Yet some more questions
 

Torpedos:

Can any of the torpedos be switched to magnetic detonation? I see on the firing solutions map where you can change everything you can choose between impact and magnetic, does this mean any torpedo can be used magnetically?

If so am I able to still use the automatic targeting through the attack scope, i.e. can I go to the firing solutions screen, switch the pistol to magnetic, maybe change its depth and then go back to the periscope and fire it?

Convoys:
What is the best way to attack a convoy, I have looked through the forums and most people are saying approach at about 45 degrees and try to sneak underneath the destroyers that surround the convoy? I recently found my first convoy which was good fun, I managed to sink a destroyer, a large merchant, tramp steamer and a small cargo I think it was. Though I used up all my eels in the process :hmmm:
Magnetic Torpedos would mean I could surface right in the middle of the convoy and fire on ships that aren't that close to 90 degrees AOB right?

Crew:
Alot of my crew have reached and exceeded the amount of exp they can have, especially some of the POs, is there any way I can promote these guys? I realised in the shipyard when you view your crew there are the qualifications, medals and promotions tabs, yet the little icon in the promotion tab is always blacked out, when I hover over it, it says "you must complete a patrol' which I don't really understand. I myself have been promoted so is this icon related to your own crew?

Thanks again, thats a fair amount of Qs, I'm sure I will still have many questions to come over time, in fact i'm almost certain I do but I can't remember them right now! :)
Will

I'll start off by answering the torpedo question.....Yes.

Torpedoes

Yes, in the game, all the torpedoes hav a magnetic detonation setting. So yes, you can switch to magnetic det, set the depth and return to the periscope to fire on those settings.

Convoys

Everyone has their favourite tactic, the one you quoted works well, have a play around with different ones too.

Crew

You will occasionally get a promotion sheet that you drag over whoever you want to promote (in the crew management page in your home base - next to skills and medals). You get promoted automatically.

Not sure if that answer was very helpful about hte crew, but someone knowledgeable will be along soon!

Nice, thanks for the replies..

Now I can try out a few more tactics which could come in handy, does anyone know how to get a promotion sheet then, or how often to expect one?

Torpedoes:
1) Yes, all your eels can be changed from impact to magnetic or the other way around... ( I think anyway, can someone with a bit more torpedo knowledge confirm this for me? :D )
2) Yes, if you "lock" your target, you can jump into the TDC change your depth settings and pistols and then jump back to the attack periscope to watch your prey be blown into teensy pieces :arrgh!:

Convoys:
There are as many different ways to attack a convoy as there are kaleuns on here :) I prefer the 45 degree method, run in at about 2 knots at a depth of about 30 meters. Man the hydrophones, and when the contacts are approaching medium range take her up to periscope depth. Blow em all to hell and then sneak away :)
If you're going to surface in the middle of a convoy, do it no later than IMO June '40 or else you're going to start running into armed merchants. There's nothing worse than realising that you've surfaced next to a tramp steamer with a bigger penis than you. Run decks awash and take your time, no need to do anything rash and getting yourself rammed. Remember if it's too risky, say you have a destroyer closing fast, dive, break off and intercept the convoy again later. A dead kaleun serves his country for a very limited time :O:
Also about the magnetic pistols, you never want to be 90 degrees AoB on these as they pass under the ship and detonate on the other side doing no real damage. I usually only use magnetic if the target is 60 degrees AoB or if it's a big ship. Rodney, Hood, Aircraft carrier etc.

Crew:
When you finish a patrol, you get your patrol report and it tells you whether you've earned medals, badges and promotions. If your crew have earned promotions you can use them in the barracks the same way you give medals and badges.

Edit: Not too sure about the promotion sheet frequency, don't know if it's renown controlled or just when your crew has amassed a certain amount of XP. Hopefully a clever person can tell us

I hope I've been of some use :) I will probably be severely corrected by a lot of people :O: but there's my 2 cents

Good Hunting :arrgh!::up:

Edit: why didn't I summarise like that :O:

I always assumed crew promotions were based on whether or not someone aboard had reached or surpassed the max "experience" level for their current rank.

If you click on a particular crew member in the appropriate screen, down in the bottom right corner you get all his details: name, rank, # of patrols, resilience/morale/etc. levels... and also you'll see two numbers separated by a '/'. The latter number of the pair is the max "experience" level for the crewman's rank, and the former is the level he's currently achieved.

Based on the few promotions I've been given the opportunity to dole out, I think a crewman only becomes eligible when he meets or exceeds the max level for his current rank. However I don't think this means that every dude who does this on a particular patrol can be promoted at the end of it. I seem to remember one patrol where I had one promotion to hand out, and had 5-6 crewmen who were eligible. I had to decide which one got the nod. IIRC when you are in the screen for awarding promotions, the icons for the guys who are eligible at that time will be highlighted. If you try to promote someone who is not eligible by virtue of having reached the appropriate experience level for his rank, the game will not let you promote him.

As a side note I always thought it odd that the game would tell you your crew was eligible for, say, two Iron Crosses, and then let you decide who got them... but I've read recently that sometimes that's exactly how it worked in real life. Because so much of what went into a successful patrol depended on the teamwork of an entire crew, it was often difficult for the higher-ups on land to pinpoint which particular crewmen were most deserving of an award - so a certain number of them would be allocated to a returning boat's crew and it would be left up to the commander to decide who among the crew received the special recognition.

I knew that much, just didn't know whether the amount of renown or a total amount of crew xp made one promotion availiable in the barracks/after action. I usually get it where I have 5 or 6 ready to promote and then I earn a promotion.

The torpedos are set to "magnetic" by default. Actually the pistol is a combination of impact and magnetic fuse. If you want to disable the magnetic fuse to avoid premature detonations switch to impact only. The settings are persitent - no matter what station you enter. A reloaded torpedo has the standard settings again (slow speed, Impact/Magnetic combo, ~ 4 meters running depth).

I don't sneak into convoys - I shoot from far outside to avoid being detected by DDs.

You earn promotions by sunk tonnage per patrol. If none of your crew can be promoted by experience the game doesn't offer a promotion.
There are some fixed steps for how many promotions are offered; per patrol 4 promotions are maximum.

For attacking convoys and other tactics, you may want to visit my Kielman website.

Yes, any of them can be set to magnetic detonation although, to be more accurate, the pistols are impact only, or impact/magnetic. Impact only will only detonate if they hit, while impact/magnetic (in the game that's just straight magnetic) will detonate either by hitting the target (impact) or passing underneath a steel hull (magnetic).

In reality switching from one pistol to the other required having the torpedo out of the tube in order to reach the nose of the torpedo where the pistol/fuze assembly is located. It wasn't something toggleable back and forth while the torpedo was loaded in its tube.

Here's a pic of a WWII German torpedo pistol:

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...dopropslge.gif

Thats really cool, thanks for the replies.

Yeah alot of my crew have surpassed their maximum exp which is why this is confusing me abit, maybe I just need to spend longer on patrol killing more lol

made me laugh lol.
So far I've just come up to periscope depth in the middle of the convoy, my only convoy attack so far has been at night which is probably why I wasn't spotted that time as they only had searchlights to use.

I shall do that now!