Gustav Schiebert
11-01-12, 06:46 AM
Hi all! Long-time reader, first-time poster - so first let me say hi to everyone on a great forum that's been giving me loads of great info for ages now. Hopefully I can put a bit back now for you guys ...
Anyway, I'll start by doubling up on my introductory post by saying that I got into SHIII by my interest in the Battle of the Atlantic. First drawn to SHV, then discovered III+GWX and was far more impressed - that's now my staple game.
As you might expect from a history buff I like playing on full realism. Now, of course that means the game is set to 100%, but why stop there? How would you like to add an extra dimension to the game - having to cope with realistic levels of crew management? I'm not talking about SHIII quirks like personally putting men to bed when they fall asleep on watch (hard to imagine Jurgen Prochnow cradling the 2WO in his arms and taking him to his quarters once he'd been on watch for eight solid days ... :/\\!!) I mean proper career management - arguably the most important (non-combat) duty of a real commander.
What's wrong with SHIII as it is?
Good question. Well, recently I stopped a fairly successful campaign because it had just got silly. Apart from only being 90% realism, after 19 patrols (mid-1941) my crew were utter U-boat gods - each one crammed with experience and renown, getting on for an EK.II. each and a few Knight's Crosses for the officers. It was getting easy, essentially. I had the luxury of an utterly legendary crew - far too veteran, and besides in Das Boot the LI has been on 12 patrols and is on the verge of a breakdown. After 19, in real life, these men would be utter husks.
So what needs to change?
The thing that would have stopped this happening in real life was simple: turnover. In reality, veteran crews were taken out of boats and sent to form elite cadres to crew new ones. So the captain often lost the best and most experienced of his crew. Captains themselves (ie you) were sometimes regularly switched between boats for similar reasons, or even promoted into staff jobs. Basically, crew never stopped with the same boat for long.
Is this for me?
I'll stress here and now that this is only recommended for realism buffs ONLY. It involves a lot of voluntary and self-enforced actions which will make your boat worse off, but more realistic. It is a little extra work, you might need a notepad and pen to make some crew notes and it probably takes 5 mins at the end of each patrol to make it work.
Okay. So how do I do this in the game?
This is where I confess this isn't a mod. I have huge respect for you guys who mod because it's beyond me. This is just a list of self-enforced instructions for getting a realistic number of crew.
Officers
In reality, the officers on a boat are nothing like that in SHIII. Commander, two watch officers, and a chief engineer. The 'navigator' as represented on the game was usually an Obersteurmann - a senior professional sailor - and the 'weapons officer' an Obermechanikersmaat - ditto a sailor not an officer. So how do you arrange your starting crew?
- Captain - that's you. No problem here.
- Chief Engineer - again, no real problems here, the game represents him well. Obviously he needs and has the Helmsman qualification. Later on you can give him the Machinist and possibly the Repair ones as well, as these were his real jobs.
- Weapons Officer - no such post on a real U-boat. But as long as you don't mind not having his help (won't need him on 100%), just dismiss him when you start a campaign and leave the post empty.
- Navigator - as mentioned above, no such post on a real boat. However, you can't leave the slot open as above. But, each boat usually had a midshipman (Oberfahnrich zur See) who would hang back and try to learn as much as he could for when he got his own boat. He might also help the navigator (who also ran the Third Watch) - so if you leave your starting OfzS in this slot and never promote him, you can imagine him as being your midshipman and helping out the proper navigator. Don't give him any further qualifications apart from the starting one.
- 1WO - easier. The starting watchman will do well here. However, in real life the 1WO was in the Seaman's Division, which meant no technical skills. So, you have to try and not give him any qualifications apart from watchman and later on, helmsman. These are his only jobs!
- 2WO - use one of your spare officers as the 2WO. Again, no technical skills - although one of the 2WO's duties was being in charge of the deck gun and the flak, so giving him the Gunner and Flak qualifications would be a good idea.
If both your watch officers have the Helmsman qualification, then you can send the Chief Engineer to use his Machinist qualification to go faster in the diesel room, or Repair by leading the damage control team. You can then temporarily stick your 1WO in the Engineer spot while he goes off to the engine room etc.
This reflects real life: the 'seaman' officers (ie non-techicals, the 1WO and 2WO) had little to do once the boat was dived and under attack. If damaged, the chief engineer would often run off to supervise repairs/engines, while the captain could have the 1/2WO take over the control room in the meantime.
POs and Men
This is a bit easier. Realistic manning levels would have included:
- 1-3 'Watchman' qualified POs. This is the Bosun and his Bosun's Mates.
- 3 'Torpedo' qualified POs. The torpedo mechanics.
- 6 'Machinist' qualified POs. 3 diesel mechanics and 3 electro mechanics.
The rest (up to 16) would all have been 'non-qualified' in terms of the game. This is where you have to be tough and not give them any qualifications!
For the men, you probably want about 26-28 rather than the full 30.
Turnover
Every two patrols, 15% of the crew were rotated out to make the nucleus for a new crew. To represent this, after every two patrols, dismiss:
3 POs
9 Sailors
And replace with fresh, raw sailors. This will give you a realistic level of crew veterancy. As for who to pick, well, that's up to you. You're the captain, and in real life when asked to give up 15% of his men the captain would probably have the last word. But after about 10 patrols a crewman would normally be rotated out anyway, because of the mental strain of the job.
As for officers - the midshipman and Chief Engineer will probably stay with you for about 10 patrols before moving on to a new job. At this point, dismiss them and replace them. As for the others, the 1WO was the last job you did before moving on to command your own boat. So after about 3-5 patrols, dismiss your 1WO, then your 2WO becomes the 1WO, and get a fresh lieutenant in to be the new 2WO.
That's a lot of stuff!
It is. I know I said this before, but obviously this is only for real realism nuts like myself. It involves rigorous self-discipline and a bit of pretending, but in exchange for that you get to face the challenges of 1942 and onwards with a mixed crew - a few old sweats to hold the men together, but mostly fresh-faced, terrified kids. Just like real commanders did. In case anyone's interested in where all this comes from, the primary source is TP Mulligan, 'Neither Sharks nor Wolves' (Naval Institute Press), backed up by a few relevant Osprey Books on U-Boats and various commanders' biographies. All are available on Amazon fairly cheaply (the main book is about £10).
Anyway, hope you enjoy this and I'd love to know if anyone decides to give it a try, what they think!
Anyway, I'll start by doubling up on my introductory post by saying that I got into SHIII by my interest in the Battle of the Atlantic. First drawn to SHV, then discovered III+GWX and was far more impressed - that's now my staple game.
As you might expect from a history buff I like playing on full realism. Now, of course that means the game is set to 100%, but why stop there? How would you like to add an extra dimension to the game - having to cope with realistic levels of crew management? I'm not talking about SHIII quirks like personally putting men to bed when they fall asleep on watch (hard to imagine Jurgen Prochnow cradling the 2WO in his arms and taking him to his quarters once he'd been on watch for eight solid days ... :/\\!!) I mean proper career management - arguably the most important (non-combat) duty of a real commander.
What's wrong with SHIII as it is?
Good question. Well, recently I stopped a fairly successful campaign because it had just got silly. Apart from only being 90% realism, after 19 patrols (mid-1941) my crew were utter U-boat gods - each one crammed with experience and renown, getting on for an EK.II. each and a few Knight's Crosses for the officers. It was getting easy, essentially. I had the luxury of an utterly legendary crew - far too veteran, and besides in Das Boot the LI has been on 12 patrols and is on the verge of a breakdown. After 19, in real life, these men would be utter husks.
So what needs to change?
The thing that would have stopped this happening in real life was simple: turnover. In reality, veteran crews were taken out of boats and sent to form elite cadres to crew new ones. So the captain often lost the best and most experienced of his crew. Captains themselves (ie you) were sometimes regularly switched between boats for similar reasons, or even promoted into staff jobs. Basically, crew never stopped with the same boat for long.
Is this for me?
I'll stress here and now that this is only recommended for realism buffs ONLY. It involves a lot of voluntary and self-enforced actions which will make your boat worse off, but more realistic. It is a little extra work, you might need a notepad and pen to make some crew notes and it probably takes 5 mins at the end of each patrol to make it work.
Okay. So how do I do this in the game?
This is where I confess this isn't a mod. I have huge respect for you guys who mod because it's beyond me. This is just a list of self-enforced instructions for getting a realistic number of crew.
Officers
In reality, the officers on a boat are nothing like that in SHIII. Commander, two watch officers, and a chief engineer. The 'navigator' as represented on the game was usually an Obersteurmann - a senior professional sailor - and the 'weapons officer' an Obermechanikersmaat - ditto a sailor not an officer. So how do you arrange your starting crew?
- Captain - that's you. No problem here.
- Chief Engineer - again, no real problems here, the game represents him well. Obviously he needs and has the Helmsman qualification. Later on you can give him the Machinist and possibly the Repair ones as well, as these were his real jobs.
- Weapons Officer - no such post on a real U-boat. But as long as you don't mind not having his help (won't need him on 100%), just dismiss him when you start a campaign and leave the post empty.
- Navigator - as mentioned above, no such post on a real boat. However, you can't leave the slot open as above. But, each boat usually had a midshipman (Oberfahnrich zur See) who would hang back and try to learn as much as he could for when he got his own boat. He might also help the navigator (who also ran the Third Watch) - so if you leave your starting OfzS in this slot and never promote him, you can imagine him as being your midshipman and helping out the proper navigator. Don't give him any further qualifications apart from the starting one.
- 1WO - easier. The starting watchman will do well here. However, in real life the 1WO was in the Seaman's Division, which meant no technical skills. So, you have to try and not give him any qualifications apart from watchman and later on, helmsman. These are his only jobs!
- 2WO - use one of your spare officers as the 2WO. Again, no technical skills - although one of the 2WO's duties was being in charge of the deck gun and the flak, so giving him the Gunner and Flak qualifications would be a good idea.
If both your watch officers have the Helmsman qualification, then you can send the Chief Engineer to use his Machinist qualification to go faster in the diesel room, or Repair by leading the damage control team. You can then temporarily stick your 1WO in the Engineer spot while he goes off to the engine room etc.
This reflects real life: the 'seaman' officers (ie non-techicals, the 1WO and 2WO) had little to do once the boat was dived and under attack. If damaged, the chief engineer would often run off to supervise repairs/engines, while the captain could have the 1/2WO take over the control room in the meantime.
POs and Men
This is a bit easier. Realistic manning levels would have included:
- 1-3 'Watchman' qualified POs. This is the Bosun and his Bosun's Mates.
- 3 'Torpedo' qualified POs. The torpedo mechanics.
- 6 'Machinist' qualified POs. 3 diesel mechanics and 3 electro mechanics.
The rest (up to 16) would all have been 'non-qualified' in terms of the game. This is where you have to be tough and not give them any qualifications!
For the men, you probably want about 26-28 rather than the full 30.
Turnover
Every two patrols, 15% of the crew were rotated out to make the nucleus for a new crew. To represent this, after every two patrols, dismiss:
3 POs
9 Sailors
And replace with fresh, raw sailors. This will give you a realistic level of crew veterancy. As for who to pick, well, that's up to you. You're the captain, and in real life when asked to give up 15% of his men the captain would probably have the last word. But after about 10 patrols a crewman would normally be rotated out anyway, because of the mental strain of the job.
As for officers - the midshipman and Chief Engineer will probably stay with you for about 10 patrols before moving on to a new job. At this point, dismiss them and replace them. As for the others, the 1WO was the last job you did before moving on to command your own boat. So after about 3-5 patrols, dismiss your 1WO, then your 2WO becomes the 1WO, and get a fresh lieutenant in to be the new 2WO.
That's a lot of stuff!
It is. I know I said this before, but obviously this is only for real realism nuts like myself. It involves rigorous self-discipline and a bit of pretending, but in exchange for that you get to face the challenges of 1942 and onwards with a mixed crew - a few old sweats to hold the men together, but mostly fresh-faced, terrified kids. Just like real commanders did. In case anyone's interested in where all this comes from, the primary source is TP Mulligan, 'Neither Sharks nor Wolves' (Naval Institute Press), backed up by a few relevant Osprey Books on U-Boats and various commanders' biographies. All are available on Amazon fairly cheaply (the main book is about £10).
Anyway, hope you enjoy this and I'd love to know if anyone decides to give it a try, what they think!