Noob vs aircraft

[EmTom]

Hello veteran friends! I hope you can help me a bit.

I have just recently bought SH3 so I managed to start only two patrols so far. On both occasions I got creamed by British air patrols. That is not a problem in itself but on both occasions my watch officer reported "aircraft sighted" when bombs with Churchill's smiling face on them made big holes in my sub already. So I started to wonder whether my WO is pretty blind and cannot see the bomber before it hits him in his forehead or perhaps it's because of TC cause both attacks happened on 128xTC... I read that 128xTC is ok, but perhaps it is still risky?

What do you think? Should I drop TC a bit or should I drop it to 1x and watch for aircraft on my own (in which case I will throw my WO out in the middle of Arctic Sea on the nearest occasion).

[papa_smurf]

GWX or not, your best bet is to, once spotted aircraft, drop TC to 1X and hit the crash dive button (making sure your not in shallow water). but if you feel your up to it, get the machine guns manned, go to all ahead full and start to zig-zag.

Most will, however, tell you to avoid aircraft at all costs and crash dive.

[Wreford-Brown]

Crash dive.

If you haven't got enough time; man flak guns, right (or left) full rudder and crash dive as soon as the aircraft passes overhead - they'll usually only have enough time for one pass before you're under water.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Avoid a/c like the plague! You may be lucky in the very early years but later on, after you've gained a smug confidence in shooting them down, you'll regret it,bitterly.

[SeaWolf U-57]

Crash dive or get yourself a gunship

[EmTom]

Yes I want to avoid British air patrols and I do crash-dive when I know something is coming. Unfortunately as I mentioned in the first post my WO reports spotting aircraft AFTER my U-boat is hit with something (bomb I presume) and my hull integrity goes down to 2% and I have tremendous damage and diving is out of question as it ends in not too nice "game over" kind of screen.

So to make my question clearer: Is it normal that watch crew is not able to spot air patrol or is it because of high TC?

[Herr-Berbunch]

High TC, don't do it either too high, or close to land - by close I mean a good 100 miles by my book.

Everybody's 'high TC' is almost as varied as their mod list, some will never go above 4x, some 16, etc., I think 128 is the recommended, with 128 you'll not miss much traffic either in the air or on the water. (I reserve the right to be wrong, it could be less!)

[flag4]

Originally Posted by EmTom

Hello veteran friends! I hope you can help me a bit.

I have just recently bought SH3 so I managed to start only two patrols so far. On both occasions I got creamed by British air patrols. That is not a problem in itself but on both occasions my watch officer reported "aircraft sighted" when bombs with Churchill's smiling face on them made big holes in my sub already. So I started to wonder whether my WO is pretty blind and cannot see the bomber before it hits him in his forehead or perhaps it's because of TC cause both attacks happened on 128xTC... I read that 128xTC is ok, but perhaps it is still risky?

What do you think? Should I drop TC a bit or should I drop it to 1x and watch for aircraft on my own (in which case I will throw my WO out in the middle of Arctic Sea on the nearest occasion).

...on this, my recent patrol, i lost my finest flak gunner to a Swordfish attack. in the end i stood my ground and took out six - but to what cost?
some balsar wood in the sea, and my dead flak gunner.

Dive and leave the scene. 128TC is ok but you need to watch the screen all the time, scrolling in close to your boat, the planes show up as triangles i think.

and make sure you have a full green bar above your watch crew all the time or as much as possible. 64TC is maybe better. but maybe its about knowing where you are too.
if you are close to the British Isles coast - up north near Scotland then there is a chance you'll get it near the begining of the war, then as it progresses the planes are protecting shipping routes further and further out to sea - and then comes RADAR....

i think the general concensus here is to DIVE as soon as one is spotted, but you can choose to stand and fight and watch the action unfold - sometimes its quite spectacular if you score, but the price of losing your crew and damaging your boat probably far outways this the more immersed you become with the feeling that it is in some way a real experience.

i hate losing my crew to a stupid action from my self - an act of heroism that means nothing only that i got bored/frustrated at the wrong moment and then paid a heavy price with a good crew ie, dead crew, lost u boat - career over - again!!

look after your crew - you'll live longer, but it may not be so exciting!!

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by EmTom

So I started to wonder whether my WO is pretty blind and cannot see the bomber before it hits him in his forehead or perhaps it's because of TC cause both attacks happened on 128xTC... I read that 128xTC is ok, but perhaps it is still risky?

What do you think? Should I drop TC a bit or should I drop it to 1x and watch for aircraft on my own (in which case I will throw my WO out in the middle of Arctic Sea on the nearest occasion).

You want a watch qualified officer on deck, plus at least 1-2 watch qualified POs. In short, you want that green line fully loaded. And, using SH3 Commander, you want your TC settings to reduce to "1" when a plane is spotted.

Fighting a plane is just silly. They can churn them out on an assembly line, and if you crash one, well... one pilot bites it. But if he pops a shell in your pressure hull.. at best weeks of repair time. At worst, a very expensive U-boat and 50+ skilled men go to the bottom.

Always go under when you see a plane.

[EmTom]

Thank you all for your opinions. I started a new career and this time they sent me to the coast of Norway. No British planes hopefully, so this patrol might be a bit more like a training patrol for my green crew. I'll try to get more people with watchman ability for my next patrols and I'll see how it helps. I doubt I'll ever turn 128xTC near British coast again though

[gazpode_l]

Hey EmTom
Here is the screenie I promised recently.



"Reset Default Option" is what you need to choose, to ensure you get the proper "popup" when an airplane or surface vessel is nearby!