Critical damage zones of ships (GWX 1.03)

[Thniper]

Hi everyone,

I hope this is not the nth newbie question concerning this subject, but I searched this forum and found (for me) no pleasing results. Maybe someone could show me a link, where this topic is debated.:oops:

I'm playing SH3 with GWX 1.03 and SH3 Commander 2.7 (no other mod).

So my simple question is:
Where are the best damage zones for my torpedos for different merchants and warships? Is it generally better to use impact or magnetic pistons? What experiences did you make?

I have tried to figure this out by setting up a testing mission with the editor, where four C2 cargos were docked at calm seas. I used different setups and aiming marks for my torpedos and wrote down the results.
But the results were not very satisfying...:cry:

There seems to be more "luck" in sinking ships than correct aiming!
I know this is historically more correct, but as I have read many threads in this forum, I found out that at least some of you have a strategy to sink ships with a minimum number of torpedos.:o
It would be nice for me (and maybe others), if you could share your wisdom...:D

I intend to make a list of all ships with their special critical damage zones and how many torpedos I need to sink them (on average).

So it would be nice, if you could post some of your experiences that you have made with different ships (not only merchants, but warships, too).

Thanks, everyone.

[JuanCudz]

I'll share an example I experienced last night using sHIII patched and GWX. If your target is a large armed merchant try and spot where the big gun is, fore and/or aft, and put a magnetic torp under the bow or stern as appropriate. It will set the magazines off and torch the whole ship.

[blackdog_kt]

Generally speaking, you can still have one shot kills in GWX. It takes patience and luck or saving/loading a game, but it can be done.

I've seen it happen on a tanker (T2 i think, the medium one) with an impact pistol and i also got a large merchant this way that i can't remember its exact type (one of the new ships in GWX, about 10k tons) with a magnetic shot.

Generally, smaller merchants might sink with 1 torp whatever you do. For medium and upwards, i suggest aiming at the smokestack or slightly aft. This way you can blow up their boiler room and they will go down with one shot.

I don' bother with destroyers unless i have a very easy shot or late war homing torpedos, they usually sink with one hit too. For bigger warships like cruisers, i will find out soon enough.

I'm on my first patrol since i installed GWX and after sneaking into Scapa Flow i got a report about a lone warship moving towards my assigned patrol grid. I plotted an approximate interception, used my hydrophones every 100km or so and i have a task force with a fleet carrier, fiji and dido cruisers and a bunch of escorts. I suppose warships are more sturdy but also have more critical spots than merchants, like fore and aft magazines.

If i manage to sneak past the screen i will see what goes. I saved and deliberately cruised surfaced to get spotted and just as advertised, the carrier launched two Swordfish at me.

Usually though, the boilers are behind the smokestacks and the fuel tanks in front of the boilers in a lot of ships.

[Jimbuna]

Welcome aboard kaleun Thniper :arrgh!:

You can download the shipchartpdf file from my sig....it is not from GWX but rather from stock SH3...but it will give you an idea or two :up:

[tenakha]

a little question, i am also using gwx 1.03 and i noticed that when looking at ship in the periscope sometimes the differetent spots appear in the recon book (fuel tank, ammo...) and sometimes they don't but i can't find how it happens so I would like to know if there is a command or something

PS: as english is not my native langage, i hope i am clear enough

[Thniper]

Thank you all.:D

@jimbuna:
This shipchart is exactly, what I was tryin' to make.:rock:
btw, maybe I'm blind :|\\ , but I didn't find any explanation on your chart, what the different colours represent, though I can imagine some of them.:hmm:

Green: rudder
Yellow: engine room
Purple: ammunition depot?
Orange: ???
Blue: area for magnetic torpedos

Do you think, those damage zones are still the same with GWX 1.03?
Or did they make major changes?

So I will start right now printing this beautiful chart, hoping that may colour printer will make it (he's gettin' old, you know)...

[melnibonian]

Do you think, those damage zones are still the same with GWX 1.03?
Or did they make major changes?

This chart was made for stock SH3 and not for GWX. There are differences but they're not so great. Try to use the chart as an indicator and experiment a bit. Soon you will be sinking ships with one torpedo ;)

[Jimbuna]

Thank you all.:D

@jimbuna:
This shipchart is exactly, what I was tryin' to make.:rock:
btw, maybe I'm blind :|\\ , but I didn't find any explanation on your chart, what the different colours represent, though I can imagine some of them.:hmm:

Green: rudder
Yellow: engine room
Purple: ammunition depot?
Orange: ???
Blue: area for magnetic torpedos

Do you think, those damage zones are still the same with GWX 1.03?
Or did they make major changes?

So I will start right now printing this beautiful chart, hoping that may colour printer will make it (he's gettin' old, you know)...

As I pointed out in #4.....it was meant for SH3 and not GWX...but it gives you a bit more of an idea :up:

[blackdog_kt]

a little question, i am also using gwx 1.03 and i noticed that when looking at ship in the periscope sometimes the differetent spots appear in the recon book (fuel tank, ammo...) and sometimes they don't but i can't find how it happens so I would like to know if there is a command or something

PS: as english is not my native langage, i hope i am clear enough
I have never had this happen to me but i've seen screenshots. People said it happens since the original unmodded version. If i remember correctly, the way it goes is that if you are about 1000m from the target and at a perfect 90 AOB the ship's vulnerable areas show up highlighted on the recognition manual.

I think there was also a mod that enabled this view all the time, without the need to be at 90 AOB and so close, but it will probably not work well with GWX due to the large number of new ships.