[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Mau

In fact which one (s) is (are) absolutely necessary,

None. GWX3 gives you everything you need for a truly enjoyable sub-simming experience, as do NYGM and WAC.

very nice to have, and nice to have

Aye, there's the rub. There are many mods that give that little something extra. Choosing which ones are 'very nice' and which ones are just 'nice'

The best I can offer is a list of the mods I use, and an explanation of why:

GWX 3.0

GWX 3.0 16km Atmosphere
-doubles the visual range

(GWX 3.0 Enhanced Damage Effects) Too much for my card, so as much as I'd like to I can't use it

GWX 3.0 Open Hatch
-opens the radio room hatch in Type VII and Type IX u-boats

GWX 3 St Naz and Schluese and other units
-fixes parts of the St. Nazaire port and adds some extra ships

Assisted Plotting Mod
-removes all ship markings from the attack map except the ones you actually lock onto - much more realistic in my opinion

Clean Nav Map
-removes the moon and nomograph from the Navigation Map, leaving it empty, i.e. 'clean'

Community Units
-adds some extra ships to the rosters

Das Boot Clothes
-dresses the officers and POs in civilian clothes, modeled on the ones seen in the movie

Das Boot Officers - AIL
-replaces the officer icons with pictures of the movie actors

Das Boot Sound Mod
-replaces many of the sound files with voices from the movie

Eagle Tower
-places the early-war eagle on the front of the conning tower

English-To-German Names - Phoenix3000
-changes the in-game guage labels to German

Historically Accurate U-Boat Emblems - Conus
-a collection of extra emblem choices for the conning tower

Kiel Canal Locks Mod - Trainer/Nautilus 42
-adds the locks to both ends of the Canal

Lifeboats & Debris - Rubini
-when a ship sinks it now generates lifeboats and debris

Modified Searchlight Beams - OLC
-a small but significant mod changing the way the searchlight beams look

New Freecam Mod - Asanovic7
-lets you walk around the bridge and interior without hitting any special keys

New Compass Graphics U-505 - Hitman
-makes the GWX/Big Dials compass look like the real one

No Rank Or Medals On Crew - Dertien
-removes the rank insignia and medals from all crew members - essential if using Das Boot Clothes

Port People - Pascal
-changes the way the dockside workers look - adds pretty print dresses to the nurses

RB Exhaust Smoke For Water Streams - Philipp Thomsen
-adds RacerBoy's exhaust smoke to Rubini's Water Streams mod

Remove GWX Compass - ichso
-a text-file change that takes away the big compass - I like the compass but it interferes with the 6-Dials mod

Remove Station Labels
-takes away the upper-left-hand lables that tell you what station you're at

Rowers For Lifeboats - Privateer
-adds animated rowers to the lifeboats mod

Seabed Repair Mod
-lets you sit on the bottom without taking damage

SH3 Contacts - Nicolás
-lets you adjust how many contacts get reported in the game

Simfeeling 6-Dials Mod - FLB_Sale U-999
-removes all GUI from the screen, making them pop-ups, and replaces the main function guages with GREAT BIG ONES!

Small Moon Mod - AIL
-changes the moon to a much more realistic size, and uses actual photographs of the moon for a very real feel

Type IIb AI Camo - Sean (changed to IIA)
-just a camoflage skin I like to use for my Type II - there are many skins out there

Type VIIb Early War Skin
-a dark grey skin I like

Water Streams - Rubini
-makes water pour out of the limber holes of the u-boat - very immersive

Ultimate Aircraft Sounds
-the best sounds for the planes that I have heard

As well I still have SH Commander version 2.7. The way I understand to get 3.2 I need to rollback and then delete it completely before installing 3.2. Can this SH Commander be installed at the very end (after fresh SH3, patch 1.4b and 3.0 Gold).

SH3 Commander is an external tool, and independent of any mod. It can be installed before or after GWX. Just be sure to install the Commander files that come with GWX, or it won't work properly.

I guess I can find the 1.4b a bit everywhere.

If your SH3 is an old copy, yes install 1.4b before any mods. If it's a new copy it came already patched.