Originally Posted by frau kaleun (Post 1630111)

The sub's heading is absolute, meaning it refers to the points on the compass where 0/360 degrees is due north and 180 is due south.

But another ship's reported bearing is relative to your own position, and has nothing to do with the points of the compass. It refers to the contact's position off the sub's bow where the sub's bow is pointing towards 0/360 degrees on a circle drawn with yourself at the center and without regard to anything else.

360 minus 301 = 59, so a contact bearing 301 is 59 degrees to port of your own bow, regardless of whether that means it's to the north, west, south or east of you on the map.

Kind of like when a fighter pilot says "bogey at three o'clock" - he means there's another plane directly off to the right, his own heading being 12 o'clock and everything else being relative to that. He's not worried about whether that means it's to the east or south or whatever. He's only talking about where it is in relation to his own position.

Originally Posted by King_Zog (Post 1630250)

When I started plotting and manual TDC I found these youtube vids by Dentonac really helpful. His game sound obscures the commentary at the beginning but stick with it cos it is really very simple and you can hear him once he flicks to the map screen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFm-Ymmyd-E

Basically he just shadows the target vessel on the surface and uses his watch officer to call out range and bearing, and then plots the target on the map using the protractor tool and ruler. After three fixes of the targets position he just draws a line through the plots to see the target's current course. If you make a plot every 3mins and 15 seconds then the distance in KM between plots will be relative to the targets current speed in knots. Then it is just a matter of flanking the target and getting into a good and close 90 degrees AOB + 0 gyro angle fire position.

The benefits of shooting from 90 degrees and at a zero gyro angle means that you do not have to work out AOB, and the range to target is irrelevant, so all you need is speed, which at close range can be a little off and you'll still usually hit.

It is a very good and easy method for beginners that some people call fast 90, it helps to get this down before you start using more complicated techniques.

However this method does have its downsides as it does require you to take time to get into a good position, and shadowing the target with this method also takes longer then it has to. But once you are comfortable with it try revisiting the OLC tutorial vids and using the AOB wheel and attack disc, then you can work on firing from any AOB, longer ranges and at much wider gyro angles, which is the way forward as then you don't have to worry about getting in to a perfect position as in fast 90.

Good Luck!

PS, I found learning to plot and manual TDC pretty confusing at first but just have some patience and you'll soon get the hang of it. And with shooting just remember that the TDC does all the work for you, you just have to use the right pistol and feed it with accurate data. Making your own training mission with the level editor can help, I liked to use the convoy attack mission from the academy with all the escorts removed and some stationary targets thrown in aswell.

Hope this helps...

Originally Posted by Chubster (Post 1630799)

U-45 has just set sail from Saltzwedel...so if you see a grey tub just sitting in the North Sea watching Brit ships go by...its OK, its just a test of nerves for my green crew :hmmm::hmmm:

Originally Posted by Chubster (Post 1630799)

EDIT...HAHAHA Thats if I ever get there that is....I am being told to patrol grid BF10...I cant find a BLEEDING BF10, I can see 11 - 19, 21 -29etc where are all the "0's" :doh::06:

Originally Posted by Chubster (Post 1631758)

When you get a radio message saying something like sss 45.29 north 09.45w are these just candy so to speak ?