Flower Corvettes

[Nerazzurri]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

but its true though... i mean there may come a day when you are backed into a corner and have to take a shot at a flower corvette, but if thats the case you have already made a series of tactical and/or judgemental errors OR you just got caught way off guard.

under normal operations - the way i see it, and this is just my opinion - there is virtually no point in even taking that shot.

The object of the game is to find and sink the big ships... thats really all there is to it.

your sole purpose as a u-boat commander is to blockade England from vital war materials and supplies

you accomplish this objective by only one means - engage enemy shipping with your concentration of fire being directed at the ships which can carry the most numerous or the most vital of war goods.

this translates to sinking large cargo ships and tankers. flower corvettes and destroyers (in fact most warships) dont even make the list. an unharmed allied warship is in fact helping you accomplish your objective of depriving england of vital war materials. it helps you because as long as the warship is afloat - it consumes fuel, it consumes oil, it consumes manpower, it consumes armament. if you sink the inbound fuel, oil, manpower and armament faster than they are able to replace it... your side is winning.

I do agree with you, of course that is the way the game should be played - merchants are the targets.

However, to play devils advocate, you 'could' , make a case for spending a torpedo on an escort if it happens to present itself, rather than hunting it - if that was to be the modus operandi of the KM service, you would surely be depleting the number of escorts faster than they could be replaced. Thereby you would be placing a manufacturing burden on the Britain (let's face it, there's a limit to how many destroyers you can buy) that she unlikely to meet. Even less likely because a shortage of escorts would mean an easier job for the rest of the KM, or even you on your next patrol.

So although I agree that merchants should be our almost singular target (and that is the way I play), as that corresponds with historical reality, there is, I feel, a case to be made for those who would rather engage the escorts first.

But isn't that why this game is so good? It's so appealing to so many people, who all hold different views on playing it. Long live SH3!