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[Let's Play] Silent Hunter III - Das Präludium
Kanamit
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Greetings! Or should I say guten tag? Welcome to the Kriegsmarine, or perhaps more accurately, to my Let's Play of Silent Hunter III.
The Game
Silent Hunter III is a 2005 U-Boat simulation by Ubisoft that places the player in the boots of a U-Boat commander during WWII. It was praised for balancing accessibility with realism, its at the time state of the art graphics, and its extremely detailed and rewarding dynamic campaign. The latter is what I'll be playing; I'll have to go on patrols, sink enemy civilian and military ships, and most importantly of all – survive.
It will not be easy; airplanes will reign havoc from above and destroyers will serve as the indefatigable guardians of the seas. As the war drags on and technology grows more advanced, our patrols will begin to look more and more like Das Boot. And that's assuming that we (I) don't accidentally press the crash dive button in 1939 and scrape the hull across the bottom of the ocean.
Why SHIII?
Good question. Firstly, as a few of you may know, there is a Silent Hunter IV that deals primarily with American submarines in the Pacific instead of good old fashioned U-Boats. I'll be honest; the main reason I chose III over IV is because it was cheaper.
Secondly, this is my first Let's Play, and I have very little experience with this game. I know the basics and that's about it. It's probably a bad idea to do my first Let's Play with an unforgiving submarine simulation that I've only played long enough to learn how to line up a torpedo shot, but I am determined for several reasons. 1) I've wanted to do a Let's Play for a while now, and SHIII seemed like a good choice due to its dynamic campaign, 2) it is my hope that my incompetence will only make this LP more enjoyable, and 3) I have a problem. A reloading problem. Normally this isn't that much of a problem, but in a submarine simulator it ruins the tension if I just reload if I miss a shot. Lying to strangers using anonymous handles over the internet is that much harder than just lying to myself, so this LP will hopefully help me avoid falling into my reloading habit.
In short, don't be surprised if my incompetence ends this LP early.
Settings and Mods
I'll be playing at Realism 100%, which basically means that I have to do almost everything manually, things take longer, damage is more severe, etc. The one thing I left on is automatic mapping so I don't have to plot the position of every vessel by myself.
I'll also be using the Grey Wolves Expansion, which does everything from adding new vessels and nations to simulating Finno-German trade during the war.
Das Präludium
Thank you for reading all that text and seeing as this is my first LP, please feel free to offer constructive criticism.
The Game
Silent Hunter III is a 2005 U-Boat simulation by Ubisoft that places the player in the boots of a U-Boat commander during WWII. It was praised for balancing accessibility with realism, its at the time state of the art graphics, and its extremely detailed and rewarding dynamic campaign. The latter is what I'll be playing; I'll have to go on patrols, sink enemy civilian and military ships, and most importantly of all – survive.
It will not be easy; airplanes will reign havoc from above and destroyers will serve as the indefatigable guardians of the seas. As the war drags on and technology grows more advanced, our patrols will begin to look more and more like Das Boot. And that's assuming that we (I) don't accidentally press the crash dive button in 1939 and scrape the hull across the bottom of the ocean.
Why SHIII?
Good question. Firstly, as a few of you may know, there is a Silent Hunter IV that deals primarily with American submarines in the Pacific instead of good old fashioned U-Boats. I'll be honest; the main reason I chose III over IV is because it was cheaper.
Secondly, this is my first Let's Play, and I have very little experience with this game. I know the basics and that's about it. It's probably a bad idea to do my first Let's Play with an unforgiving submarine simulation that I've only played long enough to learn how to line up a torpedo shot, but I am determined for several reasons. 1) I've wanted to do a Let's Play for a while now, and SHIII seemed like a good choice due to its dynamic campaign, 2) it is my hope that my incompetence will only make this LP more enjoyable, and 3) I have a problem. A reloading problem. Normally this isn't that much of a problem, but in a submarine simulator it ruins the tension if I just reload if I miss a shot. Lying to strangers using anonymous handles over the internet is that much harder than just lying to myself, so this LP will hopefully help me avoid falling into my reloading habit.
In short, don't be surprised if my incompetence ends this LP early.
Settings and Mods
I'll be playing at Realism 100%, which basically means that I have to do almost everything manually, things take longer, damage is more severe, etc. The one thing I left on is automatic mapping so I don't have to plot the position of every vessel by myself.
I'll also be using the Grey Wolves Expansion, which does everything from adding new vessels and nations to simulating Finno-German trade during the war.
Das Präludium
As is the current fashion, I will be asking for reader input from time to time. We need two things right now: a name for our fresh out of naval academy Leutnant, and an initial base for him. Here is a map of our choices:
As you can see, we have three choices: the first flotilla based in Kiel near Denmark, the Second flotilla based further west in Wilhelmshaven, and the Seventh/Thirteenth flotillas based to the east in Königsberg. More important than starting location (there's always the option of transferring to another flotilla) is that flotilla choice affects both our initial U-Boat type and what replacements will be available for it.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. There are four types of playable U-Boats in SHIII: Type II, Type VII, Type IX, and Type XXI.
Type IIs are early coastal U-Boats. They don't have much fuel or much room for torpedoes, nor do they have a deck gun to use against unarmed merchants. However, they are sneakier and more maneuverable than Type VIIs and IXs.
Type VIIs are your classic U-Boats. These are the workhorses of the Kriegsmarine; they're pretty big with a decent amount of range and enough torpedos for most patrols.
Type IXs are the biggest. If you want to take a round trip to Manhattan IXs are your only option.
Type XXIs are small and lack a deck gun like IIs, but they have a snorkel that allows the diesel engine to run even while underwater. Basically this means that they can essentially remain submerged indefinitely. We won't be able to get our hands on these until late war though.
So here's the deal: if we go with the First flotilla we start out with Type IIs; if we go with either of the other two we get Type VIIs. So please, suggest a name for our character, and vote for an initial flotilla assignment.
As you can see, we have three choices: the first flotilla based in Kiel near Denmark, the Second flotilla based further west in Wilhelmshaven, and the Seventh/Thirteenth flotillas based to the east in Königsberg. More important than starting location (there's always the option of transferring to another flotilla) is that flotilla choice affects both our initial U-Boat type and what replacements will be available for it.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. There are four types of playable U-Boats in SHIII: Type II, Type VII, Type IX, and Type XXI.
Type IIs are early coastal U-Boats. They don't have much fuel or much room for torpedoes, nor do they have a deck gun to use against unarmed merchants. However, they are sneakier and more maneuverable than Type VIIs and IXs.
Type VIIs are your classic U-Boats. These are the workhorses of the Kriegsmarine; they're pretty big with a decent amount of range and enough torpedos for most patrols.
Type IXs are the biggest. If you want to take a round trip to Manhattan IXs are your only option.
Type XXIs are small and lack a deck gun like IIs, but they have a snorkel that allows the diesel engine to run even while underwater. Basically this means that they can essentially remain submerged indefinitely. We won't be able to get our hands on these until late war though.
So here's the deal: if we go with the First flotilla we start out with Type IIs; if we go with either of the other two we get Type VIIs. So please, suggest a name for our character, and vote for an initial flotilla assignment.
Thank you for reading all that text and seeing as this is my first LP, please feel free to offer constructive criticism.
Kanamit on
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Sorry, had to get it out of my system.
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So... in the event you upgrade to a Type IX and get a Paukenschlag-type mission, do we get to see you cross the Atlantic... at x1 time compression? :winky:
Don't know if anybody else is well-versed in das boot-isms, but I can see torpedo plotting boring for some and exciting for others. Personally, I'd love to see you plot out five torpedoes under stress.
Second Flotilla, and 'Awesome McPowerfist' (or just McPowerfist if it only accepts surnames) for the name as that's what I end up calling my custom characters anyway.
I suck so hard at this game, but I also love it so much. It's a conundrum.
I remember one of my first patrols I was in the middle of the ocean and I think the war was just picking up steam. I was actually on the deck of my U-Boat taking in the pleasant ocean view when I began to hear this buzzing noise. I was thinking to myself, "What the hell is that? An RC car or something?". I sat there a minute listening, then decided to ignore it since I didn't see any other ships anywhere and my dudes seemed pretty content.
Then, like a roaring banshee, I hear RAT-TAT-TAT, RAT-TAT-TAT! I was like, "WTF?! Machinegun fire!? From where!?" Then I looked up and saw an airplane of some sort strafing me. I immediatly jumped on my flak gun. . . or was it a normal machine gun? I forget. Anyway, I began firing widely at the airplane and was actually able to bring it down. Still I heard the buzzing and scanned the sky. My little airplane friend had a buddy who quickly flew off into the horizon.
I order my U-Boat to get the fuck out of there, but it was to late. Within a few hours allied ships had closed in on my position and began depth charging the fuck out of me. Game over
I think that happened on maybe my third try ever. My first try actually ended up with me ramming my U-Boat against the docks and killing all on board.
*Ping*...
*Ping*...
*Ping*...
EDIT: Also, not strictly related, but SH4 had one of the best intro's ever (Click link for hi-res).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW3mw5M9c1o&fmt=22
Go with the 2nd flotilla. Type II boats are just depressing and it's really annoying to navigate out of the other two ports for the 5th time.
Will follow this closely!
Or whichever fleet allows type VII's, since that's my personal preference. But then, I only played SH4 so I don't know how the German U-boats were.
For tips for this (and otherwise), the SubSim site and forums are fantastic resources. I'd say for sure to check it out to learn how to properly plot, track, and stalk convoys. They give real general hints on how to predict where they will be.
edit: I'd advise against realism 100% your first time out of the gate with this game. It's noble that you want this to be epic in terms of a let's play, but the realism is fucking brutal. Like, don't plan on sinking anything your first 5 or 6 trips out, if you survive that long. If anything, I strongly advocate leaving the basics on (limited fuel, batteries, full damage, etc), but I'd very much advise you to turn off the more hardcore ones (compressed air, dud torpedos, etc).
I should note that I've played a couple year campaign using ~60% realism (without GWX). This is the first time outside of the naval academy missions that I'll be using manual targeting, but I think I'll at least be able to hit cargo ships in good weather at short range.
Well if you wanna be that bad-ass about it, got get yourself a slide rule, too :P
There are people over at the SubSim forum that rig a red light over their computer, wear a Kapitan's white cap, and use a slide rule and a stopwatch to do their manual plotting.
Man, I can't wait for SH5 to be released...
Anyway, maybe we can name our dude McTorpedofaust or something? I always sailed out of Konigsberg, but always sailing around that point was annoying so second flotilla sounds good.
Using Radar to hunt subs is certainly doable (my initial thought was radar to hunt subs? then I remembered WWII era subs spent a lot of time on the surface) but if I recall correctly the japanese didn't do much in the way of ASW. Also Japanese subs more or less sucked because the doctrine for their use was to have them attack enemy naval vessels which sounds fine in theory till you remember that the subs are slower than most naval vessels and are incredibly vulnerable on the surface. But according to the Japanese Navy attacking merchant shipping was dishonourable so presumably was preparing to defend against that sort of thing.
Anyway I have never played any of the Silent Hunter games but being a WWII buff I will be watching with interest to see how your little slice of the Kreigsmarine does.
Deploy in the VIIs the IIs get you killed quick in the early game.
This is an epic idea and I wish you the best!
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