Patrolling a grid.

[Ligne Maginot]

Hello everyone!

Could anyone give me suggestions to patrol a grid in an efficient way. In order to optimize the encounter of units. Whether they are search patterns, regular dives, economic speeds, etc.

I know it's a matter of luck, but certain actions may increase our chances.

It would be interesting to know how they made this really?

Thank you very much.

Hello, Ligne Maginot!

First of all, you should choose your area wisely before starting a new patrol unless you follow the randomly generated grid by the game. In stock version you get 500 renown for reaching it and an additional 200 renown for staying there for 24 hours. However, in GWX you get renown neither for reaching the grid nor patrolling it thus it's up to you where you go.

I suggest you take a look at the SH3_Map located in the documentation folder at search after the grey areas like the Western Approaches and US Atlantic Coast. These waters usually abounds merchants so it's highly likely to find targets for your torpedoes.

When sailing for the grid I set my speed to Ahead 1/3 because it's the closest to the most economic speed and I don't change it after reaching the patrol grid either. En route you should dive for a hydrophone check at least twice a day for an hour or two especially in case of low visibility. When reaching your grid make your Navigator plot a search pattern. Now you can do more hydrophone check a day, it depends on you how many. If you don't see a single fishing boat after all after a couple of days, you might want to choose another grid.

IRL, it was completely different. U-boats were ordered to send patrol reports regularly and BdU always chose their patrol grids so captains had no freedom of manoeuvre.

Hope this helps a bit. Gute Jagd!

[Ligne Maginot]

Thank you very much, as I possibly can sail will put into practice your advice.

Best regards.

[sublynx]

The faster your speed the more contacts you will gain. The slower you go the more there are ships that are on your path but will run away from you.

Going fast spends fuel though. That's why BdU ordered the U-boats to keep a slow speed. I keep a slow speed while patrolling the grid to keep the playing in line with the orders and also because the more days I spend doing nothing the better chances I have in making it through the war.

Come to think of it the slow speed / survivability thing doesn't probably add up if I have been ordered a grid that has convoy traffic in it. By going slow I lose single merchant contacts more than I lose convoy contacts, because BdU sends me that damn contact report if a convoy is approaching. And a convoy attack is where the danger lies.

And if the grid has airplane coverage it would be better to get the h.ll out of there as soon as possible. And keeping a fast speed makes crash diving faster.

Damn. What do you other guys do? Do you think it would be wiser to keep a fast speed for both contact and safety reasons after all?

[Pisces]

Definitely do regular hydrophone checks. And listen yourself. The crew is not sensitive enough to detect all of them up to maximum range. By using your own ears you can detect up to 34km radius. The crew usually only does up to 20 km.

The period between checks, and the displacement between them depends a lot on how sure you are of the probable tracks of the targets, and their speed. In GWX the region through which they pass can be pretty wide. So you should focus on chokepoints. The size of your hydrophone coverage is still only a speck in the sea. Make a circle with radius 34 km and compare to a grid reference on the map.

I don't know if there is a most efficient search pattern. The possible paths and speeds of the targets are simply too diverse.

Instead, I focus on the reports of contacts on the map. That is the source of most of my intercepts. I increased the range in which they are shown by modifying the line "Display Range To Opportunity Radio Contacts" and "Display Range To Important Radio Contacts" in the file "SilentHunterIII\data\Cfg\contacts.cfg". By reasoning that the radio reception is better than the default 250 km.

[Pisces]

Originally Posted by sublynx

... And a convoy attack is where the danger lies.

...

But also the tonnage!

Firstly, sorry for my bad English in my last post, I was in a hurry.

I don't think fast speed is a good option to search for contact because you'll be out of fuel soon and nothing guarantees you cross the course of a ship. Imho the more time you spend in a given area, the more is the chance you find something. I use fast speed only when intercepting a contact to make visual as soon as possible or when crash diving for obvious reasons.

Answering to sublinx's question, I agree with slow speed and spending more time at sea instead of fast speed.

[BassII]

Originally Posted by Pisces

..............
Instead, I focus on the reports of contacts on the map. That is the source of most of my intercepts. I increased the range in which they are shown by modifying the line "Display Range To Opportunity Radio Contacts" and "Display Range To Important Radio Contacts" in the file "SilentHunterIII\data\Cfg\contacts.cfg". By reasoning that the radio reception is better than the default 250 km.

Thank you very much for this modify

[Ligne Maginot]

Thanks for such useful information.

Best regards to all.

[Ligne Maginot]

Originally Posted by sublynx

Damn. What do you other guys do? Do you think it would be wiser to keep a fast speed for both contact and safety reasons after all?

At least during the day I maintain a speed of 1/3, because it is during the day that the aircraft makes it easier to observe the long trail that submarines leave behind.

Meanwhile, in the night I travel to a standard or maximum speed (not the limit), to compensate the low visibility, covering great distances. And alternating hydrophone listening intervals.

Best Regards.

[David I]

On patrol I usually travel at 8 knots, very economical on fuel for both the Type VII and IX. I choose what I hope is a well traveled square and set up a zig zag patrol path with the width of the pattern about half of a grid and corresponding to the most likely path of shipping.

<
> Shipping travel path
Zig - Zag <
> <--------------
<
>

If you get my drift.

If the grid pays off well (like BF 15) I'll stay for the whole patrol. If not, I'll move to another grid and set up the zig zag pattern again.

About the only time I go faster than 8 knots is for an intercept from a radio/BDU contact, or going home with no torps and lots of fuel.

Good hunting!

David I

[HW3]

You can hear farther under water than you can see on the surface as long as you only travel at 2-3kts. In bad weather it is better to stay under water, and only surface to recharge your batteries. Early war BE65 is good for single merchants going SW to NE.

[Warren Peace]

I can only speak for early war ('39-'40) with Type VII's and Type IIs, but I have a few favorite areas that I spend quite a bit of time in.

If you're driving a Type II (I can't explain it, but I love being in a dug-out canoe), there's a passage just to the north-east of Scapa Flow that is fairly active (AN14 if memory serves). I usually spend a few days up there, then work down the eastern coast of Britain before heading back to Kiel (Lots of single merchants along the coast line).

If I'm cruising in a Type VII, I like going up over the top of England and working down the western coast of Ireland. The north-west and south-west areas around the island have contacts out the wazoo (I believe that between the two areas, there's something like 3 single-merchant lanes and 4 convoy lanes).

As for tactics, while patrolling I rarely go above 1/3rd. I'd rather spend more time on station, allowing for contacts to come to me, then burn my fuel out hoping to run into one. Also, running submerged at 1/3rd gives a good amount of time below the surface and is fairly quiet, so good hydrophone range without having to continually change the engine speeds.
I concur with checking the hydrophones at least twice a day (I usually do 3-4 checks, depending on where I am and what the weather is like. If the weather is terrible, I end up spending more time under water than I do on the surface). And you should definitely do an occasional sweep of the hydrophones yourself (default key is 'H'). You can adjust the volume also, the little black knob to the lower right, clicking on different areas raises/lowers the volume.

The only time I run faster is if I'm en route to my patrol/home, running down a contact, or trying to get out of dodge. Slower patrol speed means more fuel for running flank on a contact to get into the perfect ambush position.

[David I]

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Here is what I meant in my previous post.

David I