@knp7765:
The Scharnhorst was actually a battlecruiser rather than a battleship – just a little lighter on armor and armament. The Germans had the Scharnhorst at the beginning of the war, in fact I think it went out before the war actually started in preparation for war, and caused the British merchant ships a lot of headaches. I think the British finally managed to sink her in Dec. 1943. So I guess you could call it an early-mid war ship.
kcdzim,
Love your idea of the Bf110 for an alternate tac bomber.
Eh, the Battlecruiser/Battleship nomenclature is a technicality as far as A&A is concerned as they are rather interchangable, and as the Scharnhorst class has both terms applied alternatively. I mean, the HMS Hood was a battlecruiser as well.
The Scharnhorst (1939 to 1943) and the sister ship, the Gneisenau (1938 to 1942), were a thorn in the Brits side for longer than the Bismark, and they were both commissioned prior to outbreak of the war, and unlike the Tirpitz, actually engaged Allied ships. So yeah, early war. Although technically, the Bismark class was more or less early war as well - commissioned in 1940 and as we all know, subsequently lost.