Matrix Games Forums

OK what TF order do you give to DD's escorting a convoy? Do you place some in the TF and some follow as ASW?
Does the Convoy follow the DD's on ASW? Should I set a reaction range? If so how much of a reaction.

Edit - ok the same for a CV group. What is your favorite composition to protect the flatops.

Thanks

I always put the DDs AND the merchants into the same TF.... remember the hex represents 40 nautical miles across...that's a LOT of ocean, if the ASW TF doesn't "see" the sub (which is a dice roll and could be a very probable outcome) then your merchantmen are cooked.... The way to make sure your ASW assets are "in the game" and protecting their charge, is to put them all into the same TF. If the escort is heavy, there is a strong likelihood (again dice rolls come into this) that the sub will not be able to acquire a "solution" and thus a hit on the merchants. AND if you're playing the allies, the Jap sub captains will almost certainly go after the escorts and NOT your merchants, which can be a real blessing..... especially if the merchants are troop carriers.

Subs going after escorts seems to be the same for both sides: if the escort captain is competent he will almost always be in position to protect his convoy so the only shot the sub will have is at the escort. I don't think the sub captains actually prefer to attack escorts.

For nearly the first year of the game the Allies do not have enough escorts to put some in the merchant TF plus have an ASW TF accompany it. However, for very valuable TFs like your CVs and troop transport/amphib TFs, it is good to have some ASW TFs in the same hex. Best practice is to create the ASW TF FIRST, because the lowest numbered TF is the first to be resolved for possible combat - i.e. it will then have the first chance to intercept the enemy sub.

I don't know whether it makes a difference to have the ASW TF follow the main one or vice-versa, but for SCTFs it seems to be better to have the SCTF lead and the sheep follow, so I do the same with ASW and sheep.

ok thanks guys.....SCTF? is that a sub chaser task force?

Surface Combat Task Force.

Ah right silly me!

hi, everybody, I am playing the Guadalcanal scenario. As usual, I am allies, my opponent is my friend. I successfully controlled Lunga and Tulaghi, but my reinforcement ships with supplies and fuel suffered from a heavy strike from landbased bombers and KB's carrier bombers. So if I put screening vessels into the transport fleet, will that help? Can a CV transfer into such a group too?

You can put CVEs in transport TFs, but you can't put CVs. It would restrict them quite a bit to put a ship that relies on speed for part of it's safety in a TF with ships that can go only 1/3 to 1/2 the speed. If you want to cover a transport TF with CVs, create a CV task force and set it to follow the transports. Probably best to keep the CVs at least a hex away. CAP over a CV TF will cover adjoining hexes, but if you want some dedicated protection you can assign some fighters from the CV TF to LRCAP over the transports.

Bill

ORIGINAL: falcon2006

hi, everybody, I am playing the Guadalcanal scenario. As usual, I am allies, my opponent is my friend. I successfully controlled Lunga and Tulaghi, but my reinforcement ships with supplies and fuel suffered from a heavy strike from landbased bombers and KB's carrier bombers. So if I put screening vessels into the transport fleet, will that help? Can a CV transfer into such a group too?

Pages 280-284 of manual list which types of task forces each ship type can join.

Alfred

with Japanese sub douctrine ON AI will engage war vessels most of time, at PBEM I always play with this set as OFF and jap subs are so deadly to merchant vessels as the allied ones;

ORIGINAL: Vipersp

with Japanese sub douctrine ON AI will engage war vessels most of time, at PBEM I always play with this set as OFF and jap subs are so deadly to merchant vessels as the allied ones;

There is no Japanese sub doctrine toggle in AE. So if you are playing with one set as "OFF", you are not playing AE but its predecessor classical WITP. There are very significant differences between the two games which impact on how they play.

Alfred

ORIGINAL: Alfred

ORIGINAL: Vipersp

with Japanese sub douctrine ON AI will engage war vessels most of time, at PBEM I always play with this set as OFF and jap subs are so deadly to merchant vessels as the allied ones;

There is no Japanese sub doctrine toggle in AE. So if you are playing with one set as "OFF", you are not playing AE but its predecessor classical WITP. There are very significant differences between the two games which impact on how they play.

Alfred

Oops my apoligizes! that's right;

Well, 1942 it is great to have one lowly PC escorting a convoy. DDs are pretty scarce and I don't like to waste them that way. But one escort of any type will greatly reduce successful sub attacks. Actually, DMS and APDs work fine as convoy escorts during the lean times.

Later, the ideal situation is to have some SC or DE escorting the convoy. If it is an important convoy or you have combat ships going into sub infested waters then I use DDs in my dedicated ASW TFs (in spite of the power of DEs the higher exp of DDs is what kills subs) I do not set them to follow or lead but try to set up one or two ASW patrol zones around the escorted TFs path with a reaction range of 2 or 3. If you got air search, the ASW TFs will react to the subs and do a fair job of killing them. Also, if you can spare an avenger group on a carrier or CVE, put it on 80% ASW and set the range to zero. If they have good ASW experience they will attack the hell out of any sub that ends up in your TF's hex. The sub might get a hit but the higher DL on them and the presence of escorts greatly lowers that chance and the aircraft set to zero range will spot and attack the sub over and over again. Unless the Japanese player is very cautious about using subs the Allied player should have eliminated the bulk of the Japanese sub force by mid 43.