Welcome to my Silent Hunter III AAR! I will be playing the game(very heavily modded btw, now also including AI submarines, both friendly and foe, plus wolfpacks) and write the Type VIIB boat U-46's war diary for you to read. The game will be played at full difficulty, starting from early November 1939 when the war begins. The idea is to try to survive as long as possible...
You, dear reader, may claim a person aboard the ship, but you may join the ship only before the first real patrol(2 pre-war shakedown cruises have been made to make sure that the installed mods actually work) or as a new crew member between the patrols.
Here is our ride, the U-46, and I am her
Kaleun:
Currently every crew member is available. They all have names, skill, special abilities, morale, patrols and medals tracked. After each patrol the Captain is given a number of medals, depending on how well the patrol went, to give his crew.
Depending on what crew member you claim, you will get to have a (small) say in the Kaleun's decisions, and he may consult you.
All crew members are free, but remember that only officers and petty officers may learn special skills... At the moment, the important guys are:
Navigation, Weapons, Watch, Chief Engineer(1st Officer) and Chief Mechanic officers, various petty officers with deck gun, torpedo, medical and engine tech skills. I'll also teach someone to handle the flak gun ASAP.
The real U-46 was easily more than averagely successful boat, with over 80,000 confirmed tons of shipping sunk, mainly early in the war.
Here are our hunting grounds... Poland, France and the UK + Commonwealth will become our enemies by November 3rd, which should be a day or 2 before the beginning of the 1st combat patrol.
I dont know at what point the British East Coast gets mined and trapped... The Kaleun is considering sailing around the island and hunt for prey somewhere on the coast of Scotland or even near Liverpool. Every ship met close to Britain is in the Blockade Zone and free to be shot at. Further away though we need to be aware that there will be a lot of neutral or even German or her allies' naval traffic so all targets must be ID'd first. Dönitz told me something about these "Prize Rules" but for the safety of the boat I have no intention to follow them in hostile waters, where we're going.