A competent captain creates activity for the crew. To create activity you need to delegate tasks
so that every player contributes to the boat’s success.
Delegation requires trust, and trusting random players to know what they are doing is difficult,
especially if you cannot tolerate public failure. Embrace public failure now or play some other
game.
Your crew own all the success. You own all the failure. You suck until you don’t.
Generally speaking, you don’t need to touch or do anything. You merely need to order it done.
Only do the things you absolutely need to do personally. Provide the crew the opportunity to rise to the occasion.
Develop your own tactics. Real life tactics work surprisingly well, but the game supports many options, including improbable ones. Push yourself out of your comfort zone. Experiment. Fail.
No combat happens without maneuver. Speed + maneuverability = initiative. Do not squander
initiative. When you dive you give away speed and maneuverability. Don’t dive unless you gain
in return something of equal or greater value to the initiative you’ve lost.
Do not initiate an attack unless you have a viable escape plan that does not include attacking an
escort.
The best crews trust each other. Build trust. How?
1. Do not flog a man who does not know his duty.
2. Delegate training. The crewman you assign to conduct the training will know you
trust him, and the trainee will learn that trust can be earned.
3. This is the navy. Expect excellence and the proper military bearing. Do not tolerate
slovenly attitudes from gamer bros and bullies.
4. Make decisions. Don’t hesitate. Don’t take half measures.
5. Issue clear orders. Make sure the crew acknowledge orders by repeating them back in
a military way. When the order is achieved, the crewman should announce it. Failure to repeat
back orders generates an air of uncertainty and incompetence. Do not permit it.
6. Push players out of their comfort zone. For instance, station the helmsman on the
bridge. Order him to identify ships. Assign the radioman to the TDC. If the sea is flat, consider
attacking with angle tracking off. Promote the navigator to first watch officer (1WO). Put him
on the AP and delegate the approach to him. Have him pick the targets. Maybe give him the
attack.
7. Promote the dive officer to chief of the boat. Make sure he is using the OP to track escorts and to issue timely proximity and evasion warnings. He should also be tracking other U-Boats. The chief is the critical defensive player. A competent chief will prevent you from screwing the pooch when you are distracted.
8. Stream your game if you can. If you are streaming, do not second guess your
radioman by checking the radio log. Trust him to convey the messages.
9. Make common sense procedures routine. For example, do not surface without
ordering a hydrophone sweep followed by a periscope sweep. Reconfirm AOB, speed, and
torpedo depth before launching torpedoes. Make sure the TDC is safe whenever it is not in use
and between run-time calculations.
Do not waste time. “Lose not a minute.”
Do not get spotted.
Colonel Frost
December, 2022
