Spring 2014 Event



The Spring 2014 event started on April 23th and will last until May 9th 1100 JST

Official Twitter
Information from the official Twitter:
 * 1) Event Name "Recon planes, launching!"
 * 2) *High LOS will be the key to increase the chances of reaching the boss nodes.
 * 3) *To achieve a high value, use of seaplanes, recon aircraft and ships with high LOS is strongly recommended
 * 4) *A special animation plays showing your planes attempting to find the node when approaching. If there is a positive reaction from your fleet's leader, you will then proceed to fight the boss.
 * 5) Event lasts until May 9th maintenance.
 * 6) *Boss health in this event does not regenerate so stay calm and don't rush. Take it easy .
 * 7) Requires at least 75% sortie win ratio to participate.
 * 8) *At least 5 free ship slots for new girls to join your fleet before sortie.
 * 9) *At least 20 free equipment slots before sortie.
 * 10) 4 new ships added: DD Amatsukaze, DD Tanikaze, repair ship Akashi, and CL Sakawa.
 * 11) *Amatsukaze is an E-3 Reward (Port Darwin Area).
 * 12) *Tanikaze can be obtained from drops (E2, E3, E4 boss nodes are confirmed to drop her).
 * 13) *Akashi is an E-2 Reward (Battle of Sunda Strait).  As flagship she can repair ships without sending them to dock (down to moderate damage). A new item, Ship Repair Facility, allows her to repair more ships at the same time. The times where she is allowed to repair are limited, however, she will get more functionality in the future.
 * 14) *Sakawa is an E-5 reward.
 * 15) Tone, Chikuma and Bismarck received a second remodel, with Tone-class being reclassified as CAVs. This can be unlocked by using a Remodel Blueprint item, obtainable by trading 4 Extra Operation and Event maps medals.
 * 16) New BGM added.
 * 17) New Recon Plane functionality:
 * 18) *Increased effectiveness in the aerial combat phase from successful scouting with carrier-based scouts and seaplane scouts
 * 19) **Effect depends on whether air superiority or air supremacy is obtained
 * 20) *Special bonus in shelling phase from seaplane scouts
 * 21) **Achieving Air Superiority/Air Supremacy allows ships with Recon Planes to do Double Attacks and Cut-Ins during Day Battle
 * 22) Reward for clearing event maps:
 * 23) *E-1: Medal, Reppuu Kai, Contruction Fairy, Damecon
 * 24) *E-2: Medal, Akashi
 * 25) *E-3: Medal x2, Amatsukaze
 * 26) *E-4: Medal x1, New High-pressure, High-temperature Steam Boiler, Ship Repair Facility, Damecon
 * 27) *E-5: Medal x3, Sakawa

E-1 - Southwest of Samewani Sea - Battle of Samewani Sea

 * 100 exp
 * Node B contains 1 flagship and 1 elite Ka-class submarines
 * Rewards Furniture Fairy, Emergency Repair, Reppu Kai, and a Medal upon clear
 * Killing the boss 6 times will empty its HP gauge. Not being able to kill it by the end of boss battle will still do some damage to the gauge.
 * Boss is CA Ri-Class flagship Kai

Branching rules

 * A to B :Fleet with at least two standard carrier (Taihou included. Light carrier won't count). Fleet not meeting any rules goes random.
 * A to C, and E to G :Fleet with at least two heavy cruiser (not aviation) and two ships carrying total of 4 drums (E.g. first ship bring 3 drums, another ship bring 1 drum).
 * CLT-CLT-CAV-BB-CV-CV seems to be the best fleet composition so far.
 * Recon aircraft are required to get to the boss node. Bomber seaplanes such as the Zuiun and Seiran are not considered recon planes.

Tips

 * Use expedition 117 if you think you need more damage during sortie.
 * Easy grinding setup : 2CA, 1CAV, 1DD, 2CLT (or 1CLT+1BB/CVL). Must bring total 3 drums on 2 ships (e.g. 2 on DD, 1 on CAV) and a seaplane with AA to gain air superiority. There will be no LOS requirement for A C E G H route and only two battle on your way to boss - best of all, you won't encounter any enemy carrier at all and gain some steel in node G for your repairs.

Drops
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===E-2 - Southwest of Zunda Strait - Across The Zunda Strait===
 * Rewards a Medal and Construction Ship Akashi upon clear
 * 150 exp
 * Map gauge has 6 hp
 * Node H is night battle
 * Boss is BB Ru-Class Flagship Kai

Branching rules

 * 2 BB, 1 CLT, 1 CAV, 2 CV with BB and CAV equiped with Type 0 is really likely to reach boss node
 * 2 BB, 2 CV, 2 BBv with 300+ LOS and Type 0 will 85% getting to boss node (so far).

Tips

 * Expedition 117 can be use for extra damage during sortie.
 * If pre-boss night battle is too hard, bring in a submarine with Emergency Repair + Turbine/Boiler, you must reach night battle before your SS sustains heavy damage (red hp). Do not set SS as flagship. Or you could use a searchlight.
 * Using line abreast in the night battle node may help to lower damage from enemy attacks. (even though formation in night battle does not show up on screen)
 * For the night battle node, Echelon + Searchlight can be highly effective for higher level fleets.

Drops
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E-3 - Port Wine Area - Assault! Destroy Port Wine Operation

 * Rewards Amatsukaze and two Medals upon clear
 * 200 exp
 * Killing the boss 7 times will empty its HP gauge. Not being able to kill it by the end of boss battle will still do some damage to the gauge.
 * Node-A contains 2 Ka-class Submarines
 * Node-B contains 3 Ka-class Submarines
 * Boss is Harbour Princess

Branching rules

 * Using 4 BB + 2 CV with 312+ LOS seems to give a 100% chance to reach the Boss node
 * From C to E:  2+ CVs (not CVL).  Other compositions are random between F and E.
 * Using all fast ships(?), and/or CVL will sometimes result in route C-F-I. There are no air battles here, but I node is a night battle.
 * A certain amount of LOS is required to reach the boss node L from preboss nodes H or I.

Tips

 * Ships without high health & armor are susceptable to taking high damage from the enemy submarines.
 * Avoiding the night battle node by bringing two CVs is recommended.
 * Using Sanshiki gives you a damage bonus against the Boss, especially at night.
 * Use expedition 118 if you think you need more damage in the boss node.

Drops
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E-4 - Central Pacific Sea - Sweep Against Subs in the Frontline

 * Rewards New High-pressure, High-temperature Steam Boiler, Repair Goddess, Ship Repair Facility and one Medal upon clear
 * Node C has no battle.
 * Imuya, Goya, and Hachi drop on all nodes of this map.
 * Boss is Submarine So-Class Elite

Branching rules

 * From C to D: Fleet with 5 DD or 4DD + 1CL
 * From C to E: Any other composition
 * E to D or G is random

Tips

 * Use double line for pre-boss node, and line abreast for the rest.
 * If you're feeling lazy, equip your DDs with damage control. The boss torpedoes are rather innacurate so it will rarely get used. However, it does sacrifice some space that could be used for more ASW equipment. Thus, this is only recommended for DDs with a set of Type 3 sonar/depth charge.
 * A general guideline would be to put the CL/DD with the lowest evasion/armor in the flagship slot. For example, if your CL is Yuubari she will usually become the flagship, but evasion also depends on levels.
 * Recommended compositions:
 * 4 DD 1 CL and 1 BB. Equip BB with three main guns and a good surface radar. The BB's role is to damage enemy ships to reduce damage taken from them, and also giving an extra shelling phase at the boss. Using a BBV instead for anti-sub is unnecessary if your DDs and CLs are adequately equipped. AA equips such as 10cm HA are not recommended as the effect is slight and is outweighed by the utility of extra ASW or a damecon.
 * 4 DD 1 CL and 1 CV. Equip your CV with anti-air fighters and the rest of your fleet with ASW. The CV's role is to prevent enemy air superiority, and thus reduce damage taken in the shelling phase, mainly through the prevention of enemy double attacks.
 * 4 DD 1 CL and 1 BBV loaded with seaplane bombers and/or Ka-type Observation Autogyro. This composition gives maximum ASW for killing the boss, but lower survival rate at the preboss node compared to the above compositions.
 * 2 DD, 2 CLT 1 BB(V), 1 CV. This is the safest but also most expensive composition. You will not always reach the boss, and will also have to face 4 battles instead of 3.

Drops
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E-5 - North Pacific Sea - Capture Peacock Island Operation

 * Rewards Sakawa and three Medals upon clear.
 * Boss is Isolated Island Demon

Branching rules

 * Starting point to A : Fleet contain 3 or more submarines.
 * B → C : Fleet with fast ship only.
 * B → D : Fleet with slow ship(s).
 * From F or G to J (boss node) : With a certain LOS, otherwise, send you to dead end (H or I)
 * From F to H or G to I : Low Fleet LoS or fleet contains submarine.

Tips

 * Use at least one slow BB to avoid the fuel maelstrom at node C.
 * 4 BB and 2 CV. Fill your Carriers with Reppu (or better), put your best fighter in your carrier's largest slot, with this you can win air superiority in the boss node.
 * 3+ Fast BB sends you to south preboss node.
 * 3+ Slow BB (excluding BBV) sends you to south preboss node.
 * Other compositions seem to be random between north and south.
 * 3 BB and 3 CV. Equip at least 6 Reppu and 1 Reppu Kai.
 * In contrast to the previous composition, you have room to equip bombers that allow your carriers to attack.
 * This composition gets an arguably easier preboss node (north) guaranteed as well.
 * 5 Reppu, 1 Reppu Kai, and a Type 62 Zero Fighter-bomber is also sufficient for air superiority at the boss (assuming the Reppu Kai is in Kaga's large slot), and provides slightly more firepower.
 * Equipment for battleships : Two 46cm, recon plane, Type 3 Shell (you will need type 3 to deal with the boss). Alternatively, you can add type 91 ammo or Type 32 radar instead of recon planes if you're not going for air superiority.
 * Choose line ahead in boss node to deliver highest firepower.
 * Both support expeditions are recommended to increase damage output at all nodes.
 * 2 DD 2 CVL is a cost-efficient fleet.
 * 2 DD 2 CV/CVL 2 BB gives maximum firepower.
 * Remember, support expeditions only require the ammo to be resupplied after each sortie.  Half of each ships remaining fuel is used for each expedition, giving 4-5 runs before needing to refuel.
 * Some (real life) luck is required to sink the boss Isolated Island Demon, since her node also contains a Battleship Princess that is hard to sink.

Drops
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