Advice for manually firing deck guns

[Robotron]

Where is the best place to aim your deck guns to sink an undamaged ship? Should you aim HE ammo more on the deck to try and start a fire or is there a better place to aim? If you are firing from say 1km away how much above should you aim to allow for the round to fall due to gravity if at all? Also if anyone has got any other tips or advice for using deck guns and its ammo efficiently it would be greatly appreciated. Many Thanks in advance

[garytwinem]

The traditional place is at or below the waterline.

[garytwinem]

Get in as close as you can, unarmed merchants don't fire back. Don't take on armed merchants on the surface, they'll tear you apart.

[boom_GLK_headshot]

Use the high hull damage rounds,^ like he said that gun is used to finish off ships or engage unarmed vessels. Aim at the water line.

[Robotron]

Thank you, i have been attacking unarmed vessels from very close range (less than 200m) and aiming just below the water line underneath the chimney with AP rounds yet it still takes at least 30 shells to sink a ship, i just wondered if i was missing something or if that is typical

[El Rushbo]

If you want to be realistic, the deck guns in most sub sims are incredibly OP. It wasn't unheard of for a sub to spend hours pounding at a merchant ship with a deck gun before it would sink. Hence its role as an auxiliary weapon. US fleet boats tended to have better use for them as they often came across sampans, junks, and other wooden fishing boats that weren't really worth a torpedo. Generally you want to aim for the waterline as mentioned above. Though I do throw a few HE shells topside to try and start a fire. I also order a man on the machine gun to fire on the same target as well.

[Grumpy Old Dude]

Originally posted by Robotron:

Thank you, i have been attacking... aiming just below the water line ...yet it still takes at least 30 shells to sink a ship, i just wondered if i was missing something or if that is typical

yeah, aim ABOVE the waterline. Below it, and the water has a HUGE and immediate impact upon the shells momentum.

[PafunaMT]

Originally posted by Robotron:

Thank you, i have been attacking unarmed vessels from very close range (less than 200m) and aiming just below the water line underneath the chimney with AP rounds yet it still takes at least 30 shells to sink a ship, i just wondered if i was missing something or if that is typical

Depends on the kind of ship, actually - an NA-1 is a typically fragile ship and can take as few as 5 rounds, bigger ships will need more rounds. 30 rounds is not unheard of, either, and those empire ships can be deceptively tough.

Good hunting, Herr Kaleun.

[Robotron]

Thank you jimdirks, ive just tested it out and it seems firing just above the waterline is much more effective in sinking merchant ships than aiming below, this time i was able to sink a ship in 5 shots

[Jackrabbit_V6/ RSProduxx]

tankers have a chance of exploding when on fire, as far as I am aware (had it happening, so I guess it can happen :D) ... So using HE on the Deck of a tanker might actually be good, not sure... All I know is that sinking a tanker with AP can take your entire ammo-stock :)

I tend to use a combination of both.... first set them on fire and then go for the waterline with AP

[EmotionallyBroken]

I usually aim at the area below the smoke stack, I I figured it might have a higher chance of fire

Originally posted by garytwinem:

The traditional place is at or below the waterline.

I still havent figured out if that makes a difference in uboat
I keep doing it anyway

Originally posted by jimdirks:

Originally posted by Robotron:

Thank you, i have been attacking... aiming just below the water line ...yet it still takes at least 30 shells to sink a ship, i just wondered if i was missing something or if that is typical

yeah, aim ABOVE the waterline. Below it, and the water has a HUGE and immediate impact upon the shells momentum.

Bra, the SHIPS water line, not the actual water surface, lol.

You aim at the SHIPs hull beflow where the "Balanced" water line is, as in the waves keep washing into it, or just at the edge of the water where it ownt slow the round too much....


again ,not sure how game mechanics work , but thats the general idea.