Changing my play style for survival
 

By being LESS aggressive...

GWX can be a killer, one bad move and your starting a new commander in SH3 Commander. My last three commanders didn't make it out of 1939, so I am changing some tactics...

1. If it is shallow water and escorted, unless you have a ideal shot, just radio it into command and shadow it to see if it exits shallow water. Angry escort + Shallow water = Death

2. Don't be a cowboy, so no more sneaking into Loch Ewe to try to sink HMS Hood.

3. Aircraft are the bane of your existence, enjoy the empty 1939 skys as much as you can.

4. If your sneaking up to a ship, seemily undetected, and you hear charges go off while you have to scope up, say hello to the RN air wing or the RAF.

5. if you find a ship sailing by itself, hang around, many times you will find a shipping lane and make a death zone.

6. Three ships and 9000 tons might not seem alot, but its not bad for early in the war when you don't have convoys to poach, and it is better to sink a few ships and get home then go for great sinking, only to get deep sixed.

So far, Hans Friedrich who followed this philosophy has with two war patrols (and a pre-war shakedown patrol) sunk nine ships for 30,000 tons, not spectacular, but he is bringing his boys home and his crew is getting better trained by the day. (Now if SH3 commander would just transfer out my non-qualified crew and not my new guy who just came out of repair school, it would be appreciated!

Look at this link if they can give you any help,
 

:yep:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=173753

Sounds like you're starting to think less like a gamer and more like a kaleun. Good for you! :rock:

The makings of a good Captain...
:salute:

Good Hunting...

Your starting to think like a real Kaleun now. When you start weighing the risk verses the reward, you gain a deeper understanding of what the real Kaleun's went through.

:up:Thanks, I'm going to give that a try.

It's much better than "not bad". Historically, only a very small group of sub commanders in WWII - from all of the navies involved - ever managed to average 9000t per patrol. Any one who could was an ace.

Unless a target is worth vastly more than your sub, nothing justifies unnecessarily risking the boat, and especially the crew. What you've said all sounds like good judgment to me.


Here are some other things things I've tried:

If I encounter a convoy with all the escorts up front, then I know that they'll be deaf once they've passed me, and I've got at least until the first torp. hits (and up to 20 seconds more) to use flank speed, before they can turn themselves around enough to hear me.

I use slow speed torps on escorted merchants if possible - gives me even more time to clear the firing point.

If I have to turn after firing, I try to use as little rudder as possible. Full rudder (the default) will keep me at the firing point until the boat finishes its turn.

Good tip, I'll give that a shot.

As already said, bringing home a healthy sub and crew is almost foremost; sinking tonnage is the priority, but getting your crew killed in the process does not further the war effort, unless it is a spectacular target. For example, Prien did not think he would escape from Scapa Flow, but BdU was willing to sacrifice one sub for such a coup. His escape was a bonus and he actually got to see his Knight's Cross rather than have his widow pick it up for him.

At a certain point in the war it was a death sentence to go to sea. The Allies had become that good. With a heavy heart, Doenitz ordered his boats to tackle the Channel during Overlord. He knew the chances were slim, but sinking one ship could prevent much materiel from getting ashore and facing the Wehrmacht.

Your starting to behave and think realistically IMHO http://www.psionguild.org/forums/ima...ies/pirate.gif

As for no 5, you need to hang around for say, 4 days to a week, and follow the axis that shipping would take (For example, off Portugal they will be heading north-south between the med and Britian.) saw six ships in two weeks, all without excorts. Sadly, half where no-go (Greek Flagged shipping in 1939). :x

All of that becomes more important as the war progresses. Wait 'til you get to '43 and later when sinking one or two ships and bringing your boat and crew home is a major victory. Survival is the victory then.

:)

Amen to that!:yep:

I just barely made it back from my fifth career patrol. In an earlier attack I got caught on the surface by guns from merchantmen in a convoy. As the weather was murky I was hoping to make a surface attack, fire my torpedoes and then skedaddle the same way. Didn't work out and I got my hull knocked down to about 70%. With my last two torpedoes I again attacked a second convoy that I had earlier attacked without damage. Just two torpedoes left and I was crazy enough to risk it. Got knocked to about 50% and had to dive to over 100 metres to avoid the DC's of the angry escorts after I bagged one more ship from their convoy. Eventually we got down to 111 metres and I was terrified that the hull would give way. We made it back to Lorient and I expect we'll be having an extended shore leave as U-32 is rehabilitated. I think now would be a good time to apply for that IX that I have been coveting.

Precisely http://www.psionguild.org/forums/ima...ies/pirate.gif

My first career is still in mid '41, but I am noticing the increased effectiveness of the allies. This career I am loading my game, and playing to learn. I play with 90% or so realism and sometimes get 100k or more in tonnage sunk in a patrol, but it's partly because I can load. Prior to this thread I had made up my mind to play in a more realistic fashion for my next campaign. No loading, except when I take a break or it crashes. This will definitely result in this sort of thinking. I look forward to it once I've honed my skills in this campaign!