Whats the point?
 

Okay new career in GWX 3.0. Its August 1st and I am assighned a patrol route south east of England. Getting there is easy breezy cause nowbodys at war! So I do my route and head back killing several hours and scaring my crew with depth checks (Got 220 this time! To scared to go deeper as stuff started popping and spraying!)

So whats the point of starting 30 days before anybody starts shooting!?:ahoy:

To take a nice stroll through future enemies' harbours, sightseeing, spying, excitement! Whenever you end your patrol, the game will change the date to August 30th or so, giving you a bit of time to get in position for the start of aggresions.

Run a 5 day shakedown cruise
Dock
Next patrol start arounf 24\25th August gives you time to be on station before war starts
Historicaly some boats left the 19th others a lil later

I just tool around and sightsee, and pretend I'm getting the crew comfortable with submarines. I guess there's not much point in the latter seeing as how most of your crew already begin with 3-5 patrols under their belt. :lol:

I take it as a literal shakedown cruise. New boat that none of the semi-experienced crew have been on before. As part of those duties, maneuver at various depths, change course/speed, do a couple crash dives to test all systems, and generally give the boat a fair test. Spend some time at full stop, doing 'Crazy Ivans' so the sonar man (and you) can get used to listening for sound contacts.

When back at port after 5-6 days, your chief and you would prepare a full report detailing suggestions for improvements and give it to the engineers.

That's just my take on it.

shakedown, save the 1500 starting renown and get promoted to oberleutnant before starting the war for real.

i love the extra month :)

Shakedown is useful for practicing manuevers, timing emergency dives, and getting to know the boat and crew..
Also, I had read that if you modify your crew or install new equipment before the first patrol, the renown you earn (for the 1st patrol) might not be credited for you. It's a stock SH3 bug. So this is what I use that month for, and if I start later war my first patrol is spent as a short shakedown..

^^ is another valid reason for a shakedown patrol
Not everyone falls victim to this bug but a real bummer when you come back from a highly succesfull patrol not to get your renown

good thinking on the part of the GWX crew
 

I must admit at first I didn't like this feature. But I've used it as a chance for a shakedown cruise, too. You don't get any renown, but you get to award another qualification and your crew has the experience of "one patrol" under their belt.

I like it! :up:

Basically use it to fullfil the "Rules of the 6 P's"

Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance!

Agreed.

And you can make those changes by upgrading sonar etc before you embark on a combat patrol.

oh - silverleaf

did you catch the fiesta bowl?

too bad about your Buckeyes my friend... :lol: i thought they might have beat texas early

To get the feel of a U-boat skipper at sea at the height of war tension and then to get the War Order #1. Sounds good here :yep:

The reason it came about? Because many of us grew tired of starting exactly on the first day of the war, and having to hustle and sneak at the same time to get to the North Atlantic before the fun started on the 3rd.

The reason you have to start on the 1st as opposed to, say, the 19th? Because SH3 only lets you start at the first of the month. The stock game only lets you start at the 1st of September 1939. After that it's the first of each year, or nothing at all.

The point of waiting a whole month before the shooting starts? You don't. Either do as suggested and make a short patrol, then you'll be starting the next one just before the war begins, or use SH3 Commander and start your career September 1st just like before.

Me, I like sightseeing.:sunny:

Yeah, seem though, I didn't know it was August and Started hunting ships around my patrol area.....:huh: well, who can blame me when I just got back into the game? After my 24 hour patrol area have ended, going home sinking ship along the way, when I finally reach Kiel, I noticed the date, it's August 19th! I was like WTH! It's suppose to be September 1st! Thought it was a bug in the game.

I also like to treat the first cruise as training: shadow merchant ships and make mock attacks by maneuvering into position and tracking them through the periscope. It creates a little frustration at being kept on the leash. Then, when the war starts and you are allowed to open those bowcaps - adrenalin!