How to be a better SH player!

[bstanko6]

In order to be a better Silent Hunter player, we need to understand what SH is.

With so many games out there that offer the experience of commanding submarines, or being a sniper, or ambusher of sorts... we really need to break this great game down to fully understand what she is!

While there are many great sub games, SH to me, creates the ultimate claustrophobic sense of death around every corner. But 98% of the time, it creates a snooze fest of transit time, plane, and escort avoidance.

So what makes this game great?

Silent Hunter... is you and me. Not our boat, our crew, or just a title. It is us taking command of a large vehicle that requires a crew, and turning it into a machine of death. The prospect of a great tonnage rate, or simply sinking that aircraft carrier looms over our heads constantly. That feeling of doing the math, waiting for the right opportunity, and see the end result sink in the ocean fascinates us!

But how do we do that in an awesome way? An efficient way?

Are you an Active or Passive commander?
Technically speaking, we are all "active" commanders. We go out and actively seek out targets to sink. But let's get real here... How many times have you gone out for patrol, shot all your torps, and came back within 2 weeks? What was your tonnage score? Were you hunting the right targets? How many misses? How many times were you spotted?

While you probably scored well, and hit some ships, unless you sank serious targets, or racked serious tonnage within the 2 weeks, in reality, we would lose our command.

We need to go out there, with intention of flooding our OODA loop with information, and get the job done right!

The OODA loop?
What in the world is OODA? you are asking. It represents our decision making process. Observe; seeing your target, identifying what it is. Orientate; get our boat into a position to make an attack or evade. Decision; understanding the situation you are currently in and deciding how best to act. Action; taking the appropriate actions.

When we throw information into this loop, we can make better decisions on how to take a target. But in order to make better decisions, we need to throw lots of good information at it. Passively playing: hunting along the coast, or simply taking every target that you find will not help us here.

All of the great sub commanders did daring things. Whether it was Prien in Scapa Flow or Kretschmer floating in between the convoy columns, they tested their decision making OODA skills by going out and getting information.

Plan out where your hunting grounds will be; the targets you are only interested in; the ships you will absolutely not waste your time in attacking; and your line in the sand when it comes to sacrificing your crew. As the silent hunter, YOU get to determine the time, place, and intensity of the attack.

To be a good SH player, we need to hunt more than coastal freighters or tramp steamers. We need to hunt convoys. This could take 2 or 3 months at least.

We need to select proper targets, and bypass the garbage that floats by!

We need to hold off attacking in bad weather, and strike when our solution is at it's most refined.

We need to properly report convoy positions and wait for the wolfpacks.

We need to manage our fuel, and when necessary, burn it to overtake convoys and targets of opportunity.

Take your time commander, and good hunting!

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