User blog:Hayashi H/Advanced Equipment Guide

Aircraft Setups
Due to the number of combinations of maps, squadron types and carriers used, it is pointless to list the precise setups for any given combination.

However, the following general principles apply:
 * 1) Only use  when you sortie at least 2 carriers with plane slots of 3 or below. Otherwise,  belongs in CAVs, particularly.
 * 2) Against targets with AACI, do not load any bombers of any type on any slot smaller than 20.
 * 3) Against targets without AACI, do not load any bombers of any type on any slot smaller than 11.
 * 4) Zuiuns and their variants of seaplane bombers should not be loaded on any slot smaller than 6 if you possess air superiority.
 * 5) Zuiuns and their variants of seaplane bombers should not be loaded on any slot smaller than 9 if you do not possess air superiority.
 * 6) Do not load fighters of any type on any slot smaller than 6.
 * 7) Do not load more than one in a fleet, and if using one, always load it in the smallest slot (unless using, in which case it takes the second smallest slot).
 * 8) For 3-2A grinding specifically,  may load torpedo bombers in the two largest slots and a  in the third. Using this in most other maps may not guarantee the squadrons are not wiped out.
 * 9) AACIs are flat numbers which lead to equal losses per AACI regardless of the total number of bombers sortied. In contrast, the number of planes lost to fleet AA and enemy fighters is a fraction of the total number of aircraft sortied. If AACI is involved, increasing bomber numbers will lead to only very slightly more aircraft lost; the % of aircraft lost as a fraction of the total number launched drops as the number of aircraft launched increases, so sortieing more bombers is insurance against a carrier having all bombers wiped and being unable to participate in shelling at all. If it is not involved, increasing bomber numbers will lead to a proportional increase in aircraft lost. It is difficult for a squadron to be entirely wiped out when the above rules are followed unless AACI is involved.
 * 10) The first slot of all carriers has an additional +20% critdmg when a >> bomber squadron is equipped, while all other slots have a +10% critdmg bonus. Thus as far as possible all first slots should contain bombers after the above conditions are met.
 * 11) The non-bomb non-torpedo non-AA stat bonuses of squadrons do not scale with slot size, so squadrons used to add these stat bonuses should generally be loaded in the smallest slots that fit the above, while those adding bomb/torpedo/AA stats should be loaded in the larger slots. However, the rule below this may occasionally override this one.
 * 12) If all the above are fulfilled, use http://aircalc.net/ to load the minimum number of fighters that leads to Air Superiority(Green)/Supremacy(Blue). As a general guide, setups based on initial strike for the purpose of minimising damage taken will aim for Air Superiority to bring more bombers, whereas setups used to enable Artillery Spotting on a large number of CLs, CAs or BBs will aim for Air Supremacy, as the latter leads to a greater Artillery Spotting rate than mere Air Superiority.
 * 13) After the fighter slots are decided based on the above, change the bomber type allocation only (swapping for  for instance) if there are cases where some ships fail to get daytime FP cap (150) or headon daytime FP cap (188) while others have too much. For instance, 4 carriers with 175 FP is not as efficient as 2 carriers with 150 and 2 carriers with 188 even though the latter has a lower total FP, as in the first case a head-on engagement form will produce 2 FP capped carriers capable of clearing a boss, while in the second it may be the case that all 4 are incapable of sinking the target.
 * 14) When yasen nodes are involved, aim for the minimum number of carriers possible to increase the chance of clearing the node with minimal damage taken.