Battlestations: Pacific/Status Quo

Status Quo is an asymmetrical map composed of a few scattered islands. This map contains several seldom-seen units - most notably, the Hawker Hurricane, the Fairey Swordfish, and the TBD Devastator.

Escort
"A US rocket ship force is assaulting a Japanese base to the south. The US must provide air cover to the attacking vessels whilst the Japanese have to destroy the ships before they have a chance to neutralize their base."

- Map description

Escort is a reasonably balanced map. The Allies are sending four Rocket LSMs to take out the specified facilities, while the Japanese have to sink them. The LSMs are escorted by a single Allen M. Sumner-class. This destroyer must face off against a pair of Kuma-class light cruisers to the south near the base. A second front is to the northwest - two Sumners attempt to engage a Takao-class heavy cruiser, which is escorting a pair of troop transports.

As playable units, the Allies use two rarely seen British aircraft - the Hawker Hurricane and the Fairey Swordfish. The Japanese have three - the E13A Jake, the Ki-43 Oscar, and the H6K Mavis. Obviously, the Mavis is the most powerful torpedo bomber on the map, and will be instrumental in sinking the LSMs.

The mission hinges almost entirely on the LSMs - everything else is either supporting or attacking them. The Allies should therefore focus everything they have on them, keeping them protected - particularly against the Mavises. Fortunately, Mavises are large and slow, but they each carry four torpedoes - enough to sink two LSMs. The Allies should also consider deploying Swordfishes to harass the Takao-class - once it sinks the two Sumners attacking it, it advances on the LSMs. The Japanese have a far simpler objective - simply sink all the LSMs. They have considerable range, but are very inaccurate. It takes them a few minutes to completely eliminate all the specified targets on the island, so be sure to cover the Mavis players as they make their runs on the LSMs. Two torpedoes is usually enough to sink one, but Hurricanes are extremely powerful opponents - you may want to drop all four on a single LSM to ensure its demise.

Due to the light escort by the LSMs, nearly all of the necessary anti-aircraft support will come from the Hurricanes. While capable fighters, they tend to spawn rather distantly from the area they must protect, giving the Japanese a slight advantage. Mavis pilots must rely on Oscar players for support for their runs, and the same can be said for the Swordfish players attempting to torpedo the enemy warships.

Interestingly, from the Japanese perspective, the Allied headquarters is capable of spawning kamikaze aircraft.

Siege
"An American amphibious force supported by cruisers and rocket ships is tasked with conquering a heavily defended island. The Japanese will deploy kamikazes to make this more difficult. The US must protect the landing forces from enemy air strikes whilst the Japanese have to defend the island and stop the enemy advancing at all costs."

- Map description

This map is similar to other siege maps in that the focus is primarily on either the landing forces or the shore defences. The Allies should focus primarily on eliminating the enemy defence lines - fortresses take off a lot of Japanese strength. The Japanese muist both protect these and sink the enemy landing ships. The Allies have quite a bit of firepower at their disposal - Lightnings and Hurricanes provide a quick focused-firepower interceptor for catching up to and eliminating kamikazes and a turning expert respectively. The Japanese can deploy suicidal Ki-43 Oscars and Zeroes to defend them.

In a similar manner to Siege Dreadnought, the team eliminating the landing forces can slowly sap away at the health of the attackers, giving them a longer, drawn-out victory. The Allies, however, can choose to play the same game as the Japanese (by simply knocking out their kamikazes), they can also attempt to strafe the enemy fortresses. The fortresses are vulnerable to gunfire, particularly from Lightnings, which can also equip bombs. However the Allies must also attempt to protect the landing lines.

Although the Japanese have access to kamikazes, it's important to base most of your attacks from the A6M Zero. While kamikazes cause considerably more damage, Zeros can also strafe down the LSTs and LSMs. Also, kamikazes sap your own strength as well as your enemy's. It is important, therefore, to base most of your attacks with strafing Zeros, supported by kamikazes, and not the other way around. Be aware that the LSTs are vulnerable only in the magazine and fuel sections, and will show "Ineffective" anywhere else. Once you destroy the magazine, aim for the fuel to finish the LST off.

At the same time the Zeros must dogfight the enemy air support and keep as many fortresses alive as possible. Just a few destroyed can mean defeat, so be sure to aim for any Lightnings or Hurricanes targeting them.

Competitive
"Our pride, the carrier Akagi has to survive in this hostile area. Are you prepared to make the necessary sacrifices? As a Japanese force you have to fend off enemy attacks to ensure the Akagi makes it through the battle zone. You can deploy Kamikazes and Raiden squadrons."

- Map description

This map has a fairly simple objective but it can be difficult to plan out because the enemy's fleet composition changes often. The Akagi has to simply survive in this hostile area, and it has absolutely nowhere else to go. However, it is still being harassed by enemy ships. It has a few escorts, usually a cruiser and a destroyer, so most of the defence falls to the players.

It is important to pick the kamikaze planes whenever possible - they may be dive bombers but they are still extremely manoeuvrable and can easily out-turn the enemy's aircraft since the AI doesn't do a good job of managing airspeed. Then when possible, ram your planes into the enemy so you're able to respawn quickly. This mission, as with all kamikaze missions (like Competitive Dreadnought) is all about timing. What can be immediately sighted is a large fleet to the north as well as an enemy supply base to the northeast. This supply base endlessly spawns F2A Buffalo fighters for you to deal with until it's neutralized. However, the fleet poses the bigger threat to the carrier, so be sure to sink it quickly. It usually is composed of a few destroyers and a Cleveland or Atlanta, but it is possible to get three Clevelands as well. Sink them quickly with kamikaze planes - your carrier's escorts are light and you don't want it sinking at the first wave.

Once the fleet has been sunk turn your attention to the enemy base. Neutralize it with kamikazes as well. Once these threats have been dealt with, fly around and keep an eye out for enemy forces. They almost always come from either the north or the northeast when the message "Incoming!" flashes on screen, so patrol in these directions.

At least three waves have been observed, each one more difficult than the last. The second wave usually consists of several heavy cruisers to the northeast, and two battleships further on. Whether the game gets to this stage is usually a question of the amount of time allotted. Aside from these enemy waves, not a lot of action can be observed. The island directly to the north of the carrier tends to spawn PT boats, and can be neutralized for a few points. The island to the PT boat base's west is heavily guarded with an Iowa-class battleship and multiple escorts, but they don't fight, so leave them alone.

Island Capture - Small
Map Description: This map consists of only a couple islands. The centre island, as always, is the goal for the map. This map is usually avoided due to balancing issues.

Unlock Data: Nearly any shipbourne unlock can work, but players should avoid plane and cruiser unlocks unless they are certain they can obtain the centre base. As stated above, the Bogue-class escort carrier appears as an unlock on this mission. However, it is a glitch and will not appear at all when selected.

Balancing Notes: Whichever team gets HQ2 will almost always win the game, since they can spawn light cruisers as well as aircraft from it. Additionally, because HQ 2's shipyard points toward the Allied base, the Allies will have difficulties getting their cruisers into the fight, since the cruisers will have to turn themselves around first to get to the fight. This map is usually avoided as a result.

Click on a Headquarters to see which units it can spawn.

Island Capture - Medium
Map Description: The two home bases have access to planes only, as well as special strike aircraft (HVAR Corsairs and Kamikazes respectively), so much of the initial fighting will be aerial. Once a team manages to capture one of the middle headquarters, however, the fight takes to the seas. Sail onto victory and the enemy's home base, but be prepared to brave rockets and kamikaze strikes the whole way.

Unlock Data: Both sides start with planes only, so players should select fighter unlocks for an easy early game advantage. The initial fighting will be aerial, and if you manage to destroy the enemy's troop carriers, you can grab all the headquarters on the map. For the mid-game, however, a player with a boat unlock can help planes take over the other bases.

Balancing Notes: The Japanese, again, have an advantage as they have a supply base close to them while the Allies have none. Aside from this, however, either side can win.

Click on a Headquarters to see which units it can spawn.

Island Capture - Large
Map Description: Planes, ships, and subs are all fair game on this map. Players start with boats initially and must capture HQ 10 (Allied) or 1 (Japanese) in order to be able to spawn planes. The bases close to the middle spawn only light units, so players must choose whether to spawn multiple light units quickly or wait a little longer to get cruisers into the fray. Whoever controls the middle gets the ability to create bombers.

Unlock Data: Most unlocks work well on this map, but be wary when selecting the TBM Avenger - the centre base is required to spawn it. Ohka Carriers can spawn from the outlying bases, so Ohkas are a very good selection on this map. Submarines can be quite effective for the fight for the centre, as a well-placed submarine will critically damage heavy cruisers sailing to the front lines. If you're playing as Allies, an Atlanta-class can be a lifesaver due to to Japanese's tendency to go with Ohkas.

Balancing Notes: Perhaps the most notable balancing issue this map has is how the Allies are unable to spawn TBMs from the outlying bases, while the Japanese can spawn Ohkas. This means that the Japanese are stronger than the Allies defensively on this map, as they don't require the middle to be able to fly around and drop highly damaging, long ranged attacks.

Click on a Headquarters to see which units it can spawn.