Quote:
Originally Posted by MajorArtNZ
Thanks for replying,
Guess there's obviously no way to tell which crews are elite and which ones aren't? Does the same apply with escorts?
Have you or anyone else got ahead of a convoy, gone as deep as possible, waited for the escorts to pass you and then go to periscope depth in the middle of the convoy and lay waste? If that were to happen, then chances are the convoy would pass you by before you could even get to pd right? Haven't tried it that way before either but is it something worth trying?
Also, when attacking at night, is it advisable to get close in on the surface before going under and attacking? Or can you execute a whole attack on the surface if conditions permit it? On average, how close can you get on the surface before the escorts spot you?
Sorry with all the questions, since the game is nice and challenging, I'd like to be best prepared.  |
If you're serious about playing, these are decisions you make before you attack. Determine the size of the convoy, which ships in it you want to sink, number and position of escorts. If the convoy is small, say one line of 3 ships with 3 escorts, lead and two flanks, the best attack would probably be to shoot at a 45 degree angle outside the escort screen or between the triangle. Simply, you want to shoot basically between the front and flank escort before the flank escort gets a ping on you.
If it's a large convoy or TF, you can go deep and come from the front, then pop up in the middle. To come up fast, blow tanks, but you need to bring it to a stop before you surface, so at about 150 ft set it back, set a deep depth until your ascent is slowed and then hit scope depth. You'll get up quick. Don't worry, escorts don't hear you blowing tanks in game. When you attack, try to shoot bows and sterns in one go and dive deep at flank speed and stay flank along your planned escape route. You want to get as far as you can from where your torps launched, by default that's where the escorts will come searching. As stated before, when the escorts get within 2000 yards, you'll want to go back into silent running. Your goal is to attack and get out of the search area where the escorts will be looking.
You should always attack at night if you can, that way if you attack and escape, you can surface sooner and do another end around.
One trick for night surface attacks with TMO is to shoot from a long distance. You're not trying to hit anything, but get the torps spotted. I may shoot two M14's from 10,000 yards, with the enemy coming, the distance to see or hit would be about 7000 yards. You'll have 2-4 minutes to haul butt to the exposed flank. The escorts will come searching for you far from the group and you can then go in much closer on the surface and attack the unguarded flank and haul butt again, rinse and repeat. If you shoot from long range to be seen early war, use contact settings so they don't premature.
Surface attacks aren't that realistic at night in game due to the environment. In real life, subs made attacks, then turned away and ran. With TMO, usually at night you get spotted about 2000 yards when you turn, so you end up attacking and diving. I use my own environment when I played for TMO. Basically all I changed was the night look to where you can pull off realistic night attacks...if you do the right things. Most important, as always, keep a narrow profile and slow speed.
Check out the numerous tutorials on the forum for attacks, use that search key. One day you'll find yourself heading for the deep with severe damage and you'll need to save yourself before you implode.. Check out the numerous patrol reports and stories...