If you guys noticed, WoWS RU Devblog have a new post regarding IJN CV line, and it's rather interesting:
http://blog.worldofwarships.ru/tech-tree-japanese-carriers/
So far:
- Most IJN Carriers will be faster than their USN counterparts.
- They tend to have larger hangar capacity at the cost of plane performance.
- IJN Carriers get dual-purpose guns earlier than USN ones, although their overall AA is worse.
In-depth:
-
Tier4 Houshou: 25 knots speed, far better than Langley.
-
Tier5 Shouhou/Zuihou: Relatively fragile, but good speed and "extensive" airwing of
*cough* 30 aircrafts
*cough* (I wonder is that enough...) However, the one to fight her tier5 is Bogue (wiki says 24 planes hangar), not Indy anymore
-
Tier6 Ryuujou: She gets 6 (in pairs, aka 3x2) of those 127mm DP guns available on most IJN BB and CA (which isn't bad at all, compare to the Indy at tier 6 that time who has none DP guns). Unfortunately her hangar only carry 35 planes, which is not very good and only slightly better than Zuihou. HOWEVER, I suspect she'll be the first to have the legendary A6M, which (stated by the devs) is the best mid-tier fighter ingame, beating USN fighters.
-
Tier7 Hiryuu: She gets 12x 127mm DP guns (not sure single or double mounts), speed of 34.5 knots (which is quite good) and an "extensive" air group of 50 aircrafts... If we compare it to the same tier Ranger (stock), Hiryuu actually has slightly less aircrafts...
-
Tier8 Shoukaku/Zuikaku: She's hinted to get impressive airwings and a good bomber(not sure which, I suspect D4Y but doubting B7A Ryuusei though). She'll also have 34.5 knots speed.
-
Tier9 Taihou: The first CV to gets armored flight deck (stated to be more reliable while under fire), "very powerful" airgroup with over 70 aircrafts. She also carries the new 100mm DP guns which are considered to be superior to the outdated 127mm DP most IJN ships carry.
-
Tier10 Hakuryuu: Paper ship based on Taihou, with improvements on most parameters. She has good Cruising speed and "very extensive" airgroup, also "remarkably" better AA and artillery of 8x twin 100mm DP guns. She's also hinted to have large number of dogfighters that can tear enemy planes apart, able to quicky achieve air superiority and compete against USS Midway (Yup, it's Midway who will be at tier10 US CV line).