I like your post, dcb.
It's what I have been thinking as well.
The "
Happy Times" period will be a misnomer (although "
Happy Times" didn't actually begin until the next summer). For me, considering the first mission ECW (which in OHII is now the second mission) is Sept 1939, it doesn't play well with my logic that the Allies are already full on ready for us. Perhaps if those planes were recon only, and in fewer numbers or less frequent, I might understand, but they seem to be hard core hunter killers (in perfect weather) right off the bat, almost a year before BoB even happened.
You asked "
Is this how it happened in reality, grandpa?"
On uboat.net's "U-boat-successes against aircraft" page
http://uboat.net/history/aircraft_losses.htm, the first paragraph says "
In the beginning of the war U-boats had little to fear from allied aircraft. Only 2 U-boats were lost to aircraft during 1939-1941 but in 1942 alone 31 boats were lost to them. A sign of things to come".
Well, aircraft is what I'm fearing the most at the moment!
If this is the way it will be with the OHII/TDWUIs/IRAI combo now, then I wholeheartedly agree that (if we don't have any choice) we'll have to develop new tactics and readjust the way we play the early years (let alone the later years), accepting the fact that we'll lose a bit of "historical accuracy" (and I use that term loosely).
I also support the idea of ramping up difficulty levels, but with all good tweaking, we need to find that "sweet spot" (which albeit will be different for everyone), and stop there while also trying to maintain historical timelines and accuracy as best we can, since that is what OHII has always tried to do for us. Tweaking doesn't always mean ramping up, but is ramping down as well. If the hardcore players still want more ramping up (gulp!

), then maybe two versions of these mods can be made - if possible: Regular and Hardcore, so that the less-than-hardcore players or newbies don't shy away from the new versions of these mods. Just a suggestion (from a less-than-hardcore player).
If we do leave it the way it is or keep ramping it up, then maybe we should consider changing the name of "
Coastal Waters" to "
Get Ready Because Happy Times Will Not Be A Walk In The Park Like We Thought" .. hehehehe!