Move over Australia, the French are here.
Just in case some of you are thinking what happens if I opt for Force X; I’ve got at least two cents to put forward on the matter. OK, so you have opted for Force X over the ANZACs; what have you lost and what have you gained?
Let’s look at what has retracted a bit. The French do not shoot as well as the Brits, but they are just about on par with the Japanese. The French do not have radar and their night acquisition is just a touch below the Dutch (better than the USN though). Their torpedoes are also a cut below the Brits, but better than either the Dutch or the Americans. Their AA, well it sucks right along with everyone else. Also, the French light cruisers and their destroyers do not rapid fire. The French cruisers are even more poorly protected than the Brit designs (mostly CS-CS).
So why would we want the French? Well. You get a third heavy cruiser and more 8” fire is a good thing. And boy do you get torpedoes. All the French cruisers, except the Duquesnes and Emile Bertin have four mounts. All the French mounts are triples and the L’Adroits have two while Le Terrible comes with three. To compare, Force X starts out with 12 triple mounts on its cruisers and 6 more on its destroyers as well as the (Brit quad) torps on Perth and Hobart. The ANZACs had 10 quads (including the 4 on Perth and Hobart) and one triple on Vampire (which the French can use if Vampire is transferred to Darwin). The turn 3 and 4 reinforcements will bring 9 more French triples as well as 3 Brit quintuples (if you take the 3 N class DDs as a CD reinforcement).
Did I mention destroyers? Force X comes complete with destroyers unlike the ANZAC Squadron. This means that you are no longer compelled to transfer Vampire to Darwin on GT1 to allow the ANZACs to sortie on GT2. You can now (and probably should) sortie the Brits out of Singapore on GT1 seeking that ever elusive torpedo ambush of the WAF. If you get it, then Force X has justified its existence before ever firing a shot.
Bats? If the Brits and Dutch can go Bats, why not the French. Well, for one thing they don’t goes Bats; they go Bat as in singular and that Bat brings a pair of IJN Kongos for the EAF. IMHO, any of the Dutch capital ship options is superior to the French option given the numbers you get and the numbers the Japanese get in response. And when we look at the ships themselves. Well, I don’t expect anyone to prefer Lorraine (with her 21-knot max speed) to any of the Dutch ships. Strasbourg on the other hand is another matter; but there is only one of her versus two Dutch BC or the three PB.
You are not totally devoid of radar as Perth has =SW radar. But the loss of radar from Australia, Achilles and Leander cannot but hurt a bit. Also, the N class bring =SW radar.
So, what is the bottom line. IMHO, the ANZACs are the safer choice because they are the most rounded cruiser force. But if you favor torpedoes and/or want more chances for the Brits at Singapore to use their torpedoes then Force X is the option. The thing about torpedoes is that they are hard to bring off. But the payoff if you do is that you have probably just won the campaign. Remember, fortune favors the bold, so keep banging on.
