How Force Z might have changed ABDA command

What difference might Prince of Wales and Repulse have made to ABDA command?

Their survival could have made ABDA a capital-ship-centered force and presented Japanese cruisers with a much more dangerous surface opponent.

The discussion treats the two ships as a command and deterrence problem as much as a gunnery problem. Admiral Tom Phillips would have been the senior officer with the largest ships, making an ABDA surface force organized around Prince of Wales and Repulse plausible. Their presence could also have accelerated efforts to send a carrier and join later Eastern Fleet reinforcements. Most immediately, Japanese cruisers expecting a cruiser fight would instead have faced 14-inch and 15-inch capital-ship firepower for which they were not designed.