[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by max-peck

Just an idea Chief?

How about rather than having all the merchants armed for bear right from day one of the war, we have a plugin that starts them off with just MGs, then introduces 20mms and 40mms and proper deck guns over the next few years of the war?

And even then - maybe have a few that do not get 4 or 5 inch guns? They just get the MGs?
And alternatively we have a few very well armed from day one?

This is my thinking - please hear me out - any please bare in mind this is meant to be an Optional Plugin - I am not trying to make it part of the core mod

My reasoning:
In the stock game - you can surface pretty much whenever you want, in early war, and deck gun the hell out of merchants. You KNOW they are not going to be armed, so it is a Zero Loss proposition

Playing TMO, or FOTRSU, you KNOW that they are all well armed up pretty much from Dec 7th 1941, so you act accordingly.
OK so you have hit something with a torpedo?
Thats OK, you know they will be armed like the fourth of July, so you do not take the risk of surfacing to finish them off

Now I know and understand why Ducimus did this - US Subs did not regularly act like destroyers.
But they did on occasion surface to finish targets off

The thing I think we are missing here is uncertainty

Let me say that again

Uncertainty

That is the key thing when it comes to playability - in my opinion

Stock - I know I can surface and duke it out
TMO - I know I cannot surface to finish that merchant, because he has more guns than the NRA

How about a third option?

I am looking through the periscope at a freighter I have just torpedoed
I can maybe see some small stuff (MGs or 20mm cannons)
Is that a 4 or 5 inch deck gun at the back? I cannot quite see properly
Do I take the chance and battle surface now? Or should I stalk a bit more and use another torpedo?

To me it is all about the uncertainty

Having merchants either completely unarmed, or very well armed, all the time, takes away the uncertainty

Please let me say again - this would be an entirely optional plugin

But I am willing to give it a go

I think a little bit of uncertainty is what makes this game so good

Wow! You are green lighted on the "Are You Feeling Lucky Today?" plugin mod. I like the idea of changing armnament as the war progresses. I like the uncertainty and the need to scope out your target thoroughly before you dare surface and engage with the deck gun.

Note that during the war, with most merchants not armed, but the few that were being very deadly compared to the submarine, sub commanders very very seldom surfaced and used the deck gun. Dealey on the Harder even said when asked "I don't care whether you mount my deck gun fore or aft so long as you put wheels on it so I can pitch it overboard."

So we seek deck gun action. They did not. At best it was the last ditch effort of someone who expected to die. Unless you were Fluckey on the Barb, in which case you were shelling shore targets.......