Battlestations: Pacific/Swirl

Swirl is a large archipelago, similar to Dreadnought but relies less on the centre.

Escort
"A lightly defended US convoy is escaping to the north from the battle zone. The US must escort at least one transport ship to safety. The Japanese have to sink all hostile transport ships before they get away."

- Map description

This escort mission revolves around an American convoy seeking refuge in the north. Unlike Dreadnought, players now have three spawn points to choose from - an airfield, a PT boat base, and destroyers for the Americans or Type B subs for the Japanese. These spawn points are located far apart - choosing the wrong spawn point can cost your team the game.

The Allies must protect the convoy, which starts close to the southeast corner. It is escorted by six Fletchers, and is composed of five transports. The American PT boat base is located closest to the convoy, but provides the least amount of firepower - the PTs are mostly effective against Type B submarines.

The Allied center base is an airbase providing access to Corsairs and Helldivers. Corsairs will be the players' biggest asset against torpedo bombers from the west, as well as Gyoraiteis from the other center base. You may need some Elcos for defence against any Type Bs. The farthest Allied base - the one closest to the exit - spawns Clemson-class destroyers. These are generally not needed, as the convoy is already escorted by six Fletchers - which put up more flak than Clemsons. Additionally, they are extremely slow compared to planes, and are generally not any more effective against submarines than Elcos. Clemsons, however, are much more heavily armoured, making them effective campers for the Japanese bases. Simply park your Clemson near an enemy base and shell any enemies that appear out of it. Although you can't outright neutralize the spawn, you can delay enemy attacks long enough for the convoy to escape.

The Japanese have four bases to spawn from - two spawn Gyoraiteis. One is located close to the middle, and the second extremely close to the map's exit. This is the Japanese's final stand. The Allies will need a lot of Corsairs to intercept as many as possible before they unleash their torpedoes. This final spawn is the final decisive showdown on the map, between PT boats and aircraft. Players can try to use Clemson-class destroyers as a shield against torpedoes, but they aren't manoeuvrable enough. Gyoraiteis are perhaps the biggest weapon against the convoy - they're small, carry lots of torpedoes, and are hard for the Fletchers to hit.

Early on, the submarines are the biggest advantage the Japanese have. Their ability to submerge allows them to get close to the transport ships. However, if the convoy makes it close to the north, Japanese players will want to switch to Gyoraiteis in order to deliver more torpedoes quicker.

The biggest threat to the Type Bs, however, are Elco PTs and depth charge Helldivers. Defence against these will come from the airfield on the far west side of the map. It can spawn Kates for torpedo bombing the convoy, or Zeroes for strafing Elcos. Machine guns will not harm the convoy. Type B players will want to rely on Zeroes to get Elcos off their tail while Type Bs actually go for the convoy. A skilled wolfpack of submarines can critically damage or outright sink the convoy before it gets anywhere near the exit.

Siege
"The US has launched a bombing run on a Japanese base and on some Japanese cruisers anchored nearby. The US must sink the enemy ships and neutralize the Japanese base. The Japanese have to protect the anchored ships and the headquarters by destroying all the enemy bombers and their fighter escort."

- Map description

This mission is somewhat similar to BSM's Air Superiority at Luzon. However, both sides have access to a wider variety of units - the Americans have access to SBD Dauntlesses, Warhawks, and Wildcats. The Japanese have only fighters - the Zero and the Gekko.

The Allies' job is to escort bomber wings that will neutralize the Japanese headquarters and sink three Japanese ships - a Kuma-class, a Mogami-class, and a Tone-class. Mogami and Tone put up considerable AA fire, and the island itself is well entrenched with multiple AA batteries. Allied fighters should try to neutralize these batteries not just for a secondary objective, but also to help protect the bomber wings. The bomber wings themselves consist of three SBD Dauntless wings (for a total of nine SBDs) and three B-17s. The Japanese should focus primarily on the Fortresses - they are large and slow, and will take a lot of strength out of the Allies when they are shot down. However, the Dauntlesses are more numerous, more accurate, and carry a single heavy bomb versus the carpet bombers' multitude of smaller ones. This means it doesn't really matter which planes you go for - intercept as many bombers as possible before they get to the base, and reduce the enemy firepower.

The Allies have it considerably easier than the Japanese. A single fighter flying at low altitude can almost single-handedly eliminate the island's AA defences, easily taking out a large amount of the Japanese strength and paving the way for additional bombing runs. This is also one of the few times during which players can participate in what otherwise would be an AI-specific task - bomb the enemy positions. Player-flown SBDs do not have the same gold objective bracket as the AI ones do, so this allows players to attempt to sneak in at low altitude.

Competitive
"You are the captain of a destroyer caught in the thick of battle. Can you stop the unrelenting onslaught against your base? As a US force you have to destroy attacking enemy ships and planes."

- Map description

This is a fairly straightforward map: a ton of Japanese ships and planes are moving to neutralize your team's base, and you have to stop that from happening. However, you only have access to Fletcher and Clemson-class destroyers. Players will fight increasingly difficult enemies, graduating from Minekaze-class destroyers, to Fubukis, all the way up to heavy cruisers. Each, naturally, gives more points than the last upon destruction. Complicating matters somewhat is a significant enemy air presence. At first the enemy is content to send B5N Kates at you, to try and torpedo a single unlucky destroyer, but a skilled captain can dodge the torpedoes. Aside from that, Vals close in as well to try and bomb the base.

Approximately five minutes into the game, however, a single Ohka Carrier will appear in the northwest corner. It will periodically select a target - always a destroyer - and Ohka it, usually sinking it outright. It isn't worth going up there to shoot it down. Aside from Ohkas, Kaiten Carriers also make an appearance. Kaiten Carriers are worth a lot of points - they are perpetually highlighted. This makes Competitive Swirl one of the few maps where there are multiple highlighted units simultaneously. Kaiten Carriers, for unknown reasons, do not actually use their Kaitens. Additionally, Shinyos also appear, generally from the south and west. Their small size and devastating package makes them the bane of many players.

The biggest strength destroyers have - particularly against the heavily armoured Kuma-class light cruiser - are torpedoes. Considering so many ships are in a single place, expect a lot of torpedoes to be flying around. Combined with up to seven other friendly destroyers and even more enemies, this makes for extremely hectic battles.

Island Capture - Small
Map Description: Swirl Small is quite similar to Dreadnought Small. The primary exception is that the focus is on battleships and destroyers for the most part. Similar to Dreadnought, the team that has captured the centre island will be able to spawn battleships.

Unlock Data: Although players can spawn Renown or Kongō-class battleships right from the start, if a player selects the Iowa or Yamato, these true battleships will be available right from the start. The most recommended unlock, therefore, is the Iowa or Yamato-class battleship. Because of the number of battleships on this map, destroyers can also be a worthy investment for their huge torpedo complement.

Balancing Notes: Aside from the minor differences between the Iowa and the Yamato, there are very few differences between playing the Japanese versus playing the Allies.

Click on a Headquarters to see what it can spawn.

Island Capture - Medium
Map Description: Swirl Medium has expanded on Swirl Small, and has several additions. Players have two starting bases - an airfield and a shipyard. The shipyard is extremely close to the centre base, and much of the initial fighting for the middle base will be between ships. Planes may be faster than ships but they take longer to bring into the fight on this map.

Unlock Data: As with Small, players start with Renown or Kongō-class battleships right away. These can be augmented with Yamatos or Iowas right from the beginning if they are selected as an unlock. Therefore, at least one player should select a battleship unlock on this map. Planes are an excellent fallback weapon, especially the devastating TBM Avenger and the Ohka Carrier. Japanese players should also consider the H8K Emily as a strike weapon as well.

Balancing Notes: This map is quite balanced. This map slightly favours the Japanese, however, primarily due to the lack of quality in the PBY Catalina. The Mavis drops twice the number of torpedoes, and the Emily is the same as a Mavis but comes in squads of three. A Japanese player who selects the Emily can easily repel Allied battleship pushes on the Japanese airbase in the event their shipyard falls. The Allies will have to rely on the TBM Avenger to do this, which is twice as expensive as the Emily.

Click on a headquarters to see what it can spawn.

Island Capture - Large
Map Description: Swirl sized Large is quite different from Dreadnought. It has no carriers, instead focusing on ship-to-ship combat. Although the map has airfields, they are very distant and as such are difficult to use. Expect a lot of battleship fights in this map.

Unlock Data: Swirl is extremely focused on battleship duels, so a battleship unlock will rarely go awry on this map. Destroyer unlocks are also a possibility, mainly for their large torpedo complement. The airfields on this map are distant and difficult to use, so TBMs and Ohkas will be primarily used as fallback weapons rather than primary strike planes.

Balancing Notes: This map is quite balanced, but the same notes in Swirl Medium also apply here. The H8K Emily is an extremely powerful anti-battleship flying boat and is far superior to anything the Allies have save TBM Avengers.

Click on a headquarters to see what it can spawn.

Basic Strategy for Swirl Large
I play lots of BSP, since it came out. I am sometimes to be seen on the ranked island capture leader board. I am a fleet admiral since a long time ago, without boosting. The numbers playing multiplayer has dropped from a peak of maybe above 10,000 to probably no more than 1,000 today. There appears to be a slight resurgence in sales and we are seeing a substantial number of new players. This map is highly popular so when I am hosting and trying to get to the top of the ranked large map island capture leader board I offer this to all comers. So that new players can avoid being slaughtered on this map in a very crushing way I do not offer a full strategy course but just a simple starting strategy that will allow you to keep some dignity and respect.

First, new players almost always copy the offline artificial intelligence opponent strategy, which is to spawn a fleet at either HQ2 (for the US) or HQ17 (for the Japs) and send it to the center or to HQ6 (US) or HQ12 (Jap). This is a disaster online against top players and the game will be over before your fleet gets into any action. The next thing new players progress to is the bomber rush (yawn) intending to fly right across the map and blow up enemy starting bases. Against top players the bombers are shot down and meantime all the key bases are occupied.

The basic strategy for a beginner is as follows. First wave is 6 fighter squadrons to the center (guards against bomber rushes and other aerial invasions and crucially denies enemy capture of center base by paratroop drop); 2 paratroop squadrons to HQ6 (US) or HQ12 (Jap) to capture; 1 paratroop plane to nearest cluster of 3 supply bases, especially autoreloader and targeting computer. Whilst you must never let your guard down in the air you then switch to a second wave of battleships from HQ6 (US) or HQ12 (Jap) to fight for the middle base HQ9. This is ONLY a basic beginners strategy to avoid total humiliation. There is nothing guaranteed about it, there are variations and nuances, and also very often it depends upon whether it is 1 versus 1, or 2-4 versus 2-4. Another key factor is player skill with their selected units, some players can take out a base or shipyard with a single squadron of bombers and this can have a strategic impact.

Note that you should always buy the Mustang DLC as this is in common use and the units are very important game changers.

Swirl Large appears to many as a battleship map where BBs slog it out in the middle. Its really an air-sea battle, the distance of the airfields is not so bad as it seems when you consider that planes are 3 times faster than ships at crossing the map, and that the purpose of planes is to break the BB deadlock in the center, primarily by taking down shipyards and protecting the advance of your own BBs from subsequent mass air attacks.

Because it is an air-sea battle there is a big difference between 1 versus 1 and 2-4 versus 2-4. In 1 versus 1 you must choose either an offensive BB unlock (usually Montana or Super Yamato) or an offensive air unlock (usually P51 for US and Okha for Jap). With 2-4 versus 2-4 you can unlock both an offensive BB and an offensive strike plane. You should use your BBs up the middle and your offensive air around the flanks (but NOT all the way to the map edges!).

Remember my warning and disclaimer, this is basic for beginners to allow them to put up a fight.

One more thing. Etiquette. Never QUIT. Either surrender (which can only be done by unanimous team vote) or fight to the end. You keep your xp for ranking up which eventually unlocks jets. The top players, who are already usually ranked up, keep their win for leader boards. If this etiquette is not followed your name becomes known and eventually you are being kicked from games. If you are a sociable player you may eventually get tutored by someone like me, and this will vastly increase your skills and wins. This is NOT like most dumbed down first person shooter multiplayers, and your social skills are important.