newbie question on naval battle

[archita]

I want ask how manage a naval battle between 2 main TFs, I tryed to manage in Head vs Head in dicember 1941 main scenario a "meeting" between the TF of Kaga ( the TF of Pearl Harbour ) and TF of Lexington, I decided like common destination exe an island, I set direct mode, max reaction, no retirement allowed, naval search and naval attack for every squad, altitude between 100 and 1000. The 2 TFs avoided every contact, no air losses, any activity of BB and prompt retrear of US TF to Pearl Harbour. the US TF was spotted before, the location was known but the torpedoes and naval attack air squads not attacked them, no casualties and the BB kongo not moved.

how I can force a naval battle for experiment ? I want try to "simulate" different naval battles to learn ( I not found "sandbox" scenarios for naval battle experiments ).

[Barb]

Air combat TFs will try to avoid direct naval combat by default. You can try to have highly aggressive leaders in both TFs, max threat allowance, to try to override the default behavior.

1) Or let carriers do their stuff - position Task Forces at range 1-4 hexes from each other, set naval search for float planes aboard battleships and cruiser, set bombers and fighters to the same altitude (for coordination purpose) between 10.000 and 15.000 ft
Scouts shall spot the enemy, carrier TFs should react and get closer, and launch air strikes... KB vs Lexington is a one sided affair

2) Get the carriers out of the task forces and send them away - have the composition of just BBs, CAs, CLs and DDs, set naval searches, have them meet at the point, max react, max threat... and let them have the fun ... [;)]

[Barb]

whoops.. double post...

[archita]

tnx you i will try it, some little other questions :

1) there is a "sandbox" scenario ( a sea map and various available ships ) for experiment purposes of naval battle only ?

2) there is a way to set like "discretional target" a ship for planes ? for example "primary target" CV and "secondary target" the transport units when the enemy is spotted before ( known enemy ships )

3) there is an order to "chase" automatically a TF that try to retreat ? I must chase manually with change destination everytime ?

[LoBaron]

ORIGINAL: archita

tnx you i will try it, some little other questions :

1) there is a "sandbox" scenario ( a sea map and various available ships ) for experiment purposes of naval battle only ?

No. The closest you get with the official scenarios might be the 1000Mile War that features a limited TOO, a small selection of surface combatants, and only later in the scenario CV involvement.

2) there is a way to set like "discretional target" a ship for planes ? for example "primary target" CV and "secondary target" the transport units when the enemy is spotted before ( known enemy ships )

No, but there is an automatic target priorization depending on type. A CV will always be a primary target, major combatants and APs follow next, tankers and minor combatants lower, and at the end of the scale all those small patrol, auxiliary and escort vessles, and the small civilian xAK/xAKLs.
This is not the only facter that decides what target is attacked. Others are weather, DL (detection level) and range to target.

3) there is an order to "chase" automatically a TF that try to retreat ? I must chase manually with change destination everytime ?

Again, no. The closest to what you seek is the raction range you can set in the TF screen (bottom right). Just be careful with that setting, as you only have limited control over to what threat the TF reacts to and how far it then moves (e.g. potentially into enemy air range). Also a TF can react twice per day, so a react setting of 6 might result worst case in a TF moving away 12 hexes from its´ assigned position per day.

[wdolson]

The Coral Sea scenario is a quick carrier battle. You can make a sandbox by taking an existing scenario, loading it in the editor, then saving it to another slot.

Once saved to the new slot, you can make any changes you want including the dates, carrier group compositions, air unit skill levels, etc. Experiment around, it isn't tough to do with the editor and if you screw everything up, you haven't harmed anything.

Bill

[archita]

tnx for answers, I will try to extract a scenario and I will make experiments

[crsutton]

Change your altitudes for your squadrons. Dive bombers should be at 10,000-15,000 feet and your torpedo bombers should be at around 5,000 feet. You dive bombers will not dive bomb at 1,000 feet but will level bomb instead.