| Andrimner |
11-12-08 06:42 PM |
Bumping into capitals - GWX
I've recently installed GWX, and I'm just running my 4th patrol in a type VII, December 1939. Now, I almost never encounter capital ships on patrols, but this patrol has really been a blast. Started out slow, with only a small merchant the first week, but then I literally bumped into a convoy just south of Ireland. Visibility was down to 300 metres, and I almost ran into an intermediate tanker. With visibility this poor and range down to 300 metres, I simply lead the target manually and sent an eel at her. It was at this stage I realised this was a convoy, as another ship came up behind the now sinking tanker. I managed to sink this ship as well with my remaining 3 eels, before a destroyer showed up and forced me to dive. Managed to escape, and plotted a new intercept course.
Managed to intercept again, and by the 2nd run weather had improved considerably. Still night, but the fog is gone along with the rain, so visibility is improved. I manage to slip inside the convoy on the surface, and start to assess the different ships. Turns out the convoy is loaded with large tankers! As I'm getting more and more annoyed at myself for using 4 eels to sink the two smallest ships in the convoy, a particularly large ship start to appear in the middle of the convoy. I swerve the UZO around to take a look at it. The telltale shape of the ship leaves no doubt - there is a Nelson class BB in the middle of the convoy, and I'm perfectly set up for an attack! I decide to skip calculations, as the convoy isn't going very fast, and launch 4 eels from about 1300 metres before quickly diving. 1 premature, but the rest find their marks, and down goes the BB! (Turns out it was in fact HMS Rodney.)
I manage a third run, and use my last eels to take down a large tanker. All out of eels, I'm now on my merry way back to Wilhelmshaven. The weather is deteriorating as I'm passing north of Scotland, and visibility suffers. All of a sudden, just north of Lerwick my WO calls out Ship Spotted, 184 degrees, short range! I pray it's not a destroyer and rush up to the bridge to check it out. There, almost directly behind my boat, no more than 300 metres away, heading almost directly for my boat, is a BB, looking alot like a King George V class! I crash dive, and by a stroke of luck manages to escape. As we speak, I'm still being hunted by her escorts, who obviously caught a glimpse of me just as I dove away! 4 patrols into my new career, and I've already seen more BBs than I've seen in all my other careers so far! Such a pity I'm all out of eels, with another BB cruising over my head.
Having a great time with GWX so far, so great job done on that one! Just a few comments. I'm running GWX 2.1, and I notice the "Small Freighter" is listed with a mast height of 39,3 metres(!) in the recognition manual, even though the chart shows the masts can't be higher than 20 metres. Not a big problem, I just use another ship type to identify it with, but obviously this messes up range calculations. Anyone else seen this?
Also, any way to get rid of the massive explosions that occur when a ship goes down? I always found it sort of strange to see a ship listing in the water for 2 hours before finally flooding over, and then suddenly exploding in a huge fireball right before sinking - even though there never were any fires on the deck...
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