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The disadvantage to your opponant is that by mixing non-PT boats in with the PT boats your AC will now attack both. PT only TFs can only be straffed by fighters. If they are mixed with any other ships they will be attacked like a regular ship.

Is this true? I have seen 'PT boat' squadrons of CL, DD, even BC, and my AC refuse to attack at all. A great tactic for 'evacuating' ships from PI in the first few turns. The only time the AC attack is after the squadron has been engaged by a surface fleet and the non pt boat units are damaged and break of into regular surface combat TFs to withdraw. 
 
Very frustrationg when force Z turns my invasion fleet into scrap metal, and my AC do nothing but smile and wave because the TF is officially 'PT boats'. 

The problem seems to stem from the querty enginge or code that they used to show what ships can be picked from when you click one of the TF Type buttons when creating a new TF at bases.
 
As for using ACs against PT boats.  We're talking about a bomber that's traveling at around 210 mph trying to drop a 250Kg bomb on a 30' boat that's traveling at 20+ knots (around 30 mph) or better and basically was a Ferrari on water at the time.  As noted, fighters can hit them when strafing at 100' on Naval Attack missions.  

So let me get this straight....
 
Level bombers will ONLY attack a 'PT-boat' TF if their alt is set at 200' or lower - regardless of what ships are ACTUALLY in the TF? So if i create a squadron of 'pt-boats' including BB, BC, CA, CL, DD, etc (but NO actual PT boats) they will be ignored by level bombers unless the alt is 200'. AND, if the bomber altitude IS set to 200' the planes will be obliterated by the AA guns on all the heavies.
 
And what is more.... my opponent will NEVER know it is officially a PT-boat TF because it does not contain ANY PT-boats - he will just assume his bombers 'chose' not to attack.
 
Perfect.
 
Anyone for PBEM???
 
Now that has got to be THE gamey-est tactic discovered yet.

Wait a minute here. I thought that it was hard-coded that PT TFs could only contain PT-type ships. You can include PTs in other TF types but only PTs could be in a PT TF. How wrong am I?

what i know is:

PTs in PT flotilla will be attacked ONLY with fighers set on naval attack on 100 ft

PTs mixed with other types of ships (let's say : one DD and 5 PTs will be attacked with LBA set on common torpedo altitude and range:)

16 x Betty attacked:

DD Gamey
PT-He he i got you, torp 1, on fire
PT-I worth only one point
PT-I don't care i have 300 PTs in the pool, torp 2, heavy damage (SINKS)
PT-I can repelnish my PTs and sail from base to base
PT-what is so gamey about that???

Onime, yes, you can add PTs to BBs CAs etc....

Sgt Swanson - PTs in the US Navy were actaully 70-80' long, not 30'.

What I find interesting is that the opening posts here did not support the assumption that including other ships in the PTs TF will allow the PTs to "slam torpedo after torpedo" unimpeded into enemy shipping. I looks like all those PTS scored a single torpedo hit in two encounters... tempest in a teapot anyone?

Except that my surface combat tfs would not fire any shells at the PTs. So the assumption is that one non PT with a bunch of PTs would allow all of the PTs to be invisable and not targetable.

ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK

I always wonder how one PT boat could take 3 torps?


The only answers i can conclude is " simultaneously" or " bouncing rubble" [:D]

The accuracy of ordinance, especially air dropped because of the universally maxed out experience levels of the pilots, is off the scale. That is why PTs are hit (despite the fact that a torpedo would generally run under them harmlessly IRL if they even managd to intersect the PTs path). Then again, JFK managed to get struck by a destroyer so who knows, eh?[8D]