Noobie questions

[liluoke]

hey all, i'm new to this forum, nice to meet you all!

After watching a few the tutorial videos, I still have three noobie questions that I hope people could answer instead of trying to mine through all the videos:

***1. How do you activate that large bearing compass around your ship so that in nav, when you zoom in you can see your bearing all around your ship? ***is it this: IMPERIAL 360 DEGREE BEARING PLOTTER



***2. I'm going to be installing TMO1.7, any other recommended mods? I downloaded quite a few but I"m looking for specific recommendations.***



***3. During Convoy attack (With destroyer escorts)***

Keep in mind I'm playing Hard with contact updates (so manual torp shooting)

RIGHT AFTER SHOOTING TORPEDO:
Ideally right after I shoot a torpedo I should drop my periscope (or even after I've manually inputted all info to TDC) and be moving immediately to the next place I can surface and shoot. should I drop my pericope and use passive sonar to find merchant changes in bearing and follow?

WHAT IF WARSHIPS COME AFTER ME:

Option 1: Hide
TheSatyr:
I go under the thermal layer, run at 1/3, AND rig for silent running. All three are essential ... they can still find you if they know where to look, but it'll be pretty hard for them.

If they are actively pinging you and doing a depth charge run, they know where you are so you better run for it -- briefly, and then go quiet again. Otherwise, remain wery wery quiet.

Option 2: Counterattack
Aurgolo:
1) I run slow at 60 mt or deeper and wait until the destroyer is almost on top of my tail
2) then I ring up flank speed and give hard rudder to port or starboard in order to follow the DD direction
3) In this way I to get out of the kill zone and ask for periscope deph
4) Reduce speed to standard and ask for 0 degrees rudder
5) when at periscope depth I have the DD just in front of the bow at around 3-400 metres and fire a torpedo (perfect shot position)
5) i use this tactic since SH3 and is quite impossible to miss the shot. It works in 95% of cases (according to my experience). I the shot is missied is because the sub gets periscope depth too close to the DD (less than 300 mt) that's why is important to reduce velocity (of course some practice is needed for different sub types according to: ascent rates, submerged speed, etc etc)


Option 3: Hide with Decoys
Dowly:
There´s two ways how I use the decoys. If the DD is close, I fire one up go to flank speed for a 2-3 seconds and change my depth. But if the DD is far away, like if I am leaving a port which I raided just moments ago, I fire up the decoy and continue on silent run.

Other options:?

Does this all sound about right? What other tactics when warships come after me, and what is recommended right after a torpedo shot?

Thank you all for your help!

[DigitalAura]

Hey! I'm just n00b too, but lemme take a crack at it.

1/ That large bearing plotter is part of TMO mod. It's actually very useful and great for sonar attacks using the Dick O'Kane method as you'll see in Rockin' Robbin's video tutorial (http://www.filefront.com/10324567/Dick-OKane-Sonar-Only0019.7z/).

2/ TMO 1.7 is a great mod. Its a super mod, meaning that it already includes many of the other smaller mods like Environmental and Gauges. Really, I think you'll find this to be all you need until SH5 ships next year!

3/ Depends on the escorts... if they're on to you, best get deep and run silent (remember, 1/3 and straight path away is best) . Depending on the objective, I always try to get ahead of them again later to set up for another merchant...but don't be afraid to slink away, you have to be patient and sometimes running away is the best strategy before you can 're-engage' them. Most times it isn't even possible. Ultimately, you should try to take two targets out at once (check out the nice Multiple Target videos) (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=955573&postcount=182). The best place to position yourself is so that you DON'T have to move again. You want to shoot one target and immediately re-plot the necessary points into TDC for the second shot (before the first torpedo barrage even hits!). Most here will tell you that periscopes are NOT for attacking. Only gaining TDC data. Once you have that, passive sonar is the safest way to ensure you get 'em. Keep that periscope down or at least use it sparingly for only seconds at a time.

When you shoot all your torps, you DIVE DEEP (below thermal layer..I think you need to hit D to dive), run 1/3. Move straight away at a right angle. DONT FORGET: when your torps are expended your crew will begin reloading. If escorts are in pursuit you want to hit Z to initiate silent running (which tells your crew to lay off loading tubes for the time being). Keep an eye on that, though, you don't want to find a target later and have no torps ready!

A word about evading destroyers. They are so freakin' good at finding you. You can't out run them, so don't try. Always operate in silent running when you can to evade them. And always under thermal layer. A note about speed.... once they find you, the only thing that matters is getting a new course and going deeper...so don't be afraid to gun it faster. Once in awhile DD's will completely stop on the surface. When they do this (external cam is kinda cheating but I love it) it means they're listening for you. It's best to ALL STOP. If they all of sudden start towards you at full speed their engines are making enough noise to cancel out their passive sonar efforts.... GUN IT!! GET AWAY!

Happy hunting!

[liluoke]

thank you, this helps so much :)