How do I shadow and time compress to night-time?

[jpinard]

How do you shadow a convoy, yet still be able to use time compression to wait for a night-time attack run?

[yankee-V]

Assuming you are aft of the convoy and they are moving away, you really need to do what is called an "end-around".

Use your Watch Officer on the bridge to keep reporting the convoy bearing and range. Keep the range out to the limit, 6,000+ meters in good daylight weather, 3,500 meters at night.

After you establish the convoy course and approximate the speed, place yourself on a 45 degree track away from the convoy track until you are out on their flank but still in contact.

You will need to adjust your speed and course to stay in touch with them as they move forward and you move away. Once you have them on a relative bearing of about 90 degrees off your bow, turn back parallel to their track.

This should be the sequence where you can use the hightest TC to "pass" them at high speed on a parallel course. Once you have them at about 140 degrees off you bow, its time to start turning in maybe 35 degrees towards their track. Work your way close to their track, but still ahead of them before submerging (in daylight) or slowing to a crawl as youy near them (at night).

If you can stay in touch visually that's best. I have a hard time getting on the prefect track angle after losing sight and relying on hydrophone contact.

[jpinard]

I kinda do that already... but how do you do it using the game's time compression so you're not spending 2-4 real world hours shadowing them til nightfall?

[Frank]

I kinda do that already... but how do you do it using the game's time compression so you're not spending 2-4 real world hours shadowing them til nightfall?

Just like you normally use TC, only you may be limited to 8, or is it 32X due to close enemy contact?

Frank

[HEMISENT]

And sometimes an attack does actually take 2-4 + real time hours if your playing at higher realism. I try to use between 8 and 64 tc to do an end run then just settle in and work your way to an advantageous position at real time.
Usually I get in front of the convoy, go to about 50 meters, let the convoy come right to me then come to pd right in the middle of the pack. All this definately takes time.

[tycho102]

If you're playing on full realistic setting (no god-mode map), then I do agree with the "maintain visual" recommendation. You want to get out to the fringe, and while you're moving you should be refining your base-line plotting.

If you're playing god-mode, then it's really easy. Take the ruler and make a big line along their heading, and then draw a circle out to whatever the maximum visual is at that the time. Maybe 8000m in clear daylight and 3000 at night. Run an end-around (that's the American football term; I dunno what the Krauts used to call it), and line up for some 600m shots.

I never do surface attacks. Ever. I might consider a surface-escape, but never attack.

I'd also like to point out the plotting tools mod is outstanding for figuring out a rough base-course. If you're not playing on god mode, you should be doodling the hell out of the naviagation chart. The few patrols I've done without god-mode, I was using tangents and the protractor and everything. Made all the difference in the world.

[Von Tonner]

I am exactly in this situation at the moment - waiting for night to fall while tailing a convoy. It is 3.15pm game time and I expect night to fall at around 7-8pm (I don't know how dark that will be).

So, what I am doing is keeping the convoy just on the horizon in front of me while I tail them at their speed. So when I go to TC everything should stay constant. They are about 6-7kn in front of me in slight mist/fog. When I'm surfaced I make sure I have good watch on and when submerged I keep getting updates on the warships as I think this convoy has about two on each flank. The trick here is to make sure that once an attacking oppertunity comes up to make damn sure your batteries are fully charged.

I started tailing this convoy at 6am and the funny thing is that at around 2pm a C3 fell out of the convoy and came to a dead stop while the convoy moved on. I closed on her, sank her and thought that that would surely bring the destroyers back onto me but they stayed with the convoy. Strange.

[Von Tonner]

I am exactly in this situation at the moment - waiting for night to fall while tailing a convoy. It is 3.15pm game time and I expect night to fall at around 7-8pm (I don't know how dark that will be).

So, what I am doing is keeping the convoy just on the horizon in front of me while I tail them at their speed. So when I go to TC everything should stay constant. They are about 6-7kn in front of me in slight mist/fog. When I'm surfaced I make sure I have good watch on and when submerged I keep getting updates on the warships as I think this convoy has about two on each flank. The trick here is to make sure that once an attacking opportunity comes up to make damn sure your batteries are fully charged.

I started tailing this convoy at 6am and the funny thing is that at around 2pm a C3 fell out of the convoy and came to a dead stop while the convoy moved on. I closed on her, sank her and thought that that would surely bring the destroyers back onto me but they stayed with the convoy. Strange.

[Spin Doctor]

End arounds were always a successful tactic for me in the Happy Days. I rarely got spotted and almost never even chased down. Now, in June of 1943 it seems that the escorts are always aware of my presence.

Before, I used to sit abeam of the convoy path and wait for the ships. Then I started getting detected. I've heard rumors the Tommies have a new detection device... Ultrasonics... this new device, if it even exists, will make shadowing very difficult...

I've seen them come straight at me, right out of the fog...I don't understand it. We dive away and I can see them searching the area for us with their damned lights... Pinging with their infernal machines.

The swine... the filthy rotten swine... :nope:

BdU has promised new wonder weapons, new submarines, but promises are just that...

[btaft]

When I execute my end-around I plan on being out of visual range (>8 km) and just do a high speed surface run to get well ahead of the convoy and head in perpendicular and wait about 3km submerged. I then use the hydrophone and ahead slow to keep the outside line about 10 deg from perpendicular until visual contact is restored. This works good beacuse I don't have to worry about the escorts during TC until I am ready to infiltrate the formation.

[Dantenoc]

yes that's all fine and good.... we all know how to maneuver the boat into a good firing position, but the question is how do you wait for the right attack time without spending hours of real time just shadowing the convoy... and I'm afraid the answer is: there is no good method :-?

your limited options are:

1) match their course and speed and use the 32x time compression while keeping them at the fringe of your visual range and spend 16 minutes of real time waiting for 8 hours of game time to pass (or however many ours it takes till night fall) and hope you dont get surprised on such a high time compression setting by an escort (imposible to do during the later years of the war) or attacking plane (impossible to do when near enemy air bases)

or

2) once you establish course and speed of the convoy match it but stay well away from visual or radar range, so that nobody can detect you. Crank time compresion as high as you want while looking at the nav map until night falls. Under the cover of darkness reaquire the convoy... if luck is on your side and the convoy hasn't changed it's heading or speed (which they do) then it should still be at the same position relative to your sub (which it won't, because they DO change their heading to follow the international shipping lanes).

Perhaps this second option can be suplement with droping the time compresion every two hours of game time or so to close to within sonar range of the convoy just to make sure that they're still at the same bearing and haven't changed their course, and then once reasured or made the necesary course correction (whatever the case) dropping back off from detection range and cranking up the time compression again for the next two hours of game time and yada yada yada.... rinse and repeat until hair is shiny and clean.

To do this it really helps to know that a ship will travel 1852 meters every hour for each 1 knot speed.

So lets say that your shadowing a convoy that is going at 6 knots, and night time will not fall untill 8 hours later. Well, figure out the convoy's heading and draw it's "track" on the nav map (just make very long straight line from the convoy out towards the direction it's heading) and expect it to reach a point that is 1852 x 6 x 8 = 88,896 meters (about 89 kilometers) down the track at nightfall (1852 meters to a knot, 6 knots convoy speed and 8 hours till sun down)... so shadow acordingly, because now you know where they're going... unless they change their course or speed... which they will :-?

Also, it is absolutely imperative that the track be figured out correctly, because a mistake of 1 or 2 degrees in the convoy's heading will prove quite significant when talking about such long travel times.

Again, your best deal is to just break it down to smaller 2 hour time compression bits and adjusting as necessary but even then, you can easily loose a convoy in two hours if an unlucky course change takes place. Better do it every hour? :-?

Hope this helps somewhat but the straight answer is: "There really should be a button that instructs the navigator to do all this for you and shadow the convoy while you go take a nap"

[Dantenoc]

Wait... I just read in another post, that the brithish radar range is only about 4.5 kms... so maybe it IS posible to shadow a convoy at the very edge of visual range in 32x time compression without being detected... but this seems highly unlikely to me :nope: ... is enemy radar really so useless in this game? :hmm:

[Kalach]

yes that's all fine and good.... we all know how to maneuver the boat into a good firing position, but the question is how do you wait for the right attack time without spending hours of real time just shadowing the convoy... and I'm afraid the answer is: there is no good method :-?


Simply work out their course and stay ~9km away on a parrallel course. Because you can't 'detect' them like that (unless you dive) you will be able to use max TC. If you have to wait a long time for nightfall you might want to dive and check they're still on the same course every now and then :know:

[Dantenoc]

Simply work out their course and stay ~9km away on a parrallel course. Because you can't 'detect' them like that (unless you dive) you will be able to use max TC. If you have to wait a long time for nightfall you might want to dive and check they're still on the same course every now and then

Yes and simply sink all enemy ships with torpedoes and you'll do well in the game :dead: I think the guy that posted the question was looking for a more detailed answer :D

[Kalach]

Yes and simply sink all enemy ships with torpedoes and you'll do well in the game :dead: I think the guy that posted the question was looking for a more detailed answer :D

No, he was just asking how to get the TC limit to leave him alone while he waits for nightfall, which can be done so long as you have no close contacts :know: .