Frustrated

[SnowCajun]

I love this game, I truly do, but there are times I'd like to throw it out the window. For one going from between Midway and Japan today, halfway between out in the middle of nowhere, nothing but barren ocean for 1000 miles each way, I get pounced on by what seemed to be nearly a full airbase full of planes. I couldn't surface for more than a few minutes and there they were right on top of me again. It's like how'd you have enough fuel to get this far out and stay this long? This is hardly historical!

Second is that I got too close to a destroyer, which is fine, my error and I'll deal with it, but this thing was pounding me from more than 10,000 yards out, hit after hit after hit, I just don't believe this was possible! I couldn't dive before my boat was terribly damaged. Are they truly thinking I'm buying that a Japanese destroyer can pound me that many times in a row from that far away, so far away in fact that I couldn't even see it in my periscope??? What gives?

I know everyone knows of the slow trip back from Japan to Pearl .. omg I so hope they fix this with the 1.4 patch. I know there are a lot of you U-Boat fans out there, but I really wish they'd have concentrated on fixing what they started in the Pacific first before taking on a huge addon that's delaying what they didn't do right in the Pacific the first few tries.

SnowCajun

[leovampire]

T.M. has my air base nav mod and if it is after Wake Island is taken then you have a small airbase there and a small airbase on Iwo Jima as well but you can see them on your Nav map.

Or maybe the attack force heading to Midway depending on the time frame you are in the game.

As to the DD nailing you present the smallest target to him as possable as your trying to dive. This way here he can only bring the forward gun's to bear on you while he is chasing you.

Tactic's are every part of survival as a sub Captain game or no game.

[Torplexed]

I know everyone knows of the slow trip back from Japan to Pearl .. omg I so hope they fix this with the 1.4 patch. I know there are a lot of you U-Boat fans out there, but I really wish they'd have concentrated on fixing what they started in the Pacific first before taking on a huge addon that's delaying what they didn't do right in the Pacific the first few tries.
Yeah, there are times I miss the old SH1 setup where you started out in your patrol area with a certain amount of fuel subtracted. But with the addition of home bases and ports for SH2 and 3 there was no going back.

[Winston Caine]

I love this game, I truly do, but there are times I'd like to throw it out the window. For one going from between Midway and Japan today, halfway between out in the middle of nowhere, nothing but barren ocean for 1000 miles each way, I get pounced on by what seemed to be nearly a full airbase full of planes. I couldn't surface for more than a few minutes and there they were right on top of me again. It's like how'd you have enough fuel to get this far out and stay this long? This is hardly historical!

Perhaps there was an aircraft carrier nearby? Usually on patrol, I get about 4 planes per hour above me. As for the destroyer, that targeting can be a bitch, happened to me once too (although he managed to hit my engine room and sink me in a matter of seconds, but hey, lucky shot)

[tomoose]

Your last sentence, I couldn't agree more.

Ref the air attacks, get the Trigger Maru mod. Much more realistic approach to air patrols (also harder to hit ships too, LOL). With the stock game I think I averaged approx 20 air attacks per patrol = ridiculous. With the TM mod, the air attacks are far fewer and ONLY if I'm within a specific distance to enemy airbases = much more realistic.

I've never experienced what you describe with the destroyer. I've only got caught on the surface (by plane or warship) by using the time compression at too high a value when in enemy waters. Usually if my air search radar warns me of a contact, even a long range one, I'll go to periscope depth and cruise for a while. This way I can get all the way to my patrol area without a single incident with aircraft. In fact, I think it's safe to say that the only way I'll get dinged by an aircraft is to ignore my radar operator's warnings, which I've done in the past and continued in TC and WHAM, paid the price!
:up:

[Snuffy]

If this is taking place before the battle of Midway, rumor has it there is a carrier task force out there waiting to engage in the battle, and those aircraft are all supposed to be flying CAP.

I think TMs latest version worked on this some and was supposed to have reduced the number of CAP, but those that you do meet have been given better AI & teeth.

[-Pv-]

Tactics and skill. Play the game as if your life is at stake.

Even in the stock game, aircraft aren't as much of a problem as many claim. Once you fit your Sboat with air radar, dive below scope depth before the plane comes in sight and stay there for a while. Go slow and stay submerged until dark if you have to. Once you have been discovered, all available aircraft will be vecored to your location. This can last for days. Irritating and avoidable. It's a lot easier to avoid the few planes that happen to be searching near you than the 20-30 planes that get sent right to your location. It's almost inpossible for a fleet boat to get caught unaware by aircraft unless you are ignoring the game. If you don't have SD radar, you should not be on the surface in clear conditions in enemy water during the day.

When found by destroyers, the above advice is right on. Go flank and turn away to minimum profile. Get going as fast as you can then crash dive. Be aware CD places your propulsion immediately on battery so you will slow down very fast. As soon as your boat starts to lower in the water, the incoming shells will start to miss with larger errors as it becomes more difficult for the enemy to judge distance and mast height. Don't hang around. Immediately go deep and while at high speed, make a 30 deg turn and go silent letting your momentum finish the turn. The surface ship will pound the area where they saw you submerge. You don't want to be there. You also don't want to advertise your new location while you slink away. Unless you're being attacked directly, turn off Battle Stations (if activated) because that feature makes a lot of noise.

In the stock game, 9000 yards is close to maximum visible range for all craft in the game which is about 4.5 miles. If the weather conditions are poor, max vis range can be much lower than this. If I'm sailing in clear with no fog out beyond the furthest allied base, I'm ultra cautious as the enemy can show up any time. The exception is Marshals where you are only going to get enemy aircraft and few if any. DD crew skill vary widely and some will blast you out of the water in no time and others will act as if you aren't there for a while, then slowly put 2 and 2 together. Best to play safe and play as if it's your goal to be aware of everyone else before you are aware of you. Even at worst, your sonar operator can detect enemy DDs long before they come in visual range (unless you have tired them out with excessive BS) or have poor quality ratings assigned to the position.

Tactics and skill. Don't blame everything on what is percieved as unrealistic.
-Pv-

[Reaves]

If you don't like the trip from Pearl choose an Asiatic based career.

Your Destroyer problem i've never encountered but with the aircraft attacking i'd say it's possible that a carrier group was in your area and you'd been spotted. That's a feature, not a bug btw....

[Rockin Robbins]

run in circles, scream and shout.

Let's consult the evidence, courtesy of www.ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
REMEMBER THIS USS BERGALL?
On the evening of Dec. 13, 1944 as Bergall (Hyde) was preparing to plant mines off Indo-China, she picked up a distant radar contact. Closing to 26,000 yards, the contact was tentatively identified as 2 cruisers, later determined to be a cruiser and destroyer escort. After attaining a firing position 3300 yards away from the overlapping targets, six bow tubes were fired. Moments later a tremendous explosion occurred, seemingly, breaking the Imperial Japanese heavy Myoku in two. Hauling clear to reload when the escort seemed reluctant to attack, Bergalll charged in for a second attack when, at 9000 yards, the escorting destroyer opened fire, one shell landing in Bergall's wake, another directly into her forward torpedo loading hatch, opening a large hole in her pressure hull. Retreating at full speed. Bergall hauled clear only to find that the damage was beyond repair at the scene, 2000 miles from the nearest friendly port...


Hmmmm... "Hardly historical. Throw it out the window. What gives? Fix what they started in the Pacific before... What they didn't do right."

[-Pv-]

Good research RR. Prooves there is more than one peep on the planet knows history.
-Pv-