My advice: Aim for the bow!

06-23-07, 11:15 AM

Hi all!

I am on my 11th patrol now in September 1941 with GWX 1.3 and due to my experiences i can highly recommend to aim for the bow when attacking with torpedoes.

With this method i managed to sink small merchants of course, a lot C2's, 2 large tankers, 1-2 troops, whale factory, aux cruiser, light cruiser and so on.
Most merchants will sink after a llittle time. I assume that heavy weather and rough sea is to your advantage then. ships will slow down as soon as the amount of water ducks down the bow until the engines cant push the weight forward anymore.

Attaking C3's and this other type of large cargo u may have bad luck, the most of the time need 2 torps.

U will save some torpedoes trying this, check it out. The following picture shows a bow hit. Aim for this spot or a few meters more to stern and u'll probably be successful. As this was a C3, it needed one more hit this time..

Brag · 06-23-07, 11:58 AM

You are right about hitting near the bow. You'll get one shot kills on all ships most of the time by hitting them just slightly forward of the foremast.

Big exception are the blasted passenger/freight torpedoe gobblers

Avatar · 06-23-07, 12:27 PM

I believe that the deck gun works equally as well when aiming at the bow.

johnno74 · 06-23-07, 05:47 PM

patterchon
Patterchon, thats a nice pic but can you please change it to a jpeg? Itas a 2.5 mb bmp file

Open it in your paint program (ms paint will even do it) and save as, and change it to jpeg and re-upload it to whatever site you have it on.

it will drop to 1-200 kb.

BTW is that the stock torpedo damage texture?

KeptinCranky · 06-23-07, 05:55 PM

Typical, I usually try to hit Large Merchants (C3) right between where you've hit it in the picture, this usually sinks them with one eel after 30 minutes maximum waiting for it, or if they're in a convoy and don't sink they generally straggle out of it at 1 or 2 knots after a few hours and you can pick 'em off later

06-24-07, 06:18 AM

@johnno74
U r right, I've changed the pic into a JPEG of smaller size.
This damage texture is a mod called "torpedo damage final" of some modder here who's name i don't remember now. So it is not stock damage. I think in stock SH3 u can't see any damage on ships...

Jimbuna · 06-24-07, 06:19 AM

This chart will give you some idea of the weak spots

http://files.filefront.com/shipchart.../fileinfo.html

Sawdust · 06-24-07, 09:19 PM

Your idea of aiming for the bow sounds good.

I just got finished sinking a C2 Cargo ship using up *four* (!) torpedoes.

I'd disabled it with a T-IV acoustic torpedo which destroyed its propeller. I came back later to find it motionless, but afloat and, being that I happened upon it at an AOB of 180°, sent 1, then 2, torpedoes into its stern. These stern shots didn't seem to bother the ship at all except for starting a harmless fire. I had to re-position my sub and send the final torpedo into its port side to finish it off.

I pr'y could've saved a couple of torpedoes if I'd hit it closer to the bow.:hmm:

maillemaker · 06-25-07, 12:26 PM

I love that damage mod - I went and found it on the web and installed it. It's awesome to see a big hole blown in the side of the ship instead of the little smudge you get with stock SH3. Very cool.

I think I read somewhere on the forums here that there is a problem with cumulative damage in SH3, so that if you punch a second torpedo into the same hole as the first one you won't do as much damage as if the two torpedoes struck in different parts of the ship. I notice in your photo you had shot the ship twice. I wonder if that accounts for what made the bow shot seem so powerful?

Elysion · 06-25-07, 12:37 PM

Semi-related question

So that german u-boat manual thing says that ships sink faster if they are taking on water only at one end, and slower if you put a hole into each end of them. Does SH3 reflect this?

I think i read somewhere that sujested otherwise =/

Jimbuna · 06-25-07, 01:40 PM

The ship should (in theory anyway) sink quicker the more compartments you put a hole in

KeybdFlyer · 06-25-07, 01:46 PM

"Aim for the bow". "Aim for the stern". "Hit the engine room first". Geez - I consider myself lucky just to hit the damn ship!

Nuoz · 06-25-07, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KeybdFlyer

"Aim for the bow". "Aim for the stern". "Hit the engine room first". Geez - I consider myself lucky just to hit the damn ship!

Same here. specially in bad weather. If you can't see the ship at 300m and you've plotted (wrongly) the AoB and speed based on hydrophone information, when your sonar man says "merchant medium speed bearing 0" you just let the fish go and pray. Last time i did just that i missed

I need to learn how to use the audio features better. Only the scope wont help if the ship is moving at night with lights apparently out and extremely foggy weather.

ReM · 06-25-07, 02:59 PM

Just installed the torpedo damage mod....didn't even know it existed....great stuff!

Thanks for pointing it out patterchon!

maillemaker · 06-25-07, 03:20 PM

Quote:

"Aim for the bow". "Aim for the stern". "Hit the engine room first". Geez - I consider myself lucky just to hit the damn ship!

I'd be willing to bet that every post where they say "aim for part X of the ship" they are using auto-TDC. With Auto-TDC, you just point the crosshairs anywhere on the ship and press fire. That's what I do, anyway.

I played around with the manual TDC, but I found it not very fun or realistic, though I was able to hit things. Mostly I didn't like it because I have to flip through the manual (and the manual is slow to click through) to identify the ship, and I think most captains would know what they were looking at on sight. So I went back to auto-TDC. To me the game is challenging enough just setting up attack runs and escaping.

06-23-07, 11:15 AM	#1
patterchon Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	My advice: Aim for the bow! Hi all! I am on my 11th patrol now in September 1941 with GWX 1.3 and due to my experiences i can highly recommend to aim for the bow when attacking with torpedoes. With this method i managed to sink small merchants of course, a lot C2's, 2 large tankers, 1-2 troops, whale factory, aux cruiser, light cruiser and so on. Most merchants will sink after a llittle time. I assume that heavy weather and rough sea is to your advantage then. ships will slow down as soon as the amount of water ducks down the bow until the engines cant push the weight forward anymore. Attaking C3's and this other type of large cargo u may have bad luck, the most of the time need 2 torps. U will save some torpedoes trying this, check it out. The following picture shows a bow hit. Aim for this spot or a few meters more to stern and u'll probably be successful. As this was a C3, it needed one more hit this time.. Last edited by patterchon; 06-24-07 at 06:12 AM.

06-23-07, 11:58 AM	#2
Brag Navy Seal Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Docked on a Russian pond Posts: 7,072 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	You are right about hitting near the bow. You'll get one shot kills on all ships most of the time by hitting them just slightly forward of the foremast. Big exception are the blasted passenger/freight torpedoe gobblers __________________ Espionage, adventure, suspense, are just a click away Click here to look inside Brag's book: Amazon.com: Kingmaker: Alexey Braguine: Books Order Kingmaker here: http://www.subsim.com/store.html For Tactics visit:http://www.freewebs.com/kielman/

06-24-07, 06:19 AM	#7
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,500 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	This chart will give you some idea of the weak spots http://files.filefront.com/shipchart.../fileinfo.html __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

06-24-07, 09:19 PM	#8
Sawdust Planesman Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Quadrant DB22 Posts: 198 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Your idea of aiming for the bow sounds good. I just got finished sinking a C2 Cargo ship using up four (!) torpedoes. I'd disabled it with a T-IV acoustic torpedo which destroyed its propeller. I came back later to find it motionless, but afloat and, being that I happened upon it at an AOB of 180°, sent 1, then 2, torpedoes into its stern. These stern shots didn't seem to bother the ship at all except for starting a harmless fire. I had to re-position my sub and send the final torpedo into its port side to finish it off. I pr'y could've saved a couple of torpedoes if I'd hit it closer to the bow.:hmm: __________________ .-. --- ..- --. .... ... . .- ... .- .... . .- -..

06-25-07, 01:40 PM	#11
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,500 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	The ship should (in theory anyway) sink quicker the more compartments you put a hole in __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

06-23-07, 12:27 PM	#3
Avatar Commodore Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Way out there Posts: 603 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	I believe that the deck gun works equally as well when aiming at the bow.

06-23-07, 05:47 PM	#4
johnno74 Planesman Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 197 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	patterchon Patterchon, thats a nice pic but can you please change it to a jpeg? Itas a 2.5 mb bmp file Open it in your paint program (ms paint will even do it) and save as, and change it to jpeg and re-upload it to whatever site you have it on. it will drop to 1-200 kb. BTW is that the stock torpedo damage texture?

06-23-07, 05:55 PM	#5
KeptinCranky Ace of the Deep Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 1,050 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	Typical, I usually try to hit Large Merchants (C3) right between where you've hit it in the picture, this usually sinks them with one eel after 30 minutes maximum waiting for it, or if they're in a convoy and don't sink they generally straggle out of it at 1 or 2 knots after a few hours and you can pick 'em off later

06-24-07, 06:18 AM	#6
patterchon Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	@johnno74 U r right, I've changed the pic into a JPEG of smaller size. This damage texture is a mod called "torpedo damage final" of some modder here who's name i don't remember now. So it is not stock damage. I think in stock SH3 u can't see any damage on ships...

06-25-07, 12:26 PM	#9
maillemaker Sea Lord Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,639 Downloads: 75 Uploads: 0	I love that damage mod - I went and found it on the web and installed it. It's awesome to see a big hole blown in the side of the ship instead of the little smudge you get with stock SH3. Very cool. I think I read somewhere on the forums here that there is a problem with cumulative damage in SH3, so that if you punch a second torpedo into the same hole as the first one you won't do as much damage as if the two torpedoes struck in different parts of the ship. I notice in your photo you had shot the ship twice. I wonder if that accounts for what made the bow shot seem so powerful?

06-25-07, 12:37 PM	#10
Elysion Swabbie Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 10 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	Semi-related question So that german u-boat manual thing says that ships sink faster if they are taking on water only at one end, and slower if you put a hole into each end of them. Does SH3 reflect this? I think i read somewhere that sujested otherwise =/

06-25-07, 01:46 PM	#12
KeybdFlyer 中国水兵 Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 272 Downloads: 162 Uploads: 0	"Aim for the bow". "Aim for the stern". "Hit the engine room first". Geez - I consider myself lucky just to hit the damn ship!

06-25-07, 02:59 PM	#14
ReM Commodore Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Brewsky, Galore Posts: 618 Downloads: 19 Uploads: 0	Just installed the torpedo damage mod....didn't even know it existed....great stuff! Thanks for pointing it out patterchon! __________________ Daddy cool