SH3 Interception methods

[washishu]

Seems to me***8212;don't want to insult anyone's intelligence here; I'm just expressing an opinion and I'm willing to acknowledge that I might be missing something***8212;that said, seems to me that there's a lot of over-complication over this whole business.

Although I have played SHI & II and SubCommand, I don't consider myself an expert by any stretch. So 100% realism? Every single 'helper' switched off? Too, too much in my view; but that's my view. KaptCosper says he is new to subsims. I don't find the whole approach/attack thing to be too much of an issue. Sure you want some uncertainty or it just isn't fun, but you want some fun too, if you get my drift.

I suggest, KaptCosper that you try the following, which works well for me***8212;
***8226; A contact appears on the map. You do a quick measuring job with the ruler to get the distance. If it looks like you may be able to catch it, just get the boat going in roughly the right direction***8212;ahead of it, of course, not at it. Once that's done you can do some more careful calculations and fine-tune as needed. I drag a ruler from the first contact point in the general direction of it's travel***8212;east, south-west, whatever***8212;and use that as a rough guide. I can then calculate approximately how long the target will take to get to any point along the ruler and whether or not I can get there before it.

***8226; So, after some time, you're ahead of the target but no visual as yet. Submerge and see if there's a hydrophone contact yet. I then zig-zag back along the projected course 'till I get something. Surface or periscope to get a visual. Plot/measure (3' 15" etc) to get speed, identify target if possible. Use the same ruler technique to get a more accurate plot on target course.

***8226; Decide on an approach angle***8212;I guess you could use any but 45 or 90 tend to work best for me. If you want to do the plotting on the map you can use the tools to plot/draw your approach (well ahead of the target's position) and then use waypoints to follow that course, or you can just do the sums and work out what heading you need to be on for a 45 or a 90 approach. Set AoB to 45 or 90, with scope/TBT at 0 (or 180 for stern shot).

***8226; Keep checking target's position and adjusting if needed. Set up the necessary on the torpedoes***8212;depth etc. Aim 'scope or UZO on bearing that gives 000 gyro angle and wait for the target to pass.

If target is till some way off get hydrophone operator to call out the bearing so's you don't have to sit with the scope up for ages.

It's not foolproof but it gives you some gameplay fun and it's not over-complicated either and it actually takes much longer to describe than it takes to do.