Hi As a newbie playing the Solomons campaign solo, the threads in this forum are helpful on a couple of the areas I have been struggling with. However I have a couple of additional questions.
My current battle is a new moon scenario, ( which I would have thought would favour the IJN) but with rolled visibility at 24,000yds, which I am limiting to 20,000yds. No Squalls.
The USN, up against a IJN DD and CA/CL force, have a BB and three CA's plus a large DD force.
The USN rolled to detect using the North Carolina R+ radar very early on. (which there is generally a high chance)
As far as I can tell that means the USN can now at the least keep the IJN force detected virtually for the rest of the game?
So the USN sent in a couple of their DD's closer to launch starshells at the IJN CA's, whilst Nth Carolina hung back. (Reading the threads below the DD's didn't need to get closer, they could have just fired at the blips with a 100% chance of illuminating.) Given the starshells illuminated a couple of IJN CA's at some 16000yds from the BB, I take it that because the IJN CA's are illuminated they are visible out to the maximum visibility in that go, ie 20,000 and as such is visible to any and all US forces who then automatically acquire? The fact that the I played it that way and one IJN CA was pounded in that one go.
My question is that now those individual ships have been acquired because they have been lit up, does that mean they continue to keep being acquired automatically in later goes unless the range opens to more than 20,000, or the IJN can get some smoke in between them and the USN?
The same goes for searchlights, ie once a ship has been illuminated, does that mean it is visible out to the maximum range that go, and once acquired in that go continues to be tracked as a Acquired target in later turns.
I have played it that way, but it feels that the USN can then simply detect relatively easily with multiple forces checking, shoot starshell, and then keep those forces acquired to be be pounded at long range? The fact that USN would struggle to acquire on the chart beyond 8000yds for a non illuminated target is then almost irrelevant?
Or have I got this wrong and the ships need to be acquired every round- ie I need to be continuously firing starshell- which I accept would then reduce the lives of my DD's.