Standing Operational Orders ???

[robj250]

Originally Posted by bigboywooly

Well at a rough guess your intercept point should have been around 150km from the convoy start position
That way its less time for the convoy to alter course


By you travelling at 17kts at a point 250km from you which is 300km from the convoy start point which is travelling at 9kts means that when you get to the intercept point the convoy has travelled only halfway - roughly 150km

In that 300km distance it could go anywhere so the shorter the intercept point that you can make the better

Plus if the screen shows a convoy as heading west it may be running at 88 degrees or 93 degrees so the further the intercept point the more margin for error

Okay, I'll give it another try.

[bigboywooly]

I always try to intercept as close as I can in case of course changes or the heading not being exact

Once you have contact you can shadow at a distance for the right time or then outflank to get a good firing position

Contact with the convoy is your first priority

Then you can plan your attack

Good hunting

[robj250]

Originally Posted by bigboywooly

I always try to intercept as close as I can in case of course changes or the heading not being exact

Once you have contact you can shadow at a distance for the right time or then outflank to get a good firing position

Contact with the convoy is your first priority

Then you can plan your attack

Good hunting

Well, I sure don't know how everyone finds their convoys. I've tried several times now and every planned an exact intercept of 2 convoys. No luck. I going to quit going after convoys, because they are nothing except GHOSTS. I've even waited 10 hours past the time they were expected.
Rob

[melnibonian]

Originally Posted by robj250

Well, I sure don't know how everyone finds their convoys. I've tried several times now and every planned an exact intercept of 2 convoys. No luck. I going to quit going after convoys, because they are nothing except GHOSTS. I've even waited 10 hours past the time they were expected.
Rob

I think the problem you're having is that the convoy changes direction. It is quite common and you can spend a fair amount of time (both real and game time) in trying to intercept only to face the open ocean. Do you use the technique mentioned in 'The Hunt'? It's a very good and exact way of plotting intercept courses. My suggestion would be to go to periscope depth once you're in position and use the hydrophones to see if the convoy is close by. If not it changed direction and you've lost it. Don't worry about it we all lost more than we found. If you need more info let me know

[robj250]

Originally Posted by melnibonian

I think the problem you're having is that the convoy changes direction. It is quite common and you can spend a fair amount of time (both real and game time) in trying to intercept only to face the open ocean.

That's for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I aint gonna waste my three days any more trying to find them. I've tried three different locations to try to find them. Them ships are GHOSTS for me.

Originally Posted by melnibonian

Do you use the technique mentioned in 'The Hunt'? It's a very good and exact way of plotting intercept courses.

I had already mentioned that it was too complicated for me to understand. I've tried it and it don't work anyhow!

Originally Posted by melnibonian

My suggestion would be to go to periscope depth once you're in position and use the hydrophones to see if the convoy is close by. If not it changed direction and you've lost it. Don't worry about it we all lost more than we found. If you need more info let me know

I've tried that several times. Heck I spent a whole day underwater listening for them at all stop and using the "H".

Aint gonna waste my time no more. If everyone else can find them, then great for them.

Keep on a truckin!!!
Rob

[Corsair]

I don't waste too much time either if they are too far away when I get the info, due to possible changes in speed/direction. Except when it is obvious where they are going (like Gibraltar straight, North or South entry of the Irish sea, etc...) I then usually head for the bottleneck.
Sometimes you're just lucky, yesterday I found one in hard weather (15m/s winds and light fog) by a routine hydrophone check that had crossed my route unseen. One hour later I had 2 large tankers down...

[melnibonian]

Rob hi

I can understand your frustration with convoys. My rate of success in getting them is about 30-40% of the time. They do change direction frequently and that's making things difficult (as it was in reality). Since you're not using the hunt technique I would suggest the following.

Use the ruler to plot the approximate convoy (or target it's the same thing) direction. Now that you have a line on the map with their course draw a line (using the ruler) connecting your sub with a position on the course of the target. Where the two lines intersect depends on the your relative position to the target. Usually I tend to arrange it in such way so that I have to travel the same (more or less) distance as the target to the interception point. I do this in order to make sure that the target will not pass me by. Now depending on the target's speed you arrange yours but I usually go ahead flak and reach the interception point early. Then I just wait. In this don't forget that since the ploting of the course is not accurate the target might be a few Km further away from where you're expecting it, so you might need to make further adjustments. In any case I'll try to make a very quick tutorial and PM it to you. It will probably be later on today or tomorrow though as I'm at work now and things over here are a bit busy.

In the mean time good luck and good shooting

[robj250]

Originally Posted by melnibonian

Rob hi

I can understand your frustration with convoys. My rate of success in getting them is about 30-40% of the time. They do change direction frequently and that's making things difficult (as it was in reality). Since you're not using the hunt technique I would suggest the following.

Use the ruler to plot the approximate convoy (or target it's the same thing) direction. Now that you have a line on the map with their course draw a line (using the ruler) connecting your sub with a position on the course of the target. Where the two lines intersect depends on the your relative position to the target. Usually I tend to arrange it in such way so that I have to travel the same (more or less) distance as the target to the interception point. I do this in order to make sure that the target will not pass me by. Now depending on the target's speed you arrange yours but I usually go ahead flak and reach the interception point early. Then I just wait. In this don't forget that since the ploting of the course is not accurate the target might be a few Km further away from where you're expecting it, so you might need to make further adjustments. In any case I'll try to make a very quick tutorial and PM it to you. It will probably be later on today or tomorrow though as I'm at work now and things over here are a bit busy.

In the mean time good luck and good shooting

What you have described above is exactly what I do......

[melnibonian]

Originally Posted by robj250

What you have described above is exactly what I do......

OK I guess then that you are just unlucky. Anyhow I'll make the tutorial for you just in case, but I expect to do it at some point during the week end. Sorry about that but I'm really busy at work

[robj250]

I guess this is the wrong place to be discussing the interception of a convoy, but since I have started , I might as well finish. When I receive an RA report of a convoy I stop the game (TC=0). I get the ruler and trace a live from the rear of the tail of the convoy and through it, and extend it out to approx. 200km. Next I use the ruler to determine the distance from my sub to the convoy. Now here is where the math comes in. 5 kt = 9 km/hr; 6 kt = 11 km/hr; 9 kt = 16 km/hr and 21 kt = 38 km/hr. So now I make marks along the convoy's path at various points. I attempt to find the shortest distance between me and the convoy so that I arrive maybe a half-hour it. I figure out the math in my travelling 10, 13, 16, and 17 kts. to the convoy line and take that route. Once I reach that line (map magnification of greater than 125 km) I situate my sub to a point facing the oncomming convoy and then dive to periscope depth, stop engines and listen using the hydrophone for about a half-hour. I surface, charge, and repeat the procedure. I even allow a few extra hours after the time the convoy should have reached the point where I was situated along their route. This should work, because in SH3, I was BANG ON ALL THE TIME.
Rob