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Sid -> hey look guys (6/24/2002 1:32:39 AM)
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I am now a gamer. I USED to be a real gator (amphib sailor). Before that I "qualified in submarines." I am TRYING to say something:
1) NO sub captain would target a landing craft with a torpedo.
a) Because the chance a torpedo can hit a craft with less than one meter draft is much less than 1 in 100.
b) Because the value of a torpedo is much greater than the value of the landing craft and its cargo (if any) much more than 9 times in 10.
c) Because the submarine, if it really needs to engage a landing craft, can surface and use MGs and even a deck gun with much greater chance of success - perhaps 3 times in 4.
d) Under IJN doctrine, a sub captain who fired at a small ship, much less a landing craft, would be courts martialed. He is permitted only ONE torpedo against a tanker!
2) If the algorithms in this game are realistic, even if a captain ignored good economics and doctrine, and tried to hit a landing craft with a torpedo, he would miss much more often than we are witnessing. In fact, I have NEVER seen a sub fire at an AG and miss! Certainly the probability of a hit is greater than 50%, although I am not certain how many torpedoes are being fired. Since the AGs are in groups, and since the torpedoes are probably full salvos, that is part of the explanation: the AI thinks there is a tangible chance of a hit. But it is not true. The torpedoes would sail harmlessly under the landing craft, no matter their settings, except in a bad weather situation. IF the weather is too bad, they can't even see the target, or shoot. If the weather is good, they can't go shallow enough to hit the target. Only in a slightly rough sea state MIGHT they see the target, shoot, and accidently broach at the right moment! Chances are on the order of 2:1000 IN THAT CONDITION, and absolute zero in calm or really rough seas!
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