So seeing the thread on WAS being 10 yrs old made me think of those first boosters. Specifically, what was the first rare you remember pulling, and also the ship that was a no-show for you in the set?
Pretty sure my first rare was the Hood, clean lines and a big beastie made it hard to miss.
My no-show for set one was definitely the Scharnhorst. I bought about 3 cases worth of boosters before ordering 2 off ebay for ~ $10 each.
Side note: It still amazes me that our ships capabilities changed so much so fast during the war. It wasn't even a linear progression, more exponential. AA guns, damage control, CIC, radar, etc. They quickly identified what was needed and did it.
Today, any one of those changes would take 6 review boards to discuss and argue which is better, get rejected and redesigned, then back to the original design board as requirements changed!
I had to go with the Yorktown class. While the IJN certainly had the experience, the actual design of the US class was superior, capable of handling slightly more planes. And the IJN 25mm AA guns were pretty bad.
I see no problem with giving the new Bolzano the Scout Cruiser SA. Achilles I'm a bit more meh about, as the UK already has a good selection of cruisers, but I'm sure it will get mixed into the fray now and again. It was a very good choice from a purely historical perspective, for reasons mentioned.