Carriers at War

I'm sorry to have to tell you this...but what you call "Manual" is nothing more than four maps put together. From what I understand a "manual" is something completely different!

Use clouds, especialy bad weather to hide from enemy. It is only way in which Americans can win. Use search planes as much as you can. But remember you need 2/3 planes for one direction.
Fighting with Japan you need to use ZERO as an escort of bombers. Atack without them is usless. They will be decimated. At begining the best way is to send them in 2 waves. First will criple/ sink dircraft carriers. Second after hour with end surviving ships. In Philipine see concentracte all land planes on few airports. And send them to atact at the sime time escort cariers and transport. Also use transfer atack for planes from carriers. Than you can send them and retreat from deanger zone. Planes will return to carires next morning.

Excellent game. Both this game and its sequel are good simulation games and really give a good feel for the Pacific naval war. My favorite scenario is the Coral Sea... Its an interesting play for the Japanese and Americans, although playing the US is harder.

I just recently managed to beat the Japanese as the US Navy, against all odds.

For the loss of the Yorktown and the heavy cruiser Chester I sunk both the Zuikaku and the Shokaku as well as a seaplane tender and two light cruisers. The Lexington was damaged slightly by land based bombers. The Shoho went unscathed. All in all, an American marginal victory.

Here are a few tips:
-As the Americans, you have less experienced pilots and a smaller surface prescense, at least for most of the scenarios. The best thing you can do is quickly locate the Japanese carriers and sink them. They have poor damage control and will sink easily if hit. This will take the bite out of the Japanese fleet and allow you to hit their surface fleet from afar with bombers.
-As the Japanese, be cautious yet aggressive. You usually have a larger surface fleet than the US. Use it. These can knock out large American formations or even carriers! Also, be absolutely sure of where the American carriers are, otherwise you may take damage. As I stated earlier, the Japanese carriers are fragile and will sink easily if a fire breaks out.

I highly recommend this game, its very fun!

Fantastic game for the time, it remains excellent in terms of simulation.
On the Japanese side do not hesitate to use your fleet of battle ships, to serve as a scout or to go in contact.
This can divert attention from US aircraft carriers and thus strike the first.
Some scenarios are of limited interest but can be used to start the game without too much difficulty.
Can’t wait for one day "Uncommon Valor" to pass into abandonware, it’s his flamboyant successor !!

Highly recommended, I've spent dozens of hours on this game since I played it first in the 90s and it's still fun. This game really gives you the feel of being an admiral, from tough decisions and fog of war, to how to arm your planes. Helps you understand the advantages and disadvantages of each side of this conflict, and how important luck actually was (very!).