Just got fuzzed up by a convoy, whats your after death routine?

[Stewmeat95]

I was running silently underneath a convoy and a destroyer caught my periscope. Beyond being in a terrible tactical position, I lost my boat, my beloved Uss Trout. What do you do after you get destroyed?

I played these two songs and reflected on my subs life, and death.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn_iz8z2AGw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yklp5Ua_xj4&feature=related

To the men under my command, and those forever on patrol, You will be remembered.

[WernherVonTrapp]

http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b456/archangel501/Smileys/89ad3696.gifhttp://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b456/archangel501/Smileys/19555da7.gif

[Stewmeat95]

Glad to be here!

[EricW]

Lotsa profanity......:D

[DrBeast]

Lotsa profanity......:D

^that!

And more coffee! Then I Load my last savegame :D

ETA: Christ on roller skates, this forum caught up with my age!!! :o :wah: :haha:

[Stewmeat95]

I just remembered i could reload that save! Thanks guys!

[Char]

Most of the time,I look up what the sub did in Real life,and see how I compared.I then delete all saves related to that campaign and start again.

This is of course,it I die legitamatly.If I glitch out and suddenly get teleported 4000 feet about Dallas,Texas and fall to my doom,I'm reloading

[TorpX]

Just got fuzzed up by a convoy, whats your after death routine?

My after death routine is to try not having it become a routine.

Kidding aside, I play DID, so I will take a break from the game and do something else for awhile. After a week or so, I will maybe start a new career. This is a logical time to consider changing mods, tactics, tools and such. Perhaps, I will take an extended shore leave and read a good book on the subject.

[Stewmeat95]

I've had trouble with this really. I want to play realistically but being a new player i have trouble with the slowness of the game, sometimes i get bored while waiting to ambush and try to speed it up, and end up missing my opportunity entirely. Also how do you guys deal with the constant surfacing to recharge and get air, i mean i try to play realistically but at some point you have to speed it up, and once you do, i have to surface every 5 minutes, it gets annoying.

Maybe just learn patience? But again, i dont have 26 hours to wait around to get from point a to b

[TorpX]

Stewmeat95:

You shouldn't be submerged all the time. At night you can stay surfaced, and even in the daytime, if there aren't too many planes. If you are going to submerge, you should run at minimal speed, about 2 kts. or so. Anything faster than this will run down your batteries unneccessarily. Really, once you reach your patrol area, you don't need to cruise around that much; you can sit still on the surface and wait for the next ship to show up.

[Stewmeat95]

Makes sense. How often do you speed up the game?

Also I've been trying to get more enemies killed by setting up while sitting still outside of a port i know the enemies have been traveling in and out of, do you think this is a sound tactic or is there a better way to get a lot of contact quickly?

[WernherVonTrapp]

I'm almost never submerged and spend about 98% of my time on the surface. The only time I submerge is during an ambush/attack or to escape enemy planes. If you want to patrol an inlet to a port, keep moving about in the general area, don't stay submerged or else your CO² & battery levels will inconvenience you at the most inopportune time. Everyone has their own unique methods and you will too eventually.:03:

[0rpheus]

I'm almost never submerged and spend about 98% of my time on the surface. The only time I submerge is during an ambush/attack or to escape enemy planes. If you want to patrol an inlet to a port, keep moving about in the general area, don't stay submerged or else your CO² & battery levels will inconvenience you at the most inopportune time. Everyone has their own unique methods and you will too eventually.:03:


This is good advice; stay on the surface until you're forced down or about to attack. Keep the battery charged for when you really need it. :up:

Re: patrolling, all you can do (again) is find the spots that work for you. Use the shipping map (this may be a mod, I forget if its in the stock game) attached to the radio to identify shipping lanes and zig zag across them, pay attention to where the pacific frontlines are (Guadalcanal etc) to get an idea of where heavy concentrations of jap shipping will be. The Luzon straits are a good spot for beginners, always has a lot of traffic (and the odd surprise).

For Time Compression, it's a judgement call. I crank mine to max (8000 odd) when in open mid-stretch ocean, but rarely go over 2000 in enemy waters (anything past Sofu Gan) and try to stay under 1000 when actively hunting. TC can affect the spotting of ships; tend to get less contacts at high TC as stuff can zip right past you before your PC reacts, especially on older rigs, so keep it low while hunting and high when you're safe (ish) out in the mid-pacific.

Are you manually targeting or auto targeting? Either answer is fine (really), but if you say which one we can probably give you more tips! :up:



Kidding aside, I play DID, so I will take a break from the game and do something else for awhile.

Hehe, I have to take a break sometimes after a big convoy attack... lots of manual calculations, the positioning, the wait to see if you're detected/get a hit... I often make my escape, track the convoy round for another pass and then switch it off when I realise I can't go through all that again so soon! :D I also tend to play Dead is Dead, unless the game glitches out on me & gets me killed, but that's never happened yet ;)

[Stewmeat95]

I had been playing with manual tdc, playing at about 88 realism, after i ran into the convoy and got really messed up, I reloaded that save and adjusted my realism to about 32ish. Thing is, the auto target is just as bad as my manual, I shot 4 torpedoes at 2 merchants that were in a convoy and each just went past their bows missing by a foot or so.

Are there any mods you would say are a must?

[0rpheus]

I had been playing with manual tdc, playing at about 88 realism, after i ran into the convoy and got really messed up, I reloaded that save and adjusted my realism to about 32ish. Thing is, the auto target is just as bad as my manual, I shot 4 torpedoes at 2 merchants that were in a convoy and each just went past their bows missing by a foot or so.

Are there any mods you would say are a must?

I'm having trouble remembering how the auto tdc works as it's been a while since I used it.:oops: My guess would be you're too far away - ships will attempt to evade torps if they spot them. About 1000 yards is optimal attack range, any further out than that and even the best aimed shot can be dodged.

Check the tutorials for info on calculating AOB, (short answer: protractor tool from the prow of the target, to the middle of the target, then to the prow of your sub = aob), using the Stadimeter (waterline to top exhaust) and using the 3 minute rule (target distance travelled in 3 mins /10 = speed in knots - mark the start/end with the pencil tool) to determine speed if you get stuck with manual targeting.

One man's must have mods are another's bottom of the pile, so the best advice is to try them out and see which one you prefer. That said, a good starting point would be Game Fixes Only (GFO) which will leave the stock game intact, while you get the hang of it. Then move on to one of the supermods - I favour Trigger Maru Overhauled (TMO) with CapnScurvy's Optical Targeting Correction (OTC), but there's Real Fleet Boat (RFB) and Operation Monsoon if you fancy your hand at a Uboat for a change. Run Silent Run Deep Campaign (RSRDC) adds all the proper historical shipping and is also excellent. :up:

[Stewmeat95]

Great advice! Thank you guys! Do you guys play on multiplayer? I've been trying to set up hamachi....

[Bubblehead1980]

Lotsa profanity......:D
:arrgh!: same here

[WernherVonTrapp]

After death?

There is no routine.:D

[Stewmeat95]

How do i move torpedoes from the rear tubes to the front

[Ewall007]

I had been playing with manual tdc, playing at about 88 realism, after i ran into the convoy and got really messed up, I reloaded that save and adjusted my realism to about 32ish. Thing is, the auto target is just as bad as my manual, I shot 4 torpedoes at 2 merchants that were in a convoy and each just went past their bows missing by a foot or so.

Are there any mods you would say are a must?

I've run SH4 v1.5 for almost 2 years an used auto targeting that whole time. When I started I couldn't hit an island now I can sink no less that 4 ships during a convoy attack. That is why I'm learing manual targeting it just got to easy:cool:.

Check these items when attacking...
1.) make sure your torp doors are open first before firing
Reason: the time lag will throw your shot off.
2.) try to get in close my distance is between 2500 yards for big ships and 1500 yards for small ships.
3.) AoB, attack angles should be better than 45 degrees
4.) I use the thremal area of the ocean to sneak up on ships.
i.e. (ship spoted and course ploted at 7500 yards, run on surface to with in 6000 yards, crash dive to 170 feet and run at full or standard speed to with in 3500 yards, reduce speed to 2/3 or 1/3 to come up to attack depth of 60 feet.
5.) Make sure that you turn OFF the position keeper "RED button" then get a new lock on the target if everything looks good fire tube 1, fire tube 2...

If you have no duds job over, but if you do, keep turning your boat to line up for the next back-up shot if needed.:D

Now using TMO 2.5 RSRDC with OTC for both mods. This for me is the best mod setup out there for SH4 v1.5!!!!!

Ewall007
"Ranging far, Sweeping Wide"
Quote from Victory at Sea 1955

P.S. You can not move torps from the stern of your boat to the bow, its not allowed in the game.

[Mikemike47]

How do i move torpedoes from the rear tubes to the front

You can not move torpedoes from the rear tubes to the front in the game.

[TorpX]

Makes sense. How often do you speed up the game?

Also I've been trying to get more enemies killed by setting up while sitting still outside of a port i know the enemies have been traveling in and out of, do you think this is a sound tactic or is there a better way to get a lot of contact quickly?
I will often use TC up to 256 or 500, when I'm waiting for something to come along, but not in contact with enemy ships. In practice, I may get through a week of patrolling if nothing happens, or one attack if I make contact. This means it takes me longer to finish a patrol than many others, but I'm used to this pace.

The tactic of waiting outside of a port will not work as it would in real life, since the game will not spawn ships when you are close by, and will despawn ships as they reach port. (The game has no way to have them maneuver and dock as they should.) It is possible to raid harbors, and attack the ships stationed/docked there, but it is generally agreed that it is not very realistic due to the weak defenses the game incorporates. (In RL, this was a very hazardous undertaking.)

I may be in the minority, but I like the limited ship traffic. If you bumped into ships every day, the game would be rather boring after a while. It would also be unrealistic. Very few sub commanders got 5 or 6 ships in a patrol; it just wasn't that easy.

[Ewall007]

I may be in the minority, but I like the limited ship traffic. If you bumped into ships every day, the game would be rather boring after a while. It would also be unrealistic. Very few sub commanders got 5 or 6 ships in a patrol; it just wasn't that easy.

I'm in agreement with you TorpX. I'v only been playing TMO / RSRDC for about 3 days so far, and I like the lack of contact of both ships and planes. I find that when you do see a contact you get hungery and go after it in a better fashion that if you came across them all the time.

I just did a night surface action that was amazing. During a nasty storm off the coast of Veitnam. I ran into one Maru and closed to 600 yards an still couldn't get a lock on him! We ended up in this huge deck gun battle, while we hit each other. The maru had a deck gun on the bow but I was so close he couldn't hit me with it, my gun crew put shot after shot into his water line as both ships turned in to different directions me going to left and the maru going to the right, by the time I go to 1200 yards he was sinking and I had 18% hull damage

Point being; I was use to the stock v1.5 where in a storm you could use the TBC and lock him up at 1000 yards fire one or two torps and sink him that way, well its a lot better now, you take your chances in a surface attack:yep:...

Ewall007
"Ranging Far, Sweeping Wide"
Quote from Victory at Sea 1955

[TorpX]

[/INDENT]I'm in agreement with you TorpX. I'v only been playing TMO / RSRDC for about 3 days so far, and I like the lack of contact of both ships and planes. I find that when you do see a contact you get hungery and go after it in a better fashion that if you came across them all the time.



Quite so. After you have been waiting a week or two at sea, even a small tramp steamer can be very exciting. :woot: