panthercules
01-01-07, 01:41 AM
It's always kinda bugged me that SH3 will not let you keep a watch crew posted when you man the AA or deck gun. It strikes me as extremely odd/foolish to fail to keep lookouts on station while engaged in gun action - surely the need to keep an eye out to avoid being surprised by new enemy ships or planes would be just as great (if not greater) if you're already engaged in a battle with an enemy who may certainly have called for help. I haven't been able to locate many pictures of u-boats during surface gun actions that also show the bridge, but I did find one that does seem to show at least a few lookouts still manning their positions (in addition to the watch officer, which is the only man SH3 seems to let you keep on the bridge when you man the guns) - see below for an example (you can see at least 3 guys still on the bridge, and there could be others in the back you can't see from this angle):
http://www.uboatwar.net/Uboat_deck_gun.jpg
Also, I found the following text (from http://www.uboataces.com/tactics-deckgun.shtml ) that seems to support the notion that the watch crew should maintain their position during a gun action:
"Throughout the entire engagement, the watch crew are prohibited from witnessing the attack sequence. Four watch crews are on deck, with each covering a 90 degrees arc and they had to strictly scan their respective zones for any activity. They are not allowed to watch the attack to prevent the U-boat from being surprised by a lurking enemy."
And last, but not least, the U-Boat Commander's Handbook (para. 278(e)) tells us that "During every gunnery engagement, a constant sharp watch should be kept (air and horizon)."
I'm sure this was probably addressed and abandoned way back in the early days, but I couldn't find any references to it so I thought I might as well ask just in case. Is there any way to mod SH3 so that it will let you keep the watch crew on duty and also let you put men in the gun/AA slots? Has anybody tried this with any success or is it known to be hardcoded and incapable of being changed? If the latter, any idea why the devs would have coded it this way?
http://www.uboatwar.net/Uboat_deck_gun.jpg
Also, I found the following text (from http://www.uboataces.com/tactics-deckgun.shtml ) that seems to support the notion that the watch crew should maintain their position during a gun action:
"Throughout the entire engagement, the watch crew are prohibited from witnessing the attack sequence. Four watch crews are on deck, with each covering a 90 degrees arc and they had to strictly scan their respective zones for any activity. They are not allowed to watch the attack to prevent the U-boat from being surprised by a lurking enemy."
And last, but not least, the U-Boat Commander's Handbook (para. 278(e)) tells us that "During every gunnery engagement, a constant sharp watch should be kept (air and horizon)."
I'm sure this was probably addressed and abandoned way back in the early days, but I couldn't find any references to it so I thought I might as well ask just in case. Is there any way to mod SH3 so that it will let you keep the watch crew on duty and also let you put men in the gun/AA slots? Has anybody tried this with any success or is it known to be hardcoded and incapable of being changed? If the latter, any idea why the devs would have coded it this way?