Mission Question - Which Is Better?

[DCOg]

I'm not playing 100% realism - I have map contact on.
I have been assigned to an area where nothing is going on.
Yet, to the south I see a lot of traffic.
Do I stay the course or go after the prey?

DCOg

[Lightning61]

I believe you can leave your patrol area, do your damage, then return to finish patrol.
But I may be wrong?

[gimpy117]

done it as long as you sink somthing in the area....

ive even not gone to an area and nobody gets mad....

[DCOg]

So if you can just ignore missions altogether why bother having them at all?
I have not yet completed a mission so when you ignore mission & go off & do whatever & then get back to base do you still collect the renown?

Thanks
DCOg

[greyrider]

what is your mission?
were you sent to patrol an area? if you were, theres a time you have to spend there, usually about 48 hrs, then radio in
when the objective star turns to gray, if your mission is to sink something, then you can go anywhere in the pto, after the objective star has turned gray, sink something, and your mission will be complete,
sometimes its 5k tons, other times its 10k tons, radio in and then you will get another oblective and mission.
you can even ignore the objective to spend time in a patrol area, but by completing an objective, you gain renown, then again, if you complete your first mission, you dont have to radio in at all,
maintain radio silence, and you will not get another mission, and you will be free to roam the pacific, and go where you feel like going.
if your objective is to insert troops or agents, a photo recon, or lifeguard mission, its best to complete them.
another thing, sometimes when approaching your objective area, the star will turn gray automatically, and you will get a radio message saying sink something, when that happens, go anywhere you feel like going, and sink something.
hope that helps.
good hunting!

[Dignan]

I am curious about the answer to this too. I have a follow on question to this. Are your missions supposed to coincide with the briefings you get before you go out? For example, the last mission I played was preceded by a nice brief about the Japanese offensive to the West of the Solomon Islands and how the subs are supposed to patral a certain area and look for Japanese carriers to sink. However, when I get my mission I'm supposed to patrol the Java Sea which is nowhere near where the supposed action is going to be. I even get messages calling all available subs to the hotspot to help counter the Japanese offensive. Should I just ditch my patrol mission and head for the action???

[Rockin Robbins]

In the American side you can safely draw a 75 mile radius circle around your assigned point and sink anywhere in the circle.

With a U-Boat, you are assigned a grid area and must sink within the grid assigned to get credit for completing the assignment.

In either case you can leave to sink targets of opportunity as long as you return to complete your assignment.

[Dignan]

Thanks for the reply. Another basic question. I started off a 1942 campaign with an S-18. Am I stuck with this submarine until my career is over or can you be assigned a new boat? Thanks.

[SuperCavitation]

Sink stuff, complete missions, and you'll be in a Gato in no time! ;) :up:

[-Pv-]

The rewards of sucess (completing missions and following orders):
1) More renoun (buy crew and stuff)
2) New boats (as they become available)
3) Fewer repeat missions (failing often means you'll get the same mission twice.)
4) Complete the war (You're less likely to get retired early.)
-Pv-

[iricund]

With a U-Boat, you are assigned a grid area and must sink within the grid assigned to get credit for completing the assignment.

I've been wondering about this one. Not being au fait with the files and modding in general I've not peeked into the text to check for myself, but I have a nagging suspicion that the grid is merely eye candy in terms of defining an area to patrol. Every time I go on patrol in a U-boat I get a radio message a fair distance from the assigned grid square, not as I cross the threshold. Now in the US game, you got said message at the outer boundary of the patrol area radius - be that 75nm, 150nm or whatever from the marker. It seems that patrol missions in the U-Boat game seem to follow the US game circular patrol area radius rather than the square. I may however be entirely wrong on that one.

[Quillan]

Since the engine is different than SH3, you may well be correct about that one. The radius is different depending on what version of the game or mod you may happen to be using, though. I don't know exactly how Trigger Maru or Run Silent Run Deep handle it, but in stock SH4 you had to spend 48 consecutive hours within about 75 KM of the star to complete a patrol objective. Leaving to go after a target of opportunity meant you'd have to restart the clock. My first patrol in the newest version of RSRDC had me sneak around Japan into the Sea of Japan, then spend a week there on anti-shipping patrols. I don't know the precise radius, but I was generally 45-60 nm away from the star and got credit after 7 days there.