War at Sea
Allied Nations
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- France
- Greece
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Poland
- Soviet Union
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Allies stat table
Axis Nations
Neutral Nations/Installations
Sets
- War At Sea
- Task Force
- Flank Speed
- New Starter
- Condition Zebra
- Set V (Fleet Command)
- Surface action
- First Strike (Forumini Expansion Deck A)
- Infamy (Forumini Expansion Deck B)
- Battle Line (Forumini Expansion Deck C)
- All Hands on Deck (Forumini D)
- Action Stations (Forumini E)
- Dead Reckoning (Forumini F)
Unit Card:
Set - Rarity - Number
War at Sea - Common - 52/64
History:
nrnstraswa
The D3A Type 99 (Allied codename:Val) was the principal dive-bomber for the Imperial Japanese navy. It was armed with twin 7.7 mm machine guns (mounted in the prop hub) and one 7.7 mm for the rear gunner. The D3A was somewhat antiquated, as it still had fixed landing gear and lacked an internal bomb bay. However, with a skilled pilot on the controls, the Val was a serious and dangerous dive bomber.
The Type 99 saw service all over the Pacific, from the skies over Pearl Harbor, the Battle of the Coral Sea, Midway, the Guadalcanal campaign, all the way until the end of the war.
The Val though, was gradually replaced by the D4YI Judy. Even then, the Vals remained in service, mostly as kamikaze units. It was many of this type of aircraft that attacked the radar picket destroyer(DDR) USS Laffey late in WWII.
Reviews:
Anon.:
The Val is a solid dive-bomber that may still have a place in some builds even when Judys are available.
At 10 points, the Val is on the cheap side for a competent carrier-based attack plane. Her 5 armor and Press the Attack SA make her effective at getting through enemy air defenses. But she does suffer by having a 7 vital armor and a light bomb load.
The upshot of this is that Vals have comparatively strong defensive skills and weak offensive skills, and consequently are often treated as a low-priority target by the defender. But they can still be paired with Shokaku and an Emily to deliver an 11 die bomb attack.
If you can afford Judys, buy them—but to save points, you might consider mixing Vals into a Japanese air build along with the Jills, Judys and Emilys
Aran55633
One of the cheapest carrier-borne dive bombers in the game, indeed the cheapest of Japan's options and cheaper than any of the USN's options. Though its bomb attack isn't likely to scare many USN battleships (at least, not without some serious upgrades), neither will the Judy's. Leave the big battleships to your torpedo bombers, subs and surface fleet, then use your dive bombers for all else that floats above the waves…
Plastic Figure Notes:
A very nice sculpt, although the planes are missing their three-bladed props. Like the Stuka, the landing gear sticks out from the underside of the plane.
