Help with CV

[krh]

Please pardon for asking an ignorant question--this is pretty basic.  I have played multiple games now, and have much enjoyed the game up until the development of aircraft.  I have successfully built carriers, but have not been able successfully to use them in combat, nor have I been able to figure out what I am doing (or not doing) incorrectly. 

The scenario starts.  My surface ships deploy in divisions out in front of my carriers, which properly deploy in support at several miles distance.  The scenario starts, and my CAP and scout planes deploy properly.  And then the enemy closes with my advance divisions, which sometimes deal with them and sometimes not.  If not, the enemy surface ships advance on my carriers and sink them.  There does not seem to be any way for me to organize TB or DB strikes on the enemy, which means my carriers are only good for CAP and scouting.  Once the enemy closes to range, my carriers sink ingloriously, and the scenario concludes on a rather unsatisfying note.

Clearly, I need to do something to get the bombers organized and launched--otherwise they just sit around looking ornamental until the carrier dies to enemy gunfire.  But what?  I have the same problem with land bases, which do a great job of scouting but suck at attacking.  Either this aspect of the game is very broken, which seems unlikely, or I am doing something very wrong, which seems altogether plausible.  

Can anyone assist?

Many thanks in advance,

Kevin

[seawolf]

Little lightning button in the top right of the screen. Select a number of aircraft less than the spot value and ready them(it will automatically go to naval strike)
After 20 minutes you can then launch strikes

[mycophobia]

Carrier being sunk by gunfire is a risk for most of the 20s-early 30s in game before you develop independent carrier divisions. The fact that carrier need to turn into wind to launch/recover may take them too close to the battle line. If you are on rear admiral or captain mode, you can control them to turn away from time to time to get away from the battle line.

Even enemy have fast BC and your carriers are on the slow end(common for early carrier, esp CVL), then it is best to keep track of the BCs since they can sometime flank around the battle line and get to your carriers.

Its probably a good idea to read up the manual section on setting up an airstrike to better understand the nuance of it.

[jma286]

Yup, you can select up to a certain number (based on the size of the carrier) of TBs and DBs and get them ready for a strike, and after 20 minutes game time they'll be ready to launch, which is done through the "Launch" button at the bottom right of the lightning button popup. You also need to choose a target (upper left corner of the lightning popup) before you can launch your planes. You can switch between Carrier divisions using the expandable list at the bottom left corner of the popup.

Also, once you hit launch it'll take a little bit before the strike begins to move towards the target (since the first planes launched will circle the carriers waiting for the other to launch), so be sure to get your air operations going as quickly as possible. Ideally your strike force will be ready to launch as soon as your scouts send back the first report.

[krh]

Thank you to all who replied. I was able to figure out some of this, once it became clear from reading elsewhere that other people had figured it out.

It is very helpful indeed to be able to read the manual. It turns out that there is one, but it helps to know in the first place that it exists. My assumption was, lacking the usual link from the opening page of the game that I find in, for example, pretty much every game I buy from Matrix or Slitherine, that it did not exist. If this board did not exist--and the comment that suggested I consult the manual (which had the effect of alerting me that there was a manual to consult), I would never have found it. I mean this less as a complaint or a cavil, since for the most part the game is intuitive. It is possible that I am the only idiot in existence who has purchased the game, but in my experience, where there is one idiot there are usually others. Just saying