Manning the deck gun

VacantName · 03-09-10, 09:35 AM

I have stumbled across a lone, unarmed, seemingly unaware British merchant in the dead of night in calm waters off the coast of Yorkshire. In short, I have the perfect target to make my first kill as commander.

I don't want to waste torpedoes on a small merchant like this one (In my experience with SH 3 & 4 torpedoes have an annoying habit of missing anyway) so I've told the XO to send everyone to battlestations, and told the WO to man the deck gun.

Nobody has moved from where they were before. I wondered why my deck gun wasn't firing, and found my gunner stood in the aft torpedo compartment. What good is that?

How do I get my crew to actually do what I tell them? Failing that, is there any way I can man the deck gun myself? (I was always a better shot than my crew in SH4 anyway).

orangehat44 · 03-09-10, 09:45 AM

I havent been able to get my crew to man it by ordering. But if you go to the back of the conning tower you can walk down the ladder to the deck, walk up to the gun click it. and after you are on the gun, crew will magically teleport to it ( i dunno but whatever). I dont if they are self sufficient, because Ive only manned it myself and shot the target myself. I havent manned it till they pop there then get off and tell them to shoot to see if they will. Ive only stumbled across one ship and had the time to pop it with a torp and finish it with deck gun. But im sure there will be a time when i want to be able to do other things and need the crew to man the gun by them selfs. So if anyone can figure out how to get the crew to be alittle more self sufficient im all ears lol.

Conrad von Kaiser · 03-09-10, 09:53 AM

Did you look through the binoculars and designate that target for the deck gun to engage? (Space bar when looking at it)

Sometimes that jump-starts them into firing, other times you'll have to go and manually jump on the gun to get the crew to appear on it.

Designating a target does work from time to time though. Accidentally designated a target on my way out of Kiel... German Merchant. They happily fired away even though we weren't in battle station's or anything lol

Took me 5 frantic minutes of searching for a cease fire command before I had to go to Periscope depth to get them to stop

Viper114 · 03-09-10, 10:10 AM

What I've usually done is I tell the spotter to man the deck gun, then I jump in the gunner seat. About 5 seconds later the other two show up for the gun to start moving.

03-09-10, 10:46 AM

Watch Officer has the dialogue to man /Secure the Deck Gun / Flak. However you need to ensure he has morale to do this...

Simply enough if you have a cook making special meals

03-09-10, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by funkster319

Watch Officer has the dialogue to man /Secure the Deck Gun / Flak. However you need to ensure he has morale to do this...

Simply enough if you have a cook making special meals

More of a problem if you've just loaded a saved game and the entire crew has no morale.

Mooncatt · 03-09-10, 11:42 AM

here is what i do...
order my WO to man the deck gun, in upper right corner of the screen a little icon will appear. sometimes when the crew simply cant be assed to man said deck gun i click on this little icon and after a few seconds they appear......as if by magic

use binoculas to lock target and crew start firing away......or should do anyways

03-09-10, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fivepast

More of a problem if you've just loaded a saved game and the entire crew has no morale.

Get the Special Meal Ability for the Cook ASAP - that way you just make them a meal (or rather he does) and instant morale

SteamWake · 03-09-10, 12:51 PM

"I'm not gonna fire that gun untill you give me something to eat !"

Frickin ridiculous.

03-09-10, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by funkster319

Get the Special Meal Ability for the Cook ASAP - that way you just make them a meal (or rather he does) and instant morale

I was under the impression that the cook's special ability doesn't work if he has no morale himself.

03-09-10, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fivepast

More of a problem if you've just loaded a saved game and the entire crew has no morale.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteamWake

"I'm not gonna fire that gun untill you give me something to eat !"

Frickin ridiculous.

Well some decent food does pick you up so not that crazy a concept IMO. Besides it just adds to the fun.

Chatting also bring the moral up , plus kills etc.

SteamWake · 03-09-10, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fivepast

I was under the impression that the cook's special ability doesn't work if he has no morale himself.

From what I've seen you can spam the special meal ability with no morale points.

What I dont know is if the morale points 'stick' after the meal timer counts down.

pythos · 03-10-10, 07:54 PM

I had the opposite problem. My gun crew merrily fired away.

BUT THEY FORGOT ABOUT THE CEASE FIRE BUTTON!!!!

I could not stop them from going from target to target.

Even having the WO "secure the deck gun" it continued to fire!!!

WTF!!!!??

LeonTheNorse · 03-10-10, 08:28 PM

Have had the same problem Pythos.

Seems they get trigger happy after you tell them to open fire on a ship they just seem to think you want them to fire at will at all targets.

Only solution is to dive, one time they kept firing even after i dived. I mean they never unmanned the deck gun. Gotta love their determination.

03-09-10, 09:35 AM	#1
VacantName Seaman Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: A long, long way from Tipperary Posts: 40 Downloads: 60 Uploads: 0	Manning the deck gun I have stumbled across a lone, unarmed, seemingly unaware British merchant in the dead of night in calm waters off the coast of Yorkshire. In short, I have the perfect target to make my first kill as commander. I don't want to waste torpedoes on a small merchant like this one (In my experience with SH 3 & 4 torpedoes have an annoying habit of missing anyway) so I've told the XO to send everyone to battlestations, and told the WO to man the deck gun. Nobody has moved from where they were before. I wondered why my deck gun wasn't firing, and found my gunner stood in the aft torpedo compartment. What good is that? How do I get my crew to actually do what I tell them? Failing that, is there any way I can man the deck gun myself? (I was always a better shot than my crew in SH4 anyway).

03-09-10, 10:10 AM	#4
Viper114 Seaman Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 36 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	What I've usually done is I tell the spotter to man the deck gun, then I jump in the gunner seat. About 5 seconds later the other two show up for the gun to start moving. __________________ "We are all legends. Our only choice is how to end the tale."

03-09-10, 11:42 AM	#7
Mooncatt Grey Wolf Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Keighley UK Posts: 938 Downloads: 78 Uploads: 0	here is what i do... order my WO to man the deck gun, in upper right corner of the screen a little icon will appear. sometimes when the crew simply cant be assed to man said deck gun i click on this little icon and after a few seconds they appear......as if by magic use binoculas to lock target and crew start firing away......or should do anyways __________________

03-09-10, 12:51 PM	#9
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	"I'm not gonna fire that gun untill you give me something to eat !" Frickin ridiculous. __________________ Follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147648

03-10-10, 08:28 PM	#14
LeonTheNorse Swabbie Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 8 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Have had the same problem Pythos. Seems they get trigger happy after you tell them to open fire on a ship they just seem to think you want them to fire at will at all targets. Only solution is to dive, one time they kept firing even after i dived. I mean they never unmanned the deck gun. Gotta love their determination. __________________

03-09-10, 09:45 AM	#2
orangehat44 A-ganger Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 80 Downloads: 48 Uploads: 0	I havent been able to get my crew to man it by ordering. But if you go to the back of the conning tower you can walk down the ladder to the deck, walk up to the gun click it. and after you are on the gun, crew will magically teleport to it ( i dunno but whatever). I dont if they are self sufficient, because Ive only manned it myself and shot the target myself. I havent manned it till they pop there then get off and tell them to shoot to see if they will. Ive only stumbled across one ship and had the time to pop it with a torp and finish it with deck gun. But im sure there will be a time when i want to be able to do other things and need the crew to man the gun by them selfs. So if anyone can figure out how to get the crew to be alittle more self sufficient im all ears lol.

03-09-10, 09:53 AM	#3
Conrad von Kaiser Helmsman Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: New York Posts: 105 Downloads: 19 Uploads: 0	Did you look through the binoculars and designate that target for the deck gun to engage? (Space bar when looking at it) Sometimes that jump-starts them into firing, other times you'll have to go and manually jump on the gun to get the crew to appear on it. Designating a target does work from time to time though. Accidentally designated a target on my way out of Kiel... German Merchant. They happily fired away even though we weren't in battle station's or anything lol Took me 5 frantic minutes of searching for a cease fire command before I had to go to Periscope depth to get them to stop

03-09-10, 10:46 AM	#5
funkster319 Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	Watch Officer has the dialogue to man /Secure the Deck Gun / Flak. However you need to ensure he has morale to do this... Simply enough if you have a cook making special meals

03-10-10, 07:54 PM	#13
pythos Grey Wolf Join Date: May 2005 Location: Somewhere over there Posts: 834 Downloads: 46 Uploads: 0	I had the opposite problem. My gun crew merrily fired away. BUT THEY FORGOT ABOUT THE CEASE FIRE BUTTON!!!! I could not stop them from going from target to target. Even having the WO "secure the deck gun" it continued to fire!!! WTF!!!!??