looking at the above scores again, the first frame was a bloodbath. adjustments were made. with those adjustments, the IJN was within 200 points of the USN in BOTH frames. at that point, it is the CiC's battle to win or lose. that, and players incentive to adapt/improvise/overcome.
Well Cap, I only partially agree. Yes, the adjustment you made to the number of F4Fs did help, but the Axis CiC constantly adapted tactics over the event. In frame one, the axis sent an large majority of aircraft on the attack, and paid dearly. Frame two, was a more balanced approach, neither attack or defense was particularly effective. In frame three, KN sent the minimum on the attack, stacking the defense with the hope that it would be enough to keep the ships afloat. Despite a numerical superiority, the allies sunk both carriers, simply plowing through the defense. The axis was successful in sinking the Lexington only because a few torpedo planes snuck through the Allies defense. So, now we're back to the issue of the comparative balance of axis vs. allies attack planes and the gross advantage of substituting the TBM-3 for the TBD. In short, the allies need only throw their attackers at the carriers in order to sink them, whereas the axis must be extremely lucky to even be in position to strike the carriers.