My first (short) career: So long...

VonGlaus · 01-12-09, 11:24 PM

Aaarrrgh! Frustration from the start.

So I got 1.5 for Xmas (been hinting for awhile). After the holiday rush quieted down, I totally abandoned my Sh3 career and started over in the Pacific.

After much reading, I decided to go with TMO right off the bat. So I played the tutorials and a few single missions to get warmed up (Thanks Dulcimus, for making TMO match SH3 keyboards!). Then it was time to start a career.

Had a great first couple missions and the RSRDC update came out. So here comes career two.

Headed out of Pearl. Got some really scary pictures of a harbor.

Cruised around one action area for 4 days and got a couple kills. Learned that there are some undefended harbors on the Japanese coast.

Got ordered to a second area. Cruised there two days, chased after a missed convoy, cruised 2 more days, chased another convoy, etc. Finally searched the forum again and found out it's X days contiguous time.

Completed that and got told, "do whatever you want."

WooHoo! Re-armed at Midway and realized it was May 1st. Now, I have this psychic on my crew who tells me Midway is going to be battle central in one month. Hmmm, might be fun to stick around, where to go in the meantime?

Wake Island is not too far away. So off I sailed. And this is where the fun started:

Day one: approach at dusk on the surface. Sonar picks up a warship patrolling the NW corner of the entrance to the harbor. Visual confirmation of some hayseed "auxiliary sub chaser" steaming in a square pattern. I avoid him on the surface and get all the way into the harbor, where I see:

a merchant.
at anchor.
almost completely broadside to me.

Well, it's target practice time. One at a time, I launch 6 front torpedoes at 1,000 yards range and various settings. (using full automatic targeting, no less). The first 5 miss, the 6th blows her to bits. These torpedoes suck!

Deciding discretion is the better part of valor, I leave the harbor, thumbing my nose at the still oblivious sub chaser.

Spent the next day resting and re-arming about 75 miles away. Only had to dive once for planes. On the way out last night I had noticed another merchant tied up at the pier, so I wanted another crack at the base.

Well, unknown to me, there had apparently been a mutiny on board that sub chaser and the fire-breathing XO was now in charge.

It's night two. I've just died for the 3rd time battling this guy. Same ship as last night. Same conditions. But this guy is on me like flies on garbage.

My last death was the best, and this time I'm going with dead-is-dead:

Attempted to sneak into the harbor. This time he was patrolling across my entrance corner. I verified this by magic external camera: He would patrol forward at 11 knots to the end of his line, then reverse at 11 knots to the beginning of his line. No BS, it was like a duck in a shooting gallery. I crept in at 1 knot periscope depth and launched 5 fish at him during 3 back-and-forth runs. All at 90 degrees bearing. All missed. Did I mention these torpedoes suck?

Finally, after several loud bangs as dud torpedoes bounced off his hull, Mr. fire-breathing XO wakes up and shoots his deck officer. Then he comes after me.

For several hours I evade away, using all my carefully learned SH3-with-GWX skills. At one point the sucker even stops dead in the water and goes to silent running himself! (I cheated with the external cam and found him sitting directly over top of me). I went all the way down to 400 feet, silent running, gradual course changes, etc.

With batteries down to 40 percent he disengaged. I slowly crept back up to 300 feet, still silent running, and Surprise! He's back. This time he kept making runs right over me but not dropping anything. So, back to subsim where I find out that in SH4 they can actually run out of depth charges. Could it be true?

I canceled silent running, activated the damage control party, and started loading torpedoes, while going ahead 2/3 at 100 feet. (I was desperate, and dinner was approaching). Sure enough, he starts making attack runs right over me, but not dropping anything. So I load up all remaining torps and go to periscope depth.

What followed was a laughable dance as I launched torpedo after torpedo at him. 2 bounced off of him, the rest missed. He tried to ram me once or twice. Much mayhem ensued. Did I mention these torpedoes suck?

Finally, I was truly desperate. Batteries were down to 20 percent, CO2 at 40. I stripped my torpedo compartments bare, putting my best gunners on the gun, my best mech and elect guys in DC. Right after he passed over me from stern to bow I ordered surface and ahead flank.

What followed was a truly epic gun battle. I managed to keep his stern to me almost all the time, resulting in very few hits from his main gun. His MGs chewed up one crew, but there were plenty of volunteer replacements. Did I mention by this time it was full light? Amazingly, we eventually blew him to bits, suffering several injuries but no fatalities. He launched some life rafts, but we slowly steamed by them and tossed some rations out. No way we were going to gun down such worthy opponents.

It was morning, we had all day to refit then sail back to the now undefended port.

A voice from the distance called out, "Honey, shouldn't you save the game?" This is the same voice that had been calling out, "Dinner NOW" for the past few minutes. But no, I remembered all those terrible SH3 rules: You have to be far away from anything before you save. So we steamed on.

20 miles away, just as I was about to hit the save button, a lone aircraft appeared on the radar. It wasn't even heading directly at me, so I ordered periscope depth and raise the SD mast. I watched him fly on by, when suddenly I noticed the SD mast was under water. And then everybody started screaming. Bulkheads crumpled. My rudder and propellers fell off. Then it got real quiet and dark, and somebody was presenting my wife with a medal.

I'm still not quite sure what happened. The aircraft was nowhere near an attack position. I was well out into the open ocean. My DC crew had reported everything repaired and gone to bed. The only thing I didn't check was that magic 'hull damage' number. I'm assuming I took some serious damage during the gun battle and as soon as I dove, that was it.

Oh well, great learning experience. The dumbest ship one day can become the smartest the next. Even when you order silent running your DC crew will keep banging wrenches until you tell them to stop. And did I mention these torpedoes suck?

Thanks Ubisoft for a good game, and thanks Dulcimus for making it great. Now to go start a new career...

Ping Panther · 01-13-09, 12:38 AM

:rotfl:
Stop, stop!.... :rotfl: What a good one! Truly a great narrative! What tales of life on the high seas! Cracks me up!

peabody · 01-13-09, 01:16 AM

So, tell us, how do you feel about the torpedos?

Peabody

C DuDe · 01-13-09, 10:49 AM

Hmmmm,

Sounds like a mine to me...

pozine · 01-13-09, 12:26 PM

there's mines in sh4???

tomoose · 01-13-09, 12:36 PM

Nicely done. You're probably right, despite your crew telling you everything was repaired your hull damage "meter" was probably telling you info that you missed and as soon as you dived that last time it was too late to reverse the inevitable.

It was obviously an enjoyable mission regardless of the outcome!!

JonB · 01-13-09, 12:53 PM

LMAO!!!

omg, what a good story! :rotfl: .

So tell me.. Was the lady understanding about you being about an hour late for dinner? Did she say "Of course you had to go far away before you save, I totally understand"...

banjo · 01-13-09, 06:17 PM

Aux Subchasers have given me more grief than any other Jap ship. Very hard to hit. Be sure to set your torpedo depth to absolute minimum or they will go right under.

Great story.

VonGlaus · 01-13-09, 08:14 PM

I didn't think it was a mine because I was well out to sea at the time. She was supportive and understanding of the save issue, except for the howling with laughter part when I died before saving.

On her urging, instead of DID I reloaded again and went back in. Guess what? Mr. fire-breather had disappeared! So I snuck in close until I was almost scraping bottom and launched a bunch of fish at the ship tied up to the pier. I really have to learn manual targeting, because the automatic version does not work too well. A bows-on stationary target at 3100 yards, me creeping forward at 1 knot, and all 6 go wide left or right. Blew some pretty holes in the docks all around him. I was afraid to surface because of shore batteries, so I ignomiously snuck back out, spitefully deck-gunning a fishing sampan on the way.

Do shore batteries shoot at you? I'm going back again tonight.

kylesplanet · 01-13-09, 08:39 PM

Oh yes the shore batteries will shoot away. If you run RSRD they are all over the
Marshalls. Found out the hard way.

rubenandthejets · 01-15-09, 12:42 AM

Great story!

I'm only a newbie and playing an unmodded v1.4 on "normal". Played a lot of "Wolfpack" and Dynamix's "Aces of the Deep" back in the day.

I don't waste deck gun ammo on sampans-I RAM THEM!

Shades of Ben Hur as I crank up to top speed and use the deck gun to steer over them. Love the rear AA-esp. 40mm-perfect for hammering them if I miss.

I was worried about getting dragged over the coals for hosing lifeboats with assorted AA rounds and propellers (let's face it, it's a war crime) until I got back to base with a log book full of 1 tonners and I got a medal!

What? No JAG with my butt in his sights?

Message recieved and understood! Aye aye, sir, all ahead flank!

01-12-09, 11:24 PM	#1
VonGlaus Gunner Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 92 Downloads: 30 Uploads: 0	My first (short) career: So long... Aaarrrgh! Frustration from the start. So I got 1.5 for Xmas (been hinting for awhile). After the holiday rush quieted down, I totally abandoned my Sh3 career and started over in the Pacific. After much reading, I decided to go with TMO right off the bat. So I played the tutorials and a few single missions to get warmed up (Thanks Dulcimus, for making TMO match SH3 keyboards!). Then it was time to start a career. Had a great first couple missions and the RSRDC update came out. So here comes career two. Headed out of Pearl. Got some really scary pictures of a harbor. Cruised around one action area for 4 days and got a couple kills. Learned that there are some undefended harbors on the Japanese coast. Got ordered to a second area. Cruised there two days, chased after a missed convoy, cruised 2 more days, chased another convoy, etc. Finally searched the forum again and found out it's X days contiguous time. Completed that and got told, "do whatever you want." WooHoo! Re-armed at Midway and realized it was May 1st. Now, I have this psychic on my crew who tells me Midway is going to be battle central in one month. Hmmm, might be fun to stick around, where to go in the meantime? Wake Island is not too far away. So off I sailed. And this is where the fun started: Day one: approach at dusk on the surface. Sonar picks up a warship patrolling the NW corner of the entrance to the harbor. Visual confirmation of some hayseed "auxiliary sub chaser" steaming in a square pattern. I avoid him on the surface and get all the way into the harbor, where I see: a merchant. at anchor. almost completely broadside to me. Well, it's target practice time. One at a time, I launch 6 front torpedoes at 1,000 yards range and various settings. (using full automatic targeting, no less). The first 5 miss, the 6th blows her to bits. These torpedoes suck! Deciding discretion is the better part of valor, I leave the harbor, thumbing my nose at the still oblivious sub chaser. Spent the next day resting and re-arming about 75 miles away. Only had to dive once for planes. On the way out last night I had noticed another merchant tied up at the pier, so I wanted another crack at the base. Well, unknown to me, there had apparently been a mutiny on board that sub chaser and the fire-breathing XO was now in charge. It's night two. I've just died for the 3rd time battling this guy. Same ship as last night. Same conditions. But this guy is on me like flies on garbage. My last death was the best, and this time I'm going with dead-is-dead: Attempted to sneak into the harbor. This time he was patrolling across my entrance corner. I verified this by magic external camera: He would patrol forward at 11 knots to the end of his line, then reverse at 11 knots to the beginning of his line. No BS, it was like a duck in a shooting gallery. I crept in at 1 knot periscope depth and launched 5 fish at him during 3 back-and-forth runs. All at 90 degrees bearing. All missed. Did I mention these torpedoes suck? Finally, after several loud bangs as dud torpedoes bounced off his hull, Mr. fire-breathing XO wakes up and shoots his deck officer. Then he comes after me. For several hours I evade away, using all my carefully learned SH3-with-GWX skills. At one point the sucker even stops dead in the water and goes to silent running himself! (I cheated with the external cam and found him sitting directly over top of me). I went all the way down to 400 feet, silent running, gradual course changes, etc. With batteries down to 40 percent he disengaged. I slowly crept back up to 300 feet, still silent running, and Surprise! He's back. This time he kept making runs right over me but not dropping anything. So, back to subsim where I find out that in SH4 they can actually run out of depth charges. Could it be true? I canceled silent running, activated the damage control party, and started loading torpedoes, while going ahead 2/3 at 100 feet. (I was desperate, and dinner was approaching). Sure enough, he starts making attack runs right over me, but not dropping anything. So I load up all remaining torps and go to periscope depth. What followed was a laughable dance as I launched torpedo after torpedo at him. 2 bounced off of him, the rest missed. He tried to ram me once or twice. Much mayhem ensued. Did I mention these torpedoes suck? Finally, I was truly desperate. Batteries were down to 20 percent, CO2 at 40. I stripped my torpedo compartments bare, putting my best gunners on the gun, my best mech and elect guys in DC. Right after he passed over me from stern to bow I ordered surface and ahead flank. What followed was a truly epic gun battle. I managed to keep his stern to me almost all the time, resulting in very few hits from his main gun. His MGs chewed up one crew, but there were plenty of volunteer replacements. Did I mention by this time it was full light? Amazingly, we eventually blew him to bits, suffering several injuries but no fatalities. He launched some life rafts, but we slowly steamed by them and tossed some rations out. No way we were going to gun down such worthy opponents. It was morning, we had all day to refit then sail back to the now undefended port. A voice from the distance called out, "Honey, shouldn't you save the game?" This is the same voice that had been calling out, "Dinner NOW" for the past few minutes. But no, I remembered all those terrible SH3 rules: You have to be far away from anything before you save. So we steamed on. 20 miles away, just as I was about to hit the save button, a lone aircraft appeared on the radar. It wasn't even heading directly at me, so I ordered periscope depth and raise the SD mast. I watched him fly on by, when suddenly I noticed the SD mast was under water. And then everybody started screaming. Bulkheads crumpled. My rudder and propellers fell off. Then it got real quiet and dark, and somebody was presenting my wife with a medal. I'm still not quite sure what happened. The aircraft was nowhere near an attack position. I was well out into the open ocean. My DC crew had reported everything repaired and gone to bed. The only thing I didn't check was that magic 'hull damage' number. I'm assuming I took some serious damage during the gun battle and as soon as I dove, that was it. Oh well, great learning experience. The dumbest ship one day can become the smartest the next. Even when you order silent running your DC crew will keep banging wrenches until you tell them to stop. And did I mention these torpedoes suck? Thanks Ubisoft for a good game, and thanks Dulcimus for making it great. Now to go start a new career...

01-13-09, 01:16 AM	#3
peabody Admiral Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: New York State, USA Posts: 2,390 Downloads: 126 Uploads: 7	So, tell us, how do you feel about the torpedos? Peabody __________________ System Spec: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3, PentiumD Dual Core Presler 945 3.4Ghz, Gigabyte Geforce 7600GS, 2-1GB Corsair XMS2 800Mhz in Dual Channel, 2-WD 250 SATA 3Gb/s, Onboard Realtek HD 7.1 Audio, DVD ROM, DVD burner, Hiper 580 Watt Power supply, WinXP SP2.

01-13-09, 12:26 PM	#5
pozine Gunner Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 97 Downloads: 26 Uploads: 0	there's mines in sh4??? __________________ HELP!! HELP!!

01-13-09, 12:36 PM	#6
tomoose Grey Wolf Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 930 Downloads: 23 Uploads: 0	Great read. Nicely done. You're probably right, despite your crew telling you everything was repaired your hull damage "meter" was probably telling you info that you missed and as soon as you dived that last time it was too late to reverse the inevitable. It was obviously an enjoyable mission regardless of the outcome!!

01-13-09, 08:39 PM	#10
kylesplanet Commodore Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 629 Downloads: 39 Uploads: 0	Oh yes the shore batteries will shoot away. If you run RSRD they are all over the Marshalls. Found out the hard way. __________________

01-13-09, 12:38 AM	#2
Ping Panther Lieutenant Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: the armpit of the Mid-Atlantic / Quadrant CA42 Posts: 262 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	:rotfl: Stop, stop!.... :rotfl: What a good one! Truly a great narrative! What tales of life on the high seas! Cracks me up!

01-13-09, 10:49 AM	#4
C DuDe Ensign Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 229 Downloads: 17 Uploads: 0	Hmmmm, Sounds like a mine to me...

01-13-09, 12:53 PM	#7
JonB Bosun Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Halmstad, Sweden Posts: 69 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	LMAO!!! omg, what a good story! :rotfl: . So tell me.. Was the lady understanding about you being about an hour late for dinner? Did she say "Of course you had to go far away before you save, I totally understand"...

01-13-09, 06:17 PM	#8
banjo Grey Wolf Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 762 Downloads: 55 Uploads: 0	Aux Subchasers have given me more grief than any other Jap ship. Very hard to hit. Be sure to set your torpedo depth to absolute minimum or they will go right under. Great story.

01-13-09, 08:14 PM	#9
VonGlaus Gunner Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 92 Downloads: 30 Uploads: 0	I didn't think it was a mine because I was well out to sea at the time. She was supportive and understanding of the save issue, except for the howling with laughter part when I died before saving. On her urging, instead of DID I reloaded again and went back in. Guess what? Mr. fire-breather had disappeared! So I snuck in close until I was almost scraping bottom and launched a bunch of fish at the ship tied up to the pier. I really have to learn manual targeting, because the automatic version does not work too well. A bows-on stationary target at 3100 yards, me creeping forward at 1 knot, and all 6 go wide left or right. Blew some pretty holes in the docks all around him. I was afraid to surface because of shore batteries, so I ignomiously snuck back out, spitefully deck-gunning a fishing sampan on the way. Do shore batteries shoot at you? I'm going back again tonight.

01-15-09, 12:42 AM	#11
rubenandthejets 中国水兵 Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 279 Downloads: 20 Uploads: 0	Great story! I'm only a newbie and playing an unmodded v1.4 on "normal". Played a lot of "Wolfpack" and Dynamix's "Aces of the Deep" back in the day. I don't waste deck gun ammo on sampans-I RAM THEM! Shades of Ben Hur as I crank up to top speed and use the deck gun to steer over them. Love the rear AA-esp. 40mm-perfect for hammering them if I miss. I was worried about getting dragged over the coals for hosing lifeboats with assorted AA rounds and propellers (let's face it, it's a war crime) until I got back to base with a log book full of 1 tonners and I got a medal! What? No JAG with my butt in his sights? Message recieved and understood! Aye aye, sir, all ahead flank!