I've figured it out. You'll need a good CV, at least 2 decent BB's, but 3 would be better, and CA's with at least half a brain. I know, I should ask for the moon instead, as I'm more likely to get that than that team setup with Random's. If you end up with a DD, just hope they know what the hell they are doing. A Good DD will very easily pull weight. They made it more reliant on a CV being there this time. If you do not have a CV, you are going to have a tough time.
CVs:Kaga will work best here, by a large margin. Ranger is next followed by Hiryu. Saipan comes in last due to her low numbers, but can still work if you are good with her. From here on out, I'll be talking from Kaga's perspective, adjust with the other CV's.
- This is IF you load in with a little time before start, otherwise get to this after next bullet:
Set your auto pilot to get close to, but not hug, the edge. If you set it to hug the edge, auto pilot will put you into it, causing power loss. Set one waypoint close, a 2nd one on bottom of G line, a third at E entrance to harbor then the last one deep inside the harbor. Set to full speed and pretty much forget about it. But be wary, if you end up with too many DD's and/or crap CA's, you'll need to make sure it's not YOU Cleveland shoots. If you take damage, deal with it. Do NOT go to the repair base. Bots will nip you quite easily while you are there.
- Fighters:
Get your fighters up, they are PRIORITY at start. Send the first fighter squadron you get up to spot the 2 DD's to the W, and keep them there until they are destroyed or your fighters are shot down. Send your second fighter squadron you get up to spot the Clemson, and KEEP her spotted. If your BB team is good, one of the BB's (providing you have more than one) will take her out. But if you end up with only one BB or derp BB's, keeping her spotted will allow the Forts to take her out before she can do too much damage. If you leave her unspotted, she WILL take out a fort by herself. Once Clemson and/or the 2 DD's are sunk, immediately send your fighters in to light up Raptor. Get them close enough to spot her, but not close enough to where her fighters (or her escorts) engage them. Set them up over the island that is NE from where Raptor sits. This will allow you to intercept the bombers as well when they make their run on the Forts. Make sure you shoot down as many as you can as they can do a lot more damage to the Forts now. After you've dealt with them, move your fighters back to spotting Raptor. If you are lucky and have more than one BB, one of them will get line of sight on Raptor after dealing with Clemson, and start taking her out (without yolo'ing to her). Early Raptor does help as you as, 1) Won't have to deal with her bombers hitting the Forts, 2) Won't have to worry about trying to get her later.
- Bombers:
First Sortie:
Focus your bombers on the BB's. Target either the NY or WY as you can take them out with both TB's. Use your DB's to finish in case you botched the drop, otherwise hit one of the other BB's you do not hit with your TB's. Do not bother hitting the NM. Unless you get VERY lucky, she will survive a full wave of bombers. And while she'll flood/burn out, it takes a little time, time that she will have to shoot at your CA's. Do not worry about Penny as they removed her DF, so you won't have to worry about her panic-ing your bombers.
Second Sortie:
If your CA's are having trouble dealing with Cleveland, help them out. They removed Cleveland's DF, so you'll have a clean shot on her. Otherwise, target a 2nd BB. If the NM is still at full HP, go for the WY and take her out. If NM is hurt (at least 1/4 of her HP), then go for her.
Remaing Sorties:
After the BB's are dealt with, attack Priority targets the base calls out unless it's a DF ship. Work around those and hit something that doesn't have DF. Pretty standard use from here on out.
BB's and CA's still play more or less the same, with more focus on the Clemson by one of the BB's. CA's will want to hug the island as they make their way N, to avoid the BB's decimating them, but will still need to deal with the Cleveland. If there are 3 BB's, then one can assist with the Cleveland. Focus on anything that gets close to the base, or that you notice shelling the forts.
