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ORIGINAL: crsutton

Had a betty pilot go kamikaze and cause an ammo explosion on the USS Alabama. May he rot in hell...

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ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

The short engagement time would seem to indicate they were at low level. I think engagements take place when they are in visual range and low altitude delays their appearance over the horizon.
I am surprised only one DD is on your TF list. How many did you have escorting?
What range did you have the CAP set at? If the range was more than about one hex, they could have been dispersed too far away to get back and engage.

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ORIGINAL: MuguNiner

VF-8 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 11 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
12 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-9 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 5000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes
6 planes vectored on to bombers

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ORIGINAL: Dili

Sort of related. Is there a way to prevent Kamikaze attacks by non Kamikaze units as Japanese player?

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Allied Ships
DD Bache
CV Essex
CV Yorktown
CVL Belleau Wood, Kamikaze hits 1
CV Wasp, Kamikaze hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CVL Cowpens
CL Boise
CA Baltimore, Kamikaze hits 1
BB South Dakota, Kamikaze hits 1
CVL Monterey, Kamikaze hits 2
BB Alabama
CV Saratoga

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You should not have 25 ships combat TF's that can bring problems including collisions and wacky battle results specially at night. Use no more than 12-15 at max.

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And only that big for CV TF's ... SCTF's are generally much smaller ..

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ORIGINAL: rustysi

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You should not have 25 ships combat TF's that can bring problems including collisions and wacky battle results specially at night. Use no more than 12-15 at max.

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And only that big for CV TF's ... SCTF's are generally much smaller ..

OK, now I'm so confused!!!![&:]

Some here advocate large TF's, up to 25 ships. You say no. Is there no definitive answer? In my games vs the AI I've usually stopped by the end of '42 with an AV. To that point I've really not used many TF's with more than 15 vessels as I've not really seen a need. In my current game I'm going further no matter that I get an AV, and I can definitely see I'd like larger TF's for some ops. What do I do?

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ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

quote:

ORIGINAL: rustysi

quote:

You should not have 25 ships combat TF's that can bring problems including collisions and wacky battle results specially at night. Use no more than 12-15 at max.

quote:

And only that big for CV TF's ... SCTF's are generally much smaller ..

OK, now I'm so confused!!!![&:]

Some here advocate large TF's, up to 25 ships. You say no. Is there no definitive answer? In my games vs the AI I've usually stopped by the end of '42 with an AV. To that point I've really not used many TF's with more than 15 vessels as I've not really seen a need. In my current game I'm going further no matter that I get an AV, and I can definitely see I'd like larger TF's for some ops. What do I do?

CV TFs do not seem to suffer as many problems with a full 25 max ships as do SCTFs, perhaps because CVTF ships are not in direct contact with enemy vessels.
Once you get over 10 ships in a SCTF you get a noticeable increase in the chance of collisions (from the greater frequency of actual collisions). During combat with an enemy SCTF the larger TF usually does not perform as well because:
- it takes longer to complete a maneuver i.e. it is "unwieldy"
- some of the ships never get to use their weapons because they are too far back in the formation to engage
- the DDs will often intercede when the range closes, preventing the bigger ships from using their guns
- collisions are much more likely to occur during combat

Some of the above can be mitigated with experienced crews, Captains with great Naval Skill and an Admiral with great Leadership. Personally I like two TFs of six ships over one TF of 12. If both engage sequentially the enemy often runs low on ammo and gets lots of hits from the second SCTF. At the same time, the smaller TFs seem to suffer fewer hits than one big TF (anecdotal - I have no stats recorded).

Of course there is an advantage with a larger SCTF - more targets to spread around enemy fire ... in theory. What really seems to happen is the slowest ship gets the bulk of the attention until it sinks. Then the TF (Allied or IJN) taking the most beating will retire with some ships still carrying lots of ammo.

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- the DDs will often intercede when the range closes, preventing the bigger ships from using their guns

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ORIGINAL: MuguNiner

...Which brings up a question: If a group has become kamikaze and not all hit their target, do the live to fly another day or are they considered downed and in the drink? The animations and sound effects suggest a bomb missed and hit the water.

• speed - this is the primary factor, full speed increases the chance that a collision might occur
  
• combat - combat increases the odds that a collision might occur as ships fight at their full speed and in surface combat are engaged in vigorous ship manoeuvring
  
• weather - poor visibility increases the chances for collisions
  
• size of task force - the bigger the size of any task force, again the chances are increased for a collision
  
• the always present random die rolls - even a two ship Cargo TF limited to cruise speed sailing every hex in perfect weather with no combat (not even sighting by enemy search planes) at all during its trip might have a ship collision

• collision in surface combat - reported on the combat animation screen as they occur and included in the saved combat report
  
• collision during routine naval movement - reported as the events scroll and are included in the saved event report