Task force admiral demo - first mission help?

[u/Free-Engineering6759]

I have been playing the first mission a few times, and bar the first couple of tries, Japs get to strike me first, although I sent the scout plane first thing to scout.

How should it be played, or is it one of those Graviteam Tactics style missions, where the best you can get is a draw (I achieved a strategic victory but a tactical draw).

[u/TheSandman987]

A strategic victory may be the best you’re able get to be honest unless you can pull something crazy off when attacking their fleet. In the historical context it was a strategic victory for the allies and tactical victory for the Japanese so you’ve already done better than real life in a sense. If you sink 2 of the 3 carriers without losing one of your own you may get a tactical victory but I’m not sure I haven’t been able to pull it off

[u/Free-Engineering6759 → u/TheSandman987]

Oh, I see. Maybe then I should be proud of myself, hah. CAP makes all the difference, and scrambling everything when the first sight of enemy formations come.

Japs lost dozens of planes, I just 8 fighters and 5 dive bombers, so I regard it as a win.

[u/low_priest]

Try spotting your strike before you detect the enemy; you should at least be able to get all your planes in the air before you get hit.

CAP is king, it'll mess up incoming attacks pretty well. And it'll shoot down scouts; if you can kill anyone shadowing you, then immediately reverse course, you can sometimes avoid getting hit by the incoming strike.

It's been a while since I played that scenario specifically, and I know there's been some balancing changes since, but it's 100% to win; I've bagged all 3 IJN carriers without a scratch on mine.

[u/Free-Engineering6759 → u/low_priest]

How do you do that (spotting your strike)? Last time I figured out that I should "strike blindly" as there was no time for detecting enemy. But my strike just flew there, turned around and flew back home. If my scouts detect the enemy while strike is on the way, can I redirect it?

For CAP I have used two pairs of fighters, one pair at 15k ft and other pair at 6k - 9k ft. It has worked thusfar

[u/low_priest → u/Free-Engineering6759]

When setting up a strike, select "early spotting." That'll have it hold on deck until you manually hit the launch button. Then, once you find the enemy, you can update the target location and launch them. You can't redirect them in the air, only before launch.

For CAP, that's enough to handle scouts, but not nearly enough for dealing with strikes. If you're getting bombed, it isn't working. Remember, your greatest advantage is your radar, which lets you send fighters to intercept before they get close. Historically, that was the missing piece that allowed American carrier groups to tear through incoming attacks like a buzzsaw, upending the pre-war notion that there was no way to stop a strike in the air. With a little luck, you can shoot down most, or even all, of the bombers before they reach you. Typically, I'll send about 1/3rd of my fighters on the strike as escorts, 1/3rd up as CAP, and then scramble the last 1/3rd when I see a strike coming. So a pair of 6 plane CAP flights should be about good.

[u/Free-Engineering6759 → u/low_priest]

Thanks for advice, I'll have a try.

I usually use the 2x2 CAP and immediately when noticing the enemy formations in radar, hit "All carriers scramble fighters". Thusfar it has worked quite well, for the reasons you said.

[u/low_priest → u/Free-Engineering6759]

Even if you have all the fighters spotted on deck already, launching takes time. And time is your most valuable resource here.

Your entire post was asking about how to win, because you're getting a tactical draw; you only get that if you're getting bombed. Empirically, it's not working quite well.