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Originally Posted by predavolk
1- Do you plot a normal solution and fire them?
2- Are they more effective tail on vs. bow on?
3- Do the Type IV impacts regularly fail like normal impacts if you hit at a funny angle? Will they "chase themselves" to a funny angle from a normal shot?
4- What is their minimum range?
5- What happens if the ship you shoot at slows down below 12kts? Do they stop tracking?
6- Lastly, if blindly fired at a fast convoy, are they good enough to pick up any old target and smack it?
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Now you're talking! Zaunkonigs are my favorite little friends!
The Zaunkonig and the Falke can effectively be used to neutralize all convoy escorts, thus leaving the convoy at your mercy. Your best bet to maximize this potential is to make sure the escorts find you and chase you BEFORE you attack the convoy.
1) When employed properly, the Zaunkonig should be fired at escorts as they approach you. This torpedo works miracles in down-the throat shots. Your main goal is to get the torpedo's track to within 4 degrees or so of the approaching escort's track. Even if you can't get that close they are extremely forgiving. Escorts are so noisy that the torpedo can pass them and still hear them well enough to turn around and hit them.
2) Doesn't matter. You can actually get better results from a "bow on" shot as the torpedo may hit forward and cause rapid sinking, whereas a hit to the stern may only disable the engines.
3) Sure they will fail, and then they will turn around and try again. Well, most of the time. Occasionally you will get the very odd impact that not only fails to detonate but sends the torpedo hurtling off at several knots above its' maximum speed but it can still find other targets if they pass by. Generally I don't worry too much about that and I consistently use impact fuses as the length of torpedo runs wherin the ZK misses on its' first pass increases the likelyhood of premature detonation.
4) This can be tricky because they are so slow. It is entirely possible to fire a ZK at an approaching DD that is 600m away, only to have it zip right by as the DD passes it before it activates. Historically I believe the activation range was 400m or so but I always try to fire at 700m or more to ensure activation of the guidance system and ample time to hit the escort before it closes on me and I must increase engine speed to evade.
5) Somehow, they always seem to hit anyways. Even the old Falke types.
Still, DD's cruise at about 12 knots while they are searching for you or zig-zagging. Your main concern should be to engage the escorts a good distance away from the convoy since an acoustic that misses may decide to go after a merchant.
6) Hard to say. The acoustics DO have a "cone" in which they can effectively target hydrophonic effects. Just pointing and shooting at a target 3500m distant is unlikely to produce a hit, but if you calculate a solution that will place the torpedo within a few hundred meters of the target it will generally cause a hit.
If there is one thing you tak efrom this post, please let it be that acoustic torpedoes are for escort-killing. Sure a Zk-2 may cost you 1000 renown but the elimination of the escorts and the subsequent brutalization of the convoy can easily make up for it. I find them a totally worthwhile investment and use them frequently. Often I try to stock 10-12 acoustics as late-war convoys will have many escorts and even if they only have 6 or so escorts you can still use them as regular torpedoes against very slow merchants and/or disable the engines (and sometimes sink) faster ones.
That's just my two cents, hope it helps a bit.