Handling many contacts

[blackcan]

Hey guys I recently started with the campaign and I think in the second mission with ~15-20 contacts ( 30-40 with towed Array (mirrors))
And I'm overwhelmed with that many contacts and wanted to know how you handle that massive amount of information?

[Mike Abberton]

I usually find that in those situations, it's just best to turn the autocrew on for a while and let them figure out which contacts are the most important. Then you can shut them back off, if you want, and start to prosecute the important stuff.

If you really want to do it all yourself, than it might be better to find ways to concentrate on a smaller group of signals and work your way through those first. Then move on to the next group.

Some other thoughts/tips:

1. If there is a group of related ships you need to deal with (SAG or convoy), remember that they are likely all going the same speed and course. If you can determine one ship's course and speed (one of the outer pickets maybe where its signal is less mixed and easier to isolate), you can relatively safely apply that to the rest. Even better if your briefing provides one or more of those pieces of information.

2. If hunting a surface action group, active sonar intercepts are a great way to track targets because they do not intermingle. Once you mark them once, they just keep updating. If you know course & speed from above, you can TMA them fairly accurately. Plus depending on the ping rate, active sonar intercepts can update a lot faster than your passive sonar tracks.

3. If you have a lot of contacts relatively close to each other, don't be in a rush to merge tracks. It will take longer to plot each track, but one incorrectly merged track can really mess up your TMA work. As the various individual solutions firm up, you can start to see them grouping together on the map and merge them at that point.

Hope those help.

Mike

[blackcan]

Thank you I tried the mission today and I mastered it
I killed 4 submarines even tho it wasn't necessary
Thank you (btw I got over Sierra 049 )

[Pisces]

Originally Posted by blackcan

...
Thank you (btw I got over Sierra 049 )

When you enable the auto-crew sonar guys then they just scan the bearings and mark every above-noise-level they can. That includes your own noises on the TMA. It comes to the TMA autocrew to drop them or merge them together if they are valid. It's a way, but I like to do the homework myself. It forces me to look what's around me and get a situational awareness.

When I enter a mission I first pause the game and scan every line I can find. That may sound too easy/gamey, but in real life subs don't get dropped in the middle of things. They have time to prepare and get the contacts as time goes by. I note the bearing with any kind of information about it. Mostly sonar (how does it sound, how does the line look, frequency lines in NB, active sonar frequency if any, biologic if so), but also ECM mast if I'm at periscope depth I also calculate the difference of the bearing to my course and from it calculate what the mirror bearing must be on the TA. That clears up a lot of the fog and confusion, knowing where to expect something. I don't mark or assign TA trackers yet.There is not enough for all of them. I first sort record the TA bearings and mark the bow and hull array contacts. Checking the bow and flank array for matching bearing and frequencies. For most that solves the mirror contact puzzle, but there can be silent contacts hidden on those bearings. Faint contacts are preferred on the TA, as you only get the lower frequency lines first and the other arrays can only detect higher frequencies. Then I start to look at how much degrees I should turn to clear my baffles, and solve the mirror contact puzzle. The mirrors will shift bearing twice the amount that you turn, in the same direction as you do. So I try to turn only as much as needed to not get them on bearings of other contacts, or into baffles of other arrays. But if contacts are near, in that time that it takes to turn and straighten the TA the contacts can shift in bearing themselves. So don't turn piecemeal. After the turn I check what moved and what not. That indicates the true from the mirror contacts. And start merging contacts from the different arrays if they must be the same.

Because there are only a few trackers per array I would not assign 2 arrays on the same contact. I'd rather know from all of them how those bearing lines drift in this early stage than know exactly where each one is in range. If you make a few speed changes or course changes the TMA crew will pick up on their courses and positions quickly enough.

And don't be fooled into thinking that Quick Missions are the norm. All those missions have the contacts far too close causing things to go haywire immediately. Normally you have the time to prepare yourself in a mission. Just reduce your speed to stay silent while you get your bearings. (pun intended )

[blackcan]

All those tips helped me a lot!
Now I reached mission 5 in the campaign and this mission is really hard I had 8 submarine contacts and 2 surface contacts and managed to clear out all the mirror contacts but due the really small area everything Ia unbelievable confusing because a lot of times contact crosses each other and suddenly I notice a new contact

And all subs don't drive a constant course they drive like a zig zag (since a rebel submarine attacked a Russian one)
So I even got a hard time to determine the position with tma even tho I read the guide from tachmen but I need more practice I guess

[FPSchazly]

Do not at all worry about having trouble with Sovetskaya! That is still probably the hardest mission I have ever played. You just get dumped into the fray and there are torpedo-carrying rockets flying all over the place and distant contacts flanking and close aboard contacts going slow. It is a tricky mission that combines many different scenarios into one. I'd like to revisit that mission at some point.

[Leemon]

For my eyes its biggest drawback of DW - been thrown in middle of action - huge maps, but everyone is clustered on small area.
I wish DW had same as SH dynamic campaign experience with patrol/area search patterns and attack approaches, in quick missions.

Just to add on old topic, I just follow system: Links, EW, Spherical, Side sonars and then Towed Array, from loudest to quietest, and I dont make next move untill get all info I can get from starting position.
I dont like Auto Crew on sonars, it makes only mess, I would rather pause game and do myself, found easier to double check with other acoustics mirrors before marking. Civilians, or unimportant ones, just marking as Neutrals, without even classify them, keep yellow for further investigation, red ones confirmed enemies/targets, and TMA doing only for targets of which I need to know exact movement/position, for rest I use broadband to see maneuvers/positions. And not dropping contacts, unless I'm sure it never comes back on again, i try not rely on memory, if I forget old contact, checking map - its green - ignoring.

Sovetskaya is ridiculous, I cant see logic to have so many subs in small area. Last time, i did nothing, just put truth on and watched Loyals finishing mission for me.