Difficulty settings query
 

What gameplay elements do the different difficulty settings change?

ive had through the manual and the forum but cant find any info about it.

It affects the balance of enemy sensors vs your sensors mainly. On easy levels enemies are easier to detect while you are harder to detect, while at harder levels your crew is less godlike and the enemy crews better. Also reloads are slightly longer at harder levels.

Ok cheers!

Does it also also change how aggressively soviet ASW patrols prosecute your sub on the strategic map?

I'm playing through the '84 campaign on Elite and they seem to move to me more aggressively when an aircraft passes near me. They also seem to try to clear out the area a landing fleet moves into before they arrive on those missions.

I don't remember them acting like this on the easier difficulty settings.