Merchant raiding - how to do it?

[BlackVoid]

As Japan (against the AI in a practise game), I tried to put a few small TFs south of the PI on Patrol/Do not retire with a max react range of 4-6.

The goal would be to attack fleeing merchant shipping. So far not much success. How can you intercept convoys? Do I need ships with patrol aircraft/radar, or is it just not possible?

[janushm]

since they will probably be fleeing to the DEI ...set up a blockade...CL/CA's plus destroyers...and....BETTIES you should know what a torpedo does to anything from and AK to a CA..and anyway. the ships there arent much of a treath...the only ones that will be able to hurt you are the PT's and the Houston..if they arent spotted that is. and.. air recon...always. deploy a couple of Mavis squads in range or let your bombers do the recon.

[RUPD3658]

Open sea intercepts are rare. A better way is to go into a base where you suspect a TF will be.

I have done this several times as the Allies to intercept Jap landing forces and supply convoys.

[dtravel]

Max React for Surface Combat TFs only works to send the TF to a friendly base within that range that is under naval attack or invasion. It does not cause the TF to "react" to enemy TFs at sea.

[Onime No Kyo]

ORIGINAL: RUPD3658

Open sea intercepts are rare. A better way is to go into a base where you suspect a TF will be.

I have done this several times as the Allies to intercept Jap landing forces and supply convoys.

I'll go with RUPD on this one. I find that as counterintuitive as it may seem, it is much easier to raid commerce once the situation has stabilized. That way you can sent out a strong force of searchplanes, pinpoint enemy movements and (hopefully!) be close enough to react. Not surprisingly, the easiest places to do this is in the Solomons and southern SRA area. In one of my earlier "15s" as Japan I even tried deploying CVs and CA hunter/killer groups to the SRA to head off the stuff coming out of PI. The results were very dissapointing. I did not get much opposition from ABDA, but I didnt have much success against the merchies either. Unfortunately, there just doesnt seem to be a mechanism to facilitate this in the game. Any open water intercepts would be purely by chance, and a longshot at that.

[rtrapasso]

Only luck I've had at intercepting is to get pretty close. If the convoy is spotted, it will generally tell speed and direction of travel. Then MANUALLY have your task force get to a spot you figure they will travel through. Good Luck!

[janushm]

maybe an intercept option for movement? a variation on follow TF

[Onime No Kyo]

Good idea but I think it would be DOA. People have been proposing things like that since before release. The counterargument was that it is virtually impossible to intercept an enemy TF in open water if it doesnt want to be found. No harm in trying though.

[Milman]

Only luck I've had at intercepting is to get pretty close. If the convoy is spotted, it will generally tell speed and direction of travel. Then MANUALLY have your task force get to a spot you figure they will travel through. Good Luck

This is only way . AP/AK can go only 2 hex and you can send 2 or 3 small TF on SC on diferent hexes which you suspect it will be on AK/AP route .

[steveh11Matrix]

Ideal use for Light Carriers, or longer ranged LBA?

Stee.

[Xargun]

ORIGINAL: steveh11Matrix

Ideal use for Light Carriers, or longer ranged LBA?

Stee.

The easiest way is to use your baby CVs - CVEs and CVLs. They can move decent speed and strike anything within 5 hexes once its spotted. If you are chasing merchant ships you can also use small TFs of 4 or so DDs and GUESS where the ship is moving to... Allied Merchies can usually move 4 hexes per day and if you know which way they are heading, jump ahead of them and wait in the hex - if they end their turn in your hex you have a good chance of attacking them...

I have used both methods in my games to good results... although the first is by far the better and easier to make work...

Xargun

[BlackVoid]

My goal is not so much merchies, rather the more valuable ships: AS, AD, AV, etc.
And points...

[BlackVoid]

Thanks for the tips.

[UncleBuck]

If operating in the DEI/PI don't forget to use Choke Points. Get sighting reports, and plot the movements. Then use the Choke points between islands to make your chances better. I have had this work as Allies in Early 1942. I quit trying to oppose Landings as that usually hurts a great deal. I have however crushed several invasion fleets trying to get to Timor and Kendari, well before Kendari fell. If Japanese and not using sub-doctrine, put them in the choke points as well. If Allied Put your subs in teh chokepoints around the islands. You may lose some S boats, but you will get contacts and hits.

UB

[von Murrin]

Use the TF rollover info to determine heading. Once you have that, take an SC TF and place it two hexes out. Worst case is a 50% chance of catching the TF.[;)]

[Ron Saueracker]

Only way you could get a TF to react at sea is if they made a Task Group formation which behaved as a mobile home port for TFs assigned to it. In this case, this would be the Sea Control TG.

[Nikademus]

Even KB can make a good tool for this kind of delayed mopping up. In the last 2day AAR i did i caught up with a large # of those extracated AK types sitting merrily at Brisbane using KB. The carnage was glorious. Course i'm sure they were all unloaded but at least Kid wouldnt have abundant shipping avail for future troop movements [:'(]

[Cav Trooper]

I have had considerable success with Raiders using the following tactic.

1- CVE or CVL scouting around, usually two, one with DB's or TB's and the other with Fighters for CAP. Radius 5 and watch just how close I get to enemy bases capable of sorting LBA.

2. 2 CA's and 4 DD's per TF, usually two or Three Heavy TF's, and a couple of DD TF's for ASW and interdiction efforts around the Heavies.

3. Locate the enemy TF's by air, and then figure out speed and direction. Once I've done that, I then proceed to step 4.

4. Manuever my CA TF's to behind the enemy TF, and run them from behind in the direction of where the Enemy TF is going. Usually, due to the CA TF's superior speed, they over run the enemy TF at some point. Once intercepted, I then watch them mangle the enemy TF's. Once disengaged, I then either: rinse and repeat in the opposite direction, run a DD TF the same way through the now damaged TF or I try to use a spot intercept.

Using this tactic, I've upper the interception rate a considerable amount, over guessing where the TF is going to be.Also bagged a number of subs this way also. However, I did lose 1 CA, 3 DD's sunk, with the other CA heavily damaged when I had some rookie pilot misidentify the type of escorting ship (can we say Fog of War, or 20/400 eyeglasses???) and the TF had 3 CA's and a BB as escort, plus a number of DD's?? Learned alot from that one. As for Raiding the port, well I've been handed my destroyers back to me as scrap heaps also, when enemy BB's and CA's were not reported in Port (10 ships in port)specifically and well, the mayhem is too hard to describe here....



Just my thoughts on how to do it...