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Silent War – The Submairne Conflicts in the Pacific Theatre (Part 5) Refits and repairs are a natural part of the life cycle of any ship, but the wartime tempo began to take its toll on the USN. In the early part of the month, the Argonaut was pulled back to the West Coast for a complete overhaul. The useless Minelaying gear was replaced with external torpedo storage (to refill the boat between strikes), as well as a complete reworking of her primary engine and electronics. A Firing Computer was also added to the hull. The Plunger was also called back for service, but the extent of the refit – if any – are still classified documents sealed by the USN. Rumours that she performed covert missions around South America are unconfirmed, although a Chilean freighter on the way to Easter Island did report spotting an American sub where no sub is recorded to be. The ship's log placed them around 47°9'S 126°43'W or 49°51'S 128°34'W, the records vary by account. Week 9 – Feb 42 On 06 Feb, the Tetrakarn locates an IJN Submarine Tender near the Aleutian Islands. The Japanese vessel is underway at full speed according to the captain, headed on a north-easterly bearing. Knowing that where one of those goes, there are bound to be submarines, the skipper attempts to line up a shot, but cannot make a good angle. Disappointed, he radios back to Pearl the location of the ship, hoping that a land-based aircraft can take it out. Sidebar posted:Submarines, especially in the early war, were not capable of fleet speeds. The ships were designed first to be capable of operation while submerged, then of silent movement, with raw speed a distant concern. This led to many bad encounters over the course of the war where a submarine would spot a good target, but would be unable to reach, or chase long enough to get into a good firing position. Out in the Solomons, the Narwhal spots a fast moving convoy and fails to get a target plot on the IJN vessels. However, a 5kt ship is spotted heading into the killzone, and the captain orders a full spread of torpedoes, hoping that sheer numbers will do what the faulty weapons cannot. A single hit causes the ship to catch fire, and the Japanese tanker quickly looses containment of the fires that reach the hold, causing a flash fire that, according to the reports of an IJN Commander who watched the sinking, “... caused the ship to vanish into a ball of fire as bright as the noonday sun. Nothing was left. Only a hole in the water soon filled in, a grave that covered itself. There were no survivors.” Also patrolling the Solomons, the Pompano locates a convoy, but the TDC fails to work properly, and by the time a manual firing solution is plotted, the convoy has broken contact. The Chief Engineer is able to trace the problem to a bad electrical connection and is repaired. The Perch locates the Kongo herself in the South Philippines, but cannot make a shot. A support vessel is spotted, and while the shot is true, the torpedo goes under the target. Captain Hob Galding radios in the location of the ship and her convoy. Acting on that radio call, the Pickerel attempts to attack that same convoy later that night. However, an observant Emily-class warplane and a well-positioned destroyer make the effort go to waste. The Spearfish, Sculpin, Sailfish, and Grayling all have faulty weapons this week. However, in the Coral Sea, the Dutch submarine K-XVIII locates and damages a 15kt Maru, but the escorting Destroyer Kazegumo quickly locates the submarine, and attacks it. The Captain's log reports that the ship's sonar heard the ship go below crush depth and implode, the written log expressing joy at sinking the (what he believed was an) American Submarine. In 1989, an Australian Oceanic Film crew filming deep sea life for a National Geographic article stumbled upon the wreckage of the K-XVIII, which is now teeming with plant and fish life. Examination of the recordings show that the depth charges damaged the ballast tanks, likely causing them to take on water until they were full. This, in addition to the water being taken on from multiple hull breaches consigned the ship to her watery grave. The location was marked, and in August of that year, a memorial was held at that location aboard the CVN Enterprise, where the captain of the Kazegumo, now a retired pottery maker, read a eulogy where he begged forgiveness of the ghosts of the dead men for killing them without letting them say goodbye to their families. Finally, this week saw the Stingray, after nearly six weeks in dock for repairs, finally be made seaworthy. The ship's sinking of the Zuiho has made its ability to be returned to service an excellent propaganda piece. The ship is still weeks away from being combat ready, but the service log of the captain makes it clear that if the worst should happen, he is confident that his ship can make it to Pearl, even if it means spending more time in the repair yards. Week 10 – Feb 42 The Dutch deployed two new boats to the Theatre this week. The loss of the K-XVIII hurt the Royal Netherlands Navy, and the Dutch captains vowed to get their revenge, one way or the other. The Pampano and Tautog are both recalled for service refits, and were expected to return to the theatre by the summer. In the Aleutians east of the Kuriles, the Snapper locates and sinks two supply ships operating in support of the submarine tender located in the region the week previous. The confirmation of having so many IJN ships in the region alert CINCPACIFC that the Japanese may be planning an offensive against Alaska, though MAGIC intercepts are difficult to decipher due to changing code patterns. The Sargo locates two Japanese carriers, the Taiyo and the Hosho in the South China Sea, still supporting ground offences. Attacks are plotted, but the air and destroyer cover are too much for the submarine, which takes some damage while disengaging from the IJN taskforce. Further to the south, the Swordfish sinks a lone 1kt Maru, but is attacked on the surface by a Mavis air plane. The submarine is damaged in the at compartments, but the AA gun on the Swordfish rips a wing off the plane, which crashes into the water. A boat is put out to look for survivors while repairs are made, but none are found. Out in the Marianas in the South Pacific, the Saury's Chief Engineer has been tinkering with the torpedoes. When the contact report with a small convoy is made, the CE is unable to undo the work in time, and is forced to fire off torpedoes that have had their magnetic detonators disabled. All shots are true and two ships, each weighing 5kt are sunk. Knowing that BuOrd would haul the engineer and captain off the boat for making unauthorized adjustments, the Captain and crew are forced to keep their suspicions secret until they can spread the theories by word of mouth. The Spearfish and Sailfish, following the Saury's contact report, attempt to hunt the same convoy, but both ships run afoul of defending destroyers and are damaged, forcing them to return to base. Tambor, Tautog, Thresher and Trout all report poor torpedo performance, but records are incomplete from this reporting period. Sidebar posted:It was during this week that the Admiral known to the Japanese as “The Blue Oni” was officially made COMSUBPAC, over the head of Captain “Xenocides” Tagon, whom up to that point was directing the USN's Submarine warfare. The Admiral had graduated with degrees in Art History and Psychology, but his appointment to COMSUBPAC was seen by political rivals as a way to get this man out of the way of real warfare due to his non-standard way of approaching war. His first couple weeks were spent catching up on paperwork, and it wasn't until the meeting of the two at the end of February that there was a more cohesive plan for COMSUBPAC.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 02:16 |
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| # ? May 24, 2013 07:13 |
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BrooklynBruiser posted:Long Lances owned. Unquestionably the best torps of the war. Type 95s were good too. This leads me to a rather interesting question of which side had a crappier time for submariners, at least, in the beginning: The USN, with torpedoes that don't work, or the IJN, with godly torpedoes... and not being allowed to fire them at anything other than capitol ships. Galaga Galaxian posted:Normally the game ends. Xenocides said he'll keep playing though, but who knows, maybe he'll think of some penalty to inflict on us that will make the next quota that much harder! edit: Can we get THESE? quote:Homing Torpedoes: Vaga42Bond fucked around with this message at Apr 24, 2012 around 02:30 |
| # ? Apr 24, 2012 02:27 |
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BrooklynBruiser posted:Long Lances owned. Unquestionably the best torps of the war. Type 95s were good too. It is amusing how many IJN ships blew up because something touched off the torpedos. Liquid Oxygen and high explosives is a dangerous mix? But yeah, they were very effective wherever they blew up.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 02:39 |
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FebrezeNinja posted:By the rules it's Game Over. You're reassigned to BuOrd and retroactively get blamed for the torps. Wait, if you perform as well as real life you instantly lose? Harsh.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 02:53 |
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berryjon posted:Silent War – The Submairne Conflicts in the Pacific Theatre (Part 5) I know this is artistic license, but since you're doing it in the style of a historical accounting, I feel like I should mention that jury rigging was an accepted, if not an implicitly required practice among sub skippers. To the best of my knowledge, it was a common understanding among sub skippers that sometimes poo poo would just break, and it needed to not force a return to port every single time something did. As a result, "creative" adjustments as you described, even given the highly politicized issue of early war torpedo quality, would probably not raise many eyebrows, much less any consequences worth considering. That being said, I enjoy your writeups.  The only other feedback I would mention is that characterization of the various captains is a bit uneven. This is important I think given that goon captains are our personal connection to the writeups. I can tell you're going for accuracy and faithfulness, but the characterization of non-Batshit captains specifically might seem slightly unremarkable, if only by contrast.e: clarity as per below, but its worth mentioning that alt-history narratives are kind of off-the-wall and "unrealistic" by definition. I don't have an issue with the general tone being dry throughout vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv HiroProtagonist fucked around with this message at Apr 24, 2012 around 04:02 |
| # ? Apr 24, 2012 03:37 |
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HiroProtagonist posted:I know this is artistic license, but since you're doing it in the style of a historical accounting, I feel like I should mention that jury rigging was an accepted, if not an implicitly required practice among sub skippers. To the best of my knowledge, it was a common understanding among sub skippers that sometimes poo poo would just break, and it needed to not force a return to port every single time something did. As a result, "creative" adjustments as you described, even given the highly politicized issue of early war torpedo quality, would probably not raise many eyebrows, much less any consequences worth considering. Actually, I have to say, I like the dry nature of these writeups. Given the raw insanity on evidence here, with captains literally chaining people up and making blood offerings to ice cream machines, to say nothing of Zombie Napoleon (in a month or so), it's nice to see it all digested into something that looks like a real history textbook. I'd say keep the current format.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 03:55 |
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That is it. I am ordering the warhead of every torpedo loaded onto the Skipjack to have a giant 丸 painted on it. I will also rub rabbits foots, four leaf clovers, and the belly of a Golden Buddha statue on each of them. The crew will be ordered to keep an eye out for shooting stars at night and the XO will be researching multi-cultural rituals to bring good fortune. I WILL BANISH THIS BAD LUCK DAMNIT! Skipjack will sink a drat ship! 
Galaga Galaxian fucked around with this message at Apr 24, 2012 around 04:23 |
| # ? Apr 24, 2012 04:20 |
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FebrezeNinja posted:By the rules it's Game Over. You're reassigned to BuOrd and retroactively get blamed for the torps. Yeah, I should say this is the hardest threshold in the whole war. The second hardest is probably the one we already passed. Pretty soon they will mostly be a joke.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 04:21 |
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The Seal will go batshit if she goes another week without a kill. I'm so ashamed of losing that 20,000-ton maru. 
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 04:42 |
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Galaga Galaxian posted:That is it. I am ordering the warhead of every torpedo loaded onto the Skipjack to have a giant 丸 painted on it. I will also rub rabbits foots, four leaf clovers, and the belly of a Golden Buddha statue on each of them. The crew will be ordered to keep an eye out for shooting stars at night and the XO will be researching multi-cultural rituals to bring good fortune. The Pompano's crew will not speak of what measures are being taken. Suffice to say many goats are disappearing in the countryside near where it is being refit for various reasons.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 05:10 |
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USS Snapper Returning from patrol off Gilberts That was a close one. Jumped by three escorts. Barely made it out by the skin of our teeth. Good work men. Ice cream, beer and girls all around when we get back. If you ever get the chance. Go to Mobile, AL and tour USS Drum. It will make you really understand how small the subs were. Oh and check out USS Alabama too.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 05:28 |
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Xenocides posted:Yeah, I should say this is the hardest threshold in the whole war. The second hardest is probably the one we already passed. Pretty soon they will mostly be a joke. Actually, I would like to go with the suggestion that was made earlier Xenocides that, if we miss this threshold, then we get a -1 to war phase change for the rest of phase 1. It sounds like a decent way of getting a penalty for not making the grade, without triggering some sort of stacking penalty that would cause us to necessarily miss more thresholds.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 05:32 |
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HiroProtagonist posted:That being said, I enjoy your writeups. There's a couple problems I'm facing with these writeups. First is, as you've said, the uneven approach to writing. I find that I don't want to let all my creative 'WOWZA!' be used up right at the start of the campaign, so I want to pace myself in order to let everyone have their chance. I just need to catch up a bit faster, that's all, and work with Xenocide's own stuff. The other problem is creativity. I find it hard sometimes to come up with unique little snippets, so I find using the Sidebar as a creative outlet works out for me. I promise to work harder on giving all Captain's their do (those that do anything, that is). But I must caution that, yes, sometimes war was boring. Especiall during Jan and into mid-Feb. The next couple months should pick up. I'm also wondering if I should keep the tone dry and almost banal in the face of the crazyness you guys are putting into the war, if only to play the straight man in this little game. cantwaittoseewhogetsthePlungerrefrence
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 06:06 |
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So this thread caused me to buy Silent Hunter 4. The one where the player commands U.S. subs. As S-33 I sunk a subchaser and 4 merchants for 17,000 tons. Then about 5 destroyers found me. Cue an epic chase that lasted for about an hour, me taking increasing damage from guns (water was too shallow to dive) and losing speed, and watching a pair of destroyers not content to hit me from range move in closer, closer, closer... Closer... TOO CLOSE! The first ramming bounced me off the bottom and broke the destroyer in half. Dead in the water, no hope of survival, and then... CRUNCH! The other destroyer rams me, breaks in half, and then pins my sub on the bottom underneath the wreckage. I don't think I ever actually sank, the game just shrugged and called me dead. So if this LP's sub (S-23) could pull that off, that'd be cool.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 06:50 |
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Its too bad that the GWX4 project got cancelled because SH5 was being put out. I wonder if SH5 is worth a drat now? Whatever SH3 with GWX will probably always be the best. German subs are better than American ones anyways. (90m test depth on a Gato? 120m on a Balao? C'mon, my Type-II is rated for 150m, and its crap!  )
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 07:08 |
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berryjon posted:However, in the Coral Sea, the Dutch submarine K-XVIII locates and damages a 15kt Maru, but the escorting Destroyer Kazegumo quickly locates the submarine, and attacks it. The Captain's log reports that the ship's sonar heard the ship go below crush depth and implode, the written log expressing joy at sinking the (what he believed was an) American Submarine.  There is no forgiveness for the humiliation you have caused me... only revenge!
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 07:13 |
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Week 4 April 1942 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Strategic Events War Event: None (rolled for the Coral Sea again) Torpedo Improvement: None (60 of 70) Ultra Information: S China Sea 2 and N Philippines. Both have boats on patrol. Nice. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Boat Transfers Three new boats all showed up at Pearl this week. First is the Greenling, another Gato. She will be skippered by the strangely named i poo poo trains, a daring skipper. Next is the Gato which is unsurprisingly another Gato. She will be skippered by KSAF Staff Report, a batshit commander who I assume is also good at keeping COMSUBPAC up to date with reports. Lastly we get another boat intended for the Australian theater the S-47, another S3 boat. She will be skippered by tarbrush, a daring commander by all accounts. Two more Gatos and a nicer s-boat. Go forth and bring me reports of big ships turned into coral reefs. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Planning  A lot of S boats out. Let's hope for a repeat of last weeks good number of kills from these boats.  A couple of boats out but nowhere near enough. Patrol moved the T-boats west.  Here is where most of my hopes are for kills. _______________________________________________________________________________________________  United States Navy_______________________________________________________________________________________________ S1 class (10)   S-18 Randomcheese3 - Daring Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrolling Kuriles: Finds a very small convoy and fires torpedoes at a 3000 ton maru but the attack is at long range and misses. A Mavis flying out of Paramushiro spots the boat and it is forced to evade. The boat must RTB to rearm.   S-23 timetrappad - Conservative Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Returns to Dutch Harbor and needs minor repairs due to cold damage.   S-34 Slaan - Batshit Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrolling Aleutians: Finds a task force but is unable to get through the destroyer screen before the boat is outpaced and left behind. The patrol continues.   S-35 Terrorstorm - Steady Ships Sunk: 1 Tonnage Sunk: 2000 Named ships sunk: N/A Returns to Dutch Harbor and needs minor repairs due to cold damage.   S-36 Vyelkin - Steady Ships Sunk: 1 Tonnage Sunk: 1000 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrolling Kuriles: Finds a small convoy with the seaplane tender Kamoi. An attack is attempted but the torpedo wakes are spotted and the ship evades. The patrol continues.   S-37 Lonelywurm - Batshit Ships Sunk: 2 Tonnage Sunk: 2000 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrolling Aleutians: Finds a small convoy. The only good shot is on a tiny 1000 ton maru and the boat fires and the torpedoes strike home and explode. The ship quickly flounders and sinks. The skipper attempts to get a shot on a 15000 ton target but the firing solution is too bad to waste ordinance. The patrol continues. S-37 becomes the second S-boat to claim two kills.   S-38 Frosted Flake - Daring Ships Sunk: 2 Tonnage Sunk: 6000 Named ships sunk: N/A Returns to Pearl and damage is found to be moderate. Boat goes to Repair 2.   S-39 Tetrakarn - Daring Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrolling Aleutians: No contacts found. The patrol continues.   S-40 Veloxyll - Batshit Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Finds a small task force flagged by the cruiser Aoba. Boat is unable to get a shot due to the speed of the ships. The patrol continues.   S-41 Archie Goodwin - Conservative Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Leaves Dutch Harbor to patrol Kuriles. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ S3 class (2)   S-42 Professor Malice - Batshit Ships Sunk: 1 Tonnage Sunk: 2000 Named ships sunk: N/A Returns to Pearl Broom Box.   S-44 tatankatonk - Steady Ships Sunk: 2 Tonnage Sunk: 6000 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrolling Gilberts: Spots a small supply convoy and sets up an attack on a 3000 ton maru and launches three torpedoes. Two explosions are heard and the crew cheers. A few seconds later a third explosion is heard. The skipper orders the boat back to periscope depth to see what happened. It turns out that the third torpedo missed the target but struck a 3000 ton supply ship further away. The destroyers are active and the boat escapes elated that in their first patrol they have already taken out 6000 tons of shipping. The boat must RTB to rearm. Have I mentioned that I love the 'target lumbers into way' event?   S-47 tarbrush - Daring Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Boat arrives at Pearl and passes readiness and leaves to patrol the Gilberts. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Argonaut Class (1)   Argonaut In refit. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Narwhal class (1)   Narwhal Viscount Slim - Steady Ships Sunk: 1 Tonnage Sunk: 5000 Named ships sunk: N/A At Dutch Harbor: Boat passes readiness and leaves Dutch Harbor to patrol N Pacific. It is no longer part of the Aleutians force. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Dolphin Class (1)   Dolphin In refit _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Cachalot class (2)   Cachalot Nick Soapdish - Steady Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Finds a small convoy but a destroyer spots the boat on approach and it must evade. The patrol continues.   Cuttlefish Afrosquirrel - Conservative Ships Sunk: 1 Tonnage Sunk: 1000 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrolling Bismark Sea: Finds a task force flagged by a cruiser. Two attempts to set up a shot fail and the race runs the boat low on fuel and it must RTB to rearm. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ P1 series (1)   Pike Jimmy4400nav - Daring Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Reaches Pearl and damage is found to be light. Boat goes to Repair 1. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ P2 class (2)   Shark sirspiff - Conservative Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Boat arrives at Surabaya Broom Box.   Tarpon DivineCoffeeBinge - Daring Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Boat leaves Dutch Harbor to patrol N Pacific. It is no longer part of the Aleutians force. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ P3 class (5)   Perch Hob_Gadling - Daring Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Leaves Surabaya to patrol Java Sea.   Permit ModernMajorGeneral - Daring Ships Sunk: 2 Tonnage Sunk: 8000 Named ships sunk: N/A Returns to Surabaya Broom Box.   Plunger In refit.   Pollack Grizzwold - Conservative Ships Sunk: 1 Tonnage Sunk: 1000 Named ships sunk: N/A Returns to Pearl Broom Box.   Pompano Adventure Pigeon - Batshit Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A In refit. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ New S1 class (6)   Salmon NotThatSamBeckett - Chickenshit Ships Sunk: 4 Tonnage Sunk: 10000 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrolling Java Sea: Finds a large supply convoy heading towards China and attacks the largest ship it can see. The torpedoes work and a 5000 ton maru sinks to the bottom. The destroyer Sawarabit rushes in to kill the boat but looks in the wrong area. The boat must RTB to rearm.   Seal Pittsburgh Lambic - Steady Ships Sunk: 2 Tonnage Sunk: 2000 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrolling S China Sea 2: Finds an amphibious assault force heading towards the Philippines flagged by the Kongo. Unable to penetrate far due to escort density the only troop ship in range is fired on. Most of the torpedoes go under the target but one detonates and a 1000 ton ship sinks. The boat bottoms itself and waits silently while the escorts hunt. They give up to catch up with the other ships just when the air in the sub was starting to get really bad. The patrol continues.   Skipjack Galaga Galaxian - Steady Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A At Pearl: Passes readiness and leaves to patrol Solomons.   Snapper ToyotaThong - Daring Ships Sunk: 2 Tonnage Sunk: 8000 Named ships sunk: N/A Boat returns to Pearl and damage is found to be heavy. Boat is placed in Repair 3.   Stingray Perestroika - Batshit Ships Sunk: 2 Tonnage Sunk: 18000 Named ships sunk: CVL Zuiho Patrolling S China Sea 1: Boat finds a task force and goes hunting for capital ships. A cruiser is spotted but the periscope is seen and the destroyer Wakatake waits till it points another way and then charges in firing. The periscope is disable by gunfire and cannot be lowered. The skipper orders the boat to dive but the periscope is high enough to give the destroyer an easy way to track the boat for too long. After what seems like an eternity the boat begins to dive but the depth charge attack is accurate. The first hit disables the command center, wounding the skipper and disabling half the bridge crew. Flooding in the stern quarters and command room is bad. Damage control teams rush in but the boat is taking on too much water and can barely maintain safe depth. A radio message is sent just before another depth charge destroys the forward torpedo room, causing massive flooding. The depth gauge shows the boat is falling to crush depth. Perestroika, realizing the situation is hopeless, addresses the crew: "Men, this is the finest boat and the finest crew in the United States Navy. It has been an honor serving with you these past months and it will be an honor to serve with you forever after on the eternal patrol." The radio operator manages to send off a message with the skipper's last words before the boat is crushed by the pressures of the deep. COMSUBPAC receives the message and retires to his office to weep. The greatest war hero of the submarine war so far has gone on eternal patrol. Composing himself, he heads back out to deliver the news to his staff. The war must go on. Got a diligent escort draw which can result in an immediate kill. It did.   Sturgeon Lilli - Steady Ships Sunk: 1 Tonnage Sunk: 3000 Named ships sunk: N/A At Surabaya: Passes readiness and leaves to patrol Banda Sea. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ New S2 class (10)   Sargo Farecoal - Batshit Ships Sunk: 2 Tonnage Sunk: 8000 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrolling N Philippines: ULTRA information leads the boat to a large task force containing the battleship Haruna and Hiei and the carrier Shokaku. Escort density makes the attack difficult and two low-odds attacks are made on Shokaku. Both miss. The boat must RTB to rearm.   Saury Servant - Batshit Ships Sunk: 4 Tonnage Sunk: 15000 Named ships sunk: N/A At Manila: Passes readiness and leaves to patrol S China Sea 1.   Spearfish Xmas Future - Daring Ships Sunk: 2 Tonnage Sunk: 4000 Named ships sunk: N/A Boat reaches Surabaya and damage is found to be heavy. Boat goes to Repair 3.   Sculpin Mithridate - Conservative Ships Sunk: 3 Tonnage Sunk: 4000 Named ships sunk: N/A At Surabaya: Repairs progress. Boat moves to Repair 1.   Sailfish Rather Watch Them - Chickenshit Ships Sunk: 1 Tonnage Sunk: 1000 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrolling Gilberts: Finds no targets. The patrol continues.   Swordfish HiroProtagonist - Daring Ships Sunk: 3 Tonnage Sunk: 5000 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrolling S Philippines: Finds a small resource convoy and fires on a 3000 ton tanker. The torpedoes work and the ship catches on fire and explodes. Then another target is spotted. A 20000 ton merchant. The boat lines up the shot and fires. The torpedoes are on target but all three bounce off. The patrol continues. drat IT!!!! I had only a 10% shot on the huge target and hit. Then the damage roll was bad.   Seadragon Rogue0071 - Steady Ships Sunk: 3 Tonnage Sunk: 7000 Named ships sunk: N/A At Surabaya: Repairs completed. Boat moves to Broom Box.   Sealion Enfield - Daring Ships Sunk: 2 Tonnage Sunk: 6000 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrolling N Philippines: Finds large convoy but heavy escorts make the attack difficult. Two attacks are made at long range and both miss. The boat must RTB to rearm   Searaven Warm Sarsaparilla - Conservative Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A At Surabaya: No progress made on repairs. Boat remains in Repair 2.   Seawolf PainGod556 - Conservative Ships Sunk: 2 Tonnage Sunk: 3000 Named ships sunk: N/A At Pearl: Fails readiness. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ T-Class (12)   Tambor Herble Gerblederp - Chickenshit Ships Sunk: 1 Tonnage Sunk: 2000 Named ships sunk: N/A At Manila: Fails readiness.   Tautog Davin Valkri - Steady Ships Sunk: 3 Tonnage Sunk: 5000 Named ships sunk: N/A In refit.   Thresher Durendal - Steady Ships Sunk: 3 Tonnage Sunk: 12000 Named ships sunk: CL Sendai At Manila: Fails readiness.   Triton Pladdicus - Daring Ships Sunk: 1 Tonnage Sunk: 1000 Named ships sunk: N/A Heads toward Pearl for repairs. Will get there next week.   Trout Baytor - Conservative Ships Sunk: 1 Tonnage Sunk: 2000 Named ships sunk: N/A Arrives at Manila Broom Box.   Tuna Popete - Steady Ships Sunk: 4 Tonnage Sunk: 9000 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrol moves to Marianas: Finds a fuel convoy heading towards Wake. The biggest target in view is a large tanker and the shot is fired and the crew is surprised when all three torpedoes detonate sending a 5000 ton tanker to the bottom. A second shot is made on a smaller tanker but the torpedoes bounce off. The torpedo gods are fickle. The patrol continues.   Gar ForeverBWFC - Conservative Ships Sunk: 2 Tonnage Sunk: 6000 Named ships sunk: N/A At Pearl: Repairs completed. Boat moves to Broom Box.   Grampus Hankor - Steady Ships Sunk: 1 Tonnage Sunk: 3000 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrol moves to Carolines: Boat attacks a convoy but is ambushed by a Betty. It barely dives to escape. The boat must RTB to get more chocolate sprinkles as the crew has been dealing with the stress of the attack by eating them in large quantities.   Grayback The Merry Marauder Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Reaches Manila Broom Box.   Grayling Urcinius - Batshit Ships Sunk: 3 Tonnage Sunk: 8000 Named ships sunk: N/A At Pearl: No progress made on repairs. Boat remains in Repair 2.   Grenadier Gradenko_2000 - Conservative Ships Sunk: 1 Tonnage Sunk: 2000 Named ships sunk: N/A Boat reaches Manila Broom Box.   Gudgeon Lamadar - Steady Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A At Pearl: Repairs completed. Boat moves to Broom Box. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Gato class (2)   Drum Vaga42Bond - Steady Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Reaches Manila Broom Box.   Gato KSAF Staff Report - Batshit Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Boat arrives at Pearl and passes readiness and leaves to patrol Marshalls.   Greenling i poo poo trains - Daring Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Boat arrives at Pearl and fails readiness.   Silversides Zyrden - Daring Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Reaches Manila Broom Box. _______________________________________________________________________________________________  Royal Netherlands Navy_______________________________________________________________________________________________ K-VIII class (2)   K-VIII Strrrrront - Chickenshit Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A At Surabaya: Passes readiness and leaves to patrol Coral Sea   K-X Top Hats Monthly - Batshit Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A At Surabaya: Passes readiness and leaves to patrol Coral Sea. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ K-XI class (2)   K-XI Cthulhu Dreams - Steady Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Leaves Surabaya to patrol Coral Sea.   K-XII Timmy_mdn - Steady Ships Sunk: 2 Tonnage Sunk: 2000 Named ships sunk: N/A At Surabaya: Fails readiness. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ K-XIV class (3)   K-XIV Bacarruda - Daring Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Boat arrives at Surabaya Broom Box.   K-XV Cythereal - Conservative Ships Sunk: 3 Tonnage Sunk: 12000 Named ships sunk: N/A At Surabaya: Fails readiness.   K-XVI Danilh - Batshit Ships Sunk: 0 Tonnage Sunk: 0 Named ships sunk: N/A Leaves Surabaya to patrol Banda Sea. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ O-19 class (1)   O-19 BrooklynBruiser - Batshit Ships Sunk: 2 Tonnage Sunk: 5000 Named ships sunk: N/A Patrolling Coral Sea: Finds no targets and must RTB due to one engine dying. The boat must RTB to get new parts. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ End of Turn Summary Kills this week: 7 Tonnage this week: 21,000 Subs lost this week: 1 Total kills: 67 (74) Total tonnage: 178,000 (197,000) Total subs lost: 3 First, the loss of the Stingray was a blow. Always sad to lose a boat but especially to lose the boat and skipper that sank Zuiho. The rest of the week was more:  Second highest tonnage sunk of the war so far and the highest weekly ship kills ever. Unless something goes really wrong we should roll for torpedo improvement for the first time in two weeks. I am beginning to think we can pull this off. Only 42,000 tons in one month. Very doable. I thought I was done with the patrol portion of the turn and was happy with my 16,000 tons but while doing transit movement I realized I missed two boats and one of them sank a 5,000 ton merchant. Hell yeah. Only real complaint I have this week is how many boats coming in for repairs had pretty severe damage. Doesn't worry me much as we have many boats coming in next month to pick up the slack while we patch them up. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Skipper Actions I need to know whether the following dead skippers wish to: A. Re-enlist a new mk2 skipper in the reserves. Perestroika formerly commander of the New S1 Stingray.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 08:03 |
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Galaga Galaxian posted:Its too bad that the GWX4 project got cancelled because SH5 was being put out. I wonder if SH5 is worth a drat now? Whatever SH3 with GWX will probably always be the best. German subs are better than American ones anyways. (90m test depth on a Gato? 120m on a Balao? C'mon, my Type-II is rated for 150m, and its crap! Do they have ice cream machines? This evening I ran a patrol in my trusty VIIB sub in early 1940. I went around Scotland and got a pretty good kill count. I was on my way going back around Scotland with almost no damage and only one torpedo left, an empty AA gun, and only 20 rounds of deck gun ammo when I spotted a mid-sized merchie. Figuring that one torpedo followed up by the deck gun could kill it I submerged and attacked. The torpedo hit the engine room and the back half of the boat was mostly underwater and the ship stopped. I surfaced to finish it off with the deck gun but the weather had just shifted and the water was too rough to use it. Annoyed I went back to periscope depth and hoped it would sink. After 30 minutes of in-game time it was still holding on. I decided to try an unorthodox tactic. I surfaced the boat and lined up on the rear section of the ship. I emptied the forward torpedo room and ordered flank speed. I cut off the engine just before we collided. Several explosions racked the back of the ship as I hit and I hit emergency reverse to back up and fixed the damage. The boat still didn't sink. I lined up on the front of the ship this time and pulled the same maneuver. As soon as we hit the ship started to sink. I am THE batshit skipper. 
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 08:14 |
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GenHavoc posted:Actually, I would like to go with the suggestion that was made earlier Xenocides that, if we miss this threshold, then we get a -1 to war phase change for the rest of phase 1. It sounds like a decent way of getting a penalty for not making the grade, without triggering some sort of stacking penalty that would cause us to necessarily miss more thresholds. Problem is that isn't much of a penalty. To be honest the longer War Period 1 goes on the better. I'm not going to avoid killing things to prolong it but as long as we are still in War Period 1 I get to keep the Dutch boats and hunting is generally better in War Period 1. For the penalty I'm thinking a one-month delay on boats returning from refit and a 50% chance of each new sub we are assigned to get coming a month late. That would represent less resources going to the sub war as low performance convinces Command that the resources will be of more use elsewhere. The penalty is lifted as soon as a threshold is met. This would hurt us but not kill us. Thoughts?
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 08:20 |
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Stingray! Nooooooo!  Great week for tonnage, but at what cost... Now my drive to sink a ship is even greater! Xenocides, please change my captain to Daring. The Salmon Class subs must avenge their fallen sister! Xenocides posted:Do they have ice cream machines? The Type-II? Nope, here is the entirity of the ship's mess, just opposite the Captain's bunk:  By the way, your refusing to sink target, was it a Granville? Those loving bastards just REFUSE to sink for me sometimes... Galaga Galaxian fucked around with this message at Apr 24, 2012 around 08:36 |
| # ? Apr 24, 2012 08:33 |
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Xenocides posted:Problem is that isn't much of a penalty. To be honest the longer War Period 1 goes on the better. I'm not going to avoid killing things to prolong it but as long as we are still in War Period 1 I get to keep the Dutch boats and hunting is generally better in War Period 1. Something like that, yeah. Or that and a 10% penalty to repairs. ALSO: Get back here cowards! Alas poor Stingray.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 08:43 |
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I've always said that the only way to success is the complete and utter disregard for the lives of your crew as well as your own. From where I'm standing I was proven right and I regret nothing Of course I'd like to re-enlist! This war far from over and I'll not rest until I get at least another carrier! 
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 09:01 |
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To the reanimation chambers! 
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 09:42 |
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I think a better penalty would be a hit to the boats sunk for the torpedo check (say 25 or 50), no-one will take you seriously because you are bad. I don't like penalties to the reinforcement schedules or repairs because it means less goons are out in the field, feeling despair when their torpedoes don't do poo poo.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 09:45 |
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USS Tarpon Captain's Log, April 29th 1942 ...detached from the Aleutians Task Force, so maybe we'll next make call at a halfway decent base. God but I despise Dutch Harbor. I'm even starting to dislike the Dutch just because they remind me of Dutch Harbor (I can't really dislike them, though, the poor bastards don't get ice cream machines so when the fresh milk runs out if they want calcium they have to go for the powdered crap; I just feel bad for them). Though credit where it's due, they got us back out in the ocean pretty quickly; they're getting better at dealing with cold-weather damage. I have no complaints about my crew, my ship... okay, some complaints about my luck, but we'll get by. What does concern me is the number of stories I'm hearing about some of my fellow Captains in the Silent Service; chains, sacrifices to the ice cream machines, stuffing every available space with Golden Buddha statues (which seems a little bit unpatriotic to me - pick an American symbol of good luck, dammit, like the... the... poo poo, do we have any symbols of good luck? Stick with the four-leaf clover, then, the Irish are close enough, like all the Irish worth giving a drat about moved to America when they ran out of potatoes or whatever it is they did so whatever). Point is, apparently a goodly chunk of my fellow Captains are crazy. I mean, I have a tendency to take risks and play the odds and take actions some might consider ill-advised, and I was a little worried, at first, that they'd think I was too batshit for a command but compared to some of these clowns apparently I'm the staid conservative type. That's a little bit worrying, that is. I never asked to be the voice of relative sanity here.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 09:49 |
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Cthulhu Dreams posted:I think a better penalty would be a hit to the boats sunk for the torpedo check (say 25 or 50), no-one will take you seriously because you are bad. While I appreciate the sentiment of getting goons out sooner this alternative will cascade much more dangerously. Losing ship kills delays torpedo improvement and without torpedo improvement we are almost guaranteed to fail the next threshold which means we would lose kills again and we would be lucky to get any torpedo improvement before mid to late 1943 when they stop giving us thresholds.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 10:32 |
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Xenocides posted:Problem is that isn't much of a penalty. To be honest the longer War Period 1 goes on the better. I'm not going to avoid killing things to prolong it but as long as we are still in War Period 1 I get to keep the Dutch boats and hunting is generally better in War Period 1. Another penalty option would be to make two checks instead of one for all Readiness Check, and having to pass both of them in order to have quick turnaround. Or have two checks instead of one for all Repair Checks, and again, pass both in order to be repaired.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 10:41 |
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Vaga42Bond posted:Another penalty option would be to make two checks instead of one for all Readiness Check, and having to pass both of them in order to have quick turnaround. I like the readiness idea but would probably just make it a +2 to all readiness die rolls. I could combine with my idea which was probably a little too light as a penalty. The two together would represent the diminishing of emphasis on the sub war. The repair idea I think is a little too harsh. It would turn a 20% chance of a seriously damaged sub at Surabaya into a 4% chance of successful repair. Boats could get stuck way too long and being damaged would be very very bad. I would have to modify the way I play the patrols to avoid damage at all costs or only ever use Pearl for repairs.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 10:51 |
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Xenocides posted:
... Dammit. DAMMIT! I take 2 days R&R before out patrol, go out and see the sites of Honolulu... and what happens? Weps goes and loses his watch. And now we're stuck here another week, and I can't get any more R&R time which means I'll be stuck in the Officers Quarters. With the other skippers... Status Report, Lt. Opine (Torpedo Officer) posted:Loading of essential supplies completed ... He was actually looking at his left wrist, when the watch was on his right. I've suspended ice cream rations for Weps, ChEng and COB for the next patrol, and offered them to the shift reloading the boat. If that doesn't get them moving, nothing will. Paingod556 fucked around with this message at Apr 24, 2012 around 11:28 |
| # ? Apr 24, 2012 11:24 |
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Changelings, like most fey, have difficulty with such concepts as "The boat leaves harbor at 0600 hours so be on board." That's what you get when half your crew has no concept of linear time.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 13:37 |
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Xenocides posted:Week 4 April 1942 Godspeed, Perestroika and the crew of the good ship Stingray. You will be missed. The crew of the Swordfish will honor your memory by taking the fight to the Japs with renewed vigor.  Xenocides posted:Swordfish SON OF A BITCH! I'll take the 3000t maru, but god drat, that hurts to miss a target over four times its size in the same turn.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 13:57 |
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Xenocides posted:
So close. RIP Perestroika. You were the greatest of us. Now someone else will have to take up the challenge of sinking an even better carrier.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 15:24 |
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Galaga Galaxian posted:Its too bad that the GWX4 project got cancelled because SH5 was being put out. I wonder if SH5 is worth a drat now? Whatever SH3 with GWX will probably always be the best. German subs are better than American ones anyways. (90m test depth on a Gato? 120m on a Balao? C'mon, my Type-II is rated for 150m, and its crap! Also, SH5 doesn't have the Type IXs, which are the best boats.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 16:04 |
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gradenko_2000 posted:Also, SH5 doesn't have the Type IIs, which are the best boats. That is a weird typo man, the X key isn't anywhere near the I.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 16:10 |
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Going to pick up a copy of Steel Wolves tomorrow  thanks to this thread. I hope you are happy about what you have done 
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 16:50 |
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Hey, I'm no longer the only KIA.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 17:43 |
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Stingray! No! Good luck on eternal patrol, the crew of the 47 will avange you!
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 17:59 |
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Xenocides posted:Problem is that isn't much of a penalty. To be honest the longer War Period 1 goes on the better. I'm not going to avoid killing things to prolong it but as long as we are still in War Period 1 I get to keep the Dutch boats and hunting is generally better in War Period 1. BrooklynBruiser fucked around with this message at Apr 24, 2012 around 20:14 |
| # ? Apr 24, 2012 20:08 |
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Xenocides posted:I like the readiness idea but would probably just make it a +2 to all readiness die rolls. I could combine with my idea which was probably a little too light as a penalty. The two together would represent the diminishing of emphasis on the sub war. Whatever you suggest doing, I would strongly consider only applying the penalty until we manage to finally make a threshold.
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| # ? Apr 24, 2012 20:18 |
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| # ? May 24, 2013 07:13 |
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gradenko_2000 posted:Stick with SH3 + GWX. SH5 has an arguably better interface, such as a picture-in-picture tactical map while you're in the periscope view, but the TDC is difficult to use, the magnetic detonators are unfixably broken, and in general there's really nothing in SH5 that SH3 doesn't already do. Just like real Magnetic Detonators! Ed: GenHavoc posted:Whatever you suggest doing, I would strongly consider only applying the penalty until we manage to finally make a threshold. Also this. We want something that doesn't force you to game the system, and can be worked off. Veloxyll fucked around with this message at Apr 24, 2012 around 20:30 |
| # ? Apr 24, 2012 20:27 |
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