Finally Completed My First Campaign

[scrapser]

Whew! I've been working this daily since I bought the sim the week it was released. The last two patrols seemed to take forever. Still, it was a lot of fun. I like the Type XXI but it's sort of anticlimatic knowing the war will end in a year once you get it. In addition, the XXI can draw circles around the escorts so you can attack a convoy at will and use stealth only to get off your first couple prize shots.

If the seas are anything above 5 m/s, you can knock off the eastbound tankers with a single contact shot. I use keel shots only in calm weather and on passenger liners for economy. Liners don't get tossed around in high seas like all the other ships so you can pretty much count on your depth setting being OK.

I learned to attack convoys and only go for the big ships and move on for maximum tonnage. I think this is a great sim and would recommend adding more ship types and some type of randomizer for convoy compostion as they seem to become recognizable after a while. My favorite sub was the IXC. I'm going to stick with it right to the end in my next campaign but right now I need to get back my land legs (been at sea way too long).

scrapser

[Dowly]

Congratulations Scrapser!

I just had to start all over from 1939, as my last boat, U-103, was sunk in 1941...

[Faamecanic]

Just started my 2nd career.... think I will try riding it out in a Type VII-C/41 or 42 this time.

I must say the XXI was a let down with the bugs. I really didnt want to turn off battery discharge because that defeats realism, and having airplanes swarm over my schnorkel was just stupid. Although Jungmans mods to AI senors and radar detection helped!

My favorite was the IX-D2 .... lotsa torps, and the RANGE was awesome (agian bugged, but easily fixed with timetraveler's mod).

[FAdmiral]

Dowly, give us some details on how your U-103 was sunk?
What were you up against and how good you did?


JIM

[Dowly]

Well, it was my first time playing on 100%. I was returning from patrol, cant remember the grid. It was some 2000km west of Freetown. And I play on 64x TC, so it was a somewhat long patrol (and boooriiing!!! Only 1 sound contact that I lost in the storm).

So, there I was returning to St. Nazaire on my IXB. First I had merchants sound contact, I started to track it towards Gibraltar. Then around 800km west from Gibraltar I heard atleast 3 different warship sounds. I got to the periscope depth too see, if I could find the merchant. It was storming, again, heavy fog and rain.

Suddenly I saw a figure, that looked like a warship, bigger than normal DD. Didn`t have time to identify it, cos it was less than 600m away from me. So, I rigged to silent running, went down to 50m and waited. Then it started; PING..........PING.........PING.....PING..PING.PIN GPINGPING!!

The first DCs exploded too far away, then as I was trying to run away, the other three warships came to play. I was almost constantly under attack. I holded for awhile, then, I think it was a direct hit from DC or hedgehog. As my boat listed heavily to it`s right side. And that`s it, Bow torpedo & quater room was flooding heavily, can´t remember how much I lost from the hull integrity.

After awhile the boat was sunk, because of the flooding. I`ve been thinking... have anyone spotted taskforce near Gibraltar. I`ve never seen three warships moving together, like a convoy.

[FAdmiral]

From what I have read in reports here, Gibraltar is a very
dangerous place to be. It could be in later years (or early ones
for that matter) that ASW groups of warships (maybe 1-CL with
3=DD's) will patrol around Gibraltar cause it is the gateway to
the Med. I have not been down that way because up to mid
1940, it has been to far. But with the French ports coming into
play, I may take a trip down there to see if what am reading is true...


JIM

[Dowly]

Atleast they have good air coverage around the Gibraltar, on my 7th patrol on U-103, I tried to go through it but got a direct from a A/C´s bomb to my aft. So I decided not to risk it.

Good luck when you go there!