Fleets Require Fleet Tactics

[brian333]

While seemingly obvious, it appears that much of the talk is still about how one ship will perform vs. another. In Naval Warfare it seems apparent that two fleets meet in the ocean and trade rounds until one sinks, and so a comparison of one ship vs. one ship seems an appropriate measure of a ship's combat capabilities.

 

This is an error of logic. No single arm of the military has such a need for integration and coordination as the Navy, and the team which can best coordinate and cover one another is the team which will win. So we should begin to think in terms of 'Fleet Actions' rather than one on one melees.

 

To begin with, each class of ship has a purpose in a fleet. These again seem apparent, but some of the discussion to date leads me to believe there is a need for clarification of these roles. So this is where I will begin, and I hope others continue to expand upon the basics I'll be framing in this post.

 

Destroyers/DE's:

Since their primary function is ASW, and no subs will be there to shoot at, the destroyer's secondary purposes will be emphasized.

 

Picket is when destroyers are arrayed so that any enemy ship trying to approach visibility range of the fleet is spotted or otherwise detected. Picket ships are not supposed to kill the target, but to maintain contact at extreme range and assist the fleet in targetting by calling in corrections for the fleet's indirect fire. They also allow the fleet to establish a tactically superior position into which the picket can then draw the enemy.

 

Screen is when destroyers are arrayed so as to limit lines of sight to capital or other important ships. A screening ship typically remains close to it's charge(s) and interposes itself between the hostile and incoming rounds. While this sounds suicidal, (and is,) it is required to give the capital ship time to bracket it's target. A destroyer, which can be sunk by a single torpedo, can also maneuver in such a way as to absorb several torps in a spread, thus protecting his charge before the captain goes down with his ship.

 

The tertiary purpose of AA is of importance, but any decent air wing can take out a tin can before it's AA has accomplished much. Once again, as a component of a fleet the individual destroyer's AA weaponry can make a difference, but individually it is just to the marginal side of irrelevant. Destroyers will be very unlikely to turn aside an aviation-based attack single-handedly.

 

Light Cruisers/Battlecruisers/Pocket Battleships:

Light cruisers often were ASW capable, and all were AA competent, but the primary function of these ships was as raiders. Their purpose was to take on smaller units at a range the smaller units couldn't match effectively and to run away from anything capable of threatening them.

 

Unless these ships are performing as escort to a capital ship, they are the most likely to be operating independantly or in small groups outside of the fleet's umbrella. In this role their purpose is to hunt, and this class of ship is the primary scout for a fleet. As an escort detail, their AA batteries are effective against incoming flights and if the direction of the attack is known they can be detached to intercept the flight at a distance from the main fleet, both to prevent the positive location of capitals by radio-carrying enemy aircraft, and to increase the amount of time their AA guns are on the enemy aircraft before they penetrate the AA umbrella.

 

In fleet engagements these ships will want to engage at the longest range possible and utilize maneuver to remain a difficult target to hit because they carry oversized guns and undersized armor belts.

 

Cruisers and Battleships:

The primary function of these ships is to engage enemy line-of-battle ships. They combine armor and firepower and are intended to take multiple hits and keep fighting. (This didn't always work, but it was the plan.)

 

Unlike their raider cousins, these ships do not wish to remain at range lobbing shells. They want to close to effective range for the weapon they carry and deal out as much punishment as possible to the enemy. There is nothing subtle about the way they are intended to be used, though a clever captain never drives in a straight line, but steers as erratically as possible within his assigned course, falling back on the best course to target the enemy at the instant his batteries are reloaded.

 

Cruisers and battleships were quickly loaded down with AA weaponry when Taranto and Pearl Harbor taught the RN and USN that aircraft were the real threat to their capital ships. WW1 and early WW2 ships carried AA batteries, but by late war this had become the primary role of cruisers and heavy cruisers, and indeed, even battleships as the remaining Axis fleets were whittled down.

 

Aircraft Carriers:

The main weaponry of Carriers was the aircraft it carried,and these largely defined the roles they would play, though size matters both in the ability to carry aircraft and in the ability to generate the power needed to move these massive pieces of technology through the ocean.

 

After this the main purpose of a carrier was to run away and survive. Though all carried AA, and some were massively defended by AA batteries, these ships weren't capable of much more than annoying enemy capital ships with their firepower.

 

Escort carriers universally carried ASW gear and the aircraft needed to make anti-sub attacks, but their primary role even here was to send aircraft to isolate the sub and maintain contact as the escorting DE's hunted it down.

 

So, now that we know what each individual component is supposed to do, let's integrate that into a typical task force.

 

Our hypothetical fleet consists of a Battleship, Carrier, Battlecruiser, Heavh Cruiser, Cruiser, two Light Cruisers, four Fleet Destroyers, and four Escort Destroyers.

I choose to arrange my line of battle with the Battlecruiser in the lead, followed by the Heavy Cruiser, Battleship, Carrier, and followed by the Cruiser.

I stagger the Light Cruiser placement so that one is forward of the Battleship and one astern of the Carrier on their port and starboard flanks respectively, with the four Escort Destroyers arrayed in a screen around the Carrier and Battleship and inboard of the Light Cruisers.

My four Fleet Destroyers operate at the extreme range of reliable communication with the fleet in a picket around the Task Force to identify and intercept any incoming enemy elements allowing the fleet time to react to the incoming threats they detect.

 

In this formation I can detach my Battlecruiser either with or without the Light Cruisers to support, or detach the Light Cruisers individually or in a pair without breaking the integrity of my formation, which is intended to offer 360 degrees of AA umbrella to the Carrier and Battleship while still allowing almost the entire firepower of the squadron to be brought to bear on either flank. It is hoped that any fleet intending to intersect this one will have to attack into it's flank, (the direction toward which almost all of the fleet's guns can fire simultaneously.) If the foe attempts to cross my T I can wear away, (turn away from in the same direction the enemy is going,) and keep the enemy on my flank. If the enemy fleet is faster I can continue to wear away from him as he tries to turn on a longer course than the one I'm taking, (Hopefully not exposing my fleet to too many broadsides in the process,) while I maintain my preferred range and prevent his crossing my T.

 

To perform this tactic all the ships in my fleet must maintain communication and must respond to fleet orders. While some ships, such as picket ships suddenly exposed to battleship fire, can maneuver at will, the rest must maneuver as a unit to maintain this overlapping concentration of firepower.

 

While a fairly good example of a formation useful in travelling, formations better suited for battle are available and should be easily formed from this basic fleet organization. Clans may want to practice Maneuver and the ability to flow from one formation to another on command.

 

Note: this article is incomplete, but feel free to critique, advise, or offer better ideas as you wish. The next part of this article involves a couple of battle formations and how to use evasive maneuver in a combined fleet.

[sheep21]

DD's are also useful in attempting to disengage, a screen of DD's firing a spread of torps at the enemy fleet can cover a retreat by heavier units as it forces the opposition to take evasive action and break the action, giving your fleet time to make its escape. Used to great effect in Jutland.

 

This does not work if your opponent is happy to risk damage or loss of units to maintain contact however...

[Windhover118]

I dont think there is a single person on this forum that will argue against the idea that teamwork wins the game. Teamwork will be emphasized more in WoWs than any other WoWg. The slower pace of the game and the inclusion of the various features mentioned by the developers will require players to work together on a level not seen very often in WoT. With any luck we wont see many of the lemon rushes or lone star players that have become steryotypical of your average pub player in WoT.

 

edit: On a side note, it will be interesting to see what kind of tactics players use in game when coordinating with all the other units in the team. Carriers are traditionally meant to stay hundreds of miles from the battle but the map sizes will be much closer than this. Teams will have to find a balance between protecting the carriers and engaging the enemy surface ships. This game has the potential to be much more interesting tactics wise than WoT ever was.

[anonym_auUiRfWCi1jI]

There is another thread underway regarding Naval Tactics.

[Crag_r]

Slabs of text hurt eyes, even in some of the topic rules the Devs recommend to use visuals.

[Mathayus]

That is some huge wall of text, I guess the summary of it is the folowing:

 

Proper tactics were used during wars so we need to use proper tactics in game?

I hope there will be nice tactics involved but on the other hand I fear the random battles for that same reason. In WoT teamworks failes horribly a lot of times, I hope it will be different for WoWs.

[Divarius]

do you got a lite version of this topic ?

[Gigaton]

I don't really agree with putting light and heavy cruisers in the different groups. As long as they are roughly the same size, they are essentially the same animals with different set of teeth. 6in guns has worse penetration and lighter shell but it fires faster and is lighter and smaller than the 8in gun, so more can be mounted on ship of similar size. A tradeoff of penetrating power and alpha for more DPS essentially. Think T-34/100 vs. Easy Eight in WoT (T-34/100 is no more, but that's besides point).

[Jinxed_Katajainen]

Knowledge of historical and maybe even your home country's naval doctrine might make things interesting if people try and apply their own tactics to teamwork in a public game.

 

OP's post outlines what I believe was the usual US Naval doctrine of the time period...

 

Myself, my history comes from Japanese books and articles, so this is what I am used to seeing. (Text lifted from the Wikipedia)

 

According to the first stage of the battle plan, fast attack submarines would first be used to weaken the American fleet by 10%, then Japanese bombers from land bases and aircraft carriers would inflict another 10% casualty rate.  (This part will not apply to the game since we will not have subs and land based bombers)

 

Air strikes launched from the Japanese carriers would neutralize the American carrier fleet.

 

Fast attack battleships and heavy cruisers, likely operating at night, would then sink or scatter enemy cruiser and destroyer screening formations to allow massed light cruiser and destroyer attacks on the US battleships using long-distance torpedoes.

 

According to plan, this moment would be the “decisive” stage of the decisive battle, when the battleships of the Combined Fleet, centered on the modern Yamato class, would join the battle against the US battleships. Finally, the older battleships would join the fray and mop up the surviving remnants of the American fleet

[SPACEDUDE71]

This is a good short read. Worth the bump.

[DelroyMonjo]

About the closest this game can come to this ideal fleet grouping is in the Ocean map.  I see it all the time there with the DD's scouting/screening/picketing ahead of the main fleet and the cruisers firing at targets of opportunity when the enemy is exposed.  The BB's are in the rear for the big kills once the battle is engaged.   With the scale of maps to ship sizes and  speed of movement in this game actual fleet cohesiveness falls apart as there simply is no room to maneuver.  We would need far larger maps and a battle could last much,  MUCH longer than 20 minutes.  How many people are willing to do that?

[Nukelavee45]

Star Fleet Battles -  dunno if any of you ever played this back in the day -  played on large hex maps, each ship having a sheet indicating all systems in detail, from duels to huge fleet actions.  It makes a good parallel to this game in many ways, as the players who used combined fleet tactics best tended to win most.  It's interesting how many lessons from that game apply to this one (maybe not, seeing as each race corresponded with a modern navy, for the most part.)

 

On the other hand, large fleet battles could take weeks to play....