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Sounds discouraging! Maybe find a ship you can take out with your deck gun to get some real action under your belt.

I finally completed the Hoppen Island mission so got my blueprint as well as my Type VIIC/41. Does this boat have a faster dive time? The manual shows it as the same..

No I don't think it does. It should be slightly faster, even though the specs shown in game have both at 17.7 knots surfaced speed. I feel like I can squeeze and extra knot out of it and the reading sometimes ticks over to 21 when you've bent on the horses. With 10 points in to dive time specialization it gets under pretty quick, but I'm guessing there's no difference between the /41 and the bog standard VIIC in diving time. Congrats on getting this command. Which boat number Viking?

It took me a while to realize, but you can click on the diving gauge beyond 260 and it will go deeper.


And yeah, duds are still hits, right? Probably even that much more frustrating than misses would be dammit. Out of curiosity, which difficulty setting is keeping it from being 100% Blastman? Or maybe it's more than one. Highest I've done a campaign was 90% for the achievement.

I'm in U-1108. Yah, I only have 5 points out of 10 for dive specialization, I'll have to build that up ASAP to continue to survive.

Another boat which survived the war, a good omen (even if she never conducted a war patrol). Good hunting skipper.

In my careers I spend all my points on dive time and silent running, none on discipline to end up 10/10/00

U-1108
North-East Atlantic
11 November, 1942

Having received four more awards among our officers after the last patrol and some heavy tonnage numbers, we were offered the latest Type VIIC/41. What a lovely boat, and immaculately clean! WIth upgraded sonar and a much tougher conning tower, we will put her to good use in the coming months.

Our first assignment is to disrupt shipping off the North American coast near to Labrador. We set out when the ship was ready and the larder fully stocked. This is our second patrol with the latest technology in our eels, both FAT and LUT. We have already seen what they can do with the improvement in our kills per shot. The crew begins to feel the advantage returns to the wolves.

On our third day running and perhaps 1000 km from the coast we encounter a medium size convoy outbound at a heading of 050. 12 freighters, and three escorts, with two at the front and one at the tail. After a conversation with my First Officer, we decide on a simple strategem. We will attempt to kill two of the escorts, leaving an open approach from one end of the convoy while we pick them off. The seas are moderately rough and it is 2100 hours so we can travel on the surface with freedom.

The line up is critical as we attempt to kill two escorts before they are aware of our presence. We line up our first shot, release the eel at 1.8km, and the second at a similar distance. The sea gods favor us and the first escort explodes massively, lighting up the sky for miles. Less than 20 seconds later the second is disabled and her speed is reduced to 5 knots. We release a second eel at less than 1km and it finds its mark. Fear grips the convoy and they begin to manouever wildly, but we know the initiative is now ours. Over the next hour we count four more prizes, when suddenly at the rear of the convoy the other escort is hit by a torpedo that is not ours! Moments later another freighter goes down. The convoy is reduced to seven desperate ships without an escort, fighting for their lives against hungry wolves in the dark.

It happens that we are carrying with us, by special request of BdU, a war reporter who is absorbing all the action with the greatest interest. Mindful that we have promised him a trip to the American coast, and also mindful that another hunter has this convoy well in hand, we sink one more freighter and then send a message to our near friend that we will withdraw to fulfil our duty. He is happy to have this good harvest to himself and wishes us safe travel.

At midday on the 12th we arrive in our patrol zone. Almost immediately we discover a small convoy with our hydrophones. I am all too aware that we have only four fish left for hunting; we must use them wisely. I am looking for fat targets that are poorly guarded. It's a beautiful day at sea, with wave action light and the sun shining brightly. Poor hunting conditions though the crew has made good use of the weather the last four hours, absorbing as much sun as we can allow. For the benefit of our journalist, I feel I must engage this convoy however briefly. We make our approach at the front of the convoy, move to periscope depth, and wait. When the largest target is in our view at 2.4km, we release two of our eels. Both are FAT and will continue their sweep through the convoy if they miss our target.

Our eels away, we turn away at maximum speed to stay clear of the escorts which may soon be hunting us.

The first eel hits home and the ship, unknown to us, carrying munitions, explodes dramatically and the pyrotechnics are spectacular. The blast actually damages a near freighter which was perhaps 1.2km away from her. The second eel begins her search pattern but in this case we are unlucky and there is no second kill. Still, our journalist has some very good pictures which he stores away carefully for processing on our return to La Rochelle.

We continue our journey toward the coast, when at 1230 hours we receive an urgent transmission from BdU. A freighter outbound for England carries the prototype of a new radar, and our task is to intercept and destroy. We have the vessels’ name, a position within 50nm and the heading and speed of the convoy. We plot an intercept and proceed at best speed. After two hours of travel we make our first hydrophone survey and detect nothing. We travel for one hour more and our second attempt is successful. We have a medium sized convoy moving fast at heading 049. It is at this point that I remember that we have only two eels in our tubes!

It is 1530 hours as we make the sighting at 4km. It will be difficult to pick out names at this range and soon it will be dark. At the navigation table we plot the convoy as it appears to us, and based also on hydrophone readings to the ships we can’t quite see. There are eight ships and two escorts, but the ships are all small to mid size except the one in the center of the convoy. We suspect this larger, protected ship is the one we want. With only two eels we can’t afford to be wrong, and the attempt to identify each ship by name is beyond us. We will get close enough to this target to make the identity certain. If this is our target we will move to a safe distance and attack with our two LUT torpedos. We give thanks to god for our German scientists!

An hour later, at slightly less than 1km, from the periscope we see the name of the ship on her stern. This is our target! Moving away in the fading light, we set up our shot from 2.4 km, carefully programming out LUT units and separating them by 50m. One we purposely aim 50m ahead of the ship, with its turn programmed back into the path of the freighter. With a prayer and a simple order, we send our eels into the sea.

The first torpedo is a miss, but we know it will run its search program. The second likewise is an independent hunter. Half a minute later we watch as a torpedo makes impact and the ship founders. The crew let go a cheer as we turn away into the night and set a path for home. I order a round for all the boys as the XO slaps me on the back. “Home so soon Klaus? Another gong from Admiral Doenitz?”

Good work skipper.

You were assigned a patrol grid off Labrador in November 1942? Or was it something else and you are using artistic license in your report? Drumbeat doesn't start until December right? And all without Milk Cow support, or you have it?

Yes, assigned in November, 1942. No milk cow support so had to watch fuel consumption both ways. But glad to finally have the VIIC/41

I've been noticing other small details - changes to ambient sound since I was last playing a few weeks ago. I'm hearing crew clearing their throats or coughing.

I was confused. Drumbeat starts in December 1941, not 1942, so yeah, this checks.

The /41 is superb, agreed. As I've said through this thread, I think it was the key to surviving the war for me, and i don't think I would have done so without it.

LUT is an impressive technology but I am learning some things. Its most effective when ships are running at 12km or under, unless the convoy is a medium size or larger. This is because it takes time for the torp to make its turns and runs, and if you are targeting an individual ship it will be outside the LUT pattern too quickly.

The longer range LUT the better because the legs and pattern are also longer and you can launch from a safer distance.

Wait, 12km? Is that a typo? Isn't max range 7500 meters? Are you hitting ships at 12km? Good shootin'

12km or less speed of the convoy,..

I've put several hours into "Uboat" so far and things are just not clicking with me. It's kind of like one of those dates I went on during my college years where I found nothing wrong with the girl but the chemistry was just not there. Maybe it's the micromanagement? I've completed all of the training missions but doing my first actual mission out at sea feels like a chore. Looking back on it now, I think I liked "Aces of the Deep" so much because I found it to be a perfect balance of simulation and fun. The immersion factor was there right away too with "Aces of the Deep".

Ah well, I'll give it another shot later this week but If I'm still not feeling it I'll uninstall.

Oh you mean six knots. Sorry, I completely misunderstood

It could well be this. It takes some experimentation to enter the game at a level where the immersion is right. I've chosen to avoid most of the management functions other than the basic necessary ones. But even then there are things that one necessarily does that detract from this. What keeps me playing is the diversity of mission types, and the surprises along the way. Learning the intracacies of weapon systems not modeled in any other subsim to date. Advanced system upgrades per historical dates. Even the basic crew management on shore I have found ok. But some stuff still irritates, like having to continually monitor who is on NAV so I 'm not lost on long trips on time acceleration. Note: Suddenly my officers are taking their shifts on NAV on the long crossing wo my having to monitor them. Another change in the last patch?

I really like this campaign, it is everything that was great about Silent Hunter's open world campaign play plus so much more. I can understand some not liking it, but as far as submarine sims go there are none i like more than this one.

The best part of the coming TYPE IX might just be the huge number of torps she will carry. WIth medium size convoys in 1943 I'm standing off further and firing FAT torps that will do their search pattern if I miss. Improves my kill ratio but I use more eels if I['m not in close. Usually carrying at least two T5s also, such a nice weapon. Fired some off into the fog last night when it was too dangerous to get in close enough to see. Both got kills

I like to carry six acoustics myself

Type IX carries more fish, yeah, but not a boat for me really. I'll do a career in one I am sure, or maybe I can swap to it for Drumbeat, then swap away from it afterwards? If Indian Ocean is fleshed out, far east and that sort of thing, then maybe a full career. With Milk Cow support I just don't see the extra torpedoes as much of an advantage, and it doesn't offset what I assume is greater peril due to size, reduced maneuverability and dive time.

It's not a boat for the North Atlantic, for me, at least from 1941 on.

I'm more looking forward to the campaign expansion than the boat if I'm honest. But I don't know what exactly we will be getting.

ha you know its funny I used a milk cow for the first time a couple weeks ago and never noticed if they refilled my fish. I was on my way home so I was just worrying about fuel. Now that I've had a milk cow once will I get one whenever I request?

Your milk cows are persistent (and vulnerable). You can shift them around using the HQ project screen. You can have multiple cows too, I've had as many as four at once.

These are Type XIV boats, which in real life were not torpedo resupply boats, that was the VIIF. But the game takes a little license. You can resupply up to four random-type torpedoes. After loading, you can go in for another four until all slots are filled if you want, but that is more perilous potentially as you sit surfaced for days on end in the middle of the ocean.

Yeah, you have to move them via the HQ menu to a zone and they stay there until ordered somewhere else. You'll only get approved for a resupply if you're in a zone with a milk cow.