I finished the war.

[psykopatsak]

aside to what you've learnt which is my experience too spot on, i would like to ad: Scapa flow is not that dangerous :P

[Bosje]

congratulations!
so, were all your crew covered in medals?

[Red Heat]

Originally Posted by maillemaker

Well, after a couple of years of playing off and on, I finally made it to May 1945. I was off the coast of Spain when we got the dispatch to surrender.

It was actually kind of sad watching port after port fall into "enemy" hands.

Some fun things: I made it into Valletta and wiped out the defecting Italian warships.

I sank the HMT Aquitane or Aquitarious or whatever it was. Found it in a convoy.

I now want to start over in 1939 with "dead is dead". Before, I saved my games and would re-start if I died. I've got external cam turned on and auto TDC, but those are my only conceits. I may turn off external cam this time around, but I enjoy the scenery.

Here are some things I have learned about SHIII:

1) Aircraft aren't so bad after all.

If you have a radar detector, you can always get under water before them come in and get you.

2) Snorkles aren't so great.

They make you blind to radar, so aircraft come along and blow you up because they see your snorkle. Better to just sail on the surface so your radar detector works.

3) Don't be afraid of escorts.

Originally, I tried to play the game "realistically", ignoring the escorts and firing all my torpedoes at big ships in convoys, and then trying to go deep and evade. I'd say in game you can only successfully evade maybe 30% of the time. In calm seas with more than one escort, you can forget about getting away. With three or more escorts, you are done for. You just can't move fast enough under water to get away. So I quit trying. I would launch my foreward tubes at convoy ships, and save my rear tubes for escorts. Acoustic torpedoes are AWESOME. But even without them I got pretty good at nailing circling escorts. My favorite trick was to run very noisy, ping the sonar, etc, and get an escort to chase me. If they are stupid, the run in a straight line for you, and then you just point your ass straight at them 180 degrees and fire a magnetic torpedo under them at 500m range. They are toast. If the escort is smarter and comes after you zig-zagging, then wait until they are almost on top of you and drop a noisemaker. The escort will usually reverse engines and hover over the noisemaker. When they stop, fire a magnetic torp under them as above.

I actually started to make it a habit to take out the escorts first, and then use whatever was left over on the convoy.



If the Germans had gone into the war with Type XXI's and acoustic torpedoes they would have ruled the seas.

Steve

You are right...Spain and Portugal they are great Countries to live after the War!

Good Job!

[maillemaker]

Another thing I learned is that another good reason to stay at periscope depth and fight the escorts rather than dive is that often the escorts will depth-charge themselves, as they set their charges to shallow and it blows the stern off of their ship!

[psykopatsak]

now that's something i've rarley experienced. however i did just realise that crossing the channel in '44 was piece of cake...

[krashkart]

Originally Posted by maillemaker

Another thing I learned is that another good reason to stay at periscope depth and fight the escorts rather than dive is that often the escorts will depth-charge themselves, as they set their charges to shallow and it blows the stern off of their ship!

That would be a sight to behold.

[PappyCain]

One thing that annoyed me is that nothing really happens when the war ends. I figured there would be a movie or something, or when you pulled into port there would be enemy troops waiting to "take you in" or something. But no, I sailed back into Lorient and the band was still playing like always. Exited patrol and the game just goes back to the main menu. Nothing.

Maillimaker: Try installing the 'Der Enderdawar' mod.

(Pic from Sailor Steve who swiped it from somebody here)

[psykopatsak]

XD

[vergol]

Originally Posted by maillemaker

My favorite trick was to run very noisy, ping the sonar, etc, and get an escort to chase me. If they are stupid, the run in a straight line for you, and then you just point your ass straight at them 180 degrees and fire a magnetic torpedo under them at 500m range. They are toast. If the escort is smarter and comes after you zig-zagging..

I've done this before, but felt guilty every time. It seems more like an exploit than a tactic -- taking advantage of mediocre AI.

I would imagine that 'don't run straight at the sound contact' was the number one rule of sub hunting, with 'don't run straight at the sound contact' being the second.

Then again, I could be wrong.

Thoughts?

[ryanglavin]

Originally Posted by Torplexed

Congrats on making to the bitter end.



If both worked as perfectly in real life as they do in the game --maybe. Like the American B-29 Superfortress, the Type XXI had it share of bugs. It's interesting to note that perhaps with more hope than sense, Germany had more than 1,900 Type XXI and Type XXIII submarines under construction or on order on the last day of the European war.

Dont forget, it was built with bugs from quick manufacturing in War time Germany... Where all material wasn't as good as it was in 1939.

[Kremmen]

I was heading past the east coast of Scotland en route to my patrol grid of AM52 when I received a message from Bdu ordering me to go to Scapa Flow and sink warships.One hairy ride but nailed a BB and Carrier for my efforts.

Nice work surviving to wars end

[maillemaker]

I've done this before, but felt guilty every time. It seems more like an exploit than a tactic -- taking advantage of mediocre AI.

I would imagine that 'don't run straight at the sound contact' was the number one rule of sub hunting, with 'don't run straight at the sound contact' being the second.

Then again, I could be wrong.

Thoughts?

Oh I'm sure you're exactly right. Killing off DD's the way I do is definitely taking advantage of mediocre AI.

Whatever works, baby.

You know what else I do? I press the "L" key to lock invisible targets in poor weather. For shame!

Steve

[Matador.es]

Glückwünsche

It would be nice to have some sort of a MOD what enforces you to "stay dead ones killed" and compare results on the internet for you SP Campaign missions.

Good luck on your effort though!

Interesting on the magnetic torp, will try that...

[Apache312]

Originally Posted by Matador.es

Glückwünsche

It would be nice to have some sort of a MOD what enforces you to "stay dead ones killed"

thats a good idea. Anybody know if something like that exists? Also, I too was disappointed with the ending while at sea, but its better than the end of war while you are in dock. "The war has ended". What a crock....how about a little more effort Ubi...lol.

/S

Apache312

[flag4]

Originally Posted by maillemaker

Well, after a couple of years of playing off and on, I finally made it to May 1945. I was off the coast of Spain when we got the dispatch to surrender.

It was actually kind of sad watching port after port fall into "enemy" hands.

Some fun things: I made it into Valletta and wiped out the defecting Italian warships.

I sank the HMT Aquitane or Aquitarious or whatever it was. Found it in a convoy.

I now want to start over in 1939 with "dead is dead". Before, I saved my games and would re-start if I died. I've got external cam turned on and auto TDC, but those are my only conceits. I may turn off external cam this time around, but I enjoy the scenery.

Here are some things I have learned about SHIII:

1) Aircraft aren't so bad after all.

If you have a radar detector, you can always get under water before them come in and get you.

2) Snorkles aren't so great.

They make you blind to radar, so aircraft come along and blow you up because they see your snorkle. Better to just sail on the surface so your radar detector works.

3) Don't be afraid of escorts.

Originally, I tried to play the game "realistically", ignoring the escorts and firing all my torpedoes at big ships in convoys, and then trying to go deep and evade. I'd say in game you can only successfully evade maybe 30% of the time. In calm seas with more than one escort, you can forget about getting away. With three or more escorts, you are done for. You just can't move fast enough under water to get away. So I quit trying. I would launch my foreward tubes at convoy ships, and save my rear tubes for escorts. Acoustic torpedoes are AWESOME. But even without them I got pretty good at nailing circling escorts. My favorite trick was to run very noisy, ping the sonar, etc, and get an escort to chase me. If they are stupid, the run in a straight line for you, and then you just point your ass straight at them 180 degrees and fire a magnetic torpedo under them at 500m range. They are toast. If the escort is smarter and comes after you zig-zagging, then wait until they are almost on top of you and drop a noisemaker. The escort will usually reverse engines and hover over the noisemaker. When they stop, fire a magnetic torp under them as above.

I actually started to make it a habit to take out the escorts first, and then use whatever was left over on the convoy.



If the Germans had gone into the war with Type XXI's and acoustic torpedoes they would have ruled the seas.

Steve

...this is where i am at - taking them out first. but does'nt your heart sink when that 500m shot misses...

i like your style