|
(Original article by Phil Sensibaugh, edited by Bill Pickl)
Do you ever get frustrated during combat? You know, the feeling you get when you shoot and miss, but the other guy shoots back and you hear your balsa shattering and your pump starts shooting water into the air. If so, don't feel too bad with yourself, because anyone who has played the game has shared this feeling with you.
8.2.1 Defining the Problem
The primary problem most new skippers make is trying to use the depression and rotation to aim the cannon at a target ship. This method very rarely works well and usually leads to a lot of missed shots, since by the time you have rotated the barrels and depressed them, the target opportunity is gone. To beat this you First need to try an control how your ships are closing. Avoid driving at flank speed toward a target that is also closing on you at flank speed. Use a well placed turn when you are at 20 feet or so that you both are heading in the same direction and slow your speed to let him close on you if necessary. Second, keep some distance between you and your target, typically at least 5 to 10 feet. Next, take note of your relative position to the target ship. Then think about how your ships are closing and rotate your cannons appropriately. If you get these steps out of the way when the target is 20+ feet a way you've eliminated one task from your endgame targeting. Estimate the range at which you plan to be in a position to fire on the target, the closer to 10 feet the better. By locking in these to variables at range you now have a target area selected at some position off of your ship. Now as you close on your target you have only one thing to control, which is often overlooked by rookie captains, and that is the actual position of the ship. You simply steer your ship till your target zone overlaps your target then fire. After you shoot make a hard turn to place distance between you and your target. This will minimize his chance of successful return fire. In summary do not try to make precise aiming corrections by rotating the turrets, just aim the barrels in the general direction, set the depression, then turn the ship to bring the cannon to bear.
Another problem that new builders often place on themselves is the complexity of the ship and the controls. I can't tell you how many shots I've missed by accidentally firing the rear cannon instead of the front or vice versa. The basic controls are rudder, speed, fire (fore/aft), and forward cannon rotation. For fast nimble ships elevation control is unnecessary since the target zone can be quickly moved to intersect the target. On battleships elevation is a good feature to add, but using the linear control available on stock radios means you have an infinite number of ranges to choose from. Too simplify this you can use your gear switch to give you a two-position elevation control for a range of 10 to 20 feet and something below that. With a little electronics skill you can modify a linear channel on your radio to install a push button bank that will give you a variety of preset ranges to choose from. The caution is the more you add the (Continued on page 6)
|
|
