Deadly 1.4

[Elder-Pirate]

December 25th 1941 01:25 hours. These are the most elite Akizuki DD's and Agano light cruisers ( Akizuki showing in first pic ) I've ever seen in SH4. There were four Cruisers and nine DD's protecting six Tyohei Maru"s ( small passenger ships ) about 50nm east of north tip of Luzon ( roughly 18 degrees north, 120 degrees east ).



They picked me up probably when my sonar showed them at 9 1/2 nm ( I was on the surface yet.....Super sonar ). Using the , key I watched the passenger ships come to a crawl and scatter in all directions and I wasn't anywhere near close enough to fire a torp to scare them. At 1 knot at PD I finally snuck up on them to about 2500 ft. when here they come, Cruisers and the DD's.

We played cat & mouse for about 4 hours and no way could I get in a position to hit any of the passenger ships. ( These guys were good )

Finally at 190' below two prowling DD's I found a small chance for one of the Tyohei Maru's was heading my way. Gave the command for "Silent Running", "All Stop", "Periscope Depth". Slowly the sub rose toward the surface and the little passenger ship was getting closer. 54 feet, up periscope and there the little bugger was at 3 knots and 850 feet bearing 30. Open tube door #2.....whoosh. Torpedo in the water.




Back to 190 feet and got the hell out of there for oxygen was getting at the 60% mark.

This is almost stock 1.4 except for some texture stuff but nothing to change the AI.
I came close to ditching the whole Sim for being buggy again but then I thought "Hey, the DEV's have let their hair down and made the Japanese Navy tough."

Don't recall any history of the Japanese being so swift in 1941 and it wasn't like this in 1.3 and before that I've found anyway.
Oh well I guess I'd better get an elite crew next time at port. ( if I've enough renown that is.)

Anyone else think it's rougher going in 1.4?

[AVGWarhawk]

I really did not get a chance to play 1.4 AI. I loaded Peto's longer evasion mod that made some real killers out of a few select warships. Looked like a fun time

[tater]

Good thing there were neither Aganos nor Akizukis in 1941 in RL.



tater

[mrbeast]

Originally Posted by tater

Good thing there were neither Aganos nor Akizukis in 1941 in RL.



tater

LOL! Nice thread Elder-Pirate, regardless of historical accuracy, situations like this are the 'bread and butter' of SH4. Some people think its like shooting fish in a barrel compared to U boats in the Atlantic, but its stories and situations like this that keep me interested!

[tater]

Love the star shell shot, BTW.


tater

[kiwi_2005]

I played it for a few hrs before i installed a mod sunk a lone mechant but never came across DD to fully test it. But thats good to know that the stock AI have been upped. I think now i'll have one campaign for mods and one campaign for stock gameplay

[Elder-Pirate]

Originally Posted by tater

Good thing there were neither Aganos nor Akizukis in 1941 in RL.



tater

Yes but the "Agano" was in the water December of 1941. Probably where the DEVs got the idea?

Class and type:Agano class cruiserOrdered:1939 Fiscal YearLaid down:18 June 1940Launched:22 October 1941Commissioned:31 October 1942[1]Struck:31 March 1944Status:sunk 15 February 1944 by USS Skate north of Truk
10°11′N, 151°42′EGeneral characteristicsDisplacement:6,652 tons (standard); 7,590 tons (loaded)Length:162 metersBeam:15.2 metersDraught:5.6 metersPropulsion:4 shaft Gihon geared turbines
6 Kampon boilers
100,000 shpSpeed:35 knots (67 km/h)Range:6000 nautical miles at 18 knotsComplement:726Armament:6 × 6.1-inch (152 mm) Type 41 guns (3x2)
4 × 76 mm guns,
32 x 25 mm Type 96 AA guns
8 × 610 mm torpedo tubes (4x2)
16 depth chargesArmor:60 mm (belt)
20 mm (deck)Aircraft carried:






2 x floatplane, 1 catapult



You are right about the "Akizuki" though for she wasn't completely built until June 11th 1942.


AH jeez the lights are flickering again, damned ash cans. Gotta go.

[tater]

Agano was registered in the IJN in October of 1942.

A hull being in the water doesn't make it a functional warship, they get them out of the ways ASAP because the need the space for the next warship. That is what "launched" means. Broken bottle on the bows and all that. She might not have even had a superstructure. The fitting out is done afloat. Agano couldn't have put to sea in December of 1941... period.

[Elder-Pirate]

Originally Posted by tater

Agano was registered in the IJN in October of 1942.

A hull being in the water doesn't make it a functional warship, they get them out of the ways ASAP because the need the space for the next warship. That is what "launched" means. Broken bottle on the bows and all that. She might not have even had a superstructure. The fitting out is done afloat. Agano couldn't have put to sea in December of 1941... period.

I did not say she was to sea, I said she was in the water and maybe that is where the DEVs got the idea of the "Agano". Jeez don't have a heart attack.

I think maybe I have the names wrong of the Cruiser and the DD. But the story is true and now to get it right I will go to a save just before the battle and take a pick of the Cruiser plus its ID. Maybe no one else cares but I do.


SH4 Agano:

[UnitClass]
ClassName=CLAgano
UnitType=6
AppearanceDate=19421031 My date is wrong according to this.
DisappearanceDate=19460702
DisplayName=JP CL Agano



SH4 Akizuki

[UnitClass]
ClassName=DDAkizuki
UnitType=4
AppearanceDate=19410701 Got this one right
DisappearanceDate=19690101
DisplayName=JP DD Akizuki

OK let me go get killed. Whatever the Cruisers name she was good.

[tater]

Wasn't getting on your back. It was more a poke at the stock campaign . The invasion of Malaya, etc, in the stock game has no fewer than SIXTY Akizukis in it. It's the most common DD in the SH4 world in 1941. The most common CL? Agano. Neither should be in the campaign at all that early, and they should be stunningly rare until 1943, when they would just be "rare."

tater

[Elder-Pirate]

Got the DD right but the Cruiser was wrong and I do apologize to everyone for it was a "Mogami Heavy Cruiser"




Still don't know where I got "Agano". Sorry.

[tater]

No worries, Agano IS very likely in the stock game in that time period, so it's not at all out of the question

tater