@Unknown:
I see some of the points made. It would be interesting to actually see the math of, say, 4xCA 4XDD v 4xBB. I would think the 8 ships would have the advantage even with the free hits. But then… how often do you ever actually have 4 BBs in a single battle? There are usually only 1 or 2 present at most. I’ll stick with my CA/DD for now, the math from that battle calculator some of you seem to have would be interesting though and might change my mind.
I’ve seen stacks of BB in the Pacific, both American and Japanese. Since Japan and the US should have a really nice income after several turns, this shouldn’t be much of a surprise. In the few games I played lately, Japan owned between 8 and 12 BB. Sometimes they were put in a single fleet to match an opposing US fleet. Sometimes they sailed off to the Mediteranean to harass the smaller UK-fleets. Sometimes they were used to smash the Indian IC. Battleships are extremely difficult to take out when you have naval superiority and are useful to perform other tasks besides just guarding your Japanese mainland. Therefore building them en masse seems a sound strategy to me (and my opponents).
I may actually have been understimating the free hit a little, but you are understimating the flexibility of 2 ships v 1 ship. Your 4 BB navies would mean my equavilant CA/DD navy would have so many ships that I could be strong in multiple locations on the map. The big naval battles are staged into by both sides, you know when they are coming and they don’t come often. At all other times, having twice as many ships is a pretty big advantage.
What other times are you talking about? When I engage as Japan a US-fleet, I want to keep my entire fleet in a single sea-zone, and so does the US. Imho, there should only be one single large battle to decide the fate of the entire Pacific. In between two major naval battles, destroyers and cruisers aren’t of much use anyways, as opposed to the highly versatile BB.
Having said all this, I agree with you cruisers and destroyers can easily make up the bulk of your navy at another theatre (e.g. the UK and Italian fleets), since these nations don’t have the gargantuesk resources US and Japan have, and since especially the UK might want to have alot of cruisers for offshorebombardment purposes. Therefore your statement probably is correct when it adresses the European fleets (given fleets aren’t destroyed by massive airforce). But in the Pacific, having to face gigantic fleet, I wouldn’t bet too much on destroyers or cruisers (although I do use subs and destroyers as cannon fodder in combination with BB).
I really didn’t mean to start such a debate with that final little comment, and you guys might very well be right about that although I still have my doubts… I had been hoping people might actually comment on my favorite US strategy, I thought people might find it interesting since it is so far removed from the very valid KGF strategy that is usually being discussed.
To me, your overal strategy seems pretty sound, for it is balanced and indeed far removed from the sometimes ‘experimental’ strategies that appeared lately. In the games I’ve played, I too deployed US-forces in Africa to a minimal extent, while going almost all-out against Japan. About the KGF-strategy: it is indeed surprisingly often discussed, but I wonder if it is used as often as it is discussed.
It is here however, your text is quite confusing. You speak of using Okinawa as a US-bomberbase against Japan in the early game. How are you, in only a couple of turns, capable to outbuild the Japanese navy, manage to build a fleet that does not get wiped out by Japanese fighters and fleet and conquer Okinawa? (And then I didn’t even mention the bombers that still have to be built.) Are you using bombers to attack fleets in the Pacific? (And if so: doesn’t this weaken the defensive stats of the US-fleet to much?) In the games I’ve played so far, Japan has always gained naval superiority in the early game against the US. I agree with you regaining these NO’s is of the highest importance to the US, if she doesn’t want to have the same fate as the UK-Empire, but doing so is a slow and often painful process.
For if Japan keeps her fleet in the East-Pacific in the first few turns (which she should once she destroyed several major US-ships imho), I see no other way for the US-player to try to slowly outbuild this Japanese fleet. Hence the build-up in BB. Using Okinawa as a bomberbase was - in the games I’ve played - only a way to finish off Japan in the late-game.