Tactics vs Convoys

ColonelSandersLite · 08-13-15, 10:30 AM

@Torpex
The s-boats are a special case here. Their low peak firepower means that trying to hit more than one ship at a time is generally a waste, so you just pick the biggest and go. Any approach you want will work for that. Their low speed means it's often to your advantage to deliberately alert the convoy if you can't get into attack position. This will make them zigzag. In my experience, this slows a 9 knot convoy down to 5 knots, making them easy to catch.

In fleet boats, the point I'm trying to make is to not risk the boat until you know which targets are the best. You don't recon from inside the convoy, but from several thousand yards away. The possibility of detection in this scenario is remote. Essentially, they would have to change course and just by pure chance be in a perfect position so a DD just randomly plows right over you.

@IronOak
You're talking about shooting zero gyro perpendicular to their track right? This lets you simultaneously hit multiple targets in the same row. However, that's only one possible approach that achieves the goals above, and locking yourself into it every time is a waste of potential imho. For example, suppose that the best targets in the convoy are a nippon maru at r1c1 and a nagara maru at r2c1. Shooting at and sinking the nippon maru and, lets just say kinposin maru, at r1c2 is a sub optimal result.

@Fearless
I'm playing TMO, and my experience there is that mk14s on slow speed get spotted and evaded 100% of the time. Even ignoring that, I prefer better odds of sinking a choice target than 1 in 3. I figure that from 4,000 yards, with fast 14s or 18s my hit rate is about 90%. So if I fire at two targets the odds of sinking one of them is very high (assuming reliable torpedoes).

@RR
I prefer to save my stern tubes for destroyer defense if at all possible. Different strokes and all. I can say for sure though, that the number of times I have been depth charged when firing my my bow tubes from 3,000+ yards while submerged is very low. They basically have to get very lucky to find me at all in that situation.

While I agree that the best result is to sink all of the merchants, I always try to consider that making a second (or more) attack is not guaranteed. There are a variety of conditions that can prevent this, so I always strive to make my first attack hit as hard as possible.

08-13-15, 10:30 AM	#6
ColonelSandersLite Captain Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 481 Downloads: 74 Uploads: 3	@Torpex The s-boats are a special case here. Their low peak firepower means that trying to hit more than one ship at a time is generally a waste, so you just pick the biggest and go. Any approach you want will work for that. Their low speed means it's often to your advantage to deliberately alert the convoy if you can't get into attack position. This will make them zigzag. In my experience, this slows a 9 knot convoy down to 5 knots, making them easy to catch. In fleet boats, the point I'm trying to make is to not risk the boat until you know which targets are the best. You don't recon from inside the convoy, but from several thousand yards away. The possibility of detection in this scenario is remote. Essentially, they would have to change course and just by pure chance be in a perfect position so a DD just randomly plows right over you. @IronOak You're talking about shooting zero gyro perpendicular to their track right? This lets you simultaneously hit multiple targets in the same row. However, that's only one possible approach that achieves the goals above, and locking yourself into it every time is a waste of potential imho. For example, suppose that the best targets in the convoy are a nippon maru at r1c1 and a nagara maru at r2c1. Shooting at and sinking the nippon maru and, lets just say kinposin maru, at r1c2 is a sub optimal result. @Fearless I'm playing TMO, and my experience there is that mk14s on slow speed get spotted and evaded 100% of the time. Even ignoring that, I prefer better odds of sinking a choice target than 1 in 3. I figure that from 4,000 yards, with fast 14s or 18s my hit rate is about 90%. So if I fire at two targets the odds of sinking one of them is very high (assuming reliable torpedoes). @RR I prefer to save my stern tubes for destroyer defense if at all possible. Different strokes and all. I can say for sure though, that the number of times I have been depth charged when firing my my bow tubes from 3,000+ yards while submerged is very low. They basically have to get very lucky to find me at all in that situation. While I agree that the best result is to sink all of the merchants, I always try to consider that making a second (or more) attack is not guaranteed. There are a variety of conditions that can prevent this, so I always strive to make my first attack hit as hard as possible. __________________ My SH4 LP