VIIC/41

XLjedi · 08-09-24, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Threadfin

I wonder if the depth charges in this game have a detonation floor? Is there a max detonation depth? Maybe it's possible to dive below this with the VIIC/41? I aim to find out!

In the unstable beta I was resting peacefully on the seafloor at 200m+ and they depth charged me. I'm hoping they update the max depth, I shoulda been safe in that situation. Someone can correct me, but I think the depth charges were only good to about 150m?

Threadfin · 08-09-24, 03:14 PM

Well, I'm not sure. After posting I did an internet search for deepest WW2 depth charge and this sort of thing and found nothing. I've always had in mind that Royal navy charges were max 164m, but maybe that's not accurate? What about US DCs? And anyway, regardless of what is historical, all that matters to us here is how it works in the game. Perhaps the DCs have no max depth? Need to discover how it works.

Now that I have the VIIC/41 I should be able to go below 300m and if I get hit down that deep at least we will know they can reach us any depth we can go in the game. I will be testing it, hopefully not so often, but next depth charge rainstorm I'll test it out.

Playing dead is dead and now in 1942 I'll take every advantage or kernel of info to help us survive.

Threadfin · 08-10-24, 08:45 AM

U-292 had a successful maiden patrol, 32k out in BD grid, grinding tonnage for The Black Pit. No trouble encountered so I did no deep dives. Found some info showing depth charge specs

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WAMUS_ASW.php

So it comes down to how it is programmed in the game. If there is no max DC depth then no number is safe. If there is, the VIIC/41 should be able to sail below this floor essentially immune.

Anyway, aircraft are always the most dangerous enemy. In SH3 I played more than one hundred dead is dead careers and managed to reach the end of the war exactly one time! Many of those were depth charges, but more were aircraft.

One thing that potentially works in our favor is how the tech upgrades are handled in this game. The player can get way ahead of historical timeline. Obviously I got the VIIC/41 more than a year early. I had the Cross in early 1940, before the enemy even had radar. Now in summer of 1942 we have FAT, T5s, Borkum detector, GHG Balkon and more. All of this makes it easier than it could be, with a more strict adherence to historical service dates. I will use some house rules in subsequent careers to temper our successes, but for this first one I am not holding back so I can assess what needs to be done in later careers to get it where I want it to be.

The Cross was a passenger for more than a year, and we did not start picking up signals until November of 1941. It's odd, but the detector is installed on the boat as part of the radio room, but it is the soundman who needs to be on duty to use it. Since I've opted for three engineers, that leaves gaps in my Cross coverage (two radiomen, who need to run both sound and radio rooms, plus rest so cannot have continuous coverage with my current officer distribution). It nearly cost us last night. During this down time, at night west of Ireland in the BE grid we got jumped by an aircraft and it was close. I've invested all of our specialization points so far in to dive time and silent running, so we were able to get under and avoid the charges or bombs that were dropped. But one of these days we will run out of luck. Clearly this aircraft had radar. I believe it was a Halifax.

One thing I am doing in this career is making my refits as long as possible. I want to slow down the operational pace, and can get it to about four weeks in port using vacations and intentional indecision with the quartermaster. Even so, we have done 26 patrols/missions by June of '42. Our tonnage mark is nuts too, so some house rules to tone it all down will be in order. The pace slows as we get later in the war, with more distant patrol or mission areas, and more time spent at sea.

Being ahead of the tech curve gives us an edge, so there's a chance to see out the war I reckon. Hard battles await.

Threadfin · 08-12-24, 09:09 AM

U-292 has entered 1943. Playing dead is dead so this is encouraging lol.

Finished the Black Pit series of objectives, rewarding us with a milk cow.

The milk cow is a headquarters project. By default it is in the northwest Atlantic, but you can send an officer to HQ to convince Control that it should be shifted to a new location. Our next patrol was another Southern Routes to the west coast of Africa. After choosing the mission, I went to HQ and requested it shift to DF9 grid south of the Azores. This takes 12 days. I could burn more fuel on the way to our patrol area, and the milk cow should be in place when we are ready to head home. Found very little aside from Spanish and Argentinian neutrals in our patrol area.

Upon mission complete we swung out to sea and looked for the supply boat. Found her and topped off the tanks. The milk cow works like the quartermaster in port. You can take on as many as four torpedoes, sell and buy food and other supplies, top off the tanks. He will take your prisoners as well. Type XIV boats were not torpedo resupply boats, that was the VIIF. So this milk cow in the game is sort of a hybrid since you can take on torpedoes, fair enough. We resupplied and headed home by way of the mid-Atlantic, getting in on a convoy west of the Azores. The Torch landings happened while we were in refit and the mid-Atlantic is now busier

It all worked so well that I decided to do the Labrador weather station mission next. Went back to HQ and requested the milk cow shift to BD1, putting her along our route so we could top off outbound and inbound. Reached the rendezvous in one week, so patrolled the area for another week waiting for the resupply boat to arrive. Bedeviled by the weather and fog, we managed to put under one American liberty ship sailing alone while waiting. When the milk cow arrived we met her, topped off the tanks and filled those two torpedo slots, and headed for the Canadian coast. Got there and went though the procedure. Had to put three officers and six ratings in the shore party, and it all took quite a bit longer than most of these sorts of events. While they were ashore a number of enemy patrol boats and destroyers appeared on the scene. Dropped to periscope depth and escaped their direct attention. When the weather station was complete, the party re-embarked and we got out of there at high speed. We are now enroute back to BD1 to top off for the trip home.

Threadfin · 08-14-24, 10:11 AM

U-292 and her stout crew have lived to Christmas 1943.

In June the Battle of the Atlantic shifted to the Last Stand phase, at which point it seems the Allies got a big shot in the arm tech-wise. Rocket-firing ASW aircraft (I guess, saw one with stovepipes and didn't hang around to see if they work), modern destroyers like Sims and Tribal class. Probably VLR Liberators out there. Hedgehogs I'd reckon. Fido?

UBOAT features a number of campaigns within the campaign, and rather than spend this first career jumping around to sample it all, I decided that since I love this game so much I will do many careers, so we've ignored some theaters, saving them for subsequent careers so that each one will have its own mojo.

Those are things like Drumbeat, Norway/Arctic and the Mediterranean. Instead, our boats (U-49, U-410 and U-292) have been North Atlantic hunters. Moved to France in June of 1940 and have spent most of the career grinding tonnage in the mid-Atlantic (BE, BD, AL AK grids) for the Black Pit and Last Stand objectives. We have done a few peripheral missions, one to Canada to establish a weather station after getting a milk cow. A couple to west Africa and a couple of agent insertions. But the main business has been anti-shipping patrols on the convoy routes in the North Atlantic.

The VIIC/41 is exceptional. Sailors are famously superstitious, so I don't want to jinx anything, but this boat's diving capabilities have been key to our survival as the war enters 1944. Playing this career on 71% difficulty and I'll bump some stuff for career number two, whenever that arrives.

Rockstar · 08-14-24, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Threadfin

Well, I'm not sure. After posting I did an internet search for deepest WW2 depth charge and this sort of thing and found nothing. I've always had in mind that Royal navy charges were max 164m, but maybe that's not accurate? What about US DCs? And anyway, regardless of what is historical, all that matters to us here is how it works in the game. Perhaps the DCs have no max depth? Need to discover how it works.

Now that I have the VIIC/41 I should be able to go below 300m and if I get hit down that deep at least we will know they can reach us any depth we can go in the game. I will be testing it, hopefully not so often, but next depth charge rainstorm I'll test it out.

Playing dead is dead and now in 1942 I'll take every advantage or kernel of info to help us survive.

You peaked my interest concerning detonation depths and I found this. Hope it’s useful to you and modders.

U.S. ASW
http://navweaps.com/Weapons/WAMUS_ASW.php

U.K. ASW
http://navweaps.com/Weapons/WAMBR_ASW.php

Generally speaking if the information above is correct subs should be safe below 300 feet (91 meters) until around 1943

Also: https://maritime.org/doc/depthcharge6/index.php

https://maritime.org/doc/depthcharge9/index.php

Threadfin · 08-15-24, 09:34 AM

Thanks mate. It is expected that the implementation in the game mirrors real life specs, but no guarantee. Anecdotally I can only say that so far we have not been hit below 200 meters, and according to the above information that is expected. The VIIC/41 is the way to go in dead is dead careers no doubt. The key is to use that capability and not hang about near the surface too long lol.

U-292 has reached January of 1944 if you can believe it. We have had our close calls, and got lucky a few times too. Didn't expect to live so long if I'm honest, but there ya go. We have completed both Black Pit and Last Stand, each of which required 250k in trade shipping in the square comprised of BE, BD, AL and AK grids. That's a lot of sinkings. Warships do not count toward the total. There are not a lot of different merchant ships in the game yet. Largest we have seen are T2 tankers, which come in around 14,000 GRT. Mostly though, at this stage of the war, it is C3 freighters and Liberty ships, 7800 and 7200 tons respectively.

We have seen no liners, merchant cruisers, big troopships. Nor have I seen any battleships or carriers outside of Scapa Flow. The milk cow has proven valuable, allowing refueling and rearming and turning some patrols in to double-barreled affairs. I can shift it around as needed and it all works beautifully

Our tonnage totals are exorbitant. Some higher difficulty settings and house rules for tech are in order for the next career I think. This first career is to get a feel for what needs to be done to get the game where I want it. Making it a little harder is needed. The alternative technology timeline has given us a big advantage I think. The Cross (and upgrades) are the most important installation on the boat. T5s I'd rate as next. Having these things years early makes a big difference in the campaign. Slowing things down will help to even the playing field I think.

Great game. If we are able to make it to the end I'll be pleased. And then I'll start immediately on career number 2 with some revised settings and rules and mods.

Rockstar · 08-15-24, 06:42 PM

I always thought if the boat and crew makes to the end. A last mission should be created to pick up a shadowy figure and his entourage navigate past an extensive ASW dragnet and Escape to Argentina.

Threadfin · 08-16-24, 07:19 AM

There's an achievement for sinking your boat off the Argentinian coast at the end of the war. Not exactly sure how that is done, can't scuttle I don't think.

Threadfin · 08-17-24, 08:50 AM

U-292 has made it to June of 1944. We had one close affair with a determined escort group out in the mid-Atlantic and had to go very deep. Our boat did in fact take damage at 235 meters from DCs, but all topside and superstructure (AA guns, radar detector, bow caps) suggesting the charges were exploding some distance above us. No leaks or breaches but the boat, she was a-rockin'!

Usually I feel safe and stealthy below 200 meters, but this group was good. Went on for hours. But we made it. I don't think I would have survived without one, the VIIC/41 and two, the little blue hydrophone contact lines on the map which let me con the boat reactively and accurately to counter every move and eventually slip away. But it was a very close thing. Thought the jig was up, and playing dead is dead it would have been disappointing to come this far (over 40 patrols) and have it all end, but that's the appeal of playing this way. It is all hanging out there.

In my next career I'll slow down the tech arc a bit, so we are not so far out in front. But I might make an exception and get the VIIC/41 as early as possible again. This thing is fantastic, and the reason we have made it this far I reckon.

08-09-24, 03:14 PM	#2
Threadfin Ace of the Deep Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,163 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	Well, I'm not sure. After posting I did an internet search for deepest WW2 depth charge and this sort of thing and found nothing. I've always had in mind that Royal navy charges were max 164m, but maybe that's not accurate? What about US DCs? And anyway, regardless of what is historical, all that matters to us here is how it works in the game. Perhaps the DCs have no max depth? Need to discover how it works. Now that I have the VIIC/41 I should be able to go below 300m and if I get hit down that deep at least we will know they can reach us any depth we can go in the game. I will be testing it, hopefully not so often, but next depth charge rainstorm I'll test it out. Playing dead is dead and now in 1942 I'll take every advantage or kernel of info to help us survive. __________________ What? Behind the rabbit?

08-10-24, 08:45 AM	#3
Threadfin Ace of the Deep Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,163 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	U-292 had a successful maiden patrol, 32k out in BD grid, grinding tonnage for The Black Pit. No trouble encountered so I did no deep dives. Found some info showing depth charge specs http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WAMUS_ASW.php So it comes down to how it is programmed in the game. If there is no max DC depth then no number is safe. If there is, the VIIC/41 should be able to sail below this floor essentially immune. Anyway, aircraft are always the most dangerous enemy. In SH3 I played more than one hundred dead is dead careers and managed to reach the end of the war exactly one time! Many of those were depth charges, but more were aircraft. One thing that potentially works in our favor is how the tech upgrades are handled in this game. The player can get way ahead of historical timeline. Obviously I got the VIIC/41 more than a year early. I had the Cross in early 1940, before the enemy even had radar. Now in summer of 1942 we have FAT, T5s, Borkum detector, GHG Balkon and more. All of this makes it easier than it could be, with a more strict adherence to historical service dates. I will use some house rules in subsequent careers to temper our successes, but for this first one I am not holding back so I can assess what needs to be done in later careers to get it where I want it to be. The Cross was a passenger for more than a year, and we did not start picking up signals until November of 1941. It's odd, but the detector is installed on the boat as part of the radio room, but it is the soundman who needs to be on duty to use it. Since I've opted for three engineers, that leaves gaps in my Cross coverage (two radiomen, who need to run both sound and radio rooms, plus rest so cannot have continuous coverage with my current officer distribution). It nearly cost us last night. During this down time, at night west of Ireland in the BE grid we got jumped by an aircraft and it was close. I've invested all of our specialization points so far in to dive time and silent running, so we were able to get under and avoid the charges or bombs that were dropped. But one of these days we will run out of luck. Clearly this aircraft had radar. I believe it was a Halifax. One thing I am doing in this career is making my refits as long as possible. I want to slow down the operational pace, and can get it to about four weeks in port using vacations and intentional indecision with the quartermaster. Even so, we have done 26 patrols/missions by June of '42. Our tonnage mark is nuts too, so some house rules to tone it all down will be in order. The pace slows as we get later in the war, with more distant patrol or mission areas, and more time spent at sea. Being ahead of the tech curve gives us an edge, so there's a chance to see out the war I reckon. Hard battles await. __________________ What? Behind the rabbit? Last edited by Threadfin; 08-10-24 at 09:39 AM.

08-12-24, 09:09 AM	#4
Threadfin Ace of the Deep Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,163 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	U-292 has entered 1943. Playing dead is dead so this is encouraging lol. Finished the Black Pit series of objectives, rewarding us with a milk cow. The milk cow is a headquarters project. By default it is in the northwest Atlantic, but you can send an officer to HQ to convince Control that it should be shifted to a new location. Our next patrol was another Southern Routes to the west coast of Africa. After choosing the mission, I went to HQ and requested it shift to DF9 grid south of the Azores. This takes 12 days. I could burn more fuel on the way to our patrol area, and the milk cow should be in place when we are ready to head home. Found very little aside from Spanish and Argentinian neutrals in our patrol area. Upon mission complete we swung out to sea and looked for the supply boat. Found her and topped off the tanks. The milk cow works like the quartermaster in port. You can take on as many as four torpedoes, sell and buy food and other supplies, top off the tanks. He will take your prisoners as well. Type XIV boats were not torpedo resupply boats, that was the VIIF. So this milk cow in the game is sort of a hybrid since you can take on torpedoes, fair enough. We resupplied and headed home by way of the mid-Atlantic, getting in on a convoy west of the Azores. The Torch landings happened while we were in refit and the mid-Atlantic is now busier It all worked so well that I decided to do the Labrador weather station mission next. Went back to HQ and requested the milk cow shift to BD1, putting her along our route so we could top off outbound and inbound. Reached the rendezvous in one week, so patrolled the area for another week waiting for the resupply boat to arrive. Bedeviled by the weather and fog, we managed to put under one American liberty ship sailing alone while waiting. When the milk cow arrived we met her, topped off the tanks and filled those two torpedo slots, and headed for the Canadian coast. Got there and went though the procedure. Had to put three officers and six ratings in the shore party, and it all took quite a bit longer than most of these sorts of events. While they were ashore a number of enemy patrol boats and destroyers appeared on the scene. Dropped to periscope depth and escaped their direct attention. When the weather station was complete, the party re-embarked and we got out of there at high speed. We are now enroute back to BD1 to top off for the trip home. __________________ What? Behind the rabbit?

08-14-24, 10:11 AM	#5
Threadfin Ace of the Deep Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,163 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	U-292 and her stout crew have lived to Christmas 1943. In June the Battle of the Atlantic shifted to the Last Stand phase, at which point it seems the Allies got a big shot in the arm tech-wise. Rocket-firing ASW aircraft (I guess, saw one with stovepipes and didn't hang around to see if they work), modern destroyers like Sims and Tribal class. Probably VLR Liberators out there. Hedgehogs I'd reckon. Fido? UBOAT features a number of campaigns within the campaign, and rather than spend this first career jumping around to sample it all, I decided that since I love this game so much I will do many careers, so we've ignored some theaters, saving them for subsequent careers so that each one will have its own mojo. Those are things like Drumbeat, Norway/Arctic and the Mediterranean. Instead, our boats (U-49, U-410 and U-292) have been North Atlantic hunters. Moved to France in June of 1940 and have spent most of the career grinding tonnage in the mid-Atlantic (BE, BD, AL AK grids) for the Black Pit and Last Stand objectives. We have done a few peripheral missions, one to Canada to establish a weather station after getting a milk cow. A couple to west Africa and a couple of agent insertions. But the main business has been anti-shipping patrols on the convoy routes in the North Atlantic. The VIIC/41 is exceptional. Sailors are famously superstitious, so I don't want to jinx anything, but this boat's diving capabilities have been key to our survival as the war enters 1944. Playing this career on 71% difficulty and I'll bump some stuff for career number two, whenever that arrives. __________________ What? Behind the rabbit?

08-15-24, 09:34 AM	#7
Threadfin Ace of the Deep Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,163 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	Thanks mate. It is expected that the implementation in the game mirrors real life specs, but no guarantee. Anecdotally I can only say that so far we have not been hit below 200 meters, and according to the above information that is expected. The VIIC/41 is the way to go in dead is dead careers no doubt. The key is to use that capability and not hang about near the surface too long lol. U-292 has reached January of 1944 if you can believe it. We have had our close calls, and got lucky a few times too. Didn't expect to live so long if I'm honest, but there ya go. We have completed both Black Pit and Last Stand, each of which required 250k in trade shipping in the square comprised of BE, BD, AL and AK grids. That's a lot of sinkings. Warships do not count toward the total. There are not a lot of different merchant ships in the game yet. Largest we have seen are T2 tankers, which come in around 14,000 GRT. Mostly though, at this stage of the war, it is C3 freighters and Liberty ships, 7800 and 7200 tons respectively. We have seen no liners, merchant cruisers, big troopships. Nor have I seen any battleships or carriers outside of Scapa Flow. The milk cow has proven valuable, allowing refueling and rearming and turning some patrols in to double-barreled affairs. I can shift it around as needed and it all works beautifully Our tonnage totals are exorbitant. Some higher difficulty settings and house rules for tech are in order for the next career I think. This first career is to get a feel for what needs to be done to get the game where I want it. Making it a little harder is needed. The alternative technology timeline has given us a big advantage I think. The Cross (and upgrades) are the most important installation on the boat. T5s I'd rate as next. Having these things years early makes a big difference in the campaign. Slowing things down will help to even the playing field I think. Great game. If we are able to make it to the end I'll be pleased. And then I'll start immediately on career number 2 with some revised settings and rules and mods. __________________ What? Behind the rabbit? Last edited by Threadfin; 08-15-24 at 09:56 AM.

08-15-24, 06:42 PM	#8
Rockstar In the Brig Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Zendia Bar & Grill Posts: 12,614 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	I always thought if the boat and crew makes to the end. A last mission should be created to pick up a shadowy figure and his entourage navigate past an extensive ASW dragnet and Escape to Argentina. Last edited by Rockstar; 08-16-24 at 06:47 AM.

08-16-24, 07:19 AM	#9
Threadfin Ace of the Deep Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,163 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	There's an achievement for sinking your boat off the Argentinian coast at the end of the war. Not exactly sure how that is done, can't scuttle I don't think. __________________ What? Behind the rabbit?

08-17-24, 08:50 AM	#10
Threadfin Ace of the Deep Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,163 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	U-292 has made it to June of 1944. We had one close affair with a determined escort group out in the mid-Atlantic and had to go very deep. Our boat did in fact take damage at 235 meters from DCs, but all topside and superstructure (AA guns, radar detector, bow caps) suggesting the charges were exploding some distance above us. No leaks or breaches but the boat, she was a-rockin'! Usually I feel safe and stealthy below 200 meters, but this group was good. Went on for hours. But we made it. I don't think I would have survived without one, the VIIC/41 and two, the little blue hydrophone contact lines on the map which let me con the boat reactively and accurately to counter every move and eventually slip away. But it was a very close thing. Thought the jig was up, and playing dead is dead it would have been disappointing to come this far (over 40 patrols) and have it all end, but that's the appeal of playing this way. It is all hanging out there. In my next career I'll slow down the tech arc a bit, so we are not so far out in front. But I might make an exception and get the VIIC/41 as early as possible again. This thing is fantastic, and the reason we have made it this far I reckon. __________________ What? Behind the rabbit?