(Relative) Newbie Questions:, help appreciated

[wizardmatt]

Hi all. A question im gonna ask is probably gonna sound really daft, but please help me anyway. I still regard myself as a noob despite the fact ive been playing the game for a while, what with all the GWX releases and subsequent reinstalls. Ive never actually completed a patrol...until now. first off, what im using:

- SH3 1.4b
- GWX2.1
- JSGME2xxx
- SH3Commander3xxx
- SH3Gen0.8xxx (Tracking Room)
- GWX2.1AOTD-AA-Ship-Schleuse-Bugfix
- OLCE2 (Ubermod pt.1)
- GWX2.1 Mission Orders
- GWX2.1 Warning Orders
- and a coupla the mods within GWX2.1 (Integrated Orders etc)

1st off I completed the first patrol in Aug'39 in the 7th. However, for whatever reason i decided to start again, this time in the 2nd. i started my "5 day shakedown" patrol on aug 1st, arriving back in port on aug 7th. so far, so good.
now for the dumb question.....how do i advance the date now im back in port? my savegame is listed as "in port before 2nd patrol," but the date hasnt changed from the 7th. In sh3c ive got number of days in port as 20; sh3c has processed crew transfers, is giving me the option to award medals and skills and so on, but how do i actually advance the date? ive looked all thru the career icons/options but cant see how to do it...i warned u it was a dumb question!
another question: fatigue. i dont wanna use "No fatigue"; to be honest i sometimes find the micromanagment of the crew satisfying.....however, not if its every 2-3 hours of the voyage, as happened in my 1st patrol. ive looked at the guidelines in the GWX2.1 manual, and am using the GWX model it suggested. as suggested in another post on subsim i messed about with time compression settings to try and balance out stamina loss/recovery rates to an acceptable level. however, ive failed to find the right balance, so any suggestions regarding time compression values and fatigue would be appreciated.
cheers fellas

[KeptinCranky]

Fatigue doesn't build up in 64x time compression and above, where you'll normally be spending most of your time anyway... just don't spend hours and hours of RL time on 32x because that'll tire your crew out needlessly.

You won't need the GWX fatigue option in sh3 commander, just set that to "already in sh3" or some such when using GWX

as to advancing the time, the trick is to exit the game, and restart using sh3commander, that will add the random number of days (or the fixed number depending on your settings)

note that these days will be added in the time between the office and actually starting on the boat in the dock, you'll notice that the walk from the flotilla office to the port took you about 20 days or so when you check the time :D

[wizardmatt]

ahhh right, cheers cranky. time for my 3 week walk to the dock then :up:

[Tomcattwo]

On the crew management issue, I try to do it sort of like real life. It's important to balance how many crew you take on patrol with you and where they are at at any given time. For instance, I take 43 crew with me to sea on a Type VIIC (other classes you may wish to vary the crew size given the size of the ship):

5 Officers (1WO (Erste Wacht Offizier or First Watch officer), Leading Engineer (LI), 2WO, OberSteuermann (Navigator), and another 2WO (Obermaschinist - Torpedo)). This is not unusual for a real U-Boat crew who normally had: 1WO (the Executive Officer, also responsible for Weapons), Leitendende Ingenieur (Leading Engineer, LI pronounced "AhLee" in German) )2WO (also responsible for Communications and Sonar), Obersteuermann (a Warrant Officer rank who often stood bridge watch, and was also responsible for food service/provisioning), and they often took either an Oberfahnreich (Senior Midshipman), another Prospective Commanding Officer or another 2WO in training. so 5 is not unusual.

14 Bootsmanner (Stabsoberbootsmen (Senior Chief Petty Officer), Oberbootsmen (Chief Petty Officer), Bootsmen) - Petty Officers, 6 Engineers, 2 Torpedomen, 1 Repair, 1 StabsOberboatsmann (the Chief of the Boat - Senior Enlisted Man), 2 Radiomen/Sonarmen, 1 Helmsman, 1 Gunner/Bridge Watchstander

24 Matrosen/Maschinen (Haupt X Gefreiter (Gefreiter = Private or Seaman), Ober X Gefreiter, X Gefreiter) Basically, these come in two basic flavors: Maschinen (includes engineers and torpedomen) and Matrosen (Deck Div).

Not represented in game is the cook. Crews had one cook only and he stood no watches, but had to prepare meals 3 to 4 times per day for the entire crew for the entire duration of the patrol using only a small oven and stovetop with one or two burners - poor sad bastage...

The watches for enlisted are set up Port and Starboard - 6 hours on/6 off in normal steaming. They are manned as:

1) 4 on Bridge watch (in the rack if not on the surface, since they will tire quickly in poor weather)

2) 3 in control (planesmen = 2, aux maschinist = 1)

3) 2 in Sonar/Radio (1 Petty Officer, One Gefreiter)

4) 8 in either diesel (if surfaced) or E-Maschinen (if submerged): 3 x Petty Officers, 5 x Gefreiters

5) 2 x Petty Officers (the COB and Senior Torpedoman) in the Reparturmanschaft - they lose the least energy there - some folks even adjust the fatigue value in basic.cfg to make this be 0 energy loss in here

The 5 Officers are set up:

1) 1WO and LI (Engineer) are port and starboard at Helmsman (basically Officer of the Deck)

2) The other three rotate from Berthing to Nav to Bridge watch when surfaced or berthing to Nav to E-Maschinen or Repair if submerged. They basically stand 12 on/6 off but they recover fatigue quickly and they're Junior Officers - they can hack it :p

So what this leaves then for the non-officers is:
8 off watch engineers in the Heck (Heck = Aft) Bunkraum ( 3 x Petty Officers and 5 x Gefreiters)

11 off watch "coners" in the Bug (Bug = Bow) Bunkraum (4 x Petty Officers and 7 Gefreiters) and 5 "open" spots.

Two off watch officers go into the two empty "Officer" bunk spots.

This works out well when you submerge - the bridge watch will automatically pop into the empty berthing in Bug bunkraum and will go back to the bridge when you surface again. This setup ensures you are getting maximum efficiency in your engineroom, Control room and on the bridge for lookouts/guns.

You could probably even get away with 41 crew and leave two guys permanently off the watchbill and use them as fill in's for torpedo loading evolutions (this would represent the COB and the Leading Torpedoman) and do away with the two "watchstanders" in Reparturmanschaft.

So what I do then is the following "transit" routine:
1) Watches shift at 0600/1200/1800/0000 game time each day (you could probably just as easily do 8 hour or 12 hour watch rotations). At those times I go to 1:1. It takes little time to swap the 19 off-watch enlisted folks and 2 off watch officers with the on-watch personnel. If you put them in the same berthing spot every time, it gets even easier with practice to swap out the watches. Then I go to 32:1 TC.
2) Watch the most fatigued sailor in 32:1 until he has recovered all his fatigue. Takes about an hour to an hour and a half game time (in 32:1, this is roughly 2-3 minutes real life time)
3) Then go to Seekarte (Nav Chart) and go to 64:1 or more to continue transit. I usually use 256:1 As pointed out above, at TC above 32:1, your crew will neither gain nor lose fatigue level. Transit until it is time for the next watchsection change. Rinse and repeat.
4) if you need to look at something, plot courses or such or want to watch the sunset or to bring the boat to Sehrohr Tiefe (Periscope Depth), then switch to 1:1, do what you need to do, then switch back to 256:1

If you engage and must reload torpeoes or must do some battle damage repair, you'll have to move off-watch crewmen into the appropriate space. You'll have to carefully manage their fatigue levels as you do your work - don't exhaust the off-watch crew entirely. That to me is part of the challenge of being a skipper. Once the work is done, you'll need to manage the crew's fatigue again by remaining longer in 32:1 to build up the exhausted crew coming off watch and not killing your crew that just moved weapons/did repairs. The extra five spaces in the berthing compartment allow you to pull off the most exhausted on-watch crew members and get them a bit more rest (at the loss of some operating efficiency for the boat) - which may force you to consider lying doggo on the bottom, or submerging for the day at slow speed etc. - these are real command decisions you must make. However, as you transit, you will eventually gain more fatigue than you lose, and be able to get back to the normal transit watch routine.

I find this methodology allows me to have some control over the management of my crew, without a great deal of painstaking micromanagement. Just wish I had a way to do a port and starboard watch turnover with a single button! :hmm:

I'll see if I can post a picture of my transit routine crew screen when I get home. I also have a handy crew "Watch Quarter and Station Bill", 1 page in Excel format, that I use to keep track of who is supposed to be where and I'll post that as well.

R/
TC2

[wizardmatt]

thanks for the primer - sorted! :up:

[Tomcattwo]

Here's my Patrol 2 Watch Quarter and Station Bill:

U-77 WQ&S Bill (http://home.comcast.net/~tomcattwo/SH3/U-77_Crew_Watchbill_Patrol 2.xls)

http://home.comcast.net/~tomcattwo/SH3/U77 Patrol 2 Watchbill.jpg

Where:
A = Aft Torpedo Room
B = Bug Raum (Bow Berthing Area)
C = Centrale (Control Room)
D = Diesel (Diesel Engine room)
E = E-Maschinen (Electrical Motor Room)
F = Funkraum (Radio room / Sonar Room)
G = Brucke (Bridge)
H = Heck Raum (Aft Berthing Compartment)
R = Reparturmanschaft (Repair Crew)

and the number indicates the watch section (1 or 2).

By the way, the crew names are real crew names form those who served on U-77. List of all known U-Boat crew names can be found here:

U-Boot Waffe.net (http://www.uboatwaffe.net/index.html)

Game Ranks:
OzS = Oberleutnant Zur See (Senior Lieutenant)
LzS = Leutnant zur See (Junior Lieutenant)
OFR= Oberfahnreich (Senior Midshipman - sort of like USN Ensign)
OBM = Oberbootsmann ( Roughly a chief petty officer)
StOB = Stabsoberbootsmann (sort of a Senior Chief Petty Officer equivalent)
BM = Bootsmann (Petty Officer)
MHG = Maschinnen Hauptgefreiter (senior engineering or torpedo able bodied seaman) or Matrosen Hauptgefreiter (senior deck able seaman)
MOG = Maschinen Obergefreiter (engineering or torpedo able bodied seaman) or Matrosen Obergefreiter (deck able seaman)
MG = Maschinen Gefreiter (junior engineering or torpedo able bodied seaman) or Matrosen Gefreiter (junior deck able seaman)

Not listed because there isn't a "Game Rank" for them would be Obersteuermann (a Warrant Officer equivalent - the Navigator), Oberbootsmann (Senior Bosun, or "Chief of the Boat" - COB), and the senior torpedoman and senior enlisted engineer.

R/
TC2

[wizardmatt]

thats great Cat, thanks. i've downloaded ur sheet.
as a final favour, could u give me english translations? my french isnt too bad, but i never studied german :up:

[Tomcattwo]

Threads above updated with more English translations of German rate/ranks. My apologies to my German friends :)
R/
TC2

[Jimbuna]

I'll have a swiz at this too if you don't mind http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/pirate.gif

[wizardmatt]

nice one Cat :up: