New player - couple questions.

[ppk]

Okay so I've been playing this for about a week. I play using full realism except for weapon officer assistance (in GWX2.1)... Still getting used to manual targeting and I hope to be able to assign little Jürgen to another station soon... Not yet though, since my first career screeched to a halt when i took too long trying to figure out a firing solution and got rammed by a rabid V&W.

So I'm into the second one, nearing the end of 1940. When striking convoys, how do you determine the highest value targets? I know that BdU wants us to hit the merchies, but when presented with a big fat target like the Revenge class battleship I found in the middle of a convoy, what should I do? I aborted my attack on the merchants and fired a spread shot of four fish, three of which hit, sinking the battleship but from a historical point of view I wonder if it's the best decision.

Something else - I know that back in WWII ships would often be sunk by one torpedo (only). I find myself having to shoot two fish at most targets except for the really small merchants / escorts. And why is it that escorts blow up so easily? Aren't they supposed to be tougher than merchant ships?

Right now I'm driving an IXB boat, and I thought this thing was supposed to be sluggish... Well I'm finding it rather easy to outmaneuver destroyers at periscope depth when they're too close to dive immediately as long as they're coming up from behind me. I set the engines to flank and my rudder to 10-15 degrees either way, periscope up. Let him know I'm slowly circling around. Then when he gets really close (+/- 100 meters), I slam the rudder to full (in the same direction it was previously turned) and the DD will continue to turn at the same rate he was turning to follow my 10 degree turn, effectively dropping his depth charges just behind me. Then I either dive or back emergency and turn my bow into him to try and set up a broadside shot as he circles around for another attack. Is this realistic behavior for the IXB? Or is the AI just dumb?

And on a final note, I've been lurking for a couple days and this looks like a great community. Looking forward to getting involved and maybe even playing online with you guys.

Peace! And thanks for any input!

EDIT: Oh yea I forgot. On the question of raiding ennemy ports. I did it twice (at night, decks awash) and things got really hairy the second time. It was in Reykjavik and a torpedo boat spotted me just as I was launching my last salvo. After a half hour game of cat and mouse in shallow waters I had finally managed to sink the two destroyers that were after me, so I surfaced and gunned down the torpedo boats with the 10,5cm. But the boat was crippled and that was the end of my patrol. Is this what I should have expected? Are there always DD's patrolling near ports, far enough you don't see them but close enough that they can box you in when you attack?

[TarJak]

Wilkommen zu Subsim Herr Kaleun!

On your first question; sink em all!:arrgh!: The bigger BB's will give you more renown. TBH who could blame you for going for the big score when it floats right by your eyes?

On your second question, you describe an interesting tactic for evasion. Personally I tend not to stay near PD once the eels leave the tubes, I turn and start a dive at ahead full (rarely use flank underwater), and then move away in the direction of the least number of escorts.

Who said escorts should be tougher to kill than merchies? Most DD's were not armoured and even some larger cruisers were poorly armoured. My motto is anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice and almost always use 2 eels on largish merchants. Smaller fry either get ignored if armed or I use the deck gun on em.

In GWX2.1 there are almost always patrols in and around enemy harbours. Although I personally have some fun with harbour raiding and wrote the tutorial on the subject in the GWX manual, it is not realistic or historic and if you are attempting to simulate some level of realism you should steer clear of all shallow water operations.

If you read my tutorial it shows how to make a successful harbour raid based on many attempts, most of them successful. (But not all...:oops:)

Glad to see that you are enjoying the GWXperience!

[ppk]

Thanks for the reply. That tactic I mentioned is my stop-gap solution if caught in shallows with a DD or two on your tail. Came up with it when I had to patrol one of those BF squares that are right in the damned channel. :damn:

Works better with VII boats... But I was surprised that my IX could do it as well. I've done it enough time to certify that it'll work IF you get the timing right. Turn too late and he'll depth charge the hell out of your screws... And you're not going anywhere after that.

[_Seth_]

Welcome, matey! :cool::up:

[Hanomag]

Welcome Aboard Herr Kaluen!! :arrgh!:

[Graf Paper]

Welcome aboard, Herr Kaleun! :ahoy:

Discovering tactics that work well for your command is half the fun of this game, although I do think out-turning a destroyer might be more due to the AI's shortcoming rather than the maneuverability of your u-boat, especially a type IX. They didn't nickname them "seekuh" for nothing! :lol:

S.O.P. for u-boats was to target merchant shipping. Your primary purpose is to cut supply lines. Capital ships are secondary targets of opportunity. Escorts are to be avoided but a commander can engage them at his discretion... in self-defense or to deprive a convoy of protection so it can be attacked at will. U-Boat commanders that made a habit out of going after escorts either wound up at the ocean bottom or in the brig.

Good sailing and sink 'em all! :up:

[jpm1]

as far as i know attacking battleships was forbidden by Fuhrer orders ; that lead once couldn't remember the exact date that lead the Scharnorst and the Gneisenau to break combat with a convoy because the Warspite was part of the said convoy . that also maybe cause the Prince Eugen not to follow the Prince of Wales after the battlle in which the Hood was "fastly" annihilated , the Prince of Wales during the said battle was heavily damaged and there was lot to bet that if one of the two german battleships involved in the battle the Bismark or the Prince Eugen had chased it won't have lasted long

Edit : Gneisenau not Lutzow

[ppk]

Here are a few more questions :

Do you get faster dive / climb times from removing the deck gun? Since most merchants seem to be armed anyways I don't tend to use it much. Probably could do without. I would imagine it creates a considerable amount of drag.

Can escorts hear you blowing ballasts? And is there a way to trim the sub's buoyancy? I noticed it kind of always has a slight negative buoyancy and it gets annoying when you want to stop the boat to wait for the convoy to come closer.

What is the optimum number of days spent in base to set SH3 commander to if I want the war to last long enough for me to get the renown I need for the XXI in '44?

And generally speaking, which boat do you guys prefer to command? My first failed campaign was in a VIIB and I started this one in an IXB. Big differences but I can't quite decide which I like best. Having enough renown for the XXI seems to require that I save it until then and forget about switching to an IXC or IXD2 in the meantime so it's really between the early VII's and the IXB...

And thanks for the warm welcome folks. Much appreciated :P

[TarJak]

Here are a few more questions :

Do you get faster dive / climb times from removing the deck gun? Since most merchants seem to be armed anyways I don't tend to use it much. Probably could do without. I would imagine it creates a considerable amount of drag. No there is no difference in dive time whether you have a DG or not.

Can escorts hear you blowing ballasts? And is there a way to trim the sub's buoyancy? I noticed it kind of always has a slight negative buoyancy and it gets annoying when you want to stop the boat to wait for the convoy to come closer.Yes they can hear you. Even when stopped you can change depth. Just not as fast as when under power or blowing tanks.


What is the optimum number of days spent in base to set SH3 commander to if I want the war to last long enough for me to get the renown I need for the XXI in '44?How much renown do you need? I normally set SH3 Commander to 15 days in port. I've never felt that it matters much because I usually die before getting anywhere near 44 or 45 unless I start there. I also normally set realistic career lenghts which means that after about 10-15 patrols I get a desk job or traning posting as would have reaslistically happened after that many patrols.

And generally speaking, which boat do you guys prefer to command? My first failed campaign was in a VIIB and I started this one in an IXB. Big differences but I can't quite decide which I like best. Having enough renown for the XXI seems to require that I save it until then and forget about switching to an IXC or IXD2 in the meantime so it's really between the early VII's and the IXB...

And thanks for the warm welcome folks. Much appreciated :PI prefer the VIIC in the Med but at the moment I'm driving a IXC/40 in the Carribean. Try em all they each have their own features that I like. Even the little old II duck is fun for a while.

[ppk]

Alright, thanks for the input TarJak!

[TarJak]

NP mate. Sink 'em all!:arrgh!:

[Brag]

Welcome aboard, Herr Kaleun. Interesting contribution. I still dive deep to get away. :D