Dud torpedo option

[Siegeswimpel]

I've been on silent hunter for yonks but have never enabled dud torpedoes. I feel that the frustration would be just too much. IMO it wouldn't be a challenge, it wouldn't be stimulating, it would be just plain annoying. Thing is, i'm starting to consider it. Is this a good move? Does 'dud torpedoes' have any merits?
I think i've read somewhere on this forum, that even with the dud torpedo option switched on, a hit/ explosion will always occur if conditions are perfect. ie angle of impact, weather conditions, depth etc. :hmm:

[Canovaro]

Yes dud torpedo is not such a big thing after all. It only challenges you to set up a good shot. If you set up a good shot you will hardly ever witness a dud. In fact I never had any duds at all since I set up shots less then 1km and use more impacts. So it only adds renown imo.

[melnibonian]

The Dud Torpedo Option adds a probability of a torpedo to be dud. I don't know how much the probability is but it is small (much smaller than in real life actually). I have been playing SH3, GW 1.1a and GWX for quite some time now and I can assure you I have fired a torpedo in perfect conditions and experience a dud. In my opinion it adds to the realism.

[siber]

I think the dud torps option is useful for two reasons:

Firstly, when you play realistically with manual targetting and without the event camera, you won't know whether you missed the shot or it was a dud (I expect I usually miss, but - when there's no boom - I tell the crew that the torps are dud, obviously! ). This leads to the second point.

Secondly, because of the first point, I generally fire salvoes (often, if I'm confident of my aiming, at a small spread angle of 1-3 degrees) of two or three torps per target to increase chances of a hit AND detonation. I understand that this is what U-boat captains did in real life. In a Type IIA this means that I'll only be targetting two or three ships per patrol, and prevents the unrealistic (in my opinion) achievements of 4-6 ships being sunk per patrol for Type IIAs, and as many as 10-12 in a Type VII. Often, I read reports on Subsim about single subs sinking entire convoys! From what I've read, it would actually require a wolfpack of 10+ subs to have even a chance to destroy most or all of a convoy in WWII.

I feel that the dud torp option helps keep players realistic in their tactics, if they wish (as I do) to play as realistically as possible. But as it's an option, you can enable/disable it to suit your requirements from the game. I'm very glad that it's not hardcoded.

(Note: I'm not having a dig at arcade players who love critical hits, explosions and mass sinkings. It's ok to set up the game to such a style. But players on high realism will hardly ever achieve the same results - unless your name's Balz of course! )

[Foghladh_mhara]

Duds are a pain in the arse

Only recently enabled that option and there is nothing worse than hearing your torp premature 300m short of an unsuspecting target. As a result I never use magnetic settings anymore. 3m deep, impact trigger and cross your fingers

[stew278]

Most of the bad torpedoes for me are premature detonations due to the magnetic trigger. I have encountered a few duds, but not very often. If I set impact trigger, 3m depth, and have 80-100deg AOB, I assume it must be a dud when the torpedo just clangs off the side of the target. That's an 'oh crap' moment. You didn't score any damage and now the target knows you're there and they're gonna start an evasive pattern. I suppose it might be wiser to fire a salvo of 2 torpedoes to be safe.

[Brag]

Rough seas will cause prematures. I just had two, grrr. I forgot to set them deep. In rough weather, by going deep with mags you avoid prematures.

[PapaG39]

The funny thing about using duds...
And This has happened to me several times.
Usually on my very last torpedo, and I track the target very carefully to get a perfect shot in hopes of getting a one torp kill.
The torp hits squarely right where I aimed...only the dang things bounces straight back...goes forward & hits a second time...bounces back & then falls to the bottom where it explodes.

That scenario has ruined the end of my patrol on two or three times...bummer...












T

[Petsman]

Originally Posted by Brag

Rough seas will cause prematures. I just had two, grrr. I forgot to set them deep. In rough weather, by going deep with mags you avoid prematures.

I thought mags most of the time are duds. This is from my own experience.

[KrvKpt. Falke]

I dont use dud torps options since one of the convoy attack training mission i did couple of months ago: fired four torpedoes at one large merchant and all were duds.
It's too much pain sometimes

[BulSoldier]

Well I use dud torp option.I find it interesting to wait and hope to hit and even more the torps to explode.Im with IIA and i fire always salvo (2-3 depends) on the targets.Only once my worst fear has come true (with a VII) salvo of 4 one blow up before the target,one misses one bounce off and only 1 hit and I just watched the damn ship barely staying afloat but keeps going. I didnt knew to cry or to laugh.:p

[Huskalar]

Duds are not a big problem in my opinion. I just don't use mags in the first year of the war. But when the AOB is around 80-100, I tend to use impacts anyway.

[Venatore]

Originally Posted by melnibonian

In my opinion it adds to the realism.

Agreed.

[baggygreen]

I have duds on...

I only ever use impact fish though, as per a radio message i received from BdU in '39.

but, at the same time, I havent made it to a time in GWX where mags are reliable!!!!!

[U49]

Duds are adding a great amount of reality to the game.
See: http://uboat.net/history/torpedo_crisis.htm
and imagine what Wilhelm Zahn from U-56 must have felt like...