Torpedo-bombing was certainly a thankless job. Single "kills" were rare, and it was really a group effort. (Another reason for dividing points online for a shared kill: everyone wants to be the last one to drop the torpedo)
On the other hand, even one torpedo hit would do damage - the ship might list, slow down, or sit dead in the water. Many ships in the game have an "all-or-nothing" DM: The ship is either healthy, or stopped and sinking... Even the big ships like BBs and carriers have their simplifications.
Unfortunately, Il-2 wasn't designed as a sim for torpedo bombers, so many concessions were made in ship modeling. In order to be up to par with folks' and my own desires, everything about the ships will have to be redone completely from scratch: ship AI, convoy behavior, subs that dive, and also more detailed DM so players can damage the engines, blow up magazines or fuel, knock out guns, or destroy the bridge, etc. That's a Herculean task.
Somewhat related: In Silent Hunter 3 (a sub game) one has to make sure his torpedoes are going to hit the hull of the ship perpendicularly. If the angle is too shallow between the path of the torpedo and the side of the hull, an impact-pistol torpedo can bounce off, doing no harm. Magnetic-pistol torpedoes explode under the hull, eliminating this restriction, but as far as I know, planes didn't carry those (you have to know the draught of the vessel you're going to hit).
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