PT boats?

[BigJoe417]

Hi,

How do you create barges and Pts and what do you do with them once you get em?

Thanks,
Joe

Oh also, what good are SC sub chasers.. seems to me the jap subs are doin all the chasing and my sc's are doing all the swimming.

[HawaiiFive-O]

The first I can answer definitively as I've done it. Load up any cargo vessel with supplies at Truk/Noumea/Brisbane. Move it where you want to build the PT/Barge. Once there, provided you have enough supplies, you'll see the "Activate Barges"/"Activate PT Boats" selection on the TF menu lit up. Click it then close the menu and the barges/PT boats will automatically appear.

Supply costs are: 50 per PT, 35 per Large Barge, 25 per LCM, 20 per Small Barge, and 10 per LCVP.

As far as the second goes, keep in mind that I've only been playing for a short time, but what works for me is including at least one SC in each ASW hunter/killer group. Because it is likely the slowest ship it will be the one targeted by the Japanese sub. I am happy to trade a 1 VP SC versus a 10+ VP DD- and you might bag the sub in the exchange.

I hope it never gets back to my SC commanders that I consider them nothing more than bait for the IJN submarine fleet.

This is with Japanese sub doctrine on, so clearly they'll still take shots at SCs with this setting.

[denisonh]

Sub chasers don't do well until their experience gets over 50 (night experience).

Once there, they wil attack subs.

The best way to get them there is form them up as a surface combat TF at the begining of the game, then set them to patrol the hex where Noumea is.

They will go to port when they fuel, so then just put them back out.

Over time, their experience increases.

[Gabby]

After you create the PT TF be sure to go into the TF screen and set the new PT TF's home port to the port where you want them. Otherwise they will have there home port set to Noumuea, Brisbane, and begin sailing there. Before I learned this it seemed that by the time I turned the PT TF back they were almost out of fuel and took forever to get back.

Also make sure you have fuel available at the new PT base, or else the PT's will soon be Dead in the water.

[entemedor]

BTW, has anyone found PTs or barges used by the AI? Six months into Scen 17 (IJN against AI), I have yet to find a single PT despite roaming the Australian coast up and down and having made several raids around Noumea. Either the AI is generating very few PTs, or none at all.

Gosh, what a lovely game...

Entemedor

[SoulBlazer]

I'm just wondering if anyone else has any luck with their PT boats.

I'm in a game with Drex right now and I use my PT boats to guard Lunga and Tulagi. A game month ago he came down with some BB's and I got a torpedo hit on the Hunaga. Bad enough, confirmed by him, to send her back to Japan.

And then just today the Yamato, Musashi, and three BB's came down to try again, and this time I got a torpedo hit on the Musashi, hopefully bad enough to also send her back.

I think Drex hates them by now.

[Karrick]

disrupting fast convoys and bombardmeny groups...in one encounter they put 2 torps into the Hiei....you will lose a few...but they were expendible after all.....I use them to defend my forward bases....and raid the enemies forward base...they can wreck a tranport TF (if poorly defended). put them on patrol so they buildup there night experience.. and they will work just fine...


Karrick

[pasternakski]

Originally posted by entemedor
BTW, has anyone found PTs or barges used by the AI? Six months into Scen 17 (IJN against AI), I have yet to find a single PT despite roaming the Australian coast up and down and having made several raids around Noumea. Either the AI is generating very few PTs, or none at all.

Gosh, what a lovely game...

Entemedor

The Allies don't get any PT boats until almost the end of 1942, and they don't build up very fast in numbers, although you can get 3-4 groups of a dozen into operation by early '43. "Barges" don't arrive until close to spring of '43. You get a fair number, but nothing like the hordes of waterbugs the IJN can create. I often wonder how accurate this is ...

[entemedor]

Yes, there is no problem for the IJN. At first my convoys trying to reach Lae suffered heavily from Moresby planes, so now I have most convoys arrive at Wewak and from there I have a supply shuttle involving almost 100 barges, all the way down to Lae and Salamaua. This also wears down the Allied fighter-bomber squadrons in endless small strikes on barges, they sink a few but there is no problem replacing them.

Entemedor