Newb Captain keeps getting killed.

[nedwreck]

Hi,

I'm brand new at this and I'm having a real problem with it. My 3rd or 4th mission sends me to a plot that's south of Ireland. I can't make it through the English channel without getting sunk. It's early 1940. I'm as cautious as can be sometimes sitting on the bottom dead still trying to wait out the English but they eventually find me. If I move dead slow, they just find me sooner. There can be as many as 10 ships on my map at a time.
Am I supposed to go all the way around the other way? What can I do to make it through in one piece? The game has stopped being fun cause I can't avoid getting DC'ed to death. Any suggestions besides playing something else?

Thanks,

Bob

[Reece]

Well, practice makes perfect! :D try to stay submerged during the day running at 1knot to save batteries & surface at night, understandingly, the English channel is the hardest to get through, I usually go the other way! :up:
Keep checking the nav map whilst submerged for hydraphone reports of enemy destroyers etc (red line), draw a plot so you know where they are going & keep periscope down, don't be tempted to fire at a destroyer untill you are familiar with SH3, also use the 'Z' key for silent running. :D
You will get the hang of things, It's a great game! :up:
Cheers.

[Perilscope]

All what Reece said, plus:
Do not stop when escaping from the destroyer(s). Simply click on the speed indicator and reduce the speed to ~2knots. Your engines will be harder to perceive and at least you will have a momentum when the time comes for a brief getaway at flank speed.

However, remember to go at flank speed only to escape the ships that you think is going to drop the depth charges on you. In addition, when the ships are moving away, they cannot ear you. So move fast when they move away, and move very slowly when they are closing on you.
Anyway, you will get the drift soon; you will learn their ranges and angles in which they operate and flee between them like if nothing happened!:up:
And welcome to subsim :rock:

[Umfuld]

Mostly, as said, make sure you are running silent. And that means not moving faster than Ahead/Back SLOW!

The channel is hard, and I usually do go around as well. But I've never had a problem sneaking by if need be.

When running silent at peri depth I am seldom detected early in the war. So not running silent or thinking you are running silent but moving at to fast a speed to be silent would be my guess.


And yes, welcome!

[Heibges]

Good God, Magnum!

Stay out of the English Channel. :D

[rogerbo]

Stay as close to the NL, FR, Coast line as you can. Just be carefull in calais as there could be Minefilds (depending of Mod's installed )
else you should pass that area in the night, there are normaly Elcos, Trwalers and a few DD's, the Elcos wont harm you when you are submerged as they can't see you and have no ASDIC either.
Trawlers are slow so when you think you got detected by one you can out run it when surfaced.
The only Danger comes from the DD's so if you get a contact on your map observe his movings and plan your actions so that you pass him in his back where he is Blind.

Check always the Distance of the contacts, aslong you don't see any suspicious movement from them keep your speed up, as soon a DD makes a fast turn in your direction, engage silent running and slow speed and make a course change (will bring down your spee fast ) and keep an eye on the contact when he slows down then he's listening which means he has lost the direct contact to you so keep low profile till he makes a new move. Most Important how ever is to keep your Peri DOWN don't even try to look at the sun until your in save waters again

[Ducimus]

Hi,

I'm brand new at this and I'm having a real problem with it. My 3rd or 4th mission sends me to a plot that's south of Ireland. I can't make it through the English channel without getting sunk. It's early 1940. I'm as cautious as can be sometimes sitting on the bottom dead still trying to wait out the English but they eventually find me. If I move dead slow, they just find me sooner. There can be as many as 10 ships on my map at a time.
Am I supposed to go all the way around the other way? What can I do to make it through in one piece? The game has stopped being fun cause I can't avoid getting DC'ed to death. Any suggestions besides playing something else?

Thanks,

Bob


- Avoid going through the English channel. The water is too shallow, the channel is too well guarded.

- Lying on the bottom doesn't help much in this game. Espeically if a destroyer already has detected you. The only time laying on the bottom might help is when they don't know where you are to begin with.


- Moving at a dead slow helps, silent running defniatly helps. Remember, how much noise your making depends on how many RPM's your motors are turning. and how well the enemy can hear you, depends on how calm the seas are. If the seas are glass calm, and your trying to go through the english channel, the odds are greatly against you.

- Going the other way around would be a good idea. At 1940, you own the night, and the odds are in your favor. Stay submerged by day to save fuel, surface at night.

[its a viic]

If you have to or feel you want to go thru the channel try hugging the coastline as close as you can. Be careful though that you dont get to close because if you try to speed up the time compression it will only stay at 1x speed. I usually hug the coastline going through Gibraltar also and have never had a problem. Remember though it is early in the war for ya but later on it does get harder. Hit the z key for silent running when unfriendlies are near! Dont give up on the game... it really is fun when you get the hang of it. :up:

[Skubber]

I don't get killed in the channel, but I still get killed just about everywhere else! :D

All part of the challenge.

[Keelbuster]

I've developed a strategy for getting through the channel, at least in the early war. You want to be heading into the area in late evening. Go flank - maximum speed. Approach the channel towards the south edge. When you cross the narrows, you want to hug the south edge - scrape your side wall on the port at Calais - I go within easy visual range of the buildings there. Every time you see a warship, keep going. Keep an eye on him. If he gets < 6km, go under and wait for him to pass. As soon as he's back out at 7 or 8km, surface at flank again. Go in a straight line - DO NOT GET DETECTED.

Speed is everything. You can't run at PD anyway because of the mines. Remember to keep your eyes open for PT boats - they don't have smokestacks and can sneak up on you. Keep yer best watchmen on duty, and use your own eyes - no time compression. YOu only need to get through the narrows at flank, and then you're relatively safe. Most of the patrol ships linger in the northeast part of the narrows. Once you are into the channel proper, things aren't so bad - lone destroyers, aircraft patrols, but none of the gang-tactics that hold in the narrows (unless you make the mistake of attacking a port).

A similar strategy works for Gibraltar, but it is way less successful.

Kb

[SeaSpectre]

. . . DO NOT GET DETECTED.

This just made me think of Al Pacino's line in "The Recruit":

"Rule Number One: DO...NOT...GET...CAUGHT."

:smug:

[Seminole]

I can't make it through the English channel without getting sunk.


:lol: :roll: :lol: :lol: .....man....now that one is pricless and ought to become a classic.....sorta like saying "I can't drink a gallon of whiskey without getting all drunk". :up:


Hey...put those 2 lines together and you have the start of either a poem, a limrick....or a salty sea ditty....

[nedwreck]

I will continue to try making it through the channel but I will pay better attention to my crew. I figure if I can sneak through the channel on a regular basis, I'll stand a better chance elsewhere.
The hints you guys gave me were all good ones, I'll give them a try.

Thanks,

Bob

[andrSub]

Like someone said before, stay near the coast. Actually, I don't have problems with that. I stay surfaced until a "ship spotted comes up.

Then I turn perpundicular to the boat and fire a torpedo.
perpundicular makes it quieter. say, are you using high realism settings? if you're a newbie, don't. I 'm still one (kinda), and I'm only on 50%.

By the way, if you are being chased up your butt by a destoyer,when getting the solution, click manual input and shorten the range. If you don't , it will pass right under. it's a 'red october' move.