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Elmer Kosterman · 04-01-08, 02:05 PM

Here are my humble opinions:

In general, you should think about how you want to play the game, either for realism or for maximum Renown/tonnage. These two goals are not completely exclusive, but there is a trade-off at some point. With that in mind...

Question 1:

In real life, BdU wouldn't have minded at all if you used up your torpedos sinking targets of opportunity on the way to your patrol station, although they probably would have advised against your route as too dangerous. As in the game, you probably would have been ordered home if you used all your torpedos.

With renown in mind, you can patrol your square for 24 hour hours with or without torpedos, and if the weather clears up, you probably have enough fuel to sail around gunning down additional ships for a while, even if this was dangerous to do close to England's coast in real life. There are a few other things to keep in mind:

--You happen to know that undefended ships will be become rarer as the war drags on, so you might strike while the iron is hot.

--If you find a convoy, you're SOL without torpedos.

--The sooner you return to port, the sooner you'll be sent out with a fresh load of fish, especially if your boat hasn't taken any damage. If you need major repairs, you might want to use up some ammo on the way home, but you run the risk of being surprised and sunk.

Question 2: Are you wasting torpedos?

If you're in a type VII, your desciption indicates that you've fired 11 torpedos and scored 12 hits, with 8 ships sunk. Assuming for a minute that you really went 11 for 11, this would still have been absolutely unheard of during the war. There were a lot of duds back then, and a lot of boats came back to port with torpedos to spare. With shooting like that, and targets as plentiful as they are early in the war, you can certainly afford to set a minimun for yourself. Im sure the real captains didn't send a fish at every trawler they came across.

Question 3: Is 33,000 tonnes a good patrol?

It depends. A quick glance at uboat.net tells me that there were forteen u-boats at sea on the day you started your patrol. The most tonnage of any of those patrols was ca. 25,000 and the most ships sunk was 6 (for only 5,000 tonnes total). In this regard, your patrol would have set the bar back then.

If you want to compare yourself to other SHIII players, you're going to find that being stingy with torpedos and ammo can net you over 100,000 tonnes early in the war, not to mention that it's easier to rack up tonnage on low realism settings.

In diesem Sinne

Sink them all!

04-01-08, 02:05 PM	#8
Elmer Kosterman A-ganger Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: München Posts: 71 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	Here are my humble opinions: In general, you should think about how you want to play the game, either for realism or for maximum Renown/tonnage. These two goals are not completely exclusive, but there is a trade-off at some point. With that in mind... Question 1: In real life, BdU wouldn't have minded at all if you used up your torpedos sinking targets of opportunity on the way to your patrol station, although they probably would have advised against your route as too dangerous. As in the game, you probably would have been ordered home if you used all your torpedos. With renown in mind, you can patrol your square for 24 hour hours with or without torpedos, and if the weather clears up, you probably have enough fuel to sail around gunning down additional ships for a while, even if this was dangerous to do close to England's coast in real life. There are a few other things to keep in mind: --You happen to know that undefended ships will be become rarer as the war drags on, so you might strike while the iron is hot. --If you find a convoy, you're SOL without torpedos. --The sooner you return to port, the sooner you'll be sent out with a fresh load of fish, especially if your boat hasn't taken any damage. If you need major repairs, you might want to use up some ammo on the way home, but you run the risk of being surprised and sunk. Question 2: Are you wasting torpedos? If you're in a type VII, your desciption indicates that you've fired 11 torpedos and scored 12 hits, with 8 ships sunk. Assuming for a minute that you really went 11 for 11, this would still have been absolutely unheard of during the war. There were a lot of duds back then, and a lot of boats came back to port with torpedos to spare. With shooting like that, and targets as plentiful as they are early in the war, you can certainly afford to set a minimun for yourself. Im sure the real captains didn't send a fish at every trawler they came across. Question 3: Is 33,000 tonnes a good patrol? It depends. A quick glance at uboat.net tells me that there were forteen u-boats at sea on the day you started your patrol. The most tonnage of any of those patrols was ca. 25,000 and the most ships sunk was 6 (for only 5,000 tonnes total). In this regard, your patrol would have set the bar back then. If you want to compare yourself to other SHIII players, you're going to find that being stingy with torpedos and ammo can net you over 100,000 tonnes early in the war, not to mention that it's easier to rack up tonnage on low realism settings. In diesem Sinne Sink them all!