Sabot_100

Kaga and Akagi kept their 8". But IRL CVs did not want to ever see an enemy ship. But, this is all about how ships work in the game .How WG has balanced (or not balanced) things. CVs should (IRL) be attacking the opposing CVs first but not in game. That would be "stupid". IRL CVs were highly flammable. In game they are fire proof. They can intentionally get into secondary ranges to pad their scores. Might even decide to ram.

GZ's would love to get into a gunfight with the other CV.

People tend to take it personal because it is all the CVs choice. Nothing the victim can do about it. Can't run away, angle or hide. Can't shoot back at their tormentor. And, as has been pointed out, the tormenting can go on for a long time. Not like screwing up and showing broadside and getting nuked.

A WWII era davit mounted boat could be dropped fairly quickly but once again, there is a really good chance it is not fully functional and in the panic might not land upright. Rafts work even upside down. How durable are RIBs? Would a few shrapnel holes do them in?

Different in details but the result would be the same and approximately on the same timeline. By 1945 the IJN didn't have the pilots/planes for the CVs they still had. The US had lots of both with huge reserves in the pipeline. And they had B29s and nukes. The only chance the Japanese ever had was that the US didn't have the will to fight and take losses and that was a forlorn hope. Assuming Europe still plays out as it did, the Russians will be coming to the party in August or September too.

Hey, he's wearing a collar.

On the other hand, didn't WG model some of the US BBs with the launches/boats in place and then allowed them to restrict firing arcs on the guns. IRL, if the ship happened to be carrying the boats, they would be dumped as part of clearing the ship for action. In WWII they learned you have to dump the floatplanes too. They relied on easier to deploy rafts that were good even with holes punched in them. Edit: Basically, any boat that takes a crane and crew to launch is near worthless on a warship as a lifeboat in a combat situation. If the captain orders abandon ship, the fecal matter has contacted the impeller and you need to find the exits FAST.

Wasn't the Graf Zepplin an almost completed ship? Agreed the rest are fake

I'm thinking the large single squadron will be area denial. Attack those ships grouped for AA support with torps from outside AA range. Something akin to what Hak would do back in the day.

You can't be the only green ship left though. In which case the game ends when you sink. [EDIT: may have been mistaken. Thought this post was in response to the launch the planes just before you ram idea] Also, not sure how much damage you are going to do vs the bot CV. AA and fighters will take a toll on your 4 planes and a few of these torps are unlikely to sink a CV. Good as last great act of defiance though.

You can't be the only green ship left though. In which case the game ends when you sink. Also, not sure how much damage you are going to do vs the bot CV. AA and fighters will take a toll on your 4 planes and a few of these torps are unlikely to sink a CV. Good as last great act of defiance though.

Generally, any DD with smoke can do well in coop. Bigger guns mean bigger smoke gun bloom but you can adjust for that. Z-31 is actually doing OK (average) in randoms. Smokeless DDs can work too but you have to work much harder at it.

PA DDs require a different mindset. They are actually quite specialized as they cannot torp other DDs. This can really limit them in a DD knife fight. On the other hand they can safely launch torps at a BB or cruiser that is otherwise blocked by a friendly DD.

The new line eventually gets there but it starts out with 2 pure torp boats. Which could confuse somebody heading up the "gun-boat" line.

WG has to give every ship the ability to fight subs because you can't always count on having a DD or CL around. Sometimes DDs won't play the team game (it is less fun and low reward), Sometimes they are already sunk. (so even BBs with no aircraft get ASW aircraft?) Of course WG doesn't feel the same way about CVs as there are many ships that have to face CVs with little or no AA (posterchild Agincourt).