How to intercept?

[maillemaker]

Hi Captain25!

It's really easy. Your picture makes it easy to describe.

As you can see, you have a contact, and you know it's approximate course and exact speed. With radio contacts for convoys they give you the exact speed. Of course they can change speed, but go with what you know.

As you have done, you have set a waypoint out in front of the convoy.

See the time stamp next to the waypoint? That is how long it will take you to get there. In your cast, 6 hours 30 minutes. Make sure you go to flank speed and make sure your speed and heading have stabilized to get an accurate time.

Now look over to the right-hand side of the map. See those vertical scales? That is a nomometer. It makes it easy to see how far the convoy will go in a fixed amount of time at a certain speed.

If you know the convoy is going, say, 8 knots, then use the line tool to draw a line from the left-most scale at the 8 mark, down to the time in minutes to your waypoint on the right-most scale. Your time in minutes is 390 minutes.

But the scale only goes to 200 minutes you say?

OK, let's call your current intercept 400 minutes. Cut that in half, use 200 minutes. So draw a line from 8 knots on the left scale to 200 on the right scale. Where the line crosses the middle scale will give you the number of km the convoy will move. Let's say it's 60 km. Since you halved the time to fit the scale, you will need to double the distance, so the convoy will move 120 km.

Now draw a circle around the convoy that is 120 km in radius. This will give you an estimate of how far the convoy can move.

Now adjust your waypoint to be along the target heading, about 10-15 km beyond the circle. The idea is to intercept before they get there so that you can submerge and sneak into an ideal attack position. Unless you are choosing a surface attack, but you still want to get there ahead of time to get ready.

That's it. You can adjust your waypoint position and the circle diameter as needed.

Steve

[UKönig]

It's helpful (well, for me) to remember that 8 knots is about the same land speed as 15 km/hr. I just measure off the 15 km marks and I get a good idea of where they should end up, and where I should get to, if I want to cause problems.
When I first started playing, I was not used to distances and speeds like the ones used in the game, and invariably, I would always plot a course to the spot indicated, only to find empty ocean. Or, at best, the trailing end of the convoy as their masts moved out of sight below the horizon.
After enough time, I have a pretty good idea of how the AI works and the historical perspectives behind the genre that once I make contact, I rarely lose it. And I almost always can plot a course that leads to a favorable firing solution. This game is more fun than it should be.

[captgeo]

Welcome Capt to the forum

[Aktungbby]

Captain25!