How much tonnage is optimal per patrol?

[Loganrocks7]

I've been playing Sh4 now for quite a bit and I've noticed that I do a patrol and probably sink 10 to 15 thousand tons and then come and end the patrol. But lately, they've been asking me to teach in Annapolis and quit my career and after 3 or 4 patrols I still haven't gotten a new sub which from what I understand isn't normal. So what am I doing wrong and what do I need to be doing? I guess maybe I should refit and not end the patrol until after a few months and after maybe 30 to 40 thousand tons? What's the optimal tonnage?

Thanks in advance!

[Admiral Halsey]

Any tonnage is good tonnage. Especially if you're using the RSRD mod.

[magic452]

To help getting a new boat I have found that completing at least three objectives on your first three or four patrols will get you a new boat.
Tonnage isn't as important. 20,000 or so tons should do it.

One thing that will help your tonnage is to start from Manila instead of Pearl.
More action there.

Magic

[TorpX]

What's the optimal tonnage?


That's a hard question to answer.

Much depends on mods, the realism settings you use, and just as importantly, whatever "house rules" you hold to.

Personally, I tend to use a hard set of rules, but on the other hand, I don't expect to get huge tonnages either.

Historically, many skippers got zilch on their first patrols, especially in the early months of the war. Late in the war, fewer ships were being sunk too, since there were few torpedo-worthy targets to be found.

Sinking 10 to 15 thousand tons would not put you in high bracket (at least in a fleetboat), so it sort of makes sense that you might be slated for a desk job after a few patrols. Every patrol is different though. You can't sink what isn't there. Most skippers didn't do more than 5 or 6 patrols before being rotated to either, a staff job, or a training command.

As you probably know already, you can prolong your patrol as long as you like, but extending it beyond 60 or 75 days is very unrealistic. I would just sink as much as you can within realistic limits, and take what the admiral offers you. :03:

I should ask, are you playing stock, or with mods?

[Loganrocks7]

Thanks guys and yea I started with the Asiatic Fleet, so currently I'm being based out of Fremantle. I'm playing with no mods at all as don't really like the instability it causes the game, plus I haven't finished it yet so I want to do that before I try modding it.

I guess I'll just try and do the 3 objectives thing whilst just trying to sink whatever I can. Lately, however, there really hasn't been to many contact reports with where they're putting me. They tell me to photograph that port outside of Java or Jawa or whatever it is and then they tell me to patrol the Celebes Sea and unfortunately, there hasn't really been much out there at all.

[BigWalleye]

I'm playing with no mods at all as don't really like the instability it causes the game,

I'm not sure what instability you are referring to. Wasn't aware of any persistent problems with either RFB-RSRD or TMO-RSRD. If you have experienced problems, please bring them to the forum and people will help you. AFAIK, RFB, TMO, and RSRDC should work just fine out of the box (and do for most people). Any problems you may have had are not normal. Help is at hand!

[Loganrocks7]

I'm not sure what instability you are referring to. Wasn't aware of any persistent problems with either RFB-RSRD or TMO-RSRD. If you have experienced problems, please bring them to the forum and people will help you. AFAIK, RFB, TMO, and RSRDC should work just fine out of the box (and do for most people). Any problems you may have had are not normal. Help is at hand!

I haven't had any problems with any specifically here, but I haven't done the Uboat addon thing for the 1.5 patch and back in Sh5, before I bought it's much better, SH4, the mods were very unstable and I winded up crashing, a lot. But I guess I can try it again. Any recommendations as to what a new guy should use for mods? Does it at all change the gameplay?

[JoeCorrado]

What's the optimal tonnage?

Not sure that you could define "optimal" but any patrol that resulted in even a single ship sunk was considered "successful." If you were able to manage an average of 3 ships per patrol, in real life- regardless of tonnage- you would have been considered one of our top submarine commanders.

If you are using RSRDC then that would certainly be a fantastic average. Not sure it is achievable unless you sneak a peak at the .mis files - or you have played the campaign often enough to KNOW when, and WHERE to look.

In real life, many more ships were engaged than were sunk. Especially true in the early war due to out dated tactics and faulty torpedoes.

[TorpX]

I haven't had any problems with any specifically here, but I haven't done the Uboat addon thing for the 1.5 patch and back in Sh5, before I bought it's much better, SH4, the mods were very unstable and I winded up crashing, a lot. But I guess I can try it again. Any recommendations as to what a new guy should use for mods? Does it at all change the gameplay?
I'm not sure what version you have, but you will need v1.5 (w/ U-boat missions) to use the latest mods. Everything now is made for this version, and it is well worth your while.

I play RFB 2.0 + RSRDC and I consider it to be much better than stock. RFB (Real Fleat Boat) makes many changes to the game and it is a great improvement. RSRDC (Run Silent Run Deep Campaign) scripts the traffic to historical patterns and complements RFB.

Happy Hunting! :salute:

[Admiral Halsey]

You should also give Trigger Maru Overhauled a go as well. Just make sure to download the RSRD version that's compatible with it.

[Red October1984]

I usually try to play it realistic...so I just take what comes along and go home.

However, there are times where I get kinda antsy when on a 3 month patrol and no contacts.

HARBOR RAIDING!

:salute:

[Loganrocks7]

Will check out the mods but ultimately yes, this was the problem. It's better to refit and try again then to end the patrol all together. After I got about 30 thousand tons of sunk ship, I returned to port and they were very happy with my performance. I haven't gotten a new boat yet but they upgraded the one I'm in and now I have a surface radar. I'll check out some of those mods a bit later, maybe even after I finish the campaign. But yea, that was it, just bringing in 30 thousand tons puts a smile on their face or at least meets their expectations.

[merc4ulfate]

Crashing issue are normally the result of MOD orders. TMO and RSRD have specific MOD orders that if not installed correctly will result in erratic behavior and crashes. Operation Monsun has the same issues this is why reading documentation and installation instructions by the Mod creator is very important. Every time I have ever had an issue it was because I had either ordered the Mods incorrectly or changed a MOD and loaded a saved game from a previous order.

Generic Mod Enabler - v2.6.0.157
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