So you think its hopeless? This mission got you singing the deep blues? Well dont read any further unless you want a spoiler....
The spoiler has been posted at SUBSIM.com Enigma Rising Tide forums... under the name "OFFICIAL - I have completed mission 10a"
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Post a replyUs Surface Mission 10a Spoiler Tricks
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Why bother cross posting? Here's Captain Maxim's spoiler from SubSim:
This mission is a killer. I had the right general idea but there's just too much lead in the air.
Ugh!So you think this mission is HOPELESS? read on..
I think I played this mission 20 more times than I should have, but I wanted to make sure it REALLY was meant to be this difficult and not just a fluke that I got killed instantly the other 20 times I played the mission..
Finally, I survived but dont read any further unless of course you really need help - this may be a spoiler for you..
OK here it is, but remember this may or may not work for you...
1) Each time you start the mission take note of the placement of the enemy convoy, it is not always the same..
2) When you start the mission and you can see the enemy is in the tight group south of you - and not spread out southwest in random starting points, then go on to next step..
3) So you have them in a tight group, every microsecond is important so get good at barking these orders..
4) the main objective is to get at least THREE rounds of ALL EIGHT TORPEDOS launched southbound.. more if you need later on..
Because you will start facing slightly NW 315...
pivot left (THIS WILL BE THE ONLY TIME YOU pivot)
flank speed
tubes port
up tactical
HOLD course west 270
fire tight spread SOUTH 175-185 of all 8 torps rapidly
(dont take time to aim at a specific enemy, just center them over an area, cause mass confusion, slow down convoy chasing you)
select closest DD SW of you - order "engage target" so your main guns begin to work with your allieds.. every bit helps..
HARD starboard
tubes starboard
hold course 045 (while waiting for reloads)
after tubes reload then order HARD STARBOARD , HOLD course east 095
fire tight spread SOUTH SW 180-190 of all 8 torps rapidly, SAME AS BEFORE dont bother to aim too much, lead the enemy and get those fish in the water..)
HARD PORT
HOLD course North East 045
(head northeast to EAST side of ALLIED convoy )
check for new DD target, select and order "engage target"
When you are a few hundred yards EAST of ALLIED convoy set course north 000 while waiting for reloads...
tubes port
Wait for tube reload
HARD PORT - set course NW 315
this time you should fire all 8 torps to the SSW south-southwest 180-200
make sure you fire tight spread because over long distance each torpedo will seperate quite a bit.. dont move your scope more than a few degrees for each one since over long range the torps spread out quite a bit, and thats what you want, but dont give them too much help at the start..
set course NORTH 000 and continue to hold course for maximum speed while watching to your rear for LARGE splashes which you wil have to decide how much zig zaggin is necessary, but the less the better at this point if you have done everything right you will be gaining distance between you and the enemy convoy...
I was almost laughing at the battleship that was missing me from this point forward even though he came very close a few times, gradually his hits landed further behind...
DONT zig zag with PIVOT commands, you lose too much speed.. use the HARD PORT / HARD STARBOARD commands, and DONT zig zag for more than one or two seconds before giving the hold course command... wait ten seconds before going other way/ or as soon as you see the recent splash behind you.. LET YOUR SPEED BUILD UP then start turning because the next rounds are coming on your curent course..
Final note: each time you play the mission the weather is different..
My success came with serious high rolling seas which helped my ship duck down between waves when some shots came my way (luck plays a part)
Additionally, when I was finally running north, the waves appeared to be pushing me, coming from my rear, and this may have helped my speed..(yet to be verified - but should have helped in a real physics engine.. if this is true, you want to avoid crossing the waves where it works against you for any longer period of time than necessary)
This mission is a killer. I had the right general idea but there's just too much lead in the air.After reading the above walkthrough, I realized that I was playing on a weaker ship. See this bug I reported.Ugh!
Now, after playing and winning 10B first, I've got the larger DD (with 8 tubes) and was able to pass the mission the next time I played it. enigma!:
congrats - you earned it..
Things that don't work:
After getting poleaxed the first ten times, I tried the above spolier another 20 times, but again, I continued to get poleaxed near my own convoy.
Not being surface algae, I started applying sub tactics to this.
So far the following:
1) Head west, fire the first spread of 8, circle SW with bringing your three DD's towards the Hood.
Result: more ships sunk, I may have been imagining it however from side on the Hood didn't seem to be hitting me as often (possibly mutliple targets it was firing at hence only one gun for aimed at me.) However, still got sunk by the 15" gun.
After getting poleaxed the first ten times, I tried the above spolier another 20 times, but again, I continued to get poleaxed near my own convoy.
Not being surface algae, I started applying sub tactics to this.
So far the following:
1) Head west, fire the first spread of 8, circle SW with bringing your three DD's towards the Hood.
Result: more ships sunk, I may have been imagining it however from side on the Hood didn't seem to be hitting me as often (possibly mutliple targets it was firing at hence only one gun for aimed at me.) However, still got sunk by the 15" gun.
I might as well add this in here, even though it is mentioned elsewhere...
Dont forget to open the BIGTAC screen, use the mouse to draw a square over all your convoy, order them to go the opposite direction from the attack.
Then order all your other DD's / sub's to head the attack, and co-ordinate who you want them to attack..
Not all ships will necessarily obey, if a few of them have EQUAL rank as you or HIGHER..
Keeping a lot of torps in the water is important and firing the first batch quickly allows more to be loading while you are getting turned about.
Success is staying alive, not killing the entire enemy fleet, the more you DO kill the less bullets and torps coming your way, the better.. unless you prefer to run.
Dont forget to open the BIGTAC screen, use the mouse to draw a square over all your convoy, order them to go the opposite direction from the attack.
Then order all your other DD's / sub's to head the attack, and co-ordinate who you want them to attack..
Not all ships will necessarily obey, if a few of them have EQUAL rank as you or HIGHER..
Keeping a lot of torps in the water is important and firing the first batch quickly allows more to be loading while you are getting turned about.
Success is staying alive, not killing the entire enemy fleet, the more you DO kill the less bullets and torps coming your way, the better.. unless you prefer to run.
SUCCESS
After 30 plus attempts on this mission, I finally completed it, and then using the same principles, completed it again straight away. I apologise that the following does not have screen shots.
When you start the convoy is strung out NW - SE and you are to leeward (SW) of the fleet. The League is somewhere to the S and the SW, comprising 12 ships plus a battleship. You have 9 vessels, from which you can only order 4 or 5. (Key element)
The following is an adaptation from the solution given above.
- Your vessel is facing NW, pivot immediately and head W whilst bringing the torpedoes on line. Engage guns. If your guns are engaging a target over the horizon, good. Fire 2 at the approximate location where the gun fire is and then 2 more, each 1 degree either side. (You may not hit them, it will slow them down.) Continue W until the second lot comes on line then fire again.
- In the meantime, order both of the submarines west of the convoy to turn south and engage the SECOND closest (which ever it is) DD or DE (the subs need the extra time to get there).
- There are 3-4 tardy merchants in the SE, send them due east. There are 4-6 merchants in the north which are accompanied by a DD that has seniority over you, send them north and the DD will accompany. The rest get sent NNE. You are in effect scattering the fleet - IMPORTANT.
- Order the closest DD or DE to engage the closest target. Ignore the approaching subs from the north.
- By the time the torpedoes come on line again, the DD will have been lost, and the subs will getting ready to submerge, if not already. These subs will evade the first target whilst they hunt the second (IMPORTANT) Fire the torpedoes in the vicinity of the target, which should be almost due south. Hard to starboard and head NE. You will now be tracking on the side of an equilateral triangle you are going to create.
- Order the second DD to engage the eastern most target. That ship will pursue one-on-one and will be assisted by the three merchants heading due east. (The oiler got the kill in both games) These three merchants, sadly, are my sacraficial lambs.
- The submerged subs will be tracking SW when your torpedoes come on line. Turn right 90 degrees to create the other side of the equilateral triangle. This puts your torpedoes to starboard, and more importantly, parallel with your own DD's, DE and subs heading SW. This creates the lowest profile in event of friendly fire. It also brings the forward gun into play having been obscured by the bridge. The opposition will get one of the subs but it will give the approaching good guys a chance to fire, and with their ships in such close proximity of each other playing "who's gonna DC the subs" a near miss may strike one of the other ships which will be moving at a lower speed.
- I ignored the subs from the north cause the northern DD which I didn't have seniority over attacked them, leaving me a great big hole stretching from 11 to 2 o'clock positions to keep moving the fleet in. The three merchants that went east distracted the armoda coming in from the south.
MY previous attempts to knock out the oppisition were in vain. This came up when I tried the above solution several times - all resulting in the loss of my ship. This is in no way better than the previously solution, merely a different tact. I went with the "Everyone scatter" principle, and as soon as I got the message that the convoy was safe, forget it, I was back in port quick smart. I know when I'm outgunned.
Good luck.
After 30 plus attempts on this mission, I finally completed it, and then using the same principles, completed it again straight away. I apologise that the following does not have screen shots.
When you start the convoy is strung out NW - SE and you are to leeward (SW) of the fleet. The League is somewhere to the S and the SW, comprising 12 ships plus a battleship. You have 9 vessels, from which you can only order 4 or 5. (Key element)
The following is an adaptation from the solution given above.
- Your vessel is facing NW, pivot immediately and head W whilst bringing the torpedoes on line. Engage guns. If your guns are engaging a target over the horizon, good. Fire 2 at the approximate location where the gun fire is and then 2 more, each 1 degree either side. (You may not hit them, it will slow them down.) Continue W until the second lot comes on line then fire again.
- In the meantime, order both of the submarines west of the convoy to turn south and engage the SECOND closest (which ever it is) DD or DE (the subs need the extra time to get there).
- There are 3-4 tardy merchants in the SE, send them due east. There are 4-6 merchants in the north which are accompanied by a DD that has seniority over you, send them north and the DD will accompany. The rest get sent NNE. You are in effect scattering the fleet - IMPORTANT.
- Order the closest DD or DE to engage the closest target. Ignore the approaching subs from the north.
- By the time the torpedoes come on line again, the DD will have been lost, and the subs will getting ready to submerge, if not already. These subs will evade the first target whilst they hunt the second (IMPORTANT) Fire the torpedoes in the vicinity of the target, which should be almost due south. Hard to starboard and head NE. You will now be tracking on the side of an equilateral triangle you are going to create.
- Order the second DD to engage the eastern most target. That ship will pursue one-on-one and will be assisted by the three merchants heading due east. (The oiler got the kill in both games) These three merchants, sadly, are my sacraficial lambs.
- The submerged subs will be tracking SW when your torpedoes come on line. Turn right 90 degrees to create the other side of the equilateral triangle. This puts your torpedoes to starboard, and more importantly, parallel with your own DD's, DE and subs heading SW. This creates the lowest profile in event of friendly fire. It also brings the forward gun into play having been obscured by the bridge. The opposition will get one of the subs but it will give the approaching good guys a chance to fire, and with their ships in such close proximity of each other playing "who's gonna DC the subs" a near miss may strike one of the other ships which will be moving at a lower speed.
- I ignored the subs from the north cause the northern DD which I didn't have seniority over attacked them, leaving me a great big hole stretching from 11 to 2 o'clock positions to keep moving the fleet in. The three merchants that went east distracted the armoda coming in from the south.
MY previous attempts to knock out the oppisition were in vain. This came up when I tried the above solution several times - all resulting in the loss of my ship. This is in no way better than the previously solution, merely a different tact. I went with the "Everyone scatter" principle, and as soon as I got the message that the convoy was safe, forget it, I was back in port quick smart. I know when I'm outgunned.
Good luck.
Thanks , I'll try this one . as by the law of averages I will need to play the other way another 15 times ... since the patch this one seems harder to win .
Scattering them in three directions sounds like a good idea .
Scattering them in three directions sounds like a good idea .
congrats Pioneer - equally good ideas.