Favorite First Boat
 

What is your favorite boat to start your career in? I always take a Salmon or Porpoise,and have had very good luck with both. I tend to keep them for some time,even after being offered a new boat,but eventually trade 'em off for a Gato.

I am a bit crazy i allways start with S-Boats:salute:

I typically start from Pearl in a Porpoise.

Gotta start with the dinky little S-Class. It's such a hopeless piece of junk that you can't help but love it.

You also appreciate the luxuries of a Gato or a Balao a lot more if you start out in an S-Class. Stern tubes! Bigger torpedoes! Enough fuel for months! Radar! Even the Porpoise feels like an awesome boat after you've spent a few patrols in an S-Class.

My favorite campaign (running RSRDC) is starting in Manila in 1941 in an S-Class boat. There's nothing quite like encountering the Japanese invasion fleets for the Philippines with something like 20 destroyer escorts and having to face them in your pitiful little S-Class.

That campaign also does a great job of showing how bad things went early in the war for the Allies. Up at Pearl, you're sort of isolated from the early disasters once the fires from December 7 stop burning. Down in the East Indies you have to keep changing bases because the Japanese keep taking over your old base. You start in Manila, then get chased to Java, then get chased down to Perth.

On the bright side, Perth also puts you close to the best hunting grounds that I've found so far in the game.

I tried starting from Pearl in a Porpoise in a few times, but the short number of tubes always frustrated me so much that I almost always ended up starting a new campaign. And since I've almost always started from Pearl, my only other choices were Tambor and Gar, and I've never been much for starting on the top.

Playing RFB 1.4 with NSM4 now, and I've just discovered the love that is the Sargo. It can't field as much bow firepower as a Tambor, but damned if it can't still perform.

I have to have stern tubes:cool: And I always start in Manila/Cavite,you're closer to the action early on,and even when Manila falls,Surabaya is close enough as well. nI've started in a salmon a couple of times,maybe I'll have to give the S-Boat a try.

Running 1.4 RFB+RSRDC

Narwhal. I just love gun duels with random merchants. Who needs torpedoes when you can surface and duke it out with cannon? Now if only I could stick a prize crew on a tanker...

Gotta start out of Manila, sure back then us Filipinos were only stewards, but hey, the more I can bring with me the better. And you're right you are closer to the action. Furthermore, even a few sunken transports in the Linguyan means that much more time that those Bastards on Bataan could hold out. Every little bit helps. And remember the landings start on 22DEC41.
As for the boat type...

i like that little s-18 class

shouldn't the s-41 class have a rear torp.tube? somehow i missed the difference between those two classes.

divedeep and speed is the same of what i can say ...

kr morph

Because of my old habit from my SH1 days of running concurrent careers, I'll do the same in SH4 once I really get underway. I'll have a captain out of each available port in each available type. When one retires or doesn't return, I'll start a new one in his place. I just wish it was like SH3, with the choice of boat being based on the squadron, not the port.

Can't argue with that choice!:D

Love the Sugar boats!:yeah: Nice challenge. I edited the crush depth to make it more realistic, start to take damage around 250 ft now.

Finished my first patrol in a S class. Had to abandon my base at
Cavite. Only sunk a junk with my deck gun.:cry:

Looking forward to the second patrol:up:

Usually a very early Gato.

Gotta love my Growler :) I've come close, but I've never lost her.

The S boats something about them, very limited but a joy to play in the game.