elite enemy gun crews

[clubcat]

when on the serface and many of the armed merchants tent to have extremly trained gun crews who appear unrealisticaly to be able to very acurately hit a sub ,this seems totaly unrealistic for the time,also a hit would sink a sub not merely incurr some minor damages you either hit it or miss ,no inbetween...i wonder if these elite merchant gun crews can be reduced

[Matador.es]

I had been surprised by their accuracy aswell. Even while facing the smallest silhouette they don’t seem to have any trouble with hitting you over 2,5 up to 3 KM. I do not know if that is “adjustable” but I do think your right about the aiming skills of merchants.

[Axeman3d]

Gun crews were often regulars and not merchant marine guys, so you were not always dealing with stokers shooting once in a blue moon. Remember too that at the time big gun battles between ships could be fought at ranges out to 30,000 yards if you could tell where the bad guy was, and even small guns of the period were designed to be very accurate and quick firing. You also have your gun mounted higher and on a much more stable platform than a sub, so are able to shoot more accurately and in much worse weather too. Basically, don't try outshooting a ship unless you really have to.

[Matador.es]

I must admit, makes good sence. The hight and stability is a great advantage.

Originally Posted by Matador.es

I must admit, makes good sence. The hight and stability is a great advantage.

actually the height was NOT an advantage except with seeing over the horizon and being mounted high on the bow of a ship you were also rockin-an-rollin pretty good up there too so its not THAT stable but it was a lot more stable then a sub deck.

gun crew being mounted high on the bow of a ship would make it easier to see farther over the horizon and the area around the ship but that would not necessarily make it easier to see a sub thats nothing more then a bump sticking up a little higher then the waves around it so your view being high up on the ships deck could make subs MORE invisible to gun crews.

picture a garbage can sitting on a log then imagine how far away you can hit that garbage can with any accuracy.

also guns of the day were pretty accurate but NOT sniper rifle with scope accurate as the game makes it seam.

as strange as it is, in the game the ship guns get less accurate at shorter ranges as though with reduced range the built in miss percentage variable increases or something. IMO cargo ships shouldnt be any more accurate then one out of ten shots unless its dead calm conditions or in a port raiding situation. as for the sub guns, well you ARE litterally shooting at the huge profile so your gun crew shouldnt be missing it be very often.

as for if ship gun accuracy is adjustable, yes there is a variable to adjust it but i cant remember what its called or the file its in but its a random variable of hit to miss ratio.

[Axeman3d]

Gun height above the waterline has historically been considered an advantage for fighting at sea, since it allows you to fire in heavier seas and at larger angles of heel. In the old days of closer combat, it allowed you to fire down through the deck of your enemy too.

Remember also that these QF guns were originally designed to fight off small, fast torpedo boats and the fastest destroyers, which were the main enemy of battleships at close quarters. They had 4" and 6" guns that could get off 12 aimed rounds a minute with constant aiming. A sub is a small target, no doubt about it, but not fast, not tough and not a good gun platform at all.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Webster

also guns of the day were pretty accurate but NOT sniper rifle with scope accurate as the game makes it seam.

Originally Posted by Vanilla

2-3 km is point blank range for those guns. I think after first 2-4 shells when they got their range correct 8-9 shells out of ten would hit.

The average hit rate for naval gunnery overall in World War Two was about 7%. Outside of five miles it was only 2%, inside of that 12%, hence the average of seven. Peter Padfield in his book Guns At Sea likened naval gunnery to shooting a pistol at a golf ball rolling across a mantle, while sitting in a rocking chair being rocked by someone else.

The height itself isn't an advantage, but the bigger the ship the more stable. Point-blank range for a tube-sighted gun (no fire control) is going to be 1km or less. The point about the sub's vulnerability is the most important one. Read the accounts on www.uboat.net, and you'll find that any time a merchant opened fire on a u-boat, the boat immediately dived, and the attack was usually over at that point.

The gunnery should be much less accurate for both merchants and submarines, but a single hit on your sub should at the very least render it unable to dive, if not actually sinking it. We should be terrified of any surface ship with a gun, or the game isn't doing its job.