Grrrr...Battleships with super hearing..

[CWorth]

I was patroling off the coast of England between Dover and France in that narrow channel trying to catch any shipping that came through.This is late September 1939 and I am in a Type II sub.

After a few days I come into contact with a Large Convoy and smack in the middle is a Nelson Class BB.The convoy was escorted by a single destroyer out front.I decided I would take out the Nelson.I let the Destroyer pass by and move away a bit before I moved in.
I began to move in at 2 knots and silent running to keep from getting spotted or heard.
I closed to within 2500meters of the BB and let loose a salvo of 3 electric torpedos so as to not leave a visible wake for them to spot.

Now before my 3rd torpedo had even left the tube that BB was already speeding up and started zig zagging.Needless to say I did not even get a hit on it.Now I did not know that BB's and Merchants had super ASW equipment to hear a torpedo coming at it let alone leaving the tubes.
I highly doubt the destroyer heard anything as he was moving a good distance away before I fired.He only responded after the BB and Merchants started zig zagging but never came even close to my position.This all occured in calm glassy waters at about 9:30 in the evening.So my sub never breached the surface to be spotted.

Talk about an annoying encounter.

[FongFongFong]

well, what mods are you running?

and then any ship can spot your scope especially if its up high
and can also spot you if you bounce out of the water because of rough seas.
(Ok, calm seas, but still if GWX and all stop, you can pop-up)

about hearing torpedoes
Not to certain about that, just suckered a couple of DDs in GWX
they hadn't seen me and just sailed into my waiting fish.

[Biggles]

I'm using GWX and I am also VERY annoyed at the super-über-mega skilled DDs!!!!

[FongFongFong]

Originally Posted by Biggles

I'm using GWX and I am also VERY annoyed at the super-über-mega skilled DDs!!!!

Used to play Silent Service (first edition) by Microprose without entering the security code, made for a difficulty factor of 5 (where 4 was the game's highest)
Spead up the learning curve quite a bit.

Yes the new DDs are quite annoying, but then again they seem nearly blind/deaf if you are close to the surface. It also forces me to pay attention to their movemets. But if they haven't spotted you they still steam along right into your waiting electric torpedoes.

[Pants]

Like we did say GW tactics do not work for GWX, there is a helpme guide in the manual regarding DD's

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Pants

Like we did say GW tactics do not work for GWX, there is a helpme guide in the manual regarding DD's

It's apity Gibs isn't still around...he wrote some excellent tutorials for GW
I reckon he prob would of done something similar for GWX

[Pants]

One thing about BB's is aslong as you don't surface they can't do jack to you :P

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Pants

Like we did say GW tactics do not work for GWX, there is a helpme guide in the manual regarding DD's

I agree 100% with Pants. Not because he was in the development of GWX but I have had to change my tactics from first patrol. I have crash dive set on auto when planes appear. I'm going slower than 3 kts to keep from getting detected. I definitly do not see the warship urber at all.

Hell, my first patrol I was within 500m of a destroyer going in the opposite direction as me. It was night and I was surfaced. He went right on by. 500m man!!!! Not detected at all. I gave it the stern tube!!

[FongFongFong]

Originally Posted by Pants

One thing about BB's is aslong as you don't surface they can't do jack to you :P

Odd, have watched them shoot at my scope.

[Pants]

I've started playing with 100% realism...yes you heard right, and so far i have only died once by a DD, plenty of times via AC and once i rammed an ore carrier that i was shadowing at night on the surface, i died when i rammed him due to being that tired , by lack of sleep ( GWX development related )

Originally Posted by FongFongFong

Odd, have watched them shoot at my scope.

On a clear day never have your scope up fully because they will spot the wake caused by it. It's like if they spot a steam torp, you will see them trying to manover out of the way of it. They will notify the escorts on the direction of were the torp came from

[MRV]

And remember to install SH3 Commander AFTER GWX if used! I know what I'm talking about

In GWX you should have no trouble getting quite close to the DDs on PD and with silent running at least in early war. But if one spots you though, get ready to have shaken your brains out.

I've never been sunk by a DD so far, but never survived a DC chase without some damage either....

[Schatten]

So far I'm thinking that the DD sensors are much more realistic in GWX than anything that came before them. No more insta-flank with all guns blazing if you're on the roof and cross the 5000 meter redline, early war you can get quite close to them if you plan it right and the weather and sea help you out, etc. Yes they are very deadly, but only if you get yourself into a position to allow them to be, if that makes sense.

Early in the war (Nov. '39) I was running on the surface at night during some heavy seas and rain but with only light fog and my watch officer spotted a DD at 2,200 meters. I almost flipped out because that meant you'd get hammered hard most riki-tik with GW 1.1 or Stock, but here I spotted him well before he spotted me. So to test things out I kept creeping in on him, I reached 800 meters before the lookouts started freaking out about all the other ships around. Here he was the point dog for a convoy. So I backed off and did a night surface attack, successfully as per the German doctrine at the time, and got away without so much as a scratch. The only time the DD dropped DCs it was around a km away from me as he was looking where I would have gone if I were being lazy, but not where I really was. He never got a good lock on me either visually nor with ASDIC.

So I don't think the early war DDs are overdone at all, you just have to attack whatever they're escorting the way a real U-Boat skipper would. On the next patrol I ran into another convoy that was only escorted by a pair of Flowers (or so I thought) so I went in cocky and overconfident (basically how I played everything before GWX) and nearly got my clock cleaned. Again it was night, the seas weren't quite so bad and I was foolish and greedy, when you have that combination even a "lowly" Flower in '39 can really mess your day up. I did get kills on a medium merchant, whale factory ship and large tanker, but the 2 1/2 hours of trying to get out of Dodge with them plastering me with DCs was very frustrating. Although you do feel a sense of accomplishment out of outthinking the escorts to escape, and that's really what you have to do outthink them.

As for warships, they're dangerous as hell if you don't pay attention to everything that's going on around you. Nothing says bad day than having a US cruiser fire his main guns at you from 12,000 meters just because you didn't think their radar was that good yet in '42...

[MRV]

This is why SH3 or GWX will never be realistic for each of us, because of that thinking in background "its only 1939, that guys aren't that good now"

[bigboywooly]

Yes I'm afraid you have to forget all you have learned in SH3 and start again
I died so many times in beta testing as I played as I would in GW
Too much bravado
Now I have to slow down and think
As they would have had to in RL
They had no save game to reload or the luxury of a new career when they died

[baggygreen]

Originally Posted by Biggles

I'm using GWX and I am also VERY annoyed at the super-über-mega skilled DDs!!!!

I'm actually yet to come across a particularly skilled DD or Escort. Last night I encountered in the Med a heavy transport escorted by 2 Rivers, i engaged from 4500m because i simply couldnt get any closer safely on the surface. The escorts came in the right direction but searched about 3000m away from me. I stayed on the surface, wandered around the other end and lined up the coup de grace on the transport, only to see the freaking luftwaffe show up and take my kill and the 2 DDs. This was in 42 though, so they both ought to have had radar...