Howdy everyone!
So first, background context: I'm relatively inexperienced with sub sims, this is probably my 2nd patrol in SH4, maybe somewhere <10 patrols between SH2-4 over my entire life so far. I'm playing SH4 stock v1.5. Playing with realism of 52 (everything is ON except 'manual targeting', 'no map contact update', 'no external view', 'no event camera', and 'no stabilize view'). I started on Dec 7 1941 and just finished my first patrol when my Sargo class returned to Surabaya on 01/08/1942.
I come back and discover I won the Medal of Honor.
My objectives over the patrol's course: Troop insertion, Patrol Luzon Strait, Deploy to Luzon Strait and sink merchant shipping, Patrol South China Sea (while en route reported a troop ship and got obj to sink it. I received no damage whatsoever.
I sunk a total of 18 ships over the course of the patrol - five destroyers initially in Luzon Strait and then various shipping in the SCS (or en route to SCS) and others while heading home. I sunk 72,097 tons and was awarded about 4190 renown (give or take a few hundred). I figured it was an OK run but didn't expect to see the MoH.
I guess it's a mixture of all those destroyers and objectives, but I wouldn't have figured it'd be MoH worthy.