Daidalos Team's Room -QUESTIONS AND REQUESTS ONLY - For 4.11

[Anvilfolk]

I'm part of the CVW-13, and we mostly fly VT-13, a torpedo squadron. We love flying formations and all that Zekes vs Wildcats, but on servers with more flak, the risk/reward of torpedo bombing is really off.

Apparently the problem is that the explosive charge is not enough. It is realistic, but since ships only have "above the waterline armour", then the effect of explosives on a less protected, below the waterline area is not modelled. Therefore, each torpedo does a minimal, irrealistic amount of damage.

I would suggest counter-balancing by either 1) having torpedos with more explosives, or 2) modelling underwater armour as well as above waterline armour. Either way, if ships entered evasive manoeuvres, it would be the best thing ever

Cheers!

[SaQSoN]

Originally Posted by Anvilfolk

since ships only have "above the waterline armour", then the effect of explosives on a less protected, below the waterline area is not modelled. Therefore, each torpedo does a minimal, irrealistic amount of damage.

a) there is no difference between "underwater" and "above water" strength of the ship hulls in the game, in other words, there is no such thing as "above the waterline armour", or "below the waterline armour" in the game;
b) real life WWII war ships had more or less adequate underwater protection, especially designed to withstand underwater ordnance detonation;
c) and finally, just as my personal opinion: most torpedoes in the game are way too effective, comparing to the real life, actually. Even destroyers and transports, which didn't have the underwater protection could often survive single torpedo hit IRL. In the game - they don't.

[Romanator21]

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).