Late 43 - What a pain

[Reece]

Hi all, well life on a U-boat is starting to suck big time!!:yep: Trying to get to my patrol area & even with my radar off planes still seem to hone in on me, I'm able to get to dive in time but what a pain, I wait till they are well & truly gone & raise the snorkel, hit TC to 64, next thing I'm getting damaged!:oops: I eventually get through that & radar detector picks up a destroyer moving across my path, I setup for a shot, running silent & just peeking everynow & then to get TDC settings, he closes to around 800 meters, slows down & starts pinging, my hands are shaking & make a quick adjustment to speed, he is still on the same course, I decide to fire 2 shots, the first misses & the second hits & bounces off!!:damn: Gee I hate that, the distance was around 500 meters, I should have used impact pistol!:doh: Well I dived deep & the fun begins!:nope: I'd wait for him to drop DC's & hedgehogs, then speed up for awhile then back to 2 knots, deploy decoys & change course, then in comes his buddies overhead, bombs dropping everywhere:
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h244/Reecehk/Late43.jpg
Finally escape with only minor damage, came across 2 more air patrols before my final patrol grid! whew, I'm still alive!:roll:

[GoldenRivet]

keep your head down Reece but give em hell!

[Sailor Steve]

...he is still on the same course, I decide to fire 2 shots...
Back when I played Silent Service I would shoot at destroyers from 200 feet down, because you could do that and you could see them on the map all the time. With Silent Hunter I would put my periscope up and dogfight with them. Aces Of The Deep made it a little harder, but it took SH3 with nasty mods to teach me to never, ever take on a sonar-pinging can-dropping destroyer! They call them that for a reason.

I'm glad you're alright.

[UnderseaLcpl]

Ick.:down:

I've had 2 careers destroyed by snorting. Never even knew what hit me.

Stick to the batteries and only surface at night for short periods to refresh air and recharge batteries once you are in your chosen patrol area. Late 43 and early 44 are lean years.

Hang on till' you get that type XXI :up:

[Reece]

Actually I forgot to mention that when the destroyer finally gave up, he was around 3kms away & I decided to rise from 130 meters to around 100m, still on silent running when he turned and came straight for me I went back down and he started pinging at around 300m dropped some more cans, gave up and left! Wonder what happened!:doh: Smarty pants probably made out he lost contact, but then turned & rushed at me!:dead:
Hang on till' you get that type XXI :up:If my renown allows it, slim pickings now so renown is scarce!:yep:

[kylania]

We're in Sep '43 in Wolves@War right now too. Basically I cruise with my finger on Crash Dive and the first hint of aircraft or radar contact and I dive!

I actually almost crashed into the bottom when I was returning to port since I heard 'Radar contact detected!' and it was a friendly destroyer near port in shallow waters. heh

[headcase]

The way I look at it is that it is that much more of a challenge to bring my crew and boat home alive than ever. I don't schnorkel. I'll run decks awash when I can. Otherwise I pop up every three hours Ahead Standard.A/C spotted and I order Dive Ahead Flank. Can't count on the seafloor being shallow enough for a CD. And if a DD/DE gets wind of me I don't head to the surface until She's out of my range for at least half an hour on a contrary heading. And even then it's a very dicey proposition. Even bad weather isn't a good insurance policy. And even when you do every little thing right, a stray bit of a hedgehog run catches you at 260m. The Challenge in '43 onwards isn't getting tonnage. It's surviving till you get back to port.

[nikbear]

1 career of mine is in late43',and to be honest its getting tedious,surfaced,dive,surface,dive,I'm up and down like a whore's draw's on a friday night:nope:no way to fight a war;)

[TarJak]

Ahhh you are experiencing the pain of late war on a losing side. This is what SHIII is all about, the longer you go on the less chance of surviving the war.

[HunterICX]

Ahhh you are experiencing the pain of late war on a losing side. This is what SHIII is all about, the longer you go on the less chance of surviving the war.

but nonetheless things start to get very interesting and you'll going to have to use clever tactics to sink ships and get away with little dificulty as possible but in late war it will be hard and its just holding your fingers crossed and hope the damage is minor.

HunterICX

[Sub146]

Good luck out there captain , looks like you need it :ping:

i'm currently in 41 and i've already had two close shaves with depth charges , looks like it's going to get harder :huh:

[Hitman]

1 career of mine is in late43',and to be honest its getting tedious,surfaced,dive,surface,dive,I'm up and down like a whore's draw's on a friday night:nope:no way to fight a war;)


When you have the snorkel the best tactic is to snort at night and then cruise at 50 m depth during daytime slowly and listening to your hydrophones.

There are tactics to intercept targets even if using the slow submerged speed, and of course you won't get the success of early war careers, but somehow the challenge of surviving and even scoring some hit is worth it :up:

[Kielhauler1961]

I rarely play late war now, mainly because of the tedious nature of it. But I did find that by reversing the early-war tactics of 'submerged by day, surfaced at night' gave my watch crew a better chance of spotting the enemy in time to dive to safety. Even if they've got you on radar and are coming straight at you, you can still see them coming in daylight whereas at night you are totally blind.

[STEED]

Late 43 - What a pain

Stop complaining try Jan45. :dead:

[nirwana]

I feel ure pain ..... im approaching New York spring 43 to intercept the convoy before it gets into the safe harbor right now in a type IXC still 130km to go. With only 50m depth below me the last 100km and patrolling destroyers with radar everywhere i had to run submerged the last 12 hrs with 3 knts. The only advantage i have atm is that im in a hurricane which allows me to recharge the battery and tank oxygen full stop deck awash. Any attempt to run that way to my destination was answered by an alert of the WA "Schiff gesichtet....bla bla bla". If there is only a slight change of weather im convinced im screwed and processed to dogfood.

[Reece]

Stop complaining try Jan45. :dead:If I survive that long!!:dead:

[SpeedyPC]

Stop complaining try Jan45. :dead:If I survive that long!!:dead:

Reece ask the Greman Navy to buid a heavy water nuclear torp. you might live longer and score my women to take home with you.

[Reece]

Reece ask the Greman Navy to buid a heavy water nuclear torp. you might live longer and score my women to take home with you.Should I set the range greater than 500m and use impact pistol, should I crash dive or surface after firing?:-?:yep:

[predavolk]

Three options for survival from mid-1943 on:

1- (Realistic) Stay the hell away from destroyers, only firing long shots with patterned torps at convoys. Don't even think about getting pinged. You actually had it incredibly easy in that you lost the destroyer! Granted, I was in a IX and not a VII, but I was getting detected and pinged from 1000M away, 200M down, in heavy seas. Your only option is to not be detected. (although realistically, you should duel aircraft on the surface as per Doenitz's crazy orders- this is mission, if not career, suicide)

2- (Semi-realistic) Stock up on homing torps like mad. They can mean the difference between life and death. Dueling destroyers with regular torps is soon no longer an option because of the hedgehog. That REALLY puts a damper on sub-destroyer dogfights!

3- (Fantasy) Pick up a XXI and get ready to ride! The XXI has two critical advantages, and one serious flaw. First, it's very fast underwater. That makes evading and attacking much simpler. It is also a tremendous aid in dogfighting escorts (e.g., you can outrun corvettes underwater!). Second, it has a very rapid load system, that when combined with homing torps, is devastating against escorts (so long as your supply of torps is good!). It's serious flaw is that it lacks a stern tube. Against medium-large convoys, when you get 6+ escorts descending on you in a giant furball, it would be very nice to be able to shoot a homing torp backwards. Indeed, with your enhanced speed, simply running away from them and shooting back as you go would be deadly effective. On the plus side, the XXI makes the IX look like a brick in terms of manuevering, and it dives like a homesick water angel. Deeper diving might help if you could go past 350 and evade depth charges, but otherwise Allied improved sonar negates any advantage of going 250-280M deep.

So you have options post-'43, but they are limited. The schnorkel is relatively useless, as it seems to be an aircraft magnet, and you have no periscope watch to alert you, making you a blind aircraft magnet. One last hint: with a good detector, you can detect surface radar well before it detects you (or at least they respond to you). The same doesn't appear to be true for airplane radar (using the colored line mod for hostile surface ships, you can tell the difference- you can also tell because airplane radar grows closer and changes its bearing much more rapidly).

[Jimbuna]

I reckon your three greatest dangers later in the war are:

Elite crew status

Radar

Hedgehog

[nikbear]

I reckon your three greatest dangers later in the war are:

Elite crew status

Radar

Hedgehog

You forgot incompetence jim,my own I hasten to add:doh:like me trolling along on the surface with the scope left up:nope:or not changing eel firing mechanism and wondering why my stern shot at a chasing DD sailed the length of the devil without going off:rotfl:I can laugh now,cause I managed to get away but at the time my language was alot more......colourful:o;):up:

[Jimbuna]

I reckon your three greatest dangers later in the war are:

Elite crew status

Radar

Hedgehog

You forgot incompetence jim,my own I hasten to add:doh:like me trolling along on the surface with the scope left up:nope:or not changing eel firing mechanism and wondering why my stern shot at a chasing DD sailed the length of the devil without going off:rotfl:I can laugh now,cause I managed to get away but at the time my language was alot more......colourful:o;):up:

Rgr that mate :lol: :up:

[Kielhauler1961]

I reckon your three greatest dangers later in the war are:

Elite crew status

Radar

Hedgehog

I would add two more:

4. Allied airpower.

5: The incompetance of the German Naval High Command to provide a suitable replacement for the Type VII until long after it became clear it was obsolete. When the Type XXI did eventually emerge it was so riddled with bugs and shoddy workmanship it was virtually useless. How many crews died in the type VII anachronisms because the Nazis hadn't 'budgeted' for a long war? Doenitz must take the blame for the wanton sacrifice of of his mens' lives by failing to ensure that they had the 'right tools for the job'.

[predavolk]

Jimbuna, I agree in real life. But in the game, enemy surface radar is pretty useless. I'm MUCH more worried about the improved sonar. And actually, after thinking it over, I suspect that was perhaps the case in real life too. AIR radar is a huge pain, because it lets the allies patrol huge swaths, but surface radar is easily detected and evaded. Its when the home in on you with that nearly-infaliable sonar that you're really pooched! :o Allied air power was significant, but it was still destroyers using sonar that killed most u-boats in real life (and in SH3 I'd wager).

[Reece]

The 2 at the top of the list is Allied Radar & Air Power!:yep: I rarely use radar, this only seems to make matters worse, however I have picked up some merchants with it, the best tool is the radar detection unit, I'd be stuffed without that!:doh::yep:

[Kielhauler1961]

It's not the # of actual kills made by aircraft that is truly significant. An aircraft would force the u-boat to dive and lose it's tactical mobilityy, allowing surface warships to be directed to the scene to complete the kill.

You have a chance of escaping aircraft alone, or escorts alone. But if the two 'arms' are working together, that's quite another story!

[Jimbuna]

In mention radar I meant both air and surface.

The game doesn't make vast/similar improvements in the ability of the sonar late war.

In fact, if your using SH3 Commander, the sonar threat is often negated randomly via the pseudo thermal layer effect.

[Reece]

Early 44 now, air patrols are thick & radar detector seems to be a lot poorer, they are in visual range before I can clear the surface!:oops: Did manage to sink a medium tanker though, certainly had to work for it.:yep: Seems to be a fault when using TC underwater the aircraft don't show on the map:-?, even though scope is up, however you can hear them and receive their bombs ok!!:doh:

[nirwana]

Did u try running decks awash even with the type IXB or C i was submerged before they could herass me ?

[Platapus]

I am sorry to say, but when you get to late 1944 you will dream of the good times back in '43.

I have only completed one full war career and I would not do it again. From 1944-45 the game really aint that fun any more. :nope:

One suggestion is to always cruise at 7 meters. It gives you a few extra seconds to dive to avoid the bombs.

My sympathies are with you.

[Sailor Steve]

Did u try running decks awash even with the type IXB or C i was submerged before they could herass me ?
True, but in real life they only ran with decks awash while on the attack, and almost always on electric motors. Nobody cruised the Atlantic in that condition, as fuel consumption would be seriously affected.

[nirwana]

With historic realitities u got a point but the range reduced by about 20% doesnt handicap me personally. Running that way one third 5-6 knts i still have a range of ~20k km in a IX/C. Outflanking/closing in of a target is the major disadvantage for me at times when an average convoy runs 8+ knts.

[Kipparikalle]

I reckon your three greatest dangers later in the war are:

Elite crew status

Radar



plus these with the wellington and B17 and you got ultimate overkill with your sub's expense.


If it would be any other plane, I would give it a try, but these two.

The only, and last words, would be "OH SHI-" or "MOTHERF-" or "BERNAA-"

[Reece]

Did u try running decks awash even with the type IXB or C i was submerged before they could herass me ?
One suggestion is to always cruise at 7 meters. It gives you a few extra seconds to dive to avoid the bombs.
Yes I use this method sometimes, but when I have a long patrol distance the fuel consumption is a lot heavier, so generally, no!:-?
Most annoying that running at snorkel depth with scope up on TC doesn't show the aircraft untill your receiving damage!:doh::cry: it's really only good for night.:yep: Once you get far enough out to sea the air patrols thin out, unfortunately so does the traffic!:roll:

[nirwana]

:shifty: update on the new york raid:

Im toast. Managed to empty all forward tubes on the convoy but before any of them came close to its targets the dds got me :stare: . Why the dds were so unfair to deny me a last favor and let me check if my calculations were correct or not ? :damn:

[Jimbuna]

Very unsportsman like of them :lol:

[Sailor Steve]

Downright rude old chap.:yep:

[Jimbuna]

Downright rude old chap.:yep:

Precisely old chap...one lump or two ?

[Sailor Steve]

Lumps? I say:

One for the Tommies;
Two for the Yanks;
Three for the Commies;
And BdU's thanks!

[Hartmann]

Run during some hours with electric engines and deploy the snorkel carefully for some time at low TC.

better during the day because you can see the planes incoming through periscope

[Reece]

Lumps? I say:

One for the Tommies;
Two for the Yanks;
Three for the Commies;
And BdU's thanks!
Oh that's just so bad Steve, do you get these inspiring thoughts often?:lol:

[Sailor Steve]

No, but I do have my moments.

[Kielhauler1961]

@ Sailor Steve,

"You're a poet,
And you didn't know it."

[Jimbuna]

In my neck of the woods it goes something like this:

The artists work is all in vain
The sh!thouse poet strikes again

The connection being graffiti and public conveniences ;)

[Reece]

Mid 44, this is no fun to play at all, just a pain in the butt!!:doh::lol:
Destroyers can detect me at 3 to 4 km away, just can't get close enough to a convoy to even fire torpedo's, the convoy was only travelling at 8knots, so I made a few attempts but destroyers always pick me up before I get near the convoy, funny thing is I later sunk a destroyer travelling on it's own with an acoustic at 2km, never detected me!:-? I think I will start a new patrol in "Happier Times"!:yep:
What is the setting to make the DD's not so uber in 44 on, would have thought it to be in AI_Sensors.dat but there is no reference to dates in there, possably it's the type of gear that needs tweaking!:)

[predavolk]

Honestly, transfer to a XXI and stock up on homing torps. Either that or get use to making long, 2-3km shots from outside of the convoy with looping torpedoes. Those are the only two 43-on techniques for dealing with convoys that I know of (unless you're an expert against destroyers with regular torps- but hedgehogs make that very tough).

The one positive is that there still are lone merchants to be had during this time. I'm having reasonable luck going after them around the UK in my XXI. My plan is to alternate between lone merchants/small convoys one patrol, and then next patrol stocking up on homing torps and attacking a single medium convoy, destroying everything in it before returning home.

[Reece]

Unfortunately the loop distance is around 2km and is not adjustable, well I can't seem to set an adjustment on them, if I could get to the 2km distance without being detected all would be fine, but at 3km they pick me up and run straight for me!:yep: I would stick to single ships for this time period but these are very rare! BTW, the XX1 is not available, certainly not in Lorient yet, & I wouldn't have enough renown to get one anyway!:doh:

[Sailor Steve]

@ Sailor Steve,

"You're a poet,
And you didn't know it."
But my feet show it,
They're longfellows!

Back to reality (or at least to the simulation thereof): I've never played past mid-1940. I'm afraid to go any further.

[Kipparikalle]

And you should be


Has anyone tried to count the maximum amount of planes to come for you, while being in surface and survive? (around the 44' of course)

Over a year ago with the good ol' GWX 1.3 the count was around 40

Now it's 60

There would have been more if I hadn't died from the immense bombspam.

[Jimbuna]

Remind me to sign you up for my flack crew when I'm next in port http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/pirate.gif