Fighting the Kaga

[Lufbery17]

Any thoughts so far? Played against a few and it felt like seal clubbing in my Hiryu. The captains seem to be blobbing their planes together pretty regularly. Other the danger of the snipe or bomber swarm, I don't see the boat being stiff competition at T7. Will be curious to see how it develops though as its captains figure it out.

[RipNuN2]

As always it depends on the skill of the opposing CV. I saw a ranger on our team outplay an enemy Kaga who was a potato.

[cometguy]

In my experience, Kaga is an anti Saipan. Saipan can make anyone look good, where as Kaga is all about the player. I mainly play Hiryu. I've had a unicum Kaga player hard carry their team against me, and I've also gotten clear skies against a Kaga while also getting 6 kills in a game.

[HazeGrayUnderway]

Every time I see a Kaga vs Saipan, Saipan tends to stomp it.  Potatoes of course can throw a wrench in the works.  As for Hiryu, Ranger against Kaga there are a few things I noticed when seeing them in matches with Kaga.

 

For the rest of this post, keep in mind Kaga's best spec, 2/2/1, 2 fighters, 2 torpedo bombers, 1 dive bomber.

 

Hiryu does okay with the expected 2/2/2 spec.  I have yet to see a 3/1/2 AS Hiryu take on Kaga but I imagine would sweep the skies easily, albeit at a good loss to attack power.

 

Ranger however, I see a lot more in Randoms and they're the ones I tend to see Kaga face against.

 

Stock 1/1/1 Ranger cannot keep up with Kaga's tempo and mass of attack power, not with 1 fighter unit.  Kaga's 2 fighter units will give Stock Ranger's 1 a big tactical problem.

 

Air Superiority 2/0/2 Ranger however can bitterly contest the skies.  I can imagine this spec of Ranger doing very well against Kaga.  She may not stop Kaga's strikes completely but she can make them costly and hopefully mitigate a good portion of the damage Kaga can do to the team.

 

Strike 0/1/3 Ranger is the most vulnerable.  Kaga is built for attack power.  Strike Ranger cannot stop that with 0 fighter units and the Kaga player should feel liberated without having to contend with fighters causing even more losses to her Tier VI bombers on top of losses by AA.

 

Here's where it gets worse for Ranger.  If she's Stock or Strike, be ready for a Kaga CV snipe.  Stock Ranger's 1 fighter unit, Strike Ranger's 0 fighter units?  They cannot stop Kaga's attack group.  You can bet a Kaga will be coming if he's smart.  It would be the first thing I'd do once I've deduced my Ranger opponent is Stock or Strike if I were using Kaga.  I will send everything.  Kaga's 2 fighter units will sweep away Stock Ranger's 1.  If it's Strike Ranger, clear away any interfering Catapult aircraft in the area, otherwise, not needed.

 

Ranger in those 2 specs cannot stop the 2 units of TBs with 6 planes each, that is a max of 12 TBs coming.  I've seen Kaga obliterate Rangers outright with the TBs alone.  Unless a Hiryu player is stupid, Kaga cannot do the same to any Hiryu spec because she will have at least 2 fighters in the typical 2/2/2 Strike spec, or the rarer 3 in 3/1/2 Air Superiority Spec.

 

If you have a CV / CV spec that **should** win against Kaga, you have to be careful about the smart ones.  Good Strike Players hammer at different points on the map where your fighters aren't.  By the time your fighters get there, it's too late.  That is the modus operandi of a proper Strike Player.  Remember also that it's easier for a CV to pick off isolated ships, so that's something to think about when shifting fighters around.

[pyantoryng]

Every time I see a Kaga vs Saipan, Saipan tends to stomp it.  Potatoes of course can throw a wrench in the works.  As for Hiryu, Ranger against Kaga there are a few things I noticed when seeing them in matches with Kaga.

 

For the rest of this post, keep in mind Kaga's best spec, 2/2/1, 2 fighters, 2 torpedo bombers, 1 dive bomber.

 

Hiryu does okay with the expected 2/2/2 spec.  I have yet to see a 3/1/2 AS Hiryu take on Kaga but I imagine would sweep the skies easily, albeit at a good loss to attack power.

 

Ranger however, I see a lot more in Randoms and they're the ones I tend to see Kaga face against.

 

Stock 1/1/1 Ranger cannot keep up with Kaga's tempo and mass of attack power, not with 1 fighter unit.  Kaga's 2 fighter units will give Stock Ranger's 1 a big tactical problem.

 

Air Superiority 2/0/2 Ranger however can bitterly contest the skies.  I can imagine this spec of Ranger doing very well against Kaga.  She may not stop Kaga's strikes completely but she can make them costly and hopefully mitigate a good portion of the damage Kaga can do to the team.

 

Strike 0/1/3 Ranger is the most vulnerable.  Kaga is built for attack power.  Strike Ranger cannot stop that with 0 fighter units and the Kaga player should feel liberated without having to contend with fighters causing even more losses to her Tier VI bombers on top of losses by AA.

 

Here's where it gets worse for Ranger.  If she's Stock or Strike, be ready for a Kaga CV snipe.  Stock Ranger's 1 fighter unit, Strike Ranger's 0 fighter units?  They cannot stop Kaga's attack group.  You can bet a Kaga will be coming if he's smart.  It would be the first thing I'd do once I've deduced my Ranger opponent is Stock or Strike if I were using Kaga.  I will send everything.  Kaga's 2 fighter units will sweep away Stock Ranger's 1.  If it's Strike Ranger, clear away any interfering Catapult aircraft in the area, otherwise, not needed.

 

Ranger in those 2 specs cannot stop the 2 units of TBs with 6 planes each, that is a max of 12 TBs coming.  I've seen Kaga obliterate Rangers outright with the TBs alone.  Unless a Hiryu player is stupid, Kaga cannot do the same to any Hiryu spec because she will have at least 2 fighters in the typical 2/2/2 Strike spec, or the rarer 3 in 3/1/2 Air Superiority Spec.

 

Just another day in a US carrier grinder's life...getting the short end of stick since the game went live.............

[HazeGrayUnderway]

 

Just another day in a US carrier grinder's life...getting the short end of stick since the game went live.............

 

At this point in the game, if I were working on Ranger still, AS would be the only one I'd play.  Hiryu's too much of a problem even with her "Strike" 2/2/2 spec.  Kaga will face raep any Non-AS Ranger too easily.  You really should see Kaga CV snipe a Stock / Strike Ranger.  It's like watching an elephant charge, kick, and runover something.  I feel bad when I witness it.  AS Ranger can at least make Hiryu, Kaga's life harder.  There's no other thing Ranger can do.  The only CV that Ranger's various specs do well against is... Another Ranger.

[AdmiralHattori]

If you're playing Hiryu or Ranger with fighters, you should be able to win the sky (fighters) and shut down Kaga's only damage source (TB). Kaga's T6 torpedo might be potent but they are slow and fragile. A good frontal strafe can take out half a squadron. If you can't win air with a CV then you can't attack without being intercepted which in the case of Kaga, it comes down to the player skill big time since T6 planes will not win T7 dogfights without assistance or just outplaying them. But, if Kaga isn't being contested, you can bet that Kaga will steamroll the game unless AA is strong. The most important thing to do as a CV player who goes against Kaga is make sure that Kaga doesn't snipe you so it's ideal to spend first 5 minutes wondering where is her torpedo bombers.

[Bill_Halsey]

Well I've played both Kaga and Saipan

If you're playing Hiryu or Ranger with fighters, you should be able to win the sky (fighters) and shut down Kaga's only damage source (TB). Kaga's T6 torpedo might be potent but they are slow and fragile. A good frontal strafe can take out half a squadron. If you can't win air with a CV then you can't attack without being intercepted which in the case of Kaga, it comes down to the player skill big time since T6 planes will not win T7 dogfights without assistance or just outplaying them. But, if Kaga isn't being contested, you can bet that Kaga will steamroll the game unless AA is strong. The most important thing to do as a CV player who goes against Kaga is make sure that Kaga doesn't snipe you so it's ideal to spend first 5 minutes wondering where is her torpedo bombers.

 

That's gonna depend with tier your match is. If it's a T8/9 match expect the Kaga to go looking for you with tbd's in the opening phase because your the only target she can hit. T5/T7 a kaga player will be farming damage. Why spend the first 10 minutes looking for a Hiryu when there are Fusos, Nagatos and New Yorks you can hit.?

 

I'm not a fan of carrier sniping in the main. Primarily because of the time you need to go around the map edges to hit a target that may or may not die in the first attack. I've done carrier sniping only when I feel I'm at a disadvantage or there's no worth while targets. So is carier sniping a Kaga player should think off?

 

Edit: Well decided to test it  against a strike hiryu. Launch tb's against her near the end and she still had full health. Get 5 torp hits and the flooding did the rest in one launch.

[Bill_Halsey]

If you're playing Hiryu or Ranger with fighters, you should be able to win the sky (fighters) and shut down Kaga's only damage source (TB). Kaga's T6 torpedo might be potent but they are slow and fragile. A good frontal strafe can take out half a squadron. If you can't win air with a CV then you can't attack without being intercepted which in the case of Kaga, it comes down to the player skill big time since T6 planes will not win T7 dogfights without assistance or just outplaying them. But, if Kaga isn't being contested, you can bet that Kaga will steamroll the game unless AA is strong. The most important thing to do as a CV player who goes against Kaga is make sure that Kaga doesn't snipe you so it's ideal to spend first 5 minutes wondering where is her torpedo bombers.

 

It stacks up when you air superiority, dog fighting expert, evasive action and expert rear gunner as CO skills. If you have those in the Kaga CO it makes the fighters last longer.

[pyantoryng]

 

It stacks up when you air superiority, dog fighting expert, evasive action and expert rear gunner as CO skills. If you have those in the Kaga CO it makes the fighters last longer.

 

Doesn't Evasive Maneuver works only on strike crafts and not fighters...nor do fighters have rear guns?