Depth Charges Seem To Deadly Now

[FluffyBunnyEars]

I like that the destroyers are a bit more aggressive like they most likely were. For slower convoys anyways. But they used to have to count depth charges, and some attacks would last hours and like 80 depth charges attacks. And, depth charges acted different at different depths (pressure) ect. And now, it seems like once the destroyers have you locked, that's it, they've got you and know right where you are. Silent Hunter III actually had it down pretty good. Especially with some of the mods. Anyways, still a great game.

[Shabutie]

Yup. Generally thats how it goes. Once they got you, they got you. Especially in the later years, the technology those ships had for tracking subs was impressive. Theres nowhere to hide from them.

[Silamon]

God Silent hunter 3 with gray wolves mod was amazing. I've been tempted to play it again after all these years but I had a hard time getting it to run on my current machine.

Anyway, heres hoping Uboat will be even half as fun. Just installing it now.

[1upAviator]

Originally posted by FluffyBunnyEars:

I like that the destroyers are a bit more aggressive like they most likely were. For slower convoys anyways. But they used to have to count depth charges, and some attacks would last hours and like 80 depth charges attacks. And, depth charges acted different at different depths (pressure) ect. And now, it seems like once the destroyers have you locked, that's it, they've got you and know right where you are. Silent Hunter III actually had it down pretty good. Especially with some of the mods. Anyways, still a great game.

What are you comparing to? A previous build, hot fix, B130? What year are you in?

[FluffyBunnyEars]

Yes, the previous build. i really like that they're more aggressive now, and i can see the destroyers acting in some pretty convincing ways now trying to find you. They've definitely have done their homework. -And, I notice you can still evade, but it seems like now, when they do find you 'that's it', they know right where you are, they're locked on and then they pound you with a single depth charge run, and boom your dead.

While that may have happened allot like that. Allot of 'other' times the German would go deep and evade, and the heavier water pressure would make the "Hydrostatic Dishcarges' of the depth charge explosions -misses, because the blast is more condensed (that's why the hedgehog was so effective).

So with depth charges, an equal amount of time to quick kills, you would also have these cat and mouse episodes that would last for hours (with the German nervously watching his resources deplete). ....destroyers would empty their stores, and when they did, they would act as 'listeners' while the other destroyers that did have depth charges continued hunting. (Later go home I guess to get more charges -did they use one of the ships in the convoy's to carry more charges?)

FUN FACT (From Wikipedia): During WWII out of 5,174 British depth charge attacks there were 85.5 kills, a ratio of 60.5 to 1. In comparison, the Hedgehog made 268 attacks for 47 kills, a ratio of 5.7 to 1.

[Delle(DK)]

a tip to though who need it.
When you are detected go deep ( into yellow depth zone ) and sail in a zig-zag patern.
When enemy drop depth charges and they explode then there is a period of time after each explotion where nobody can hear you. Use this time to change direction or maybe speed up for 30 sec and then go to speed 1 and sneak away in another direction.
It can also be a help to hide below a freighter and sail under it for x time and when you have some distance then sail away in another direction.
The above strategy sometimes save my ass especially near gibraltar where there sometimes are big convoys of ships.
( it might only work before the enemy get more advanced sonar in late end of the war )

[1upAviator]

Originally posted by FluffyBunnyEars:

it seems like now, when they do find you 'that's it', they know right where you are, they're locked on and then they pound you with a single depth charge run, and boom your dead.

Not my experience. Do some ASDIC research and real-world tactics around hunter killer groups.

[Dark Sceptor]

Totally agree with @Delle(DK) but also be aware of the fact that a warship has a blind spot in the rear of the ship. They cannot hear you over their own props. And (if it is simulated properly) when depth charges are dropped no one can hear you. That is when you slam your speed to run as fast as possible as deep as safely possible and with a 90 degree change in path. Though usually when I fire on a convoy, after I let loose all my torpedoes I immediately dive and move as far away from that location as possible. When it is apparent that they are moving towards you I drop a noise maker and change course 90 degrees again. Then once I'm deep I stop everything and go dead silent, using warship positions to determine the best time to move at Forward Speed 1 then stop when noses are in my direction.

[athenian]

Being depth charged is tied to being detected. Escort behavior has really been reworked in b131. This applies to AI difficulty setting on 'hard'. I may have been playing on 'medium' before and now on 'hard' it seems, well, harder. Toggle between difficulty settings (you will have to start a new game, then teleport, then spawn destroyers to test difficulty).
I do not use detection hint but it is a helpful tool (when you hover mouse over) in understanding HOW escorts detect you (which is a necessary condition to depth charging). Once you understand this you do not need the hint anymore.
A few observations on both detection and depth charging (b131 vs. previous versions, AI on 'hard'):

- I will now be detected by the escort, not the merchant, on the surface, and in thick fog. We are less than a mile away but the other ships are invisible to me in the 'soupy' conditions. Let me rephrase this: my officer can 'see' them (they are within his vision radius), but I can't looking out from the boat. Looking on the map, I am surprised to see the escort peel off and head straight for me (detection hint would warn you about being seen). I assume this replicates radar behavior, a rudimentary version of which should be on at least some of the escorts by January 1941 (earliest beginning possible in the game w/o UBE). If the devs deem it worthy of their time, there could be a difficulty level simulating radar that could be selected irrelevant of time to increase immersion. Or maybe this is already modeled in the game.

- Remaining stationary underwater (to eliminate motor noise) equals to a death sentence. The escorts will invariably zero in on you and depth charge you to smithereens. Before it was possible that the escorts would lose you (depending on depth) and you could slip away. Not any more. This probably simulates Asdic behavior, which makes sense. The only thing is, was Asdic that good in January 1941? And is that configurable, based on the difficulty level?

- The seabed still works well as concealment from the Asdic. This also makes sense since the sound wave from the machine would have a hard time differentiating between the undulating seabed (it is never as flat as it appears in the game) and the boat's hull. The Asdic operator would probably be able to tell there's something there but exactly where, which would result in imprecise depth charging.

Because of the above, I frequent the rather shallow zone south of Ireland, where I can be near or on the sea-bed at 170-200 m. I creep along the sea bed at the lowest gear changing course away from the convoy. The escorts can be right above me but are not attacking although they carry many depth charges (I use the free view to inspect them). That's because they don't have a clear target and they don't want to waste their ammunition. Eventually, at some point, they will have to re-join the convoy which is sailing on largely unprotected so they will leave you alone.

[FluffyBunnyEars]

It's exciting that this will only improve and improve.

[Silamon]

Realistically if the enemy gets your depth correct one or two depth charges can and should sink a sub. If they are coming close enough the damage will be massive.

How quickly they can get an accurate depth reading should really be based on the time period though.

[FluffyBunnyEars]

Well, yes...if you want to get really into it, you can include ocean currents, which is actually modeled a bit, I don't know how much. But do you, that the Germans were even a bit aware of Thermal Layers?