Best Way To Cover Multiple Ships

[Beebop]

 

I've learned that using the Formation MCU with ships is a fools errand.  Now I make each ship in a convoy a separate entity with it's own set of waypoints.
I want a pair of planes to fly cover over a convoy.  They only need to cover the merchant ships as the destroyers will take care of themselves.
Is this (see attached) the best way to cover multiple ships?
I have one Cover MCU Object Linked to the covering planes and Target Linked to each individual ship.
Or...
Should I have a Cover MCU for each ship and have multiple Object Links to the flight?
Or...
Is there a better way?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jaegermeister]

It’s hard to say which ship the AI will decide to cover, but from past experience I am guessing it will be only 1. Since your aircraft will be about 1000 meters above the ships, why not just have them cover the one closest to the center of the ship convoy? I think the end result would be about the same.

[Gambit21]

Personally I wouldn’t use the cover command as AI flight behavior with this MCU is basically hot garbage.

 

I would create pairs of waypoints for the aircraft along the convoy’s path.

 

Then using the ship waypoints as triggers, I would activate the next pair, then the next pair, and so on. This will have them following the ships and flying a nice racetrack pattern, in formation, that you can adjust - rather than the Cover MCU housefly, swarming  behavior nonsense.

 

 

Actually they weave, but much too tightly, and formations cannot be properly held. Been a few years now since I looked as I dropped the MCU like a hit potato as soon as I saw the mess that resulted.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2021 by Gambit21

[Beebop]

39 minutes ago, Jaegermeister said:

It’s hard to say which ship the AI will decide to cover, but from past experience I am guessing it will be only 1. Since your aircraft will be about 1000 meters above the ships, why not just have them cover the one closest to the center of the ship convoy? I think the end result would be about the same.

I originally tried that but as soon as the targeted ship is sunk they just stop and circle letting the convoy sail on.

 

33 minutes ago, Gambit21 said:

I would create pairs of waypoints for the aircraft along the convoy’s path.

 

Then using the ship waypoints as triggers, I would activate the next pair, then the next pair, and so on. This will have them following the ships and flying a nice racetrack pattern, in formation, that you can adjust

An interesting idea.  I would never have thought of that.  I'll give it a try.  Thanks.

34 minutes ago, Gambit21 said:

AI flight behavior with this MCU is basically hot garbage.

Although I have had it work for me I agree that even a non-formation pair fly cover like flies over horse pucky.  It's certainly not the lazy weave one would expect and that I fly when covering bombers.

 

Thank you both for your input.

[Gambit21]

48 minutes ago, Beebop said:

 

An interesting idea.  I would never have thought of that.  I'll give it a try.  Thanks.

 

 

You can do a lot with separate sets of waypoints around the map, making the aircraft to do this or that based on triggers. The ease of this is one of the things I do like about this editor.

 

That and lasso-selection. Life without the lasso is quite a bit different.

Edited July 19, 2021 by Gambit21

[AEthelraedUnraed]

20 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

That and lasso-selection. Life without the lasso is quite a bit different.

Wait - the Mission Editor has lasso selection? ?

I've been using the ME for about as long as I play IL2, and I never noticed. Please enlighten me - how do I use it?

[Beebop]

Select all objects desired then you can have them all send Event Messages (if Linked Objects) or link them to other MCU's.

Non-Linked Objects can be modified (change static type for instance).

 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Beebop

[Gambit21]

8 hours ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

Wait - the Mission Editor has lasso selection? ?

I've been using the ME for about as long as I play IL2, and I never noticed. Please enlighten me - how do I use it?

 

lol

 

Its either left or right mouse click/drag.

[Beebop]

31 minutes ago, Gambit21 said:

Its either left or right mouse click/drag.

Oops.  The part (and most important at that) I forgot. 

[AEthelraedUnraed]

3 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Its either left or right mouse click/drag.

Strange, in my case that gives box select instead of lasso select. Perhaps it's a setting somewhere?

[IckyATLAS]

Lasso, really lasso, that means I can draw a countour around the icons that I want to select?

I didn't know about this function either. I do my selections always with a box that contains either all the wanted icons or otherwise the maximum wanted icons and I complete with ctrl-click on all the wanted icons that are left. I have to check this lasso thing this evening !

 

I use this box selection to have multiple parameter changes and events link etc. But careful this to work all object must be of the same type, and you can check if it works when you have the name <multiple> displayed after the selection, otherwise it won't work.

[Gambit21]

7 hours ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

Strange, in my case that gives box select instead of lasso select. Perhaps it's a setting somewhere?

 

I meant box selection 

[AEthelraedUnraed]

1 hour ago, Gambit21 said:

I meant box selection 

Ah that explains ?

Yeah, I do know about box selection.