Settling back into my tiny li'l bunk!

[Captain Hammered]

Saluten, mein herren!

I never posted much on Subsim, but after a couple of years, I've wended my way back to SH5 and am now settling in like visiting an old cottage.

I've gone to the far side of the Galaxy in Elite: Dangerous (taking a couple of months to do it lol), continue my ongoing Napoleonic campaign in Naval Action. I've landed Kerbals on Duna, saved the Galaxy in Mass Effect, explored the undersea in Subnautica (which should really be included here LOL) and, when I had no other choice, I occasionally went to work.

Blech.

Coming back to SH5 - and the Subsim RR - is like sinking into a favourite chair in a comfy old place - it's welcoming and comfortable. I love the feel of having an actual ship around me: a ship one can command, with officers one can speak to. A deck to walk and a bed to lie on. Normandy was great - but ultimately, it's just a set. This is the only game (I know of) that lets you actually move around and appreciate your ship.

It's great to be back.

Over the past weekend, I re-installed from Steam and am playing total Vanilla. While there are a few aspects that mods would help - and I'll eventually re-add them too - for the moment I'm enjoying the feel and sounds of a steel wolf far out at sea.

There have been a few glitches; remembering how to use the TDC and my plotting tactics. Forgetting that on "realistic" mode my surface watch crewmen are apparently Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and Helen Keller; time-warping up the British coast is a BAD idea since those knobs couldn't see the attacking British destroyer even when the blasted thing was less than a mile away in bright sunlight.
(Though to be fair, that destroyer's guns were apparently manned by the Three Stooges so I got out of it with only mild damage...well; until I smacked straight into the bottom of the sea, that is. It was rather closer than I expected.)

New campaign; doing the tute this time and gaining some promotion advantage, I've met with more success - took 4 solo freighters mainly with gunfire (since my TDC skills were less than perfect and even getting the bloody fish in the GENERAL direction of the enemy proved to be the first of many 'scream-at-the-monitor' moments).
But - second patrol I got it sorted out and found myself right in the middle of a 15-ship convoy with one hapless destroyer apparently commanded by an idiot whose idea of 'defence' was to go 'durr?', turn in circles and depth-charge a completely random location.
It was also one in the morning, heavy fog and glass-smooth sea. Sweeeeet!

Empty tubes, out of ammo and 15 sinking ships later, I returned to Bremen happy; certain they'd give me a better boat.

Apparently Dönitz was in a huffy mood, so instead of flattening that pointed beak of his, I set out again in my underpowered, underarmed and underperforming underwater undertaker and welcomed five more Brit Captains (plus crews) to the delights of Davy Jones.

THAT got me my new boat - and she's a beast. The newest Type VII-B right off the line, and she's all mine. I'm currently crouching underwater just NW of Scotland; waiting for sundown and hoping the rain and fog persists. There are some AMC's I want to say hello to.

Cheers! And I'm glad to be back.

[Aktungbby]

Captain Hammered!