Question about tactical responses

[Saffron]

I'm playing the Intro scenario as the US, and I have a fleet of 1 BB, 1 CV, 1 CA and several escorts on an offensive patrol mission. That fleet found a juicy target of a few escorts and some merchant ships. When the tactical response message popped up, I told the fleet to intercept.

The problem is that the commander of the patrol keeps saying that the enemy has been sighted and then something like, "My fleet has not be sighted. We are disengaging to avoid being sighted." Then I get another tactical response message, I repeat the order, and my fleet sights the enemy again, disengages again ... and the process keeps repeating.

I'm not sure why my fleet isn't attacking ... it's acting like it's on a shadowing mission rather than an intercept.

Another thing that's strange is that, even though the commander says the enemy was sighted, the reliability is always 49%. If the fleet was actually eyeballed, wouldn't it be closer to 100%

Oh, and the weather is clear.

[tony_glazebrook]

I'm playing the Intro scenario as the US, and I have a fleet of 1 BB, 1 CV, 1 CA and several escorts on an offensive patrol mission. That fleet found a juicy target of a few escorts and some merchant ships. When the tactical response message popped up, I told the fleet to intercept.

The problem is that the commander of the patrol keeps saying that the enemy has been sighted and then something like, "My fleet has not be sighted. We are disengaging to avoid being sighted." Then I get another tactical response message, I repeat the order, and my fleet sights the enemy again, disengages again ... and the process keeps repeating.

I'm not sure why my fleet isn't attacking ... it's acting like it's on a shadowing mission rather than an intercept.

Another thing that's strange is that, even though the commander says the enemy was sighted, the reliability is always 49%. If the fleet was actually eyeballed, wouldn't it be closer to 100%

Oh, and the weather is clear.

Saffron - the tac override order to intercept or avoid etc is still a high level command; the fleet commander follows this, but he also has his rules of engagement. If, in his assessment of what is known of the particular enemy fleet, his RoE make it more sensible for him to disengage before combat, he will do so if he can (ie if he has the sighting advantage).

The RoE are set up by your 2IC or by you when missions are automatically or manually created. At the moment, RoE cannot be changed on the fly. I'll add this to the mix (over on the Special Requests thread) as I think this would be relatively easy to do AND be a nice little extra tac feature.

As to the 49%, there are some rules around assessing the reliability of the info, which depends on certain factors. Even if a sighting is current, other factors may put a limit on the reliability. Remember - the report is not just about the location, but also the composition, heading and speed.

I have been conservative with the reliability figures. How many instances were there of incorrect intel, which at the time those reporting would probably have sworn on a stack of bibles about. Even an aerial sighting in clear weather could misjudge the size and composition of a fleet, not to mention its speed. The training of the crew (a/c or ship etc) that is doing the observing is also factored in.

[Saffron]

Thanks, Tony ... got another question:

I'm trying to create my own convoy mission with 4 escorts and 5 merchants. I've created the fleet, and it is available as a selection on the theater map. When I select it, the fleet info box appears at the bottom of the screen with the appropriate ships listed.

However, according to the help files, when I select a fleet, I should get a bunch of options on the right side of the map -- things like cruising speed, loading orders, hex labeling options, etc.

Problem is, when I select my fleet, I don't get any of those options. The right side of the map remains blank.

Not sure what I'm doing wrong. I managed to get those options before, but I had to delete the fleet and start from scratch due to a blunder ... and now that I've recreated the fleet, I can't get those options again.

[tony_glazebrook]

Thanks, Tony ... got another question:

I'm trying to create my own convoy mission with 4 escorts and 5 merchants. I've created the fleet, and it is available as a selection on the theater map. When I select it, the fleet info box appears at the bottom of the screen with the appropriate ships listed.

However, according to the help files, when I select a fleet, I should get a bunch of options on the right side of the map -- things like cruising speed, loading orders, hex labeling options, etc.

Problem is, when I select my fleet, I don't get any of those options. The right side of the map remains blank.

Not sure what I'm doing wrong. I managed to get those options before, but I had to delete the fleet and start from scratch due to a blunder ... and now that I've recreated the fleet, I can't get those options again.

Saffron - you probably have the 'drag' tick box ticked. This needs to be unticked in order to enter fleet routes etc o the map (and to see the associated commands on the right).

Reason for this is simple - the game needs to understand what a mouse click means. In drag mode, when you click, it just means - this is the start of where I am dragging the map from.

In non drag mode, it means - this is where I next want to send my selected fleet to.

Note - any time you zoom in or out, the drag tick box gets ticked automatically. This is because the computer assumes that when you zoom in or out you probbaly need first to relocate your view before doing anything serious.

I hope this helps, and is the answer to your problem...

This is covered in the help files but I know how easy it is to miss or forget stuff when the help files are that big. I had a running joke with Scott, one of the seior beta testers, about finding things in the help files :-)

If this does not fix the problem pls let me know asap.

Regards

[Saffron]

Yep that fixed it ... I was really scratching my head on that one. The big problem with the help files isn't necessarily finding the info, but remembering that you found and read it. So often I read about something and think, "Well, I'd never be dumb enough to do that" and forget about it ... and then happily do precisely what I said I never would. :D

One question about subs ...

I had an Iowa BB alone in a fleet just to move it from Pearl to Darwin. I kept getting tac response boxes for 4 large submarines ... and I'm thinking "Err, how is a BB detecting submarines and why is my 21C recommending I intercept them?"

So the question is ... are subs surfaced by default and thus attack-able by BBs?

[tony_glazebrook]

Yep that fixed it ... I was really scratching my head on that one. The big problem with the help files isn't necessarily finding the info, but remembering that you found and read it. So often I read about something and think, "Well, I'd never be dumb enough to do that" and forget about it ... and then happily do precisely what I said I never would. :D

One question about subs ...

I had an Iowa BB alone in a fleet just to move it from Pearl to Darwin. I kept getting tac response boxes for 4 large submarines ... and I'm thinking "Err, how is a BB detecting submarines and why is my 21C recommending I intercept them?"

So the question is ... are subs surfaced by default and thus attack-able by BBs?

Saffron - subs are surfaced by default.

Until they attack they can be sighted like other surface vessels, ie by radar, caostwatcher, visual sightings from fleets, aerail sightings from any land-based or carrier a/c or float plans in the area.

From memory, the enemy sighting popup says where the sighting report was from. I could be wrong. It's been a longish day...:-)

[tony_glazebrook]

Saffron - subs are surfaced by default.

Until they attack they can be sighted like other surface vessels, ie by radar, caostwatcher, visual sightings from fleets, aerail sightings from any land-based or carrier a/c or float plans in the area.

From memory, the enemy sighting popup says where the sighting report was from. I could be wrong. It's been a longish day...:-)

PS - no, subs can't be attacked by BBs, or any surface vessel other than escorts, end then only during an engagement which the subs have initiated.

Subs can also be detected by aircraft on ASW patrol. (These patrols are automatically calculated by the AI). If an aircraft detects a sub, the sub will dive - be suppressed, for a variable amount of time, eben if it is not damaged by air attack.