Zuikaku

War at Sea

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Allied Nations

• Australia
• Canada
• France
• Greece
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Poland
• Soviet Union
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Allies stat table

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Axis Nations

• Finland
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
• Romania
• Siam (Thailand)
• Axis stat table

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Neutral Nations/Installations

• Sweden
• Spain
• Installations
• Neutral stat table

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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)

Unit Card:

Set - Rarity - Number

Task Force - Rare - 60/60

History:

The Zuikaku was the sister ship to the Shokaku. Both ships were present in the carrier force that brought the surprise attack on Peark Harbor.

Zuikaku served in many of the naval battles of the Pacific war: Coral Sea, Santa Cruz, Eastern Solomons, and the Philippine Sea.

However, by the time of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Zuikaku was reduced to the roll of a decoy to lure American carriers away from Leyte. The reason for this was the lack of trained pilots, aircraft, and fuel by that point in the war.

Zuikaku finally met its end by combined American carrier strikes on October 24, 1944.
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Reviews:

swarbs:
A number of factors combine to make Zuikaku an unpopular ship. First, there was certainly disappointment that Zuikaku was the only Japanese carrier to find her way into Set II, and a repaint at that. Most of the discontent centers around the Airfield Strike SA, however. Despite costing two more points than her sister Shokaku, Zuikaku loses one point of Expert Bomber and the flag rating, and gains only Airfield Strike. Airfield Strike, especially since it is a once per game SA that is most often used against the high vital armor of American aircraft, really needs a very strong fighter to yield any real success. The best fighter the Japanese currently have, the George is expensive itself and probably better put to use defending your fleet against enemies in the air. Especially when compared to Shokaku or Soryu, the Zuikaku just seems a few points over-priced.

Crissie's Critiques
Zuikaku, while still a quite capable aircraft carrier takes a back seat to Shokaku and Soryu. She costs two points more than either and trades in abilities to gain Airfield Strike, which is next to useless. Airfield strike allows you to take a chance a destroying a bomber that your opponent did not or could not deploy this round. But due to the high vital armour of many allied planes, vitiating it is very difficult. The fighter would be better off covering your ships , or strafing a destroyer. Again, zuikaku can be a capable carrier but, there are others that are simply more reliable. **CC Rating B)

Plastic Figure Notes:

One of the coolest paint jobs of any WAS unit.