hello all

[lothos]

i've been lurking for quite some time and figured I'd say hello. Being a former OS in the Navy I've always loved naval sims and have played just about every one that comes my way. I have some thoughts and questions of course for the better players than I though.

1. When engaging a convoy do you go after the escorts first/at all before taking on the merchants? Right now my method has been to pop and shoot and then dive and sneak and repeat when clear. This of course only works for as long as I can maintain my position among the convoy. I try and dive below the thermal to reposition and cruise ahead at flank just to maintain my range.

2. torpedo settings, I've heard a couple differing opinions and have tried both with about equal success/failure. One, high speed versus low speed. Supposedly high speed always is what i'm lead to believe and even then I've had destroyers floor it and move out of the path inside of 700 yard shots. Contact vs magnetic, this will vary slightly depending on the next point but contact hits give you a larger hole in the ship which improves flooding versus magnetic which may cause it to go off before reaching the target per say and thus making a smaller hole. Torpedo depth, this is probably the most crucial I think. Torpedos by design are meant to break the keel of a ship with its explosion according to real life applications and as such are best achieved by shooting just below the keel. This is where magnetic triggering comes into play. I've done the shoot beneath method successfully only a handful of times and never with a small ship like a destroyer. Those always end up missing and going below the ship. Now, with very large ships like BB's and carriers as well as the huge liner and large merchants shooting into the side never ever gives me a victory with a single shot, but I have done it a couple times with the undershot.

3. diesels. On my last patrol I got hit by an airplane. no biggie, he destroyed 2 of the 4 diesels. one on either side. so I assumed I could still move, albeit slower, surfaced. Nay nay, now surface propulsion. Is this a bug? Why have 4 diesel engines ( 2 to a side ) if not for redundancy in just this kind of situation? Had I not had unlimited batteries and such on I would never have made it back to port ( unless you can charge batteries on the surface without propulsion ).

4. graphical bugs. this isn't a function issue, just a nuisance to me. For one, after one dive and surface the bow planes never go back down again even though the armature goes down. It's like they break off second, ship hits, most of the time I get no visible damage with my hits and occasionally additional hits to the same target will "erase" a previous hit and make a new visual damage hit.

5. medals? is there any benefit as to medals themselves thus making the decision on whom to award them to more important?

I think thats all the major points I got right now.

[SteamWake]

First of all welcome glad to see you surface

I doubt Im a 'better' player than any other here but I'll take a stab at these.

1.) Personally I ignore the escorts and go for the meat of the convoy. Some will say "Take out the escorts then sink the entire convoy". But to me thats a bit unrealistic. As far as going deep at flank while reloading... well uhhh.. good luck with that. Any escort worth its salt will find you easly and give you a good pounding. Also trying to keep up with a task force, even at flank, would be a neat trick, running at flank while submerged will suck your batteries dry faster than you would think. About the only time i am able to pull off a repeat attack is on a dark night where I can slink off surface and cruise ahead into position again.

2.) 90% of my torps are fired at Fast, Shallow, with impact triggers. I do try other methods but as I already said Ive had the most success with the previously mentioned settings. I try to aim slightly astern of the stacks where the fuel bunkers are usually located. Seems to be a weak spot. Furthermore I never fire a single eel, just in case one of them is a dud. High value targets may get as many as 3 or 4.

3.) Yes its a bug, game treats it as two engines for whatever reason. Used to be that you could get back with no diesels and limited batteries. There was a 'magical' solar charger. The batteries would recharge while surfaced wether or not your engines were running. Not any more.

4.) Dive planes... another known bug. The planes have no effect on diving performance and are just cosmetic. Try saving the game WHILE SURFACED reload and it should be fixed.

5.) The medals improve your crews performance in subtle ways. But basically they dont tire as quickly and things like load torpedoes slightly faster etc. BTW the medals are kind of random and hold no historical value whatsoever. I use them to 'reward' the members whom did the lions share of the work on a particular patrol. Wounded, Good gun work, Good torpedoe attacks, that kind of stuff. Its mostly role playing to be honest.

Anyhow again welcome and have fun. Dont be afraid to ask

[Nisgeis]

Originally Posted by lothos

i've been lurking for quite some time and figured I'd say hello. Being a former OS in the Navy I've always loved naval sims and have played just about every one that comes my way.

Sorry to be Thicko Mc. Thick, vice president of thick operation for Mc. Thickies, but what is an OS?

1. When engaging a convoy do you go after the escorts first/at all before taking on the merchants? Right now my method has been to pop and shoot and then dive and sneak and repeat when clear. This of course only works for as long as I can maintain my position among the convoy. I try and dive below the thermal to reposition and cruise ahead at flank just to maintain my range.

I'm a good boy, so I do what the government tells me. In early years I am not to engage destroyers, I am to engage captial ships, then any oilers, then any merchants, then as a last resort any destroyers, then anything less than a destroyer in that order.

2. torpedo settings, I've heard a couple differing opinions and have tried both with about equal success/failure. One, high speed versus low speed. Supposedly high speed always is what i'm lead to believe and even then I've had destroyers floor it and move out of the path inside of 700 yard shots. Contact vs magnetic, this will vary slightly depending on the next point but contact hits give you a larger hole in the ship which improves flooding versus magnetic which may cause it to go off before reaching the target per say and thus making a smaller hole. Torpedo depth, this is probably the most crucial I think. Torpedos by design are meant to break the keel of a ship with its explosion according to real life applications and as such are best achieved by shooting just below the keel. This is where magnetic triggering comes into play. I've done the shoot beneath method successfully only a handful of times and never with a small ship like a destroyer. Those always end up missing and going below the ship. Now, with very large ships like BB's and carriers as well as the huge liner and large merchants shooting into the side never ever gives me a victory with a single shot, but I have done it a couple times with the undershot.

Major problems with torpedoes are modelled. The magnetic exploders would explode prematurely, but when they were disabled, it was discovered that the contact exploders were even worse. The magnetic exploders that did not explode prematurely were responsible for the torpedo detonations against the ships hulls, not the contact exploders. So the much maligned magnetic exploders turned out to be the much maligned hero. The contact exploders, that had never worked were soon fixed.

3. diesels. On my last patrol I got hit by an airplane. no biggie, he destroyed 2 of the 4 diesels. one on either side. so I assumed I could still move, albeit slower, surfaced. Nay nay, now surface propulsion. Is this a bug? Why have 4 diesel engines ( 2 to a side ) if not for redundancy in just this kind of situation? Had I not had unlimited batteries and such on I would never have made it back to port ( unless you can charge batteries on the surface without propulsion ).

Yeah, sort of a throwback from a two engine game.

4. graphical bugs. this isn't a function issue, just a nuisance to me. For one, after one dive and surface the bow planes never go back down again even though the armature goes down. It's like they break off second, ship hits, most of the time I get no visible damage with my hits and occasionally additional hits to the same target will "erase" a previous hit and make a new visual damage hit.

Something to do with high time copression I think?

5. medals? is there any benefit as to medals themselves thus making the decision on whom to award them to more important?

I think thats all the major points I got right now.

Medals look purdy.

[FIREWALL]

Welcome Aboard lothos

[lothos]

for the record, I am still playing on the wimpy wimpy settings. I couldn't imagine sailing all the way out from Pearl for a single patrol and then shooting 2-4 fish per target. I try and get as much tonnage as I can per torp. I could see time compression maybe doing something to the graphics too. Oh well.

One other thing I have yet to make work is spread shots for larger targets outside of 1k yards. even a hair adjusted pretty much makes a miss to the side :/

[SteamWake]

woops mis posted

[Rockin Robbins]

You're on the right track. First get the boat handling and general feel for the game down. Then I'd switch to manual targeting. It's intimidating at first, but it really is the prime enjoyment of the game for me. We have plenty of tutorials around to help you when you're ready for the transition.

Generally, my attack strategy is to attack first at about sunset, striking the merchies. Concentrate on one or two targets and get the heck out of Dodge. Do an end around to the other side of the convoy and attack again. Rinse and repeat. Once you hit your first two targets, things fall into chaos quickly and you are probably better served to pull out and go around again.

Early in the war, set torpedoes very shallow and for contact only. After 1943, you can begin using the magnetic setting. I still set for 5' above the keel of the target. If it runs as programmed, you get a contact boom. If it runs deep you have a decent chance of an under keel magnetic boom. I shoot two per target, aimed a quarter of the way back from the bow for the first shot and a quarter of the way forward of the stern for the second. This almost always sinks anything you shoot at.

In evasion, be slow to react and have patience. Just because they're pinging doesn't mean they know where you are. After a long period (30 minutes or more, time purposely vague) they will quit searching and rejoin their merchies. If you constantly keep being detected they can sit on you for several hours making life grand. Creep away. Be patient. Get out of there and do another approach.

[buddha95]

I kill DDs and DD escorts cause they kill my friends. Then i destroy the tankers, then merchants, lg to sm. I use my deckgun to finish off cripples, AND lifeboats!!!(nits make lice.)

I set my torps to use both contact and mag, always setting for exactly the hull draft ( except fot dd and dd escorts who i set for minimum depth.)

i use medals as a good leader should, to reward conduct above and beyond the call. My purple hearts always go to my deckgun/ aa gun crews as they get the worst of it in my combat style.

[LeeVanSpliff]

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

Sorry to be Thicko Mc. Thick, vice president of thick operation for Mc. Thickies, but what is an OS?

Operating System! The guy used to be an operating system!

When I run into a convoy I primarily target the merchants. I like taking out an unwitting target, then make my getaway with a long tail of destroyers.

On and welcome aboard Lothos!

[tomoose]

..if I'm not mistaken, right?

[lothos]

Uh, Operation Specialist. You know, the guys that actually did the mobo's in real life. I could do it so well I used to be able to do most of it in my head and be within 5 degrees.


Since my most enjoyment in the game is blowing stuff up, I have yet to see the need to turn the realism up any yet

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by lothos

Since my most enjoyment in the game is blowing stuff up,

When its all said and done ... isnt that what its all about?

Although I throughly enjoy the cat and mouse game as well. Nothing like when the DD's have your position nailed, yet you manage to elude them and slip away. (By the way you get renown points for that too).

By all means play on easy settings if you wish, sink 10's of thousands of tons, have a ball.

Eventually though I would be willing to bet you will find manual solutions quite challenging and satisfying and makes those purdy splosions even better

[lothos]

well, I started a new career at 100% realistic this time. We'll see. some more questions though:

1. whats your preferred range to shoot fish? inside 500 yards? 500-700? 700-1000? Inside of 500 seems to be an almost guaranteed miss for me right under the targets. Especially if they're destroyers or other shallow draft ships.

2. i'm not sure if its better to refit and keep on a single patrol or return all the way to pearl and end the patrol when i need repairs/resupply. Right now I always go all the way back.

manual targeting is annoying me trying to enter the figures after I've plotted them out on the map and on a calculator. I don't need the fancy schmancy dial

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by lothos

well, I started a new career at 100% realistic this time. We'll see. some more questions though:

1. whats your preferred range to shoot fish? inside 500 yards? 500-700? 700-1000? Inside of 500 seems to be an almost guaranteed miss for me right under the targets. Especially if they're destroyers or other shallow draft ships.

Personally I try to get inside of 1,200 yards seems to be fine. Gives the torps time to arm and the target not enough time to dodge. Given the torps are set for fast. For those shallow ships make sure you set the torp running depths as shallow as they will go. Inside of 500 yards is a bit dicey as the the torpedoes need a little run time to arm.

2. i'm not sure if its better to refit and keep on a single patrol or return all the way to pearl and end the patrol when i need repairs/resupply. Right now I always go all the way back.

Thats really a matter of personal taste. If Im sent on a 'patrol' and dont run accross anything Ill call home for new orders. But usually if I am out of torpedoes I'll return home.

manual targeting is annoying me trying to enter the figures after I've plotted them out on the map and on a calculator. I don't need the fancy schmancy dial

Well you dont HAVE to use manual targeting again thats up to you. What fancy dial are you talking about?

[lothos]

how much run time do they need to arm? I just hit a medium freighter at 350 yards. first shot was a fast at 20feet and the second I forgot to switch and it was slow at 20. The slow one definitely had a bigger boom.

when it comes to the spread angle setting, how much deviation is a tick on the dial? is it supposed to be just 1 degree? On my above mentioned target, the first shot was 1 tick left of 0 and the second was 1 tick to the right. contact making 7 knots the first shot hit a good 25% up from the stern and the second was just behind centerline with a perfect 90 deg ambush.