I don't play the USN "air cheese fleet" but I have had to fight against it many times.
This is one "typical" iteration. There are variations if you want to really emphasize torpedoes or bombers. Essex plus Lexington is also a popular combination. Against battleships the Avenger plus Catalina combo is deadly. The Avengers also give you defense against a sub build. One Hellcat is usually enough to use as a late placement "sniper." Cheap Warhawks (and Catalinas) help you maintain the important air placement advantage. Especially to protect your Catalinas. The Corsair is a powerful "swing" unit for offense or defense.
The idea is you don't bother to go for objectives. Your goal is to destroy the enemy fleet and get the surface bonus. Just make sure your opponent doesn't capture the third objective. If you still come up a little short then you can move the carriers up to an objective after your opponent is all but wiped out.
I also wouldn’t go all air: Weeds is right the All USN air needs to just Stop you. I like using Corsaires if you have an attack option Against your opponent Lex: Sara: York: Sara—Lex 73pts can be objective getters 6 crosiers attack defense your choice 84pt 3 avengers 36pt: two 11 one 14 help with subs Catalina. Bonuses Still wouldn’t do much good agains a 3 Musashi build
I know it’s not the point of the thread but the Air game is an abstract part of it and should be Used that way. I still think raw power Either swarms of ships Or big BB’s are your best shot in the core game.
I also wouldn’t go all air: Weeds is right the All USN air needs to just Stop you. I like using Corsaires if you have an attack option Against your opponent Lex: Sara: York: Sara—Lex 73pts can be objective getters 6 crosiers attack defense your choice 84pt 3 avengers 36pt: two 11 one 14 help with subs Catalina. Bonuses Still wouldn’t do much good agains a 3 Musashi build
I know it’s not the point of the thread but the Air game is an abstract part of it and should be Used that way. I still think raw power Either swarms of ships Or big BB’s are your best shot in the core game.
I agree with this assertion. I'll take the high AA scores and hull points. The more points and higher scores I have, the more costly the attrition is to the Amercians
The USN is absolutely tough, particularly post-1943 with WOTC-only cards. That said, the numerous decks done by the teams and other since then have closed the late war gap between the IJN and USN quite a bit in my opinion. I play a lot of USN builds (though I like to play a lot of others as well), and over the last couple of years, I don't find them to be quite as dominant as they once were (with all the "after market" cards in play). I still think they are the king of the air game, but a lot of the cards done by "the fans" have closed the gap a bit. All things considered, the IJN and USN are now in a class all there own (with the possible exception of the RN with Historical Limits in play). None of the other Navies can keep pace with the "big TWO" in a late war, air-heavy game. And honestly, that is probably historically accurate.
I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way. - Captain John Paul Jones