Stupid Question But..Too Many Planes?

[Schnee]

Sept 1943 -- I am a little skeptical of the planes up against me -- they seem to know when I'm coming up, where I'm snorkeling without error...as if they follow me when I am submerged.

Is this a bug? Capable of being fixed or do I have to learn a new set of tactics as they are making the game unplayable.

[tomfon]

Hello, Schnee. Are you playing the vanilla/stock version of SH3?

[Schnee]

Yeah it is the stock version

[tomfon]

Normally, the air coverage is greatly increased 1943 onward compared to the first years of the war. In addition, allied aircraft use radar. Also, you have to take into account the various task forces patrolling in the North Atlantic: they bring aircraft with them which are launched from the aircraft carriers. It is expected that your U-boat will be harassed due to their activity.

However, the correct depiction of the frequency of these patrol aircraft, their armament and behaviour is something totally different. For this reason (and many others) I would say that you might want to check what the available supermods have to offer.

Have a nice weekend.

[Schnee]

I guess I will check out whats available as a mod. I understand 43 going forward historically meant a major increase in aircraft vs U-Boats but this seems a bit much. Particularly how they seem spot your snorkel or almost shadow you while submerged.

[tomfon]

The presence of enemy aircraft is always frustrating - apart from being potentially lethal for your U-boat. I agree. As far as I know, both NYGM & GWX won't save the player from this frustration. On the contrary, your tactics will be put to the test, especially if you are playing from May 1943 onward in the North Atlantic. The level of difficulty, however, gets easier at southern latitudes. As a last note, I would like to add that you should consider the detection of schnorkel as an important factor affecting your U-boat's ability to remain stealthy. Aircraft can detect it either by using radar or their "visual sensors". Good luck!

[Schnee]

My situation might be about to improve if I can survive as the latest patrol grid puts me at/below the equater so we will see.

I've gotten to point where I no longer use the snorkel alto but rather surface due thing the day with a full watch staff to lookout for planes and rely on them being spotted far enough away for a quick crash drive.

No sure what else to do.

[tomfon]

Originally Posted by Schnee

No sure what else to do.

Not much really. Late war patrols are about surviving, not sinking enemy ships. Only lone ships might please your appetite but these are hard to find!! But since you are still in 1943 you should be able to show some aggressiveness. Good luck!

[Schnee]

Yeah unless I can find a mod that makes the plane contact more realistic it appears I'm limited to picking off solo ships by luck. I got one before I saves/exited my latest patrol-- still heading south so we shall see if things improve

[Niume]

Schnee at what Time compression do you criuse?

[BigWalleye]

Originally Posted by Schnee

Yeah unless I can find a mod that makes the plane contact more realistic it appears I'm limited to picking off solo ships by luck. I got one before I saves/exited my latest patrol-- still heading south so we shall see if things improve

Before you decide that the aircraft behavior is unrealistic, you might want to re-read Werner's Iron Coffins.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by BigWalleye

Before you decide that the aircraft behavior is unrealistic, you might want to re-read Werner's Iron Coffins.

INDEED: Iron Coffin in a nutshell: what unending misery: [QUOTE] while crossing the Bay of Biscay, she was forced to crash-dive by a seemingly endless procession of aircraft.[/QUOTE] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Werner And get one of these: FuMO-391 Lessing

The Lessing was designed specifically to detect aircraft presence and was intended to be installed on the Type XXI. It could detect aircraft up to a 30,000 meters radius, but could not indicate its height or location. A unique feature is that this set could also function while snorkeling, although the range was somewhat reduced.

Finally, allied radar was still sensitive enough to be able to detect an object as small as a snorkel head. Although this was much more difficult compared to a surfaced U-boat, allied reports indicated that a surfaced U-boat could be detected up to a distance of 10km, whereas a snorkel head could be detected at only about 5km. Later, snorkel heads were coated with radar absorbing materials known as Tarnmatte. It was claimed that this reduced radar signature by up to 90 percent, although there were no definitive tests.

I'd imagine not a few U-boat crews were the definitive test and they got an 'F'....

[Schnee]

Originally Posted by BigWalleye

Before you decide that the aircraft behavior is unrealistic, you might want to re-read Werner's Iron Coffins.

Yeah one of my favorite books -- and I rthink one of the Chapters was "Above Us Hell" so I'm pretty cognizant as to how difficult it became post 6/43 in a Type VII -- only plus side from my way of thinking was spotting an aircraft at a decent enough distance to crash dive safely.

[Schnee]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

INDEED: Iron Coffin in a nutshell: what unending misery: [QUOTE] while crossing the Bay of Biscay, she was forced to crash-dive by a seemingly endless procession of aircraft.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Werner And get one of these: FuMO-391 Lessing

The Lessing was designed specifically to detect aircraft presence and was intended to be installed on the Type XXI. It could detect aircraft up to a 30,000 meters radius, but could not indicate its height or location. A unique feature is that this set could also function while snorkeling, although the range was somewhat reduced. I'd imagine not a few U-boat crews were the definitive test and they got an 'F'....[/QUOTE]

I'll look out for the Lessing -- I sure as heck didn't get the Metox so that has nothing to do with it

[Schnee]

Originally Posted by Niume

Schnee at what Time compression do you criuse?

I like to use 1040 but lately have scaled it back to 240 or at best 520