For me the war is over

[RoaldLarsen]

Well, after nearly 200 patrols and nearly 4,000 days at sea, the war has come to an end. My last five careers ended in May 1945 with surrender in Loch Eriboll or in the dry dock in Norway.

I have run 38 careers that between them spanned the war years, with 6 or seven careers active at any one time. Half of those careers ended with a lost sub. Just over 4.5 million tons of allied ships were sunk.

On the whole, SH3 stands up as a good overall simulation of the u-boat experience in WWII. From Type IIs in the North Sea at the begining of the war, type VIIs going after convoys in the mid-Atlantic or task forces in the Med, to type IXs operating off the U.S coast and in the Caribbean, from the glory of the Happy Times to the terror of becoming the hunted instead of the hunter late in the war, the game captures all of the major experiences of the ubootwaffe. My thanks to the SH3 development team, to the authors of Harbor Traffic and RUB, and to Jaeson Jones for SH3 Commander.

A couple of major conclusions: the IX boat is a death trap and the worst enemy is not in the water but in the air. I had 11 careers in IXC and IXC/40s. Only two survived. Each of those only did 4 patrols. In contrast over 60% of my 21 type VII careers survived. Of the 19 losses I suffered, 14 were to aircraft, and another was set up by severe damage caused by aircraft.

So, what's next? It took me 3 years to get through the whole war. I'm not too likely to do that again. Before I find out if GWX will run on my ancient computer, I may take a shot at writing a tool to merge mods automatically. As long as two mods don't alter the same individual data values, it should be possible to merge mods that modify different lines in the same config files. At the very least I want a utility that will tell me what lines a given mod has changed or whether two mods have any conflict at the individual datum level. This will allow me to tune GWX to my own taste. Real Life in 2010 is looking to be very busy for me, so don't hold your breath waiting for a release. Perhaps SH5 will come out in working condition, and all I will have to do is buy a new computer to run it.

All my best to the Subsim community. Thanks to Neal for hosting us.

RoaldLarsen out.

[psykopatsak]

O.O IX death trap?

i find the extra tonnage from the torps friggin awesome! survived 22 patrols, with the only deaths by sheer idiocity. maybe one time have i been properly sunk - otherwise no problem. i am assuming you mean the slow dive time the largest problem? I found that staying on surface, gun the engine and turning somewhat towards the attacking plane makes them miss nine times out of ten. then with the radar warning reciever, its a no brainer to get away.

[RoaldLarsen]

Originally Posted by psykopatsak

O.O IX death trap?

i find the extra tonnage from the torps friggin awesome! survived 22 patrols, with the only deaths by sheer idiocity. maybe one time have i been properly sunk - otherwise no problem. i am assuming you mean the slow dive time the largest problem? I found that staying on surface, gun the engine and turning somewhat towards the attacking plane makes them miss nine times out of ten. then with the radar warning reciever, its a no brainer to get away.

Yeah, it's the slow dive times. If you are correct that you can avoid the bombs nine times out of ten on the surface, odds are you will not last a week after mid 1942. You will average more than one air attack per day before you even get to your patrol area, and the chance of surviving 7 straight attacks that each have a 10% chance of killing you is less than 50%. All those extra torpedoes won't do you any good when you're a wreck 1,000m down. My own observation is that about one air attack in 25 will kill you, in a IX boat. That's still too many for you to survive very long. Despite the extra torpedos, my VIIBs got more tonnage per patrol than my IXBs, and my VIICs got more tonnage per patrol than my IXCs.

What years are you running your patrols in? Before mid '42, survivability doesn't matter nearly as much. Then the extra torpedoes are worth it. After the air coverage is extended, the IX is usually a liability. I ran about 20 patrols in IXs before late '42. I lost one boat. I ran about 30 patrols in IXs from late '42 on. I lost 9 boats.

[psykopatsak]

i ran an IXD from the date it became avaidable in stock ('42?) to 1 march 1944 when i got my XXI. gor radar warning reciever when it came. it basically gives you a choice - youll have plenty of time to get to safe depth with it. also after first aircraft passes you can dive, because then he has to turn. and to speed up diving, raise the schnorkel, then you wont need to take a pause halfway submerged to switch engines.

also, everything except a direct hit can be survived, and whith a shallow depth even direct hits can be survived. since there are aircraft, there is no need to stay silent underwater - so damage can be repaired. granted, by that time my crew was pretty much an all iron crossed elite.

[RConch]

Really try to upgrade your existing machine if possible.
GWX 3.0 is worth it and that is not an idle statement.
Amazing detail and stable as a table.
Great work on your careers.
With GWX 3.0 it is a miracle for me to make it to '42 at 90% realism.

[psykopatsak]

i should mention that a while after i got my IXD, i got commander and GWX3.

[flag4]

Originally Posted by RoaldLarsen

Well, after nearly 200 patrols and nearly 4,000 days at sea, the war has come to an end. My last five careers ended in May 1945 with surrender in Loch Eriboll or in the dry dock in Norway.

I have run 38 careers that between them spanned the war years, with 6 or seven careers active at any one time. Half of those careers ended with a lost sub. Just over 4.5 million tons of allied ships were sunk.

On the whole, SH3 stands up as a good overall simulation of the u-boat experience in WWII. From Type IIs in the North Sea at the begining of the war, type VIIs going after convoys in the mid-Atlantic or task forces in the Med, to type IXs operating off the U.S coast and in the Caribbean, from the glory of the Happy Times to the terror of becoming the hunted instead of the hunter late in the war, the game captures all of the major experiences of the ubootwaffe. My thanks to the SH3 development team, to the authors of Harbor Traffic and RUB, and to Jaeson Jones for SH3 Commander.

A couple of major conclusions: the IX boat is a death trap and the worst enemy is not in the water but in the air. I had 11 careers in IXC and IXC/40s. Only two survived. Each of those only did 4 patrols. In contrast over 60% of my 21 type VII careers survived. Of the 19 losses I suffered, 14 were to aircraft, and another was set up by severe damage caused by aircraft.

So, what's next? It took me 3 years to get through the whole war. I'm not too likely to do that again. Before I find out if GWX will run on my ancient computer, I may take a shot at writing a tool to merge mods automatically. As long as two mods don't alter the same individual data values, it should be possible to merge mods that modify different lines in the same config files. At the very least I want a utility that will tell me what lines a given mod has changed or whether two mods have any conflict at the individual datum level. This will allow me to tune GWX to my own taste. Real Life in 2010 is looking to be very busy for me, so don't hold your breath waiting for a release. Perhaps SH5 will come out in working condition, and all I will have to do is buy a new computer to run it.

All my best to the Subsim community. Thanks to Neal for hosting us.

RoaldLarsen out.

i am tempted to say you sound exhausted Mr. RoaldLarsen!

i wish you all the best for 2010 and also wish i could learn from your expereince.
it is a shame you are standing down: GOOD LUCK Her Kaleun!