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When setting up a carrier Task Force what is the optimum number of carriers to use??Is it it 3 or 4 or more...My opponent runs 5-6 Jap carriers in his TF's thus Japanese carrier raids consist of 80-100 fighters and 170-210 bombers....

Hello Klondike....

Points wise, according to Grigsby's suggestions at the end of the manual, Allied TF's should get three CV's or two CV's and two CVL's.....Japanese TF's can get four CV's or two CV's and four CVL's......

....but, I've seen oponents group up to six CV's together in an Allied TF....this way, one often gets a pretty full strike, and it tends to raise flak levels.....However, I always thought it was risky to put all of one's eggs in one basket....

Jeff

For the USN, there is a bonus for improved coordination from 1944 onwards. After January 1944, four American CV's in a TF have the same chances for launching full strikes as three CV's in 1943 or before.

I usually have 2-3 CV in a CV Tast Force with a high-rated commander(7+) or only 2 and maybe a CVL with a lower rated(5/6) .
2-6 CA/CL/CLAA with good numbers of Flak and a hell lot of DD for a big Flak shield

Thanx for all the Info [:)] Its November of 1942 right now so in answer to my question The optimal # of CV's to run to get full strike capability would be 3 correct????

Launching full strikes depends on the Admiral's air leader rating and the number of carrier points in the TF, with an Allied CV counting three, a Japanese CV counting two, and all CVL/CVE types counting one point. There are two checks for launching full strikes, with a 100% chance to pass for four carrier points, 90% for five carrier points, 80% for six and so on for the first check and higher probabilities for the second check - when using a leader rated '9'. If failing a check, the strike will be halved - so you might end up with a quarter strike if things go wrong (or even an eighth strike as additional penalty if PPs are low, too). If you achieve surprise, the first check is passed automatically, if you achieve surprise and the enemy has no radar, both checks are automatically passed.
In my experience the optimum is nine 'carrier points' per TF and a leader rated '9' - then there is a 50% chance to pass the first and a 83% chance to pass the second. Hence, the optimum TF for the Allies would be three CV or two CV and three CVL.

LST - are you sure there is not a bonus to American checks after Jan 44 or Jan 43? I seem to recall there being one, but am not absolutely sure.

I have read something about that, but can't remember where. I can't find it in the official manual, but rumor has it that there are many undocumented features in PW. I'll try to dig out my PW-hints file and look through it ASAP, maybe it's mentioned there.

The bonus to the American CV's starting 1944 is documented in the Pacific War Data Card. An electronic copy of this was included in the Version 3.1 download. (Quick summary: the number of American CV's is multiplied by .75 for the checks.) I actually posted the Data Card, but it was one of the files that went away during the hacker disaster earlier this year.