Flotilla Attack

[gregb7111]

Could someone please explain what the "Flotilla attack" button does precisely?

I'd assumed it would order destroyers to attack the enemy battle line, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

[randomizer]

The flotilla attack button does indeed cause the torpedo divisions to attempt to attack the enemy forces with emphasis on the heavy units as targets. However there are a number of caveats involved and the actual attack may take some time to develop. First the flotillas need to establish some sort of favourable positioning against the targets and since these are always moving and the geometry is always changing there is likely to be some delay before the relative positions are appropriate to begin closing the enemy. The Flotilla Attack command can be a powerful tactical tool but it is not an instant evolution and enemy actions may prevent an effective attack from evolving at all. At Rear Admiral's or Captain's difficulty you can pre-position your flotillas before executing the command and this can go a long way towards reducing the delay between pressing the flotilla attack button and seeing the attack actually develop. At the Admiral's difficulty, use flotillas on Support or Independent roles but remember that supporting flotillas are astern of their lead and so may have to play catch-up before they can even attempt to close the enemy. One technique is to use the support orders with the lead as another flotilla which helps concentrate your torpedo craft in anticipation of an attack.

But the actual execution may still take some considerable period of time.

Your AI controlled flotillas are not suicidal but will attempt to close to an advantageous position at effective range, generally much less than the maximum range for their weapons. The Flotilla Attack command probably works best at night or in poor visibility and can be an effective fire and forget tactic to cover a withdrawal or complete a rout. That said it should be used with care since it may take hours to reform your forces.

The command most certainly does work and at times can be decisive but you need to be patient and understand that it is not an instantaneous operation.

Thanks.

[gregb7111]

Thank you. An excellent summation.

[paul]

I notice that in some larger battles, as in real life, a Light cruiser is set on the Support role, with a supporting destroyer flotilla. In general, what effect does this have? Will the CL lead the destroyers in and join the attack or do they behave differently?

[randomizer]

Light cruisers will generally accompany torpedo craft as you have seen. It's important to remember that the no man's land between the fleets was dominated by the guns of the destroyers and their light cruiser leaders and here the Royal Navy usually had the upper hand as virtually all Fleet destroyers were armed with 4" guns and the primary cruiser batteries were 6" (with some notable exceptions). The German's were usually outgunned in these actions and so the British DD's were better able to close the German battle line. That the British scored more torpedo hits on capital ships at Jutland was no accident but a combination of better command and control at the tactical level coupled with more firepower mounted on the light forces.

SAI was designed to reflect this and the torpedo forces with the more effective gun armament will tend to dominate no man's land so it is easy to see why the light cruisers in the game provide important gunnery support to the attacking flotillas even if they never approach torpedo launch range. Ships of the CL type in these situations may not close the battle line like the DD's but they will usually close to engage the advancing enemy destroyers with guns.

Independent and supporting CL squadrons will tend to act more in the defence of the friendly high value units rather than charging off to attack the enemy battle line so if you have flotillas supporting or screening CL units, you might consider placing them on Independent or supporting other flotillas before ordering a flotilla attack.

Note that the above only applies to SAI-TGWAS since the torpedo situation in SAI-RJW is very different and using the Flotilla Attack command against an unbroken fleet in good visibility will invariably fail.

[sabratha]

Well, found that torpedo forces can perform quite poorly in RJW, but then again this era was ahrdly known for spectacular topredo force victories, even the surprise Port Arthur attack was somewhat limited in effects.

[Deleted]

Ah.

Another flottila thread!

My smoking gun these days:

[jhs]

I played the Jutland scenario (the afternoon 31 May one) and was stunned by how well my High Sea Fleet flotillas performed. I was able to force the van of the Grand Fleet to turn away and it became completely disrupted with a mob of battleships going several different directions interspersed with destroyers and cruisers, an absolute mess. The German torpedo boats hit about four battleships with single torpedoes and an armored cruiser. The High Sea Fleet was able to get away in good order. What amazed me was that the flotillas were so clever (I was using Admiral's mode). They moved up the flanks and enfiladed the British capital ships beautifully---this was all being done by the AI. I also saw the brilliance of the WWI torpedo tactics (which always frustrated me greatly in the past). When the torpedoboats fired only one or two torps, they were able to execute mutiple attacks. If you sent waves of torpedoboats at the British, you were continually disrupting the captital ships. Paralysis! I was able to dominate the British side of the fire swept zone. My German capital ships covered the flotillas' advance with fire. The way the AI flotillas coordinated with my dreadnoughts amazed me. 

I seem to recall reading that the RN AI was designed to strictly conform to the Grand Fleet Battle Orders in place at the time of the scenarios. Jellicoe was criticized for unimaginative use of the destroyers. The way the Grand Fleet destroyers did not rush out to attack my flotillas amazed me. They stayed in support or screening on the disengaged side of the battleship line. Some of the BCF destroyers did engage my torpedoboats. Beatty used his destroyers more aggressively in The Run to the South. Was this factored into the BCF destroyer AI?

I found the German AI flotillas performed beautifully in the Jutand scenario and in a completely random one I played later. They are a superb means to intimidate and disrupt the British capital ships. Actually hitting the British dreadnoughts is a plus, but not necessarily the best effect of a flotilla attack. Even if you don't hit anything, you can control the British deployments, force the range to open, or make organized shooting impossible so that the HSF's line of battle can withdraw safely.