[Edit]
Saiun (4th Recon Squad)
No.273 彩雲(偵四)
| |
 Carrier-based Reconnaissance AircraftEffects:
 +2  +2  +10Prevents T Cross Disadvantage Combat Radius: 7 (Deployment Cost:
 9)Scrap value:
 2 11 (Unbuildable) | |
| Refittable Class | |
| Coastal Defense Ship | Destroyer |
| Light Cruiser | Torpedo Cruiser |
| Heavy Cruiser | Training Cruiser |
| Aviation Cruiser | Fast Battleship |
| Battleship | Aviation Battleship |
| Light Carrier | Standard Aircraft Carrier |
| Armored Carrier | Seaplane Tender |
| Submarine | Aircraft Carrying Submarine |
| Submarine Tender | Fleet Oiler |
| Repair Ship | Amphibious Assault Ship |
Introduction
「我ニ追イツク敵機無シ」。敵戦闘機の追随を許さない高速性を誇る俊足の高性能艦上偵察機「彩雲」。
「彩雲」は悪化した戦況の中、敵情偵察に海上へと飛び立ちました。同機を装備した偵察第四飛行隊は、捷一号作戦正面のレイテ方面偵察、またその後は紫電改集中装備部隊「三四三空」の眼として活躍しました
"No enemy fighter can catch us." The Saiun was a high-performance carrier-based reconnaissance plane - the high speed of its brilliant design ensured no enemy fighter could keep pace with it. The Saiun flew over the sea reconnoitering enemy movements as the war situation turned grim. The 4th Reconnaissance Squadron, equipped with these very planes, scouted out Leyte during Operation Sho I; afterward, they continued to play an important role as eyes for the 343rd Naval Air Group, who mainly flew the Shiden Kai.
Notes
Unbuildable
- December 2017 Ranking Reward for Top 5.
Trivia
A part of the 343rd Naval Air Group, Genda personally believed that the devastating defeat at the Battle of Midway was due to faulty reconnaissance, so he decided to incorporate the new Saiun to his air group. A unique feature to the air group, a squadron solely dedicated to recon was uncommon because most recon was done by dive or torpedo bombers like the IJN and USN were doing before or seaplanes which were much slower and prone to shooting down, so he developed special strategies specifically for the Saiun pilots to shadow air battles, ground and sea movements and scout ahead before the Shidens took flight. Every sortie had to be accompanied by a recon squad to ensure maximum efficiency, so serious effort was put into massively improving radio and wireless communications, ground operators and facilities to process and analyze incoming information thanks in part to Genda's influence and aid from the Naval Air Arsenal. The leader of the 4th Reconnaissance Squadron was Toshio Hashimoto who was previously a skilled torpedo bomber pilot who helped sink USS Yorktown at the Battle of Midway under the command of Joichi Tomonaga.
- The squadron was also known as the Kihei-tai (奇兵隊 Commando corps).
- This version of the Saiun has a considerably shorter range in comparison to East Caroline Air Group or the standard version. This most likely represents the problems the squadron had with low quality components and engine oil; and fuel with low octane numbers that undermined the performance of the engine.