First war patrol in LSH2015 - wow!

[K-61]

I started my first career in LSH 2015 [after doing the naval academy] pre-war at the Erpro flotilla. I enabled malfunctions and sabotage [though I wonder if the game models sabotage in German bases] and just about every realism setting I could enhance. Did my training patrol in IIA 'duck' and was surprised by the variety of new ships in the game. On my way to the training area where I had to sink the two target ships, I saw several Soviet military vessels at sea!

On my return, I transferred to 2nd Flotilla and took a duck to war. My patrol grid was off the northwest coast of the U.K. but I wondered if I was every going to get there. I played around with the speeds and navigator reports until I got a speed that would allow me enough fuel to traverse out and in plus allow me some cruise time in my patrol zone.

It didn't take long until the weather soured, slowing down my boat. Increasing the telegraph I noticed also led to worse fuel economy, so I reluctantly throttled back to five knots. On the way out I received a convoy report; yes, it is fun hunting for a convoy with a duck in bad weather. I made several sound checks by diving and eventually worked my way to within sight of a small convoy. Reluctantly, I had to let the convoy go as its speed was just high enough that I would be burning so much fuel trying to get into place, and that I would not be able to do it before daylight. The speed difference caused by the sea state decided me that the risk to reward was not worth it, so I veered off to get out of sight before daylight and returned to my outward course.

Off the north coast of the U.K. near the Orkneys, I encountered several single vessels and was able to maneuver into attack position. Over three attacks I expended all five torpedoes. One missed just to aft, the other four were accurate, but to my chagrin sailed way under the vessels without detonating. I set impact triggers on all of them, due to the sea state and set them to run about two to four metres, due to sea state and vessel draft. Arrrgghhh! One miss and four deep runners.

I am assuming this was due either to "malfunctions and sabotage" and/or the "torpedo scandal" modeled into the game, as well as the diminished accuracy of the weapons officer [I am using auto targeting]. On the one hand, I am disappointed that I had to report to Onkel Karl that I had wasted five valuable eels and a load of diesel to come back skunked. On the other hand, I am very much enjoying the uncertainty factor and it feels more historical to me. I am not a fan of an arcade experience, even when using auto-target. I have always imposed on myself my own "reality rules" so as to make my careers conform more to historical score levels. Without these, I could easily have "100K" patrols, but it never felt realistic. With these new settings, I can still use the Weapons Officer but still not feel as if I am cheating. I've tried in the past do do manual, but the math makes my head hurt. I really suck at estimating angles and speeds. I figure that if I use realism rules and procedures, I can "pretend" that I am the one giving the WO the inputs.

Anyhow, just wanted to say that I am very much enjoying being back at sea and my hats off to all of you modders who generously share your work with the community.

[K-61]

Oh, one question. I think I know the answer is "yes" but it would be nice to have it confirmed.

I gather from what I have read that if I wish to upgrade to a newer boat, I first have to transfer to Erpro to get it? I know in the old game you simply had to buy it with renown points. Am I correct in assuming that no longer works, and that if you wish to get a new boat you first have to transfer to Erpro? What about upgrades, like new guns and turrets, etc.?

[K-61]

Just finished my second war patrol. Better luck this time, but it didn't seem so at first. My first three torpedoes did the deep dive again. I am sure this is related to stormy sea states, at least in part.

After the weather calmed down to 6 or 7 winds, I found a small unescorted convoy in the North Sea. I lined up the fattest ship [C2] and let it have an electic eel, followed by a steam torp. Both torpedoes hit and detonated, but after hours of waiting, the ship did not sink.

I even tried [for fun and experimental purposes, testing the new game, not for reality's sake] to approach and rake the ship with my 20mm AA gun. I raked over the gun positions and knocked out two of the three searchlights. Some secondary explosions on deck occurred, but then I began to take fire from the guns. I thought I had suppressed several of them, but when I began to take damage I crash dived away, repaired damage and set sail for home.

Before leaving, I marked the ship's position and came back the next day, carefully approaching in the dark. It still had not sunk, just sat there listing to port. I returned to base; never did get a "ship sunk" message and my logbook showed no victory.

Well, at least I know I can get my fish to explode on target.

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi K-61

You could have started with a VIIB.
Equipment upgrades are all date related.
U-boat upgrades you will be informed by radio when different types are available.
When you dock you need to transfer i.e. in your case VIIA to VIIB.
You then go on a test mission as you did with your VIIA.
The problem with your VIIA is you will still be sent to the same places as if you had a VIIB and you will struggle with fuel.
You will also notice that the weather changes quite frequently.
You will also notice the frequent high wind speed that makes the guns un-operable.
The one thing I do not quite understand is the Flak Gun in the winter garden I would have thought it would be usable at more moderate wind speeds.
You will also be informed by radio of bases you can end your patrol in.
These are mainly on the French coast and Bergen in Norway.
I have a type IXB and it is really awesome. (21 torpedoes)
Completed 9 patrols including 2 test missions (VIIB Stralsund - IXB Kaseburg)
Really enjoying this game which comes with a big choice of merchants.

Peter

[K-61]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I start each game using SH3 Commander. When I choose a different flotilla than Erpro, to try getting a VIIB, SH3 Cmdr does not show any other boats being available.

Also, I think you misread my post, I did my first patrols with a IIA [2A] not a VIIB [7B.] I know the Roman numeral system can confuse the eye.

I was offered command of a newer boat at the end of my second war patrol, but I was farting around in my saved game list and accidentally wiped out a vital save file and lost my captain. It has been years since I did something like that, but I am relearning to be careful.

I am now putting out to sea again with a new Kaleun in 1939 after having done my first Erpro training run. This time I did not sink the two target ships, as the tonnage for them keeps showing up in my war career as tonnage sunk. I merely went out to my my training zone for 24 hours and RTB'd.

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi K-61

Sorry, I meant IIA.

I also made a big error and wiped out 6 patrols and had to start a new career.
Will not do that again.
With all the game saves building up in the menu, is it important or not to delete old ones?
I assume it would have to be done from the V15 folder in documents.

Yes, you always start with SH3 Commander.

What a difference it is having a base on the French coast and not having to use Wilhelmshaven each time.
The game reminds you however before its final load that your home German base is still Wilhelmshaven.

I wish the recognition manual was split in to categories like SH5.
It takes such a long time to find each target and even if you use the Officer for the solution you still need to know the ships draft.
If you have to pause the game each time to find the ship the pause band covers part of the ship type.

I have sunk 44 different ship types so far I now keep on a spreadsheet showing tonnage and draft for easy reference.
I sank my first warship HMS CL Dido 5600 tons on the last patrol that was in a large convoy by mistake when it took a torpedo that was meant for a merchant.
Biggest targets to date.
2 x T3 Tankers (e) 18000 tons
2 x Passenger Liners 21,000 tons.
I use the G7e in the day and G7a at night.
The slower speed gives you a little extra time to get deep.
And you need it as it so painfully slow getting the boat down quietly without drawing attention to your position.

You were talking about equipment upgrades.
With the VIIB this will most likely be the hydrophone.
On patrol 8 IXB I was able to upgrade my winter garden flak gun to a twin.
I have the larger 3.7cm on the deck.
To date with the type IXB I have not used them.
I always start with the Flak gun/s manned when coming into and out of port as well as Shift+F for the flag.
In Wilhemshaven VIIB I was just leaving the dock at the start of a new patrol and of course there is no bunker and immediately got caught up in an air raid.

With my type VIIB my flak gunner was killed on patrol 5 after taking out 3 Fairy Swordfish with his pop gun.
One came down and nearly took the back of the boat off, a real near miss that one and I was able to repair the damage.
That was a wake up call and now I give aircraft a little more respect rather than trying to take them on.

When you end your patrol and give out your promotions and medals you should be able use the telephone on the desk and transfer to Eprobungstelle.
At this point you need to exit the game.
When the game loads next time you should then see any boat upgrades available.

Each time you upgrade your boat you need to do a test mission give out promotions etc, as you take your existing crew with you and then transfer again as before.

Testing mission with the type IXB in Kaseburg.
What a nightmare that place is to get out of.
So many channel buoys etc had to take the boat out manually as the way point positions did not make sense.

Patrol 8 ended in Lorient, not easy navigating in that one to find the bunker.
Patrol 9 ended in Brest, easier to navigate in and much bigger bunker complex.
Waiting to start patrol 10 tonight from Brest, and now have quite an experienced crew with over 13000 points.
Will probably need that experience if I get sent to the English south coast.

The only crew difference between the VIIB and IXB is 2 additional sailors I presume for the Flak slots.
I have a dedicated Flak Crew of 3 with 2 qualified.
I only have 1 dedicated Deck Gunner who is qualified and I use 2 from the bridge crew which is useful as these are easy to move around.

I think I may do a spread sheet and keep a record of what the most prolific patrol grid is.

Peter

[K-61]

Peter, nice to hear from you as always.

I figured out how to get to sea at the start of war in a VIIB. I am now outward bound, having just traversed the canal to use the shortcut to the North Sea, where my patrol zone is just off Hartlepool. Now that was a new experience. I recall having spotted something about sluice gates. First time I ran right into one and damaged the boat. It took some observation time to realize that they were an actual in-game barrier and thus a nav hazard, but that they also cycled open and closed for passage, if you just wait for them. How clever!

I did not change anything on the boat for the first patrol. I have heard there is a notorious bug from stock that is still around, whereby the safest thing to do on a career first patrol is not change anything on the boat: crew, weapons, torpedo layout, etc. I cannot ever recall personally experiencing this bug, as I used to load a few electrics and recruit a few extra crewmen, but just to be safe, last night I took my new VIIB out with no changes at all.

It took me forever and a day to traverse the canal as the watch crew kept calling out the sighting of every plane, ship and schnitzel cart in sight and thus knocking my TC back to 1 every time. I kept hitting the TC key like I was sending out the distress signal from RMS Titanic! All of this while I was watching an episode of "Lark Rise to Candleford" on our bedroom TV set. I told my wife I wasn't planning on sailing during our nightly pre-bed routine of watching an English show, just needed to get out of the canal and then save/exit the game.

I know there is a mod wherein it knocks out the non-stop "ship sighted" blathering from the crew, but is it compatible with LSH2015? If so, I would like to give it a try after this current patrol.

And try as I might, I cannot find a user's mod for LSH 2015. I know there is a mini-manual from 2010, an installation instruction manual, etc. but I cannot find a manual that is for the day to day playing of the mod. I've checked in the "manuals" folder that came with the mod download. Am I myopic or is there no such thing?

Sorry if I seem to be asking questions with apparent answers and thus testing your patience, gang.

I did read a few threads and wrote out a Word file with as much as I could find about new keyboard commands and shortcuts and printed it off so as to have it to hand during gameplay.

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi K-61

Another enjoyable and newsy post.
Oh, those sluice gates.
Yes, I have had the misfortune to have the slight mishap.
Way points I do not use any more in the harbor.

I would suggest using the single sluice gate on the left as you leave the dock rather than the two in front of you.
On the map it looks like there are two of them but there is only one to the right on the map.
The alignment is better both going out and coming back in.
When returning and using the sluice gate is now an option as you can dock before entering the sluice.

The officer shouting out the bearing is a nuisance, but it should allow you to have a default TC of 8.
Each time the bearing turns white you can ramp up the TC again until it changes colour again, and then it should return to 8.

I really like the ambiance of this game, as it is unlike any of the other SH versions.
Taking the boat out in real time maybe taking 20 minutes to do so before moving to more open waters.
The people, the band, the cranes moving backwards and forwards.
The guard patrolling above the sluice, even that manic motor boat that cuts right across you, that on one occasion I purposely hit just added to my shear enjoyment of this game.
Standing on the bridge and steering manually out to open waters is something I never tire of.
Using the binoculars at various points of interest.
Using the UZO and identifying the various ships is also something I particularly enjoy.

The only time I believe you should not do anything with your boat or crew is on your very first patrol after you do the tutorial and the test mission.
Having done those now this will not be a further concern again on any future boat upgrades.

I would be interested in a mod that shuts the officer up.
There was a similar problem in SH5 when the officer kept saying " We are in shallow waters" all the time.
This was fixed with a mod that shut him up permanently but you still saw the comment in the message box.

Unfortunately there is not a manual that comes with the 2015 version.
There are quite a few of single EN PDF's in the manual folder.
The 2010 mini manual does contain some interesting and relevant information.
I would say these individual pages 7-12-15-16-19-27-33-45 are the ones of most interest.

Some of the F1 keyboard commands do not work, or are different on the EN keyboard.
@ = All Stop not ~
: = Snorkel depth not ;
# = Rudder amidships not '

You can use CTRL+F11 to put each section of the F1 key commands in to your main SH3 folder and then cut and paste them to a place of your choice for easy reference when the game is not loaded.

Good hunting
Peter

[K-61]

Thanks for the info, Pete. Some I knew, some I did not.

I have just returned from my first war patrol in a VIIB out of Kiel. Made the transit in and out of the canal. Thanks for the tip on the sluice. I found that it was best to stop the boat [which takes some farting about with the telegpraph!] and wait for it to open. Same exiting the sluice.

I do enjoy the eye candy once in a while, but after all the time you spend loading and tweaking the game, I'd rather not spend so much time close to land and just want to be free of it. I am going to try installing the mod that shuts up the frequent "ship sighted" reports and see how it works in the game. I've never used it before, but now with all the gorgeous eye candy and the numerous ships [I even saw, once in port and once at sea a side wheeler; did the South rise again?] it is exasperating trying to get out on time compression. I am happy with 128 or even 256, with a carefully plotted course.

Note that this is not a complaint, just an observation. What I like is you can play this game any way you like.

Another mod I think I might have and want to try is the "all weather guns." Not for cheating, but so that I might use my flak gun up in the wintergarden. We know this is all tied to the game engine, but I have seen conditions when you could man the flak gun even though the lower deck is awash. As Kaleun, I wish to have final say, not the weather man.

Oh, patrol report, almost forgot. I am finding torpedo attacks in stormy weather just about not worth even trying, at least at the beginning of the war [yes, I know about the modeling of the torpedo scandal, and agree with the mod made to reflect it] with just about every one of my torpedoes running too deep. I managed to sink two ships with torpedoes, but almost every torpedo fired in rough weather was a deep runner.

I eventually hauled off from the Hartlepool grid and sailed up west of the Shetlands before I had calm enough weather to get to my externals. It was late afternoon and I was waiting for it to get darker when a Tribal class destroyer hove into view from astern. She was really booking it and I had to dive away. Then I heard more warship screws and came up for a look. A three battleship task force! And there I was with only one steam fish in a bow tube and one steam torp in the stern tube. Not worth messing with that pack of dogs; I let them run.

A couple of times I ran into those small unescorted convoys [thank you, modders, not every convoy had an escort in the early years] and in the old days it would have been a massacre, but the new game mods make that very unlikely. Nice to see some historical reality. On the way back, I had one steamer in my stern tube and found two lake freighters sailing alone. I took out one with the last fish, and deck gunned the other. And then one last deck gun engagement with a four ton freighter, which sank. I let the crew manage the deck gun but I did have a bit of strafing fun with the flak gun.

Five ships for 19965 tons in my new Kaleun's maiden patrol.

I had one glitch which caused me to have to task-manager my way out of a lock-up that was induced by pressing Ctrl+F11 to take a screenshot. Totally froze up and no way out but task manager. It's been so many years I can't even remember if Ctrl+F11 is the combo for a screenshot.

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi K61

Docked in Brest was a big mistake.
Should have docked in my new home base Lorient.
Refitted but no external torpedoes replaced.

I did however find a bit of a cheat mode.
When I loaded the game I exited the game to dock in Brest.
This had 3 actions.
Each crew member gained 1 point.
A crew qualification also became available.
No patrol grid reference.
I did not cheat and use the qualification.
I deleted this last save.
So my patrol 10 with no patrol area has still become quite lucrative with 8 small vessels to date.

Hope your game is going ok?

Peter

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi K-61

In my last post I said that I did not have any external torpedoes.
When I loaded the game tonight they mysteriously appeared.

CTRL+F11 is correct for the screen shot, it is just annoying that the WO wants the flak gun to fire.

I have a mod that Magic put me on to that you mentioned about in an earlier post that you might be interested in.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...&postcount=198

Peter

[K-61]

Thanks, Pete. I believe I have that one in my mods archive, but I was hesitant to try it in LSH, in case it might be incompatible. Has anyone tried it yet with LSH?

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi K-61
I tested both versions of the mod and neither worked.

Patrol 11 Lorient to patrol grid EH92
25% fuel used at Ahead 1/3rd
Some rich pickings off Freetown.
Heavy amount of fuel used to reach 2 convoys at Ahead full.

Peter

[K-61]

Returning to base from my first career patrol in a VIIB out of Kiel. Was assigned to AM39. Rounding the top of the British Isles, cutting close to the Orkneys, I pounced on a single freighter. I gave it one eel and surfaced to finish it off with the deck gun. While I am in this engagement, my watch crew calls out multiple contacts coming down on us from the north.

This was weird, but LSH is proving to be an interesting mod... a small fishing fleet consisting of two large trawlers and three or four crab cutters. What could I do? They had already seen me, and aside of that, they were flying the British flag. We must be hard in this war... if the British have to be starved into peace, then so be it. No seafood in Scotland tonight, I am afraid.

I decided to take a shortcut to my patrol zone by going through the channel of the Hebrides. What a target-rich environment and lightly guarded. The only ASW vessel I saw was a trawler, which I evaded in time to avoid. Unusually for me, the sea was glassy calm and visibility was excellent. Rather than waste an eel on such a paltry target, I dove and proceeded for several hours to the southwest. While under, my hydrophones picked up a merchantman coming up the channel. When far enough away from the trawler, I surfaced and closed the distance. One eel into a freighter then finish with the deck gun... but running as fast as it can [but not faster than me] comes that trawler.

I was making a clean get away, but in the meantime, visibility began to be reduced by a light fog. But heavy enough for a plane to make a run on me. Broke a few things and forced me down... which allowed the trawler to get close enough to sniff around for a bit. No permanent damage to subsystems but knocked my hull integrity down to 76%. Had to be more careful after that.

Towards nightfall we surface and complete repairs. Several more targets and I am out of torpedoes, and running low on deck gun ammo. I was even firing star shells at small stuff. My last HE and most of my remaining rounds of AP were used to engage a large merchant, successfully. Exiting the Hebrides I decided to take the 24 hours through my patrol zone, around the top of the British Isles [no way am I going back up that channel with empty tubes and deck gun] and am now in the North Sea getting close to the Heimat. Thought I would inform my fellow Kaleunen before returning to base and give them a tip about this juicy hunting ground. One word of caution: it is not very deep through there in many spots. Mind your depth under keel in case of the need to crash dive. It is all too easy to hit the bottom at speed in a moment of panic. Keep asking the nav for the depth and study your charts. There are deeper parts; just look for the darker shades of blue on your charts. Although Loch Ewe is close to the eastern entrance to the channel, ASW patrols early-war are light. You should be alright as long as you are prudent. I would not try this area later in the war. I can't say from experience, but I would imagine being that close to land your odds of being jumped from the air go up.

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi K-61

Thanks for your patrol news.

In the areas that you mention you are very lucky to have been able to use your deck gun.
My experiences with all patrols has been some what limited of being able to use the deck gun due rough seas.
If you had had a type IXB with the 3.7cm flak gun would you have been able to have used it to take those smaller crafts out?
I like the way the weather changes in this game after a certain time.

I also had a situation with one convoy where the fog and sea was so bad I could not pick the targets up until it was too late and they were past me.
Being on the outside these are normally the small ships and I was not going to waste torpedoes and so let the convoy go.

I was wary of the channel below Stornoway in case it was mined.
In SH5 there is always some pairs of those small trawlers running back and forth and also a DD on the bend running to and fro across the channel.

Loch Ewe is the base for AMC's and these are pretty chunky targets.

I have noticed a problem when I want to go to Ahead Flank the telegraph drops the speed to Ahead Slow.
This happens surfaced and submerged.
The best I can get is Ahead Full.
I thought at first it might be something to do with the rough weather and not damaging the engines, but then it would not happen when submerged with electric engines.

I nearly met my end when I noticed for some reason the telegraph had moved to Ahead Standard without me noticing it.
I usually delete all way points so that cannot happen.
Luckily I escaped without any damage.

I also received some hull damage a while back 77% when I did not realize until too late that one of the convoy ships in the first row hit my winter garden and also did damage to the flak gun.
All was repaired apart from the hull.
I have 3 qualified repair men now available.

Apparently I should not changed my home base just because I received new bases where available in the radio messages.
I have been told that I should have waited for a pop up whatever that is.

I have just completed a long haul back from EH92 and picked up a few loose targets heading for Gibraltar.
I am currently in Vigo refitting from a ship which means no PQ grid when I start my next patrol number 12.
Also I have to change the default number of days in port from 21 to 1 and then I need to change them back again when I reach my home port Lorient.

I have made up a spread sheet of all my destroyed ships.
I am going to use it to see where the best grid action is for when I get situations where I do not have a patrol grid.

I really like the diversity of ships available in this mod.
So far in 11 patrols I have not come across a task force yet.
I think I might head back towards Gibraltar and see what is about.

Peter