Could use a suggestion or two.

[merc4ulfate]

Target the merchant that is farther away first. This will allow you time to set your next shot while the first set of fish travel towards their target. This extra time can also allow you to hit both ships fairly close together at the same time. Since your targeting the farther ship first the lead time can help all fish to get to multiple targets at the same time. This has worked with me for merchants and warships.

If you can set your set up in front of the convoy, set up your position where you wish to be. shut down your engines, go to silent running and make like a hole in the water. Depending on sea state and escort sensor operator knowledge they sometimes will not even know your their until after you have fired.

If they do hear you first you still have a chance to fire, then crash dive below test test, engineers are always conservative on paper, then all quiet angled 45 degrees away. Depending on the course of the convoy I sometimes will angle towards the convoy so they run over my position while the escorts are searching at my last known position where they could hear me.

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crashing to desktop ... just a guess but may be a bad installation?? Do you have SH4 somewhere else other than c/program files?

[boonie]

this is my standard approach to tackling task force, facing their direction or opposite direction doesnt matter much. The leading heavy cruiser T1 is always shot at first, then immediately lock T2 and hammer away at the TDC settings and get a good setting asap.

with proctice on TDC now i can shoot at both the target with fast torp settings, before this i have to shot at T1 using slow torp and T2 using fast torp to allow time to set TDC.

After both ships are fired at using 2-3 torp each (depends, Takao usually need just 2, Mogami needs 3, usually). I will lock T3 and see how it reacts to the ensuing chaos, most of the time the surrounding dessies/merchants will go ape****s and block its way, thats a good time to lob in some opportunity shots with front or tail tubes.

some destroyers that presents itself nice enough (or threatening enough) will get it also, some of them has nice tonnage. (2300-2700ton).

having crews with nice competance (nice stats) and setting silent runnning + battlestation do help to make the boat stealthier somewhat despite being at full stop. Setting silent running will stop them auto-reloading which is not good at enemy presence.

In this game the destroyer seems not being able to detect you so well when u are at periscope depth and at full stop. Not sure about this at later point in the war though (havent reached that part yet).

after all fish are delivered i dive straight to max depth before turning on 0.5 or 1 knot to slip away.

[boonie]

i am not sure how much noise will be generated from torpedo reloading. It used to be pretty desasterous in SH3+GWX, they can hear it 5000m away it seems. not sure about sh4+mods..

[merc4ulfate]

I'd be targeting the merchants not the heavy cruiser. Assuming your have a boat with six forward and four aft tubes I would be aiming for the three merchants at the top and farthest away first. Sure you might hit a DD sure you might hit a heavy C but at your angle I would fire all ten fish as fast as possible.


merchant row 1 *** (5th, 2 fish) *** (2ND, 2fish) ***(1st, 2 fish)


merchant row 2 *** *** (4th, 2 fish) ***(3rd 2 fish)


I put your chance of sinking three ships at high and crippling two others either merchants or DD's.

Once you have fired all ten dive deep below test depth while deploying decoys and go to silent running. Turn into the convoy not away. I like to do this because I know the DD's have to reverse or go around merchants in the way and I like to hide under stationary merchants who have not sank.

Yes I know I am insane. yeah for me

[Hylander_1314]

It only works when decoys become available, but also, turning into the mass of ships is a good tactic anyways, as it usually points you in the direction the DDs are coming from, giving them the smallest target to get a lock on. Getting down deep is also a good thing as it combined with the other ships helps to mask your sound.

A good thing too, as long as there is no trailing DD off the back of the convoy or task force, is to head that direction once you are in the middle of them. I have escaped many time doing just that.

[boonie]

Originally Posted by merc4ulfate

I'd be targeting the merchants not the heavy cruiser. Assuming your have a boat with six forward and four aft tubes I would be aiming for the three merchants at the top and farthest away first. Sure you might hit a DD sure you might hit a heavy C but at your angle I would fire all ten fish as fast as possible.


merchant row 1 *** (5th, 2 fish) *** (2ND, 2fish) ***(1st, 2 fish)


merchant row 2 *** *** (4th, 2 fish) ***(3rd 2 fish)


I put your chance of sinking three ships at high and crippling two others either merchants or DD's.

Once you have fired all ten dive deep below test depth while deploying decoys and go to silent running. Turn into the convoy not away. I like to do this because I know the DD's have to reverse or go around merchants in the way and I like to hide under stationary merchants who have not sank.

Yes I know I am insane. yeah for me

The typical task force that employ this formation in sh4 + FOTRS seems to typically only have small troop transport (1700ton) purely as their merchant composition.. thats why i dont aim for them.. too small and sometimes they have the audacity of not sinking after 1 torp despite only 1.7k ton... wherelse the heavy cruisers all range from 9000ton (maya, mogami) onwards to 15000ton (takao) and if u land 3 torp on 1 its a guaranteed kill (i havent seen any heavy cruiser that can take 3 and live). Plus aiming just 2 target per attack is all i am capable of within the time frame (before they see torps and go nuts with thier steering).

Will try out slow boating to the middle of the pack after delivering my fish next time. but they very seldom detect me using that tactic i put earlier anyway. THey have this tendency to park 1 destroyer near where the ship sink to hold me down and let the others travel some distance. Very annoying and it ensures that i have to chase a great distance after this destroyer make a break and rejoins the main body.

Tried to kill it sometimes when i still have fish loaded in tubes but they have this bunny hop acceleration thing that dodge torp very easily.