Let's Sperg Let's command a submarine together! - Aka, Strelok plays a game that hopefully wont crash immediatly into the LP for once.

[Strelok]

So surprise surprise, I can't even get the last game, Shattered Union, to fucking launch anymore. So instead we're going to do a game that.

1. I know for sure works
   
2. I am fucking terrible at
3. Won't drag on forever

That game is cult classic SIlent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific.

A relatively simple (in premise, in mechanics it's quite complex) game. You are the commander of a US Navy submarine, and your job is to serve your country from 1941 till VJ-Day, sinking those dirty Japs and starving their island of supplies like ammunition, war materials, and other less military things I won't admit to because they paint us in a negative light! Woohoo!

Or, with the Operation Monsun Mod combined with the U-Boats in the Pacific expansion, we could be a U-Boat commander, serving right from the outbreak of war in 1939 to V-E Day. Same deal as the Americans, except the fact that the whole being on the losing side means the endgame gets REALLY brutal.

In both cases, we will be outgunned, outnumbered, and of no consequence to the greater war effort. We are one small insignificant cog in a greater machine

So, for this we need to decide who to enlist as, and weather or not to use the event camera (it's cheaty, but lets us get cooler screenshots when things happen). We also will not be using manual targeting, because I'm not a fucking calculus major and have no idea how the torpedo computer works. Instead we'll let our weapons officer, aka the guy specifically paid to aim the torpedoes, aim the torpedoes. Everything else will be set to full realism.

For those wondering, the mods used are Run Silent Run Deep, and Operation Monsun, although the second is only relevant if we do Germans. Lastly I have Fred8615's radio mod, but that's only relevant to me because this is a screenshot LP, and thus the fact that the radio will be playing period music isn't particularly relevant.

Lastly, we are playing a particularly brutal version. We are playing no savescum, dead is dead mode. So whatever fate befalls us is final. It also means we will have to be more discerning as to what risks we take.

Also, before we set out on our first patrol, I think it would be fun to guess how we'll die. Depth Charges? Sea Mines? Air raid?

 

[Strelok]

Allright since we're 1-1, I used the old wheel decide to decide.

Well. We're dead. We're fucking dead. Remember that statistic I quoted above? Yeah, it exists for a reason and the Brits are it. Anyway, let's get our command. We're joining the 7th flotilla, becuase it's the one that gives us the type VIIB U-Boat, which is part of the classic family of U-Boats. Our other options were a shit ramshackle glorified torpedo boat, and the Type IX.

Anyway, here we are. Karl Landwirt is our character, as Landwirt is German for Farmer according to google translate.

And with that we have our boat. U-52. And here is our crew.

Now as a consequence of being a mod to an expansion of the game based on US Naval subs, we are ahistorically using the US Navy's 3 shift system for men. However, nobody ever touches this screen except to give guys medals or shove dead crew into the crew berthing, so it doesn't matter.

Anyway, next time we will actually get to go on patrol!

 

[AnOminous]

Mindlessly attack everything!

 

[Strelok]

Mindlessly attack everything!

Early war we can totally get away with that. Merchants are unarmed and undefended, so we can just pull up next to them like a ghetto hoodrat and do a driveby with the deck gun.

 

[Sanshain]

Replace all the warheads on your torpedoes with crates of Mein Kampf and sink our enemies through the glorious power of enlightened modern philosophy.

 

[AN/ALR56]

use magnetic fuses and the realism options so that you can rage at the duds you keep shooting out
http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/...kwood-the-mark-14-and-the-bureau-of-ordnance/

 

[Randall Fragg]

Wreak some merchant ships with the Race War Sub.

 

[Strelok]

September 3, 1939. Our first orders come in.

We choose to start outside the harbor. In most cases this is just a choice for low end PCs to avoid choking on harbor traffic calculations. In this mod and flotilla, it allows us to skip traversing the kiel canal, which is complete hell in this game because spotting traffic or entering shallows drops the Time Compression.

Anyway here, is our plotted path to our patrol grid.

Our navigator estimates it will take us 6 days, 22 hours. So it will be interesting what happens before we get there.

Near midnight, on September 4th, we spotted our first prey.

I'm not entirely sure what country it is, but it's not German, so I'm gonna sink it. It's nighttime, so I think they haven't seen me despite the proximity. In real life, most early war uboat attacks were done on the surface at night, so I think I'm good. Two torps are thrown into the water.

We circle back around and fire one more. They try to steer clear, but the damage has them limping along pathetically and the best they can do is try to deflect it. Let's see, did they angle enough to make the impact pin not trigger?

Nope. Lol get fucked.

Torps used: 3
Duds: 1
Impacts: 2
Result: Sank for 6273 tons

Edit: Oops. Was denmark still neutral?

 

[Sanshain]

Edit: Oops. Was denmark still neutral?

Congrats, you managed to create a time paradox in your first combat operation.

 

[Strelok]

Congrats, you managed to create a time paradox in your first combat operation.

In my defense it was dark and also I didn't care.

Anyway, on the morning of the 8th we run into these chaps.

British steam trawlers. Too small to justify using torpedos on, but perfect target practice for the deck gun crew. They put up no resistance.

However, they were only worth 780 tons between them, so barely worth the ammo. We'll need to find bigger fish if we want to become heroes of the victorious German Reich when this war is all over!

Later that day, the real prize shows up. A full sized merchant ship, dead center to us, and hasnt spoted us. A three torp salvo should stop them.

Well, two of three should do it. The good news is their aft end ignites, and they lose all engine power. Quickly their rear slips underwater, and they are gone before I can even get a picture.

September 10th, 1939. Another lone merchant is spotted, this time off the west coast of Scotland. Unfortunatly they are just steam trawlers, and the weather is too poor for the deck gun. So we instead buzz them and flip them off.

Finally, in the late hours of September 10th, we reach our assigned patrol area. It shoudl be.. fairly obvious where the patrol tool ends and me freehanding it begins.

We find nothing. FOr 4 days we search, dive, check hydroscopes, surface, visual patrol, dive, etc etc, and nothing is found. Twice we are buzzed by British airplanes, none of which are armed, and nothing comes of it, spare them likely warning ships off of our AOE. After that, we are told to to the same slightly to the west. Again, another fruitless couple of days, and us reporting back. Not even planes are here this time.

We are then ordered to the western approaches. Again nothing is found. We are ordered into an even stupider place out west. However, fuel concerns force us to turn back for port. However, we do have time for something special.

Country: Not Neutral
Tonnage: Lots
Angle: Perfect
Status: Unaware
Cargo: Uh.... civilians.

4/5 checkboxes, close enough. Hey its only a warcrime if you lose the war right?

Unfortunatly, it takes a fucking hour to sink, which even with time compression is way too long. But we eventually do get the kill credit, and then GTFO as we are out of torps.

Little of note happens on our way back, and we sail into Kiel on October 8th with a perfectly healthy ship and crew.

We have some random medals to assign. A Iron Cross 2nd Class, and 3 Uboat clasps. I give them all to the XOs from each shift.

 

[Sanshain]

We have some random medals to assign. A Iron Cross 2nd Class, and 3 Uboat clasps. I give them all to the XOs from each shift.

Germany sure loves handing out medals to people who did nothing but shoot defenseless merchant ships.

 

[millais]

Germany sure loves handing out medals to people who did nothing but shoot defenseless merchant ships.

It was considered something of an especially hazardous posting, with a fatality rate of 80%. For compensation, they got pretty swanky lodgings and amenities when on leave and stationed in port, too

 

[Techpriest]

The survival rate of U-boat crews was spectacularly low. US Submarine forces also had the highest casualty rate of the navy, but that was only 20% losses and the US had far fewer subs in operation overall.

 

[Piss Clam]

C-64 - Red Storm Rising.

Gott Mit Uns.