AHHHHH!! I've been *Q-shipped*!

[schlechter pfennig]

It's a beautiful May 26, 1940 and I and my shiny U-64 are headed to DJ12. It's only my second patrol with my IXB and it still has that 'new-car' smell . . . (kinda-sorta . . . if you really use your imagination and try ignoring the unwashed-body funk).

We receive a contact report: ship moving dead North, and currently 50KM approximately north of our position, so I have a course plotted to intercept and ahead we go at flank. Reaching the theoretical intersect point there's nothing, so I continue north for two more hours before calling out a reciprical course at ahead slow. About an hour later one of the watch crew call out "Ship spotted!"

By now it's 2200 hours, but the weather is calm, no more than 4mps wind, and there's no overcast and quite a bit of light from the moon. I take us to full deck awash, just shy of eight meters, and slowly continue advancing at ahead slow. I haven't, as yet, decided to go for a torpedo attack or a deck gun one; I'll have to estimate ship size before I make that decision.

At a little over 3.5 meters I decide I'll go with the deck gun, based upon what I can see.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz225/schlechter_pfennig/Q%20ship/SH3Img1-5-2010_234230_265.jpg

Slowly, very slowly, we creep closer and closer.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz225/schlechter_pfennig/Q%20ship/SH3Img1-5-2010_234913_62.jpg

At around 2,000 meters I bring us fully up and man the deck guns, although I order them not to engage until we're within 1,000 meters, as I intend to bring us abeam so as to stabilize the gun better and improve accuracy.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz225/schlechter_pfennig/Q%20ship/SH3Img1-5-2010_235010_281.jpg

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz225/schlechter_pfennig/Q%20ship/SH3Img1-5-2010_23502_250.jpg

Closer and closer . . . right hand upraised, waiting to drop it and give the order to open fire.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz225/schlechter_pfennig/Q%20ship/SH3Img1-5-2010_235830_484.jpg

The hapless, unaware and unarmed merchant:

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz225/schlechter_pfennig/Q%20ship/SH3Img1-5-2010_23350_593.jpg

At 800 meters I order to commence firing . . . and that's when all Hell breaks loose. My Watch Officer screams that the enemy is engaging us. Huh?? I do a quick 360 scan, but there's no one else but the freighter and us. What enemy!?

Then I see a brilliant, blinding muzzle flash from the merchant . . . hear the shriek of a shell whizz scant meters above my head . . . see the merchant begin manuevering to engage us!!

Once again I curse the slow dive speed! Before we can clear the bridge, before we can submerge, we start taking hits.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz225/schlechter_pfennig/Q%20ship/SH3Img2-5-2010_0131_515.jpg

Thankfully we weren't severely damaged, but we certainly have been 'kissed'. I'm now slowly pursuing the ship, hoping the damage sustained by what gunfire we managed to get off will prove to be mortal. This is definitely one ship whose papers I want to retrieve, along with their senior officers. I think BdU might want to know about this new development!

[toodrunk]

You read a lot of David Weber?

Good AAR though, will remember to BOLO

[Reinhard Dietz]

You read a lot of David Weber?
You know, I bet a U-boat would benefit from Shannon Foraker's touch.

[schlechter pfennig]

You know, I bet a U-boat would benefit from Shannon Foraker's touch.

Actually, yes, I do read a lot of David Weber. :03:

And yes, wouldn't it be great to have Shannon working for BuWeaps? :D

[toodrunk]

Dude, 5 gets you 10 that the Mesan physicist and the survivors from the space station are at Bolthole in the next book

[Jimbuna]

I see you've met one of the prickly characters....consider yourself luck you've lived to tell the tale :DL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ship

[papa_smurf]

"You've been Q-shipped....":D

[frau kaleun]

And that's why I always put an eel in 'em first. :D

[raymond6751]

Are you playing stock or modded game?

This is the first I've seen reported and I'm curious if this is a part of the standard game.

[Jimbuna]

Are you playing stock or modded game?

This is the first I've seen reported and I'm curious if this is a part of the standard game.

He'll be using either my standalone Q ship mod:

http://www.filefront.com/13494151/Q_Ship_mod_GWX3.0.7z

Or Wreford Browns extra ships for Wilhelmshaven mod which includes my Q ship mod:

http://www.filefront.com/16312337/WBs-extra-ships-for-Wilhelmshaven-campaign-v2.4.rar/

[krashkart]

Oh... Q-Ships. :)

Why didn't I add that to my install?!? *facepalm*

[Laufen zum Ziel]

Ran into one myself. Scared the hell out of me when they opened fire. Lots of guns and we were lucky to survive with major damage.

[Doolar]

Thats what ended my last career . never new what hit me . I too was looking around for something else, instead of crash diving . but I did find out deep my sub goes ... all the way to the bottom ! :damn:

[schlechter pfennig]

Are you playing stock or modded game?

This is the first I've seen reported and I'm curious if this is a part of the standard game.

It's a mod (see Jimbuna's response above . . . the crazed, insane *&&*%$:D). The one I installed was his Q-ship one.

I have a private rule that, until merchants start carrying weapons, before I start firing into them I fire a warning shot across their bow and give them time to heave to and surrender. I can safely say that, for the remainder of this career, I shan't be doing that no more! :D

[schlechter pfennig]

Ran into one myself. Scared the hell out of me when they opened fire. Lots of guns and we were lucky to survive with major damage.

Took me quite by surprise, too! And The Wallowing Warthog, my IXB, took forever to get under, too!

I hate the damage modeling in this game. :nope: Took a direct hit to my flak gun, as you can see, and it took a whopping three whole minutes to repair! :shifty:

[STEED]

I ran into one the other week its was way off and after seeing it was small fry I decided to ignore it, then the little bugger open fire on me! Crashed dived and waited for it to move off, need my ells for bigger fry.

[Reinhard Dietz]

And yes, wouldn't it be great to have Shannon working for BuWeaps? :D
For BdU, you mean. :yeah:

I bet she would solve the magnetic pistol issue in late 1939, followed by deployment of a reliable RWR, snorkel and acoustic homing torpedo by 1940. We'd probably have ASMs by mid-1942 and an SSG to fire them from. Perhaps an IXC can be fitted with towed missile pods?

[toodrunk]

For BdU, you mean. :yeah:

I bet she would solve the magnetic pistol issue in late 1939, followed by deployment of a reliable RWR, snorkel and acoustic homing torpedo by 1940. We'd probably have ASMs by mid-1942 and an SSG to fire them from. Perhaps an IXC can be fitted with towed missile pods?

I would absolutely love to see a laser warhead G7E.

[Wreford-Brown]

I lost three good crewmen to jimbuna's Q-ship the first time I came across it and hate the bloody things but can't bring myself to delete them from the roster. Imagine what the real u-boat commanders thought when the 'helpless' merchant suddenly opened fire!

The Q-ship is the reason I created the 'Deck gun range' mod. It means I can open fire at 1500m instead of 1000m which doesn't lose me any accuracy but allows me to get the hell away from his Q-ship when I need to.