Japanese submarines

[CHINCHIN]

I am playing my first game as an ally against the AI, I will have played about 12 turns, and Japan has already lost 3 submarines attacking convoys. Has it happened to you? It is normal?

[sveint]

Just park them. Use them to break blockades to islands or to blockade tiny islands.

[gwgardner]

ORIGINAL: CHINCHIN

I am playing my first game as an ally against the AI, I will have played about 12 turns, and Japan has already lost 3 submarines attacking convoys. Has it happened to you? It is normal?

It has happened to me many times. But did they take out any merchant transports, did they do their job before getting caught?

[stjeand]

Yes...my first turn I lost 3 subs took out 0 MS...they are junk.

Stack them all and pray.


I think they are better to be used as warning bouys.

[AlvaroSousa]

Sub attacks on convoys should be done in stacks of 5.

[YueJin]

Yeah, stack subs in groups of 3+ and they do terrifying work. The AI was fairly incompetent at countering them but by 1943 I'd sunk Japan's entire merchant marine with 12 sub groups. The Japanese ones are a bit harder to use I think as it's difficult to amass as many as the allies can but use them all together in a big group cycling out ones that need repairs and they should do serious damage even against a human.

[stjeand]

Well since the Japanese only have 5 subs...I guess that is their one stack.

For me I just use the CVs...they sank 18 MS on turn 3...You just have to be sure to rotate a new ship in so that it does not say it is your CVs attacking.

[CHINCHIN]

Ok, so it's normal. I stack 3 US subs and they don't sink many MM but survive with hardly any casualties.

[YueJin]

Throughout 1941-43 US subs have terrible combat values to reflect the disastrous failings of the torpedo. In the late war they become a force to be reckoned with. As the allies, getting the UK to build sub groups is the best way to have a viable early war sub flotilla.

[AlvaroSousa]

Depends on the player. Depends on the # of escorts, depends on luck.

Generally I use 1 sub at full strength to lure off escorts in another zone. While keeping a max stack in the place I want to hit. Then I might rotate them next turn. If the Allies are not fully loaded in every sea zone with max escorts they have to spread them around or make an operational decision where to put 10-11 and where to put 2-3 if they are that imbalanced for example.