IX-B/IX-C questions

[jasondef]

I'm in Apr. 1941, anxious to get patrols besides around the British Isles (particularly I want the Carribean and Gulf of Mexico). So I figured I better upgrade to a IX from my VII-B for the added range. I was hoping the IX-C (rather than get the IX-B for the greater range) would become available soon, as the in game tech tree says its available in 1941. Researched the forum though, and found a post listing sub availability at the different flotillas, and it shows that the IX-C really isn't available until later in '42! Don't want to wait that long though. So will the IX-B have sufficient range for patrols in the Carribean/Gulf of Mexico? Obviously, I imagine the game won't assign you to American patrol grids until after Dec, '41, but I'd like to get it now to start upgrading it and get different patrols in the mean time.

Below is the post I found for sub/flotilla availability. Note that nowhere is the IX-C available in 1941, despite what the in-game tech tree says!! What's up with that! And does anyone know what MONTH (from your experience) the IX-C becomes available in the 2nd flotilla?

1st Flotilla
Wilhemshaven 6/39 to 7/40
Brest 8/40 to 9/44

1939: U-Boat Type IIA
1940: U-Boat Type VIIB
1941: U-Boat Type VIIC
1942: U-Boat Type VIIC
1943: U-Boat Type VIIC
1944: U-Boat Type VIIC

2nd Flotilla
Wilhemshaven 8/39 to 8/40
Lorient 9/40 to 9/44

1940: U-Boat Type VIIB
1941: U-Boat Type IXB
1942: U-Boat Type IXC
1943: U-Boat Type IXC
1944: U-Boat Type IXC

7th Flotilla
Kiel 8/39 to 8/40
St. Nazaire 9/40 to 7/44
Bergen 8/44 to 5/45

1939: U-Boat Type VIIB
1940: U-Boat Type VIIB
1941: U-Boat Type VIIC
1942: U-Boat Type VIIC
1943: U-Boat Type VIIC/41
1944: U-Boat Type VIIC/41
1944: U-Boat Type XXI (April)
1945: U-Boat Type VIIC/41

10th Flotilla
Lorient 1/41 to 9/44

1942: U-Boat Type IXC
1943: U-Boat Type IXC
1944: U-Boat Type IXC

11th Flotilla
Bergen 1/41 to 5/45

1942: U-Boat Type VIIC
1943: U-Boat Type VIIC/41
1944: U-Boat Type VIIC/41
1944: U-Boat Type XXI (April using "Real U-boot")
1945: U-Boat Type VIIC/41

12th Flotilla
Bordeaux 10/42 to 8/44

1942: U-Boat Type IXB
1943: U-Boat Type IXC
1944: U-Boat Type IXC

29th Flotilla
La Spezia 9/41 to 8/43
Toulon 9/43 to 8/44

1941: U-Boat Type VIIB
1942: U-Boat Type VIIB
1943: U-Boat Type VIIC
1944: U-Boat Type VIIC

33rd Flotilla
Flensburg 9/44 to 6/45

1944: U-Boat Type VIIC/41
1945: U-Boat Type VIIC/41

:damn: :hmm:

[Dantenoc]

SH3 Commander is a program you should look into. It's a mod, but one of the safest ones since it has a very easy uninstall feature. Even more so, since it's a "front-end" program type of thing, the integration with SH3 is not as intimate and entangled (hence making it easier to undo).

Anyway, with it you can change the availabilty of different types of subs to more historical values. You can, for example, choose to start the war with a type IX-B allready :yep: ... It has a lot of other cool features too, and the best of all is that they're all optional; just choose the ones you like, leave the ones you don't. For that reason, it's the best mod around (allthough clearly not as extensive as other mods out there)

[jasondef]

Just installed SH3Commander, I now have a IX-C 2nd flotilla in May '41. Will you get assigned patrol grids in the Carribean or the Gulf of Mexico later either with the stock game or with SH3Commander?

[panthercules]

I'm currently in a IXB in 2nd Flotilla out of Lorient. I upgraded from my VIIB in late November 1940. At that time, only the IXB was available as an upgrade. As it turned out, by the time my new IXB was ready to leave port (after I tricked it out with several of the upgrades available), it was early January 1941. It was late so I exited the game at that point.

When I loaded back in, imagine my surprise when I went in to get my torpedo loadout set before leaving port and was presented with the IXC as a possible upgrade. Of course, having just blown all my renown on my IXB and its upgrades, I didn't have the renown left to choose the IXC at that point, but it was showing as available as early as January 1941. According to U-boat.net at least some of the IXCs were commissioned as early as January 1941, though I don't know if they were actually available to 2nd Flotilla kaleuns for combat operations that early.

Oh, and BTW - with SH3 Commander you can manually choose whatever grid square you want for your next patrol zone - unfortunately I don't think SH3 Commander has a map showing the grid squares, so you'll need to know what you want ahead of time in order to take advantage of this feature (and of course you'll need to do this when you're in port between missions - otherwise it's grayed out in SH3 Commander 'cause you can't change it mid-patrol).

[jasondef]

Hmm, good info! I am wondering, since I don't think SH3Commander changes the stock SH3 patrol assignments unless you manually tell it to (or am I wrong about that?), will the stock SH3 assign you patrol grids in the Carribean or Gulf of Mexico naturally?