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Hi all,

I'm trying to wrap my head around this thing. I love simming. Mostly, I play flight sims. But I've always had a soft spot in my heart for sub sims.

So, I did the training and I started a campaign on default realism; maybe 32%. My first patrol was with the 1st somethingoranother. Went terrible. I was assigned to patrol North-East England; Scappa Flow maybe. I started at the beginning. I was told to hit war-supporting convoys and warships.

Here's where the trouble started. It takes forever to get anywhere. I was thinking I could just crank it up to 1024 and sail to my area. That doesn't work. :) Once I'm in the area, I start zipping around in a kinda zig-zaggy search pattern thingie. Oh was it ever sucky. All I ever found were Warships and Armed Trawlers. I took a few shots from about 1000 meters on a Trawler doing about 14kts. Total miss. Then he turns towards me and starts acting all big. So I down-periscope and tell my driver to take us down...apparently I'm suposed to know that ordering 25 meters in only 15 meters of water is a bad thing.

Anyway, I died a bad death.

On my second patrol, I ran into the shore less than 100km from base. Maybe my GPS skills need work. Or maybe that dammned driver is just out to get me.

So, here goes:

I'm using 1.4b along with IUB 1.02.

How do you get to your patrol area?

How do you get credit for patrolling?

Where are the ships? Is there a lane map or something, or should I just tinker around till we see/hear something?

When on patrol, what speed do you go?

When on patrol, what compression do you use?

Do you think it's better to go slow and underwater at night and listen rather than trying to see anything?


That's all I can think of for now. Thanks...

Welcome aboard! The case your disc came in should have a fold-up map showing primary convoy lanes and areas of air coverage. Your game files on your computer should contain a bitmap of it too. Staking out a convoy lane doesn't mean you'll automatically run into fat convoys but it does increase the odds of finding one. ;)

I can relate to your pain, having only recently progressed from being a noob submariner simmer (am still learning). There are some great links available which can answer just about any question about the game you'd have. For example -

http://www.communitymanuals.com/shii...itle=Main_Page

But i'll take a punt at answering those queries you've listed:

Pressing F5 brings up the map and you can set waypoints to get to your designated area. Just point and click and your navigator will do the rest (although you control your own speed).

I normally plot them out a bit at a time, so I can erase them quickly and plot to intercept an enemy when I find one.

Spend 24 hours patrolling your designated grid. I don't believe it matters much of it you cover as long as you are in it for the full 24 hours.

Keep a good crew on watch at all times and a sonar operator for when you are submerged. It also helps to check the hydrophone yourself from time to time as you will be able to hear things from further away than your sonar operator can, if you do it yourself manually.

If you want action, you can't go wrong around the coastlines of England and the English channel if you are feeling really game. (Warning, death is a real possibility going through there)

Basically you are restricted by the amount of fuel your sub has. A type IIA for example will generally only allow you to run at slowest speed if you want to get to your destination and back.

More advanced subs have a greater range/more fuel so you can afford to bump up the throttle a bit more. My current sub, a VIIB has enough range for me to be able to run at mid throttle for most of the journey, leaving plenty of fuel for those times I need to go full flank to intercept a ship.

But as for patrolling the designated grid itself, I suppose the faster you go the more of your grid you can cover, but as mentioned above, you can be limited by the amount of fuel you have.

When there's no action, I might bump it up to x256, x512 or sometimes x1024. The game should drop back to x1 speed when a contact is made, although it has been known to not jump back as fast as it's meant to from time to time.

On a clear night you can still pick up contacts visually from quite far away, but the hydrophones will always detect contacts further than you can see.

Having said that, I tend not to submerge just for the sake of it at night. I like having my batteries fully charged for when the time comes that I will really need them - when i'm being hunted.

In response to what you mentioned about running aground - if you run at periscope depth (P on your keyboard) you generally should be able to go just about anywhere without hitting the bottom.

You can also go to your navigator and click on the icon there to check depth below keel. That way you will know exactly how much room under there you have.

I should add that i'm playing on 100% realism, so what I mentioned in terms of range/how much fuel you use might be a bit different, but the principles still apply.

Happy Hunting. :ping:

It is also about patience. Download "German hits 39-45" for the grammophone. It will help a bit of the booredom of patrol. :rotfl:

link:U-Boot.RealSimulation.com.

Good Hunting :up: