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OK coming up on a month playing. i started the GC originally (with the intent of not finishing) as a "learning / game concepts lab". i started a new GC a few days ago to try in (semi) earnest. i have noticed a huge problem in both attempts:

getting carriers to perform maritime strike. In the first attempt i lost three carriers vs a Japanese carrier group even though i knew where the enemy battle group was. in the second game i just finished repelling the Japanese at Wake; my three CV group was two hexes away from Wake and a large Japanese amphibious for pulled up to the island and dumped 10,000 plus troops. I was aware of their location too.

in BOTH incidences:
1. anytime i tried to target the group i received a message ....something about LCAP and i was not able to target (like i could land strikes).
2. not a single sortie was launched.

please wise and patient old salts......HELP.

It's probably important to point out that the air group of carrier task force can't "target" naval forces like they can land targets. That because enemy task forces are usually moving and subject to fog of war. To hit a naval TF with air power is subject to what the commander on the spot decides & depends on a lot of factors you don't always control. Weather, detection levels, commander aggression, just plain luck, etc. However, to figure out what went wrong at Wake Island, you may want to furnish some screen shots or more details if you can.

By the way, as an Allied player you want to avoid tangling with Japanese carriers early in the war, unless the odds are really in you favor. They always seem to get the upper hand and their strike coordination skill is far superior to those of the Allies. For the most part you'll always get a feeble, disorganized strike from your CVs and they seem to always hit you with every plane they've got, and their pilots are just plain better.

A lot of things may go wrong, as Platoonist said. When you want to do a carrier strike, a couple of things matter and are usually responsible for missed opportunities :
- detection level of the target. A.k.a « the first step to launch a strike is to know there’s a target. » Like said above, you can’t pick the target of a naval strike, you have to let the game do the targeting, but overall you want a lot of planes on Naval Search, either as primary mission (LBA) or as « patrol » for your carrier planes. Setting your DB/TB squadrons on 10%/20%/30% percent Naval Search will usually do much more, for your strikes’ efficiency, than trying to launch 100% of your planes on the attack.
- escorting fighters : depending on your strike squadrons’ morale, your bombers might not fly or not press the attack if they’re not properly escorted. For that, and in short, it’s best to set the fighter squadrons on the same altitude (for more details, please read the Air Coordination Guide in the War Room)
- leadership quality. The TF commander of a CV TF has the same effect as an Air HQ, so you want to have a TF commander with a good Air skill.
- squadron leader : high Air and Naval skill will help (respectively) with the number of planes flying (and general effectiveness) and the odds of finding the target.

And even when all the above is perfect, you still can face bad weather cancelling all strikes.

Also, you really need to take care of your starting CVs. You don’t start with a lot of planes, so you can’t afford high losses initially, while your pilots are not fully trained. USN Carrier pilots are a bit better than most of your USA LBA, but it’s still not high enough. While all pilots should really be trained, at least to the low 60s (both in 1-2 skill and general XP, plus Defense skill), you should aim higher for carrier pilots. Carriers are raiders in 42, even in 43, they should not be constantly in action, and the nature of their operations mean you really need higher skills/experience levels ; the high 60s is good, preferably 68-70. Otherwise, you’ll face heavy losses and you’ll need three months of Wildcat/Dauntless production to fill your squadrons again.

So:
- check your leaders
- train, train, train
- search, search, search

Personally, I like high air and aggression for my fighter air units, less aggression for my bombers but still above fifty. Low aggression is good for transports flying supplies.

I like high leadership and inspiration for training units, but especially inspiration.

I equate admin skill to quartermaster type skills, getting the men, supplies, and equipment.

This matrix helps with Leader Assignments.