sh3 near the end

[The Old Man]

I got maybe to the middle of 1943 before I let sh3 start collecting dust due to starforce. I was wondering though what it was like in sh3 near the end of the war? Aces of the deep near the end you would be real lucky if you survived if you played 100 percent & didn't accept the type 21. The hunter killers would hunt you down & the planes were a royal pain in the arsh. After 3 patrols in middle 1944 I sank one ship I stayed submerge as much as possible till a hunter killer groupe finshe my career.
One thing About Aces of the deep it had the real feel of the war just not the graphips of sh3.
Roy

[Jimbuna]

Only ever finished the war in stock game...and nothing other than a message 'appeared' whilst in patrol log...dunno bout any of the mods...perhaps somebody will post a response soon :up:

[TarJak]

Once you get to 1944, things really start to get hairy even in a Type XXI. DD's seemingly appear from nowhere and chase like mad. Expecially nasty are the hedgehog equipped hunters. And planes, don;t talk to me about planes. I recall one patrol where I got caught on the surface by 6 Sunderlands who proceeded to bomb my boot into oblivion despite me shooting two down before the got me.

I've managed to take only one career to the end of the war in '45 and most end within 3 or 4 patrols.:cry: Or maybe I'm just not careful enough.

[HunterICX]

especialy those darn Convoys are hard in late war.

the DDs grabbed you by the ass even before you get the chance to get close.

and when you notice them to late they Hedgehog you, ram and directly DC you and believe me ..... thats a real kick in the nuts for you.

[Safe-Keeper]

You can't even approach the convoys. Suddenly it's like "Detecting radar signals" and three destroyers bearing down on you.

But what the Heck, I play dead-is-dead and rarely survive for more than five or six patrols. My personal record is Sept. '39 to December '41 - slightly more than 20 patrols. Big fun.

[Skubber]

I have just reached October 1944 in my current patrol.

- The air attacks were quite difficult for awhile until my u-boat was equipped with a snorkel.

- With GW, my U-boat twice had to fight off air attacks while entering/leaving the base at Lorient! (Somehow I thought to man the flak guns when I got the "aircraft spotted" signal. Didn't know they were enemies – but hypercaution is why you survive. Still, I was pretty damn surprised when they started dive bombing us!)

It was very exciting to see the whole harbor open up with anti-aircraft fire. But I tell you, I've never made it into the sub pen that fast!

- Enemy radar range gets better and better. It can be really hard to flank a convoy when radar picks you up at 15-20 kms.

- The only time my sub has been badly damaged this career was from hedgehogs. Probably those should have killed us.

- Hunter-killer groups. Lots of destroyers patrolling around out there.

- Fewer ships. Convoys are bigger, better protected, and harder to find.

On the plus side:

- The snorkel is really great. I wish it would break down now and then in the early going, because my impression is they didn't work so well at first.

- Fun to toy around with ladder-pattern torpedeos and acoutic-guidance torpedoes.
(Sometimes you have to fire torpedoes early, due to convoy escort pressure, and it's nice have your eel hit a ship after a second or third pass.)

- Radar detection. With this you have a chance to avoid the threat from the skies. Also, it can help you pick up targets. I have had instances where radar detection identifies the enemy before he identifies me. I have no idea if this is historically accurate, though.

- There is a certain "last man standing" quality that I like in the late game. Your comrades are being sunk in droves. The war effort at home is collapsing. The bases in Lorient and Brest are no longer operational. Your enemy is smarter and is getting better and better technology. Your only advantage is your experience, your wits, and your determination to save your crew from certain death.

[Burzum]

great post mate! :up:

[Biggles]

Nah, what I can remember I didn't think it was to hard in 44-45. Now I am playing at 0% realism, but still.....

During the last months of the war I mostly ignored the orders and fooled around in the baltic, I didn't get punished and I sank a lot of ships there, mostly Russians, and to my suprise, a coupple of Polish merchants!!:o

[_Seth_]

Well, after some seriouse upgrades of my sub, i was ready to go to war. But suddenly...."the war ended".....WHAT??? Why dont make a mod where you can depart after the war has ended, and blast all the ships you see out of the water? And maybe be at war with the whole world at the same time?`?????????
Bohaaaa-bohaaaa (evil laughter...):rock:

[Skubber]

I didn't think it was to hard in 44-45. Now I am playing at 0% realism, but still.....


Hmm... :hmm: I wonder if I'm finding it hard because I play at 100% realism. Maybe?

[Sailor Steve]

I didn't think it was to hard in 44-45. Now I am playing at 0% realism, but still.....


Hmm... :hmm: I wonder if I'm finding it hard because I play at 100% realism. Maybe?
Why would anyone want to play at 100%? What are you, some kind of history nut? Want to imagine you're really in a submarine instead of playing a "kill 'em all" game?

Some people. Sheesh!

My kind of guy, actually.:sunny:

[HunterICX]

well actually , the early war times are there so you can sink as many ships to upgrade your sub to the max. so you'll be a little prepared of what has to come after '43

I love the fact that from 43 - 45 the Enemy gets better that you try your best when under attack to survive.

dont you love the feeling of beeing in the commander room when you hear the freaky Asdic hitting ur sub, and then its silent you hear the screws and DC getting dropped into the water, you order to evade them but its to late....BOOM!!! german screaming of Ships damaged sir!!! we have flooding sir!!! and when the lights turn on again you go look at the crew management and you're like ow crap...you quikly set the repair crew to the max and as much crew into the compartments that have mayor floodings..
you have to admit , you love the way that goes :sunny:

[The Munster]

@Skubber..how early can you fire off the ladder-pattern torpedoes ? I'm in 44' and decided to try them on my next Patrol.
The other thing is .. have you tried using the snorkel in a storm ? It's not that effective, my [engine] crew keep flippin from electric to diesel compartments then back again.. dunno if you've noticed this ?!

What I have noticed at this stage is a larger presence of enemy aircraft; as soon as I receive an 'aircraft spotted' I just dive as 9 times out of 10 it's a Liberator or the like.

[fredbass]

Well I'm in February of 43 now, so I expect it to get tough fairly soon. I've pretty much upgraded as much as I can to this point and currently have about 5000 renown with my IXC. So what is the best boat for late war? What other upgrades will I see besides the snorkel, torpedoes and boat type?

Oh, one more thing: Which boat do you all prefer for late war?

Thanks. :ping:

[HunterICX]

@Fredbass,

the IXC is a good boat, get it upgraded with some good equipment, its better to have 1 good upgraded submarine then a newer Stock Submarine.

the IXC and VIIC are good boats for late in the war.:up:

[Threadfin]

I've played about 50 careers, and of those maybe 6 have made it in to 1945, and only one has reached the end. I play DiD as well. In the career I finished the war out, there was no message to indicate hostilities had ended. The only sign I had was that all the German-held ports on the map turned to green/neutral.

I happened to be attacking a task force with a couple of battleships. Since I suspected this would be the last patrol of the war, I loaded every slot with acoustics. I fired a salvo, but I guess that all fish missed because when they went into their 'weaving search' mode, they no longer had the speed to catch the fast moving task force after their turn-toward. If not acoustics I'm sure they would have run under.

So in order to get detected, and therefore cause the ships to start weaving and allow my fish to catch up, I put up my snorkel. No reaction. So finally I decided to surface right alongside. I popped up and...nothing :) The war was over. I sailed alongside the King George for a few minutes before a final salute and we headed for the barn, happy to have survived the war for once.

I prefer the type VII with advanced alberich. To me this is the least detectable boat in late war. The XXI can be good to evade submerged once detected, but it's too easy to detect in the first place because of it's size. So a type VII/42 is what I like to use late war.

[bigboywooly]

The other thing is .. have you tried using the snorkel in a storm ? It's not that effective, my [engine] crew keep flippin from electric to diesel compartments then back again.. dunno if you've noticed this ?!


Your engines will switch from one to the other as the rough seas will swamp the snorkel - the boat thinks its underwater so will switch engines
In RL the diesels would keep running but would suck air from within the sub and fill it full of exhaust fumes
And you could only run at about 6 kts or the snorkel would snap

[Jimbuna]

@Fredbass,

the IXC is a good boat, get it upgraded with some good equipment, its better to have 1 good upgraded submarine then a newer Stock Submarine.

the IXC and VIIC are good boats for late in the war.:up:

I agree...but my own preferenc is to keep the IXB and upgrade only when 'the mother of all U-boats'...IX-D2 becomes available :D

[CaptainNemo12]

I myself only installed SH3 recently, is it true that Starforce starts acting up during the middle of the war? I've reached 1940 now and so far, I've encountered no problems with Starforce. Anyone care to elaborate?

[Ducimus]

You can't even approach the convoys. Suddenly it's like "Detecting radar signals" and three destroyers bearing down on you.


That's because you can't be on the surface late war. At least, not very much. Im not kidding, i snorkeled from biscay bay all the way down to GR89 and back again. Only surfaced twice the entire patrol. First time was well past freetown in the air cover gap, the second time was about just before entering lorient harbor to finish the patrol. Of course i did that primarly to save fuel, but its not any different elsewhere near europe. If your on the surface, you should be very very nervous. I think once i crash dived at least 20 times exiting biscay bay.

BUt thats late war, 44 onward in a nutshell. Stay down, and torpedo anything that happends to blunder accross your path. Ive tried end around attacks in 44, and it like playing russian roulette.

[Qairyl]

I myself only installed SH3 recently, is it true that Starforce starts acting up during the middle of the war? I've reached 1940 now and so far, I've encountered no problems with Starforce. Anyone care to elaborate?

I've hit mid-November '44 with no problems. Loving my faithful IXC: 21 patrols and counting :up:

-Qairyl

[Hylander_1314]

Lots of acoustic torpedoes, and once you leave the pen and are in open waters, it's a must to run at snorkel depth, until you're out beyond the range of land based planes, then you can surface, since I don't run into too many planes from the CVA's. Also, check your external view at snorkel depth so it's not sticking out of the water too far., Then make a note of where to set your depth manually. If you keep the snorkel head just above the surface, you can usually slip past the air patrols. I know the external view is bogus, but it lets me set the finer depth adjustments until I know where it needs to be for the most efficient depth setting. Stormy conditions, I just run on batteries until it's a must to surface a recharge them.

The acoustic torpedoes will either sink or disable the DD's, and DE's, but you must work fast, and once you launch those eels, you must take her very deep, as the DD's are very fast, but will slow when they are within 2500 meters or so, and the eels catch them. Took out 3 DD's from a HK group, and the rest scattered firing hedgehogs everywhere, but I was already gone from the vacinity, by 3000 meters, and escaped their revenge.

[andy_311]

I always have acoustic torps fitted in my IXD2 from 44 (completed 5 careers with them)but there not always that good the Ge7e's are good but if the DD speeds up beyond 20knts your torp has no chance of catching it.There's been a few times those things nearly blew me out the water.

[mr chris]

Im on my second carear to date have now made it to july of 41 in my new IXC. My furthest yet.
On my first try i died in late 1940, got mashed up badly by 3 DD's off the south west coast of the UK. I have only really started to play the game so much more since the realese of GW.

[Skubber]

@Skubber..how early can you fire off the ladder-pattern torpedoes ?

Do you mean how early in an attack?
I mainly use them as I use my other torps. But I tend to save the ladder torpedoes for longer shots that are more likely to miss.
I also like to use one as the first shot at a convoy, because if it does miss, it can they stray through the whole convoy and maybe hit something.

[Beery]

Just FYI: SH3 Commander allows players to start a career in any month of any year of the war. It also allows you to limit the number of patrols to a realistic number (no real commander ever sailed on more than 16 patrols).