Accuracy question

[KiloZulu]

I'm in a battle where my BB has three 15" twin-barrel turrets.  I have the best main and secondary tower available, stereoscopic rangefinder V (best), and Gen II radar.  Basically, I've maxed out the accuracy on my ship.  During the battle, I've cut my speed to 2/3 to further improve accuracy, and have been maintaining a straight line to avoid maneuver penalties.

Okay, so the enemy BC that I'm firing at has four 15" triple-barrel turrets.  He's also averaging about 2/3 speed, but making constant loopty-loops.  I can't tell what kind of equipment he might have to modify accuracy, but the best it could do is match what I have.

Now here's the kicker - he's held nearly twice the accuracy percentage with his main guns during the fight as I have.  It's gotten infuriating to watch, I've crept my accuracy up to about 12% while he's at about 24%.  I don't get it.  I would think he'd have penalties for having triple barrels, plus all the maneuvering he's doing (at least.)  Can anyone point to what I'm missing that would account for such a huge disparity in accuracy between the two ships?  Thanks.

[Accipiter]

i think when targeting a BB ships get an accuracy boost for "target large size" that is not even nearly as much for battlecruisers, probably the reason.

and yes, this is completely stupid since a typical Battlecruiser is basically the same size as a BB or only marginally smaller in terms of dimentions, masts height, ect...

Edited February 12, 2020 by Accipiter

[RedParadize]

If all design factor are equal (ship balance, tower etc...). It can all come down to speed. You have speed malus inflicted on enemy by your own speed, ranging non linearly form 10% to 100%. On the other hand, you have the potential cruise speed bonus, ranging from 0% to +-35%. From my experience AI never slow down to cruise speed.

So the question you have to ask yourself is what is better? slowing down to cruise and get the bonus or going faster and penalize the enemy?

The answer all depend on your ship top speed. If its relatively slow, then its probably better to slow down. If it goes fast then its better to penalize the enemy. At 37knots enemy will have -100%. its not worth getting a 25% buff if enemy penality drop to 30%. There is however one way to get both the cruise bonus and still inflict max penalty on enemy. Have top speed of 49knots and slow down to cruise  at 37.

[Skeksis]

16 minutes ago, RedParadize said:

If all design factor are equal (ship balance, tower etc...). It can all come down to speed. You have speed malus inflicted on enemy by your own speed, ranging non linearly form 10% to 100%. On the other hand, you have the potential cruise speed bonus, ranging from 0% to +-35%. From my experience AI never slow down to cruise speed.

So the question you have to ask yourself is what is better? slowing down to cruise and get the bonus or going faster and penalize the enemy?

The answer all depend on your ship top speed. If its relatively slow, then its probably better to slow down. If it goes fast then its better to penalize the enemy. At 37knots enemy will have -100%. its not worth getting a 25% buff if enemy penality drop to 30%. There is however one way to get both the cruise bonus and still inflict max penalty on enemy. Have top speed of 49knots and slow down to cruise  at 37.

That’s not the answer, he’s not asking how to be more accuracy via speed, he asking if all things being equal why is the enemy so buff.

It’s a good question, especially if you were advancing campaign tech.

[RedParadize]

8 minutes ago, Skeksis said:

That’s not the answer, he’s not asking how to be more accuracy via speed, he asking if all things being equal why is the enemy so buff.
It’s a good question, especially if you were advancing campaign tech.

If it was not clear, my answer deal with the possibility that his foe had faster ship, and/or did not slow down to cruise speed. As I said, I never seen a AI slow down on purpose.

[KiloZulu]

To test the ideas I saw in responses, I built a BC that tried to mimic the BB I listed above.  It had the same speed and armor, as close as I could match to towers (slight loss of accuracy,) same rangefinder/radar, and same 15" guns.  I am again facing a BC with 15" triple gun turrets, and...

at a range of 14.3 km, my current accuracy (nearly half speed) is 2.8%, while the enemy BC has an accuracy of 8.2%.  I'd point out that as I write this, the BC is turning, and therefore has a maneuver penalty.  I also note that the new BC doesn't have the best towers.  I do see that he has a higher top speed this time (39.9 kn,) and is going at about 3/4 speed (31.8 kn.)  I think the previous BC had a top speed of 35 kn and was around 26 kn when I wrote the OP.

So, the hull type doesn't seem to be a factor.  Speed seems to be the main difference between us - could the enemy's speed create such a disparity?

[RedParadize]

@KiloZulu Hull have stability attribute. It influence how accurate guns are in bad weather and at high speed.

If you  look on the left. You can see what affect accuracy, that depend on what you are pointing at. If you point your cursor at enemy, you will see what penalty you receive from speed or else. Note that some of these number can be really high, such as Ship size and speed.

[KiloZulu]

Following up, I switched from the stereoscopic rangefinder V to the ? rangefinder ? - switching long range accuracy for base accuracy, essentially.  All else being the same for the ship, in this new battle I'm facing a BC with three turrets identical to mine.  He's maneuvering while running at 33.7 kn (41.5 kn top speed.)

My accuracy at 13.6 km, while at half speed and maintaining course, is 2.8%.  The enemy BC's accuracy is at 13%.

I'm really scratching my head.

[KiloZulu]

6 minutes ago, RedParadize said:

@KiloZulu Hull have stability attribute. It influence how accurate guns are in bad weather and at high speed.

If you  look on the left. You can see what affect accuracy, that depend on what you are pointing at. If you point your cursor at enemy, you will see what penalty you receive from speed or else. Note that some of these number can be really high, such as Ship size and speed.

Thank you!  I never knew that, and it explains a lot.  In the battle I just described, his speed gives me a -76.4%, and his maneuvering adds a further -19%.  Holy moly.

[RedParadize]

Note that "size" matter allot too. Size seem to be two separate factor combined. Mainly hull displacement and "target signature". Each thing you add to your ship add bits of signature. In designer, you can see the value on each item stats and the total on the right row, 2/3 down. Btw, I keep the "ship detail" and "weight & cost" tab closen as the most important factor are in the last tab "stats".

If you aim for a ship that is accurate and hard to hit, go for:

BC, not bigger than it need to be.
Good tower.
Best rangefinder/radar.
High speed (37 is max penality for the enemy).
Best high caliber gun mark.
No or low smoke interference.
Low target signature.

 

[arkhangelsk]

4 hours ago, RedParadize said:

If all design factor are equal (ship balance, tower etc...). It can all come down to speed. You have speed malus inflicted on enemy by your own speed, ranging non linearly form 10% to 100%. On the other hand, you have the potential cruise speed bonus, ranging from 0% to +-35%. From my experience AI never slow down to cruise speed.

So the question you have to ask yourself is what is better? slowing down to cruise and get the bonus or going faster and penalize the enemy?

The answer all depend on your ship top speed. If its relatively slow, then its probably better to slow down. If it goes fast then its better to penalize the enemy. At 37knots enemy will have -100%. its not worth getting a 25% buff if enemy penality drop to 30%. There is however one way to get both the cruise bonus and still inflict max penalty on enemy. Have top speed of 49knots and slow down to cruise  at 37.

Actually, I have seen the AI deliberately make 35.5 knot BB then drive his 40 knot BC at 34 knots. I was actually impressed at the attempt as deception but the info at screentop gave it away.

Also, for the OP question, check out the Mark of their guns.

[RedParadize]

45 minutes ago, arkhangelsk said:

Actually, I have seen the AI deliberately make 35.5 knot BB then drive his 40 knot BC at 34 knots. I was actually impressed at the attempt as deception but the info at screentop gave it away.

Also, for the OP question, check out the Mark of their guns.

Ah, yes. A AI ship will go slower if its on "follow" mode. I forgot about that.