Some tips needed for manual targeting

[bert8for3]

I've just switched to manual targeting. While I know it needs practice I could also use some tips. I'm following Wazoo's tutorial which is great, it's putting it into practice ... so far I've missed twice.

Ship id is ok but tricky as so far I'm having to get real close to id and by the time I do I've got to make a snap shot.

Range is also tricky getting the crosshair on the waterline 'cause by the time you put the stadimeter on, the crosshair has moved off the waterline. I guess you just adjust the stadimeter to be off the same amount as the crosshair.

Angle on the bow seems to be pretty much guesswork, sometimes you can see it well depending on the target's angle, but other times it's tougher and of course changes all the time.

Speed seems ok, for now I'm using the automatic stopwatch calculation running it for about 15 seconds (but by then the range and angle on the bow are off so I have to go back and redo those).

Any tips much appreciated.

[DMarkwick]

I agree with the ship ID thing, so what I do is assume I'm going to torpedo it and get into postion, work out the data and then wait until I ID the ship before firing. Once I ID it I can take a quick range, perhaps quickly review the data then fire.

Very often the very position of the ship, and it's bearing will clue you in to how likely a target it is. And each time you do the work necessary it gets that much easier & quicker, so all practise is good practise :)

[Uber Gruber]

Are you using the shift and ctrl and up/down arrow keys to adjust the stadiometer ? If not then play with them and you should find getting the mast height a little eaiser.

Also, if you've accurately determined the ships bearing and speed then you should easily be able to get in a position which puts you in front and at 90 degrees (perpendicular) to the ship (ideally at a range of 600M from the ships bearing path). If you then manually set the AOB to 90 degrees and fire between 340 degrees to 020 degrees then you should be fine.

At the end of the day, practice makes perfect. I tried using "map updates on" last night but it was awfull as it took all the fun away of doing the calcs myself.


Cheers,

[SmokinTep]

Try this site.

http://www.paulwasserman.net/SHIII/

[Der Teddy Bar]

The best way to learn easily and quickly how the TDC works is to do so in a single mission with the Auto TDC off, WO on, map updates on, the external view.

The most important part of the manual TDC is to go full manual. That is, in the F6 screen, at the bottom turn on the 'manual input on/off' to..... have you guessed it yet? 'On'.

This allows for the speed to be manually input and bypasses the somewhat quirky notepad speed. As this requires you to continually leave your periscope up all the time and it resets blah blah blah

Initially I set up a mission with number of ships all over the place in front and behind my u-boat that were in a stationary line, remember to untick delete on last waypoint. Also, make sure the wind is 0. As you get better increase the wind.

Step one is getting to know the AOB. Look at the ship, make your guess and then lock the ship and ask the WO. The secret of being able to get good and quick AOB is to use the square structures such as the bridge. Obviously you will have to move the ships around to keep learning.

Step two was to practice attaining the range. Again, using the stationary ships, initially no further than 700 metres, I would perform a manual range and then check that against the WO. The important part here is to not be concerned about 1000% accuracy. Near enough is more than good enough. As you get better move the ships further out, I never went past 4500 metres.

Step three was then setting up lots merchant ships to sail past me at 3 knots. I would at certain points 'pause' and estimate the AOB and range, and again compare that to the WO. From this exercise you will start to be able to estimate what the AOB will be when the ship at relative bearing 20, gets to relative bearing 10.

Step four was then not using the pause and estimate the AOB and range, and again compare that to the WO.

At this stage I had learnt to estimate the AOB and attain the range of a slow moving ship.

Step five was then setting up lots merchant ships to sail past me at 8 knots and higher. I would not pause and estimate the AOB and range, and again compare that to the WO.

The fun begins…

Step six is putting the on the on the fly AOB into practice by sinking the ship sailing past you. As we know the speed, we set it up manually in the F6 screen. We then go to the conning tower and open all tubes manually, if you ask the WO the idiot will close them if you swap tubes etc. Note I am not concerned about the range, range makes a small difference in the accuracy but this only is important at longer ranges at 2000+ metres in which you should not be shooting anyway.

When we fire we then watch the torpedo and the ship converge, or not, through the F6 screen, and/or, the external view. This will sharpen your AOB skills and also show you how small AOB errors will or will not affect certain shots. Hopefully you will also learn what relative bearing and AOB combinations you should or should not shoot at because the torpedo might bounce off the ship due to the angle in which it hits or that they just don't work as the small errors are too large.

Now that we are proficient at attaining quickly and effectively the AOB and the ships distance while not pausing the game we can now move onto calculating the ships speed.

In F5 zoom in on your ship and then attain the ships range only and note the relative bearing. Now ask the WO, go to F5, pause the game and use the protractor to mark off the relative bearing, then use the ruler to measure out the ships range for yours and the WO’s numbers. Un pause wait about 3 minutes and again ships range only and note the relative bearing. Now ask the WO, go to F5, pause the game and use the protractor to mark off the relative bearing, then use the ruler to measure out the ships range for yours and the WO’s numbers. Now measure between the two points, and using Wazoos Nonograph Mod (I remember having to use a calculator) calculate the speed.

Don’t fudge your figures when you see how far you are out, otherwise you will not learn. It will also show you that you do not have to be 1000% precise. To attain a very good firing solution.

While I do all my plotting in real time to make it just that little bit more difficult and as a result I sometime loose a target, there is I feel not cheating involved if during the game you pause while plotting, especially when it is still new for you.

Speed wise SHIII is way too easy, even if the ship capable of 25 knots and is travelling at 5 knots, sees you, it will not speed up.

That’s it, you know are a manual TDC expert.





Use the bridge and other square objects such as cargo containers to judge the AOB.

The other trick is to judge what the AOB will be when you are ready to shoot in 10, 20, 45 seconds and input that.

Range does not matter when making shots under 1000 metres. I cannot stress this enough. Range is handy so that you know if the time has passed, but at under a 1000 metres forget about it.

I use range only for calculating the ships speed and to calc an interception point. After that, I only do a very rough, way rough range estimat for the torpedo stop watch if time permits.

I also actually pre configure my shot anywhere up to 2-3 minutes.

So at the moment of firing the only manual update is the AOB which is a 5 second task.


Use Wazoos Nonograph Mod then speed and distance calcs can be done in seconds with no greater mental input than joining two dots together.

Which is good as if not I might need a little rest between attacks :rotfl:

I hope that this helps.

[Joe S]

May I make a suggestion? I suggest we compensate for the games deficiencies by making better use of the fire control party. In real life, ship ID was not critical. It was critical to make sure you werent firing on a friendly or a neutral, but you could make that decision at the last minute and cancel the attack. In the game, ship ID is critical because you cannot enter the range of the target without it. In real life the fire control party could use a number of methods to estimate range, most of which did not depend on a precise id of the ship. To compensate for this flaw in the game design, I let the weapons officer ID the ship. Then I go to the TDC screen and manually set the range at 1,500M. I also set all torpedos to run at the fastest speed. Then I mark the location of the target on the map and mark its progress at one, two and three minute intervals. Then you simply divide the distance travelled by the time elapsed and determine the speed. Six knots +246 meters per minute. The longer period of time that elapses for this purpose the more accurate your estimates will be. Once you determine the speed, which you can do while the target is still far away, you enter that on the TDC manually, then set the TDC to auto. Then , plan your attack by using the ruler to draw the targets track, and decide how you will approach the target track. Always try to set up a 90 degree attack, that means your boat will be headed right at the targets track, your boats course will be at 90 degrees to the targets course. Use the ruler to find the spot on the map between 1,000 and 1,500 meters from the target's course, and get there in time to submerge and wait for the target to approach . Set the angle on the bow 90 left or right depending on the circumstances and wait till the target is starting to cross your bow. fire two or three torpedos at five or six second intervals and you should get hits every time if your speed estimation is reasonably accurate. Speed is the most critical factor. Angle on the bow is important too but at under 1,500 meters you can be a few degrees off and still get hits.

This method is realistic enough for me. It allows me to plot the target on the map and estimate speed just like a fire control party would do. I set up and plan the attack and manuver into position. I use the scope to track the target and update the info and needed, making corrections as required, The fact that I rely on the crew to do some of the work which a fire control party would do in real life does not upset me. To each his own, of course. I hope you find this usefull. Keep in mind that range is the least important element of a fire control solution, speed and angle on the bow are most important, and getting into position and firing without being detected is most important. if you are detected, the target will change course and speed. Good luck, Joe S

[Joe S]

I should have proofed tha above comment. Six knots = 246 Meters per minute. There are probably a few more typos, Sorry, Joe S

[bert8for3]

Tks v much to all for your help.