Just wondering something about depth charges in TMO...

[LordCucumber]

Depth charges in TMO.. Can they 'run out'.

I mean, after a volley or two would the destroyer have to give up because it's out.. or at least pause to get new barrels to the deck?

I'm wondering because as a serious simplayer you obviously don't get unlimited ammo :cool:

[Ducimus]

They CAN run out, though it may take awhile. Their ammo is most certainly not unlimited.

It really boiled down to a design decision. In the real world, from everything i've read or heard, the IJN didn't drop depth charges very quickly. They were very deliberate about them because they didn't have an unlimited supply. The problem with SH3, 4, and 5 (aside from not being able to limit how deep depth charges can go), is you can't really limit the "refire rate" (for lack of a better term) of depth charge racks.

So, herein lays a problem. If one reduces the ammo count, at the rate they sow the cans overboard, they'll be out of ammo in no time. At which point you have a "toothless tin can". On the other hand, by increasing the ammo count or leaving it as is, they'll have too many depth charges, but at the rate they sow them overboard, things should, in theory at least, balance out. The later is what i did, by leaving the ammo count as/is. In hindsight i probably should have decreased it a little bit, so the ammo count was somewhere between historical numbers and stock.

[Armistead]

You'll run across a few escorts that can really drop numbers on you. Not sure if TMO has all the escorts in RSRD like the Type AB and others, but those can unleash about 20 charges per run, if not more. That's why I agree with keeping numbers high in charges, if not, most escorts would be out in a few runs.