Convoy Raiding & Escorts

[DonnieBaseball]

So I'm wondering about those instances when I have subs on a convoy raiding mission, and I get the pop-up "convoy spotted but too heavily protected."

What exactly makes a convoy "too heavily guarded?" Obviously has to do with the number of escorts assigned to the convoy route, but is the ratio of escorts to subs, or maybe when the number of escorts is X or higher no matter how many subs?

Does anyone know the math/game mechanics behind this?

Thx!

[bigbert96]

While were on this topic, I also have a question: How do you access the map view that shows you convoy routes? Either yours or your enemy's.

[talin]

Originally Posted by bigbert96

While were on this topic, I also have a question: How do you access the map view that shows you convoy routes? Either yours or your enemy's.

You can not see the enemy’s convoy routes. Your own convoy routes can we viewed through the supply map mode.

[bigbert96]

Thanks! I usually play as Germany, where are some good spots to look for UK's transport routes with my subs? I go around the English coast, but usally get decimated quickly. Is there a good spot not on the coast?

[Dadaanian]

Originally Posted by bigbert96

Thanks! I usually play as Germany, where are some good spots to look for UK's transport routes with my subs? I go around the English coast, but usally get decimated quickly. Is there a good spot not on the coast?

I go either south west of England, west of spain, or right in the middle of the Atlantic.

[Lord of Pain]

Originally Posted by bigbert96

Thanks! I usually play as Germany, where are some good spots to look for UK's transport routes with my subs? I go around the English coast, but usally get decimated quickly. Is there a good spot not on the coast?

Camp in the atlantic

[nocapper]

Originally Posted by bigbert96

Thanks! I usually play as Germany, where are some good spots to look for UK's transport routes with my subs? I go around the English coast, but usally get decimated quickly. Is there a good spot not on the coast?

Cape Finistere
Portugese Coast
Irish Sea (but you will garner alot of attention)
Western Approaches

[rich-love]

I don't know the math, but I belive working on your sub doctrines makes it more likely for you to be able to attack those heavily defended convoys.

[Etym]

Originally Posted by rich-love

I don't know the math, but I belive working on your sub doctrines makes it more likely for you to be able to attack those heavily defended convoys.

I don't know the math, either, but I've noticed that larger wolfpacks (12+) never seem to get this popup. Likewise, I don't recall ever getting this message with 6+ packs of level IV subs.

As for sub-hunting as Germany, I'd suggest going far North around England (into the Greenland sea, then through the Faroes gap) and patrolling mid-Atlantic.

[Solon]

Originally Posted by bigbert96

Thanks! I usually play as Germany, where are some good spots to look for UK's transport routes with my subs? I go around the English coast, but usally get decimated quickly. Is there a good spot not on the coast?

Don't stay around the immediate English coast, you will get pounded, as you are discovering. Ships coming to England come mostly from two directions, North America, and out of the Med at Gibralter. For some reason, there never seem to be convoys coming up from the South Atlantic on either side, except for the odd French convoy to Dakar.

From North America usually means from Canada, or the northern half of the US. I have tried a number of times for convoys from the Caribbean and Panama, but generally without success. Occasionally I will score on a French convoy just off the northern coast of South America. I think the game is missing some of the Battle of the Atlantic action by not routing more through the Caribbean area. In any event, as mentioned above, sitting in the main sea zones in the central and northern (but not too northern) part of the Atlantic will interdict that traffic (the famous Western Approaches).

Gibralter is tougher; similar to being too close to the British Isles. Nevertheless, some of my best raiding and most engaging sub vs. naval battles happened there. If you can stand the heat, that "Y" shaped sea zone just off Gibralter will fill-your-plate regularly! Just as IRL however, it's a long voyage back to Hamburg around Scotland after a fight, and makes you appreciate the fall of France and all those nice French ports all the more when it happens. Oh, and when the "Y" shaped zone gets too rough, try the two adjacent ones, the one to the north and the one to the west. Often, I put fleets in all three, putting a Grand Admiral in the one to the west, and offering support on the longer battles from subs in an adjacent zone. Then,when subs get too "dinged-up", I bundle together those needing refit, and send them home together.

The Mediteranean is a great place to hunt convoys, British convoys going from Suez to Gibralter, and French convoys from North Africa to southern France. Of course, once the war starts, Gibralter is closed to your subs, but if you have managed to arrange a base or ally down there during the 1930's, you can have-a-ball! In HoI-1 I always used to take Albania as soon as I could build a few transports, and then base a cruiser/destroyer/submarine squadron down there for future operations (this also kept the Italians from messing with Greece later). I would then be a model citizen of the world until hostilities started, at which time Yugoslavia would feel the tread of my panzers with a spearhead down the coast right after/during the conquest of Poland and reestablish my supply lines to the fleet. Ah...the good 'ol days!!

Finally, don't forget the Irish Sea--not a place to linger, but you can swing through there on occasion, and you always get a juicy score.

Lastly, from time to time send a sub flotilla down the English Channel, at first out-bound and at 100% strength and org, in case something happens. You don't want or need to use the EC on a regular basis, but as things progress in the war, you will find (just as IRL) that you can slip through the EC with subs when you feel the need. It is also a good 'barometer' of the state of English naval defenses as you get ready for Sealion.

Solon