Scratch seven Monitors....and almost two BC's

cj95 · Mar 14, 2011

My HSF Battlecruiser squadron ran into the Dover patrol of Monitors last night and for a while there it was a wild west shootout at ranges 4-5000 yards.

Unfortuantely when I bumped into them, the Monitors were neatly in a line crossing my 'T' and poor CL Strassburg which was in my van blew up in a matter of seconds as she briefly became everybodies favorite target.

I attempted to switch into a parralel course and for a while was doing a good job taking out monitors while my DD's fended off the limey destoryers.

Problem came suddenly whne torpedoes were spotted inbound and Derfflinger and Seydlitz swung wildly out of line to no avail.

BOOM
BOOM

Both BC's took torpedo hits that I highly suspect were in fact incidents of friendly fire.

(Hits on port side while enemy was to starboard....hmmmmm)

Well needless to say I had massive flooding nad had to pull them out of line to stay afloat, but by this time Von Der Tann and Moltke had the remaining Britich under control.

All of my Main battery ammo was shot away before I retired leaving seven Monitors....a host of Destroyers and even the AV Rivierea settling to the bottom.

Both my torpedoes Bc's are still afloat and as I write this the squadron is making a retreat back to port.

All in all Im happy the Dover squadron is wrecked, but a bit peeved that Im looking at several (months?) without two of my BC's.

Also going to miss the Strassburg as my CL's are the workhorse of my operations.

Sorry no screenshots, but things were wild and crazy there for awhile.

Crackaces · Mar 14, 2011

I have had a similar experience but with the HSF doing a bombardment mission. Monitors can cause total havoc. My thought is in a future campaign to use Pre-Dreadnoughts to engage this beasts rather than valuable resources like my BC's or BB's. Even at 10,000 meters the MN General Wolf got a hit on the Markgraf that has taken her out of commission for 3 months thus far.

The good news is that in my current campaign only the Monitors coming in reinforcements are left to bother me. The bad news is that two HSF BB's are still out of commission in late April from a run in with 6 monitors, and I planned a HSF sailing for May ... which is not happening.

Firestorm · Mar 14, 2011

It is best to engage the Monitors in daylight. They try to flee and I always then keep my forces to their stern so the heavy guns can't fire on me. I avoid night action with them at all costs.

Crackaces · Mar 15, 2011

Firestorm said:
It is best to engage the Monitors in daylight. They try to flee and I always then keep my forces to their stern so the heavy guns can't fire on me. I avoid night action with them at all costs.

My encouter at 0430 in the morning was the result of a bombardment mission. No little Union Jacks on the Campaign Map, and the HSF proceeds forward to give Dover a fireworks display -- when suddenly I am in battle mode the coast is behind the British Task force with 6 Monitors facing me. They did not turn astern but continued forward at 6 knots. The first causualties were 3 DD's of the leading Destroyer Squadron. They tried to turn and run but very accurate salvos sealed their fate. Then the BB's got into range and the Monitors decided to exchange shots with the HSF's best. After some really accurate shooting and inflciting damage on two HSF BB's -- finally the Germans started hitting the Monitors. In the end 6 Monitors sunk and 2 BB's damaged for at least 90 days probably more.

But I think you have a point in that until the Monitors are spotted and tracked -- one should be careful what towns get a German led fireworks display ....

cj95 · Mar 15, 2011

I was in pretty much the same situation....trying to bombard Dover.

Actually I think if my stupid destroyers hadnt torpedoed two of my own BC's I would have been fine.

As it turns out had to limp home with something like 30-40% persistant flooding on each of them.

On a slightly other note: Anybody taken the old predreadnoughts up against the Brit BC's squadron?

I know there is no match for speed, but with better armor and still a nasty punch Im wondering if could pound down the thin BC armor?

Firestorm · Mar 16, 2011

cj95 said:
On a slightly other note: Anybody taken the old predreadnoughts up against the Brit BC's squadron?

I know there is no match for speed, but with better armor and still a nasty punch Im wondering if could pound down the thin BC armor?

The problem with that strategy is the fact the BC's could stay outside the range of the old German Pre-dreds and get a few lucky hit's that knock out some of their main turrets. Since the German Pre-dreds only have 4 11-inch guns each, they are seriously outgunned by the British BC's. Most likely what would happen is you might get a lucky magazine explosion and sink 1 or 2 BC's before you lose all of your Pre-Dreds. Quite frankly that is not worth sacrificing them.

saddletank · Mar 16, 2011

Worth writing a scenario to find out. Are we talking all 6 older BCs and all 8 (from the battle editor) PDs?

Crackaces · Mar 16, 2011

Firestorm said:
The problem with that strategy is the fact the BC's could stay outside the range of the old German Pre-dreds and get a few lucky hit's that knock out some of their main turrets. Since the German Pre-dreds only have 4 11-inch guns each, they are seriously outgunned by the British BC's. Most likely what would happen is you might get a lucky magazine explosion and sink 1 or 2 BC's before you lose all of your Pre-Dreds. Quite frankly that is not worth sacrificing them.

BC's with Fire-Control Directors vs. Pre-Dred's no Directors. Especially with the posting describing that the AI is smarter about using longer ranges. Turret shots and on board fires will prevail before the Pre-Dred's can get into effective non-directed range.

I have posted on another forum where bringing in the Pre-Dred's into the Channel to counter the AC's, like the Black Prince. Here two platforms without Fire-Control Directors, and the Pre-Dreds have more armor is an advantageous fight. Even then an AC took out two turrets at 7K meters before settling into Davie Jones' Locker. However, in my opinion this was a great exchange as of late April because that enabled my CL's to roam the Channel to intercept shipping. (German DD's are a crew of 75 so they do not cause CS's to surrender). I cannot pick this campaign back up until after the upgrade .. so more then ...

grayst · Mar 16, 2011

cj95 said:
Actually I think if my stupid destroyers hadnt torpedoed two of my own BC's I would have been fine.

I've noticed that quite often campaign battles start with the player's ships set to "Torpedo nearest enemy". That was probably your problem.

I always hit "pause" while the battle is spawning (so as to not to lose those first few seconds, which for some reason happen at a very high game speed) and set my entire force to "cease fire", before picking my own targets.

Crackaces · Mar 17, 2011

Beatty letter to SES Support

saddletank said:
Worth writing a scenario to find out. Are we talking all 6 older BCs and all 8 (from the battle editor) PDs?

It would take multiple trials to get a feel and then the great thing is the randomness of the battles in the campaign. Even though the Pre-Dreads would be outmatched -- a lucky critical hit or two and they might carry the day.

I can imagine Beatty's Letter to SES support after the RTTS.

"Dear SES Support:

I love playing Jutland. It is sort of a life and death struggle for me everyday. However, I am writing to you about inconsistencies in the game I request to be fixed immediately.

The Dogger Bank Ship pack is great! I mean the Room 40 option told me exactly where the HSF BC's would be and no High Seas Fleet! My ships performed beautifully sinking the Blucher and almost sinking the Seyditz with some paint scratched on the Lion. The scenario provided me just the testing I was looking for in understanding the superiority of the RN BC's. I was somewhat disappointed in the User Interface, as my ships did not follow orders very well and I wrote about this in a previous ticket #1234.

I just want to say that the changes in Jutland have greatly disappointed me. First, the Room 40 Option did not work at all! Sure the HSF BC's were pretty close to expected, but I had no idea that the HSF fleet was following right behind! The little German flag with a HSF callout was still in Williamshaven and yet all these ships just showed up!:crosseye: I was assured that this option wold not be changed in Jutland. More so, I am extremely disappointed in the RN BC changes in Jutland!

There must be something wrong with the ship models that changed in the Jutland game!

Two of my RN BC's behaved like the Monty Python skit and just blew up ! One at 14173 meters!

I had more advantages at Jutland and my ships just blew up! My multiplayer teammates still harrass me today of what is clearly a bug in the software. Also, the User Interface still has not been fixed. I ordered a battle turn together and some ships turned in sequence and others turned together! This bug has been in the game since day one! :nuts:

Although having the Americans on our side will be a great plus, I refuse to buy the US North Sea Expansion Pack until these bugs are fixed.

Respectfully Yours;
Admiral David Beatty

rubberboot · Mar 17, 2011