Is it normal not to see ONE destroyer after two patrols?
 

Hey folks,

The last to patrols I wreaked havoc off the coasts of Hokkaido and Honshu. However it have to admit that it wasnt very exciting. It was one lone merchant after another like lambs to the slaughter. Not a destoryer in sight let alone a convoy.

So, is this historical? I am using the latest TM which I assume includes Taters latest campaign layers. These guys did great work by the way. The merchants actually zig-zag before they are spotted. But without without any Jap resistance at all it has become a rote practice of plot and sink. Dare I say my favorite sim is getting (gasp) BORING.

I am reading WAHOO by Dick O'Kane and to my surprise he even describes the Japanese waters as a bit of a merchant shooting gallery. At least he could cut the boredom with a Cribbage game with Mush Morton! (Now that would be a mod!) :rotfl: [REL] Cribbage with Mush 1.0!

Anyway, I digress. O'Kane does recall much more Jap resistance than I am seeing. Most notably he says that the merchants would hug the coast in shallow waters since such depths are very unsafe for subs. However all the merchants I encounter are out in the deep blue.

Anyone else experiencing Merchant Melancholy?
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Early war?

Oh sorry, Ducimus. I should have said that. It's July '43.

Probably makes a difference, eh?
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Most of the ASW patrols are patrol craft, not DDs. Subchasers, and minesweepers. old DDs were also used (minekaze and mutsuki in game, some as stand ins for ODDs).

tater

The coastal hugging happened late war after most ASW were dispatched to the bottom.

I've been wondering about that myself lately. While I love the overall reduced traffic, I've just finished reading Clear the Bridge and Silent Victory, and while it was not rare to run across a few ships alone, an unscientific sampling of my memory seems to indicate that the majority of encounters included at least one escort.

Never played Pearl Harbour Command, I can say played TM since Ducimus first version.Currently play'n 1.6.3 with Row mod NSM 3.3 with an S boat out of Manila 1941.With Duci mod and Tater's campaign files playing Freemantle command since the beginning of these mods combined, no shortage of air patrols, have seen a wide variety of small convoys, merchants with escorts and without, armed merchants and unarmed,No shortage of DD early war.Sunk 7 of them on my 4 th Patrol early 42, 4 DD in a small task force sailing in staright line, that happend to come acroos my bow. Ducimus, heard tale yer think'n of increasing air patrols, I can atest,Freemantle Command THERE IS NO SHORTAGE .:D Keep up the Great work Ducimus and Tater:up:

Speaking of air patrols. In future revisions of Tmaru, if all goes well, you might not want to patrol at persicope depth. If you do, make sure your doing a "periscope patrol". Otherwise, cruise at 100 feet to be safe. :arrgh!:

Well, the japanese had several hundred merchantmen. They had ~100 DDs, and before 1944, very few dedicated escort ships (early kaibokans, subchasers, etc).

Given that almost no fleet DDs escorted convoys (many actually carried no depth charges at all early in the war), that doesn't leave much room for escorting, particularly since they had no naval officers at all assigned to convoy duty until 1943.

One possible reason is that over 50% of patrols out of Pearl in 1942 were to Truk. That's the "front" and near Truk everything is escorts---almost, unescorted is a rare exception in that area).

tater

Well, here is what is going on off Hokkaido in July '43.
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/6507/shiv2414gq0.jpg

Four merchants with a fifth just picked up on radar. I plugged them over the course of two days. You would think they would at least send out a search plane but I have had no opposition. Stupid mission will not complete either.

I guess I need to head to Truk for some excitement, eh?

I'm not knocking you guys. Heck, I think your work is required to enjoy SHIV. Your work rocks! I am just asking if it is normal to park in one spot off the home islands and shoot fish in a barrel.

I feel like I am cheating...
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>>You would think they would at least send out a search plane but I have had no opposition.

I've been rexamining aircraft.


>>Stupid mission will not complete either.
Judging by the icon, i think you have to patrol there for a couple days before it counts as completed.

That sounds really awesome! Although I know that planes won't attack me at periscope depth right now, I still dive to 150 feet during day time to avoid detection. You really rock Ducimus!:rock:

It could be as simple as the fact that the shipping is more offshore.

Here's another issue (this relates to the patrol objective placement shown in your image wich needs to move, IMO).

The game will not spawn in (enemy?) units withn 20nm of your sub.

Many of the ASW patrols, convoys, and other groups spawn near harbor mouths. I've backed many farther in, but not all of them. One reason to leave them at sea for spawning is size. If you happen to show up near some narrows, and the convoy has to render before it passes through, they might run aground.

Many of the (silly) harbor missions also take you to places where ships spawn, so if you are in close to land, the ships you want to see simply won't spawn because they are within that 20nm radius.

I'll check, there is a chance that the ASW patrols for that area are close enough to you (spawn point) that your existence keeps preventing them from coming into game.

tater

Pragmatically, for right now, move out of that bay a little, and I bet there is considerably more traffic. Where that image shows your patrol, you'll only ever see ships coming/going to ports in there, and there is little traffic doing that.

I'm not sure exactly what the number is - I use 50nm and have no problem completing these mission types - but there is a max radius around that yellow star icon that defines your assigned patrol area. If you stray beyond that boundary at any time during the 48 hours patrol - eg, to chase a contact - you have to start all over again.

It's hard to tell from the jpg, but those sunk ship icons appear to be out of the patrol area... and some of those waypoints you've got plotted are close.

JD