War Patrol help anyone?
 

Hello all.

I've got a sort of generic question about war patrols. I'm doing my first one and am clueless about whether my approach is right or wrong. Here's the skinny:

I don't have the game (or the manual) in front of me, so I apologize for not being able to give the patrol's name. It's the earliest one (1941) out of the Philippines where you are sent to a point north of Luzon and then asked to engage a landing fleet.

Well, here's what I've done. I sunk a few merchants on my way up to the "star". I got there and received the news that I was to engage an enemy landing/invasion fleet. My first questions to myself were, "Where in the wide ocean is the invasion going to be? Should I stay withing 50nm of this spot and wait? Or should I go out hunting?"

I cruised all over the area (within 50nm) around the star for days, not spotting a single Japanese ship, the only contact being with some annoying airplanes. Meantime, I'm getting a boatload of contact reports, but most of them are hundreds of miles away from what I believe is my patrol area.

So the question is this: Do I stay in the area that the mission orders put me and wait for this fleet to come to me, or do I go out and find it? And if I need to go out and find it, how am I supposed to tell which of the many contact reports I get is the one I'm supposed to concentrate on?

Incidentally, on these war patrols, how long are you typically supposed to wait before the objective can be accomplished? On this particular patrol I've been out for several days now.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

P.S. Has anyone written up a guide for these patrols? Not a walkthrough necessarily - I want to do as much by myself as I can, but at least a little something to make up for the absence of any help from the manual.

No ideas
 

Can some kind soul give me some advice about my previous post? I've been sailing the seas for nearly a month now (game time) without a clue. :damn:

I haven't played that one. I would recommend that you open up the mission in the mission editor and see where they are at. Then go sink'em.

Chuck

One comes through your patrol area on 12/10 at about 0100hrs. Another goes through your patrol area but only after it has dropped the invasion force. I won't give all the clues but one goes into that cove partway up the west side but late in the month. And you have two sets on the west and northwest that just go in circles day after day, you should have hit one of these.

Peabody

Thanks!
 

Thanks for the info peabody. I ran it again and it showed up just like you said. :up:

Also thanks to kikn79 for the editor suggestion. I didn't know about it. I toyed with it and got all the information I was looking for. I'll never have to ask this question again! :rock:


Now, I'll have to win the patrol. I was in a perfect firing position, waiting for them at full stop and 120ft deep when the escorts charged and sunk me. I didn't think they would find me that deep and unmoving. Oh well, I'll try again tomorrow.

A stopped boat is a dead boat is my motto.

Actually, because of the way sonar works, there is a "cone" of detection (depending on your profile) from the surface to depth. Being below or above this cone decreases detection (again depending on how close you are to the hunting enemy.)
In addition, if what YOU consider to be a "safe" depth is above the layer, your illusion of your relative safety will be sorely tried. A warship task force usually has very aggressive escorts. You should never under estimate them.

Being at a dead stop is RARELY a good idea in this game. Continuous movement of one kind or another is best. Even in the situation you describe, if the enemy gets a momentary contact, sweeps back again to check and you're not there anymore, then you get away. When you're not moving, the enemy gets to listen or ping at that spot all they want and will eventually snag you. I also suspect you had a poor aspect angle on the closest destroyer making your detection higher.

There are other noise sources on your boat besides engines which you can control to further increase your stealth. The only time I ever come to a complete stop is where there is no enemy around and I'm waiting for the right timing to make my move (usually a harbor incursion.)
-Pv-