just'a opinion question
 

when crossing the Atlantic for a patrol along the east coast what time compression do you fellow Kaptans use ? As for myself, I use my self imposed 64x limit and regular hydrophone checks until I'm clear of The Bay of Biscay, this is because I consider myself on a combat patrol the second I leave the pier. Also when crossing known convoy and shipping lanes I back off the higher TC's and do regular hydrophone checks too. I have sunk many ships in these areas. When in between these lanes, I'll crank it up to as much as 256x, but not for long. The average would be at 128x. It does take me quit a long time (my playing time) but I feel that's apart of the action. But anyway, I was just curious as how others play it … thanx

Hi,

I play in a somewhat similar fashion. I have my time compression limited to 128x, which for me seems about the right kind of pace for my playing style. Earlier this year I did a few Drumbeat patrols from Lorient and I seem to recall the overall transit to an area off New York taking about 5 hours of real time, or about 28 days game time at around 7kts the majority of the way.

I don't do this all in one session, thankfully, and I like to regularly save the game and come back to it another day playing at my leisure. I'm fortunate in this regard that I am able to load the saves usually without problems. As I recall one of these patrols would take me about 3-4 weeks real time with around 25 saves and reloads.

I read a patrol log from U-164 stating that they made the transit from Lorient over to the east coast at 4kts and the journey took 6 weeks. So for me the big transit is all part of the fun and adventure.

Cheers.

Stork100, I too take my time a enjoy the trip. From Lorient to my assigned grid takes me 3 gaming sessions spread over a week's time frame. My time on station runs a 2-3 weeks or as many sessions and saves as needed, depending on real life stuff or how long my torpedo's and fuel last and a week to get home. I usually chill for a week or two, then start another patrol with another career I have in the Med. Time frame is much shorted and faster in the Med. I have a third career that I just started from Wilhelmshaven, 1939, that I work in, here and there.

I regularly use a maximum of 512x. When transiting the Atlantic to the east coast, I switch to 1024x as soon as I leave the BF grids (and yes, I DO encounter aircraft at 1024x). In case my patrol area is located near Freetown or in the Southern Hemisphere such as the waters around Capetown, I will even go up to 2048x if I'm out of range of Allied air coverage according to the convoy route map.

Even the quickest patrols in a ix sub for me can last like 6 or 8 hours, editing for more contacts even, i don't have much patience so i go 2048 or 4096 sometimes, shame you loose aircraft attacks but well i just can't go at 256 or 128 in the middle of the ocean.