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RoaldLarsen · 02-26-09, 03:40 PM

What constitutes an appropriate tonnage total depends on a number of factors:

The realism level you are playing at
The type of boat you have and what equipment it has
Where your patrol area is
What year you are in

The more torpedos you have, the more damage you can do, so I tend to think in terms of tonnage per torpedo. If you get assigned to patrol an area with a lot of traffic (or you're directed through one) , you should do better than if you get sent to a backwater.

I play with 100% realism settings, so manual targetting, no map updates, no external camera. I don't run on the surface at a TC setting of more than 32 in areas patrolled by enemy aircraft. When submerged outside of my patrol area, I will often run at TC 1024. The reduction in hydrophone contacts compensates for the fact that there are too many ships in the game. I am beginning to wonder if there are also too many aircraft.

In 1939 to 1941, I figure I am doing well if I get 3,500 tons per torpedo. In 1942 that's down to 2,500 tons per torpedo. From 1943 onwards, I figure I am doing well if I return alive.

That's doing well. Most of my early careers averaged about 2,000 tons per torpedo. (My top career score per torpedo was in a Type IIA with 2,511 tons per torpedo.) It drops a couple hundred per year as allied ASW outpaces u-boat advances. My 1939 and 1940 scores might be higher now if I went back and started some careers at the beginning of the war, but I am playing through, from start to end.

Most of my early careers survived to retirement. In 1943 the opposite is true. In 1939-40 I started 10 careers, lost three subs, and retired 4 commanders, The other 3 also survived to retire later. In 1943 I started 8 careers, lost 5 subs (all to aircraft, I think) and retired only 2.

In 1943, IF I can get to a patrol area, I can usually still manage to sink > 2,500 tons per torpedo. But all the trips where I have to turn back because of damage or malfunction, or those trips which I don't survive, really cut into the average. I've only had three patrols in 1943 (out of about 20) where I returned with my hull undamaged. Once was because I turned around less than one day out because of engine trouble, once I lost a diesel to aircraft, without damaging the hull, and once I was just lucky I guess.

Almost all the damage is from aircraft. Other than losing subs going through the Strait of Gibralter, I don't think I have lost a sub to surface ships since August of 1940, and that was a maniac who did a harbour raid each patrol.

02-26-09, 03:40 PM	#9
RoaldLarsen Weps Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Control Room Posts: 355 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	What constitutes an appropriate tonnage total depends on a number of factors: The realism level you are playing at The type of boat you have and what equipment it has Where your patrol area is What year you are in The more torpedos you have, the more damage you can do, so I tend to think in terms of tonnage per torpedo. If you get assigned to patrol an area with a lot of traffic (or you're directed through one) , you should do better than if you get sent to a backwater. I play with 100% realism settings, so manual targetting, no map updates, no external camera. I don't run on the surface at a TC setting of more than 32 in areas patrolled by enemy aircraft. When submerged outside of my patrol area, I will often run at TC 1024. The reduction in hydrophone contacts compensates for the fact that there are too many ships in the game. I am beginning to wonder if there are also too many aircraft. In 1939 to 1941, I figure I am doing well if I get 3,500 tons per torpedo. In 1942 that's down to 2,500 tons per torpedo. From 1943 onwards, I figure I am doing well if I return alive. That's doing well. Most of my early careers averaged about 2,000 tons per torpedo. (My top career score per torpedo was in a Type IIA with 2,511 tons per torpedo.) It drops a couple hundred per year as allied ASW outpaces u-boat advances. My 1939 and 1940 scores might be higher now if I went back and started some careers at the beginning of the war, but I am playing through, from start to end. Most of my early careers survived to retirement. In 1943 the opposite is true. In 1939-40 I started 10 careers, lost three subs, and retired 4 commanders, The other 3 also survived to retire later. In 1943 I started 8 careers, lost 5 subs (all to aircraft, I think) and retired only 2. In 1943, IF I can get to a patrol area, I can usually still manage to sink > 2,500 tons per torpedo. But all the trips where I have to turn back because of damage or malfunction, or those trips which I don't survive, really cut into the average. I've only had three patrols in 1943 (out of about 20) where I returned with my hull undamaged. Once was because I turned around less than one day out because of engine trouble, once I lost a diesel to aircraft, without damaging the hull, and once I was just lucky I guess. Almost all the damage is from aircraft. Other than losing subs going through the Strait of Gibralter, I don't think I have lost a sub to surface ships since August of 1940, and that was a maniac who did a harbour raid each patrol. __________________ 100% realism, DiD Harbor Traffic 1.47(incl. RUB) Using SH3 Commander to implement many custom realism tweaks Covered 1939-1945; now restarting in 1939 again. Completed 39 careers, 210 war patrols, 4.7Mt sunk, 19 subs lost Last edited by RoaldLarsen; 02-26-09 at 03:58 PM.