AOB Question

[Segwin]

I know that it can be set if you know the heading the enemy is heading (set 0 to course heading) however what are other ways? Is it possible to plot the enemy's course and then using a protractor find the AOB based on what angle his ship is to your bow?

tia.

[Rockin Robbins]

Absolutely! On your nav map draw the target track. Then with your protractor click on the track ahead of the target, then on the middle of the target and finally on the middle of your submarine. The number shown at the apex of the angle is the angle on the bow (AoB). If you see the target's starboard side from your sub, the AoB is starboard. If you see its port side the AoB is port. It's a done deal!

Think of it this way. The AoB is nothing more than your bearing from the point of view of the target.

[Doolan]

That's actually my favorite method! Since you end up having a fairly accurate plot of the target's course after all the doodling needed for speed calculations, I use the same plot to get the AOB.

Of course, that means that I either hit exactly where I want or I just accumulate errors from the first step and end up shooting down an unsuspecting seagull :D

If we had accurate data for the length of each ship, the Aspect Ratio method would maybe be preferable. I have tried using miniatures from Axis & Allies: War at Sea and a protractor. They work "ok". It's not really accurate but you feel like a million dollars estimating AOB on your computer table with scale models :)

[CaptainHunter]

Check out the TDC Tut.

http://hosted.filefront.com/RockinRobbins