Best Strategic Map ... strategy?
 

Hi all, new to this forum and hope this isn't a question already discussed...

I just bought my copy of CW after following it and watching some of JiveTurkey's and Jingles' videos on YouTube for a while. I played a lot of Red Storm Rising as a kid and was excited for CW as a spiritual successor with newer graphics. My prior sub sim experience also included EA's 688 and some WWII U-Boat sim I forgot the name of.

Anyway I've been playing CW's 1984 campaign in Casual while I learn the game, and the thing I've been having the most trouble* with is finding mission targets in the strategic map. I know it's a big ocean and that I can't find everything (especially since I lost the Norwegian sonar net early in this playthrough), but oddly I've been having the most trouble finding merchant/support surface groups, not sub targets. I try to get to the general area of my brief, then do a mix of slow lurking with the occasional fast dash to avoid aircraft/satellites/non-target warships, but I'm wondering if there's any more specific tips for newbies like me? I hope to avoid any more mocking news headlines from the game asking "why can't they find slow tankers!?"

Also, is there any way to predict from the strategic map layer what the sea conditions will be (besides general depth, that I can guess from the contours on the big map)?

Thanks!

* Besides psychic destroyers and aircraft spamming torpedoes at me, but that's a whole other topic altogether :)

Check the downloads section for CW on this site for some maps that still work with v1.15g.

It's not that hard to modify the map files to high-lite the place names in a contrasting colour for better visibility. Looking at some of the modding threads should be enough to get you to the right files.

There aren't that many names, and after a few missions and studying the map to find out where to go, you'll know where all of the places are from memory. It doesn't take long.

Unfortunately very little detail can be gleaned from the map screen. A relative depth is about all the useful info the map offers up. In game apart from drop offs and seabed rises, the ocean bottom is flat with no impediments to navigation. The only exception is an iceberg that can be large enough to extend from the surface to the bottom.

Welcome aboard!