WO McGoo and my airplane problem

foster · 03-14-12, 12:40 AM

So I'm steaming at about 21 in Jan '42 and I get the aircraft spotted notice right as a solitary spitfire patrol of two planes are pulling out of an attack run in which they missed badly. Usually I would dive but there are only two of them and I have an appointment to make with a radio contact.

I man my two flak guns and Sr. Lt McGoo is the WO, he is a specialist in watch, flak gun and medic. We give the spitfires hell on the next pass and one is smoking like Cheech. The damaged spitfire circles out of range and proceeds to slowly do a sputtering fly over down the length of my boat dragging a huge smoke trail, yet my WO cannot see it.

I reorder my WO to fire at will, I toggle between flack guns to wake them up, I even point my binoculars at the plane and hit the spacebar but my crew simple cannot see it even though it is close enough I could probably throw my binoculars and hit it at this point. This has happened to me several times.

My question is has anyone else experienced this problem and is there a solution to it other than taking manual control of a flak gun? Also, once the green efficiency bar of a station is completely full is there any benefit to adding more medals or qualified crew to that station?

Thanks and good hunting,
Red Casey

Tinman764 · 03-14-12, 01:50 AM

Are your gunners set to only engage closing aircraft? I don't normally stick around to shoot at them but that's the only situation I've ever had where my gunner wouldn't shoot.

foster · 03-14-12, 02:16 AM

No. I can usually manually select which airplane to fire upon by using my binoculars but these ghost planes don't give me the chance.

Mittelwaechter · 03-14-12, 06:43 AM

If you can't lock on a target any further it's dead - but maybe still floating or in your case flying. It should sink or crash later, without further interaction and count for your patrol report.

There are reports of unlockable targets that don't sink and don't count in your statistics either. This may be a bug.

Personally I think it may be possible to shoot the hitpoints down to exactly 0 (zero) - resulting in no negative damage to destroy the target, keeping it functional - but with 0 hitpoints not recognizable as valid target for the game.

Osmium Steele · 03-14-12, 07:04 AM

I had this happen with a swordfish. It just kept circling overhead getting lower with each pass. Took almost 10 minutes game time to crash.

We all just stood there pointing and laughing.

postalbyke · 03-15-12, 12:19 AM

Usually my WO doesn't even tell me when there's a plane, I "wake up" to the sounds of bullets missing (or hitting) my boat... my first sign is a sudden unexplained drop in tc :P

foster · 03-15-12, 02:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mittelwaechter

If you can't lock on a target any further it's dead - but maybe still floating or in your case flying. It should sink or crash later, without further interaction and count for your patrol report.

There are reports of unlockable targets that don't sink and don't count in your statistics either. This may be a bug.

Personally I think it may be possible to shoot the hitpoints down to exactly 0 (zero) - resulting in no negative damage to destroy the target, keeping it functional - but with 0 hitpoints not recognizable as valid target for the game.

Thanks for the info. This is by far the most elegant explanation to the phenomenon I have heard. It would also explain while I get "Enemy Unit Destroyed" messages some time after the engagement has ended.

I would also like to posit that the zig-zag maneuver is counter productive when dealing with air attack. The boat is so slow to maneuver compared to aircraft that I don't believe changing course is anywhere near the trade off in speed. In my humble experience I have escaped run ins with multiple aircraft with only superficial damage by keeping my steam up to 21 kts. Everytime I try evasive maneuvers however, I get my boat bombed into a convertible due to dropping down to 16 kts when changing course.

I know it is SOP to dive after the enemy makes a first attack run. However if I have a recent save to revert to I often enjoy standing on the bridge and watching the three flak stations on my XI stage reenactments from the movie "Midway"

Gargamel · 03-15-12, 05:39 AM

iirc, none of the "classic" WWII boats will go that fast, Only the late war models. At least none I have played yet. Most of them barely get over 16 kts as is. So when the bomber makes hat final dive, I turn into him, forcing him to steepen his dive, and hope fully overshoot, if not crash entirely. Anyway you do it, changing your vector throws off his aim just a bit. Otherwise, your called a sitting duck.

And most people here play DiD, where reverting to a previous save is not an option.

andwii · 03-15-12, 06:14 AM

idk every time I play later in the war at bergen my crew neglects to attack the air raids that come through, even though they are close enough for my untrained self to make them smoke, Its a tad confusing.

03-14-12, 12:40 AM	#1
foster Swabbie Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Houston, Tx Posts: 8 Downloads: 25 Uploads: 0	WO McGoo and my airplane problem So I'm steaming at about 21 in Jan '42 and I get the aircraft spotted notice right as a solitary spitfire patrol of two planes are pulling out of an attack run in which they missed badly. Usually I would dive but there are only two of them and I have an appointment to make with a radio contact. I man my two flak guns and Sr. Lt McGoo is the WO, he is a specialist in watch, flak gun and medic. We give the spitfires hell on the next pass and one is smoking like Cheech. The damaged spitfire circles out of range and proceeds to slowly do a sputtering fly over down the length of my boat dragging a huge smoke trail, yet my WO cannot see it. I reorder my WO to fire at will, I toggle between flack guns to wake them up, I even point my binoculars at the plane and hit the spacebar but my crew simple cannot see it even though it is close enough I could probably throw my binoculars and hit it at this point. This has happened to me several times. My question is has anyone else experienced this problem and is there a solution to it other than taking manual control of a flak gun? Also, once the green efficiency bar of a station is completely full is there any benefit to adding more medals or qualified crew to that station? Thanks and good hunting, Red Casey

03-14-12, 06:43 AM	#4
Mittelwaechter The Old Man Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,304 Downloads: 35 Uploads: 0	If you can't lock on a target any further it's dead - but maybe still floating or in your case flying. It should sink or crash later, without further interaction and count for your patrol report. There are reports of unlockable targets that don't sink and don't count in your statistics either. This may be a bug. Personally I think it may be possible to shoot the hitpoints down to exactly 0 (zero) - resulting in no negative damage to destroy the target, keeping it functional - but with 0 hitpoints not recognizable as valid target for the game. __________________ 10 happy wolves rear 90 blinded, ensnared sheep. 90 happy sheep banish the wolves. Arrest the 1% - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ6hg1oNeGE

03-14-12, 07:04 AM	#5
Osmium Steele Ace of the Deep Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Upper midwest USA Posts: 1,101 Downloads: 22 Uploads: 0	I had this happen with a swordfish. It just kept circling overhead getting lower with each pass. Took almost 10 minutes game time to crash. We all just stood there pointing and laughing. __________________ In the month of July of the year 1348, between the feasts of St. Benedict and of St. Swithin, a strange thing came upon England... My U297 build thread

03-15-12, 12:19 AM	#6
postalbyke Chief Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: In the past... Posts: 321 Downloads: 89 Uploads: 1	Usually my WO doesn't even tell me when there's a plane, I "wake up" to the sounds of bullets missing (or hitting) my boat... my first sign is a sudden unexplained drop in tc :P __________________ God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh. -Voltaire

03-15-12, 05:39 AM	#8
Gargamel Lucky Sailor Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Rome Posts: 4,273 Downloads: 81 Uploads: 0	iirc, none of the "classic" WWII boats will go that fast, Only the late war models. At least none I have played yet. Most of them barely get over 16 kts as is. So when the bomber makes hat final dive, I turn into him, forcing him to steepen his dive, and hope fully overshoot, if not crash entirely. Anyway you do it, changing your vector throws off his aim just a bit. Otherwise, your called a sitting duck. And most people here play DiD, where reverting to a previous save is not an option. __________________ Luck is a residue of Design.

03-14-12, 01:50 AM	#2
Tinman764 Chief Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: U-32's Wintergarten Posts: 325 Downloads: 182 Uploads: 0	Are your gunners set to only engage closing aircraft? I don't normally stick around to shoot at them but that's the only situation I've ever had where my gunner wouldn't shoot.

03-14-12, 02:16 AM	#3
foster Swabbie Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Houston, Tx Posts: 8 Downloads: 25 Uploads: 0	No. I can usually manually select which airplane to fire upon by using my binoculars but these ghost planes don't give me the chance.

03-15-12, 06:14 AM	#9
andwii Frogman Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Bridge of U-123 Posts: 300 Downloads: 76 Uploads: 0	idk every time I play later in the war at bergen my crew neglects to attack the air raids that come through, even though they are close enough for my untrained self to make them smoke, Its a tad confusing.