1943 isnt a very good year

[papa_smurf]

1943 - forget making significant kills, just try to make it to you patrol grid and back in on piece.

[STEED]

Kills drop off big time and its down to surviving as long as you can.

[Chris1999]

Yes, it happened this way for me, too. Not anymore.

Why? Faster planes? (its B-24s and hurricanes instead of the little scout plane) more CPU processing time because its 4 planes coming at me instead of 1? i dont know, but, I am still on the surface when they make their first bombing runs. my sub has multiple scars and headstones to prove it

When I attacked a convoy I surfaced a few hours later to recharge my battery and was greeted by 6 B-24s who drop 4 sets of depth charges per run, each. There were so many explosions going off at once I couldnt see blue ocean, but das schwein U-802 lived!

It definitely seems like when you kick the beehive a little, they definitely come for the counterattack

Originally Posted by USNSRCaseySmith

Although I do notice that while on the high TC I still get the watch alerts that pause the game but usually my watch crew is always competent enough to spot them far enough out that even if I lose time I still have another few thousand meters before they even begin to see me.

EDIT: This is under good conditions with unlimited visibility however.

[Sailor Steve]

B-24s have radar.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

B-24s have radar.

Yes, once you reach the point where Allied planes can pick you up on radar... well, if they have done so, they will know where you are and be on their way in to attack before they are close enough for your watch crew to spot them.

So it's no longer a matter of a plane just happening to be in your vicinity and you getting alerted to it at around the same time or even before it sees you. It doesn't have to be close enough to see you to know you're there. And it sounds like even having radar of your own doesn't even out the odds very much.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

And it sounds like even having radar of your own doesn't even out the odds very much.

The problem is that rather than appearing on the horizon cruising around looking for you, they appear on the horizon heading right for you at full throttle.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

The problem is that rather than appearing on the horizon cruising around looking for you, they appear on the horizon heading right for you at full throttle.

Exactly.

[K-61]

I must be very lucky, then. I usually cruise around at 256 and have always received a warning from my radar detector in time to dive. The only time I was attacked by a plane was when I was reloading an external torpedo and "pretended" I was unable to dive because of the crew and external gear rigged up to move the torpedo. It made three passes before my gunners drove it off, with no loss of crew or damage to the boat.

[VONHARRIS]

I cruise too at 256 TC but I always have plenty of time to react to an enemy plane. When my radar warning gives a signal TC drops immediately to 1 so I can crash dive with some safety.
One time though , in bad weather I was caught on the surface by a Hunt III DD and I was hit three or four times by shells , damages were severe (realism 95%) flooding critical and then we just scuttled the boat. My radar warning was silent!

[K-61]

I have just returned from patrol 6 around Dec. 12th, 1943, with 40K+ of shipping. I was lucky enough to find two convoys sailing close to each other. I attacked one, evaded and then attacked the other. I still had two externals but as it was a bit rough [I use realistic rules for reloading externals] and the air cover was problematic, I sailed home with them still in their cannisters. I now have just over 200K and the KC with Oak Leaves. I will not be surprised if Commander retires me before I start my next patrol.

[K-61]

Commander has allowed me to proceed into patrol 7. After a month in port to install new equipment and allow crew leave we have shipped out for a patrol zone near the Canary Islands. It is the middle of January 1944 and I am still in the Bay of Biscay and have had to dive half a dozen times to dodge planes. I have the latest radar detector but curiously received the message "sonar destroyed" upon loading my new patrol. I assume this is a known bug?

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by K-61

Commander has allowed me to proceed into patrol 7. After a month in port to install new equipment and allow crew leave we have shipped out for a patrol zone near the Canary Islands. It is the middle of January 1944 and I am still in the Bay of Biscay and have had to dive half a dozen times to dodge planes. I have the latest radar detector but curiously received the message "sonar destroyed" upon loading my new patrol. I assume this is a known bug?

If it is GWX your using ensure you have the Late War Sensors mod enabled.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by K-61

Commander has allowed me to proceed into patrol 7.

The 'Realistic Retirement' function is based on time at sea, not just number of patrols completed. This lets a Type II and a Type IX be roughly comparable as far as wear-and-tear on the captain is concerned.

[K-61]

Thanks for the info, Jimbuna and Steve. I'll swap my mod set when I get back to port. When should I enable late war sensors? I guess the answer will be in the readme file.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by K-61

Thanks for the info, Jimbuna and Steve. I'll swap my mod set when I get back to port. When should I enable late war sensors? I guess the answer will be in the readme file.

I posted this on another thread just a few minutes ago:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...3&postcount=23