Is SH3 for me?

Flaxpants · 07-14-10, 12:28 AM

Yes, I thought it was a little rude myself. By all means depth charge me, but show a little respect when I'm having my morning beverage. Jeez, some people...

sergei · 07-14-10, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flaxpants

Yes, I thought it was a little rude myself. By all means depth charge me, but show a little respect when I'm having my morning beverage. Jeez, some people...

..

Flaxpants · 07-18-10, 10:39 PM

Hi all, just thought I'd give you an update on how the game is going for me after my first (complete) patrol. After 4 weeks at sea I finally managed to return home and dock at Kiel, still alive as well!- bonus- I'm getting the hang of it! I managed to rack up a whopping 0.0 tons of sunken shipping during my month away. To be honest I was a little wary of visiting the nightclub afterwards presuming they'd all be taking the p**s, but no, they were very polite!
One of the things that struck me most about this game is that it is mightily addictive- I just can't put it down, and even when I have put it down I still have a head full of pipes and gauges and bubbling noises (well, that bit's not too much different from the norm..). The fact I haven't sunk anything yet only adds to this feeling, once I've broken my duck (as opposed to my pressure hull), I can relax a bit, but right now I just want to go, go and go some more.
It's every bit as exciting as you all said, and hey, I owe you all some thanks for getting me into this, it's EPIC.
So my patrol wasn't completey fruitless, whenever I spotted a ship (even a friendly) I would calculate firing solutions, just for practice, so I feel I have a much better grip on that now- I have also learned to use the Hydrophone much more effectively. Looking back, I was a little too cautious, not attaking when I had the chance due to some unfavourable factor (weather, destroyer escort etc..) as I was holding out for an easier first kill. Of course that never materialised, next time things will be different, Muhahahah. I did actually have a go at trying to hit one ship, well, not so much a ship, more of a small trawler, (barely more than a kayak) not really very gentlemanly of me I know, but I figured it was a safe bet for some target practice. Anyway, my firing solution was spot on, the problem was the swell- just at the point my torpedo reached the boat, a huge wave came and lifted the boat clean out of the water, like the hand of God (that'll teach me to mess with fishermen), with my torp going clean underneath, I probably had the depth setting a little too deep anyway. Still, again, I learnt something to take with me on my next patrol.
To sum up SH3/GWX/Commander- Epic, Addictive, Immersive, and all the other good things!

Jimbuna · 07-19-10, 02:38 PM

BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!!

Flaxpants · 07-19-10, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbuna

BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!!

I was expecting this very message from you this morning Jim, lol!

Jimbuna · 07-20-10, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flaxpants

I was expecting this very message from you this morning Jim, lol!

Sailor Steve · 07-20-10, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flaxpants

I managed to rack up a whopping 0.0 tons of sunken shipping during my month away.

Been there, done that. One of my funniest moments (for me at least) came way back when I started my own thread just for my patrol logs. I tried to write them as realistically as I could, but I couldn't help interjecting just a little bit of personal point of view. So after an empty patrol I privately complained in my 'diary'. There were immediate replies telling me where to go in the game for the maximum tonnage.

I had a hard time convincing people that I wasn't interested, and that's not why I play the game.

Flaxpants · 07-20-10, 10:45 PM

I take your point Steve, having a fruitless patrol actually makes this game feel more realistic to me. Having said that, if they were all fruitless patrols then I might get a tad frustrated!
I finally had my date with destiny last night when, after deciding to take a small 'detour' via the East coast of England in search of some serious bounty, I came across a big convoy travelling North, around 15-20 ships I would guess, and clearly several destroyers & gunships providing escort. I got myself into a decent position, at right angles to the convoy, and approximatley 4ks off to starboard (didn't fancy getting much closer), I had been very careful not to be spotted and everything was looking great. I knew this was going to be a potentially dangerous situation, maybe too dangerous as the max depth around where I was was only 60m or so, so no deep dive escape, plus there were some flanking escorts knocking around as well. Then the immortal words of Jimbuna came repeating into my head- "Be more aggressive!", "Sink 'em all!","Be more aggressive!", "Sink 'em all!", over & over. So I set up the TDC and a 4 tube salvo with a nice spread. Then I hit the fire button, and immediately dived to 40 m or so and plotted an escape route. 2 out of 4 of the torps met their mark on two seperate ships, the first didn't go down, but the second ship in the far column imploded and went down in spectacular fashion. So now I'm excited, my first kill, and a convoy in disarray. Oh how I laughed... that was until I saw 4 naval vessels converging on me at great speed. Now I was in a situation where I had no experience. I immediately recalled the scene in Das Boot where they are pursued by more than one enemy ship, and how they kept changing bearing, depth, speed, and whatever else might confuse the monsters lurking above on the surface. I did the same. Not only had three ships broken off from the convoy and come my way, but a fourth flanking vessel, which I had previously failed to notice was approaching from the direction I was attempting to escape, so now I was effectively encircled. I tried everything, and before long they were pinging me and commencing their depth charge runs. I manged to evade the bombs for a good 30 minutes or so, but eventually they closed me right down and I had nowhere to go. Two charges exploded right alongside the boat, killing several men in the sterm quarters and engine room and causing some serious flooding. The repair team got to work, but it was too late, the breach was so severe that they were overcome and the boat went down with all lives lost. R.I.P Captain Heinz Kawohl and his loyal crew.
So now what I need is some serious tips on how to survive depth charge attacks. I'm not sure if I should be trying to run at full speed, or if I should just sit there with everything shut down, probably a combination of the two. What is the general strategy when you start getting 'pinged'?- my current strategy is to wet myself and be indecisive, which doesn't work so well. I felt last night though that there was absolutely no hiding place, maybe I just got myself into a dreadful position from the outset and that was my problem, or maybe I should've never taken them on in the first place.
Hey Ho, this is sure a great game! Live or die- I love it!

frau kaleun · 07-21-10, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flaxpants

The repair team got to work, but it was too late, the breach was so severe that they were overcome and the boat went down with all lives lost. R.I.P Captain Heinz Kawohl and his loyal crew.

RIP, Kaleun.

Convoys sure are exciting, aren't they?

Quote:

So now what I need is some serious tips on how to survive depth charge attacks.

My usual approach is very simple, I don't do anything that might result in a depth charge attack in less than 150m of water. This may turn out to be difficult in the near future since my current patrol grid is gonna put me too close to the coast for that, but maybe I'll get lucky and not have any contacts there.

Quote:

I'm not sure if I should be trying to run at full speed, or if I should just sit there with everything shut down, probably a combination of the two. What is the general strategy when you start getting 'pinged'?

Keep in mind that just because you can hear them pinging, doesn't mean they've actually located you, so don't panic just because they've broken out the ASDIC. Order silent running if you haven't already and stay that way unless you are damaged and must put men to work on repairs. Unless I believe they've got a lock on my position, I steer a course that will take me away from the scene of the action ASAP and stay on it.

Go as deep as you can, but it's not a bad idea to leave yourself 10-20m of water under your keel to drop into if you get located and they start dropping charges. Charges are set to detonate at a particular depth, and if they've got your location AND your depth figured out you'll want to change your depth to get clear of the detonation range. Particularly in water where you don't have much depth to play with and can't just go deep enough to avoid everything.

When there are depth charges in the water, the explosions will render ASDIC temporarily useless, so that's the best time to (temporarily) bump up your speed or make a course/depth change if necessary. They won't be able to track you until the kerfluffle from all the explosions is over, when it is, you need to be back down to slow ahead.

Quote:

my current strategy is to wet myself and be indecisive, which doesn't work so well.

Yes but just think of the mess you'll leave for the Tommies if they capture your boat!

Flaxpants · 07-22-10, 09:55 PM

Cheers Frau Kaleun, yes Convoys are exciting- a little too exciting at the moment! I may well take your advice about the 150m rule that you apply to attacks with potential depth charges, sounds like a safe bet, at least till I have more experience. The trouble is it's so tempting to 'have a go' after you've been searching for a target for a week or so, I shall have to show some more restraint!

07-18-10, 10:39 PM	#3
Flaxpants Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Koh Samui, Thailand Posts: 1,196 Downloads: 168 Uploads: 0	After my first patrol- some observations Hi all, just thought I'd give you an update on how the game is going for me after my first (complete) patrol. After 4 weeks at sea I finally managed to return home and dock at Kiel, still alive as well!- bonus- I'm getting the hang of it! I managed to rack up a whopping 0.0 tons of sunken shipping during my month away. To be honest I was a little wary of visiting the nightclub afterwards presuming they'd all be taking the p*s, but no, they were very polite! One of the things that struck me most about this game is that it is mightily* addictive- I just can't put it down, and even when I have put it down I still have a head full of pipes and gauges and bubbling noises (well, that bit's not too much different from the norm..). The fact I haven't sunk anything yet only adds to this feeling, once I've broken my duck (as opposed to my pressure hull), I can relax a bit, but right now I just want to go, go and go some more. It's every bit as exciting as you all said, and hey, I owe you all some thanks for getting me into this, it's EPIC. So my patrol wasn't completey fruitless, whenever I spotted a ship (even a friendly) I would calculate firing solutions, just for practice, so I feel I have a much better grip on that now- I have also learned to use the Hydrophone much more effectively. Looking back, I was a little too cautious, not attaking when I had the chance due to some unfavourable factor (weather, destroyer escort etc..) as I was holding out for an easier first kill. Of course that never materialised, next time things will be different, Muhahahah. I did actually have a go at trying to hit one ship, well, not so much a ship, more of a small trawler, (barely more than a kayak) not really very gentlemanly of me I know, but I figured it was a safe bet for some target practice. Anyway, my firing solution was spot on, the problem was the swell- just at the point my torpedo reached the boat, a huge wave came and lifted the boat clean out of the water, like the hand of God (that'll teach me to mess with fishermen), with my torp going clean underneath, I probably had the depth setting a little too deep anyway. Still, again, I learnt something to take with me on my next patrol. To sum up SH3/GWX/Commander- Epic, Addictive, Immersive, and all the other good things!

07-19-10, 02:38 PM	#4
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,819 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!! __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

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07-14-10, 12:28 AM	#1
Flaxpants Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Koh Samui, Thailand Posts: 1,196 Downloads: 168 Uploads: 0	Yes, I thought it was a little rude myself. By all means depth charge me, but show a little respect when I'm having my morning beverage. Jeez, some people...

07-20-10, 10:45 PM	#8
Flaxpants Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Koh Samui, Thailand Posts: 1,196 Downloads: 168 Uploads: 0	I take your point Steve, having a fruitless patrol actually makes this game feel more realistic to me. Having said that, if they were all fruitless patrols then I might get a tad frustrated! I finally had my date with destiny last night when, after deciding to take a small 'detour' via the East coast of England in search of some serious bounty, I came across a big convoy travelling North, around 15-20 ships I would guess, and clearly several destroyers & gunships providing escort. I got myself into a decent position, at right angles to the convoy, and approximatley 4ks off to starboard (didn't fancy getting much closer), I had been very careful not to be spotted and everything was looking great. I knew this was going to be a potentially dangerous situation, maybe too dangerous as the max depth around where I was was only 60m or so, so no deep dive escape, plus there were some flanking escorts knocking around as well. Then the immortal words of Jimbuna came repeating into my head- "Be more aggressive!", "Sink 'em all!","Be more aggressive!", "Sink 'em all!", over & over. So I set up the TDC and a 4 tube salvo with a nice spread. Then I hit the fire button, and immediately dived to 40 m or so and plotted an escape route. 2 out of 4 of the torps met their mark on two seperate ships, the first didn't go down, but the second ship in the far column imploded and went down in spectacular fashion. So now I'm excited, my first kill, and a convoy in disarray. Oh how I laughed... that was until I saw 4 naval vessels converging on me at great speed. Now I was in a situation where I had no experience. I immediately recalled the scene in Das Boot where they are pursued by more than one enemy ship, and how they kept changing bearing, depth, speed, and whatever else might confuse the monsters lurking above on the surface. I did the same. Not only had three ships broken off from the convoy and come my way, but a fourth flanking vessel, which I had previously failed to notice was approaching from the direction I was attempting to escape, so now I was effectively encircled. I tried everything, and before long they were pinging me and commencing their depth charge runs. I manged to evade the bombs for a good 30 minutes or so, but eventually they closed me right down and I had nowhere to go. Two charges exploded right alongside the boat, killing several men in the sterm quarters and engine room and causing some serious flooding. The repair team got to work, but it was too late, the breach was so severe that they were overcome and the boat went down with all lives lost. R.I.P Captain Heinz Kawohl and his loyal crew. So now what I need is some serious tips on how to survive depth charge attacks. I'm not sure if I should be trying to run at full speed, or if I should just sit there with everything shut down, probably a combination of the two. What is the general strategy when you start getting 'pinged'?- my current strategy is to wet myself and be indecisive, which doesn't work so well. I felt last night though that there was absolutely no hiding place, maybe I just got myself into a dreadful position from the outset and that was my problem, or maybe I should've never taken them on in the first place. Hey Ho, this is sure a great game! Live or die- I love it!

07-22-10, 09:55 PM	#10
Flaxpants Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Koh Samui, Thailand Posts: 1,196 Downloads: 168 Uploads: 0	Cheers Frau Kaleun, yes Convoys are exciting- a little too exciting at the moment! I may well take your advice about the 150m rule that you apply to attacks with potential depth charges, sounds like a safe bet, at least till I have more experience. The trouble is it's so tempting to 'have a go' after you've been searching for a target for a week or so, I shall have to show some more restraint!