Much maligned for the narrow niche they can fill, cruisers that only have main guns and secondaries still do have a place in War at Sea. Which ones do you like, and how do you find a place in the battle line for ships that can’t reliably hurt a battleship and are questionable against even destroyers?
US cruisers rarely make it into my fleet builds unless they are "US only" scenarios. In a "US only" build I like Helena for the extra shot against destroyers. Any of the radar equipped cruisers are good with Darkness rules. San Diego and Montpelier are good for long distance rules.
The USS San Diego tends to be one of my favorite light cruisers at 11 points and the Heavy AntiAir to keep those pesky R1 attack craft at a little more of a distance. (or at least make them thing a little) Near Miss also gives it a little more survivability if the Heavy AntiAir makes it a target.
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.
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.