Damn The Torpedoes - Detected Right off The Start

[reezing]

In the Damn The Torpedoes mission, USS Pharris starts off as detected and identified by the Soviets. They are also able to accurately track the Pharris (including precise heading & speed) without any of their ships or aircraft in detection range. Pharris was placed into passive emissions only at the beginning of the mission.

Is this intended? Is the best way to beat the mission simply to let Pharris sink as soon as possible so that the dreaded Backfire strikes never get off the ground?

On a side note, why is zip not allowed as an attachment in this subforum?

Edit: Pharris is set to auto-detectable by default! [&:]

[Randomizer]

I suspect that there may be one of two things going on here since USS Pharris is indeed set to "Auto detect ON".

1. This is intentional and is an aid for the Soviet AI to facilitate detecting and attacking the NATO force through Pharris;

or

2. This is an error in the scenario.

The fix (if you think it's broken) is easy enough but since I never actually play scenarios using the editor, I never caught this. CMANO scenario designers have many tools to try and achieve desired results and sometimes the sausage-making analogy is apt: don't examine the process, just enjoy the result.

-C

[ljdramone]

I suspect that there may be one of two things going on here since USS Pharris is indeed set to "Auto detect ON".

1. This is intentional and is an aid for the Soviet AI to facilitate detecting and attacking the NATO force through Pharris;

I think this is a nod to Tom Clancy's "Red Storm Rising". One of the main characters in the novel is the captain of USS Pharris, which is torpedoed and severely damaged early in the story.

[.Sirius]

ORIGINAL: ljdramone

I suspect that there may be one of two things going on here since USS Pharris is indeed set to "Auto detect ON".

1. This is intentional and is an aid for the Soviet AI to facilitate detecting and attacking the NATO force through Pharris;

I think this is a nod to Tom Clancy's "Red Storm Rising". One of the main characters in the novel is the captain of USS Pharris, which is torpedoed and severely damaged early in the story.

wow well guest

[Patmanaut]

Jah, Now I know why losing the Pharris and a García class FF early in the game to missiles launched by a Charlie SSGN wasn´t so bad and allowed me to reach Portsmouth safely.
I innocently believed that thanks to a tight EMCON / zero emission for everyone but the Tracers was what saved my bacon.

In my first try the convoy was obliterated by a kitchen rain.

[dvresic]

Damn, you did it in 2 tries?
It took me about 7 or 8 due to the 25 Backfires raining Vampires on my convoy that couldn't be intercepted by the RIMS.

[AlabamaExile]

The name of this scenario should really be changed from "Damn the Torpedoes" to "Damn the Kitchens". After multiple tries I am about ready to give up. The subs I can deal with, but I haven't yet found a way to counter the Backfire strikes. I have been able to intercept all of the Bears over 250 nm from the convoy and have all convoy emissions other than sonar turned off but they still know right where the convoy is located. The only thing I can come up with is that there is a sub I haven't spotted which is able to transmit my location.

I would love to hear some tips on how to finish this scenario. I had major victories or better on the initial try with the first seven scenarios, but this one is killing me. I am not sure I am masochistic enough to try it again.

[erwinuri]

It's been a while since I last played it, but if I remember well you have plenty of time to take a detour south. This will decrease chances of being spotted by Bears.
Also, check that all sonars are in passive. This NI scenarios have the bad habit of setting them on since the start, and you won't hear shit with hull mounted sonars in the 70s. Losing USS Pharris also helps, as it removes the spotlight for all Soviet missiles.
Good luck!

[ljdramone]

Yup, the one weird trick to this scenario is to lose USS Pharris. Since Pharris is autodetected by the Soviets, the Backfire raids will close to within range of Pharris, then light up their search radars, detect the convoy, and start firing Kitchens.

I managed to destroy the first raid and splash most of the second raid with Lexington's Skyhawks. I thought I had a pretty good chance of making it to port with some of the convoy, then the third raid showed up.

Oh well, at least the convoy escorts survived.