No enemy contacts

[georgeP]

Hi, can you please help me? I have SH4 + Uboat missions + RFB + RSRD mods. I get a patrol mission where I am supposed to patrol a given area.
Problem is,I spent days to find a single enemy ship and in most cases
I get nothing.This is what I do :
1) I follow a search pattern , 40 nm spread from the designated area
2) During the day , I have a 2/3 speed and I only count on visual contacts
3) During the night , I travel submerged , 1/2 or 2/3 speed and constantly
asking the sonarman for new contacts.(by the way,do I have to do that or he ll report a contact on his own? )

Can you please tell me what am I doing wrong?
It is very boring to just travel around without any enemies.

Thanks!

[BillBam]

If all you are looking for is action then probably best to take out RSRD as this mod creates a "real life" scenario for the number of ships found, especially in regards to large convoys. Early in the war the Japs did not use a lot of convoys so mostly you will only find single merchant ships.

Also you may be missing contacts by being submerged at night, this is the best time to be surfaced as you will not have issues with airplanes and have a better sight range. I personally run at "standard" speed to maximize my search range and also for best fuel consumption.

You can usually enlarge your search area also, read your orders because it usually gives you a 100 to 150 nm mile search range. If you continue to use RSRD find a map that displays the historical shipping routes for Japanese merchant traffic and stay in those areas when possible when on patrol.

You do not have to ask the AI crew to find targets, if they are their and in range they will let you know.

[Schroeder]

Hi georgeP and welcome aboard.

What year is it in your game?
You will be hard pressed to find merchants outside of convoys during December 41 till Feb/March 42.
Complete your first assignment and move to Japanese held territory afterwards (you don't have to follow all your orders but you have to complete at least one to not get a renown hit). Patrol then near bigger harbours.

[georgeP]

Thanks guys for your swift reply,I ll try your recommendations!

[magic452]

With RSRD you must know your history early war.
You gotta go to them, they won't come to you.
All the action is near the Philippines, Solomons and Borneo.

Magic

[Frumpkis]

Like the others said, with the RSRD mod, it's important to study up on the WWII history to find out where the action is. Once you've identified a "hot" area for that time period, set up zig-zag patrol patterns at choke points between islands where shipping has to pass, and pay attention to radio message alerts about convoy activity.

If you're new to SH4, I'd suggest starting late enough in the war, like summer '43, where your boat has at least surface search radar in addition to air search radar, and preferably the longer range version. Always patrol on the surface using radar in areas you know are Japanese-controlled, unless you're temporarily forced down by planes or coastal patrol ships. Radar is the key to finding targets.

Use sonar (and your sonar man) mainly at short range, for tracking targets you've already identified at long range with radar or a visual contact, and still need to keep a bead on while submerged at closer range. The sonar guy isn't very good at picking up faint contacts at a distance, at least not until ramped up pretty high in rank. You can hear contacts with manual use of the hydrophones that the sonar guy won't ID or follow, but he's better at close range with contacts.

Good hunting!

[tater]

Why would you travel submerged at night, BTW?

[Armistead]

Actaully the largest convoys are early war in RSRD, such as the Java invasion force. In fact in Feb and Mar of 42 you'll find many invasion forces and a couple of TF for the invasion of Java..nothing better than attacking a 50 plus ship convoy..after you attack that one, you can find another large invasion force in the harbor right of Merak.

There are dozens of large invasion forces scripted, usually it's a matter of where you want to go. They fade out in 43, but then you can find huge convoys and all the battles you want.

All the Solomons battles are well done, from the Shoho invasion force, Coral Sea, Battle of Savo, Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz, Vella Gulf, ect..are done. You can watch the surface fleets duke it out in several.

Course beginning of war the large ones are around the philippines, several of them. I'll attack those then dock at Surabaya and take on the Java forces, after that it's time for all the battles around the Solomons, not to mention the invasion forces.

The way I play RSRD now...knowing it, I can almost always find huge convoys throughout the war.

[Steiger]

Originally Posted by tater

Why would you travel submerged at night, BTW?

Because at night, and when visibility is poor, your passive sonar can pick up contacts farther than you can see. If you're in an area where you know there is no Japanese air cover, traveling on the surface during the day, and submerged at night will give you the best combination of detection possibilities.

[kiwi_2005]

Originally Posted by tater

Why would you travel submerged at night, BTW?

Yea i thought the same, if you want to avoid aircraft/escorts submerge during the day but SH4 is a game where you dont even have to do all that just stay on the surface till you spot a convoy - mind you ive never gotten pass 1944 so it might be hell on the surface.