I do play dead is dead if I have a 'heroic' death, otherwise I reload the game
You can add almost any graphical mod with GW. I usually add sub skins (Fubar's ones are the best, although there are other like Danlisa's that are very good), boat reflections, moon reflections, multiple ship skins and Home Fleet skins for the Royal Navy ships. They're all for visual effect but they make the game look even better