Some help on tracking plz :)

[gord96]

I have played SH3 for quite a few months. Enjoy it alot. I just installed GWX for the first time last night. I think its great. I started a new career and after 2 patrols I have found I am having trouble finding merchants compared to SH3 stock. What is the best way to find targets? Cruise around on the surface and periodicly dive and get a sonor reading? Do any of you just park somewhere and stay underwater for a while and listen? Is it best just to rip around on the surface until a contact shows up on your map?

Sorry for all the questions. Like I said I have played SH3 for a while, but the stock games seems to be easier to find targets. I am not complaining about GWX cause it is great, I just need some tips on how to fine tune my hunting skills :)

Thanks for any help

[GoldenRivet]

one thing i like to do is hunt close to "choke points" like the inlet to the keltic sea or the north channel just north of ireland. all of the convoys that are moving into St. Georges Channel have to pack in tight in these areas. a lot of it also depends on the year.

One of my favorite things to do in 1939 - 1940 would be to stalk in close to the eastern Brit coast... stay within about 100 nautical miles of the coast and there are numerous ships ruinning north and south along the coastal waters. this traffic goes away after they get smart to east coast operations after a while. the only threat is destroyers finding you in the shallow water, but when one is detected just stay slow and silent and give them a shallow profile and they usually wont even know you are there.

as the war progresses - especially in GWX you will find it harder and harder to engage shipping. By late war almost everything has radar on it, this will force you to remain submergerd almost every hour the sun is up. also - no more sneaking up on convoys on the surface undetected - you will have radar equipped destroyers on you in no time.

a good strategy i have success with is to run on the surface for about 8 to 10 hours with a good watch crew, then dive to about 40 meters at ahead slow until about 50% battery life, then up to the surface... repeat this and you will find something.

also - and this is kinda a cheat i guess - but i have noticed that when running on the surface at 1024 compression you can see the depth guage indicator needle bouncing with the waves quite quickly... the second this needle starts to lag and the game seems to get even the slightest little bit choppy - IMMEDIATELY puase the game and go to 1X compression - go to about 30 meters depth and be patient - some sort of contact is almost always there

happy hunting

[bert8for3]

Check out the convoy routes on the pull-down map at the top left of the navmap screen. It'll show you convoy routes for various dates. Loitering around routes, in particular convergence points, is good.

Check out SH3Gen, (just search SH3Gen in forum), it's a good add-on that gives you intel, configurable as to how reliable you want it.

In terms of actual tactics, I run pretty tight patrol tracks up and down my hunting areas, submerge a lot, or for long periods, and listen every hour or so (myself vs sonarman, who is generally useless ... but see also thread in mod forum re visual and hydrophone mod, I haven't installed it yet, but will)

[gord96]

thanks for the info guys. that should help. I need to get used to being submerged more. I like the tip about diving to 40m then going to 50% battery. Good guage on how long I should stay under. Thanks again:up:

[GoldenRivet]

i use 50% battery because i dont want to run it down to say 10% then surface only to get spotted by a destroyer and now im forced into a situation where i have to submerge with no battery left for underwater maneuvering... 50% battery will at least allow me some get away power :)