Should I get SH4?

[Rockin Robbins]

For a long time SH3 and SH4 will be the best submarine simulators on the planet. There is a lot in the U-Boat war that is only in SH3 and all of the Pacific war that is only in SH4, so it makes sense to own them both.

SH4 is much more realistic than SH3 just by coincidence, because so much of the German submarine effort was oriented toward wolfpacks concentrating on a single convoy. Since wolfpacks don't exist in either sim, that is a near fatal blow to the authenticity of SH3, while since American boats acted singly, even when in "wolfpacks," SH4 is pretty authentic as far as tactics and strategy go.

There are a lot of differences between the U-Boats and fleet boats. Don't make the mistake of trying to make a fleet boat act like a U-Boat. They're different and need to be treated as you would two different languages. Thinking in U-Boat while speaking fleet boat will make you very dissatisfied, just as the reverse is true. If you go to the Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks thread and look at the Dick O'Kane method you'll find an analog of the Fast-90 U-Boat attack. This will help you discover how the American TDC works, while keeping you one pretty familiar ground as far as tactics go.

Even more than the U-Boats, the American subs are surface raiders that have the ability to submerge when absolutely necessary for the smallest possible amount of time to get the job done. With their 20 knot surface speed and very long range, they are optimized for staying on the surface and searching the maximum number of square miles per day. That is how you discover more targets and sink more tonnage. Lurking below the surface waiting for targets is wasting the superior abilities of the American boat.

While you're on the surface, if you are equipped with radar, run the darned thing! All the time! Here's the situation. With your radar you know the position, course and speed of everything that floats or flies to way beyond visual range. IF the enemy has radar detection he knows one thing: you are out there somewhere. Advantage you!

Use its strengths and ignore its weaknesses. A submarine at 1000' isn't fighting anyway. It's hiding. A hiding submarine is harmless. Don't be harmless!