A pleasure, Tambor... thank YOU for haivng had such a good idea!!

I't becoming very good indeed! I'm pretty sure it will become a very interesting guide... I myself found some pretty interesting information!!

Anyway, as soon as I manage I'll update my part with some explanatory screenies... I'll let you know when I have

I'm always happy when I can make a contribution to these Forums, Sparhawk. I've already gotton so much, I like to give some back when I can.

Plenty of nice and kind people here, and I also feel a certain degree of unity and friendship, even if 99% of us have never met in person.

quote:

Originally posted by Sparhawk81:


Plenty of nice and kind people here, and I also feel a certain degree of unity and friendship, even if 99% of us have never met in person.

That goes double for me, my friend.

Here is a tidbit I have found helpfull!

You need to follow the golden rule for game saving in SH4.

You need to be alone, at least 50 Mi. from any land mass and away from contacts of any sort.

As I said, you need to be alone!

Also you want to be on the surface and have any time compresion turned off before you save.

P.S.
On the issue of deck gun ammo, Ducimus mentioned in one of his early works that the HP and AP ammo do indeed have diffrent properties with the AP being weaker than the HP. I think he said that the HP did 20 pts damage VS 14 with the AP. I do not recall if the AP had any benifit against armored targets. You may want to ask the master on this point.

SUBMERGED ATTACKS....ACT TWO

1. Some additional pointers to add to another skipper's post. Generally, Japanese merchant convoys are small, usually 8 or 9 ships. They tend to be "wide" as opposed to a box or rectangle such as the allied convoys, which could be 40+ ships. The good news is, because they take this wide stance, there is usually a gap in the escort screen you can exploit.

Here's an example:



M6 M7 M8

E2 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 E3


E1



S
The escorts (E1-E3) are screening in a sort of V shape pattern. Your goal is to get into the gap and go after the merchants (M1-M8)

For our example, let's assume that the convoy is heading due South and you are at position S. Go slow and quiet (below a thermal if you can) until Escort 1 has passed you. In most cases I basically run at the point where E1 is initially, he'll be gone by the time I get there and it gets me well past the flank escorts at the same time. Escorts have a hard time finding you when you are astern of them because of the noise of their screws.

Plan your attack, let's make it easy, M1 is a small cargo vessel, M2 is a medium cargo vessel, M3 a large modern tanker. You want to target the farthest target first. With a little luck, your torpedoes will arrive at several targets at about the same time if your go from farthest to closest. OK, you set up on the tanker, fire 4 bow tubes. Now set up on M2 and fire your two remaining bow tubes. Drop the scope, go to ahead slow if you were going any slower, and put in hard right rudder. When you are pointing roughly South East, bring your scope back up and see if you can line up M1 with your stern tubes.

If everything works out, you should be scoring 3 kills. Drop the scope, head as deep as you can, rig for silent running and pick a heading that takes you away from the escorts.

2. Don't be too concerned about reloading tubes. You probably will not be able to attack again without doing another intercept a few hours later anyway. Just concentrate on getting clear of the area.

3. Sometimes just when you think you can start working your way back to periscope depth, because the remaining merchants are moving away, one or more of the escorts will perform a wide sweep. If you can still hear them on your sound gear, they're too close.

4. Another trick is to have one of the escorts go to all stop and just sit there waiting for you to poke your scope up for a look. They are especially inclined to do this if you manage to bring a merchant ship to a complete stop, but not sink it.

5. Just get far away (I usually allow myself at least 30 minutes of real time quiet travel without being attacked). Then, come up nice and quiet to periscope depth. If you don't see any escorts, surface, secure from silent running and then figure out if it's really worth running another intercept on what's left of the convoy.

6. Oh yeah, once I surface, I secure from general quarters. Even if I plan to attack the convoy again, it lets the crew rest, and even the duty watch will get the tubes reloaded long before I'm back in position to make another run.

7. Long range "Hail Mary" shots, especially at a ship doing more than 5 knots are usually just a waste of time. If you can't get in close (1500 yards or less on your initial target) I wouldn't bother. Either sneak away and try to set up again or just abandon the attack and see if something else turns up later.

Sorry guys, the diagram didn't print out exactly the way I typed it. Move M6 behind M2 and E1 in front of M3 and you should have the general idea.

Hey, nice hints there!!!

Can this pic work well for your diagram?

Thanks Sparhawk81, that's basically what I was trying to do.

Thanks vietvettwo, Act two has been added. Thanks for your contribution.

quote:

Originally posted by vietvettwo:
Thanks Sparhawk81, that's basically what I was trying to do.

I knew that having studied Photoshop for quite a while would have been useful, sooner or later!!!

Thanks for that info... I had never thought about that V formation, and the side approach you've explained... seems a good tactic, I'll try it out as soon as possible!

quote:

Originally posted by Sparhawk81:

quote:

Originally posted by vietvettwo:
Thanks Sparhawk81, that's basically what I was trying to do.

I knew that having studied Photoshop for quite a while would have been useful, sooner or later!!!

Thanks for that info... I had never thought about that V formation, and the side approach you've explained... seems a good tactic, I'll try it out as soon as possible!

If you know Photoshop, teach me. I've got the program and am totally lost.

quote:

Originally posted by tambor198:
If you know Photoshop, teach me. I've got the program and am totally lost.

I've sent you a PM

quote:

Originally posted by Sparhawk81:

quote:

Originally posted by tambor198:
If you know Photoshop, teach me. I've got the program and am totally lost.

I've sent you a PM

Thank you, sir.

I've updated the SUMBERGED ATTACK part with some screenshots

Any one have suggestions for additional topics? We've probably hit the big ones, but there may be folks with questions on very specific areas we could address.

well, we could add the guide to completing missions and some instructions on how to install and operate JSGME, so that ppl will easily find it.

Then we could try and collect ships weak spots, best traffic lanes, and list the major battles, with dates and coordinates

DAMAGE CONTROL

1. If you play long enough, you are going to take damage. From reading through the posts since the game's inception, it seems that a fair number of skippers aren't too sure what to do when that happens.

2. Before you go on patrol, make sure that all of your damage control team slots are full. Yes, you can pull a damage control team together from other compartments if you want to, but why? It's not like the game is going to reduce your crew's oxygen consumption if you have less men on the boat. Pick at least one chief petty officer, fill the other slots with guys who have engine (propeller) qualifications. Get the green status bar on the left as close to the top as you can. And when you are handing out promotions and medals, not a bad bunch of guys to keep happy and efficient.

3. If you take damage and you haven't done so already, A) send your crew to general quarters. This activates the damage control team, and at least in theory allows them to utilize the regular crew in the compartments as well. B) Secure from silent running. I don't know if that mode keeps repairs from being made, but why chance it.

4. What to pick from the damage control list? Well, that's your call, but I tend to put things into a couple of broad categories, going from most important to least important:

1. Survivability
2. Maneuverability
3. Everything else

Survivability, fix leaking bulkheads, make sure my main pump is intact to pump the water out, and that my compressor is working so I can surface. Also, the amount of blue in the gauge on the right shows how badly the bulkhead is leaking. The more blue you see, the higher on the list I would put it. Blue in the compartment indicates how much water is in there. Again, more blue is bad. Fix the worst flooding first.

Maneuverability, diesels, electric engines, batteries, props, dive planes and rudder. If I get through all the stuff above, I'm going to need these.

Everything else, as the name implies, is just that. If I've taken any sort of major damage, I'm not attacking anything anymore. Why worry about my attack periscope, or my deck gun when I plain to dive if I see so much as a seagull checking me out.

And keep in mind, that some items (such as deck guns) an only be repaired when you are on the surface.

3. While you are trying to get flooding under control it may be necessary to increase your speed to keep from sinking below crush depth. And keep in mind that if you are taking on water, crush depth is a lot less that it used to be. I try not to run flat out at a sustained speed, unless I have already sunk the one escort that was in the area. Otherwise, crank on the speed and move towards periscope depth, reduce speed when I get there so my batteries last, and hopefully sink slowly back down. Repeat as necessary.

4. If your batteries took damage be very careful. If and when you get back to the surface watch your battery status bar to make sure you are getting a charge back in the batteries. If you are, be sure they recharge to 100% (wait for the text message). If they don't turn battery charging off when they've taken all they can or you will suck up fuel like there's a hole in your tank.

AGENT INSERTION/TROOP INSERTION/SUPPLY DROP/PHOTO RECON MISSIONS

1. In reality, the first three are all the same mission. the recon mission is only slightly different. The main change is "does your cargo climb into the raft on it's own, or do you have to load it?".

2. Read your orders carefully. There is usually a phrase in there about the necessity of secrecy. I don't know if the game would penalize you, but to stay in the spirit of the game you probably should not attack anything on the way to the drop point.

3. I always make my drops at night. I've never read a post where someone made a drop during the day and had a problem, but again, just to stay in character, plan your approach so you get there at night.

4. OK, now the nuts and bolts. So far every insertion and supply drop mission I have had took place on a deserted, undefended beach, that was essentially right on the coast. Didn't have to work my way to some major inland harbor or pass through any really tight choke point.

5. The most common problem folks seem to have is, how do I make the drop. You have to be within one mile of the beach, stopped and on the surface. Here's what I've found helpful. Use your map tools to draw a circle 1 mile out from the drop icon. Plot your course into that circle. Once inside I usually throw a turn in since I prefer to be on the bridge instead of looking at the map. As soon as the boat makes the turn, I know I can go to all stop. The text box pops up, I click the launch raft button, and the rest of the stuff happens. BTW, the rafts always launch from the starboard side, so if you want to plot your turn, go to port so you steer clear of the raft. I also come in at 5 knots or less. I haven't run aground yet, but again, why take unnecessary chances.

6. Photo Recon Missions are probably the most hated assignments in the game. These are dangerous missions made worse by the facts that they are also boring and tedious. We bought the game to blow stuff up, maybe they should have called it Silent Hunter 4, FedEx of the Pacific.

7. Unlike the drop missions above, the harbor they send you to is usually not directly on the coast. You are going to have to spend a lot of time covering ground within sight of land so managing your batteries is key. These ports are also usually well defended. Expect to encounter patrol craft as well as coastal gun emplacements. I've also ran into (literally) submarine nets, and some skippers have reported mines as well. In most instances you are not going to have a lot of deep water to work with either. Add everything up, and the odds are stacked pretty heavily against you. If you get spotted, there's no place to hide.

8. It may be cheating, but I make liberal use of the save game function on this type of mission. Usually, I save at the point where I start my final approach, and when I have taken my photo(s). Also, if I find my attention wandering, it's time to throw another save in and go do something else.

9. If it's day time, you had better be submerged. Stay clear of the main shipping channels, as previously stated, the water is usually shallow, you can be submerged and still get rammed. Keep your speed to one or two knots, there is just no way to complete this mission quickly. If you must recharge your batteries, wait until dark, go to all stop and surface. If you try and move on the surface, someone will spot your wake and/or bow wave.

10. Taking the photos. Up scope, lock onto the target, click the camera icon. The game wants you to photograph a specific ship, make sure the log shows mission complete before you leave the area.

11. Often times the target ships are very tempting targets. Just keep in mind that if you go after these sitting ducks the chances of you sneaking away and back to the open sea get pretty slim. Depending on how much distance I have to cover to get away, time of day, battery state, and how well defended the area is, I've been known to hide in some quiet little corner for a day or so to get a good charge back in the batteries before I try and get out.

Excellent Viet!

Only one thing, about agent insertion: it's wise to reach the release area submerged, stop and then surface. Only then the game will ask whether to launch the raft or not.