I keep seeing and reading and responding to threads complaining about the effectiveness of the AAA/AA of the Battle Group and decided to look into exactly what the real armament load out would be for our little fleet.
After diggin thru a lot of reference material I came up with the following.
Baltimore Class Cruiser
9 8"/55 caliber 3 triple mounts
12 5"/38 DP 6 twin turrets
48 40mm Bofors 12 Quad Mounts
26 20 mm 14 Twin Mounts
Plus various numbers of 50 cal M2's on pintle mounts (subject to source)
Essex Class Carrier
12 5"/38 DP 4 x 2 turret 4 x 1 single mounts
68 40 mm 17 Quad mounts
70 20 mm Single mounts
Plus various numbers of 50 cals
Destroyer Escort 4
3 3"/50 single mounts (x 4 ships 12)
1 2 x 40 mm dual mount (x4 ships 4 = 8)
8 20 mm single mounts (x4 ships 32)
If the battle Group in AH2 was actually armed as per its ship classes (never mind if it was comprised of the actual number and types of ships that made up a task force/battle group), it would seem to attacking pilots as if they were flying into a wall of tracers and flak blossoms and a lot more planes would be going down than what you see now
Attacking a Battle Group, while it could be done took a concerted effort and a lot of co-ordination and skill with a fair amount of luck thrown in for good measure. Individual sorties or small group attacks weren't really going to do it. No one flew near one just to engage the fighter screen unless they were covering an attack.
I shudder to imagine what would be said if our fleet was actually armed to specifications as mentioned.
That would be a 178 gunners if every gun were mannable and present and save for the main battery on the cruiser all could be used for AA/AAA work.
All I can say to those having a problem with the Battle Group as it stands now, is count your blessings, because it could most definitely be a lot worse.
I have covered the fuzing of the 5"/38 DP shells in another thread and gave specification and limits as well (they are radar equipped, not variable timed as they are designated, this was a piece of counter intelligence employed by the US and the Allies) and how they are very nearly duplicating thier performance real life performance in AH2.
Like I said it could be alot worse.