[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by Mios 4Me

- What is the maximum range of shore batteries? I'd used 10 km as a safe point for months, then was hit from outside that range. Obviously fortresses like Singapore and the entrance to Tokyo Bay are going to have the longest-ranged weapons; is there a rule of thumb for them and the less well-defended installations?

rule of thumb: 6 miles/ 10 km. if you are playing a special mod, the modder may have increased the detection capability of the enemy. in that case, you may need to open the distance to 7 or 8 miles (11-13 km).

- Ditto for merchants' guns: 2.5 km was my old limit; now it's 3.0 km, but I'm not entirely sure that's universally applicable.

absolute minimum rule-of-thumb: 6,000 yds/m. this value is stored in one of the CFG files. and may be adjusted.

- Is there no way for the watch to issue SHELLREPs at the first sign of incoming?

not that i am aware of. many kaleuns have asked about adding various reports based on their experiences but no one has figured out how to hack into the SH4 code for that sort of thing.

- Is there a way to have the crew use the 5" gun for AA defense?

do you mean for you to shoot at planes? yes, but you will need to adjust the maximum elevation for the deck gun. most times they are limited to 40 degrees.
if you mean for the crew to shoot at planes with the deck gun like they do for ships, ....probably not. i ,personally, have never been able to do that but someone else MAY have. you would have to define the deck gun as an AA-gun, i suspect. let's put it this way, there is no quick and easy way to do this.

- If not, is there a way to switch the AA shells for AP/HE rounds?

no, but you can adjust the lethality of the AA shells. there are many mods that adjust those qualities.

- What's the point of AP shells on a sub anyway? Merchants and escorts at DD level and below aren't armored, and, even if a sub were suicidal enough to try, CLs and above were armored against the size of their own guns, IIRC, meaning they're invulnerable to even 5" fire. Even against heavily constructed but lightly armed ships like the AVs (Nisshin, IIRC), the AP shells were insufficient. I typically use AP against engine rooms and to create ruptures in tankers for the HE shells to ignite, even though I have no idea if the game models such actions.

i suspect that there are AP shells and HE shells to give the user a difference. AP shells will have higher penetrative definitions and HE would have more explosive definitions. here again, there are many mods that you can use to beef up either of these shell types such that you can use them interchangeably.