Taiho

Unit Card:

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Set - Rarity - Number

Surface Action-

History:

RB's Opening Salvo
A large, new fleet carrier, Taiho joined the Nihon Kaigun in March of 1944. Unlike preceding classes of Japanese (or American) aircraft carriers, she incorporated an armored flight deck that was designed to withstand bomb hits of up to 1,100 pounds. Her air complement varied significantly throughout her design, but finally settled at 53. However, Taiho carried 65 aircraft easily in the months after her commissioning.

Taiho’s career was not a long one. Vice Admiral Ozawa selected her as his flagship shortly after she arrived at Singapore and began exercising with the First Air Fleet. More than 18 months had passed since the big carrier battles of the summer of 1942, and the Combined Fleet was ready to seek out a decisive battle against the American fleet. The US invasion of Saipan put the Japanese plans in motion, and the Battle of the Philippine Sea resulted on 19 June 1944. Just as Taiho launched her second wave of aircraft of the morning, the submarine USS Albacore struck her with one torpedo. The torpedo damage did not initially seem too severe, but explosive fumes built up in the ship’s armored hangar, until 6 hours later a massive explosion blew out her sides. Taiho began settling, and Ozawa reluctantly abandoned her, shifting his flag to the cruiser Haguro. Over 1600 crewmen and officers went down with Taiho.

Reviews:

RB's Opening Salvo
A good all-around fleet carrier, Taiho combines the ability to embark three squadrons with good durability for a Japanese carrier not named Akagi or Kaga. By the time Taiho made her debut, the irreplaceable cadre of highly trained Japanese naval aviators was long gone; accordingly, she offers significantly less in the way of Expert special abilities than most carriers of her size. However, that means she’s cheaper than other large Japanese carriers. Armored Deck and an excellent AA rating make Taiho a tough target for enemy airstrikes; she’s best used in a carrier duel.

Vergilius Powergaming Evaluation:
A cheap carrier, but with extra durability against dive bombers, while picking up AA8. The lack of expert SAs simply means that you can pair Taiho with other carriers that have more SAs. Shokaku is still the go-to carrier for dive bombing, but Taiho can complement it nicely. Still, even an extra armor/vital won’t mean a lot against a Helldiver, which is what you potentially face with the 44 year date. Powergaming Grade: B

Aran55633
Only Japanese carrier with 8 AA… Rather useful, but other than that, it only has expert bomber. Use it in larger builds alongside another fleet carrier that will provide more boosts to your aircraft, such as Kaga, and an Emily or two. That should provide decent protection and some decent offensive capabilities.

mercerary_moose
This unit reminds me a lot of Shokaku: a tough and cheap Cap 3 carrier without a whole lot of extras. Taiho isn't bad, but Shokaku is better.

Plastic Figure Notes:

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