In my game even after sinking quite a number of CVEs (close to 40 I suspect) Wargmr had so many CVs left he chose to duel coastal guns and minefields for fun.
KB was handy to coordinate airstrikes and very helpful for the occasional morale boost but strategically largely irrelevant by mid 44- probably earlier. [:(]
ORIGINAL: JocMeister
The problem with saving the KB for close defense is that by then the allies will be so overwhelmingly strong you can´t really do anything to stop them. Now you still have CV superiority but in 6 months the allies will. And it really won´t matter if you win a CV battle by then as the allies can eat the losses.
What I´m trying to say is that in 6-12 months your ability to cause a significant delay for the allies is gone. Its simply beyond Japans capabilities to inflict that many losses. Look at my losses against Erik in 44 and 45. Pretty horrendous but as far as I can remember it never even slowed me for a day.
I´ll keep my fingers crossed for you. [:)]