Starting a career: You prefer early or later in the war?

[Keelbuster]

The early war is kindof boring in terms of combat. Escorts are slack-jawed, and there's no air cover. You can run wild and pull crazy sh*t. in late 42, onward, every patrol is a life & death struggle. Rather than storm into a convoy at flank, on the surface, you approach with trepidation, knowing that the attack may very well be your last. And, even if you're all out of torpedoes and on your way home, theres a good chance (especially in the med) that a plane fly over at night and drop ten DCs on your boat. Now that is INTENSE.

So, I want to play late war, because the kills really COUNT. But I don't like starting in late war because it's a little harsh to go into all that insanity with a green crew. So, I tend to start in 40 or 41 in order to give my boys a year or two to get trained up. I recently started in 39 in order to learn man targetting in relatively safe conditions. It's about to turn 42, we've got tonnes under our keel, and the crew is decked out. It's about to get fun. And, I have a certain love for my boat now that I wouldn't have if I had started now. I've built up a boat that I'm really afraid to lose.

Kb

P.S. I am saved right now, at PD, flank, running a hasty intercept on a task force that came right across my path midday. There are two cruisers and five DDs, and they WILL detect me. I didn't have time to estimate speed, so it's all hopes on a spread salvo. Wish me luck for tonight after work...