Noob Sighted! Quick Question

[Captain Can]

Hello guys i have a quick question.
After trying to learn game basics at '39 campaign more than a month i have started '40 campaign with increasing the game reality a bit more. (SH3+GWX)

Now i am at my second patrol(sunk three ships already) .Anyways here is the question.While engaging enemy merchants i am launching one torpedo and if it is not sinking with that i am rising up to 5 meters or so then maning the deck gun and boomm its sinking.the question is , is that a bad idea to let them know i am around?or are they gonna tell the big guys (like destroyers ,other warships etc.) my current plot ? i am using my current tactic to save torpedos.

thanks.
Can

[JokerOfFate]

Nearly the same as my tactic.
Your fine, but the big guys will come sooner or later and they will kick Captain Can's can (Sorry couldn't stop myself).
Just stay out of their way and you'll be fine.

Here's what they do with me most often:
1) Send out a search plane, I shoot it down
2) Send out a warship, I sink it
3) Send out a Cargo ship, I blow it up and near kill myself

P.s. That last one you need to look out for it's deadly

[Captain Can]

Okey then,i will continue to rely on my current tactic for saving torpeados and gonna try my best to stay out the way of big guys.

tnx for the reply!

[K-61]

Once they are hit by a torpedo they send a distress signal. The Admiralty knows you're in the area and sends forces to investigate. Provided the target isn't armed you're reasonably safe to surface and use the deck gun. Aim your rounds for below the waterline, as you must flood a ship to sink it under GWX's damage model. Stock SH3 is an arcade game where the damage model is concerned.

[VONHARRIS]

This tactic can be useful up to mid 1942. After this point most merchants are armed and at that close range you get they can cause enough damage to end your patrol. Be careful. It is better to fire a second torpedo to finish the ship off.
What is your realism percentage?

[K-61]

I haven't been able to use my deck gun since late 1941. I have removed it for the duration of the war, unless I get a big boat and sail those long range patrols looking for loners.

[Captain Can]

thanks for all info's guys now i am more clear.besides i dont know that the merchants will be armed at late 41' or at 42' .i will be more careful during that times.currently i am using %38(or so) realism.

p.s; For the first time i got a report from Bdu that a large convoy is nearby wheeeee! i've changed my pilot course and now getting close to convoy.i dont know whats expecting for me.wish me luck !

be ready for destroyers mate They hurt !

Originally Posted by Captain Can

thanks for all info's guys now i am more clear.besides i dont know that the merchants will be armed at late 41' or at 42' .i will be more careful during that times.currently i am using %38(or so) realism.

p.s; For the first time i got a report from Bdu that a large convoy is nearby wheeeee! i've changed my pilot course and now getting close to convoy.i dont know whats expecting for me.wish me luck !

[Flaxpants]

Yes, fire a big juicy salvo and then get the heck outta dodge asap.

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by Flaxpants

Yes, fire a big juicy salvo and then get the heck outta dodge asap.

Or don't fire a salvo. Because you probably won't hit a thing by doing so.

Instead, take your time to get inside the screen (difficult in the best of times) then pick two easy-ish ships to go after (don't be tempted into going after the "biggest," pick two that your skills can handle). Carefully shoot at the first one (1 torpedo) and, if time allows, the second. Just as if they were loners.

Then dive, as quietly as possible, and take the regular evasive actions (there's tons of threads on here about how to do that, so just search and you will find answers to all of your questions).

But spraying a salvo at a convoy and hoping is about as effective (and a whole lot riskier) as spraying a salvo into the open ocean.

[Weiss Pinguin]

If you aim your salvo, you have a better chance. And if your detected and can't close the range enough for aimed torpedoes, then I'd personally go for a full salvo and hope for the best while I snuck away.

[K-61]

I would never fire a salvo in hopes of a hit. If the convoy knows you are there it will zigzag and make a hit even less likely. Why waste four torpedoes on a desperate shot when you can evade and later re-establish contact with the same convoy and set up again for a deliberate attack. I've had perfect setups spoiled at the last second, broke off attack, evaded and then attacked again later. Only I had four more torpedoes available to me since I didn't waste them on a desperate gamble.

Occasionally I will fire a single "Hail Mary" shot on a distant valuable target. I bagged my first Bogue carrier that way. I was too far away for a deliberate attack, so I fired one G7A. My reasoning was that it was early morning and they might not see it in the predawn darkness. Meanwhile, I dove deep and moved away. Several minutes later it hit and the carrier came to a stop, with a list to port. After several hours of evasion and stealthy maneuvering I was able to approach closer and finish her off. Had I fired a salvo of four, which is all I had left and only one hit, I would not have had any left for the kill shot.

[JokerOfFate]

Use the "ongoing" tactic

Basicly you sit inside the convoy picking one ship off at a time, the DD's move in you dive they lose you, and then you do the same thing over and over again.

I tend not to use salvos but they're pretty good with convoys but its still better to use singles, better safe than sorry

[Gerald]

I agree, I only use single shot when its predictive value in my view is better than several at a time, which also "save some eels if some are lost

[Draka]

Salvo doesn't necessarily mean a full set of all tubes available. Salvoes were the practice early war and the way they were taught.I tend to use a 2 eel salvo a lot - minimum spread and running fast. That way any small errors in my calculations and one or the other will hit. YMMV