General Questions

[Renesisfury]

Hello, I just recently got a copy of SH4, and after playing a while I have some hopefully easy questions. Both times that I have found a convoy, it has been in quite bad weather, and my watch normally can't identify ships, or spot them until I am maybe 300 yards away, should I just tail the convoy until there is better weather?

Also, after my first patrol where I got into a gunnery duel with a destroyer in the middle of a convoy, all the damage was fixed by my damage control party. When I got back to base, the game told me that I was getting a new boat because my old one was so shot up?

Also, just general tatics would be helpful.

Cheers!

[rrmelend]

As far as tactics go it is mostly personal choice but you might want to check out this thread: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=125067. You should be able to find some useful info there.

As far as the convoys during bad weather I do not like to personally fire at anything under 400 yards. I find that most of the time I've shot at something closer my torps pass under too deep to explode. You could probably mess with the depth setting but I've even tried 6 feet and shot at a full tanker and had it go under with no explosion. So for me if the weather is that bad I will try and plot where the convoy will be in 24hrs and get there first to make another attack.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by Renesisfury

or spot them until I am maybe 300 yards away,

Boy been there done that. Its quite exelerating when a DD pops out of the rain right on top of you.

You can try to tail the convoy and wait for the weather to clear, or you can give up in frustration, or you can take your chances and try not to get mowed down.

Since youve got bad weather you can estimate the convoys course and race ahead a bit and lay in wait for a close firing solution.

Thats about it for your list of choices.

[Renesisfury]

Also, I want to get credit for my kills, how many fish should I be giving to each ship in a convoy attack where I just want the thing to go down quickly? I played AOD II and other sub sims, where I was much more carefull with how many fish I used on a target.

[rrmelend]

Originally Posted by Renesisfury

Also, I want to get credit for my kills, how many fish should I be giving to each ship in a convoy attack where I just want the thing to go down quickly? I played AOD II and other sub sims, where I was much more carefull with how many fish I used on a target.

Afraid there is no definite answer to this. Small freighters will usually take 1-2, medium to large will take from 2-3 but these are just approximations. I've seen large tankers take 1 and just totally explode and go down and I've also has a small split frieghter take 4 torps. I'm sure others will give you there advice as well.

[Rockin Robbins]

Continue shooting until desired results are attained.

[Roger Dodger]

Originally Posted by Renesisfury

Hello, I just recently got a copy of SH4, and after playing a while I have some hopefully easy questions. Both times that I have found a convoy, it has been in quite bad weather, and my watch normally can't identify ships, or spot them until I am maybe 300 yards away, should I just tail the convoy until there is better weather?

Also, after my first patrol where I got into a gunnery duel with a destroyer in the middle of a convoy, all the damage was fixed by my damage control party. When I got back to base, the game told me that I was getting a new boat because my old one was so shot up?

Also, just general tatics would be helpful.

Cheers!

If you have Surface Search RADAR , you should be depending on your Attack Map. The ships will show up very nice (even when they are grey) to allow you to adjust your speed/course for the best firing position. It will be pretty constant adjusting until you can get a good lookout ID (target on the map will turn red). You will usually be within 500 yards of your target, so be prepared to fire your torpedo (I use one for this shot), and immediatly hit Emergency Back. Its not politically correct to ram your target and stopping your forward motion takes quite awhile even at Emergency Back. Also, this will put your boat in a better firing position for the next heavy in the line (if there is more than one target). If that second ship is an escort, chances are he is going to try to run over you, so be prepared! Foul weather attacks are real nail biters!

Keep in mind that you are responsible for 80 other lives, a multi-million dollar weapons platform, and a price tag of $10,000 each for your torpedoes. Try not to waste any of them.

My last patrol (USS Balao, October '43, South China Sea) was in the middle of the Typhoon of the Century. I ran into two small convoys of two heavies each with no escorts. Both attacks were RADAR setups surfaced, and all shots were within 500 yards. Tojo lost a lot of AvGas and munitions on those two attacks.