Matrix Games Forums

Hi, Just wondered if someone might be able to shed some light on the combat messages that flash by in the combat animation screen. e.g. When my Destroyers are attacking a submarine I see a messages such as "submarine is taking on water" or "fires in the control room" etc. Why are those messages even showing as surely the allies have no way of knowing what is actually happening to the submarine under water? Even the final combat report makes no mention of this - only informing of the number of possible hits. I can't realistically believe those messages now can I due to the inherent FOW. Can someone tell me the relevance of these messages?

Thanks
ra

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ORIGINAL: ra2508

Hi, Just wondered if someone might be able to shed some light on the combat messages that flash by in the combat animation screen. e.g. When my Destroyers are attacking a submarine I see a messages such as "submarine is taking on water" or "fires in the control room" etc. Why are those messages even showing as surely the allies have no way of knowing what is actually happening to the submarine under water? Even the final combat report makes no mention of this - only informing of the number of possible hits. I can't realistically believe those messages now can I due to the inherent FOW. Can someone tell me the relevance of these messages?

Thanks
ra

Hiya ra,

ASW reports are somewhat useful in gauging the extent of damage inflicted upon enemy submarines. Of course the vast majority of them are "Type 2 DC rattles conning tower" or some such. No damage inflicted with these reports. Reports such as "near miss causes submarine to take on water" or "causes oil leak" may not be realistic for the ASW crew to know, but they are indicative of minor damage. You need to stack 10-15 of these up to put the submarine into danger of sinking.

The good hits are something like "Type 2 DC hits SS Goindown. Severe Damage. Fires in galley." It only takes a couple of these to put the ship in danger of sinking or to cause it to surface. These are believeable, as there is a good correlation between the number of "severe direct hits" and the submarine needing to surface, IMO.

Could a good sonar crew detect a good hit and report it? Dunno. Would a DC hit to the side of the ship sound different than one forward or aft? Would they be able to know that it hit the conning tower versus a forward torpedo tube? Probably not. Does it add to the suspense of the moment? Yes-I think so.

Personally, I like it. It adds to the ambiance of ASW and makes it what it is in AE-a game within a game.

The air reports can help a LOT with understanding what changes if any you need to make in your follow on strikes and for better understanding how your opponent is defending.  I'm not that good at deciphering them.  LoBaron is a master.  Read his thread on it.

Better they are all taken out , unless you can see , debris, oil on the surface.

Yes, the debris on the surface message is the only one I have any real faith in. Anyway thanks for responses much appreciated.

I don't know about that given how many times the old 'fake deris on the surface' ploy is used in submarine movies.[:D]

I only belive in the "forced to surface" and the followed sinking messages (if hit enough) and the explosion under water messages for sinking subs. Not even sure on the second one, but it sounds bad.