Carrier groups in general stink and are bad for game play. I try to avoid them.
I will explain why I think they stink, then how to fix them.
1) The ballance of artillary fire power vs land bases is complete ridiculous.
Shore batteries can't articulate enough to even hit the cv when it's right off shore in many cases.
Shore batteries only have one 8" very slow firing gun can that can hit a CV group at a time.
The CV group has 1 bazzillion 5" rapid fire artillary guns on it, that go from AAA to HE with the flick of a switch
The CV group has 9X the 8" firepower of a land base.
The 8" tripples are auto-leveled, and have computer controlled auto-aiming so they can hit the same spot repeatedly while steaming along at flank speed.
2) The ballance of AAA fire is completely ridiculous
The AAA from a CV group can cap an enemy field
The AAA from a field does nothing to the CV group
Hyper-Telescopic bore sites, radar proximity fuses, and rapid fire capability make the 5" guns too lethal against fighters at all ranges.
The land bases have no mannable 5" Artillary
The land bases have no Computer controlled Puffy.
4) The power of the few vs the many.
A CV group with two or three people is an overwhelming force
It takes a hoarde to successfully defend against a CV group because of all it's AI controlled guns, and the lethality of a couple of individuals in manned guns.
A.I. and manned guns make CVs so lethal, planes taking off are not even required to destroy a base and rack up lots of kills when attacking an airfield.
My estimate is for every person active on a CV group, it takes 3-5 defenders. So it requires 15 base defenders to fight off 5 people on a CV group
CV groups stink for game play because they draw lambs to the slaughter. The game is stacked to make the CV group very lethal against attacking aircraft. But Bases are not given anything capable of defending itself against a CV except aircraft. Leading to a fultile effort unless you amass a hoarde of defenders who all die repeatedly untill they sink the whole fleet only to find out it was manned by a total of 3 people who never even get a death recorded because deaths in manned guns get a free pass. And if fighters do up fro the carrier, the fight is ruined by all that AAA, manned and computer generated, that is picking planes out of the sky like they were free shrimp a buffet.
How to fix it:
1) Put more shore batteries in, or add lots 8" field artillary, or Add a mobile Howitzer to the VH
Mobile artillary in the 5" range. [Mobile artillary would be easier than changing all the maps to add the fixed guns]
That will create a stand off distance for CV groups.
This will also solve the AAA problem by forcing the CV out far enough where its AAA can't cap the field
2) Deactivate the zoom on 5" guns in AA mode.
3) Deactivate the computer controlled aiming of the 8" tripples on the cruiser.
If you want to bombard the field. Park the CV group, aim your guns and get a plane spotter to tell you where your shells are landing.
This will make the CV a bit more vulnerable to Torpedo attacks from Pt boats or SBDs, making the effort to attack a CV with those planes worth it.
4) Track and keep score of Deaths in Manned guns.
No one should be get reward without risk.
Thanks for listening
