DDs torpedoing the ships they are escorting.

[sallinkari]

So I keep running into an issue where DD set to screen will at the start of a gunfight immediately go to the side of the formation they are screening that is furthest from the enemy... Which doesn't really sound like screening but whatever... except for the fact they love to fire torpedo spread just in front of the lead ship so that one of two of the spreads nails it right in the bow. Is there something I can do to ameliorate my AI DDs from being massive liabilities, or do I have to play on the difficulty that allows me to micro them?

[archelaos]

Oct 6, 2021 23:31:01 GMT -6 sallinkari said:

So I keep running into an issue where DD set to screen will at the start of a gunfight immediately go to the side of the formation they are screening that is furthest from the enemy... Which doesn't really sound like screening but whatever... except for the fact they love to fire torpedo spread just in front of the lead ship so that one of two of the spreads nails it right in the bow. Is there something I can do to ameliorate my AI DDs from being massive liabilities, or do I have to play on the difficulty that allows me to micro them?

In captain mode you can turn the torps off for a DD division and manually launch them.

DDs move to unengaged side as they would obscure aiming for your ships otherwise.

As to why they ignore friendly ship in line of launch I do not know, but this must be very difficult to fix as this linger since RTW1. On the other hand, in manual launching "Friendly ship in LoS" condition is applied extremely often and sometimes in situations that seem to be bugged as well (forward/aft tubes blocking side mounted ones while in formation).

[gurudennis]

I've never had this happen but I do regularly see extremely dodgy launches where the enemy is between my DDs and other friendlies.

[brygun]

For this game you want the DDs between the enemy ships and your own. As torpedo ranges get longer the chances of misses hitting your own goes up. Putting the DDs on the opposite will mean misses going at your own ships. That and its far harder to get into position into a high speed enemy on both sides. If the enemy is already badly slowed you can do what you want and its still safer to have the DDs inside your gun ships.

I play in rear admiral mode. So when it looks like a possible DD dash I put the various DD formations onto Support, Line Ahead, max speed and often smoke on. They need to get into position. The gun line capital ships are something of a bait. If you get the enemy gun line chasing your gun line then either cap the T with the just the DDs or suddenly reverse the DDs you get a closure rate of enemy speed + DD speed. Often helps.

[dontmajorchem]

Oct 6, 2021 23:31:01 GMT -6 sallinkari said:

ameliorate

I do like a good obscure word

[garrisonchisholm]

nws-online.proboards.com/thread/1199/goes-comes?page=1

I'll include this from the Way-back machine, just to offer some solace that this does occasionally happen to the AI too.  -  and, I might also find it delightfully amusing.

[rodentnavy]

Oct 14, 2021 22:28:10 GMT -6 garrisonchisholm said:

View Attachment

nws-online.proboards.com/thread/1199/goes-comes?page=1

I'll include this from the Way-back machine, just to offer some solace that this does occasionally happen to the AI too.  -  and, I might also find it delightfully amusing.

I once had a British destroyer torpedo itself!  It fired its torpedo on slow for range setting, then speed up and then...decided to turn across the track of its own torpedo with the inevitable result.  I think a certain Lieutenant-Commander was in line for a Darwin Award. 

[gurudennis]

Oct 16, 2021 8:46:27 GMT -6 rodentnavy said:

I once had a British destroyer torpedo itself!  It fired its torpedo on slow for range setting, then speed up and then...decided to turn across the track of its own torpedo with the inevitable result.  I think a certain Lieutenant-Commander was in line for a Darwin Award. 

This famously happened to HMS Trinidad in WW2 due to a speed setting malfunction.