Gun Cruisers

Australia is a decent ship in that niche i find

Ten dice, ER4, assistance vs. torpedoes, and 8 AA...there is a lot to like.

Good question:

I think some Navies just give you better bang for the buck with their Light Cruisers;

   Like the USN's Boise and Phoenix for the cost they have some good MG's and a 10 Vital with secondaries to boot.

You have to plug the Cleveland's as well;;  ER4 and a 5-10 with a great AA number

    If your subtracting Torpedo's outside HMS Suffolk the UK, France the the IJN give you little.

I think the Pola and Zara are nice for The Axis low cost 5 Armor good MG's.

Still think the best all around are Belfast UK ;;  Garibaldi  Italy ;;  Algeria  France ;;  Blucher Germany for 15 or less

Zara is awesome as a heavy cruiser.

You both bring up a good point, that the gun cruisers tend to be beefier in terms of durability. Some 5 armor, some 10 vital, and ones like San Diego have a life SA. If you go toe to toe with a battleship, maybe the secondaries miss the armor rating and the mains only score a hit and not a vital.

Especially on a cruiser with Rapid Fire or Excellent Spotting, where you could have a decent chance of hitting the battleship with the mains

Try playing a game with ONLY cruisers and destroyers. A great change up, and every ship can harm anything on the table. There are plenty of historical battles without the big boys on hand.