Wolfpack mod (h.sie patch) question
 

Has anyone actually had success with a wolfpack showing up? I quite often report convoys and get confirmation from BdU, as well as orders to continue shadowing the convoy and make hourly reports (which ain't always easy to do, I tell you -- escorts and aircraft make shadowing 'interesting'), as well as promises that other Uboats are on the way. But I've never had a wolfpack, as yet, show up.

I understand that bad weather, storms, etc., can and will prevent other Uboats from rendezvousing, but several times now I've shadowed a convoy anywhere between 24 to 72 hours, only to be told, in effect, "You're on your own".

So . . . has anyone actually had a wolfpack rendezvous with them and attack?

Yes, many times.

Run the test mission that he mentions to check and see if your installation is working properly. If the wolfpack shows up, then you should be good to go for the campaign.

I have run the test mission --multiple times-- but his instructions are to check that BdU instructs that a wolfpack is being mustered, not to actually wait for one to show up. However, in the interest of seeing what happens, I've (so far) spent 18 hours sim-time (and 5 hours real-time) shadowing the test convoy, with no wolfpack, as yet, showing up.

UPDATE: 24 hours into the shadowing, still no wolfpack, BdU still urging me to shadow, that a wolfpack "is on the way", and now the weather changed to heavy precipitation, heavy fog and pretty much zero visibility. I lost the convoy in the soup. :wah::/\\!!

So, I ran the test mission, and the wolfpack never actually showed up. Now that I think about it, I don't think I ever had the wolfpack show up in the test mission either, so I may be wrong about the u-boats actually appearing.

I have been in wolfpack attacks several times, so the only thing I can think of is that you might have written the u-boats into the campaign files incorrectly. Did you copy them straight in or did you renumber them according to whatever item was immediately prior to what you pasted in? If you double up on numbers, the game won't put them in. It will try to look for them. If it doesn't find them, then the game just continues on. No wolfpack will appear.

I ran the test mission when the patch first came out and got it set up. I got the wolfpack to attack once. It took a few tries before I got the message from Bdu telling me to go. I was able to watch it unfold using external cam.

I've never gotten them in a career though, but the time frame might not have been right though- later in the war.

Like rudewarrior said- double check your campaign file and make sure they're placed and numbered right.

:)

H.sie's wolf-packs mod definitely functions as H.sie states.
I've used it countless times, during war patrols over the years since H.sie and LGN1 created it.

BdU may tell you to wait up to 36 hours before you receive orders to attack - but usually the attack is ordered more quickly. You presumably have H.sie's options selector to hand (and, incidentally, I've just created a new version described in this thread http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=236848).
Therefore use the Options Selector on your patched version of SH3 to reset the two oxygen supplies correctly and to tick the box labelled 'Wolfpack less contact reports' (and make sure you've ticked the box for wolfpacks too, of course!) The 'less contacts' option means that you have to provide fewer radio reports to BdU before you are ordered to attack.

Check also that you have added the U-boats for the wolf-pack to the correct campaign file campaign_scr.mis (search for the key word 'wolf', should appear several times in sequence, and before the entries for 'ordnance'.)

Stiebler.

I thought of another possible problem.

I always thought in the explanation of how to report contacts there may be a language issue.

So to clarify: the direction you plug into the TDC is the direction of the convoy not your course. :up:

Incidentally, one mistake I make regularly is that I look around through the UZO identifying ships. Then I send the contact report before checking where I have set the UZO, thus giving the wrong direction for the convoy. Something to keep in mind.

I expect you are probably doing this right, but this could lead to the wolfpack showing up, just completely in the wrong place.

Thanks to all that responded!

I created a test mission consisting of 3 x 3 T3 tankers moving dead North (zero degrees) and 1 knot. It took 3 different runs of that mission but I finally had a Uboat show up:

https://i.imgur.com/njSIAI8.png


Not sure what use that can be, since I don't think AI subs can launch submerged attacks. :doh:

I've always inputted the course as the convoy course (I might be moving at 45 degrees true, but if the convoy is heading 127 degrees true, I input that as 127).

I'm guessing I just experience bad luck and/or timing when reporting convoys.

Congratulations! :Kaleun_Cheers:
Wolfpack attacks are fun! It's bedlam in the convoys!
IIRC, they use underwater artillery, i.e. their deck guns. :arrgh!:

Rudewarrior is correct - the AI U-boats fire submerged guns at a convoy.

The effects of a pack attack on a convoy in normal career mode are truly exciting. As you close the convoy, after the pack has started its attack, you see repeated flashes of what are actually shell hits on the ships of the convoy closest to the firing U-boats - usually the escorts. Meanwhile, the convoy has started zig-zagging.

By the time you arrive, some of the escorts and a few of the merchant-ships will be ablaze or already sunk - the net effect depends on the size of the convoy and the number of U-boats in the pack. The escorts will be depth-charging any underwater U-boats they have located. So you can approach close to the convoy usually unobserved (but stay alert!).

This is one of the best additions to SH3 around - courtesy of LGN1 and H.sie.

Tip 1: don't attempt to shadow a convoy in daylight and wind-speeds lower than 5 m/s. The escorts sight you too easily.
Tip 2: Remember, later in the war, the convoys carry their own air protection. You may suffer sudden air attack at any time.
Tip 3: Do use the 'Less (=fewer) contacts' option in the Options Selector, especially in 1943-44. You don't have to make so many contact reports before the pack attacks. Try to give hourly contact reports. The pack reacts to each report.
Tip 4: It is essential to give the best guess of convoy course and speed that you can. The pack steers towards your U-boat position after each contact report, adjusted for the direction and speed of the convoy that you have reported.

Edit:
Forgot to mention that, in the NYGM super-mod, one or two U-boats are also attached to a few of the convoys. These too become activated and start firing at the convoy when the convoy is spawned by your approach. Thus, with NYGM, you may also see similar attacks on the convoys without a wolf-pack attack. Or you may even get a pack attack as well as locally spawned U-boats!

Stiebler.