 5 ships.) subs will show up on your contact update, and eventually show up at the convoy, giving the 3-4 escorts a reaaal hard time

4-5 uboats vs 3 destroyers? not enough depthcharges to go around! :)

There is just one small problem... AI subs can't dive! :lol:

[Jimbuna]

as golden rivit says... shadow em... thats the key... establish a pattern, and report the contact in... aparently if you do that a bunch of times and shadow the convoy a few days ( its worth it trust me... id rather take out 10 ships in a few days and take decent-severe damage from one convoy then endlessly search for 5 ships.) subs will show up on your contact update, and eventually show up at the convoy, giving the 3-4 escorts a reaaal hard time

4-5 uboats vs 3 destroyers? not enough depthcharges to go around! :)

There is just one small problem... AI subs can't dive! :lol:

The one's with big holes in their sides can ;)