I've recently been doing a lot of playtesting with various builds between the USN and IJN. I'm going to propose that the USN bias isn't actually there. Even with the best air and the best carriers, I made some Japanese fleets that went toe to toe and were every bit as monstrous as anything the US put on the map.
Here's a bit of a difference, though; the USN is more forgiving, tactically, than the other navies. You can make mistakes and not really pay the price. With the other navies, there's less room for error. So in that way, the US does have an advantage. But any navy can compete and beat any USN build of the same points in this game.
I'd put these fleets up against anything you can throw at them
A6M2 Zero Ace A5M5 Zeke Musashi Chikuma Matsu x14
200 Pts
Shokaku Soryu Junyo Ryujo Jill x3 Val x3 A6M2 Zeke x4 G4M1 Betty x3 (new Starter) A6M2 Zero Ace Emily
200 pts
To you from failing hands we throw the torch be yours to hold it high. -In Flanders Fields. John McCrea
The USA just has better staying power. Ignoring min-max builds.
The frontline aircraft in most catageories have better defensive stats on the allied side. Not in accurately. So average rolls on both side will hurt the japanese more.
I think the better japanese units are typically above optimally priced. Particuarly where LLTs factor. (Edit: not overpriced, they are costed accurately, but in a pure meta sense are to expensive for thier roles in a fleet )
Those two factors i think are mistaken for bias. Its just the character of the subject matter and the coarse grain of representation
Helldivers and four cap carriers. Helldivers are "battleships in the air." Avengers plus spotting Catalina's are not too far off. With VA 9 and 14 die bomb attacks (and 5 die torpedo attacks), they will make mincemeat of your two fleet builds much more than 50% of the time. At least that is the way in works in our game club and at the Gen Con/Origins tournaments. The four cap carriers give you a cheap platform (per plane) to put those aircraft on.
I don't understand how we "ignore min-max" builds. Min-max is the way the game is structured to be played. Certainly in a tournament setting. The whole point is to maximize the number of dice you throw and minimize the number your opponent throws.
Anyway, I think if RB had put a cap of VA 8 on any bomber of any type of any nation at any time in the game we would be in a much better place. The "power creeping AA" that has occurred as a result has been uneven and not held back the power US air fleet. But it has eliminated practical use of air by anyone else. It started with the VA 9 Wildcat and continued with the VA 9 Avenger and Helldiver. Air has never been calibrated correctly in the game. It is very revealing if you group all the aircraft by year. (Use Hap's spreadsheet) You can easily see the outliers that cause the problems.
The IJN Carrier Liberation Force - "Because We Care" Join the IJNCVLF. Service Guarantees Citizenship!
I know not everyone plays in a tournament setting, but that is the core setting that "tests" the game to see if it is balanced.
I am intrigued by the 14X Matsu build. That at least gives the USN a run for its money to stop them all before all 3 objectives are taken. The only way to beat the USN super-air build is to take all three objectives before you are wiped out. I won Gen Con against the USN that way once. But I was told by an observer that I had about a 35% chance of winning that game and got lucky. He was right, I kept aborting the US aircraft just often enough to take the last objective with one hull point remaining on my last ship. It was a nail biter!
Ultimately it comes down to what you roll. Yesterday I had the USN get their butts kicked by the IJN in a surface action. The IJN kept hitting at long range with single die torpedo attacks and by the time the USN closed in it was too late.
USN quality air power is the best the game has to offer, but if you look at it as all the different build archetypes that are possible the IJN has more archetype options to beat the USN then the USN has to beat the IJN and imo became the best nation in the game with the start of the team decks.
Even by set 6 I thought the IJN could give the USN alot of trouble I had an old thread titled "has the IJN overtaken the USN in WAS" it went 8 pages long min lol.
Player skill is a huge factor from tactics to build composition and anticipating your opponents force composition and moves.
I usually play at 300 points. The USN air smash is a lot scarier then.
Totally agree. Those extra points really make the difference in quantity and quality the USN can roll out. At 200 points the USN air is still pretty constrained.
Can I see some examples of usn air power builds that you'd see in a tournament
Without getting into USN builds that would probably Handle those IJN builds. B-25’s against those DD swarms and Hellcats,Wildcats and Corsairs coming from 4 US Carriers to match those 4 IJN CVS Air wings I think stops it cold: If your using carrier for objective control how do you match Sara. and Lex.