need some strategy tips

[avers]

hey guys I've been playing sh3 and I've died 5 times I would like to know tactics on how to evade ASW vessels when there hunting you and I need to know how to track a convoy correctly. please help.

[les green01]

attacking convoys ill stay just where i can see the smoke during the day(works until radar)waiting until night working my way in slowly i'm checking where the dds are and where they going to be at and picking out the targets i want to attack which is ussual the most heavy tonnage time the fish to all hit at the same time or close to that.sometimes after the dds got my location peg i'll try to keep the merchants between the dds and me while i have the deck gun man after firing after the fish has hit the dds will fire hitting the merchants which is going every which way other words causing as much mayam as i can when it time to crash dive i'll wait until im completly under then hit hard rudder and ordering slow speed i go deep 160 meters to 180 silent running the dds are looking where they think im going to be and droping the dept charges and i can be maybe 2k meters away then rinse and repeat.

[maillemaker]

hey guys I've been playing sh3 and I've died 5 times I would like to know tactics on how to evade ASW vessels when there hunting you

As is often said here, "Stay out of shallow water!" Depth is your friend. Without depth, you will be heard, and you will be depth charged, and eventually you will be damaged until you have to rise ever-shallower and you die.

I do not attack when escorts are present unless I have 100% hull integrity and the depth under keep to dive to 200 meters.

If you dive to 200-220 meters, and there is any kind of surface chop, odds are very good that they will not be able to hear you and will give up in short order. The odds of getting hit by depth charges at that depth are also low.

Obviously you need to rig for silent running.

Here is a big tip: It is not sufficient to go to "slow" speed as you do by default when you go to silent running. Change the speed dial gauge to show knots and dial down the speed to 1-0 knots. This will keep your engine RPMs below 90 RPM (you can see these gauges in the control room and the conning tower). This will make your noise minimal.

and I need to know how to track a convoy correctly. please help

When you first get a radio report of the convoy, and the big square appears on the map, make sure to drop time compression back to 1 straight away. You don't want time to slip away while you are computing an intercept.

When you get the radio contact, it will tell you the position of the convoy, its speed, and a general direction, like "NNW".

The first thing you should do is zoom up on the contact on the map and draw a line from the original location in the direction they are headed. This is obviously an approximation.

Next set a waypoint from your uboat to an intercept some distance in front of the convoy along its estimated heading. Go to flank speed.

You will see a time in hours:minutes by the waypoint that will indicate how long it will take you to get there.

Next you will need to use the nomometer on the right-side of the map. To use this, draw a line starting at the left-most scale of the convoy speed, say 8 knots. Then stretch the line down to the right-most scale to the time in minutes until your waypoint will be reached.

Look where the line you are making crosses the middle scale. This tells you how far, in kilometers, the convoy will travel at that speed over that amount of time.

Fire up the circle tool, and draw a circle from the convoy's position to the size, in kilometers, that you calculated above using the nomometer.

This gives you an estimation of the possible range the convoy will travel in the time it will take you to get to your waypoint. Adjust your waypoint to be ahead of the circle along the convoy's estimated heading. You want to get to their heading ahead of the convoy so you have time to get into position.

OK, so now you know where the convoy is, and where it is going to be when you intercept their course. Fire up the time compression and drive in on your intercept.

As you get close, within about 16km, your computer may "pause" a second as it loads up the ships into memory. This is a cheat clue that you are getting close. At this point you may wish to dive to periscope depth and take a hydrophone fix to get an idea of where the convoy is.

I strongly suggest learning all this with map contacts turned on. You will get nice lines radiating out from your position that give you the direction and distance to the contacts from the hydrophone operator.

By watching the ends of these lines move, you can actually plot the convoy course (and even make out the columns of the convoy!).

Surface and continue your intercept. Make sure you remember to put your lazy Watch Officer back on the bridge along with your best watchmen. When you get within visual range, they will spot the ships of the convoy, probably the lead escort(s) first.

Go to the bridge. Use the UZO to examine the convoy. Use the L key to lock to various ships and then quickly jump to the map. With map contacts turned on, any ship you lock to will appear on the map, even if it does not say on the map (they only stay on the map if the computer thinks they are within visual range.

Using the contacts on the map, you will be able to determine the size of the ship, its position, and its course. By locking to ships in a column, you can see the columns of the convoy right on the map and draw lines through them indicating the heading of each column in the convoy.

You should now be driving your uboat on a parallel intercept. You don't want to get any closer than about 10-12,000 meters or you risk detection by the escorts and then your attack is blown. So when you are close to in position, or are forced by distance to targets, dive to periscope depth and make your attack.

Good hunting!

Steve

[Schöneboom]

Hi Avers,

I don't know which mods you're using, if any. I've been playing the GWX version for years, plus hardcode fixes by h.sie, plus SH3 Commander. With this setup you will find ASW vessels have realistic limitations, esp. in the early war. For ex., thermal layers will save your bacon, if they're present at a depth you can safely reach.

When your sonarman announces the wabos (wasserbomben), that may be your cue to crank up the speed briefly. At that point the escort dropping them cannot hear you because it's at full speed, and the explosions also mask U-boat noises. Change course and return to silent running once the explosions stop. Do this enough times, and the escort(s) will be dropping in the wrong place.

Re best approach to convoys, in the early war the ideal is a night attack, surfaced. Patience pays off if you can wait till it's really dark!

Gute Jagd!

[avers]

hey maillemaker what do u mean by nomometer and left most scale, middle scale, and right most scale???

[avers]

ok ignor that last post I know what u mean but when u said to drag the line to the time it will take u to get there in minutes did u mean the entire time in minutes to get to the waypoint?

[maillemaker]

ok ignor that last post I know what u mean but when u said to drag the line to the time it will take u to get there in minutes did u mean the entire time in minutes to get to the waypoint?

Yes.

If you know that the convoy is moving 8 knots due east, set a waypoint some distance out in front of the convoy and go to flank speed. When your course and speed stabilize, note the time next to the waypoint. That is how long it is going to take you to get there.

Draw a line from 8 knots on the left-most line to the time in minutes on the right-most line from your waypoint. Where it crosses the middle line it will tell you how far, in kilometers, the convoy will go at 8 knots in the amount of time it will take you to get to your waypoint.

Draw a circle around the convooy position at that radius in kilometers, and then refine your intercept point out beyond that circle by 10 km or so. If necessary refine the distance the convoy will travel based on the new waypoint and adjust again until you arrive at a good intercept waypoint.

The idea being to get out in front of the convoy so you can spot them before they spot you and move your sub into an optimal position to slip past the escorts and get into the convoy to attack.

Steve

[avers]

But the right line goes up to 200 min. What do u do if the time in minutes is over 200 min.

[flag4]

Yes.

If you know that the convoy is moving 8 knots due east, set a waypoint some distance out in front of the convoy and go to flank speed. When your course and speed stabilize, note the time next to the waypoint. That is how long it is going to take you to get there.

Draw a line from 8 knots on the left-most line to the time in minutes on the right-most line from your waypoint. Where it crosses the middle line it will tell you how far, in kilometers, the convoy will go at 8 knots in the amount of time it will take you to get to your waypoint.

Draw a circle around the convooy position at that radius in kilometers, and then refine your intercept point out beyond that circle by 10 km or so. If necessary refine the distance the convoy will travel based on the new waypoint and adjust again until you arrive at a good intercept waypoint.

The idea being to get out in front of the convoy so you can spot them before they spot you and move your sub into an optimal position to slip past the escorts and get into the convoy to attack.

Steve

...this sounds interesting indeed, is there a diagram to go with it?

[flag4]

hey guys I've been playing sh3 and I've died 5 times I would like to know tactics on how to evade ASW vessels when there hunting you and I need to know how to track a convoy correctly. please help.

be certain there will be 5x5 deaths...in the end:D

[Pisces]

But the right line goes up to 200 min. What do u do if the time in minutes is over 200 min.In 20 minutes it moves a tenth of the distance it does in 200 minutes. Just move the decimal mark the same number of places in time as you do in distance. It it's not as precise as with a proper extended scale, but it should get you in the ball-park. And iirc, the waypoint ETA calculation isn't more precise than 10 minutes anyway.

[Bosje]

But the right line goes up to 200 min. What do u do if the time in minutes is over 200 min.

hi Avers, and welcome to sh3

if you mean what to do if the time is more than 200 minutes... in GWX you have 2 draggable speedcharts in the top left corner of the navmap. nr 1 is a conversion for knots to KM over several hours

so you can very easily work out how far your target will travel in, say, 6 hours

conversely you can work out its exact speed if you track its movement over time.

practice in the early war years. attacking from periscope depth at sunset or sunrise are excellent ways to stay hidden and have a good view of the battlefield, that's how i got myself familiar with manual targeting and escort evasion, also it helps to get a 'feel' for what they can and can not see.
then again... i just attacked a convoy in december '39 on the surface and the sun started to come up.... there i was not 2000 meters away from the outer column with my pants down. quite an embarressment when HMS Rodney opened fire on me from within the convoy.

and yet... another great gaming experience, especially when i managed to get myself back to base still in one piece :arrgh!:

[avers]

ok thanx now I have another question and it's technical anyway I've been experiencing CTDs (crashes to the desktop) its been happening mostly after my pc has been on for a while but its also been happening after I leave port after installing a new mod. is this normal?

[maillemaker]

But the right line goes up to 200 min. What do u do if the time in minutes is over 200 min.

What I do that is quick and easy is cut the time in half, compute the distance, then double the distance.

So if it's 400 minutes to intercept, use 200 minutes, find the distance traveled, then double it.

Steve