I Almost Cried...

[ltccone]

As Germany I had just launched Barbarossa. As part of that invasion I had 10 Marine Brigades launch an amphib assault on Leningrad. I had 400 naval bombers covered by 200 fighters in the Baltic. I had 6 battleships, 8 cruisers, and 40 destroyers on convoys escort duty.

Despite all of that the Red Navy had no problem engaging my convoys with 8 surface ships and a dozen subs.

I watched over two agonizing weeks as one convoy after another was sunk. All of my ships and all of my planes couldn't stop it, and the Red Navy wasn't even taking damage.

After the last convoy was sunk and all of my Marines drowned, THEN a new battle started and my planes and ships started punishing the Soviets.

Those poor Marines didn't even show up in the casualty count.

I'm getting the last laugh though; in 16 days my panzers are crossing the Neva east of Lenningrad, east of Smolensk and Rostov, Baku and Astrakan have fallen from the south, and Sevastopol fell to an amphib assault to other Marines. The casualty count is 3k to 1.8 million.

 

[Captured Joe]

Why would you need naval invasions against Russia?

 

[ltccone]

Why would you need naval invasions against Russia?

To speed the conquest up. The faster Leningrad falls, the better.

 

[Secret Master]

The casualty count is 3k to 1.8 million.

That's pretty damn good.

Your invasion reminds me of something that happened to me a few months ago.

Under an older patch, naval supremacy could be obtained by both sides in a conflict, allowing for crisscrossing invasions. So, I plan an invasion of Leningrad through the Baltic, and on day 1 of Barbarossa, I send multiple divisions there. Meanwhile, unknown to me, the Soviet player launches an invasion of Copenhagen on day 1. The two invasions pass each other in the night, waving at each other on their way to their targets.

Long story short: my Leningrad invasion fails (follow on Soviet forces sitting near Leningrad, waiting to join the invasion in Denmark, bounced them quickly), while the Soviets seize Copenhagen, but are trapped on the islands.

This was the same game where my late Sea Lion passed the early Overlord in the North Sea. It was almost hilarious.

 

[Tisifoni12]

Yeah, I see lots of that, Italians sailing around the Iberian peninsula on the long sea road to East Africa, with Allied troop convoys going sometimes in the same direction, sometimes the opposite . . .

 

[CharlieFox]

As Germany I had just launched Barbarossa. As part of that invasion I had 10 Marine Brigades launch an amphib assault on Leningrad. I had 400 naval bombers covered by 200 fighters in the Baltic. I had 6 battleships, 8 cruisers, and 40 destroyers on convoys escort duty.

Despite all of that the Red Navy had no problem engaging my convoys with 8 surface ships and a dozen subs.

I watched over two agonizing weeks as one convoy after another was sunk. All of my ships and all of my planes couldn't stop it, and the Red Navy wasn't even taking damage.

After the last convoy was sunk and all of my Marines drowned, THEN a new battle started and my planes and ships started punishing the Soviets.

Those poor Marines didn't even show up in the casualty count.

I'm getting the last laugh though; in 16 days my panzers are crossing the Neva east of Lenningrad, east of Smolensk and Rostov, Baku and Astrakan have fallen from the south, and Sevastopol fell to an amphib assault to other Marines. The casualty count is 3k to 1.8 million.

This should not have happened. In my experience fleets in convoy escort always join the battle when a convoy is attacked (even if the escort is just a handful of destroyers spread over 3 large sea zones) unless fighting elsewhere . Was your fleet busy defending another convoy? Or are you sure your fleet was not set to "Non Engage"?

Or did your fleet join the battle but was unable to reach the transports in time? (This happened to me some patches ago but I thought it was a bug that got patched)

 

[ltccone]

That's pretty damn good.

Your invasion reminds me of something that happened to me a few months ago.

Under an older patch, naval supremacy could be obtained by both sides in a conflict, allowing for crisscrossing invasions. So, I plan an invasion of Leningrad through the Baltic, and on day 1 of Barbarossa, I send multiple divisions there. Meanwhile, unknown to me, the Soviet player launches an invasion of Copenhagen on day 1. The two invasions pass each other in the night, waving at each other on their way to their targets.

Long story short: my Leningrad invasion fails (follow on Soviet forces sitting near Leningrad, waiting to join the invasion in Denmark, bounced them quickly), while the Soviets seize Copenhagen, but are trapped on the islands.

This was the same game where my late Sea Lion passed the early Overlord in the North Sea. It was almost hilarious.

I've never seen passing invasions like that.

There should be 40 battalions of drowned Marines added to my casualties; not sure why they aren't included.

I attacked with one panzerarmee north of the marshes (12 panzer and 12 MOT) and a similar sized panzerarmee in Bessarabia north of Odessa. They met and formed a huge kesselschlacht, that I'm still finishing off. The Soviets are putting troops out now with 20% equipment in desperation.

 

[ltccone]

This should not have happened. In my experience fleets in convoy escort always join the battle when a convoy is attacked (even if the escort is just a handful of destroyers spread over 3 large sea zones) unless fighting elsewhere . Was your fleet busy defending another convoy? Or are you sure your fleet was not set to "Non Engage"?

Or did your fleet join the battle but was unable to reach the transports in time? (This happened to me some patches ago but I thought it was a bug that got patched)

My ships were there; they just didn't engage, and neither did the aircraft. My aircraft had no issue bombing the Soviet convoys though.

 

[Secret Master]

There should be 40 battalions of drowned Marines added to my casualties; not sure why they aren't included.

Yeah, it's still not counting everything. It's a damn nuisance.

 

[amalric de g.]

My ships were there; they just didn't engage, and neither did the aircraft. My aircraft had no issue bombing the Soviet convoys though.

That happens sometimes, I played UK in 1.40 and a lone german BC shot my convoys to pieces, two armour Divs. drowned in the bay of biscay. My CV fleet never joined the fight.

 

[ltccone]

That happens sometimes, I played UK in 1.40 and a lone german BC shot my convoys to pieces, two armour Divs. drowned in the bay of biscay. My CV fleet never joined the fight.

Misery loves company. I'll keep a save if this happens again and make a bug report.

 

[indika_tates]

What was your main fleet doing? Search and destroy? Or convoy escort? On the last one the AI has a 0% chance to attack your convoys before dealing with your main fleet. At least in my experience.

 

[ltccone]

What was your main fleet doing? Search and destroy? Or convoy escort? On the last one the AI has a 0% chance to attack your convoys before dealing with your main fleet. At least in my experience.

Convoy escort; which is what surprised me. Apparently the same thing happened to @almaric de g.

 

[Bregil]

I ran into a similar problem in my last game. The convoys would get jumped by the enemy fleet, my fleet (approximately equal strength and better admiral) would show up to help and then immediately begin disengaging and leave the convoys to their fate. Eventually, I started planning duplicate invasions and sending the decoy one off about a day earlier than the real one. The decoy would get engaged by the entire Royal Navy and the real invasion would sail calmly past the battle and arrive safely at it's destination. The entire naval system needs a substantial overhaul.

 

[Alex_brunius]

Your fleets are not by any chance set to "never repair"? ( http://www.hoi4wiki.com/Naval_warfare#Repair_Priority )

There is a bug which causes such fleets to always instantly try to disengage from any combat, and it's set automatically if you cancel a repair task they have.

 

[Bregil]

Your fleets are not by any chance set to "never repair"? ( http://www.hoi4wiki.com/Naval_warfare#Repair_Priority )

There is a bug which causes such fleets to always instantly try to disengage from any combat, and it's set automatically if you cancel a repair task they have.

Honestly I'm not sure and that's a major part of the problem (the system is not very transparent and extremely convoluted). It's entirely possible that was the problem but there was no way of knowing what the cause was unless I knew exactly where to look. I would set up how I wanted the fleet to behave and then over the course of the war(s) the settings would get changed due various events.

 

[ltccone]

Your fleets are not by any chance set to "never repair"? ( http://www.hoi4wiki.com/Naval_warfare#Repair_Priority )

There is a bug which causes such fleets to always instantly try to disengage from any combat, and it's set automatically if you cancel a repair task they have.

Mine was the opposite, set for high priority.

 

[thexmassteam]

To prevent that, cause it happen to me (enough to feel it was not bad luck, but a feature), I'm babysitting naval invasions. 2 fleets, one in search and destroy and one smaller in escort. When a battle is detected, and if the battle is not obviously on the way of the naval invasion, I launch the invasion.
I have no evidence that split the fleet in two different mission have an impact, but the interception rate of my naval invasion fall close to zero (close, but not zero, sometimes convoys get stuck in a already existing battle for days).

 

[ltccone]

To prevent that, cause it happen to me (enough to feel it was not bad luck, but a feature), I'm babysitting naval invasions. 2 fleets, one in search and destroy and one smaller in escort. When a battle is detected, and if the battle is not obviously on the way of the naval invasion, I launch the invasion.
I have no evidence that split the fleet in two different mission have an impact, but the interception rate of my naval invasion fall close to zero (close, but not zero, sometimes convoys get stuck in a already existing battle for days).

Sounds like a good idea.

 

[Louella]

Convoy escort; which is what surprised me. Apparently the same thing happened to @almaric de g.

Now I'm wondering if "convoy escort" mission doesn't properly recognise invasion transports, as opposed to trade convoys.