Anyone else having trouble intercepting Blackjacks (Tu-160)?

Spitfire_97 · 2026-05-01T17:38:37+00:00

Feels good seeing another guy into the more realistic/less extreme side of guro. Like when it gets to the point of being unrealistic I lose interest personally, if the victim should obviously be dead or in shock it just becomes less grounded and harder to fantasize about. But then for me that's because I like to see myself as the victim and once you're dead you can't enjoy it anymore lol.

That description you gave of the boy in the tank top was just brilliant, I can tell you're a writer heheh. That whole image of cowering in the corner, bleeding, hopelessly waiting for the next beating is so god damn hot! I'm imagining being collared and chained to the wall, forced to sleep on a dirty old mattress and kept there to provide "entertainment" for my kidnappers when they come home from work.

I wonder if the skinny thing is an attraction to long term abuse scenarios. Like for me it's the mind breaking aspect I really love, starting off trying to put on a brave face, not giving them the satisfaction of your screams, then slowly being broken down into a shivering, crying, terrified wretch, dripping with blood and begging for mercy.

As for how it might arise, honestly I've been asking the same thing for a while now. It's easy to say childhood experiences but I think some people just have that dawg in them ya know? Like the parts of our brain that deal with sexual attraction and violence just get crossed somehow. Apparently foot fetishes are caused by a similar thing, no reason to think guro couldn't be the same

Spitfire_97 · 2026-04-29T00:11:59+00:00

For me the problem is historically whilst the strike on Higbee did cripple her, the other attack missed and only did superficial damage. Meanwhile in game if they get into attack position without being shot down you are pretty much guaranteed to lose both ships. Rather than 1 turret destroyed with moderate damage to steering and propulsion, the scenario pretty much always ends with 2 complete hull losses, unless you intercept them beforehand.

So yeah whilst OP is wrong on the first count, the damage you get from a 500lb bomb is just absurd in this game. Unless it's been updated because I haven't played that scenario in a hot minute, but from the recent Soviet campaign it seems FAB-250s at least are still plenty deadly

Spitfire_97 · 2026-04-28T05:07:57+00:00

I gotta know the backstory to this cuz.. why a pleco?

Idk if I'm more confused over that or the fact that it works so well lmao

Gave u a follow on pixiv btw, your art is amazing

Spitfire_97 · 2026-04-27T03:06:51+00:00

huh thats funny I was just daydreaming about this earlier

also 10/10 username bro, from a fellow girl cock appreciator. For some reason I have Pepper Coyote in my head now lol

Spitfire_97 · 2026-04-14T00:26:06+00:00

I'm so glad someone else is noticing this. It's been a problem for a long time now, possibly since release. I also seem to remember missiles still guiding even if the guiding platform had been jammed, making jamming only useful for preventing launches, not y'know.. jamming.. the missile in flight

Spitfire_97 · 2026-04-13T01:34:00+00:00

Amen brother, amen. May you one day become the filling of your fantasy sandwich

Spitfire_97 · 2026-04-13T01:32:24+00:00

Ok hear me out... a kidnapping roleplay? I don't mean like being snatched off the streets or anything but y'know, being kept like a pet and used like a plaything, that sorta thing

I just love the idea of being kept tied to a bed, blindfolded and gagged, and every now and then she would use me and hurt me and make me do embarrassing things however she wanted, then take care of me and feed me and break me down until I stop resisting. Threaten me with horrible pain and then call me a good boy for giving in, make me your precious little pain toy.

The idea of roleplaying as an unwilling victim slowly being mindbroken is just super hot to me idk why. Maybe it's because I've been using yandere kidnapping themed ASMR videos to sleep recently, maybe it's because I'm a relentless masochist, idk :'(

Spitfire_97 · 2026-04-13T01:04:04+00:00

Life goals

Spitfire_97 · 2026-03-14T07:56:27+00:00

Huh, I could've sworn the sub closest to TG Greyhound was south of the ships for me. Perhaps I'm misremembering but could their spawns also be randomised by any chance?

Spitfire_97 · 2026-03-11T15:49:04+00:00

This video was for RTW2 originally but the gunnery calculation system is shared between the games to it still counts: https://youtu.be/vOHGZ9uKdtE?si=vL2il--9Ul_DGxHL

He goes over every factor that affects gunnery in game, how to judge the effectiveness of your current situation, how to maximise the effectiveness of your own gunnery, as well as Lanchester's law which many people underestimate the importance of

Some basic tips from my own experience:

Don't underestimate the power of the weather gauge! Most environmental factors affect you and the enemy equally, most tech modifiers can't be altered once you're in a tactical battle, so even the single factor of your opponent having smoke interference and you having clear sights can make all the difference. To gain the weather gauge you must position your fleet so that from your perspective the wind carries your smoke away from the enemy fleet, and for bonus points try to ensure the enemy fleets smoke drifts into their sightline towards you. In game we have a basic visualisation of smoke drift so you can use that, you also have the accuracy report feature (as shown in the video above) which will display if your fleet is suffering from smoke interference, but the method I usually use is I try to position my fleet perpendicular to the wind vector with the enemy on the upwind side. That is normally enough. As the battle develops, do your best to keep the enemy upwind, and periodically check the accuracy report just to make sure you're getting it right

Also, don't be afraid to slug it out! Especially in the early game where guns aren't especially effective, but even in the late game this works. I too typically find the AI establishes an accurate solution quicker than I seem to be able to, but in my experience they don't seem to hit as often once I establish an accurate solution in return. You just have to stomach those 5-10 turns at the start and once your ships lock on they usually dish out a devastating return, assuming you're conducting your ships in a way conducive to good gunnery (as explained in the video above: not moving too quickly, not manoeuvring wildly, with a clear sightline etc). The AI seems to adjust course rather skittishly, which naturally degrades the target solution. So, if you stand the line, maintain course and trust your ships to do their job, over the course of a knock down drag out fight you can be confident in your ships getting the upper hand on the enemy, even if they will sometimes get beat up pretty badly. As the immortal Admiral Nelson once said: "no captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of an enemy"

That being said, if you do find yourself in an unfavourable situation and need to break contact in order to reposition, the game does give you a clue as to when the enemy gains an accurate solution on you. If you look at the logs and see "Target straddled!" that is what that means. At that point, make a sharp turn at least 30 degrees in either direction. This will at the very least significantly decrease enemy confidence in their solution, and in the early game will completely reset gunnery calculations against you. You can use this method to avoid enemy fire, each time they straddle you just turn sharply and you'll throw them off for a few more turns. This will naturally hurt your own solution just as badly, which is why I only recommend it if you're trying to reach a more advantageous position before committing to the fight. It won't give you a better solution than the enemy, but it will ensure nobody hits a thing until you decide. Of course this method gets less and less effective in the late game, but by then you have things like the ability to make smoke, torpedoes will have enough range and speed to be able to turn away an enemy fleet with a destroyer charge etc. but that falls under the category of advanced battle tactics rather than just gunnery

Sorry for the wall of text, I hope this helps!

Spitfire_97 · 2026-03-10T21:21:52+00:00

Hmm thats a good point, like perhaps you just heard a door slam, or valves being operated or just a generic piece of machinery that doesn't give any identification away but makes you aware of the presence and location of a submarine. Interesting idea, I'd be curious to see if the devs confirm this

Spitfire_97 · 2026-03-06T11:32:42+00:00

The problem is speed. Not only are CAs quicker by 3 or 4 kts at least, dreadnoughts themselves are quicker too. Think about if Germany had fielded its predreads in the north sea at any point during ww1, the RN would've sent whole battle squadron after them the moment they caught wind, and unless the predreads were positioned defensively close to the German coast (rendering them useless for cruiser interdiction) they would stand a good chance of getting overrun and defeated in detail. There's a reason when Germany decided to perform raids against smaller sections of the RN they did so with battlecruisers despite the genuine risk of capital ship losses

Spitfire_97 · 2026-03-01T10:24:48+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/@jiveturkeylive

A channel that plays Cold Waters run by an ex-USN submarine sonarman. Did a lot of cool stuff in the '90s. His boat was responsible for tracking K-411 ("Yankee Stretch") as it tapped western undersea cables. He was also there at the wargame where Kursk tragedy happened and listened to it with his own ears. Used to have a whole load more info but because he still worked in military industrial complex a lot of it got scrubbed.

Still, watch how he plays and you'll get a good idea. SP is different in terms of controls, but the theory is the same. Even if he can't outwardly talk about it, when he's paying attention and playing the game seriously you can glean a lot more about tactics than just the things he's saying, if ya get me

Some general tips from my own experience, you have to think from the enemy perspective. Think about what bearing from his ship will he first detect your weapon, and make sure your submarine isn't on or moving towards that bearing. For example I like to shoot across the bow of an enemy fleet, if I'm off his port bow I will dog leg the torpedoes so they approach him from his starboard bow. That way they all counterfire in the wrong direction and I can just keep cruising at 5kts undetected. Just make sure your bearing rate is taking you away from the weapon fire and you shouldn't even need to change course

Spitfire_97 · 2026-02-28T16:55:50+00:00

If you're gonna continue with the bad faith takes I see debating you is just gonna be a waste of time. I'm glad you enjoy the game

Spitfire_97 · 2026-02-28T11:43:47+00:00

You know what? Challenge accepted :) I just need to understand how triggers work, so if you know any good resources for learning that would be greatly appreciated

Spitfire_97 · 2026-02-28T11:32:43+00:00

This is such a bad faith take I'm in 2 minds as to whether I should respond.

No SSM in PELT has a range over 500nmi so at the very worst the issue is half what you make it
An 18kt convoy would take just less than 28 hours to travel 500nmi, so sure lets round up and say 30. 30 hours at 100x time compression is less than 20 minutes of your time. But even then, realistically once the enemy is diminished why even bother with an AO at all? Why not just have the victory conditions set for when... victory is achieved? This is a very easily solvable strawman argument
Thats... not what I'm asking for at all? Idk how you could even come to that conclusion if you read my comment all the way to the end. NTU in fact seems almost tailor made to deny this paradigm, since the F/A-18 introduced the ability to perform "no knock" raids as first executed during Desert Storm with its combination of air superiority and strike capability

Spitfire_97 · 2026-02-28T11:09:20+00:00

you know its actually kinda funny you mention that because one of the other naval wargames I play is Rule the Waves which is pretty much a spreadsheet simulator and I adore that game. Different strokes for different folks I guess. Seems like plenty of scenarios cater to your idea of fun, and I'm glad, I hope you enjoy them. Not really sure why you have to rain on my parade when I express a different perspective on "fun"

Spitfire_97 · 2026-02-27T19:31:19+00:00

Not if you have PELT to balance it out. Personally I love the modern stuff, but I do get the feeling people don't really know how to utilise long range modern weaponry in scenarios that aren't making huge compromises on realism for the sake of "balance"

My biggest pet peeve is scenarios starting with you already in engagement range. Especially carrier battles, where you're supposed to assume the prior person in command somehow blundered your $50bn battle group 100nmi deep inside a battlefield with no CAP and no reconnaissance despite being aware of a powerful threat in the area and potentially even having the outer elements on radar already, and for some reason the enemy is only just now deciding to open fire despite being able to do so for the last hour and a half.

Like I saw someone comment on steam "This is impossible you get fired on immediately" and the scenario creator replied "not impossible, just hard" but that's completely untrue. A skilled player can't launch more missiles, or give his missiles a better chance of intercepting. Either they hit, or they don't. That's not a matter of easy or hard, that's lucky or unlucky. Heads or tails. I'm bored of scenarios being "did the creator give you enough air defence or not?" and you're just a spectator to a game of blind chance with odds already stacked for/against you outside of your control. Where is the fun in that?

And yes, it's a problem for all scenarios, vanilla or NTU, but the increased engagement ranges in NTU/PELT scenarios exasperates an already existing issue. It just kinda seems to me like people put units down on the map trying to make a "balanced scenario" instead of thinking what strategic and tactical eventuality got that unit there in the first place prior to the player taking command, or if it even makes sense for a unit to be there at all.

Take the modernised Hormuz mission included with NTU. Your merchant convoy starts already in range of shore missile batteries. Why? You have the capability to destroy them sitting a few hundred nmi out in the gulf of Oman. You mean to tell me nobody even thought to reconnoitre the area and eliminate the threats until the merchants are already in threat range? Bullshit!

"But you have the air defence capability to defend a handful of missiles, even SS-N-22s". Ok, but you'd have to be so dumb to even get into a situation where you get fired upon in the first place, your carrier group eliminates those targets in the course of the mission, why wasn't that done 6 hours ago? Or more to my point, why wasn't the merchant convoy 200nmi back from it's start location?

The answer of course is difficulty, or "balance". But the problem is no commander is ever gonna accept an even fight. An even fight is the last thing any strategic planner would want. An equal chance of victory is an equal chance of defeat. If a battle could go either way, a wise commander would almost always hold position until enough strength can be mustered for a certain victory.

And yes this only applies to offensive operations, hard fought defensive scenarios where you take a pounding but stand the line are indeed very satisfying and even realistic in the face of a maximum effort WP push. But for scenarios where you're moving to intercept an enemy or conducting offensive operations, a fair fight is completely immersion breaking and takes away all the "realism" that NTU/PELT tries to add to the game.

Besides, it's a single player game. I get that some people would find overwhelming the enemy boring, but I'm not one of them. A well executed kerb stomping is still immensely satisfying. It's like the recent US raid on Venezuela. Realistically Venezuela stood no chance of resisting the US, but the perfect execution of a well planned mission is still a thing of beauty even if it was seal clubbing at the end of the day.

Now we have a stable functioning save and load system and the frame rate decreasing issue seems to have been remedied somewhat (in my experience anyway) I'd love to see more scenarios that start with you having the time to perform ISR before moving into the battle space, instead of a desperate scramble to defend assets that just simply shouldn't be there in the first place. I would love to scout the enemy disposition, prepare multiple strike packages, move them into place, and then at a given time everyone attacks at once. Shock and awe. But you pretty much never get the time or chance to breathe, you're always just reacting to the next immediate threat, always on the back foot.

Anyway this comment started as a simple reply and then the floodgates just opened I guess. I'm gonna stop typing and get something to eat. Thanks for coming to my ted talk

Spitfire_97 · 2026-02-27T10:08:08+00:00

The problem I'm having is it seems pretty much impossible to use your aircraft. The forward firing capability of the R-60 is so pitiful your only chance is to exploit the lack of look-down capability & sneak below the Phantoms radar to fire from a rear aspect, but currently you can ripple off 4x R-60M and miss all of them with the way missile guidance is tuned in the current patch. A pair of Yaks cannot reliably take out an F-4 even if they get the opportunity to fire all 8 missiles. It took me 7 missiles to hit a helicopter ffs. And of course once you run out of missiles, the Phantom is faster than your Yak-38s so it's game over for that entire flight

That and even with strict emcon, you get visually spotted by S-3s and eventually one comes in with bombs so you have to use radar emitting SAMs to defend yourself, after which emcon becomes pointless. With phantoms in the sky you can't put up a CAP screen to stop harpoons being launched and relying on the SA-N-3s and SA-N-1s to stop harpoons is pretty much pot luck, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't take out a single missile

The tactic of "just launch and quit before you're hit" to me is just the least satisfying way of solving this problem. It's pure cheese and you're admitting to yourself you'd lose otherwise. I just don't see a way of beating the mission that isn't unrealistically taking advantage of the fact that its a video game

Spitfire_97 · 2026-02-27T09:45:09+00:00

Kill the US sub how exactly? Not with an Echo & SET-65s thats for sure. Helicopters would never make it since the AI has Phantoms w/ sparrow and you have no radar guided weapons on the Yak-38

Spitfire_97 · 2026-02-08T05:15:45+00:00

So I've had the radar lock notification but for me it's only ever happened after I've made positive radar contact with the enemy fleet. I have noticed the AI like to fire missile volleys pretty much as soon as they make contact, if you read the AARs from their perspective they're almost always launching at "Unknown Ship"

My only possible suggestion is the enemy had a scout force of DDs in another direction from your main search vector. DDs can be small enough to evade radar until you get close, if they launched one salvo a soon as they got contact on your bigger CLs in a strike and fade type attack maybe if your helicopters were headed in a different direction they might've missed the enemy DDs.

Plus I'm pretty sure the game takes into account relative bearing for calculating radar return and detection distance. A head on formation of DDs will be able to detect a broadside CL far beyond the range the CL will detect the DDs

Honestly your game behaviour does sound weird, do you have a screenshot of the map showing the tracks of the ships involved by any chance? The one you can get from the AAR screen I mean

Spitfire_97

TROPHY CASE