Japanese DD made out of rice paper and wood???

[Barabus]

Seriously though, in SH3 (GWX mod) I would have to approach a convoy strategically, biding my time and trying to slip inside the DD perimeter to set up my shots and hopefully take out one or two ships before an hour of diving, silent running-then flanking and turning while getting DCed back to the stone age.

But in SH4 i find that the John Wayne approach works just fine. I spot a convoy of merchants with 3 to 4 DDs and I just cruise in on the surface, shell the bejesus out of the DD and watch them explode and then take my time picking off each ship in the convoy however I want. Heck, I could stand on the deck and yell "your next!" to each ship as I go to sink them.

Granted it's a different story if they have some bigger warships or in excess of 4 destroyers. But methinks that subs didn't waltz in and swap surface fire with 4 destroyers and come out will just a few scratches...Japanese DD need to either grow some balls or quit coating there ships in gasoline

[duelen]

idk about you but they always try to ram me

[Barabus]

But if you see them from a ways off, which it doesn't seem to be that hard in SH4, they can't close the distance before you light them up like chinese newyear...:rock:

[tater]

Merchant convoy AI in campaign mode is almost always set to "novice." Of the DDs that are not, the majority are "poor" with almost none better than novice. Troop transport convoys, OTOH, usually have 3,4XDD set to "elite."

I just went and reset all the 41 and 41 convoy escorts to have far fewer DDs (almost never more than 1), and more subchasers and minesweepers. I have no IJN craft set below "competant" if there is a 100% chance of them arriving, though I kept a few "poor" with a chance of appearing, along with a few chances at "elite."

I attacked a large convoy and actually had them ping me and DC, unfortunately the convoy stopped while they did so.

[walsh2509]

Japanese sonar and radar was way behind that of the UK and US, in fact not until mid 43(I'll check that date but it was 1943) that a US Congressman let it slip that Japanese DD were having little effect on US subs. The Japanese thought the US subs like there own could not dive lower than 150ft max and set there DC's to 100ft, as I said it was not until mid 1943 that they found out that there DC's were set to low.

And as quoted from what I read about the Japanese DD's, they had poor sub hunting equipment. This is the US/Japanese sub/dd war, not the UK/US Uboat war, and I too have thought at time it was like shooting fish in a barrel. But then again, sometimes its taking 6/10 "live hits" to sink some merchants. Again, in one mission I came across a convoy with 2 large oil tankers it took 20 of my torps to put them down, in my 6th mission which I finished last night I found a convoy with 3 of them, I positioned my sub in the middle of the lanes they were on and gave the one on my bow all 6 torps and the one on my aft all 4, both blew up right away. The 3rd I got into position but with only 1 torp ready I tired to slow it down, I got close and hit her midships (oh with 7.5mt drafts I set my torps to 5mt) I hit her there was some flames and smoke and seconds later the whole thing exploded, 1 torp for a 10,000tn oil tanker, while the first 2 I ever sunk to 10 each.


On DD's , I was sent on a photo recon to japan, I got in the channel that led to the harbour and with only 37mt below me I took her down to 36mt. 3 DDs and an out bound convoy went right over me and not a hint from the DD that they knew I was sitting down there, about 2hrs later still waiting for night fall along come another 2 DD's. Sitting in total silence I am thinking they will not even come near. WRONG! straight to my position and dropping DC's killed me. I tried it again, exact same thing, DD's passing over me, then later DD's right to me and killed me.


As for GWX1.03, I love it! but though I don't know how good UK sub hunting sonar or whatever was like 1942, I get the feeling that the team that produced GWX have made the DDs in SH3 GWX 1.03 ultra sensitive to made the killing harder for your Uboat, more so that it would have been for Uboats in 1942. I could be wrong but I get that feeling, that it was made that way to just to made it harder than it was for realism of the time.


If we want to play a sim then, japanese DD's were no where near as good as UK/US ones and that was a fact. And if we are to play a sim of that DD/Sub war then up until 1943 then the DD's were pretty useless at hunting subs and even if they did, again up until that Congressman let it slip to the press in 1943, the japanese only set there DC to 100ft so you could sit lower and get away.

[Spaxspore]

But if you see them from a ways off, which it doesn't seem to be that hard in SH4, they can't close the distance before you light them up like chinese newyear...:rock:

best line in a while! Mad proops:up: