@ WeeBubba: Yeah, it's almost as much fun searching for that 'perfect' setup as it is to play. Almost. I have the Real Depth Charge mod, but I think the reduced effects are incorporated into GWX. If I find out that's wrong, I'm ready to reinstall it.
@ SandyCaesar: I probably won't ever do a 1x patrol, partly because I've been in the navy and partly because I always feel like it's not really real; that is in real life I wouldn't be 'outside' of the ship doing something else, except maybe reading, so time spent doing other chores for me might as well be time spent in TC. That said, I'm probably going to limit it to 256x just to make it feel a little more real/boring.
@ antikristuseke (man, I have to copy and past that name - no way could I ever spell it, even while I'm looking at it): OLC-GUI is advanced from U-Jagd, and arguably better, but U-Jagd lets me keep using Simfeeling, and I like having nothing on the screen but knowing it's there if I need it. That's one of the things that makes me reluctant to go to SH4. OLC's screens are just too cluttered for my taste.
ps: Have fun playing Army.
I didn't mention the external mods: I have all my gramophone music in SH3 Commander so it only appears at the proper time, and I'm also using my own Loading Screen Randomizer, which also randomizes the dockside band music and the chart table background (Leer).