No Nikis were encountered in combat (at least the ones that weren't floatplanes) until the Phillipines and Formosa in the fall of 1944.
Given that, I can't see how you can balance Phillipine Sea.
However, I'm all for a realistic simulation of Coral Sea, Eastern Solomons, or Santa Cruz :-)
2-3 CVs on a side can be close to realistically manned.
And with the steerable CVs, we have whole new avenues open to us.
I don't seriously expect the massive devotion of art resources to creating different kinds of CVs, but perhaps NATEDOG could be prevailed on to slap "meatballs" on the decks of the ones we have for scenarios.
And maybe CM tools to edit the "hardness" of CVs...so, keeping the Essex CV art, but being able to make a Ryuho or Shoho or whatever light carrier that's easier to sink. And also making it possible to close down flight operations on a CV short of sinking it.
Also include transport fleets heading to Port Moresby or Guadalcanal to sink..etc. etc. etc.
One HUGE playbalance issue is the fact that, though, in those scenarios the US gets the Dauntless, with 1,000 lbs, but the Vals can only carry 500 lbers.
However, back in the WB scenarios I remember, the Japanese didn't get their corresponding advantage in torpedos....it took a while to get rid of the Devastators and replace them with Avengers...however, in WB the US always had the Avengers.
And, as with submarines and surface ships, in 1942 the Japanese had a huge air torpedo advantage. People tend to mistakenly believe all Japanese torpedoes were "Long Lances" (they weren't, the air dropped ones were much smaller) but they were bigger and FAR more reliable than US air dropped torps...we had the similar problems with them being duds as US subs did.
I doubt the Devastator would ever be modeled. I do hope that the torpedoes can be tinkered with, and both sides don't have an equally capable "generic torpedo."
One scenario problem is that a lot of people get slapped into Zeros who aren't used to aircraft like that..but transitioning to a Wildcat from normal arena fare is easier.
Combine that with less general enthusiasm for Japanese aircraft, in a scenario where the Japanese don't do well the first few frames, they REALLY stop showing up for the last few.
I think scenarios where the US is outnumbered 3-2 in CV hulls, where the Japanese have a real torp advantage, is crucial to play balance.