SOS-rule club

[Thniper]

Hi to all enthusiasts of realistic subsims! (SH3 and GWX rule!)

I have been reading many many threads in this forum and stumbled more than once across phrases like:
"No, I don't go for those small merchants, they don't yield enough tonnage!"

This is the point where I say: NOOOOO!!!
Never ever would any Kaleun have said: "No, he's too small, let him go, we'll find something bigger!"

Therefore I SUGGEST a new rule (like DiD):
SOS: Sink on Sight (I hope this makes sense, because my English is not so good)

What does it mean?
Well, it simply means that you
- have to engage every enemy ship that you have spotted by your sensors (visual, acustic, radar, etc.)
- SHOULD engage every contact report that you receive (unless out of reach)
- have to run multiple attacks on a spotted convoy (unless you are out of torpedos, your sub is severely damaged or the convoy is out of reach) - don't just take out the big ones!

This rule does NOT apply to enemy aircraft, you may crashdive anytime you want, as I always do.

So, I hope you'll join this exquisite club!

Any suggestions and improvements for the rules are welcome!

[DonMarco1976]

Great idea, I am still doing it this way.

In my opinion, there are some more points:

• shadow convoys till it gets night, then attack (send reports to BdU regularly)
• no harbour attacks
• under no circumstances attack any destroyers or corvettes; one exception: self-defense; of course large battleships are allowed
• just use deck gun to sink damaged and not-sinking torpedoed ships and not to sink ships themselves; exceptions may be very small, but plausible ships (no small fishing boats)
• confirm first the status of your aim (i.e. if it is an enemy)

Totally agree with u guys! A ship is a sheep

Have you found any small mods that allow even more realism than stock GWX and make it even harder?

[SmokinTep]

I'll sink anything I come across.........

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Great idea Thniper!

Though I might hold off on targets of opportunity until after I've carried out BdU's assignment... unless a high-profile target, such as a carrier, crosses my path.

It wouldn't do any good to burn off all the torpedoes and be rendered useless in relation to your primary mission as assigned by BdU.

[SmokinTep]

On my way to my patrol area, I will pick and choose my targets unless I come across a convoy. After patrolling my area, everything is fair game.

[ichso]

Hehe, me in. I'm too lazy to wait for bigger ships come along anyway
And I'm even not into those ~1Million BRT patrols. At my current one (Oct '40) I've already got ~29000BRTs ans 3 Torpedoes left. This is more realistic due to Torpedo failures, wrong shots because of bad weather conditions, ...

Every encounter becomes a possible target and as soon as I can identify it's nationality, I choose whether to attack or not .

Playing on 91% realism, because sometimes I just like to watch my boat cruising alone from the external view.

SH3 1.4b, GWX 1.03

[Penelope_Grey]

I sink anything that floats as long as its enemy, even sloops!

[Sailor Steve]

Sloops aren't tonnage. I agree, though: the only time a small target of opportunity should be left alone is if a convoy has been reported and you are rushing to get to it. Even then, it's debatable.

[Heibges]

I agree, as The Bible says:

B. Preparing for the Underwater Attack.

105)

c. Never delude yourself by assuming that it is right not to attack on the instant, or not to hold onto the enemy with the utmost determination, because there may be reason to hope and believe that a better target will subsequently be found elsewhere. What you have got, you have got. Do not let such considerations give you the idea of trying to save fuel.

[Avatar]

I'm definately SOS.
Penelope, I too sink everything including sloops and fishing boats and motor boats. You never know. A high ranking official may be taking his family out on a little vacation and that's when they come across U-53. BAM!

Oh, but wait, if there is a convoy and there is bigger game, I ignore the smaller merchies.

[Thniper]

Originally Posted by Kpt. Lehmann

Great idea Thniper!

Though I might hold off on targets of opportunity until after I've carried out BdU's assignment... unless a high-profile target, such as a carrier, crosses my path.

It wouldn't do any good to burn off all the torpedoes and be rendered useless in relation to your primary mission as assigned by BdU.

This is an interesting point, because following your primary mission/patrol area grid is important if you want to play more "realistic".
But when I thought about this for a little while, I came to the following conclusion:

1. BdU establishes search patterns for the various uboats out at sea in order to FIND enemy convoys and sink them.
2. You are assigned one of those patrol grids in order to reach this goal.
3. If you spot a convoy on the way to your patrol grid, you've actually achieved the intended goal of the BdU - so you only have to send a contact report back home and go for it!

What do you think about it?

btw, playing SH3 with GWX means for me to play as realistic as possible, therefore I try to act "historically correct" and not to exploit any bug that comes from the game or GWX.
e.g. I'm not going for harbour raids, because they didn't happen in real life (with the exception of Erich Topp, but that was in the early years of war)

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Avatar

I'm definately SOS.
Penelope, I too sink everything including sloops and fishing boats and motor boats. You never know. A high ranking official may be taking his family out on a little vacation and that's when they come across U-53. BAM!

Oh, but wait, if there is a convoy and there is bigger game, I ignore the smaller merchies.

Oh, did she mean FISHING or SAILING sloops??? I was thinking Black Swan type sloops. Of course the sailing kind are fair game; that's what the deck gun was invented for.

I only sink a sloop If I think It has seen me and may give my position away, But any merchant from a tramp steamer up is fair game. DD I will only attack if I either have to or it is stupid enouth to sail in a streightline at short range....they are asking for it

I have only encouted one BB, I was out of fish

[Corsair]

It all depends on the situation and the boat I am driving... I usually only attack tramp steamers when I can use the deck gun. If you are in a type II with only a handful of fish, it's not the same as being in a IX with plenty of them... You think twice before shooting, as a tramp can sometimes take 2 or more torps - not counting possible missing or premature exploding or dud... Tonight I encountered a tramp which was already burning in heavy weather, one fish on a surface attack did the job. As I was on a IXb, it was worth it.