Deck gun elevation questions

I'm not a big user of my deck gun --especially in the latter half of the war!!-- but I do often use it for cripples and small-chump-change merchies. One thing I've noticed, and adjust for, is the elevation: if the target is, for instance, 1,400 metres distant I adjust the elevation between 1,200-1,300 metres to hit the waterline. No big deal.

However . . .

There doesn't seem any way of lowering the elevation below 500 meters. Alas, the closer you are to the target the better your aim, but once it is within 700 metres it seems virtually impossible to lay fire at their waterline.

Is there a way of changing the minimum elevation of the deck gun from 500 metres to, say, 100 or 200 metres?

Also, two additional, rather irritating, things are the 'default' elevation, and the elevation traverse speed. For instance, I click F10, then tab. The elevation it starts at is quite random, and has varied between 500 to 8,000 metres! (Although, admittedly, it usually is between 500 and 2,000). That's not so bad. But if I tab again for increased magnification, then decide that the higher magnification makes it too difficult to keep watch of the barrel end (so I'm only firing when the gun is stable and not bobbing up and down), instead of it 'remembering' my set elevation it just up and goes and sets another random elevation. It does the same if I leave the deck gun station for any reason (binocs, UZO, crew management, etc.) and then return to the deck gun station: the elevation is random.

Is there any fix for that?

Neither are 'biggies' per se, as the deck gun (for me, anyway) is, as I'd mentioned, an adjunct and assist, and not my primary focus. But it would be nice to be able to do something about this, especially the minimum elevation.

Danke!

Originally Posted by Albrecht Von Hesse

Is there a way of changing the minimum elevation of the deck gun from 500 metres to, say, 100 or 200 metres?

Yes, there is. When you go to F10, do NOT zoom in. Use the cross-hairs that you see at F10. If you're within 500 meters you should easily be able to aim without zooming in.

[Turm]

Originally Posted by Albrecht Von Hesse

Also, two additional, rather irritating, things are the 'default' elevation, and the elevation traverse speed. For instance, I click F10, then tab. The elevation it starts at is quite random, and has varied between 500 to 8,000 metres!

As well as using the non-zoomed view to shoot below the waterline at close range, as von Zelda said above, you can control the 'default' elevation when you zoom. It seems it's entirely related to where the non-zoomed crosshair is pointed at the moment you press Tab or roll your mousewheel to zoom in.

If you want to shoot at a ship that's 2km away, raise the red crosshair up above the horizon a little then zoom, and you'll find the ranged distance is quite high. Point the crosshair at the water and zoom in, and it'll default to 500m.

It also used to bug me that I had to increase the range greatly for ships that were far out, but then I realised I could lift the barrel manually before zooming and it was all taken care of. Give it a go and see if it helps. It did for me, unless I've been having strange dreams.

[Abd_von_Mumit]

Originally Posted by Turm

As well as using the non-zoomed view to shoot below the waterline at close range, as von Zelda said above, you can control the 'default' elevation when you zoom. It seems it's entirely related to where the non-zoomed crosshair is pointed at the moment you press Tab or roll your mousewheel to zoom in.

If you want to shoot at a ship that's 2km away, raise the red crosshair up above the horizon a little then zoom, and you'll find the ranged distance is quite high. Point the crosshair at the water and zoom in, and it'll default to 500m.

It also used to bug me that I had to increase the range greatly for ships that were far out, but then I realised I could lift the barrel manually before zooming and it was all taken care of. Give it a go and see if it helps. It did for me, unless I've been having strange dreams.

However I almost stopped using deck gun, that advice is really worth every word in it! Thanks, that elevation behaviour drove me mad!

von Zelda and Turm, thank you both for your advice and suggestions. I really appreciate it. Now, if the weather ever clears ::grumbles:: and I actually run across something ::mutters:: I'll try them out!