First Campaign Missions

[LarzJG]

Hey all,

Been playing the first campaign for LONG time now as I slowly figure out the game mechanics. I think I have those down by now - I can shoot at stuff and most times it gets hit and goes to see Davy Jones.

HOWEVER, the issues I'm stuck with are more game-technical now, so I figured others must be on the same missions with some of the same questions. So let's try and knowledgeshare a little?

General questions

All objectives are fair game, all the time?
Overall, it seems clear to me that you can complete whatever part of the campaign objectives that you can, at any time. You may request the mission to go to northern Britain and kill patrol craft, but if you head down south and kill the merchants instead, it will count towards that goal - even if you weren't assigned that specific mission when you left port.

Some missions probably can't be done without requesting it - if you have to drop off a spy somewhere, or other events that are related to an event. I've also seen missions where you have to sink massive amounts of cargo be aided by a convoy that spawns if you request that mission and go to that area - but the principle remains that if you are in a position to fulfill a mission requirement, you will get credit even if you're not on that mission. (Right?)

Don't kill stuff that doesn't count towards objectives?
Torpedoes seem very limited early on, beyond the fact that you can use the gun to lower your dependence on them, is it prudent or not to pass by a random merchant in open sea as you are moving towards a target zone? I hate giving these guys up, but I think part of the reason I miss out on my objectives and their deadlines is that I waste too many torps on targets of opportunity.

End Patrol or refit?
What's the cost-benefit of ending a patrol versus a refit and going straight back?

Ending a patrol takes time, I assume, but may also give you a point to patrol, where you are more likely than otherwise to find the ships you need for a given objective - whereas a refit gives you fast turnaround but no more specific mission than "continue patrol on your own or return to base".

First Campaign, Total Germany

Initial Mission seems fairly easy, sinking a few ships over by Poland. Should be done by the time you finish the tutorial. Others have done SERIOUS walkthrough on it, look for that. (link?)

British Coastal Waters - by June 1 1940
Sinking these merchants should be fairly easy, the hardest part seems to be to find them. Try outside the southerns ports, and don't be afraid to go a bit to sea. Any merchants that are in the general area will count.

Blockade of Germany - by March 1, 1940
This one seems harder, it is in two parts:

1. Kill five warships north of Britain.
2. Kill a carrier south of Britain, in the SW approaches.

I'm about to fail the first part, as I simply can't find the ships to kill in time. I've tried going to the Faeroe Islands and grabbing an escort near the port, but there is not credit for that. I've sailed back and forth on the line up there for ages, and it's just not giving me results. I'm stuck at 3/5 and it's feb 10th on my campaign.

I did notice that sinking an unarmed Troop Transport ship (with the square icon, not the diamond) was counted, so I think the 5 ships you need to kill just have to be military.

As for finding a carrier, I have no clue what to do. Someone in here said they found one in the English Channel, is that a good place to look? I've sat on the approaches for hours now, and I haven't even seen a carrier.

British Supplies
This mission seems straight forward enough, again the main issue is finding enough ships to sink. I've managed to catch a convoy coming out of Britain in this area, but otherwise I'd love to hear where people look for these ships - close to Plymouth?

Getting to this area seems tough too - is it feasible to go through the channel here?

100.000 tons is a lot, I'm guessing you'll almost have to split this into multiple cruises?

I hear there's a fourth mission, related to something Norwegian, but I'm still on these. Figure I can update this post if someone's willing to give a hand with the stuff I'm unsure of.

[maxplay]

Hi about the first one i did that one in a long time of game play but it will come. the 3rd one will come by going to the French base Brest and it is a turckey shoot all lind up and still for you! for the 2nd one i am still on it and i cant for the life of me sink a warship so I am gone for this if you are having trubble finding the career look in the red curricle near the south end of the island of Britain click on the objective spot. hope this helps.(i am stuck on the 2nd one if you did not know will remove this and add help when I pass it!)

[kylania]

You can find the spawn point for the 5 ships you need to kill for Blockade of Germany here:

[LarzJG]

Any help on where the carrier is, Kylania? I simply don't find it in the designated area - sometimes I'll get overflown by an aircraft that can't be from a land base, and I'll head along its path, but I have still not found any carrier.

Any chance you can clarify your post a little, maxplay? I have a hard time following what you mean by first, second and third.

[Coldcall]

Larz,

How LONG is long? Your questions indicate you have hardly touched the game :-)

I'll do my best to answer some of the questions:

You need to have "requested mission" for sinkings to count against that particular phase of the campaign, measured by the tonnage scale indicator which is the white line that fills up.

The recon/infiltration missions are scripted to coincide with the invasion of Norway....So you will be offered the mission based on historical events.

Yes, best not to waste torpedos until you get to your mission area, that being where your merchant/warship kills count towards the campaign objectives/tasks. On the other hand you can always install the Campaign lite mod which halves the amount of tonnage required to complete objectives. I use it, and i think the game is more enjoyable this way as it feels more free-roam when you arent always racing to and fro the Atlantic trying to meet what are ridiculous quotas.

Getting a refit is just filling up your fuel and replacng torps. The benefit is it costs no time (in-base), instant turn-around. If you end the patrol there will be a 1 week or more gone by time you set out on next mission.

The carrier you are looking for is in the circular patch as indicated by mission orders. Its surrounded by destroyers so you are looking for an outer ring of ships guarding something in the centre. thats the ac. Its smaller than you;d expect so maybe you have gone by it without realising its an AC.

[LarzJG]

Thanks for the response - Steam tells me I've put in 20 hours of game time so far, I have touched the game quite a bit, even sometimes inappropriately. I just have a perfectionist streak that has made me restart the campaign around 4 times now.

I'm certain I've made the Tonnage-counter for objectives move even while not on the mission for that objective during a particular patrol. Grabbing a merchant in passing while hunting for the carrier, for example, made the 100k goal move. If that wasn't the case, what would be the point of the "patrol your area of choice or return to base" message? (I'll gladly stipulate that there are some missions where this doesn't come into effect, but "kill x tons of merchants" isn't among them)

Is it possible that the carrier group is also way more spread out than the normal patrols are? I once encountered a group of destroyers in a very, very loose formation in the target area, loose enough that I could sprint to the middle on the surface without detection, but there was nothing in the middle of them.

[LarzJG]

I've found the mission editor and The Campaign Lite mod.

Mission Editor took some figuring out, but I at least know how to go and look for the spawn points of crafts now. Best part is that I no longer keep sitting in an area thinking the game is bugging on me, I can simply go into the mission editor and figure out how long between spawns. Wouldn't be a necessity with a polished game, but....

Campaign Lite just means I won't get bored hunting the same areas over and over and over again.

I'll update the post above, hopefully help out someone else too. I'll see if I can keep the energy high enough to do the same for future campaigns.

[Coldcall]

Originally Posted by LarzJG

I've found the mission editor and The Campaign Lite mod.

Mission Editor took some figuring out, but I at least know how to go and look for the spawn points of crafts now. Best part is that I no longer keep sitting in an area thinking the game is bugging on me, I can simply go into the mission editor and figure out how long between spawns. Wouldn't be a necessity with a polished game, but....

Campaign Lite just means I won't get bored hunting the same areas over and over and over again.

I'll update the post above, hopefully help out someone else too. I'll see if I can keep the energy high enough to do the same for future campaigns.

Yes the campaign lite mod is excellent, and no doubt will be updated.

The quotas in the stock game are absolutely ridiculous. In fact they are sort of insulting to the memory of the u-boat aces who were heros if they sunk 200k over the whole war.

The campaign needs alot of work.

[Coldcall]

Originally Posted by LarzJG

Thanks for the response - Steam tells me I've put in 20 hours of game time so far, I have touched the game quite a bit, even sometimes inappropriately. I just have a perfectionist streak that has made me restart the campaign around 4 times now.

I'm certain I've made the Tonnage-counter for objectives move even while not on the mission for that objective during a particular patrol. Grabbing a merchant in passing while hunting for the carrier, for example, made the 100k goal move. If that wasn't the case, what would be the point of the "patrol your area of choice or return to base" message? (I'll gladly stipulate that there are some missions where this doesn't come into effect, but "kill x tons of merchants" isn't among them)

Is it possible that the carrier group is also way more spread out than the normal patrols are? I once encountered a group of destroyers in a very, very loose formation in the target area, loose enough that I could sprint to the middle on the surface without detection, but there was nothing in the middle of them.

You only have to request a mission from a particular campaign phase like "British Supplies" once, and then any kills in that shaded area will count against that quota. So i think what you did was having accepted it earlier on, then a few patrols later you sunk a ship in an area indicated by the earlier phase, and hence it counted against that total. But it wont count if you have never "requested mission" for that campaign phase. You can do as many as you want at the same time once you've made that initial request for a mission.

The carrier group is in a tight formation, sort of a hexagon with the carrier in the middle. However there are lots of destroyer groups of about 4 or 5 ships which can be confusing because from some angles they can appear to be the carrier group. You need to check them out, rule them out, and then continue searching.