Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhodes
TMO Update BH V2.0+patches
USS Paddle - August/September 1944. 8th Patrol
Destination: Area 8 patrolling and anti-shipping actions.
Summary report (since I already finished last week)
Normal and uneventful travel to destination area. Area 8 didn't produce any kind of shipping during 2 weeks after arriving.
Convoy report out side the area but could not intercept do to distance.
When expanding the patrol route to more SW/SSW waters, a task force was detected, NE course, directly at my SW route.
Fast (18 knots), 6 ships, 2 light cruisers and one heavy; 3 destroyers ate front, port and starboard side.
Intercept: after radar contact, they were a NNE. Still viable attack, intercept course and do to the weather conditions, submerge night attack.
3 fan shot at the heavy cruiser with type 14, distance was not viable for type 18. After, changed course to exit the area and dive to 250 ft, silent running.
2 hits, no immediate sink but it stopped the ship. Escorts did some search patterns but never got me, possible do to the shooting distance.
After all was quite, return submerge and detected the heavy cruiser leaning to starboard. At +/- 1000 yards, near 5 a.m. shot a type 18 and the cruiser was sent to the depths.
After a few days with out any to report, a convoy was detected. 4 columns, 5 ships each; light escorts.
After intercept and going almost inside the port column, decided for a night submerge attack.
2 torpedos each ship of the inner column, and 2 aft torpedos shot at on ship, at 400 yards distance.
2 ships hit, convoy breaks loose. Decided to turn and stay inside the convoy, same original direction.
Escorts never looked inside (lead escort never change course or did ASW actions ?!).
Began to pick up the ships when they crossed my heading, shooting the near ones and reloading. 6 ships (2 tankers and 4 merchants went below)
All torpedoes expended, return to base. 7 ships sunk
Navy Cross and new command, but declined.
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Nice, well done.
Sometimes, the AI gets silly and does not think to look inside the convoy, especially when player is submerged. Many variables play in...one is once they are in alert mode, can they detect your sub with sensors...visual or on passive/active sonar./radar, your relative position/aspect to the escort sensors and skill level of crew. Most cases if you are inside convoy...you will be out of range of their sound gear unless running at full speed and in ideal conditions and out of visual range. Unless one of the merchant spots your periscope etc and "transmits" your position (sometimes they do, sometimes they dont) escorts may not respond. I found this in testing and have encountered it in the mod during campaign. Annoying flaw in the way the AI is designed. Only way found around it is the give the sensors further range but then that presents a problem in it prevents realistic approaches.
For example...although esp for mid to later war escorts I increase the max range and/or sensitivity of sound gear, less likely what you experienced will happen and may response to center of convoy once alerted, as their gear is further enhanced. However, with the increased capabilities, even when in "normal" mode, they can detect a player at a unrealistic distance during a submerged approach, when convoy otherwise is unalerted to presence.
Not being at minimum harassed a little in such a situation is anticlimactic and unrealistic, drives me crazy when it does happen, one of those wish could do a hard code fix to get better performance. To minimize this, work around I have found is in many cases is while I approach target on silent running often times (not realistic as subs were not rigged for silent during approach as key systems had to be active, but its necessary in TMO in most cases). After torpedo impact or point when torpedoes should have impacts, I clear silent running. This makes me noisy enough to pick up for counter attack, esp once AI is alerted by torpedo impact or torpedoes being spotted etc, once have escort on me and its time to go deep, rig for silent running/depth charge, I do so.
Sometimes , the AI is just stupid lol.