the long shot

Keelbuster · 01-19-09, 07:48 PM

It's awesome what you can do with great target data. More and more I've been going for the 'long-shot' - like shots that run over 4km or so. If you have good data, like for instance, if you got the exact speed of the convoy/ship from a radio report, and if you have the ship's course more or less bang on, it's wild how accurate the long shot can be.

Case in point - i tried overtake a convoy in 8km visibility weather, nighttime. I had basically perfect course data from a prior attack, yet I miscalculated in how long it would take to pass the convoy, and rather than ending up in front of the convoy, I came in on an oblique angle so that the first row of merchants was about 45 degrees to me, and about 5km away. It was too late to abort because I was afraid of being spotted, so I dove to PD, and started to work my way in at 2kts silent. By the time the first row of ships was just getting towards 90 aOb, they were about 3.5km away (by a stadimeter reading). I could see the faint silhouette of a Large Cargo way in the distance - 4 convoy lanes away. I made a rough guess - convoy lanes are about 1km apart, so 3.5 + 4x1 = 7.5 km. I dialed it into the TDC, set two T1 eels for slow, and fired them on either side of the large cargo center line. Runtime was over 7 minutes. Both hit, slightly aft of where I had aimed, but it was a fatal blow - the Large Cargo disintegrated. The beauty of the long shot is that you are so far away from the dirt when it happens, that the escape is much easier. This is vital in late war, and the T1 FaTs really improve the odds of a hit.

Anyway, just had to express my massive enthusiasm for the long-shot. I'm used to the 'whites-of-their-eyes' kind of engagement, and this long-shot business is really starting to sell me as the best attack given solid target motion data.

01-19-09, 07:48 PM	#1
Keelbuster Ace of the Deep Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: BA 72 Posts: 1,092 Downloads: 43 Uploads: 0	the long shot It's awesome what you can do with great target data. More and more I've been going for the 'long-shot' - like shots that run over 4km or so. If you have good data, like for instance, if you got the exact speed of the convoy/ship from a radio report, and if you have the ship's course more or less bang on, it's wild how accurate the long shot can be. Case in point - i tried overtake a convoy in 8km visibility weather, nighttime. I had basically perfect course data from a prior attack, yet I miscalculated in how long it would take to pass the convoy, and rather than ending up in front of the convoy, I came in on an oblique angle so that the first row of merchants was about 45 degrees to me, and about 5km away. It was too late to abort because I was afraid of being spotted, so I dove to PD, and started to work my way in at 2kts silent. By the time the first row of ships was just getting towards 90 aOb, they were about 3.5km away (by a stadimeter reading). I could see the faint silhouette of a Large Cargo way in the distance - 4 convoy lanes away. I made a rough guess - convoy lanes are about 1km apart, so 3.5 + 4x1 = 7.5 km. I dialed it into the TDC, set two T1 eels for slow, and fired them on either side of the large cargo center line. Runtime was over 7 minutes. Both hit, slightly aft of where I had aimed, but it was a fatal blow - the Large Cargo disintegrated. The beauty of the long shot is that you are so far away from the dirt when it happens, that the escape is much easier. This is vital in late war, and the T1 FaTs really improve the odds of a hit. Anyway, just had to express my massive enthusiasm for the long-shot. I'm used to the 'whites-of-their-eyes' kind of engagement, and this long-shot business is really starting to sell me as the best attack given solid target motion data. __________________