First war patrol in LSH2015 - wow!

K-61 · 10-14-15, 04:22 PM

Ah, yes, the 3.7 flak gun. Nice toy. I have used it in the past to take down a ship or two that are just a bit too fat for the 20mm. For some reason I really suck at using the flak guns manually against planes, even after practice in the academy; I let a qualified non-com do the job for me when on patrol.

I've also been having a hard time using the deck gun manually. I used to do it now and then in GWX, but I forget now how to manually dial the range in using that gauge on the left side of the screen. I used to be good at nailing rounds just below the waterline, but I don't know if there are any keys in LSH for manual control of the deck gun.

I've lived a charmed life thus far, having never hit a mine, but did once find myself in a minefield by accident. Scary things. Because of them, and for the fact that I am not Gunther Prien, I don't go into the English lion's lair and raid harbours. I've done it in the past, but prefer open sea hunting.

I am around the north coast of Ireland at the moment, still on my way to BF17. I can't believe my blind luck sometimes to run across singles. I just ran into a five ship convoy with no escorts. I submerged and made torpedo attacks, taking out three in a row. The fourth I hit with a fish from the stern tube, then surfaced to deck gun the cripples. Though it was a rare treat to find such a convoy and still have calm enough seas to use the gun, I hope it doesn't happen too often and make me tonnage greedy. It is still 1939, but I don't think it will be long until all the merchants sport guns.

I lost that career from a few days ago, the one where I had the IXB. It was fun while it lasted, but I was playing around with SH3 Commander. I have worked out a routine which seems sound enough thus far. I used the LSH2015 executable to start a first career patrol, saved while at sea or in base, then use Commander to start the game after that. While I can't recall any disasters in the past from making slight changes to the boat before going on a first patrol with a new career, I have read enough to believe it is not a good thing to do, so I don't make any changes on a first patrol.

Another thing I do with Commander is use it to assign qualifications to newly arrived crew members. I hire on any new hands to fill vacancies, then exit the game, use Commander to assign the qualifications then ship out. I like using the qualification option in Cmdr so I have my watches arranged by duty, even the seamen. I know the seamen's quals have no in-game effect, but I like to use them as markers.

Last night on the way back to port in a very dark night, my boat got caught in a sluice gate. From the tower view I could see the gate being rendered in-game right through the boat. Boat taking damage, then crew dying as I tried ahead, astern, anything to get out of it. Glad I made a save before entering the canal. I reloaded, then used a free view to ensure the gate's operation.

So far in LSH2015 I have only seen one task force at sea, as recounted in an earlier post. Half a dozen cruisers and escorts, but I was just a bit too far away and they were hauling across my bow at distance. The seas were too calm; I would have had to adjust the speed on my steamers to get the range, and whether I hit or missed, the bubble trail would have pointed right back to me. That was a first patrol in a new career, so I had not made any changes to torpedo loadout to get G7E's. Normally I load two electrics, in tubes 2 and 3 and the stern tube[s.] I like electrics in case I run into warships, but the downside is their lack of range. In any case, even if I had electrics in that situation, they were too short-ranged to have fired at the cruisers.

I usually don't opt for electric torpedoes in the external storage, mainly for reasons of historicity. The game does not model the fact that torpedoes in external storage were usually serviced before being loaded into tubes. Batteries in the G7E, for example, needed to be charged. Gyros needed to be checked, air tanks tested, etc. I make it a house rule that externals must be "off limits" for a few hours after being taken aboard, to simulate the time the crew would need to service them. External torpedoes were more vulnerable to disruption, by the pounding of waves and especially shock from depth charge and bomb explosions.

I don't think I've had your particular trouble with the engine telegraphs, but the odd time I have hit the wrong detent. I usually use the number keys for the engines, and then fine tune manually if needed. Which reminds me, I used to manually set the RPM's on the electric motors to 50 RPM, to be especially quiet. I don't know if you can still do that in LSH2015. I recall from when I last played, several years ago, that you could jump into the engineer's station and click on the RPM dial, just as you do with the diesels, but when I went to try that in LSH2015, it either can't be done or I am forgetting how to do it. Anybody managing to do that in LSH?

10-14-15, 04:22 PM	#12
K-61 Grey Wolf Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Ontario Posts: 795 Downloads: 39 Uploads: 0	Ah, yes, the 3.7 flak gun. Nice toy. I have used it in the past to take down a ship or two that are just a bit too fat for the 20mm. For some reason I really suck at using the flak guns manually against planes, even after practice in the academy; I let a qualified non-com do the job for me when on patrol. I've also been having a hard time using the deck gun manually. I used to do it now and then in GWX, but I forget now how to manually dial the range in using that gauge on the left side of the screen. I used to be good at nailing rounds just below the waterline, but I don't know if there are any keys in LSH for manual control of the deck gun. I've lived a charmed life thus far, having never hit a mine, but did once find myself in a minefield by accident. Scary things. Because of them, and for the fact that I am not Gunther Prien, I don't go into the English lion's lair and raid harbours. I've done it in the past, but prefer open sea hunting. I am around the north coast of Ireland at the moment, still on my way to BF17. I can't believe my blind luck sometimes to run across singles. I just ran into a five ship convoy with no escorts. I submerged and made torpedo attacks, taking out three in a row. The fourth I hit with a fish from the stern tube, then surfaced to deck gun the cripples. Though it was a rare treat to find such a convoy and still have calm enough seas to use the gun, I hope it doesn't happen too often and make me tonnage greedy. It is still 1939, but I don't think it will be long until all the merchants sport guns. I lost that career from a few days ago, the one where I had the IXB. It was fun while it lasted, but I was playing around with SH3 Commander. I have worked out a routine which seems sound enough thus far. I used the LSH2015 executable to start a first career patrol, saved while at sea or in base, then use Commander to start the game after that. While I can't recall any disasters in the past from making slight changes to the boat before going on a first patrol with a new career, I have read enough to believe it is not a good thing to do, so I don't make any changes on a first patrol. Another thing I do with Commander is use it to assign qualifications to newly arrived crew members. I hire on any new hands to fill vacancies, then exit the game, use Commander to assign the qualifications then ship out. I like using the qualification option in Cmdr so I have my watches arranged by duty, even the seamen. I know the seamen's quals have no in-game effect, but I like to use them as markers. Last night on the way back to port in a very dark night, my boat got caught in a sluice gate. From the tower view I could see the gate being rendered in-game right through the boat. Boat taking damage, then crew dying as I tried ahead, astern, anything to get out of it. Glad I made a save before entering the canal. I reloaded, then used a free view to ensure the gate's operation. So far in LSH2015 I have only seen one task force at sea, as recounted in an earlier post. Half a dozen cruisers and escorts, but I was just a bit too far away and they were hauling across my bow at distance. The seas were too calm; I would have had to adjust the speed on my steamers to get the range, and whether I hit or missed, the bubble trail would have pointed right back to me. That was a first patrol in a new career, so I had not made any changes to torpedo loadout to get G7E's. Normally I load two electrics, in tubes 2 and 3 and the stern tube[s.] I like electrics in case I run into warships, but the downside is their lack of range. In any case, even if I had electrics in that situation, they were too short-ranged to have fired at the cruisers. I usually don't opt for electric torpedoes in the external storage, mainly for reasons of historicity. The game does not model the fact that torpedoes in external storage were usually serviced before being loaded into tubes. Batteries in the G7E, for example, needed to be charged. Gyros needed to be checked, air tanks tested, etc. I make it a house rule that externals must be "off limits" for a few hours after being taken aboard, to simulate the time the crew would need to service them. External torpedoes were more vulnerable to disruption, by the pounding of waves and especially shock from depth charge and bomb explosions. I don't think I've had your particular trouble with the engine telegraphs, but the odd time I have hit the wrong detent. I usually use the number keys for the engines, and then fine tune manually if needed. Which reminds me, I used to manually set the RPM's on the electric motors to 50 RPM, to be especially quiet. I don't know if you can still do that in LSH2015. I recall from when I last played, several years ago, that you could jump into the engineer's station and click on the RPM dial, just as you do with the diesels, but when I went to try that in LSH2015, it either can't be done or I am forgetting how to do it. Anybody managing to do that in LSH? __________________ Last edited by K-61; 10-14-15 at 04:33 PM.