Escort TF

[Goufy]

IF i have a damaged BB, i need to create a escort TF to follow it ? i still can't put directly DD with my BB and hope they will stay with it? From your experience, is it enough against submarine?

Escort TF like Transport TF can have up to 100 ships. What is the logic behind it? What's the use?

[tanjman]

The escort TF was created (by the developers) to prevent damaged ships from leaving the task force, which was a big problem with UV.

Example:

I have an air combat TF, my single CV has been damaged enough for me to want to return to nearest port ASAP. I can either create a new (escort) TF (and assign escorts to it) to get it home or change the mission of the entire air combat TF to escort.

No matter how damaged ships become in an escort TF they will not leave the TF.

[AmiralLaurent]

The trick is to put the damaged ships in the escort TF, not to have the escort TF follow them. Escort TF never split, so you can have a damaged CV in the same TF as 10 DD and 4 Ca protecting her.

[Black Cat]

If you split ships off from the main TF as Escorts how do you assign them to " escort " a specfic ship ? I don`t see any way to do that on the interface other then to combine the damaged ship TF with the escort TF.

[carnifex]

What you do is create some Escort TF's near hotspots that will be seeing transport traffic. For example I send 20AK's with minimal DD's from Pearl to Brisbane. The trip to Noumea is always peaceful, as I have never spotted an enemy sub enroute. But once near Noumea, I select one of the Escort TF's there and have it follow the transports to Brisbane, and then on the way back I park the Escorts back in Noumea.

This saves you the work of manually adding escorts into the Transport TF and then removing them later.

I almost never use separate Escort TF's to escort a TF full of damaged ships. I just throw some escorts directly into the TF (which is also set to Escort, but that's only so it stays together and not split off the slow ships).

[Goufy]

So you say they have a double meaning: a escort TF can be a place to put damaged ships with their close escort and they stay together, OR it can be used as bodyguard to other TF (that they follow) to protect them from harm.

The second kind of use really work? sure? Works really better than a normal Surface Combat TF?

----

ok, i have just read the manual, all is clear for the second use. Learning everyday.

[von Murrin]

ORIGINAL: Goufy

So you say they have a double meaning: a escort TF can be a place to put damaged ships with their close escort and they stay together, OR it can be used as bodyguard to other TF (that they follow) to protect them from harm.

The second kind of use really work? sure? Works really better than a normal Surface Combat TF?

----

ok, i have just read the manual, all is clear for the second use. Learning everyday.

I do that in my Allied game to pad out convoy escort in dangerous areas.

[AmiralLaurent]

ORIGINAL: Black Cat

If you split ships off from the main TF as Escorts how do you assign them to " escort " a specfic ship ? I don`t see any way to do that on the interface other then to combine the damaged ship TF with the escort TF.

If you have a CV TF with 4 CV, 4 CA and 10 DD and a CV is seriously hit and drops from the TF, at the end of the turn you will have two AirCombat TF, one with the damaged CV and a DD and teh other with all the other ships

Change the first TF (damaged CV) type to escort and then you can add all the ships you want to this TF and they will sail together to the nearer port.

If you don't change the type and add more DD and CA to the dmaaged CV's TF, all ships except one DD will leave the TF and sail their own way.

As for having escort TF being more efficient than surface TF, it seems to me that yes. IN UV I have seen sometimes transport TF being engaged before surface TF. In WITP my covering TF are always escort TF and always engage enemy surface TF before my tranport (if they are engaged at all). Also escort TF act as ASW TF in some way.

[mogami]

ORIGINAL: von Murrin

ORIGINAL: Goufy

So you say they have a double meaning: a escort TF can be a place to put damaged ships with their close escort and they stay together, OR it can be used as bodyguard to other TF (that they follow) to protect them from harm.

The second kind of use really work? sure? Works really better than a normal Surface Combat TF?

----

ok, i have just read the manual, all is clear for the second use. Learning everyday.

I do that in my Allied game to pad out convoy escort in dangerous areas.

Good idea but make the TF you are currently putting into escort TF ASW TF and only use the escort mission for damaged ships. Be aware that ships in Escort TF will not unload. Once a loaded damaged transport reaches a friendly port change back to transport so you can unload. (only if loaded with troops with anything else disband into port to begin repair. Once troops are off loaded disband TF to repair)

[carnifex]

yeah? i gotta try out the effectiveness of ASW vs Escort TF's for transport escort duty

the Escort TF's seem pretty effective as i've seen them sink several subs in the brisbane area

[CTB123]

ORIGINAL: carnifex

yeah? i gotta try out the effectiveness of ASW vs Escort TF's for transport escort duty

the Escort TF's seem pretty effective as i've seen them sink several subs in the brisbane area

yeah? i gotta try out the effectiveness of ASW vs Escort TF's for transport escort duty

the Escort TF's seem pretty effective as i've seen them sink several subs in the brisbane area

I've been wondering about this as well. I also wonder how it affects AA defense. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to having an additional Task Force escorting another? How does this affect the 10 ships or more Task goups having diminishing AA effectiveness?
Toy

[Moquia]

ORIGINAL: AmiralLaurent

If you have a CV TF with 4 CV, 4 CA and 10 DD and a CV is seriously hit and drops from the TF, at the end of the turn you will have two AirCombat TF, one with the damaged CV and a DD and teh other with all the other ships

Change the first TF (damaged CV) type to escort and then you can add all the ships you want to this TF and they will sail together to the nearer port.

If you don't change the type and add more DD and CA to the dmaaged CV's TF, all ships except one DD will leave the TF and sail their own way.

As for having escort TF being more efficient than surface TF, it seems to me that yes. IN UV I have seen sometimes transport TF being engaged before surface TF. In WITP my covering TF are always escort TF and always engage enemy surface TF before my tranport (if they are engaged at all). Also escort TF act as ASW TF in some way.

Hey thanks man, so much easier. I always thought you should create a separate escort TF to follow the small CV TF.

[MadDawg]

Guys, do note tht the Escort Task Force works nothing like how it is stated in the manual (at least, thats the impression Ive gotten from a couple of posts by the developers/beta testers).

From what i understand after reading these posts, its only used for escorting damaged ships when the damaged ship *and* the escorts are part of the group. For ASW operations such as the ones mentione above you would be better to have the DD's in the task force you are escorting than using an escort task force to follow them. A few tests I did seem to indicate this as I have surface groups attack my tranport groups *before* my escorts, whom avoided the combat altogether.

If you do a search you will find some posts from Mike and Frag on the matter I believe.

Dawg