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Hah, I must have been the boat's lucky charm. Once my luck ran out, everybody else's ran out too. Yay for me? Also, mechanics wise, how screwed were we in the second escort attack by the LI getting KO'ed during that first go around?
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Feb 5, 2014 22:32
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Well, repairs are done post-attack (as in, after we escape detection), so not very. It would just mean that when (if ) you survive, it's harder to repair damage, which makes it riskier to do subsequent attacks. Also, don't give up hope yet, part 2 coming up soon!
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Feb 5, 2014 22:35
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U-49 Patrol 5 (Part 2) Current Status The explosions did not seem to subside, as crewmen were thrown around the ship. LtzS space pope, having headed to the bow of the ship to assess damage, was thrown violently against a bulkhead, audibly cracking several ribs. Quickly, he was shuffled off to where Doctor Herpicle was busy attending to other crewmen. Another report from the electric engines now reported that both had died and soon U-49 was unable to manoeuvre underwater. Along with the damage to the engines, further flooding was reported in the engine room.   The only command that gradenko_2000 could give was for the ship to go deeper: the U-boat had already exceeded her test depth by quite a margin but it was the only way that it could escape the deadly fire from the destroyers. For a while, the sound of the destroyer seemed to be receding and against all hope, maybe they had finally given up the hunt! This illusion was suddenly ripped apart when a second contact was heard: they were rotating the destroyers assigned to hunt them. Having not managed to bracket them yet, the new destroyer's fire was not as accurate as the first, although explosions still rocked the ship. The control room suddenly reported that the dive planes were now unresponsive: the situation was grimmer by the minute.  Again forced to exceed test depth, the hull of U-49 creaked and groan: it was clear that it would not be able to withstand the pressure for much longer. The enemy destroyer was still attempting to find the right range, but yet more explosions rocked the hull of the ship: gradenko_2000 quickly called for the ship to rise, as it was clear that the hull would not withstand the strain much longer.  As the destroyer did another pass, the damage report this time only reported further damage to the electrical engines, but since they were out of commission already, the damage was not significant. The next pass of the destroyer, was much more accurate. The explosions rocked the ship, The aft torpedo room, currently filled with men, had the closest explosion: nearly all men within the compartment instantly died. gradenko_2000 could see that the hull of the ship was barely holding together: all hope was lost. A sudden silence filled the ship. The ASDIC, such a permanent fixture during the attack, suddenly stopped. The men looked at each other, dread in their eyes. What were the British waiting for? Why weren't they finishing them off? Slowly, the screws of the destroyer faded. Silence reigned. It was a couple of hours before gradenko_2000, shell-shocked, order the boat to the surface. Slowly rising by adjusting its ballast, U-49 reached the surface. With the periscopes out of commission, there was no way for gradenko_2000 to tell if any destroyers were out there, waiting, but the state of the ship could not spare any wasted minute. The u-boat surfaced to utter calmness.  Opening the hatch of the ship with a hiss, gradenko_2000 ascended up the stairs, seeing the first of the night's sky for many, many hours. Reports soon came in: the aft torpedo room was unusable and the sight of dead bodies within the room made many men sick. The fore torpedo room was still damaged beyond repair, both electric engines were inoperable, one diesel engine could not be fixed, the periscope was beyond repair, the dive planes had been sheared off and the fuel tank still had a leak. Substantial flooding was also present throughout the ship. About the only good news was that both Chief Engineer Davin and Second Watch Officer space pope were both in stable conditions. The bodies of the seamen lost in the aft compartment were buried at sea, their kameraden bidding them farewell with tears in their eyes. It was time to go home.  The trip home was filled with dread. Every single seabird became an enemy plane ready to finish U-49 off. With a single diesel engine operating, going was slow and the crossing of the North Sea took many days. The fuel situation was starting to become critical and although a rough patch job was done of the fuel tank leak, the trip back would still be very chancy. Eventually, almost by miracle, the german coast was finally visible. The entire crew cheered. Heading straight for Wilhemshaven, U-49 was finally home.  Final Status Patrol Summary Ships Sunk: 1 Total Tonnage: 12k tons Campaign Summary Ships Sunk: 7 Total Tonnage: 49.5k tons
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Feb 5, 2014 23:25
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So now you'e pretty much refitting until '42.
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Feb 5, 2014 23:30
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Just to put it into perspective, in terms of game mechanisms, you are detected on a 2d6 roll of 9 or above. By the end of the attack, we were suffering the following penalties to being detected: +1 for using G7as during the day (this for some reason stays on for multiple rounds) +1 for being previously detected (as you are detected it gets harder to escape) +1 for the dive planes being damaged +1 for the fuel tank leaking. I was exceeding test depth throughout the attack in order to get a -1 modifier and at times I was very close to evading. In the last round, I had given up hope and with only a single hull left, I expected the ship to die. Then I rolled a 4. I was gobsmacked. WIth diesel engines damaged, you have to roll twice on the transit encounter boxes, which makes it more likely to meet an enemy airplanes, which almost certainly would have killed us. By miracle, we made it back home. It's unbelievable.
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Feb 5, 2014 23:32
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Lichtenstein posted:So now you'e pretty much refitting until '42.
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Feb 6, 2014 00:01
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drat. And I thought they were done for. RIP good luck.
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Feb 6, 2014 00:03
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The way you wrote the last line of the update before that made me think "they're totally hosed", and I'm not entirely sure that wasn't the original plan.
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Feb 6, 2014 00:06
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Do you want to know the honest truth? I'm playing through the games as I write them. It was honestly a surprise even for me!
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Feb 6, 2014 00:08
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Mind if I sign up for a Type IXA (assuming a second boat is also starting from September '39) or a IXB (if it's starting from the "present time" of the existing boat)? If you make me skipper, I figure I'd be a Courageous one.
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Feb 6, 2014 00:39
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The game generally follows a Komandant rather than a single ship, so we'll keep to the adventures of KptLt gradenko_2000 just yet, but I'll add you to the queue of captains if you want, let me know if you want to start with a IXA or IXB.
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Feb 6, 2014 00:46
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Tekopo posted:The game generally follows a Komandant rather than a single ship, so we'll keep to the adventures of KptLt gradenko_2000 just yet, but I'll add you to the queue of captains if you want, let me know if you want to start with a IXA or IXB. Queue and IXB would be fine, unless a IXC is available by that point.
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Feb 6, 2014 00:47
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I've done some of the preliminary rolls for next round and unfortunately, Chief Engineer Davin Valkri and 2WO space pope will not recover in time (yes, you roll for this as well). As well as that, 1WO FebrezeNinja is off to greener pastures! Seeking volunteers to fill all three positions!
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Feb 6, 2014 01:25
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I'll jump in.
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Feb 6, 2014 01:35
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I'll take a 2WO spot either now or on the next boat.
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Feb 6, 2014 01:43
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While I'm waiting on a boat, I may as well pass the time
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Feb 6, 2014 01:48
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Tekopo posted:I've done some of the preliminary rolls for next round and unfortunately, Chief Engineer Davin Valkri and 2WO space pope will not recover in time (yes, you roll for this as well). As well as that, 1WO FebrezeNinja is off to greener pastures! Seeking volunteers to fill all three positions! I suppose I should request a spot on the KDMT queue now. VIIB starting in July 1940 as the obvious preference.
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Feb 6, 2014 02:02
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Sign me up as a
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Feb 6, 2014 02:41
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Now that we've hit most of the major mechanisms of the game (excluding one, although it ties in with another system we have already seen), what are people's thoughts on the game? Also, does anyone feel like I should explain more in-depth the mechanisms of the game? I've been shying away from it since most of them are 'roll on table A then roll on table B'. This is a good place as any to talk briefly about repairs and refitting: Repairs, Damage and Refit As you might have noticed, during combat there are different types of damage that you can receive. Hull damage and flooding is fairly straight forward: if you reach the end of either track, you either sink immediately (for hull) or are forced to blow ballast (for flooding). Either way, your adventure is over. Damage can also occur to various sub-components, each one of which gives a negative bonus to a particular part of the ship. So, for example, losing dive planes and the fuel tank makes you easier to detect, losing electrical engines makes you more likely to take damage, losing your periscope makes you unable to attack submerged and so on. The most crucial one is the diesel engines: if you lose both you are stranded and are forced to scuttle your ship (unless you are close enough to home to get towed back). The other type of damage is crew injury. Losing the 1WO and 2WO doesn't do much until you lose the KMDT (through a serious wound, KIA is an insta-loss). Losing the LI makes it harder to repair. Losing the doctor means that, unlike in our trip, we would have to roll to see if any SW crewmember died. Losing regular crew doesn't do much until at least three of them are SW/KIA: you are then considered to be too short-handed to effectively use the ship. Once combat is completely over (when you have escaped detection), you can immediately attempt to repair any damaged systems. The likeliness of repairing something changes from sub-system to sub-system, but it gets much harder when the LI is injured. If something is not repaired, it becomes inoperable and cannot be repaired for the rest of the patrol. Once back home, refit time is calculated thus: 1 month standard (which is why there was always a one month gap between patrols) + 1 month per three hull boxes (so in our case, +3 months), +1 month if more than 2 sub-systems are inoperable. This would have given us a total of 5 months, but in cases like that, we instead get a brand new ship of the same type and latest model. Any KIA crewmen is replaced immediately. For each SW crewmen, you roll a D6: that's the number of months that the crewmen needs to recover. For anyone other than the KMDT, you replace the crewmen if he doesn't make it back on time (and they lose any Experte rank they might have). For the KMDT, you simply have to wait in 'refit' that many month: if the number is lower than the number of months that the ship itself takes to refit, then you return to command it, otherwise you are assigned a new command with a new crew.
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Feb 6, 2014 12:25
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Put me in the KMDT queue: A suicidal captain commanding a Type VIIA 
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Feb 6, 2014 13:41
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Tekopo posted:Now that we've hit most of the major mechanisms of the game (excluding one, although it ties in with another system we have already seen), what are people's thoughts on the game? I alluded to this back in the board/wargaming thread, but I don't think I really agree with the persistence of some of the depth charge DRMs: using a G7a during the day and attacking from close range shouldn't persist past the first depth charge attack. They'd make the destroyer way more likely to detect you during that first attack, and then if they do hit then they get the "previously detected" bonus that persists across multiple rounds, but I don't see why they should get the two bonuses on succeeding rounds. Similarly I don't think long range's -1 DRM should persist past the first attack. On the realism front, I think that there should have missions covering the Sep-139 to Jun-1940 period, where U-boats would be transiting from Wilhelmshaven on through the Kiel Canal on the way to the British Isles: The second transit box is a little too sparse for the North Sea.
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Feb 6, 2014 13:59
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I agree with you on some points: I do find the G7a persistent bonus to be weird, but the short range one I do agree with: it shows you are much closer to the convoy and thus more destroyers can be turned in for the rotation. I think the aim with the transit boxes was really that they don't represent a definite amount of space but more the passage of time. As such, they don't have a definite length as such. For the transfer to the Bay of Biscay, I am going to do some minor changes to the way the mission pans out (only the return will use the Bay of Biscay encounter, f.ex.).
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Feb 6, 2014 14:08
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Well, fine, if you don't want me (ow), I'll get my own drat boat! A Type IXA right from the world "go"! (I'll get a time machine.) I might be an average commander, but who cares.
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Feb 6, 2014 15:55
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 A lot had happened since U-49 had managed to get back home, barely alive. The experience had profoundly shaken many of the officers and crewmen on-board, most of them getting through it by drinking themselves senseless. The ship itself had been termed irreparable and had been scrapped: many of the mechanics in Wilhemshaven were curious about HOW it had gotten back in the first place. Both Davin Valkri and space pope had been forced to recuperate for at least half a year from their injuries. Unfortunately, BdU always sought after the quickest refitting turnaround, so there was no time to wait for them. FebrezeNinja had also left the ship, given command of his own ship. The crew of U-49 had been given a new ship, the U-84 and had been reassigned to the 1st Flotilla, currently stationed in Brest, a base that had been quickly set up after the fall of France during the blitzkrieg campaign by the Wehrmacht. No one had expected France to fall so quickly, many still remembering the Great War. Once arrived in Brest, gradenko_2000 met his three new officers: LtzS GenHavoc, the 1st Watch Officer, LtzS BrainBot, the 2nd Watch Officer and OfzS The Sandman, the new Chief Engineer. All three seemed decent enough officers, but the real surprise was when the Kaleun approached his new u-boat.  "Is that...is that U-84's emblem?" "I'm afraid so, Herr Kaleun" The first patrol from their new base of operations would be right smack in the middle of the Atlantic. Being used to patrolling the British Isles, gradenko_2000 was not quite sure what to expect. The boat departed from the harbour to little fanfare: the houses near to the exits of the temporary pens had been evacuated in order to prevent any possible spies from knowing the coming and going of U-Boats, although this was something that probably wouldn't last.  The journey out was uneventful, although gradenko_2000 was glad that they hadn't met an airplane yet. Attacks by planes on U-boats had begun to increase. Fortunately, the trip to the patrol zone was bereft of excitement, but that was probably something the crew needed right about now.  It wasn't long in the patrol before a message was received from BdU: a convoy had been spotted north-east of their position by another U-Boat, heading east. U-84 was ordered to move with all haste to intercept. Soon the diesels were up to full speed. It was night by the time they had arrived on the projected course of the convoy and finally it came into sight.  Spotting the nearest targets, gradenko_2000 could see the 4.9k freighter Firby, the 7.2k tanker British Resource (a rather curious name), the 4.5k freighter Blairlogie and 6.3k freighter Grayburn. Deciding to strike the tanker and the larger freighter, gradenko_2000 calculated the firing solution while moving to medium distance on the surface: a standard night surface attack. Two torpedoes were fired at each ship. Both torpedoes shots on the British Resource were on target: one of them bounced off, a dud, while the other ripped a hole right through the midship of the tanker. A huge secondary explosion ripped the tanker in two and the freighter sank in less than 15 minutes, the bulkheads making their distinctive cracking sounds as the crew of U-84 listened underwater. The two torpedoes aimed at the Grayburn also were on target, both exploding: the freighter met a similar fate as the tanker, sinking quickly as the ship flooded in water from the bow. At least these torpedoes had done their job. With fast screws approaching, it was once again time to face retribution.  A destroyer soon converged on U-84's expected position, ASDIC firing non-stop in order to find the fleeing submarine. As soon as gradenko_2000 was told that depth charges were in the water, he quickly ordered flank speed and hard to port. The depth charges still shook the ship. "Electric engine down!" Once again, one of the electric engines had been hit, something that gave gradenko_2000 and most of his previous crew from U-49 a sense of dread.  The destroyer could be heard coming around for another pass, and the constant, repetitive ringing noise from the ASDIC started once again. This time, the depth charges were much closer, and many of the new crewmembers, unused to the attacks, were thrown across the inside of U-84. A sudden explosion below the ship made the u-boat lurch upward: from the electric engine room, large leaks started to form while the entire hull groaned with strain.  "Deeper, deeper!" Exceeding test depth and already buckled from the previous explosions, the hull of the ship groaned. How long would it resist the pressure? In the next pass, the destroyer once again dropped charges, but although the explosions were close, it seemed like they had set the depth on them too low. Inciting everyone to quiet down, gradenko_2000 waited patiently: the screws were fading. Waiting a few more hours underwater, U-84 finally ascended to periscope depth, making sure that no surprises were waiting on the surface. Happy that the way was clear, U-84 finally surfaced. After a few hours of attempted repairs, Chief Engineer The Sandman finally reported that electric engine one was completely out of operation. Determined not to let the convoy get away, gradenko_2000 navigated for another pass, but by that time the convoy had changed course and somehow had broken contactt from all the u-boats that were shadowing it. At least U-84 had given the convoy a bloody nose before it got away. After the night turned to day, U-84 continued further west-ward, awaiting to hear from other contacts with convoys. What it did not expect to find, however, was a ship, out in the middle of the Atlantic, all by itself. Identified as the 7k ton Empire Howard, gradenko_2000 immediately ordered for the gun to be manned. In the middle of the Atlantic, that freighter was now as good as dead.  Even after 50 rounds were pumped into the freighter, the slightly choppy sea meant that most of the shots missed altogether and the freighter only sustained light damage. With the cannonfire proving ineffective, gradenko_2000 then fired two torpedoes at the ship from tubes 1 and 2, hoping to break the ship's back. The zig-zagging by the ship, however, meant that both missed completely, so as U-84 passed around the ship, gradenko_2000 also made a snapshot using the aft torpedo tube. This time, the ship was slowed down substantially and began listing to the bow. Deciding to finish the freighter off, gradenko_2000 once again ordered the cannon manned. After fifty shots, it was clear that the ship was finally sinking outright.  Reserves of ammo running low It was almost the end of the patrol before another convoy was reported by command. Calculating fuel left and trajectory to interception, gradenko_2000 finally declared that they would make it, and U-84 sped to find it's second convoy of the patrol. It was closing onto midnight when the intercept occurred: this time, the viable targets were the 11.8k Rodney Star, the 7.2k Macomb, the 5.8k tanker Sarita and the 6.7k ton Parnahyba. Once again, the standard tactic applied: launch the eels on the surface and then evade by submerging.  Two G7a's were fired at the Rodney Star, while the two G7e's were aimed at the Macomb. All torpedoes seemed to be blessed, for even the G7e's were able to impact their targets and it wasn't long before both set of ships were taking on water and slowly sinking to the bottom. U-84, having managed to submerge quickly after firing, seemed to have escaped the notice of the escorts: they either were in another patrol zone or simply too far away, for neither ASDIC nor depth charges were there to greet the u-boat. After making sure that the convoy was distant enough, U-84 surfaced in the dead of night. With only two G7e's available from the forward torpedo room and a G7e from the aft one, it seemed unlikely that U-84 would manage to sink another freighter, but as long as there was a way, gradenko_2000 would have the will to keep hunting. Unfortunately, the convoy was far ahead of them and with the fuel situation, it would be too risky to attempt to round them in order to get into position to attack.It was clear that for U-84, the patrol was finally over. After a quiet trip back to Brest, U-84 finally came in sight of the French coast. Although it didn't have the same impact as seeing the Fatherland, the crew was s till happy to have arrived back, safe and sound. This patrol had been a good one for the crew, with almost as many ships sunk as in their last 5 patrols put together. Hopefully the luck in U-84 would not wear off quite as quickly...  Final Status Patrol Summary Ships Sunk: 5 Total Tonnage: 39.5k tons Campaign Summary Ships Sunk: 12 Total Tonnage: 89k tons
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Feb 6, 2014 20:09
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A nice run, especially considering 1940 detonators. Is the crew supposed to be Green?
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Feb 6, 2014 21:21
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Nope, it's supposed to be trained, I switched computer and must have missed it out.
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Feb 6, 2014 21:22
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We survived that depth charge hell?  What happens if the Doctor himself gets injured, do you get a negative modifier to treatment or is treatment simply not a thing in that case? Either way, I'd best keep myself safe.
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Feb 6, 2014 22:42
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HerpicleOmnicron5 posted:We survived that depth charge hell?
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Feb 6, 2014 23:33
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"Well, captain, the bad news is that one of our electric engines no longer works. The good news is that we have two. The better news is that I set things up so that when they install the new engine, we can plug in an ice-cream machine!"
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Feb 7, 2014 03:18
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No ice cream on german u-boats, only the highest of German cuisine: mouldy bread and salted pork (also mouldy)!
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Feb 7, 2014 11:04
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The Sandman posted:"Well, captain, the bad news is that one of our electric engines no longer works. The good news is that we have two. The better news is that I set things up so that when they install the new engine, we can plug in an ice-cream machine!" This is why American subs could do a turnaround for a patrol in a week or two and the Germans it usually took a month for maintenance and crew leave. Hellish sub conditions without ice cream.
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Feb 7, 2014 16:20
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American sub patrols are veritable leisure cruises: tropical sun (well unless you are assigned to the Aleutian Islands), nice big boats, ice cream machines, refrigerators...
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Feb 7, 2014 17:33
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Tekopo posted:No ice cream on german u-boats, only the highest of German cuisine: mouldy bread and salted pork (also mouldy)! Don't worry, I cleared it with the Abwehr guy: as long as he gets the first scoop each trip, he won't tell anyone about it. It's kind of like how I've kept High Command from finding out about the still.
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Feb 7, 2014 19:31
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Tekopo posted:American sub patrols are veritable leisure cruises: tropical sun (well unless you are assigned to the Aleutian Islands), nice big boats, ice cream machines, refrigerators... Ultra intercepts that guide you to every juicy target in range. No BdU micromanaging every task you do, and requesting reports all the time that reveal your position. Not to mention no worries about ASW worth a drat. Dive to 250 feet, and the depth charges don't hurt you anymore. Radar so refined that can pick up your periscope, and be installed on a plane? LOL Only thing that sucks is that you have to complain for 18 months if your torpedoes don't work.
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Feb 7, 2014 21:33
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The Sandman posted:Don't worry, I cleared it with the Abwehr guy: as long as he gets the first scoop each trip, he won't tell anyone about it. As the ship's doctor, I must limit you to half a scoop per hour. The brain-freeze caused by the ice cream severely inhibits one's ability to calculate a torpedo solution, load in a torpedo properly and keep watch. Alcohol? Go nuts.
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Feb 7, 2014 23:45
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 U-84, due to the damage to the hull, had needed two whole months of refit before she could join the war again. gradenko_2000 couldn't complain: he had managed to get a permit to travel back to Germany to see his family. Once he returned, he had been immediately promoted to Korvettenkapitän, due to his exemplary last patrol. Entering the ranks of the U-Boat aces, gradenko_2000 had finally sunk enough tonnage to get noticed and the accolades had kept on coming. Soon, it was time to take to the water once again. As always, the sight of the boat was always the most dreaded. "Please, someone, take that goddamn emblem off, it's as ugly as sin!" The next orders from BdU had been for another patrol off the British Isles, this time near the Irish Sea in order to block access to Liverpool. gradenko_2000 couldn't complain about the placement: it would mean that there would be a higher chance at ships unwisely travelling along, thinking that proximity to the coast would protect them from submarines.  Having heard other captains mention the fact that G7e's had now been improved in order to decrease the number of duds, gradenko_2000 had decided to keep many more of them within the reserves, in order to ensure that he would be harder to spot if he decided to attack during the day. The docks had obliged and now, like the last patrol, he had increased his usual loadout of G7e's from 2 to 4. Hopefully they would still prove to be useful, even after taking in consideration their diminished range. The transit was relatively uneventful: although BdU constantly sent reports of enemy convoys, U-84 was too far away to engage. Upon arriving near the Irish sea just after midnight, LtzS GenHavoc reported a strange situation: a ship, the 6.3k ton Polyphemus, seemed to be stationary, a destroyer circling near her. Deciding that the situation was too good to pass, gradenko_2000 followed his usual surface attack tactic, launching two torpedoes at the stationary ship. Due to issues with opening one of the torpedoes, one of the eels was launched in a delayed fashion: the first torpedo was true, hitting the ship on the bow, but it had already been spotted before it hit and thus the ship had a chance to start speeding up, meaning that the second torpedo missed completely. It was clear that the ship had moderate damage, but not enough to make it sink. Although the destroyer had immediately started steaming towards U-84 as soon as the alarm had been raised, the submarine managed to slip out unopposed, the destroyer giving up the chase after a few hours.  It was still night by the time that U-84 had managed to reload torpedoes and come around for another attempt. Slowed down by the damage it had taken, the freighter was easy to catch and yet again gradenko_2000 angled for a night surface attack, firing yet another two torpedoes at the Polyphemus. This time, both torpedoes were true and on target, making consecutive explosions that soon, with the onrush of water through the gaping holes left by the torpedoes, made the ship pitch up by its stern.  Once again, the destroyer in escort picked up speed and headed towards the direction where it expected U-84 to be. After launching the torpedoes, gradenko_2000 had not immediately set the ship to submerge and it was clear that the destroyer had spotted her after a flare arched in the sky. By the time that U-84 was fully submerged, the destroyer was hot on the U-boat's tail. One depth charge rocked the hull as U-84 attempted to submerge as quickly as it could.  Coming around for another pass, the destroyer circled around, using the ASDIC in order to locate the fleeing submarine. A couple of depth charges landed close to the submarine, but not close enough to do damage: it was clear that the destroyer had lost range to the submarine. The depth charging continued for more than an hour before the destroyer finally gave up, the sound of its screws fading into the distance. gradenko_2000, upon surfacing, assessed damage but it was limited. U-84 would continue on it's deadly patrol. Half a day later, while the sun descended into the Horizon, a shout came from the bridge: it was LtzS BrainBot and he sounded the most excited that gradenko_2000 had ever heard him. Once that gradenko_2000 climbed on the bridge, he could barely understand the excited chatter of the berliner, but when he saw what was in sight, he was similarly shocked and excited.  Steaming north, the distinctive shape of the HMS Nelson on the horizon was unmistakeable. Having just been repaired in Portsmouth after hitting a mine near Scotland, the Nelson was returning north. There were plenty of escort ships in attendance, but this was the prize: this was the ship that would gain gradenko_2000 the ritterkreuz. It was night by the time that U-84 had a chance to position itself for attack. gradenko_2000 gave the order, and U-84 immediately went to flank speed, attempting to approach as close as possible before launching all torpedoes. Suddenly, light filled the sky as flares were spotted. A destroyer suddenly fired its gun in the direction of U-84: the submarine had been spotted! Clearing the deck, gradenko_2000 immediately ordered the u-boat to crash dive. The destroyers, however, were already on top.of U-84 and depth charges quickly hit the water. The depth charge, hitting the ship from above, immediately damaged the deck gun, although the crew inside was unaware of this at the time. Coming around for another pass, the destroyer once again used ASDIC to aid in the detection of the submarine, but by this time U-84 was well underwater and going even deeper. More depth charges hit the water, but yet again they were too far off to affect the submarine. The hunt continued for at least another hour, but it was clear that U-84 had evaded the escorts. Once surfaced, however, the Nelson was fast enough to avoid any possible pursuit. It seemed like the Knight's Cross had slipped through gradenko_2000's fingers. The deck had been completely sheared off by the explosion as well. What rotten luck... Tekopo fucked around with this message at 01:21 on Feb 8, 2014 |
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Feb 8, 2014 00:21
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Alright, let me explain what happened there (and apologise to gradenko_2000). In the first iteration of the rules, it was pretty suicidal to go to close range. First of all, there's a penalty to detection when closing to close range. Second, you have to roll to be detected BEFORE you launch torps, which you don't have to do at medium or long range (although really I feel it should happen at all ranges with various penalties/bonuses depending on range, but that's neither here nor there). Now, in the original version of the rules, this was done using normal detection rules, which meant it was actually completely idiotic to attempt the attack. So they revised the rules to make it so that only year-relevant penalties would affect the roll, and changed the roll from being 9+ to be detected to 10+, which means now close range is not so bad. Since I had a courageous captain here and I wanted to show off close range, I decided to go for it. I rolled an 11... Unfortunately, you can't follow a capital ship without it being damaged, so our chance was lost. I've cut the update short since I'm pretty tired, but I expect round 2 of the patrol will be posted up tomorrow!
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Feb 8, 2014 00:26
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Is it just me, or does the emblem doggie have a boner?
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Feb 8, 2014 00:47
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Lichtenstein posted:Is it just me, or does the emblem doggie have a boner?  ADDENDUM: The Nelson is ugly as sin
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Feb 8, 2014 00:50
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 09:06 |
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Edit: Never mind, found it!
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Feb 8, 2014 04:48
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