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View Full Version : Task Force dissapearing!!!

nefelodamon
12-14-08, 03:58 AM
Hello my fellow Captains....

This is my first chance to post to those GREAT forums. I've been playing for some time now and navigating through the pages of Subsim was at least inspiring. Great tutorials, great ideas, great tactics that help you stay alive and get your crew back home.

Lately I encounter some strange behaviour from the game. I have SH3 with GWX 2.1 (plus the latest updates). The realism is at 100% .
Many ships (like 3 out of 5) for some reason right before I manage to fire at them change course like they know that I'm lurking in a corner. There is no possibility that I've been spotted because before I get to the final firing position I go to "Silent Running", submerged at periscope depth and my final approach (last 2-3 Km) is completely silent. My periscope is down all that time but when I get to last point and try to establish a contact with periscope, I get surprised to see that my "victim" has changed course and heading to another direction than the one I calculated.
There is no possibility to be an error to my calculations as we are talking for a complete change in direction. What is going on? I get a bit frustrated every time i loose my target after 30 minutes of calculations and observations.

Another even stranger thing happened last night.
BDU was informing me about an enemy task force heading North from Liverpool. I decited to bet and wait for them at the Hebriden passage.
Everything was going smoothly and BDU was informing me for their course very often. It seems that I won the bet and they are heading my way!!!
Here is the map with all the contacts that BDU send me:

http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/5569/map1gl5.jpg
By nefe (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/nefe) at 2008-12-14

Last contact BDU send me was at 01:20, as you see in the picture below.
All that time I was calculating the speed of the Task Force and they were traveling at 7.5 to 8.5 knots. From their last known position they should have entered my hydrophone covered area at around 05:00.

http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/8914/map2nw3.jpg
By nefe (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/nefe) at 2008-12-14


As you see in the picture above I'm positioned in a very good location having hydrophone covering both of the sides of my U-boat. As soon as they entered my covered area they should travel at least 2 hours inside in order to get out of hydrophone range.

But they never came !!! I was submerged from 02:00 till 14:28 and the only contacts my sound man made was either patrol crafts or merchants. I didn't betrayed my position by hunting any merchant. I was at zero speed , silent running for the whole time.
What happened to them? A change in course? But to go where? There is no harbor near by to head to! Is my sound man so incompetent? He was making many contacts all that time even to "Long Range". I don't believe that anyone can loose a Task Force that travels for two hours almost next to him.
Any ideas on what is happening here will be very appreciated!
:damn:
Rommer69
12-14-08, 04:48 AM
The same has happend to me more than once, waiting in a good position to attack a task force around the British Islands and never see or listen to it. In another thread, donīt remember where, someone reported again the same facts, always around the islands.:damn:
Donīt have any explanation for it, Iīm sorry.
Just wait for som more traffic over there:p .
nefelodamon
12-14-08, 05:01 AM
Hehehe.... I do... just torpedoed a Large Merchant from 3900m with my bow torpedo ;-)
Explosions go on this very moment!!!

But as for the topic... It gets sooo annoying. I could understand if they changed their course too a reasonable new one... But they had NOWHERE to go except the stray!!!
Ahhh anyway... I will try again and I hope any new observations of the problem will be helpful in the future!
Klaus_Doldinger
12-14-08, 05:08 AM
The same happened to me tracking a small merchant. Very near of the norwegian shores he simply vanished. No more visual or sound contact with her...:doh:
nikbear
12-14-08, 05:36 AM
I've never,ever been able to intercept that task force,its an allied ruse to take you away from some ships,it must be that......the phantom task force:hmm:
nefelodamon
12-14-08, 05:50 AM
I've never,ever been able to intercept that task force,its an allied ruse to take you away from some ships,it must be that......the phantom task force:hmm: Are you referred to the Task Force that departs (once in a while) from Liverpool or Task Forces in general? I've successfully intercepted at least 2 Task Forces in the past the one with no success, the other with a carrier making "scuba diving" after 3 eels ;-)
But both of them, now that comes to my mind, was far North , near to Scappa Flow.
I remember that the procedure of tracking them was pretty much the same as the one I reported before. Many positions reported by BDU. But back then the only difference was that I had contact updates in the navigation map enabled.
nefelodamon
12-14-08, 07:13 AM
The same AGAIN !!!!

BDU reported again another Task Force out of Liverpool. I begin immediately marking his route. It appears that follows the SAME route as the previous ghost Task Force.
Check the map:

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/8076/map3za7.jpg
By nefe (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/nefe) at 2008-12-14

From the last two positions I calculated that it should arrive on my position at 02:30...
Well.... It never showed up. 5 hours later and no contact except a patrol craft doing circles and a merchant.

What is happening? Are those reports just immersion of the game? I'm starting to loose my patience with that thing.
piri_reis
12-14-08, 09:08 AM
You haven't given a date you got reports for this so called phantom task force.
I roughly checked the random and scripted layers for a task force departing Liverpool and having a course similar to one in your screenshots. I couldnt find it. There's one or two sailing into the Atlantic N of Ireland. There's a few patrols that go NE to Scotland, perhaps the first reports were the former task force I mention and the later reports the latter patrols?
You can check the Mission editor yourself and determine the task force you're being reported, but as I said there doesnt seem to be any contacts that vanish in that channel.. Of course it's pretty crowded in there, might've missed it. :hmm:
meduza
12-14-08, 09:20 AM
Are those reports just immersion of the game? I'm starting to loose my patience with that thing.
They are not just for immersion, they are real. I successfully intercepted a lot of task forces, with various results. :D Never tried to intercept that one though.

Like you, I had my share of "vanishing" task forces, convoy, or single merchants. Bear in mind that they often change course and speed, and they are easy to miss. Especially task forces.
Jimbuna
12-14-08, 09:38 AM
Are those reports just immersion of the game? I'm starting to loose my patience with that thing.
They are not just for immersion, they are real. I successfully intercepted a lot of task forces, with various results. :D Never tried to intercept that one though.

Like you, I had my share of "vanishing" task forces, convoy, or single merchants. Bear in mind that they often change course and speed, and they are easy to miss. Especially task forces.

Also bear in mind that they are usually scripted to vanish when reaching their final waypoint.....otherwise there would be a log jam after a period of time.
meduza
12-14-08, 10:03 AM
Also bear in mind that they are usually scripted to vanish when reaching their final waypoint.....otherwise there would be a log jam after a period of time. I thought all units in GWX have their last waypoint in (or close to) a port? :hmm:
bigboywooly
12-14-08, 10:26 AM
There is a patrol out of Liverpool that runs towards Londonderry then doubles back and pulls into Belfast
richardphat
12-14-08, 11:37 AM
There is a patrol out of Liverpool that runs towards Londonderry then doubles back and pulls into Belfast


:hmm: Might try running intercept them. Oh yea wooly isnt you picture supposed to be a ferret? Or am i confusing with another person?
bigboywooly
12-14-08, 12:07 PM
Ummm yes that was Dowly
:rotfl:
nefelodamon
12-14-08, 12:47 PM
You haven't given a date you got reports for this so called phantom task force.

Hmmm, the date of the reports were in the first days of June of 1940... 5 to 7 of June.

There's a few patrols that go NE to Scotland, perhaps the first reports were the former task force I mention and the later reports the latter patrols?
You can check the Mission editor yourself and determine the task force you're being reported, but as I said there doesnt seem to be any contacts that vanish in that channel..

I don't believe that the contacts I got through radia were from two different targets (Task Force- Patrol). The speed the heading and continuity of the messages does not indicate anything like that. At least for the first case.
I tried to check the editor but nothing like an enemy Task Force seems to travel to the course I got from radio the given dates.
Jimbuna
12-14-08, 03:13 PM
There is a patrol out of Liverpool that runs towards Londonderry then doubles back and pulls into Belfast


:hmm: Might try running intercept them. Oh yea wooly isnt you picture supposed to be a ferret? Or am i confusing with another person?

This is more like BBW :rotfl:

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd320/pasquarade/Belly.gif
mariuszj1939
12-15-08, 02:31 AM
As nefelodamon said task force dissapeared.

I found those BDU info many times and tried to intercept them.
No chance - forget it.
Now I ignore all messages with task force speed "medium".
Only "fast" task forces are worth to note. :up:
Jimbuna
12-15-08, 05:16 AM
If you ever find yourself in a position that is close to a Task Force and one in which you have a good chance of intercepting, you should consider yourself very fortunate. http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/Party.gif
Red Heat
12-15-08, 08:02 AM
The famous "pufff point"... :lol:
Puster Bill
12-15-08, 08:13 AM
Two words: Philadelphia Experiment.