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Manual Page 58:

"If ships are docked or disbanded they will be easier to hit and more vulnerable to hit by attacking aircraft. "

It seems to me that ships are hit less in port and actually safer and less vulnerable.

Whenever I attack ships in port I can attack them forever and ever with aircraft getting few hits and they will never sink. I would rather attack a fleet in open water anytime over attacking ships in port.

Seems like ports are too easy a place to escape, hide, and be protected. And to top it off then you can also magically disappear to pearl or tokyo. Anyone else agree that ships in port should be even more vulnerable in this game???

Not sure if I agree with you.....
Playing the Allied side I've bombed a lot of Jap ships in anchor at GG, Rabaul and Shortland. Hit everything from BB's and CV's to AG's.

Betties and Nells have made havoc on ships anchored in Australian harbours as well.

While the ships don't usually sink, this got a natural reason. Damage repair facilties are much more available and efficient for ships in port than for ships at sea.

Have you tried toggling between day/night attacks from different altitudes?
Make sure your bombers are high on morale and low on fatigue as well.

The reason you're having so much trouble SINKING a ship in port is because, the way you SINK a ship is thru the accumlation of floation damage. When a ship gets beyond 99 floatation damage, it sinks. Floatiation damage is (relatively) easily repaired. So in order to push that number beyond 99 (to sink the ship), it's VERY difficult, because you're also fighting the auto-repair facilities. Consider the fact that, of the 8 BBs at Pearl Harbor on 12-07-1941, 7 were sunk or crippled (Nevada being the only not seriously damaged). But of those 7, all but Arizona were raised and repaired. Now, the ports in UV aren't even remotely comperable to Pearl Harbor, but you get the point.

Bombing ships in port is useful tho. You can turn the ship into a wreck by increasing it's System Damage to 99. Even when all the holes in the hull are patched, it's still going to have massive System Damage (which repairs VERY slowly). The ship is now "stuck" in port, because it's too damaged to go anywhere, or too risky to send it out. Granted, you're not getting points for beating the ship into an inch of sinking however.

Feinder wrote:The reason you're having so much trouble SINKING a ship in port is because, the way you SINK a ship is thru the accumlation of floation damage. When a ship gets beyond 99 floatation damage, it sinks. Floatiation damage is (relatively) easily repaired. So in order to push that number beyond 99 (to sink the ship), it's VERY difficult, because you're also fighting the auto-repair facilities. Consider the fact that, of the 8 BBs at Pearl Harbor on 12-07-1941, 7 were sunk or crippled (Nevada being the only not seriously damaged). But of those 7, all but Arizona were raised and repaired. Now, the ports in UV aren't even remotely comperable to Pearl Harbor, but you get the point.

Bombing ships in port is useful tho. You can turn the ship into a wreck by increasing it's System Damage to 99. Even when all the holes in the hull are patched, it's still going to have massive System Damage (which repairs VERY slowly). The ship is now "stuck" in port, because it's too damaged to go anywhere, or too risky to send it out. Granted, you're not getting points for beating the ship into an inch of sinking however.

At least a damaged ship in a port other than Noumea has a chance of sinking on the way to Noumea but a damaged ship in Noumea is on an automatic trip to Pearl no matter what the flotation damage.

Drex wrote:At least a damaged ship in a port other than Noumea has a chance of sinking on the way to Noumea but a damaged ship in Noumea is on an automatic trip to Pearl no matter what the flotation damage.

Have to say the is a little gamey, it would be better is you had to hold them in Noumea or truk until the floatation damage had dropped to a safe level before you returned them.

I have saved cv's this way, they have just about limped into port and would have sunk had they not been sent straight back.

Bobthehatchit wrote:Have to say the is a little gamey, it would be better is you had to hold them in Noumea or truk until the floatation damage had dropped to a safe level before you returned them.

I have saved cv's this way, they have just about limped into port and would have sunk had they not been sent straight back.

The solution for the Noumean "wormhole' would be to provide an "exit hex" to send the ships to Pearl or Truk. Of course this wouold allow the Japanese to camp outside Noumea with 10CVs and sink every ship in the USN.

Drex wrote:The solution for the Noumean "wormhole' would be to provide an "exit hex" to send the ships to Pearl or Truk. Of course this wouold allow the Japanese to camp outside Noumea with 10CVs and sink every ship in the USN.

Was thinkin more along the line of graying out the return to pearl/japan if the floation damage was above a certain level. Sys damage does not count really as a tug or two could haul a disabled ship back to pearl for repairs.