When Combat Theater was in development, I thought there would be a niche for the PBY and other “scout” planes. In the MA, where the world is a constant furball, I just don’t seem them being used. Even in Scenarios, I’ve seen a severe lack of interest in the playing community (hell, I had a hard time convincing SEA players that Torpedo planes were a viable offensive weapons platform). But in the Combat Theater, where there could be massive areas of relatively empty airspace, flying around looking for targets could really work.
The only thought I had on MA utility, would be to give some advantage to the MARPAT planes for CV spotting. Basically, my idea was that if a designated “Scout” plane was able to target a surface unit, that unit would appear on the clipboard of everyone on that side. I really don’t know how useful that would be, but it might help with any CV hiding issues, and to be honest, I haven’t been in the game in years, so I don’t even know if that’s still a constant complaint or not.
-Sik