sinking battleships

[toonces]

Hi all,
I saw a thread about this a while back but lost it.

Short version- I've been hitting a Japanese fleet at anchor at Shortlands repeatedly with LBA from Pt. Moresby. For about two weeks I've been hitting the port every other day with over a hundred B-17's et al. Finally the other day, I scrambled a 2 CV task force in and hit the fleet combined with LBA and CV aircraft. After the attack which saw some Jap BB's taking 10+ bomb hits on top of the cumulative damage from previous raids, I still haven't sunk a BB. So, I cheated. I saved the game, went in on the Jap side and checked the status of the Jap BB's. There were at least 8 there, maybe more. Pretty much every one was at 99 Sys damage, but not a single one had a single point of damage on FLT or the other type of damage.

So, the question is how to sink these ships?

Also, I didn't score a single torpedo hit with my CV based air. I'm assuming there must be torpedo nets or something there.

Thanks,
Toonces

[rogueusmc]

All bombs do to Battleships is deafen the personnel and scratch the paint (system damage). Need torps to sink BBs.

Lee

[toonces]

Will the game model torpedo nets, or did I just have unlucky TBF's?
 
I don't know what else I can get in there with torpedoes except CV air, and I don't want to risk my carriers too many times with Rabaul still active.
 
Thanks,
Toonces

[MineSweeper]

The Japanese Bomb (800kg) can finish off damaged BBs in port(if playing Japanese) - but is not a sure deal (but torpedoes are your best bet as rogue stated)

[alaviner]

Don't waste more planes trying to sink the BBs - They will not be going ay where any time soon with 99sys damage.  Wait until you capture Shortlands and they will scuttle.  Park a few ss around there just in case they repair enough to try to sortie.

[marky]

failing that send a destroyer flotilla into the harbor...

[Mike Scholl]

ORIGINAL: rogueusmc

All bombs do to Battleships is deafen the personnel and scratch the paint (system damage). Need torps to sink BBs.

Lee

Tell that to the crew of the ARIZONA.

[toonces]

Well, that's kind of the mentality I was thinking.  Then again, it's a game, so if it's modeled such that my bombs aren't going to sink these ships, then no sense wasting alot more time and morale on trying.
 
I don't understand why bombs don't cause FLT damage though...I would think that eventually enough bombs would get in there to start poking holes in the armor.
 
Thanks for the other suggestions.  I did try sending a large surface DD group in there, but the shore batteries did quite a number on my DD's. 
 
I'll have to scrounge around and see if I can find something that can reach Shortlands from Lunga, and carry torpedoes.  Then I might be in business.

[marky]

ORIGINAL: Mike Scholl

ORIGINAL: rogueusmc

All bombs do to Battleships is deafen the personnel and scratch the paint (system damage). Need torps to sink BBs.

Lee

Tell that to the crew of the ARIZONA.

agreed, rest their souls [:(]

[marky]

ORIGINAL: toonces

Well, that's kind of the mentality I was thinking. Then again, it's a game, so if it's modeled such that my bombs aren't going to sink these ships, then no sense wasting alot more time and morale on trying.

I don't understand why bombs don't cause FLT damage though...I would think that eventually enough bombs would get in there to start poking holes in the armor.

Thanks for the other suggestions. I did try sending a large surface DD group in there, but the shore batteries did quite a number on my DD's.

I'll have to scrounge around and see if I can find something that can reach Shortlands from Lunga, and carry torpedoes. Then I might be in business.

Beauforts

transfer them

[toonces]

Thanks Marky,
I was browsing through the A/C database and found out they carry torps.  I have one squadron there, but I'm going to need to round up squadrons from all over the map.
 
On a separate note, I launched a TBF strike, 8 TBF's only in the attack, and they only reported 'bomb hits'. 
 
Why am I not scoring torp hits with TBF's? 

[marky]

range is too great for em to carry fish

also if ur really desperate try Cats

set to port night naval attack

[bradfordkay]

If it was a naval strike, then you probably launched outside their "normal" range and they had to revert to their "extended" range loadout.

If it was a port attack, there is a die roll as to whether torpedoes are used in any aerial port attack (when torpedo carrying aircraft are involved in the attack).

The Japanese 800kg bomb is certainly capable of sinking battleships, but there isn't really an allied equivalent - thus IJN BBs can sit in port and absorb bomb hits all day long. If you're really lucky, you might create enough fires on the ship to cause the flotation damage to increase as they fight the fires.

[marky]

ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

If it was a naval strike, then you probably launched outside their "normal" range and they had to revert to their "extended" range loadout.

If it was a port attack, there is a die roll as to whether torpedoes are used in any aerial port attack (when torpedo carrying aircraft are involved in the attack).

forgot about that lil tidbit...

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

The Japanese 800kg bomb is certainly capable of sinking battleships, but there isn't really an allied equivalent - thus IJN BBs can sit in port and absorb bomb hits all day long. If you're really lucky, you might create enough fires on the ship to cause the flotation damage to increase as they fight the fires.

Those 800 kg bombs aren't necessarily a given either. I bombed the heck out of the Arizona and Pennsylvania in Adak. The Arizona took 3 torps and 22 800 kg bombs and the Pennsylvania took 3 torps and 17 800 kg bombs. Neither sank. They will be out of the war for a year or two though, once they make it back to the West coast. [:D]

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

If it was a naval strike, then you probably launched outside their "normal" range and they had to revert to their "extended" range loadout.

If it was a port attack, there is a die roll as to whether torpedoes are used in any aerial port attack (when torpedo carrying aircraft are involved in the attack).

The Japanese 800kg bomb is certainly capable of sinking battleships, but there isn't really an allied equivalent - thus IJN BBs can sit in port and absorb bomb hits all day long. If you're really lucky, you might create enough fires on the ship to cause the flotation damage to increase as they fight the fires.

The other problem that can affect torpedo bombers (though probably not TBF) is too small an airfield size... 2 engine bombers need at least size 4 airfield to carry a torpedo.

The Allies get 2000 pound AP bombs in August 1942, iirc... and these will do in those pesky BBs, if you can get your bombers to carry them. They have to go through a series of checks to do so. This was put in during a patch and there was quite a bit of confusion as to what was actually put in (AP vs GP - i think there was originally an error), so check release notes (which i don't have on this computer) for details.

[AmiralLaurent]

If you really want to sink these BB, sail close with your CV to be in torpedo range and launch the TBF at small alt (100 feet). They will almost always carry torpedoes. They will suffer from AA but if these BB are as devastated as you said most AA guns should have been destroyed already.

[Sardaukar]

Multi-BB Bombardment TF can also get lucky...but it's rare.

[Nikademus]

Ships in a medium to large size port are much more difficult to "sink" (sink defined as "removed from the game") because the port works to repair or lower FLT damage at the end of each turn. If the BB's are at 99% SYS they are, abstractly speaking, already "sunk" but are still in the game as playing pieces, sitting on the mud of the harbor. The "abstraction" part comes from the fact that even with a speed of "0", any ship can move a minimum of one hex per movement phase.

But at 99% SYS, the ships are out of the war in all the ways that count combat wise (You just arn't getting VP's for them being sunk) Even if the BB is gotten to a port with a ship yard it would take 6 months to a year to bring it back to any kind of servicability.

[niceguy2005]

ORIGINAL: Nikademus

Ships in a medium to large size port are much more difficult to "sink" (sink defined as "removed from the game") because the port works to repair or lower FLT damage at the end of each turn. If the BB's are at 99% SYS they are, abstractly speaking, already "sunk" but are still in the game as playing pieces, sitting on the mud of the harbor. The "abstraction" part comes from the fact that even with a speed of "0", any ship can move a minimum of one hex per movement phase.

But at 99% SYS, the ships are out of the war in all the ways that count combat wise (You just arn't getting VP's for them being sunk) Even if the BB is gotten to a port with a ship yard it would take 6 months to a year to bring it back to any kind of servicability.

I agree. It is my experience that you have to be pretty lucky to sink BBs or CVs in a moderate sized port. The port lowers FLT damage too fast. It is particularly hard if you have a lot of capital ships in a port because the bomb and torpedo hits will be spread out among the various ships. You probably need 4-6 torpedo hits on a single BB in port to have a chance of really sinking her.