SH3 Newbie Guide, FAQs, Tactics & Tips, Links, & other helpful stuff

[HW3]

Welcome Back!

Greetings, captains.
Played in SH3 long ago, and looks like now is coming another underwater cycle for me.
After trying many mods, reading tons of manuals and hints about this great game, i still got a question without an answer. Sorry if this question was already discussed - with my poor English it is really hard to find something specific in the thread.
So, one thing in SH3 was remaining a mystery for me for all these years: how exactly works the registration of the fact of sinking the ship? Is getting the "She's going down!" message from one of officers the only way to ensure that ship will be counted in score? If so, this is very sad, because i was seen many game situations when keeping periscope depth and periscope above the surface just to get "She's going down!" message can be very dangerous for the boat. With GWX flooding damage model, most ships which got a torpedo in their belly will slow sink, and sometimes time between torpedo strike and "She's going down!" can be 30 or more minutes of game time. in the same time, UBoat that runs on the periscope depth for a 30 minutes after attack is almost surely dead one.
So, keeping in mind that i'm doing something wrong, i'd like to ask experiensed captains: if my boat will dive into the deep to avoid escorts' attacks immediately after firing torpedoes, will the victims of my attack (if any) be scored if i'll not see they're sinking? And is there a right way to ensure scoring attacked ships without risk of keeping visual contact with target?

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by Theurg

Greetings, captains.
Played in SH3 long ago, and looks like now is coming another underwater cycle for me.

Welcome back! I have just returned myself. If you don't get a response from more than me, you might want to repost this as a new thread!

Originally Posted by Theurg

So, one thing in SH3 was remaining a mystery for me for all these years: how exactly works the registration of the fact of sinking the ship? Is getting the "She's going down!" message from one of officers the only way to ensure that ship will be counted in score?

i'd like to ask experiensed captains: if my boat will dive into the deep to avoid escorts' attacks immediately after firing torpedoes, will the victims of my attack (if any) be scored if i'll not see they're sinking?

As long as you are within a certain range of your kill -- and this is several nautical miles, but I do not remember the exact range -- you will almost always be awarded credit when the ship goes down. You do not need to see it go down.

So, feel free to do like most of us do... as soon as you fire your torpedos, begin your defensive measures to avoid escorts. Absolutely get the scope down and head for depth.

What can happen is that you don't cripple your ship enough to go down quickly, and it sails off while you are still fighting escorts. It may indeed sink 20 nm away and you will not get credit for it... but neither would you in real life.

What rarely happens -- it has happened to me maybe three times in several hundred patrols -- is that you will damage a small ship in rough seas and it will go down with no credit. Apparently it is the weather getting the kill. Nothing to do about that.

Welcome back and good hunting!

Thank you very much! At last i've got all the answers. From now it will be much more comfortable for me to hunt surfaced in the middle of convoy during stormy day with almost no visibility.

[nataraj]

Hello all, Ahoy !

Got the game a few days ago and got most problems sorted out during Naval Academy and my first two career missions. Seems I finally found the place to ask what still baffles me .. so here goes, and I appreciate any and all hints tips or even RTFMs - if you'd be so kind as to tell me which section as the GWX manual is 600pp+ (Ah, yes I am running downloaded SH3 with GWX 3.0 "Gold" installed)

1.Deck Gun: found out the hard way that after "Man Deck Gun" my sailors started happily shooting at a neutral (Swedish)passenger ship. Hm, I had seen the ship runnig all lights and guessed it was neutral. Surfaced only to verify that what I saw in the periscope was indeed a Swedish flag ... I was assuming that "Open Fire" would be a necessary command (and I DID tell them to hold fire after downing my previous victim) How do I assure battle readiness and still be able to decide when shooting starts?

2.Fuel: In Wilhelmshaven, I was assigned grid BF16 and went there going around Scotland and north of Ireland. When it was time to return, I realized I had only 1/3 fuel left so my only option was to return via the Channel. Hm not good as it was already Sept.7 1939. Is it normal to be sent on patrols that are kind of suicidal in the end?

3.Conflicting orders: On that same patrol I receive two radio messages on Sept 8 (while returning and already entering the Channel): "U-47 Return to Kiel" But my mission objective still says: Return to Wilhelmshaven and I am not sure I can make it to Kiel on the fuel I still have. Second message: "Between Faroes and Shetlands: U-47 North third." and in same message: "Between Sehetland and Norway: East third U-47" ... WTF? are these more of those "immersion" messages or am I supposed to follow some kind of orders here?

4.Passenger Ships: that 8.000 GRT Swedish Passenger ship sure looked like a juicy target. We have "strict orders" (do we really, or was that just for the press?) not to shoot neutral or passenger ships, but isn't that going to change during the course of the war? And what about "hostile" passenger ships? It was bad enough to see a ship with couple hundred (couple thousand?) people on board go down, but that was kind of an accident. As much as I like SH3, I guess I would not want to play this simulation if "success" hinges on giving the order to kill a few thousand civilians just for a few "renown" points. How do you seasoned SH3 players view this issue? Especially since taking on warships instead does not seem to be a viable option (again, one order received: "do NOT engage warships ...").

As you can see, I'm very new to this game, please bear with me
Thanks for still keeping this site active so many years after launch of SH3!

Helmut

_______

edit Nov 8, 1840 UTC: Question 4 has already been discussed on this forum, I found the thread here:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=185709

[insidious]

Originally Posted by nataraj

Hello all, Ahoy !

Got the game a few days ago and got most problems sorted out during Naval Academy and my first two career missions. Seems I finally found the place to ask what still baffles me .. so here goes, and I appreciate any and all hints tips or even RTFMs - if you'd be so kind as to tell me which section as the GWX manual is 600pp+ (Ah, yes I am running downloaded SH3 with GWX 3.0 "Gold" installed)

1.Deck Gun: found out the hard way that after "Man Deck Gun" my sailors started happily shooting at a neutral (Swedish)passenger ship. Hm, I had seen the ship runnig all lights and guessed it was neutral. Surfaced only to verify that what I saw in the periscope was indeed a Swedish flag ... I was assuming that "Open Fire" would be a necessary command (and I DID tell them to hold fire after downing my previous victim) How do I assure battle readiness and still be able to decide when shooting starts?

2.Fuel: In Wilhelmshaven, I was assigned grid BF16 and went there going around Scotland and north of Ireland. When it was time to return, I realized I had only 1/3 fuel left so my only option was to return via the Channel. Hm not good as it was already Sept.7 1939. Is it normal to be sent on patrols that are kind of suicidal in the end?

3.Conflicting orders: On that same patrol I receive two radio messages on Sept 8 (while returning and already entering the Channel): "U-47 Return to Kiel" But my mission objective still says: Return to Wilhelmshaven and I am not sure I can make it to Kiel on the fuel I still have. Second message: "Between Faroes and Shetlands: U-47 North third." and in same message: "Between Sehetland and Norway: East third U-47" ... WTF? are these more of those "immersion" messages or am I supposed to follow some kind of orders here?


As you can see, I'm very new to this game, please bear with me
Thanks for still keeping this site active so many years after launch of SH3!

Helmut

Hi nataraj! I am new to this forum but playing the game for some time...
1).....illuminated ships are neutral that's for sure.When you give order "Man Deck Gun" select Hold Fire.Then when you choose a specific target




you have to look through the binoculars and then press




Space button and they will start to shoot at this target.Crew will continue to fire until the target sink or you give the command Hold Fire,or change the target(with binoculars and Space)

2)....if the port are Wilhelmshaven then you use the type 7b.Then I do not understand how your fuel is not enough.......with 7b could cross the Atlantic and almost reach American shores.I guess you're moving at high speed(ahead flank ) and it consumes your fuel faster.My advice is to move on "Ahead Standart" 11-12knots (press 3).When the sea is rough cut speed 4-5knots(press 1) or 9-10knots (press 2) this will not only reduce fuel consumption but also in visual contact you will have more time to react.

3)Radio messages.These messages appear in the game no matter what flotilla play or what number is your boat.They are always the same.Just ignore them

P.S.




Excuse me. English is not my native language so I may have grammatical errors. I hope I helped you.
The goal is to stay alive to continue the fight

[nataraj]

Greetings, Insidious!

Sorry for the late reply, but I kinda guessed this thread was dead...

Thanks for your explanations - in the meantime I figured out many things myself - if I'd seen your post earlier that would have surely saved me a lot of trouble!

Fuel: I guess I did not know how to read the fuel gauge correctly. On the other hand: yes, I went "ahead full" most of the time. Did my next patrol mostly with ahead 1/3 and ended it after more than 20 days and fuel at 50%.

Regards, Helmut

[Svonne]

Here's a thread version of Wazoo's Manual targeting, since the link is down in OP.


http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=206381

[nionios]

I am in September 1939, patrolling off the Norwegian coast (AF87) and I encountered a Norwegian coastal tanker with no lights.From the first time i guessed it was an allied ship (not neutral) and i was prepared to attack it but I confirmed its flag at a range of 900m .Is it possible for a neutral ship to travel without lights?

[Jimbuna]

Yes

[Long-John-Duffman]

Hi all, I'm fairly new to this and I'm running the risk of sounding like a total Bernard!

But I was wondering weather it's possible to install SH3 commander onto a career I am currently playing in standard GWX3?

[Jimbuna]

Not something I've ever tried as far as I'm aware but if you give it a go make sure it is introduced when commencing a patrol from your home base.

Failing that, start a new career.

[RW_Boats]

Hello!

Just picked up SH3 on a Steam Sale the other day and have worked my way through the Academy and am now in the first mission of the 1939 campaign.

I am struggling with something that I am sure is stupidly easy, but for the life of me I can't seem to figure out ... so here goes:

Why does my sub suddenly refuse to "go?" I mean my poor under-manned boat is constantly running out of endurance so am having to manually rotate people through the quarters. But there have been a couple times (right this second being one) where I have a fully-manned, and fully-rested diesel crew and yet the sub will not go! I have a speed order given (hehe), and a CE manned as well as other spots course ... but am I missing something somewhere?

Thanks!

[Aktungbby]

Welcome aboazrd RW_Boats

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by RW_Boats

Hello!

Just picked up SH3 on a Steam Sale the other day and have worked my way through the Academy and am now in the first mission of the 1939 campaign.

I am struggling with something that I am sure is stupidly easy, but for the life of me I can't seem to figure out ... so here goes:

Why does my sub suddenly refuse to "go?" I mean my poor under-manned boat is constantly running out of endurance so am having to manually rotate people through the quarters. But there have been a couple times (right this second being one) where I have a fully-manned, and fully-rested diesel crew and yet the sub will not go! I have a speed order given (hehe), and a CE manned as well as other spots course ... but am I missing something somewhere?

Thanks!

Welcome Aboard