Upgrades, what is realistic.

[Lzs von swe]

Hi all.
If you start a campaign, start year and flotilla of your choice, then you chose your boat and fit it with the available upgrades you can afford, what is most realistic.
Keep the boat `as is´ and only fit things like radar etc. but not new engines or batteries, then after say two years upgrade to a new boat with all available new technology you can afford and repeat the above. Or always upgrade everything as son as its possible.
How was this done during the war? How much of the new tech was fitted to the old boats. A turbo or compressor, did they bolt that to old engines? New batteries, did they change batteries or was the boat written of when they where worn out?
Sonar coating, I guess they had to fit that to all boats, conning towers, how common was it to rebuild the boats with new ones? Etc.:hmm:

Many of you guys seem to have a lot of knowledge about these boats so I´m sure you can enlight me, and others, on this.

[mookiemookie]

Sailor Steve has mentioned on more than one occasion that the engine upgrades (superchargers for the diesel engines) are not historically correct and will allow your boat to go faster than any historical one did.

As far as when upgrades become available, I believe that these are accurately modelled in SHIII. This is where I see the good side of the "renown" system. I believe that it was either luck, or "knowing someone who knew someone" that allowed you to get the newest upgrades as they became available.

Originally Posted by Lzs von swe

Sonar coating, I guess they had to fit that to all boats

Not quite. From what I've read, Alberich was an experimental rubber type coating that they hoped would absorb some of the ASDIC signals, as well as insulating the inner noises of the U-boat. Only a few boats actually were treated with it (I just found one source that said less than 10 total) since it was found that the adhesive they used to secure it to the hull was flawed and pieces of the coating would come loose and flap as the boat traveled along submerged, actually creating more noise instead of dampening it. Later in the war, an improved adhesive was devised and all later boats built were to have it, but...well, we all know what happened in 1944 and 1945

[bigboywooly]

As newer boats came online IIRC the older ones went to training flottilas
Some upgrades would have been fitted during normal service\repair

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Lzs von swe

start year and flotilla of your choice...

That's unrealistic right there. You might request a starting flotilla, but who knows if they'd give it to you or not.

...then you chose your boat...

Also not likely to happen. Back when I played SHI my first choice was Pearl Harbor or the Phillipines. I realized that flipping a coin was the only real answer, as I would always choose Phillipines. Later I decided to run careers out of both bases; also unrealistic but a lot more fun. Using Beery's 'Flotilla' mod I started careers out of all three flotillas in SHIII. Silly, but I like it.

How was this done during the war? How much of the new tech was fitted to the old boats. A turbo or compressor, did they bolt that to old engines?

Type II and Type VIIa boats came without superchargers. The VIIa top speed was only around 17 knots. Type VIIb and later all came with superchargers installed. They're top speed was 17.9 knots for the VIIb and 17.6 knots for the VIIc. The 'unsupercharged' top speeds in the game seem to be the actual supercharged top speeds. No type IX ever made 21 knots.

New batteries, did they change batteries or was the boat written of when they where worn out?

I think the newer batteries were better, but not bigger, so they could be installed as the old ones ran out, but I'm not sure if that was actually done. It looks like the procedure would be very time-consuming, as the batteries are underneath practically everything else.

The rest of the 'upgrades' I'm not sure about; I don't even understand the anti-sonar coatings.

[Lzs von swe]

Thanks for the info

So I´ll roll the dice to let BDU decide flotilla and then roll it again to let them decide the boat, depending on the flotilla. Maybe even the start year, what if I get -45 with a green crew and almost no upgrades . Then only do minor upgrades now and then and see how far I can last .

[Safe-Keeper]

http://www.random.org/
You can use that instead of dice.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Lzs von swe

Maybe even the start year...

I don't think even I would go that far. I started all three careers in '39, and used SH3 Commander so even if they didn't die my captains would get retired at some point. Then I start a new career at the same base at the same date.

Choice of boats? Since 1st Flotilla only has type IIs at that point the choice is obvious. Same for the Type VIIb in the 7th. For the 2nd this time around the IXb is available in October '39, but I've been told recently that that's not correct. Since I can't play right now anyway it doesn't matter much.

...what if I get -45 with a green crew and almost no upgrades . Then only do minor upgrades now and then and see how far I can last .

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: "Congratulations, kaleun. Here is your brand-new boat. Oh, by the way, we're surrendering tomorrow".

My best advice is look at all the options and decide what works best for you.

[Krupp]

S!

Is it possible to remove engine upgrade and keep your current boat? Like Sailor Steve said, those boat speeds are just too high.

K

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by Krupp

S!

Is it possible to remove engine upgrade and keep your current boat? Like Sailor Steve said, those boat speeds are just too high.

K

I believe you can do this with SH3 Commander.