Buddahaid
06-20-08, 10:58 AM
NOTE: I'm editing this post to include the later observations as a running text.
Not much chatter here so I'll start. I've been playing through the single
missions and have these observations.
1. Whenever a ship is spotted dive right away or you'll be detected in a minute.
Don't bother trying to shadow or ID ships on the surface since your little
conning tower seems to be as gig as a battleship to enemy observers. Press the
"o" key for submerged trim and set your depth to 8-9 meters. There is no handy
periscope depth key and the conning tower is exposed when just "o" is used. 8-9
meters allows just enough periscope (when up full) to observe and lock targets.
If the target won't lock, usually indicated by the lock view switch turning off
target lock when used, come up about 1/2 meter till it does. It helps staying
undetected. This is however, a way to have a more manual torpedo drill.
2. Watch your exposure meter carefully as it only takes 10 seconds to go from
green to all red and your detected. I look away to add some map marks and I'm
detected! There is no audible warning for this so snooze and you lose.
3. Aircraft seem to have no problem knowing where you are at all times and all
circumstances.
4. Page down and page up keys work the time compression for a faster change.
5. Use the map tools to plot your attacks and enemy positions as you will be
submerged and blind a lot.
After my third mission tips.
6. Detection range seems to be 5nm. I'm undetected on the surface beyond 5nm, but
under that you better dive to 8-10 meters very soon or your detected.
7. Use the Directional and enemy display (yellow dial compass thingy in the lower
right) to pre-aim your periscope view with the keypad. You can find and re-lock
faster as well as raise it just enough to get the red map icons, then down it
goes. I don't think the enemy can detect you if the scope is too low to get the
icons, but high enough to see most of the time.
8. After patrol four I can say that large warships can detect you at about 10nm
surfaced. Seems it may be only merchants and lesser warships having the 5nm
threshold.
9. Not a tactic, but if you haven't read this in screen shots, your best external view is the torpedo camera. Press C when you've launched and use the keypad to elevate your view above water and pan to the target. If you hit, you get a nice few seconds of a stand off view of that hit.
10. I find the destroyers are easy meat up through patrol 10 at least. I even expose myself if they're off track so they obligingly come to me. Neutral merchant shipping was fair game in the last patrols, so I tried the surface warning doctrine (sp?) used historically, but it's not modeled. Fired deck gun warning shots, but there is no response, so you just bag them.
11. When crossing the minefield south of Cattaro, I use a TC of 64x and half speed surfaced. My mouse cursor is on the TC down button. When a mine is detected, it changes to 1x OK, but for the destroyer patrols, it often only drops to 16x and you need to change to 1x fast and submerge. For a mine, go right to the bridge with your fingers on the arrow keys in case you need to maneuver quickly. It seems that 8-10 times you won't see the mine, so after about 20 seconds, I go back to 64x. This has worked pretty well and speeds up the transition. At this time I'm at mission 21.
12. Back to the North Sea and the channel minefield now. The minefield crossing method still works, but beware if the TC fails to rise above 16x, as mines are still nearby and some luck is involved. Mine held on the way out, but failed on my return. Tried out just setting my depth at 10m, ahead slow and continuous clicking the TC up, trusting to luck for mine avoidance as I'm not going to drive through in RT. Worked 4 for 4, but I was just lucky most likely. Well after mission 28 that's 6 for 6, maybe it's not just luck. Now 10 for ten so it's looking golden. Just beware that about the second time you get knocked out of high TC, your depth gets changed to 5 meters for some reason. Only seems to occur on the first crossing.
13. OK, mission 27 in a UB-I. Seems a depth of 7.5m avoids being spotted and grounding in The Wash. Tried 8m and got past the first escort, but grounded. Went to 7m, got past the second escort and to about 4000m from the AC. Launched both torpedoes and saw the AC put on instant steam about 10s from impact! Hows that for realism. I think the escort spotted me and alerted the AC in this case. Anyway the escort was shelling me so I dropped to 7.5m and made it through with no further shelling or grounding.
14. Mission 28 makes a pest of patrol aircraft. I could not shake them and ended up needed to surface and gun it out. That worked but I did sustain damage to orange. I suggest just shooting them as they show up. On mission 30, the first plane that found me also showed me the wrong end of a torpedo.
Buddahaid
Not much chatter here so I'll start. I've been playing through the single
missions and have these observations.
1. Whenever a ship is spotted dive right away or you'll be detected in a minute.
Don't bother trying to shadow or ID ships on the surface since your little
conning tower seems to be as gig as a battleship to enemy observers. Press the
"o" key for submerged trim and set your depth to 8-9 meters. There is no handy
periscope depth key and the conning tower is exposed when just "o" is used. 8-9
meters allows just enough periscope (when up full) to observe and lock targets.
If the target won't lock, usually indicated by the lock view switch turning off
target lock when used, come up about 1/2 meter till it does. It helps staying
undetected. This is however, a way to have a more manual torpedo drill.
2. Watch your exposure meter carefully as it only takes 10 seconds to go from
green to all red and your detected. I look away to add some map marks and I'm
detected! There is no audible warning for this so snooze and you lose.
3. Aircraft seem to have no problem knowing where you are at all times and all
circumstances.
4. Page down and page up keys work the time compression for a faster change.
5. Use the map tools to plot your attacks and enemy positions as you will be
submerged and blind a lot.
After my third mission tips.
6. Detection range seems to be 5nm. I'm undetected on the surface beyond 5nm, but
under that you better dive to 8-10 meters very soon or your detected.
7. Use the Directional and enemy display (yellow dial compass thingy in the lower
right) to pre-aim your periscope view with the keypad. You can find and re-lock
faster as well as raise it just enough to get the red map icons, then down it
goes. I don't think the enemy can detect you if the scope is too low to get the
icons, but high enough to see most of the time.
8. After patrol four I can say that large warships can detect you at about 10nm
surfaced. Seems it may be only merchants and lesser warships having the 5nm
threshold.
9. Not a tactic, but if you haven't read this in screen shots, your best external view is the torpedo camera. Press C when you've launched and use the keypad to elevate your view above water and pan to the target. If you hit, you get a nice few seconds of a stand off view of that hit.
10. I find the destroyers are easy meat up through patrol 10 at least. I even expose myself if they're off track so they obligingly come to me. Neutral merchant shipping was fair game in the last patrols, so I tried the surface warning doctrine (sp?) used historically, but it's not modeled. Fired deck gun warning shots, but there is no response, so you just bag them.
11. When crossing the minefield south of Cattaro, I use a TC of 64x and half speed surfaced. My mouse cursor is on the TC down button. When a mine is detected, it changes to 1x OK, but for the destroyer patrols, it often only drops to 16x and you need to change to 1x fast and submerge. For a mine, go right to the bridge with your fingers on the arrow keys in case you need to maneuver quickly. It seems that 8-10 times you won't see the mine, so after about 20 seconds, I go back to 64x. This has worked pretty well and speeds up the transition. At this time I'm at mission 21.
12. Back to the North Sea and the channel minefield now. The minefield crossing method still works, but beware if the TC fails to rise above 16x, as mines are still nearby and some luck is involved. Mine held on the way out, but failed on my return. Tried out just setting my depth at 10m, ahead slow and continuous clicking the TC up, trusting to luck for mine avoidance as I'm not going to drive through in RT. Worked 4 for 4, but I was just lucky most likely. Well after mission 28 that's 6 for 6, maybe it's not just luck. Now 10 for ten so it's looking golden. Just beware that about the second time you get knocked out of high TC, your depth gets changed to 5 meters for some reason. Only seems to occur on the first crossing.
13. OK, mission 27 in a UB-I. Seems a depth of 7.5m avoids being spotted and grounding in The Wash. Tried 8m and got past the first escort, but grounded. Went to 7m, got past the second escort and to about 4000m from the AC. Launched both torpedoes and saw the AC put on instant steam about 10s from impact! Hows that for realism. I think the escort spotted me and alerted the AC in this case. Anyway the escort was shelling me so I dropped to 7.5m and made it through with no further shelling or grounding.
14. Mission 28 makes a pest of patrol aircraft. I could not shake them and ended up needed to surface and gun it out. That worked but I did sustain damage to orange. I suggest just shooting them as they show up. On mission 30, the first plane that found me also showed me the wrong end of a torpedo.
Buddahaid