Allied Sub's.

[armorthe]

We have been playing the full size version of UV for quite a while now. We are using the Japanese sub's attack anything option. Up until several turns ago, my Allied sub's would attack japanese shipping that might appear in the area of the sub. The pop up combat would show the enemy vessel, and my sub would take a shot at it. I would hit it, or mostly miss, and then be searched for, or attacked, by whatever screening vessels happened to be in the same task force. No problem.
However, in the last 6 turns or so, my subs have not attacked anything in the same hex with them. The combat pop up appears showing no enemy vessel, just the background box, and my sub is then searched for by the enemy ships in the hex.
We are up to July 19th in the game, and I have never seen this before, much less the last 6 turns in a row. Is this normal?

Regard's, Ralph

[Miller]

The short answer is yes.....what you describe happening represents when a sub is picked up on sonar or otherwise sighted by an escort before it gets into a position to fire its torpedoes.

Only your s-boat subs are useful before 43 as the bigger boats have very unreliable torpedoes hence their high miss rate (this is better modelled in WITP where it tells you if a dud hit occurs, in UV it is only classed as a miss).

[armorthe]

Thank you for the reply.

It makes sense to me. I just have not seen it before, in the previous 2 1/2 months worth of turns. Much less 6 turns in a row. I am aware of the U.S. dud torpedo problem, but I did not know that S boats had different torpedoes than fleet boats. They have indeed been more effective.

Regard's, Ralph

[TAIL GUNNER]

I think alot of it also has to do with whether or not you sub has been spotted by aircraft....subs spotted have a tendency to attack less and are more likely to be attacked by enemy escorts....

A simple rule is to always move your sub after it's been spotted by air...

Chad

[rogueusmc]

What they said...[:D]

and one other thing...higher system damage and shallow water both make for more attacks on your boats.

[armorthe]

Ah Haa!

Excellent insight and advice.

Thanks All.

Ralph

[CMDRMCTOAST]

Another tactic is to Put several subs close too the
choke point or hex you want to patrol and
then every turn move the subs thru the hex in
several directions and just keep criss crossing the
hex, works well especially if you can have several
subs criusing in the same direction as the shipping .
serves several purposes:
1: keeps the subs moving and less detectable
2:allows for more sightings and contacts of shiping in several hexes
3:will allow for multiple attacks on a convoy if your sub by chance is
traveling in the same direction as the convoy.
Parking subs gets them sunk..