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groomsie · 01-19-09, 12:11 PM

Well, I'll say right off the bat I for whatever reason felt crew management was better with v1.4 than it is with v1.5 (U-Boat Add-on). I think this is because the promotion logic is a bit different (harder to "grow your own") and there is less diversity in the crew available to bring in.

For example, your XO has 5 patrols and you decide to rotate him out. Well, unless you have a JO ready to assume the XO role you will find you can't go out and bring on a new XO (LTjg or LT)--they just are not there. You will have to grow your own replacement, and with the time that takes you'll need to hold officers onboard a long time to take a kid from ENS to LT (or a senior LTjg). Similarly, there is little available for POs and ratings (although more than officers). Plus, any officer you bring onboard with v1.5 seems to cost a significant amount of renown, whereas in v1.4 you could bring on that "wet-behind-the-ears" ENS fresh out of submarine school and with no special abilities for no cost in renown. That kid just isn't available in v1.5.

So, what I currently do is this to *try* to hold to a semblance of reality without spending all my game-time tracking crew:

I tend to keep 6-7 officers (a realistic number), with no more than 2 LTs. Once I have an LT ready to assume XO role, I'll rotate off the current XO no matter what. So, maximum of 1 officer rotate off per patrol (takes time to "grow" them), but I try to send 1 away pretty much every time unless I'm tending too "light". If I'm sending 1 off I try to be "random", by looking at the last digit of the "leadership" value of the top person available on shore (ie: an Ensign with leadership of 109 would lead me to count along my officers until I reach "9", going back to start if I reach the end, so for 7 officers I'd end up with the 2nd officer in my onboard list selected to rotate if I do it random).
Chiefs I treat pretty much the same, I'll look at what I have, and keep no more than 2 master chiefs. I may elect to rotate none if I'm tending toward a goat locker full of young chiefs--try to hold 1 master or senior-senior chief to play COB...
Right on down the line for my 1st classes, 2nd classes, 3rd classes, but this time don't sweat their experience or numbers, if I have 6 1st classes and my method says rotate 3 (very unlikely) I do it. Do same with seamen as well.
I have started to limit losses to 25% of any given compartment as well, although I lump TMs together as they could be shifted fore and aft as needed.
Once rotations out are done, I dole out medals and promotions, set up my watches / compartments, and then begin selecting new crew. Given the limited selection, I do permit myself to close out the game and reopen (after a save) to provide a bit more crew selection. I do not allow myself to bring back crew that has just rotated off, although I'm considering allowing myself 1 (I'd have to pay the renown, essentially to retain him).
This method tends to leave me with a crew that has a lot of non-rated seamen (more than historical, say) but overall I think pretty decent but no way are they supermen.

The result is around a 10-20% rotation which is a bit lighter than historical but better than nothing. To get my random numbers I just use last digit of leadership value as I move down the roster of avaiable crew...it works for me. I guess whatever you do is better than nothing, and you need to work within the constraints of the game without losing sight that this is "Silent Hunter" and not "Silent Crew-Manager". G/L and good hunting!

01-19-09, 12:11 PM	#5
groomsie Electrician's Mate Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Stoughton, WI Posts: 140 Downloads: 50 Uploads: 0	Well, I'll say right off the bat I for whatever reason felt crew management was better with v1.4 than it is with v1.5 (U-Boat Add-on). I think this is because the promotion logic is a bit different (harder to "grow your own") and there is less diversity in the crew available to bring in. For example, your XO has 5 patrols and you decide to rotate him out. Well, unless you have a JO ready to assume the XO role you will find you can't go out and bring on a new XO (LTjg or LT)--they just are not there. You will have to grow your own replacement, and with the time that takes you'll need to hold officers onboard a long time to take a kid from ENS to LT (or a senior LTjg). Similarly, there is little available for POs and ratings (although more than officers). Plus, any officer you bring onboard with v1.5 seems to cost a significant amount of renown, whereas in v1.4 you could bring on that "wet-behind-the-ears" ENS fresh out of submarine school and with no special abilities for no cost in renown. That kid just isn't available in v1.5. So, what I currently do is this to try to hold to a semblance of reality without spending all my game-time tracking crew: I tend to keep 6-7 officers (a realistic number), with no more than 2 LTs. Once I have an LT ready to assume XO role, I'll rotate off the current XO no matter what. So, maximum of 1 officer rotate off per patrol (takes time to "grow" them), but I try to send 1 away pretty much every time unless I'm tending too "light". If I'm sending 1 off I try to be "random", by looking at the last digit of the "leadership" value of the top person available on shore (ie: an Ensign with leadership of 109 would lead me to count along my officers until I reach "9", going back to start if I reach the end, so for 7 officers I'd end up with the 2nd officer in my onboard list selected to rotate if I do it random). Chiefs I treat pretty much the same, I'll look at what I have, and keep no more than 2 master chiefs. I may elect to rotate none if I'm tending toward a goat locker full of young chiefs--try to hold 1 master or senior-senior chief to play COB... Right on down the line for my 1st classes, 2nd classes, 3rd classes, but this time don't sweat their experience or numbers, if I have 6 1st classes and my method says rotate 3 (very unlikely) I do it. Do same with seamen as well. I have started to limit losses to 25% of any given compartment as well, although I lump TMs together as they could be shifted fore and aft as needed. Once rotations out are done, I dole out medals and promotions, set up my watches / compartments, and then begin selecting new crew. Given the limited selection, I do permit myself to close out the game and reopen (after a save) to provide a bit more crew selection. I do not allow myself to bring back crew that has just rotated off, although I'm considering allowing myself 1 (I'd have to pay the renown, essentially to retain him). This method tends to leave me with a crew that has a lot of non-rated seamen (more than historical, say) but overall I think pretty decent but no way are they supermen. The result is around a 10-20% rotation which is a bit lighter than historical but better than nothing. To get my random numbers I just use last digit of leadership value as I move down the roster of avaiable crew...it works for me. I guess whatever you do is better than nothing, and you need to work within the constraints of the game without losing sight that this is "Silent Hunter" and not "Silent Crew-Manager". G/L and good hunting!