mikka
08-31-09, 09:01 AM
I've completed my first patrol with GWX 3 and I want to express my sincerest gratitude to the modders. I was close to shelving SHIII because it had lost the challenge. I decided to give GWX a try. I hadn't tried it before because I thought my card was unlikely to handle it.
I started a career in Lorient, 1941 with a IXB. Made my way across the atlantic and stumbled upon a very large convoy, with a Southampton in the middle of it and a class-S sub trailing it, escorted by a frigate and two corvettes. Snuck in just before sunset and managed to sink an ore carrier, and put a single eel on the side of the southampton that led to its demise a couple of hours later, with the escorts none the wiser. That same night before dawn I got another kill but the escorts located me. They gave me hell for the better part of the morning, but I was able to finally sneak out. I struck the same convoy twice more, in successive nights, for a total of 6 kills and 45k t, licking my wounds and filling the tubes during the day while I raced ahead of it. I wanted to come back one last night for the sub but lost them, plus the amount of duds I had had depleted my ordnance.
I play with manual targeting and realistic reload etc, but I keep the external camera because I like the cinematic experience. And what an experience that was! I struck a medium tanker in the darkest night and saw the entire convoy light up like a christmas tree and start looking for me with their searchlights, and my jaw dropped to the floor. It was quite a sight.
Plus, I don't know if this is somehow coded in, but the convoy went into disarray when I first struck, with two boats falling out of formation and colliding. The disarray got worse after each night, and I could almost feel the the last night they were at the end of their ropes, twitchy and scared senseless. At least that's the impression I got. I really felt like a wolf stalking a flock of sheep and coming in undetected night after night, each time taking a sheep or two. The effect that must have had on convoy sailors must have been psychologically exhausting, seeing the boat next to you go up in flames and wondering if you will be next come the next nightfall. They definitely were the unsung heros of the battle of the atlantic. Maybe I'm making this up but this is the behavior I though I saw, and I didn't see in the vanilla version. The escorts are also definitely smarter and way, way more obstinate. Once they get the smell of you they won't let go.
In summary, I've enjoyed this patrol more than entire careers in vanilla.
So, to the Gray Wolves I say :salute: and THANK YOU for all your work.
I started a career in Lorient, 1941 with a IXB. Made my way across the atlantic and stumbled upon a very large convoy, with a Southampton in the middle of it and a class-S sub trailing it, escorted by a frigate and two corvettes. Snuck in just before sunset and managed to sink an ore carrier, and put a single eel on the side of the southampton that led to its demise a couple of hours later, with the escorts none the wiser. That same night before dawn I got another kill but the escorts located me. They gave me hell for the better part of the morning, but I was able to finally sneak out. I struck the same convoy twice more, in successive nights, for a total of 6 kills and 45k t, licking my wounds and filling the tubes during the day while I raced ahead of it. I wanted to come back one last night for the sub but lost them, plus the amount of duds I had had depleted my ordnance.
I play with manual targeting and realistic reload etc, but I keep the external camera because I like the cinematic experience. And what an experience that was! I struck a medium tanker in the darkest night and saw the entire convoy light up like a christmas tree and start looking for me with their searchlights, and my jaw dropped to the floor. It was quite a sight.
Plus, I don't know if this is somehow coded in, but the convoy went into disarray when I first struck, with two boats falling out of formation and colliding. The disarray got worse after each night, and I could almost feel the the last night they were at the end of their ropes, twitchy and scared senseless. At least that's the impression I got. I really felt like a wolf stalking a flock of sheep and coming in undetected night after night, each time taking a sheep or two. The effect that must have had on convoy sailors must have been psychologically exhausting, seeing the boat next to you go up in flames and wondering if you will be next come the next nightfall. They definitely were the unsung heros of the battle of the atlantic. Maybe I'm making this up but this is the behavior I though I saw, and I didn't see in the vanilla version. The escorts are also definitely smarter and way, way more obstinate. Once they get the smell of you they won't let go.
In summary, I've enjoyed this patrol more than entire careers in vanilla.
So, to the Gray Wolves I say :salute: and THANK YOU for all your work.