Sprint-and-Drift?

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Command: Modern Operations series >> Sprint-and-Drift?

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Sprint-and-Drift? - 1/26/2014 4:48:09 PM

cwemyss

Posts: 173
Joined: 11/29/2013
From: Grapevine, TX, USA
Status: offline

I know it's been mentioned on here before but I haven't seen a fix. Is there a way to get an ASW screen to sprint-and-drift?

If you add a ship to a group to serve as an ASW screen (say, a Knox FF as part of a 1980s CVBG) then it will proceed at the same speed as the group lead. With a CVBG thundering along at 15 knots you'll never get a passive sonar hit on a stalking sub.

I tried to get around this using relative reference points and assigning a ship to an "ASW Patrol" mission. They start out using behaving reasonably, but then as the HVU moves and the assigned reference points move with it, the ASW patrol ships accelerate to a steady 12 knots... thus a) ruining their passive sonar performance, and b) falling more and more behind the HVU. By time the carrier goes across the Mediterranean (~2000 nm) the Knox will be about 400 nm out of position.

First, is there another workaround that I'm missing?

Second, I think ASW Patrol missions work great for aircraft, but right now they're not good for ships in transit. Could a "sprint-and-drift" checkbox be added to the formation editor?

Post #: 1

RE: Sprint-and-Drift? - 1/26/2014 5:28:15 PM

mikmykWS

Posts: 11524
Joined: 3/22/2005
Status: offline

Existing request is in on this. We'll get to it when we get there.

Thanks

Mike

_____________________________

(in reply to cwemyss)

Post #: 2

RE: Sprint-and-Drift? - 1/26/2014 6:21:54 PM

navwarcol

Posts: 637
Joined: 12/2/2009
Status: offline

There is another workaround for this as well. I use the ASW screen as its own group, mirror the movement course of the primary group, but using waypoints change the speed at each waypoint, for the ASW screen group. It can get a little but tedious if you have too many groups, but essentially it only adds one group for each primary. I usually include an AAW shooter as well if it is an AAW threat environment, which incidentally provides a very efficient AAW picket/"silent SAM" station 20-30nm in front of your primary formation as well.

(in reply to mikmykWS)

Post #: 3

RE: Sprint-and-Drift? - 1/26/2014 9:11:00 PM

ExMachina

Posts: 462
Joined: 9/25/2013
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: navwarcol

There is another workaround for this as well. I use the ASW screen as its own group, mirror the movement course of the primary group, but using waypoints change the speed at each waypoint, for the ASW screen group. It can get a little but tedious if you have too many groups, but essentially it only adds one group for each primary. I usually include an AAW shooter as well if it is an AAW threat environment, which incidentally provides a very efficient AAW picket/"silent SAM" station 20-30nm in front of your primary formation as well.

That's a nice workaround. It could even become quite a tolerable solution if it were possible to "cut-and-paste" way point orders between waypoints...hmmm, has anyone suggested that?

(in reply to navwarcol)

Post #: 4

RE: Sprint-and-Drift? - 1/26/2014 10:58:54 PM

cwemyss

Posts: 173
Joined: 11/29/2013
From: Grapevine, TX, USA
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: navwarcol

There is another workaround for this as well. I use the ASW screen as its own group, mirror the movement course of the primary group, but using waypoints change the speed at each waypoint, for the ASW screen group. It can get a little but tedious if you have too many groups, but essentially it only adds one group for each primary. I usually include an AAW shooter as well if it is an AAW threat environment, which incidentally provides a very efficient AAW picket/"silent SAM" station 20-30nm in front of your primary formation as well.

Workable, yes. But also quite tedious for a long transit... multi-day path at 15 knots for main body, two waypoints every hour for the screen if you want 30 minutes sprint followed by 30 minutes drift. That's a lot of waypoints, and a lot of right-clicking to set speed.

That's what I'll use for now, but I'm glad the devs are working on it!

(in reply to navwarcol)

Post #: 5

RE: Sprint-and-Drift? - 1/27/2014 5:46:51 PM

jbyng

Posts: 32
Joined: 11/2/2013
From: rocky mountain high
Status: offline

What is the best way to use sprint and drift for your ASW screen? Let's assume the HVU at a constant speed. Four screening ships that we can manipulate however you need to. How far apart should they be? Two sprinting and two drifting? How far from an active propeller does passive sonar need to be so that you have a chance at detection?

Sub-hunting is the toughest part of the game for me. I'm always looking for more hints and tips. Thanks!

(in reply to cwemyss)

Post #: 6

RE: Sprint-and-Drift? - 1/27/2014 10:59:54 PM

navwarcol

Posts: 637
Joined: 12/2/2009
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It is probably, as with anything, a matter that changes depending upon the situation. In other words there is not a set formula (for anything involving warfare).
What I **usually** do is just use one ASW ship along the PIM of the HVU, say an average of 15-20nm in front. To determine the distance though, you want to get an idea, maybe from the database, or the scenario description, of the expected submarine threat. You want to get an idea of its speed, its weapons, and their ranges.
If it is a typical submarine (by this I mean, armed with only torpedoes) then you look next at its speed. If it is a diesel, then it is not going to have the legs to chase you, it is going to only get a shot at the HVU, if it basically sits in its path and waits for it to go by. If it is a nuke boat, it may chase, but usually in doing so,it will give up its position, even without a "sprint-and-drift" on your part.
Then looking at its weapons, most torpedoes will only be able to be fired from relatively short ranges. if that is the case, you only need to sanitize a relatively narrow lane in front of the HVU, realizing that if the torp has , say, a 2nm range that it is likely to be fired from, and the boat is a diesel, say its creeping speed is 3 knots (both numbers just random here for the example)... if your HVU is moving at 12 kts, and you are 12nm in front of it, then you probably would want to clear the approximate width (on both sides of the 'path' ) of the sub+weapon range =1 hour (roughly 5nm then, on each side... 3kts+2nm range)
This is a VERY simplistic way of doing it, but you get the idea.
Note that if there is a chance the subs are armed with SSMs, then it opens up a "whole new can of worms" where you need to add more assets and search more area. SSMs also count as AAW threats (once launched) so you also then would want some AAW shooters in the game.

< Message edited by navwarcol -- 1/28/2014 12:04:24 AM >

(in reply to jbyng)

Post #: 7