What’s more valuable a target?

[propbeanie]

Look in FotRSU, and you'll see that all of the enemy renown awarded is lowered, but the BB more than the CV, such that the CV are worth more than the BB. Also, if you go below PD, the carriers will spawn planes, as will most of the BB. Different types of planes, but planes with bombs that fall down the conn hatch nonetheless...

[skirich]

Interesting stuff. I wish the game would have spawned some planes after the Battleship was attacked. Did'nt notice any but that would have been cool to see.



That said, is there any distinction inmap contact info for a battlegroup vs a merchant convoy?


I know task force means warships, but just about every task force I chased was nothing more than a bunch of destroyers.


I'm wonder if there is another way to find these large battlegroups besides just aimlessly wandering the ocean.

[propbeanie]

You don't get to "see" the game spawn anything. No airplane launches, no DD leaving the docks. The game only "spawns" its assets outside your view, beyond the horizon, so about 30nm away, even when you're below PD.

If you're in the Stock game, on the NavMap, you can zoom-in on any identified ship and see its outline, and ascertain from its outline what it is. It may not be always 100% accurate, but more than reasonably reliable. Some mods will exchange that outline for a dot, like the leader of the tracking team doesn't have drawing skills, and just uses a dot instead. Of course, when you're on the NavMap, all you can draw is "X"s, lines & circles... Otherwise, sonar can give you a clue, as can radar, although your crew members aren't "qualified" to tell you that kind of info - you'll have to do it yourself, other than in stock the warships' sonar lines are blue, and a merchants are black. Mod can and do change that.

The game will identifiy a grouping of ships based upon the "lead" vessel. Each group has to have a "leader" that is given WayPoints for it to follow so that it can travel from Point A to Point B. All of the other ships of the group are "attached" to the "leader". If the leader is a merchant, then you have a Convoy. If you have a warship as leader, then it's a Task Force.

If you're in Stock, you will get plenty of "reports" that if you pay attention, you will get clues as to where the Task Forces are. If your are in a mod, most of them have maps laying about the boat with route maps on them. Or, you can just go hang around Truk or Rabaul, or Singapore, or Kobe, etc... Just be forewarned that the DD escorts usually have more than enough boom-boom with them, and more skill than the average Convoy jockey...

[jimmbbo]

Originally Posted by skirich

So was that the right move or should I have gone for the carrier?

IMO it depends on the stage of the war...

Early on, taking out carriers would blunt Japanese offensive capability at a time when the USN was barely hanging on... With the luxury of hindsight, IJN BBs were not a factor in the war, and the carriers presented the largest threat.

From 1943 on, sinking merchants does more damage to their war-making capacity as the number of capital ships was reduced and the US Navy strength is coming up to speed to take out the remainder. Sinking merchants and the raw materials inbound to Japan does more to curtail the war the later it is.

[Barkerov]

Why not shoot at both?

[skirich]

Originally Posted by Barkerov

Why not shoot at both?

Wasnt an option. I didnt know about the carrier until about 4100 yards out.
I was staged south west of the armada at a 45 degree shot if I waited till the lead ship got to within 4100 yards.


I wanted to use the high speed of the mark 14s.


I was tracking the whole armada for about 15-20 miles via radar submerged at 40 feet to let the radar turn and had a dead shot solution programmed into the tdc, tweaked every so often to get near zero on the largest blip. (Using 3d tdc mod)


I submerged by the time they hit 10 miles out since the destroyers could possibly see me. They were swarming the armada. About 7 or 8 ships circling the battleship so I didnt want the chance to ruin the attack. I figured the biggest blip and the largest ship on the nav map was a battleship and I wanted to take it down.



I waited until about 4600 yards out to take a peek, and while I was tuning the solution the carrier swung around on the far side of the battleship. I froze for a moment and all these calculations started flooding my head to re-tune the solution. I even opened up the necessary devices to start the calculations but the whole bunch was steaming at 12knts. With the attack angle I had and the speed of the armada i quickly realized a new solution would not work since the carrier, on the far side would be shielded by the battleship by the time I got the solution programmed. I dont pause the game to do any of that. Its more realistic that way and I enjoy the challenge.

Besides, by the time I would have a solution the destroyers that were leading would have had a good bead on me.


So I figures, OK, I'll shoot the spread of six, dive to 300 at flank, go under the bunch, come back to periscope and take a shot at the carrier from aft.


So I did that. Good thing for the spread. Between the solution in the PK/TDC, I had 3 out of six hit and the battleship listed to port and went under.
Fast forward and when I surface, I have 3 destroyers on me and the carrier speeding out at 15 knts with a zig zig pattern. No shot.


I went out and around with an attempt to do an end around and take another shot, but the destroyers kept pushing me farther and farther north of the armada, and by the time they stopped their patterns the carrier was off my radar and I lost it. I tried following the destroyers and even put up some plots on the map to search but they boogied off at 20+ knts while was pushing 10 under water and coming up on 25% battery.
If I did meet up with the group I would be toast under water with that little battery and 7 destroyers to dance with.



I spent the next week in game time looking for it ignoring all the juicy targets, but never found it.


I was lucky I guess to get that first try. I was parked in the luzon straights about to hit a tanker when I got that armada blip on the radar.

[Mios 4Me]

Hm, my targeting priorities are:
-invasion transports
-CVs
-BBs
-CVEs
-Takao class CAs
-Large Modern Tankers
-everything else

Those early-war invasion transports are miniscule but so very satisfying to catch in a surface battle during the monsoon.


CVEs lack the offensive punch of the CVs, so BBs are preferred (Samar, of course, is always in the back of my mind)


Not sure where the Huge European Liner would go, but it's almost unique and never in company of the ships above, so it's a moot point.


If the game tracked the number of DDs available, of course I would make attriting them a high priority, but I generally leave them alone. Lately I've found large convoys of 9-10 ships escorted by only 3 DDs; three torps and a little gunnery practice later and the map has been defaced with another thick, black blotch. Unrealistic perhaps, but still fun at this stage.

[Barkerov]

Originally Posted by skirich

I was tracking the whole armada for about 15-20 miles via radar submerged at 40 feet to let the radar turn and had a dead shot solution programmed into the tdc, tweaked every so often to get near zero on the largest blip. (Using 3d tdc mod)


I submerged by the time they hit 10 miles out since the destroyers could possibly see me. They were swarming the armada. About 7 or 8 ships circling the battleship so I didnt want the chance to ruin the attack. I figured the biggest blip and the largest ship on the nav map was a battleship and I wanted to take it down.


I waited until about 4600 yards out to take a peek, and while I was tuning the solution the carrier swung around on the far side of the battleship. I froze for a moment and all these calculations started flooding my head to re-tune the solution. I even opened up the necessary devices to start the calculations but the whole bunch was steaming at 12knts. With the attack angle I had and the speed of the armada i quickly realized a new solution would not work since the carrier, on the far side would be shielded by the battleship by the time I got the solution programmed. I dont pause the game to do any of that. Its more realistic that way and I enjoy the challenge.

Besides, by the time I would have a solution the destroyers that were leading would have had a good bead on me.


So I figures, OK, I'll shoot the spread of six, dive to 300 at flank, go under the bunch, come back to periscope and take a shot at the carrier from aft.


So I did that. Good thing for the spread. Between the solution in the PK/TDC, I had 3 out of six hit and the battleship listed to port and went under.
Fast forward and when I surface, I have 3 destroyers on me and the carrier speeding out at 15 knts with a zig zig pattern. No shot.


I went out and around with an attempt to do an end around and take another shot, but the destroyers kept pushing me farther and farther north of the armada, and by the time they stopped their patterns the carrier was off my radar and I lost it. I tried following the destroyers and even put up some plots on the map to search but they boogied off at 20+ knts while was pushing 10 under water and coming up on 25% battery.
If I did meet up with the group I would be toast under water with that little battery and 7 destroyers to dance with.



I spent the next week in game time looking for it ignoring all the juicy targets, but never found it.


I was lucky I guess to get that first try. I was parked in the luzon straights about to hit a tanker when I got that armada blip on the radar.

Let me just start by saying that what I've written below isn't meant to sound critical of you, so please don't interpret it that way.



Based on what you said I think you robbed yourself of the chance to shoot at both by not peeking earlier and thereby recognizing the constitution of the force you were attacking. Also, depending on what mods you're using, you could have been at radar depth for much longer. I'd be thinking that you could have closed to within at least half the distance at which you chose to submerge without being seen.


Also, depending on how your firing technique, you could have launched all 10 tubes in one salvo if you'd positioned yourself pointing parallel to the task force. Another option would be to fire the first 6 slow, but in a larger spread and the rear 4 fast after turning around. It's hectic but it can be done.


In any case, congrats on sinking the BB. You don't get to sink that many of them in a career, if any.