Thanks for the info. I wonder if there's any way of adjusting the 24 hour thing. But I guess it's one of those things that don't need mandating- if we want to do 10 day patrols we'll do them anyway, and if we don't, we won't like them forced on us.

One thing I was thinking about was the turnaround time. This could be adjusted using SH3 Commander so that it changed based on the patrol dates - late war turnaround times could be different than early war ones for example. However, the file that governs this is the same file that governs flotilla-based changes (flotilla U-boat type start dates, etc.). I wonder which is more important?

CCIP makes a good point there. it was food and the living conditions that would generally have determined the length of a patrol as much as fuel or torps.

(The longest patrol was about 220 days if I remember right - out to the Indian ocean. This was with supply vessels, of course.)

I am beginning to think a well thought out 'rule set' may be a fun thing to have around for those that are more into the role-playing side of things.

I'm all for a rule set! If someone comes up with a good one, I'll gladly use it.

Right now I rely on my usual 'randomizer', a coin, to set certain limits for me. Before the mission starts, I draw a bunch of circles on the map around my objective, and determine where and how far I will go, and when. Generally, it results in me spending a couple of weeks in the general patrol area - unless I run into a convoy, which is often the case.

Heh, the only way I found to avoid free-roaming while keeping things interesting is through tossing that coin to determine what to do next...

I use a modified contacts file so nothing appears on the map unless I plot it. I also only respond to that TC when I'm searching for a convoy given by radio from BDU. I see the slowdown as the navigator informing me that we should be close to the convoy's position.

If I know nothing about a reported convoy I just ignore the TC slowdown.

It is really kind of cool to just stumble across a single merchant when you had no idea it was in the area!

Heh, reminds me of that time my crew yelled out "ship spotted" somewhere in grid DQ - a pleasant surprise there, for sure :up: