xouftalo
12-09-19, 01:42 PM
Hi there, since it is my first time I've reached this far, a few thoughts on SH III realism and how it relates to historical facts.
First of all, I play with GWX and SH3 Comm. with a realism of 76% (something like that) and the only non realistic mode is that I am at sea since Sep '39 and normally by May '44 I would be behind a desk and not on the sea.
Secondly, I have read a lot of books on the subject, and I have to say that I am still amazed after all those years that every time I try something the real Kaleuns did, the game responded accurately!
Well, in the game, like in reality, things took a steep turn after the Summer of 42. It was a very successful period in tonnage, with average of more than half a million per month, but with an alarming rate of losses. From then on, the U-boat war was practically lost. Simply, the Americans was building more equipment and ships than U-boats could sink and U-boats were sinking with a greater rate than shipyards could build, not to mention the loss of most of the experienced commanders who knew how to survive.
So, my approach to the game after 1943, is very simple and selfish: The main goal of each patrol is to survive! Nothing more. I tried two times to attack a Convoy, and by escaping by miracle, I said to myself, "never again!" From January 1943 I simply hit stray ships. Even if you can penetrate a Convoy, plan your attack, fire all your eels and score some hits, you simply can not survive the destroyers and corvettes, no matter what!
Next is the plane menace. Far more deadly than warships, the only reaction is to crash dive the second you spot them. No A/A guns will compensate for the hull damage.
The thing that I did on purpose, from January '43 based on historical facts, is that I swapped my trusty VII with a IX. The reason? Due to their incredible range you get missions to New York, Caribbean, Brazil, Africa, even Cape Town. Anyway, you DON'T have to die in the North Atlantic and the shallow British waters. Much more safe, a lot of unescorted loot, and the quality of escort ships is not in par with North Atlantic. Wolfgang Lüth did the same, and is the only top ten commander that entered the list after the Happy Times.
Another similarity of the game and history is that in '44 you are in danger the minute you go out of the harbor. I operate from Lorient and for more than a year I don't dare to sail straight into the Biscay bay. Instead I use a trick of a real Kaleu, and I follow the Piening-Route (after Adolf Piening) who was following the coast from Lorient up where the Spanish coastline meet the Atlantic.
Another historical fact that I experienced first hand, is that no matter what equipment I buy with my renown, is simply not enough. No new radar warning receiver, coating, snorkel, etc, can compensate for the huge improvement of weapons and tactics the Allies was throwing in the table. If you ever found yourself under a salvo of 24 Hedgehog mines, you know... Truth is, the Germans delayed to produce the XXI and by the end of the war the old types-who practically were surface ships with just the ability to submerge briefly- could not survive no matter what the scientists were inventing for them.
So this is my idea of the late war in SH III. Just trying to stay alive to see the end of the war. I am really frustrated by the futility of the war in 1944-45 and the stubbornness of BDU. The war of the Atlantic was a real lost war by then.
So what are your thoughts of this phase of the game, and how you deal with all this madness?
First of all, I play with GWX and SH3 Comm. with a realism of 76% (something like that) and the only non realistic mode is that I am at sea since Sep '39 and normally by May '44 I would be behind a desk and not on the sea.
Secondly, I have read a lot of books on the subject, and I have to say that I am still amazed after all those years that every time I try something the real Kaleuns did, the game responded accurately!
Well, in the game, like in reality, things took a steep turn after the Summer of 42. It was a very successful period in tonnage, with average of more than half a million per month, but with an alarming rate of losses. From then on, the U-boat war was practically lost. Simply, the Americans was building more equipment and ships than U-boats could sink and U-boats were sinking with a greater rate than shipyards could build, not to mention the loss of most of the experienced commanders who knew how to survive.
So, my approach to the game after 1943, is very simple and selfish: The main goal of each patrol is to survive! Nothing more. I tried two times to attack a Convoy, and by escaping by miracle, I said to myself, "never again!" From January 1943 I simply hit stray ships. Even if you can penetrate a Convoy, plan your attack, fire all your eels and score some hits, you simply can not survive the destroyers and corvettes, no matter what!
Next is the plane menace. Far more deadly than warships, the only reaction is to crash dive the second you spot them. No A/A guns will compensate for the hull damage.
The thing that I did on purpose, from January '43 based on historical facts, is that I swapped my trusty VII with a IX. The reason? Due to their incredible range you get missions to New York, Caribbean, Brazil, Africa, even Cape Town. Anyway, you DON'T have to die in the North Atlantic and the shallow British waters. Much more safe, a lot of unescorted loot, and the quality of escort ships is not in par with North Atlantic. Wolfgang Lüth did the same, and is the only top ten commander that entered the list after the Happy Times.
Another similarity of the game and history is that in '44 you are in danger the minute you go out of the harbor. I operate from Lorient and for more than a year I don't dare to sail straight into the Biscay bay. Instead I use a trick of a real Kaleu, and I follow the Piening-Route (after Adolf Piening) who was following the coast from Lorient up where the Spanish coastline meet the Atlantic.
Another historical fact that I experienced first hand, is that no matter what equipment I buy with my renown, is simply not enough. No new radar warning receiver, coating, snorkel, etc, can compensate for the huge improvement of weapons and tactics the Allies was throwing in the table. If you ever found yourself under a salvo of 24 Hedgehog mines, you know... Truth is, the Germans delayed to produce the XXI and by the end of the war the old types-who practically were surface ships with just the ability to submerge briefly- could not survive no matter what the scientists were inventing for them.
So this is my idea of the late war in SH III. Just trying to stay alive to see the end of the war. I am really frustrated by the futility of the war in 1944-45 and the stubbornness of BDU. The war of the Atlantic was a real lost war by then.
So what are your thoughts of this phase of the game, and how you deal with all this madness?