question on the Battle of the Atlantic

[Dalwin]

Do the various merchant ships that are sunk by the uboats hinder British industry in any way, or is the only threat that if enough of them are sunk then eventually UK will have to build some more merchant ships?

Every ship sunk should cause a small penalty to production. It is as much about what the ships were carrying as it is about the ships themselves.

[AlvaroSousa]

Uboat hits sink MMs and whatever cargo they are carrying. The Allies 100% need to build escorts and MMs.

I am in a mirror game that is in 1944 via multiplayer. I can tell you the Allies need to build a lot of stuff and be prepared for 1944. I am short on transports, landing craft, and HQs. But it is how it should be for the game. The Russians are even suffering manpower shortages, but so are the Germans. Again realistic for 1944.

[sveint]

It really depends on the Axis player. Some don't build subs nor raid.

[Dalwin]

ORIGINAL: sveint

It really depends on the Axis player. Some don't build subs nor raid.

But the point of the thread was the mechanics of it, not the scale. Alvaro says that the cargo they are carrying is lost. By that I hope he means not only units, but resources as well.

[sveint]

It's a marathon. Raiding for a few weeks won't do much.

[PanzerMike]

Indeed, if you want to attempt to cripple the UK you need to have at least some 8-10 subs, raiding the convoy lanes constantly.

The earlier you start to do this the better, because sub losses will mount once escort technology starts to improve and planes start covering the Atlantic.

So it takes a considerable effort on the Axis side to both build the subs and constantly repair them. If the Allies don't properly counter this, they will suffer.

Also, a nasty bug has been fixed in the latest beta concerning merchant Marine losses. So take note of that.

[AlvaroSousa]

That's right it takes ~10 subs to really hurt the UK. That's 300 subs and about the peak of German u-boats in 1943.

If you hammer the UK and they don't buy MMs and ESs they will be screwed.