Newbie here

[frau kaleun]

@ ShadowOps: Be aware, though, that if you ever take the plunge and go to 100% realism you will lose the option to teleport back to base from anywhere you happen to be. At that level you'll have to sail your boat to within a certain distance (I think it's 30 km but I'm not sure) of a base in order to get a "Dock at" option when you hit the Esc key.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Axeman3d

I park next to the brass band and pretty nurses myself, I didn't even realise teleporting was an option. I always keep enough fuel to get home, and if a patrol is not going well I can stay out so long hunting that I need to turn for home purely for fuel reasons. Of course type VII and IX's have more than ample range for hunting in the Atlantic for weeks if you keep the speed at 10 knots or less.

Teleporting back is for woosies....not toughened steel-like Kaleuns

I teleport back regularly when working/testing mods

[Gargamel]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

@ ShadowOps: Be aware, though, that if you ever take the plunge and go to 100% realism you will lose the option to teleport back to base from anywhere you happen to be. At that level you'll have to sail your boat to within a certain distance (I think it's 30 km but I'm not sure) of a base in order to get a "Dock at" option when you hit the Esc key.

Ahhhhaaaaaa... Is that why I just lost that option? I thought it was some latent mod finally kicking in. Hmmm... I may have to re-edit my realism down to 99%. After going from 100% HI to 81% after trying to navigate the Bergen Fjords on my return trip, I was really wanting that teleport. Had to sit out in t he bay for a day until the weather calmed.

While I will eventually get into manual targeting, I find that not having external cams to be quite boring. I do however, make visual contact for identification. Everything else is checked. I actually found the game to be more fun with limited fuel than with unlimited.

[Axeman3d]

I turned on the external view for the same reason, it can get a bit boring without it. Rather than look at the back of the helmsmens head I enjoy watching the escorts going through their drills and ships going up spectacularly. It's also nice to see you boat cutting through the sea sometimes, particularly with all the lovely mods added.

[Missing Name]

Originally Posted by Gargamel

I actually found the game to be more fun with limited fuel than with unlimited.

Same. I am trying to see if I can get my IXB (IXC when available) to Batavia and back without stopping at a supply ship. Distractions aplenty, though.

Still only playing at 69% realisim. I teleport if I have given hope in trying to find a worthy contact, or if I have something else to do.

[Tessa]

Welcome aboard

Good place to find single ships traveling alone is the Irish Sea. Pretty much anywhere in AM 5x you'll find some lone ships or a few in pairs. Then continue west once you hit AM 51, which will take you north of Ireland, a lot of convoys will comy through there. Since you're right in the heart of enemy territory beware of planes, they can easily sink your sub with a good hit or at least leave you with a real bloody nose if you don't dive soon enough (if you choose to engage aircraft, generally best to let the AI crewman do the shooting).

Another great area to sit and let the targets come to you is Gibraltor; you don't need to even enter the actual strait in order to find plentiful targets. CG 95 & CG 94 are high traffic areas, if you want to go fishing around there it's one of the few times that using the search pattern (or creating you own) will pay off. Many convoys' destination is Gibraltor so frequently will run into an entire convoy just a square or two out.

In the Northern approaches and farther West you'll frequently get reports of multiple convoys in your area, there might be two heading in different directions or perpendicular courses to each other. When possible, go after the convoy travelling slower (which will usually be around 5-6 knots). It makes it easier to catch up and intercept the convoy and can shadow them fairly easy if you want to wait until nightfall. The faster convoys usually move at 10-12 knots; which if you are able to plot an intercept course and make them come to you its no problem. Trying to catch up to a fast moving convoy can burn up a lot of fuel fast having to travel at full speed or faster depending on how far away it was when last sighted.

[DeepFried]

Originally Posted by Tessa

beware of planes, they can easily sink your sub with a good hit or at least leave you with a real bloody nose if you don't dive soon enough (if you choose to engage aircraft, generally best to let the AI crewman do the shooting).

Yes I found this out last night, a plane found me on my 4th patrol en-route to intercept a contact. For some reason I decided to stand my ground and man the flak gun but that didn't go too well. Gunner got the plane alright as it was burning but it still managed to make a pass and drop a bomb practically on deck. Everything was damaged and the hull integrity was at 20%, I lost a third of my diesel in a few seconds. Somehow the plane was still flying and coming for another pass so I panicked and hit the crash dive button, hull popped at 30m. Thus ends U-03

[ShadowOps]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

@ ShadowOps: Be aware, though, that if you ever take the plunge and go to 100% realism you will lose the option to teleport back to base from anywhere you happen to be. At that level you'll have to sail your boat to within a certain distance (I think it's 30 km but I'm not sure) of a base in order to get a "Dock at" option when you hit the Esc key.

Well frau, when I do go to 100% realism (I tried it a few times, didnt do so well ) I will be sure to keep that in mind.

[Gerald]

[Tessa]

Originally Posted by DeepFried

Yes I found this out last night, a plane found me on my 4th patrol en-route to intercept a contact. For some reason I decided to stand my ground and man the flak gun but that didn't go too well. Gunner got the plane alright as it was burning but it still managed to make a pass and drop a bomb practically on deck. Everything was damaged and the hull integrity was at 20%, I lost a third of my diesel in a few seconds. Somehow the plane was still flying and coming for another pass so I panicked and hit the crash dive button, hull popped at 30m. Thus ends U-03

When hull integrity gets below 40% you really have to be careful on how deep you dive; else exactly what happened will repeat itself. When my hull is that blown up generally only go down 1m per 1% to be safe. If you can go to at least 15-20m that's deep enough that ships can pass over you safely and won't damage you more.

While this isn't a fullproof method, it works for me 90% or more of the time coming out with no damage. Once you spot the plane (if you plan to engage it) slow down to 1/3 or less speed. When the plane begins its bomb run and starts to reduce his altitude slam the engines to flank and go hard starboard or port. You'll usually move out of position enough for the bomb to miss you as it'll drop behind you if you've done it right.

It can be easy to evade the bombs that way but there's really no good way to avoid their straffing runs. Using the same technique usually will come out without getting hit ~ 50%-60% of the time. While straffing won't annihilate your hull like you experienced with a direct hit, it can easily kill anyone that's on the deck and still cause 20%-40% damage. If my gunner hasn't been able to shoot the plane down by the time the plane starts making strafing runs he probably isn't going to down it' its generally time to dive and get out of harms way rather than hope your gunner gets in a couple of good shots.

[ShadowOps]

I have a nub question: Do the torpedo speeds have any affect on anything other than the speed of the torpedo? Are there any differences with damage or anything?

[Gargamel]

Originally Posted by ShadowOps

I have a nub question: Do the torpedo speeds have any affect on anything other than the speed of the torpedo? Are there any differences with damage or anything?

They won't run as far, as their fuel will run out sooner at faster settings. Higher speeds are good for close attacks, where the ToT (Time On Target, or run time till impact) needs to be as quick as possible. Good against zigzagging ships or ships like destroyers that can change course very quickly when the eels are discovered.

But torpedos are not kinetic weapons. They cause damage via the high explosive that is detonated. So speed of the weapon shouldn't have any effect on damage. It could though, affect how far under a ship the eel gets before the magnetic pistol detonates it. This will affect the damage, as a perfect keel shot may break a ship's spine, while a more oblique explosion may not do as much damage.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Gargamel

They won't run as far, as their fuel will run out sooner at faster settings. Higher speeds are good for close attacks, where the ToT (Time On Target, or run time till impact) needs to be as quick as possible. Good against zigzagging ships or ships like destroyers that can change course very quickly when the eels are discovered.

But torpedos are not kinetic weapons. They cause damage via the high explosive that is detonated. So speed of the weapon shouldn't have any effect on damage. It could though, affect how far under a ship the eel gets before the magnetic pistol detonates it. This will affect the damage, as a perfect keel shot may break a ship's spine, while a more oblique explosion may not do as much damage.

Good response

[Gargamel]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

Good response

Why thank you herr jim

[Pisces]

Originally Posted by ShadowOps

I have a nub question: Do the torpedo speeds have any affect on anything other than the speed of the torpedo? Are there any differences with damage or anything?

Originally Posted by Gargamel

They won't run as far, as their fuel will run out sooner at faster settings. Higher speeds are good for close attacks, where the ToT (Time On Target, or run time till impact) needs to be as quick as possible. Good against zigzagging ships or ships like destroyers that can change course very quickly when the eels are discovered.

But torpedos are not kinetic weapons. They cause damage via the high explosive that is detonated. So speed of the weapon shouldn't have any effect on damage. It could though, affect how far under a ship the eel gets before the magnetic pistol detonates it. This will affect the damage, as a perfect keel shot may break a ship's spine, while a more oblique explosion may not do as much damage.

Be carefull with shooting a bunch of torpedos with different speeds. The TDC forget's to change the speedsetting when selecting a tube. (or maybe this only happends when switching over from a Type 1 to a tube having a Type2 torp, not sure exactly) So you'll end up with the torpedo going in the wrong direction. Allways re-set speed after you select a different tube, even if the speedbutton indicates the propper setting. Before you want to shoot also double check the gyro-angle because of this, if it is important to you. The GWX manual explains this issue more propperly, although it is a bug in all stock or modded versions.