Effective use of the navy?

[unmerged(36417)]

I'm new to this game, and I'm trying to figure out how to effectively use my navy. As Germany I've conqured most of the world. Soon the only nations left to oppose me will be the US and Canada.

The US Navy has been a real pain in the backside! They keep invading India and africa after I have conqured those areas. The problem is though that I can't have subs in every single sea zone around the world. so what's the best way to keep the US from constantly invading with little 2 or 3 divison armies?

How can you use the navy effectively? I have about 150 subs all at the near highest tech level. What would be the best way to use them? I would like to be able to wipe out the enemy's navy but I'm not sure how to go about doing that.

 

[GrimReaper]

Personally I use Naval Bombers based at key locations to strike at the enemy Navy. It takes too long to take them out with just your navy (if at all possible).

In your case I would block the western and eastern seabord of the US with about half the Sub fleet. This will block all supply to their overseas provinces. Assuming you have control over Greenland I would station Naval Bombers there, along with fighters.

To hunt down their Navy I would build up a force of Destroyers, backed up by Naval Bombers. Building BB's or Carriers takes too long IMO, especially to take on the US fleet. Use the Destroyers to search out the US fleet. This tactic forces you to stay under cover of your land based Naval Bombers, but when you make contact with the enemy, they will annihilate them.

Be prepared to rotate your subs out of service, since the enemy will counterattack, thats why you only want to use half the Sub fleet at a time.

 

[unmerged(35344)]

One thing I´ve noticed is that when playing actively with your navy (that is not just protecting some invasion force or fending off the opponents invasion) you never, and I mean NEVER, use BBs and CAs together.

Since I form all my fleets in one of two way I´ll give you an example of what works just dandy:

Home Fleet: (a measure for how I form any big fleet)
2 CV (preferably courageous class for extra sea protection)
4 BBs
6 DDs (these take the most beating while covering the main force in a battle and are easy to replace if lost)

Force A (a measure for how I form any auxiliary fleet)
1 CV
4 CAs
5 DDs (even though you get stack penalty for the extra DD it´s alright since while it´s getting destroyed your main force gets some extra time to strike the enemies ships)

Once I started to form my fleets this way they finally worked! Before I used very mixed fleets like standard with bad success rate.

And as always: don´t be afraid to get a bloody nose in battle like in WW2... a BB is there to fight, not to nurture as some overpriced trophy using Scapa Flow as the fireplace.

 

[unmerged(21324)]

Organize your subs in stacks of 12 squadrons; no more, no less. Place a Grand Admiral in charge of each of them. You won't have enough Grand Admirals, so promote promising younger admirals so that you don't get the 'no headquarters' negative modifier (-15% eff) not to mention the overstacking penalty. Keep in mind how many squadrons/ships your commanders can actually lead.

Place those afforementioned stacks in the enemys key shipping lanes and all around them. Be prepared to interfere with your surface fleet (if you have one) when a major battle occurs in sea-areas infected with your subs. Of course, if you can fight these battles inside the range of your naval bombers, assuming you have those, it's all the better for you. Naval bombers can really decimate a BIG fleet very quickly...so use them, and beware of them

 

[unmerged(35344)]

Oh and get together as many naval bombers you can spare... together with well formed fleets you can destroy anything.

 

[unmerged(3221)]

Organize your subs in stacks of 12 squadrons; no more, no less. Place a Grand Admiral in charge of each of them. You won't have enough Grand Admirals, so promote promising younger admirals so that you don't get the 'no headquarters' negative modifier (-15% eff) not to mention the overstacking penalty. Keep in mind how many squadrons/ships your commanders can actually lead.

I don't think that there is a no HQ penalty for either naval or air combat.

Naval combat uses a 2% penalty for each ship over 2 in a seazone. As long as you do not overstack above the command limits, there is no penalty for anything like the no HQ penalty that land units can get.

The complicating factor is that Air Marshalls or Grand Admirals act as a land FM if they are in or adjacent to a land battle. But you do not need Grand Admirals in naval battles.

From Fiendix's leader FAQ note section at the bottom:

i.e. a commander with a command limit of 3 with 3 ships will be at 98% efficiency

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=111075

 

[Pro_Consul]

One key, which was mentioned in passing, is to concentrate on those seazones where many supply routes converge. For example, if you blockade the few large seazones along the US west coast and blockade the Panama Canal, the US cannot supply any provs in Asia or the Pacific Rim.

Also, if the US is just sending 2-3 divisions for its invasions of your conquered provs - LET THEM. One division with a couple of a coastal forts should be able to defeat every successive invasion, and the leader in command of that one division will gain experience VERY quickly.

 

[unmerged(42764)]

I tried to learn something about naval combat, but I didn´t. I think I made something wrong. To avoid the command and stacking penalties, I organize my navy with 12-units formations (Grand Admirals each one), and I never put two formations (24 units) in the same seazone. All the sea battles, I fought with 12 units command by a Grand Admiral. So, I don´t understand why I suffer a stacking penalty (- 20 %) yet . What´s the problem ? The stupid italians always have advantage against me. I play as UK (1.06c, vanilla).

 

[unmerged(42764)]

I don't think that there is a no HQ penalty for either naval or air combat.

Naval combat uses a 2% penalty for each ship over 2 in a seazone. As long as you do not overstack above the command limits, there is no penalty for anything like the no HQ penalty that land units can get.

The complicating factor is that Air Marshalls or Grand Admirals act as a land FM if they are in or adjacent to a land battle. But you do not need Grand Admirals in naval battles.

From Fiendix's leader FAQ note section at the bottom:

i.e. a commander with a command limit of 3 with 3 ships will be at 98% efficiency

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=111075

John,

If a I decide to organize my naval squadrons with 12 units, I ever will sufffer -20 % penalty (2% above 2 units in the same seazone), wright ? Doesn´t matter the command limit.

 

[Christian D]

2 CV (preferably courageous class for extra sea protection)
4 BBs

I would advise against grouping BBs with CVs. It raises the visibilty of the fleet greatly and will give the attacking carrier planes an extra round of combat. I think using CVs are best coupled with DDs and perhaps 1 or 2 SS for detection.

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3756823#post3756823 for more info.

 

[unmerged(15561)]

I persoanlly keep my navy out of the enemy's supply routes, purely because I use the fleets as hunter killers of the enemys force. Couple this with M/L range Nav bombers and its far more effective that micromanaging the sub war as Germany.

Set up small convoys 1 transport along a route from Norway to Bayone in Sth France (if you control UK) so that you will be alerted to their pressence. Then send in the cavalry and hit em with a big fleet and loads of seabombers!


You take few losses and the AI will send in its fleets until there are no more!