Returning Skipper in need of help

[Holyfirebomb_7]

Decided with the release of Wolfpack and UBOAT that now was as great a time to come back to SH4 after a year or two hiatus. Before I left, I was able to cripple a convoy or task force like the best of them in TMO and since my return I can not for the life of me seem to stay undetected when I try to position myself near a convoy.

Is there any sort of advice any of you guys can give me on positioning myself quickly on the surface before attacking a convoy? If it helps at all, I have been experimenting with FOTRSU (v. 0.81 if I remember correctly, but the most recent) and TMO 2.5 with OTC.

Would greatly appreciate any sort of advice because this is by far one of my favorite games of all time.

[AmateurCaptain]

Are you using silent running and using a good depth?

US subs can easily go past their estimated crush-depth.


Once you pass the escort, you can come to a halt when in position to attack and rise to periscope depth.


The TMO manual has a whole section on evading the AI, it is very good read to understand how the mod has changed the AI.

[Holyfirebomb_7]

Oh, yeah, I do silent running, below 100 rpm and usually from 2-300 feet when I do an underwater attack, but I need help in getting in a position on the surface because they always seem to spot me long before I get anywhere near a position to make a torpedo run.

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by Holyfirebomb_7

Decided with the release of Wolfpack and UBOAT that now was as great a time to come back to SH4 after a year or two hiatus. Before I left, I was able to cripple a convoy or task force like the best of them in TMO and since my return I can not for the life of me seem to stay undetected when I try to position myself near a convoy.

Is there any sort of advice any of you guys can give me on positioning myself quickly on the surface before attacking a convoy? If it helps at all, I have been experimenting with FOTRSU (v. 0.81 if I remember correctly, but the most recent) and TMO 2.5 with OTC.

Would greatly appreciate any sort of advice because this is by far one of my favorite games of all time.

welcome back, holyfirebomb.
you mention playing two mega-mods in the same post.
which one are you playing and being detected by escorts (unfairly)?
just send your mod config from JGSME. thanks.

[Tuesday]

Having just come off attacking a Task Force I can say for sure that the most important factor is luck.



Task Force move so fast that the normal pace of an attack is pretty much thrown out the window. With that being said, it is November 15th 1942 and after sinking a lone tanker in the South East part of the Suulu Sea at 9 PM at night we head north on the surface. Radar contact is made on a Task Force about 9 1/2 miles North of us & heading South West.


In the cover of cover of darkness I order flank speed and head West as fast as possible on the surface. Since I don't want to be detected this run is actually shorter than i hoped for, but I do have their general South West track down so I pull the plug and head below to seek out a thermal layer!


Just below 150 feet I find a sweet and much needed thermal layer. At this point the Task Force is still on track and about 6 or 7 miles north of me. I slow down to 1/3 speed and order silent running. According to my estimates I am about 2,500 yards from their track, which is perfect as I set all my bow torpedoes to run fast!


With the Task Force running down the track I assume the first ship is an Escort and as soon as he passes my bow I made a painfully slow crawl to periscope depth.



When I finally get to periscope depth I quickly spot two Japanese flat tops, about six Escorts and a Light cruiser!



I made some really really fast attack calculations and got off five torpedoes at the lead flat top then went deep, really deep!



To my surprise all five of my torpedoes hit! This patrol alone has already produced 4 duds, one deep runner, and one premature.


We can hear the distinct break up of the carrier as she goes to the bottom, scratch one Shokaku Carrier!


Despite my best efforts to remain undetected the Ping'ing sounds of the Escorts gets louder and louder and for the next 40 minutes the six Escorts take turns making Depth Charge runs on our position.



When the escorts made their runs over us I ordered flank speed and would change depth and course changes before going back to 1/3 speed and silent running.



Unable to shake them I order the sub 50 feet below test depth, so now at 300 feet we are able to create some distance and from there we made our escape into the deep waters of the Suulu Seas!




Good hunting!

[The Kraken Wakes]

Hi HFB,
Sounds like a problem I had, you have to factor in the density of the water at depth and also the inertia caused by forward movement. It means the engine is pushing horizontally and fighting the dive planes upward angle. I was trying to move and climb at the same time, I was at 425 feet, so very dense water, and going fast. What I did was cut engines completely before ordering a new depth, floated up until I had no speed but still below thermal layer, then give it another little burst of throttle, that way you can surface at any speed and direction you like. Above 200 you come up like a cork out of a bottle and can loose off a couple of fish before they even whistle Dixie.
The Kraken Wakes

[Holyfirebomb_7]

Originally Posted by KaleunMarco

welcome back, holyfirebomb.
you mention playing two mega-mods in the same post.
which one are you playing and being detected by escorts (unfairly)?
just send your mod config from JGSME. thanks.

With FOTRSU I play with FOTRSU v 8.1, Capt. Midnight's CBS and BBC World and Speech Overhaul

With TMO, I don't have it currently all in JSGME but, I use 2.5, RSRDC, then OTC with the 8.5 and 4.8 aspect ratio and realistic scopes for RSRDC, then the radio mods, maybe Improved Stock Environments v3 for TMO, Longer ship wakes for TMO, Speech Overhaul, TMO Smoke mod, EAX Sound Mod without Webster's Maneuvering, and maybe 210 RSRD Duci's Evil Planes, all installed in the proper order, just don't have the note card that lists said order.

Only ones as far as I know that would effect it are at the beginning of the mods list like TMO, FOTRSU, OTC (maybe), and RSRDC.

I'm thinking I may just need to be more patient and cautious during daytime especially and just avoid contact when I'm behind a TF or Escorted convoy though to fix my issue

[THEBERBSTER]

A Warm Welcome To The Subsim Community > The Kraken Wakes & AmateurCaptain
Subsim <> Make A Donation <> See The Benefits <> Support The Community

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by Holyfirebomb_7

With FOTRSU I play with FOTRSU v 8.1, Capt. Midnight's CBS and BBC World and Speech Overhaul

With TMO, I don't have it currently all in JSGME but, I use 2.5, RSRDC, then OTC with the 8.5 and 4.8 aspect ratio and realistic scopes for RSRDC, then the radio mods, maybe Improved Stock Environments v3 for TMO, Longer ship wakes for TMO, Speech Overhaul, TMO Smoke mod, EAX Sound Mod without Webster's Maneuvering, and maybe 210 RSRD Duci's Evil Planes, all installed in the proper order, just don't have the note card that lists said order.

Only ones as far as I know that would effect it are at the beginning of the mods list like TMO, FOTRSU, OTC (maybe), and RSRDC.

I'm thinking I may just need to be more patient and cautious during daytime especially and just avoid contact when I'm behind a TF or Escorted convoy though to fix my issue

here is a tip you can use forever.
when using JGSME you can extract a list of the mods you are using by launching JGSME, select Tasks, Export activated Mods to, Clipboard.
then...come on over to Subsim forum and just paste the list in your post.
Ctrl-v is the quick key to do the paste.
voila.