Ever Given Up On An Objective?

[Anthony W.]

Has there ever been an objective so impossible that you just give up?

I have to sneak into a shallow harbor guarded by 7 destroyers. I just can't do it. Their sonar is too good. They even get me when I dive below the thermals at silent running.

[WernherVonTrapp]

Let me guess, Koror, Palau.:D
Anyway, I ignore objectives on occasion. Not because they're too difficult but, more because they're too time consuming. I had to do a photo-op at Koror, Palau once a long time ago. Had about 7 DDs patrolling the very small confined space that they call a harbor. I completed the objective, after about 12 hours (real time), but since have vowed that sinking enemy ships is my primary objective, and first love.

BTW, sink enough ships and the brass will never complain about uncompleted objectives. Oh yeah, however, they may send you back to complete it on rare occasion.:salute:

[0rpheus]

Let me guess, Koror, Palau.:D
Anyway, I ignore objectives on occasion. Not because they're too difficult but, more because they're too time consuming. I had to do a photo-op at Koror, Palau once a long time ago. Had about 7 DDs patrolling the very small confined space that they call a harbor. I completed the objective, after about 12 hours (real time), but since have vowed that sinking enemy ships is my primary objective, and first love.

BTW, sink enough ships and the brass will never complain about uncompleted objectives. Oh yeah, however, they may send you back to complete it on rare occasion.:salute:


Good gravy, yeah the mission to photo-recon Koror is HARD! I did it quite recently, barely made it out alive! Was great fun though, I enjoy the more daring 'special' missions as they add a little flavour to the usual hunt for tonnage.

Never once been interrupted while dropping off spies, which is a bit of a shame... but I'm sure it'll happen eventually :)

[Dogfish40]

AhoyAnthony
Well, It even says in the original Manuel
Accomplishing the objectives is not mandatory, in that you are not required to complete them in order to advance in the game. As in real life, sometimes it’s just not possible to complete a certain action without losing your vessel.
I like to play with the notion that I'm the Skipper and the Boat and the lives of the crew come first. ComSubPac does not always have the best Intel on a mission and I know better when I get to an objective if it's possible or a suicide mission.
It's better to "live to fight another day". And, if you damage your boat or lose the lives of crew members, that counts against you anyway! If your playing TMO, 7 DD's is a suicide mission:O:, so...better to take a small hit and besides, maybe you'll make it up in tonnage anyway.
Good Hunting.
D40 :salute:

[razark]

Well, It even says in the original Manuel
Accomplishing the objectives is not mandatory, in that you are not required to complete them in order to advance in the game. As in real life, sometimes it’s just not possible to complete a certain action without losing your vessel.
The problem with that is the lack of a "Refuse Mission" option. If you get the photo recon mission, you won't get any more "mission flavor" on that patrol until you complete the mission. There should be either a time limit for the mission to expire, or a way to tell base it's not going to happen so they can give you something else.

[EricW]

Yup, lost 3 boats trying to recon Osaka harbor.....that one has my number.

[Anthony W.]

The problem with that is the lack of a "Refuse Mission" option. If you get the photo recon mission, you won't get any more "mission flavor" on that patrol until you complete the mission. There should be either a time limit for the mission to expire, or a way to tell base it's not going to happen so they can give you something else.

So true.

This mission is nearly impossible - it'd be better if I had a German submarine or 3 or 4 other fleet boats to help me out by attacking or sinking the destroyers.

[Dogfish40]

The problem with that is the lack of a "Refuse Mission" option. If you get the photo recon mission, you won't get any more "mission flavor" on that patrol until you complete the mission. There should be either a time limit for the mission to expire, or a way to tell base it's not going to happen so they can give you something else.

Roger that. As ComSubPac in the Game is almost a non-entity save for a few messages, that would be nice to have some way of informing base that the mission is impossible. This happened all the time, and the base would just modify the order or cancel it and send you elsewhere.

[Sailor Steve]

Real-life photo-recon missions were hard, but I don't think they ever required actually going inside a harbor. Here is a list of all known recons http://www.valoratsea.com/recon.htm and a detailed description of the first http://books.google.com/books?id=5lTI_dF4jocC&pg=PA283&lpg=PA283&dq=us+submarine+photo+recon+missions&source=bl&ots=z7NPjh2CXg&sig=1ZpjUYDIVKkcYYagXod_U3fWk74&hl=en&ei=r6gtTsbmAvPXiAL2g8CwAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Apparently earlier recons were done without cameras, taking notes only.

[Daniel Prates]

Apparently earlier recons were done without cameras, taking notes only.

A procedure that should account for so many misinformation during the war.

[razark]

Apparently earlier recons were done without cameras, taking notes only.
I'm not familiar enough with the goals of the recon missions. If the purpose was to scout the harbor defenses/potential invasion routes, I can see cameras as being very useful. If the mission was to determine what ships were in harbor, notes would be more important, and a camera would be of only minor importance. By the time the boat returned to base and had the film developed, whatever ships were there would probably be long gone. The information would need to be reported by radio to be of a timely enough nature to be valuable.

Does anyone know what the purpose of the recon missions was? I do notice from the list, only a few are marked as "Photo Recon".

[Anthony W.]

Oh, yeah, it is Koror, Palau

[Rockin Robbins]

As a practical matter, there is no penalty in the campaign for not completing your mission, just renown not received. But you can receive renown by doing your own thing and sinking enemy tonnage outside the scope of your assigned mission.

I like to complete missions. When it is not possible I don't worry about it. I make the enemy pay.

[Anthony W.]

As a practical matter, there is no penalty in the campaign for not completing your mission, just renown not received. But you can receive renown by doing your own thing and sinking enemy tonnage outside the scope of your assigned mission.

I like to complete missions. When it is not possible I don't worry about it. I make the enemy pay.

I ended up beaching on a reef at night in order to give my periscope the elevation needed to see the enemy ship. I took the photo from max periscope range and got out. Amazingly.

[commandosolo2009]

Has there ever been an objective so impossible that you just give up?

I have to sneak into a shallow harbor guarded by 7 destroyers. I just can't do it. Their sonar is too good. They even get me when I dive below the thermals at silent running.

To tell the truth, many times playing stock with out-of-the-world objectives, and I deliver. Other times, such as when I'm sailing from Brisbane, Aussie, or Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, with the designated patrol zone being Luzon strait or the Formosa strait, I've disregarded. Not because it's too hard to reach there in one piece, let alone skip dozens of generated traffic potentially slowing TC by the tap, and threatening a serious CTD, but also because the fuel factor on egress, and the torpedoes resupply itself is within 4000 kms from each Allied port or tender, something that reduces the range and in real life, had I been a skipper, I'd certainly would've been keelhauled by my execs if I chose to pursue an objective that would potentially jeopardize my safety, and most importantly, that of my men, and the boat. To remedy those unfortunate moments, I do alternate patterns of patrol. For two main reasons. First, is to get away from too much traffic that would fry my chip, and second, is that to extend a patrol further to reach Pearl or Base of Departure by a known time, to get the upgrades on their expected dates.

Best regards,

2k9

[Diopos]

...
but also because the fuel factor on egress, and the torpedoes resupply itself is within 4000 kms from each Allied port or tender, something that reduces the range and in real life, had I been a skipper, I'd certainly would've been keelhauled by my execs if I chose to pursue an objective that would potentially jeopardize my safety, and most importantly, that of my men, and the boat.
...


If you were a real skipper you'd be keehauled if you had not pursued the objective or in other words your orders. On the other hand the "Admiralty" wouldn't have issued "impossible" missions ... uhmmm possibly:hmmm: ...
Anyway in long cruises 9.5 kts is your target cruising speed although for TMO I think that your optimum speed for maximizing you range is "Ahead Standard ".


.

[Rockin Robbins]

Holy cow! Taking a pass on Formosa Straits? That's some of the best hunting in SH4!

Usually I can use up half of my torpedoes just on the way to the objective and cash in big time on site. Formosa Straits is a plumb assignment!:D

[Daniel Prates]

In any case, there is always the issue of a game objective not being checked out as completed even though you did everything. This happened to me once in a photo recon mission. I swear I took as many pictures as I could from every damn ship harboured there, and the mission wouldn't change to 'acomplished' status. Eventually I gave up.