[WIP] Wolves of the Kaiser:1914-1918 Mod

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Admiral Halsey

I assume that since asdic/sonar wasn't developed until after the war that surviving the whole war will be a lot easier?

It really won't be that much easier. Rather, it will be nearly as terrifying as World War II combat. About 40% of World War I Kaiserliche Marine submariners were killed in action. Not as bad as the statistics for WWII, but pretty close. Consider that you will be facing several disadvantages:

-Poor propulsion technology. Many submarine classes had very limited range, both surfaced and submerged - especially the old kerosene boats, which will be included in the early years of the mod. Planning an attack without factoring in your above or underwater range will be suicidal. Not much fun, facing a British destroyer with drained batteries or an empty tank after you've torpedoed one of his merchantmen.

-Unlike WWII, the Germans never completely conquered France. The Biscay ports were held by the enemy - and there was also another large enemy navy to deal with throughout the war.

-Ireland was still occupied by England. Again, more unfriendly waters, as well as more facilities for the opposing navy to dispatch anti-sub craft from. Cruise within sight of the Irish coast in SH3 and nothing happens - do the same in "Wolves of the Kaiser" and an observation post WILL report you to British escort vessels. Yes, you can script this in SH4.

-The Great Northern Barrage. Once the Allies began to copy German mines, their mining operations became every bit as lethal as the Axis powers'. The Barrage made it extremely difficult for U-Boats to navigate around the North of the British Isles. In the end, mines proved to be one of the most deadly anti-U-Boat weapons of the war. To this day they're still finding WWI sub wrecks where the mine barrages once were.

-No effective wolfpacks. Due to primitive communications and operational stubbornness, German subs never had the same success with multi-submarine attacks that they had in World War II. There were a few notable achievements, like the sinking of the "Justicia" by UB-64 and UB-124 on 07/20/1918; however, these were exceptions. Attack a convoy and most of the time you will be on your own.

[Admiral Halsey]

Well since I play SH4 not having wolfpacks is something i'm accustomed to. I also don't really see how bad the mining can be as I have yet to run into one after nearly a year of playing SH4. Heck there was only a 20% of even running into one of the mines in the North Sea surfaced and just a measly 10% submerged.(Though I most certainly won't miss cruising at periscope depth and suddenly get bombed by a plane.)

[Cybermat47]

What planes will be in the mod?

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Cybermat47

What planes will be in the mod?

The roster's still not 100% decided. Here are screens posted earlier of some of the Allied craft:

[Admiral Halsey]

I retract my previous statement about not getting bombed by planes.

[Jawohlherrkaleun]

ambecomelife : Does Gulf of Finland operations interest you for the mod? If yes, then I have found some russian warships which operated in this area :

-4 Gangut class dreadnought battleships : Gangut, Petropavlovsk, Sevastopol, Poltava
Gangut_class_diagrams_Brasseys_1912.jpg

-3 Bayan class armoured cruisers : Admiral Makarov, Bayan, Pallada (sunk by U-26, 11 october 1914)
800px-Brasseys_Bayan_2.jpg

-2 Bogatyr class protected cruisers : Oleg, Bogatyr


-16 Orfey class destroyers
@I
(Sorry, I couldn't find any blueprint)

There are many others but I know this is a minor fleet (in terms of importance) for this mod.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Jawohlherrkaleun

@Iambecomelife : Does Gulf of Finland operations interest you for the mod? If yes, then I have found some russian warships which operated in this area :

-4 Gangut class dreadnought battleships : Gangut, Petropavlovsk, Sevastopol, Poltava
Attachment 401
-3 Bayan class armoured cruisers : Admiral Makarov, Bayan, Pallada (sunk by U-26, 11 october 1914)
Attachment 398
-2 Bogatyr class protected cruisers : Oleg, Bogatyr
Attachment 399
-16 Orfey class destroyers
Attachment 400 (Sorry, I couldn't find any blueprint)

There are many others but I know this is a minor fleet (in terms of importance) for this mod.

I do, actually, want to model the "Bayan" class (to recreate "Pallada's" sinking in a single mission). As usual, it's all a matter of time - no guarantees!

[iambecomelife]

I tested shore bombardment this weekend, and was mostly satisfied with the results. I used the existing oil tank mod but made many changes to it:



-It has fewer hitpoints, and can be detonated by light weaponry.
-The 3d model is new, and can be skinned with company logos etc.
-The flames in the old model were inside the 3d object, so I moved them out to make them visible.

Now, shore bombardment will be much more dramatic. Ideally, this object will be the basis for lots of other destructible items, like troops, bridges, & towns.








The skinned model of the U-93 class boat, with an older model attack boat (U-51) in the background.

[c13Garrison]

Iambecomelife, I am so enthusiastic about your project. Please tell me you're in perfect health for at least however many years it will take to complete!

Seriously, I do have a question though. I understand Jutland is too big to attempt to model (I would think), but what about Dodger Banks? How "realistic" could ship to ship combat be in your mod? Would it be entirely scripted, or could the game AI resolve such a test uniquely & intelligently?

Your work thus far as I have seen is fantastic. I am grateful you have the skill & energy to embark upon such a project. Good luck!

G

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

I tested shore bombardment this weekend, and was mostly satisfied with the results. I used the existing oil tank mod but made many changes to it:



-It has fewer hitpoints, and can be detonated by light weaponry.
-The 3d model is new, and can be skinned with company logos etc.
-The flames in the old model were inside the 3d object, so I moved them out to make them visible.

Now, shore bombardment will be much more dramatic. Ideally, this object will be the basis for lots of other destructible items, like troops, bridges, & towns.








The skinned model of the U-93 class boat, with an older model attack boat (U-51) in the background.

The smoke is just awesome! have you refined it so does not affect ship's smoke from their stacks yet? I would love to run the smoke mod with TMO RSRD but it nerfs the merchant smoke mod, great smoke for explosions but nerfs the ship smoke, even if activated before or after, think you had said the next version would address it.I look forward to the WW I mod as well, the work you are doing is impressive.

[Char]

That's it,I've decided. I'm building a Time machine and going about a year into the future to play this...and if it's not done then,I'll keep going in yearly Increments until I get to play it,or I hit Morlocks...

[Admiral Halsey]

I have a quick question. Did any of the German WW1 subs have comparable performance to any of the WW2 German subs?

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Admiral Halsey

I have a quick question. Did any of the German WW1 subs have comparable performance to any of the WW2 German subs?

Several classes were roughly equal to the Type VII series of WWII. The U-87 and U-93 class, for instance, had 4 bow and 2 stern tubes, along with 12 torpedoes and a top speed of 15 - 17 knots. The Type UB-III were extremely similar to the Type VII's externally - to the point where some photographs misidentify them as World War II boats. They, too, had a similar configuration, with 4 bow tubes and 1 stern tube, although only 10 torpedoes were carried.

Some World War I classes were even better (on paper) than the Type VII's and Type IX's. The U-139 series (shown here) were huge submarines with armor plating, 19 torpedoes, a displacement of 2,000 tons, and a 13,600 mile range, and could still reach about 16 knots. They also had two large 150mm deck guns, and were supposed to be able to fight escort ships on the surface. The problem with them was that they were built with the prize warfare concept in mind, and diverted resources from the medium-sized attack boats that Germany really needed to win the war. As it turned out, the war was almost over by the time they went into service, and they sank less than 50,000 tons of shipping.

It would be interesting to see how large cruiser submarines would have performed in the Atlantic in WWII. I imagine it wouldn't have gone well for them, due to factors like air attack & slow diving time. Plus, even with 150mm guns I can't see a cruiser sub winning against a hunter-killer group attacking from multiple directions. Any thoughts? It's fun to speculate.

[Admiral Halsey]

Thanks. I can't wait for this mod. I even have my captains name picked out. Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière is what he shall be called.(I figure using the name of the highest scoring U-Boat ace ever would bring me some good luck.) Oh I nearly forgot. I honestly think if a U-139 type sub was going against a Flower-class corvette the sub would win.(Though any more then 2 and the sub better dive.)

[c13Garrison]

@Char

That is the best idea I've heard in years. I'll call HG Wells.