OrBat generator venting

[DeMatt]

I just had a battle in which three things went very wrong, and I need to vent about it.

• OrBat generator made weird decisions.

When setting up the battle, on my side it had 1x CA, 1x CL, 2x CVL, 4x DD, and 2x KE to draw from. The CL, DDs, and KEs were all on Trade Protection, while the other three ships were active. Almost every ship ended up present in the battle, but oh my GOD the organization:
    Main Force:  1x DD

    Carrier Force:  2x CVL

    Carrier Force (screen):  1x CL, 1x CA

    Coastal Forces:  everything else

The opposition?  1x CA and 1x CL.  Why, oh why, would it put the CRUISERS (heaviest ships in my fleet available) into the Carrier Force, instead of the DESTROYERS?  Or, if it was insistent on not putting Trade Protection ships into the Carrier Force, it didn't leave the CL in the Carrier Force and give me the CA as my Main Force?

• Flag division choice stupidity
  

Maybe this was on me for not forcing a flag division change, but the task force flag division flip-flopped a few times between the Main Force DD and the Carrier Force CVLs.  It meant that I needed to keep the CVLs close to the enemy just to keep manual control over the CA/CL division (my only real combat strength) and get them to fight.

• CVLs lost strike capability
  

Another thing I got to learn about mid-battle.  Specifically, these were 9k ton CVLs built before the development of flight deck catapults - or for that matter, before 100-knot aircraft.  As a whole decade of aviation progress had passed, said CVLs could no longer launch their strike aircraft with anything more than "Light" payloads - rendering their TBs impotent (yes, level-bombing with 1x500lb bombs is totally effective) and their (first-generation) DBs useless (-/1x250/1x600 was their payload rating).  Gaaah.

...oh, and if you're wondering about the result?  Main Force DD sunk, medium damage to a Coastal Force DD, medium damage to the CL (a 4800-ton Foreign Service cheapie), light damage to the CA (15k tons and 9x10" FTW!), enemy obliterated by a combination of ground aircraft and said CA's gunnery.

[skyblazer]

Hmmm, I know in the early years of the game when your fleet tactic's research is low. Destroyers can only operate as support units to the main force and cruisers are all that can act as screens in terms of roles. So could be that your fleet tactic's were behind and haven't researched destroyer screen tactic's yet which is why the cruisers were assigned that role and you were left with destroyers as your main.

[tc27]

Hello NWS,

Please please please please let us manually assign ships to squadrons/roles that make it into scenerios.

You can leave the current random system in for purists if you like.

Thanks.