USN Radar 1943

[Arleigh_Burke]

Dave Manley,

Could you recommend a radar-restriction rule like in CaS? USN SG in 1943 in the Slot.

I was thinking that maximum radar range would equal distance to nearest landmass. Imagine Savo island or Tulagi. Would the gain have to be turned down (limiting range) so that landmass returns would not clutter the indicator?

I'm running Pala Passage from an old SITREP and am thinking about how to limit SG radar in the 'Slot' of Pala.

--Rob

 

[Soulmage]

If you are using my variant rules, you could always just increase the target number for a radar check to 5+ or 6+ as one option.

 

[DM]

The presence of land did have an effect on the use of radar, but not necessarily as pronounced as your suggested amendment. If you wanted to include the effects of "clutter" I would suggest the following:

change the detection roll to 5+ when the line of sight between shooter and target extends past the target and contacts land provided:

(a) the distance between the shooter and the target is greater than the projected distance between the target and the land, or

(b) the target is within 6" of any land mass

Reading gunnery officer's reports on actions in cluttered areas you do get an impression that land affected target location, but in many cases it was the confusion in tracking shell splashes once the shooting started that caused more confusion, certainly with early fire control radars.

 

[Alexb83]

On a related note widely reported in the press -

Why haven't they started building wind turbines onto the backs of ships yet?
Active homing missiles would have a nightmare with all the supposed radar scatter!