[Bullethead]

Originally Posted by alexsmith

You mean - on ths same course? To fire at the pre-last ship to hit the last? It's a bit tricky, isn't it? More chance to miss at all

Whether you're on a the same or the opposite course, if the enemy is in order Ship A then Ship B and you're alongside Ship A, you should fire your torps at Ship B. However, not all your guns may bear on Ship B, but all will bear on Ship A.

This means computer knows something I don't know - about when and where that ship will sink? Great! So instead of executing exact order computer decides to do what itself think is better!

The ship calculates a PREDICTED impact point, which is based on both your ship and the target continuing on the same courses and speeds, and the torpedoes running straight. Torpedoes don't always run straight, and 1 or both ships may turn (the target almost always will at least try to dodge). Thus, you don't always hit.

It's pretty easy to figure where the predicted impact point is. Just draw an imaginary line straight ahead from the target and another out from your ship to cross the 1st line. Then mentally adjust the crossing point forward and backwards along the target's line until the line from your ship to the crossing point is about twice as long as from the target to the crossing point. This isn't exactly right, but it's close enough to work reliably.

So, what happens if I decide to change course? What if I predict another point of impact? What if I plan an attack - which my soldiers don't perform cause they have they own plans?

If you change course, it often doesn't change the predicted impact point very much, because your tubes have an arc of fire. Target course changes, however, always have a big effect on the predicted impact point.

If you follow the procedure above, visualizing the lines from the target and your ship to where they cross, you shouldn't have much problem getting into a good launch position. It's actually way easier in DG than in Jutland, because torpedo range is so short everything fits on your screen easily.

And your ship DOESN'T do something it thinks is better than what you want it to do. It's trying to carry out your orders to fire torpedoes. If you tell it to launch at a specific target it tries hard to do so, but if that's impossible, it may then try to launch at something else.

IOW, if your ship changes to a different target than the one you gave it, it's because you gave it an impossible order. And that's your fault for putting your ship in the wrong place to attack the desired target. To avoid this problem, visualize the launch parameters better.

But what about training the target? When I give order to target - DDs just start to PREPARE their torpedoes only! And to the time they become ready either target is gone or DD itself is already destroyed. That's what I'm talking about - set target before the launch to aim - and launch torpedoes only when the best moment achived! This is sometimes tricky with current controls...

Yeah, that's a suggestion I've made myself but it hasn't been a high priority because, with practice, you can still get good results without it. However, turning in a suggestion might help sway opinions.