[XLjedi]

First off... please don't take anything I say as criticism, I'm just trying to understand the tactics that others are using.

Originally Posted by Heibges

I chase after them, but I only rse my hydrophones to locate them in poor visibility.

If the contact position is known and the approx speed and direction, why would you ever need to use hydrophones to locate them? ...except for the very poor visibility situation that you mention. In good conditions, I plot an intercept course and usually run smack into em.

When I say I occasionally locate some by hydro it's usually an incidental contact. In other words, I've already located one contact and I've commenced a submerged approach. While on approach the hydro manages to pick up a second target I didn't know about.

In extremely bad conditions I will sometimes submerge to 50 just to (in my mind) give the crew a break. ...and in those situations, sometimes, I get a hydro contact.

Originally Posted by Heibges

But on a daily basis, until Allied aircraft dicatate otherwise, I would do a safety dive at dawn and dusk, but otherwise spend all my time on the surface. Except of course in heavy fog, in which I always try to stay submerged, and never initiate an attack.

I think the game in itself does a pretty good job in support of that style of gameplay. I know I don't have the patience to traverse any great distance submerged.

Originally Posted by Heibges

What does Map Updates refer to? The large boxes and diamonds on the Navigation Map? I wish the game gave you a 6 digit grid AN5654, for contacts instead of a 4 digit. Then you really could plot the contact reports yourself.

Yeah the boxes, the ship outlines when zoomed in close, the bearing lines for hydro contacts. That kind of info gives perfect information about the target true course. The boxes even have tails to indicate direction. Really, with the nav updates turned on, there's no reason to ever use the stadimeter.

Really though, it's the hydro contact line that's the worst... it terminates at the exact location of the target. Personally, I don't really care if people use it or not. It's just that when people say they play at 100% "overkill" I don't know if they're tracking targets or not. It's hard to determine target true course. When playing with no map updates, radio contacts from BdU are like gifts from heaven.

Originally Posted by Heibges

There are some patrols where no targets appear close enough for me to reach, or I just can't locate them. Very rarely do I "stumble" upon a convoy so to speak.

I remember one patrol where I hadn't seen anything, and then I found 5 small merchants, each travelling solo, over about 2 grid squares, in calm seas, and I sank all 5 with the deckgun. I only sank 10k, but it was probably my favorite patrol I ever went on.

An average 3 patrols for me looks like.

Patrol 1 = 0 Sunk
Patrol 2= 1 Sunk
Patrol 3= 5 Sunk

Patrol 4= 0 Sunk
Patrol 5= 2 Sunk
Patrol 6 = 4 Sunk

Patrol 7=0 Sunk
Patrol 8=1 Sunk
Patrol 9=7 Sunk

I guess I'm such a fuel miser that I can float around in the traffic areas until something appears from BdU that I can sprint after. That may not be playing with historical accuracy... I don't really pay too much attention to how long I've been on patrol. What's missing in the game is some sort of indication that your food and water is running out. Then yeah, I'd probably be forced to return to base for supplies with zero sunk.