Battlestations: Pacific/Aleutians

The following requires the Carrier Map Battles Pack, from either Games for Windows Live Marketplace (PC) or the Xbox 360 Marketplace (Xbox).

Aleutians is a large island or chain of islands, depending on map size. It is rather bright for a map and units appear to look slightly different on this map. Despite this there are no changes whatsoever.

Escort
"Japanese battleships are carrying out a bombardment of a group of American island bases. The US must destroy the enemy battleships whilst the Japanese players have to protect the battleships and allow them to carry out their objective."

- Map description

This rather unique escort mission is more like a hybrid between an Escort and a Siege mission. It is also a test to see how accurate players are with their torpedoes. The Allies have three shipyards attached to a large island. A large Japanese force, consisting of the battleships Fusō and Yamashiro (both Fusō-class battleships) proceed from one shipyard to the next, neutralizing each in turn. They are escorted by a Japanese Kaga-class carrier, which spawns Vals and Kates to defend the battleships with.

The Americans, meanwhile, have three island bases, with the third being on the opposite side of the peninsula which makes up the map. The final headquarters is guarded vigilantly by the battleships Iowa and South Dakota. They also have a Yorktown-class carrier nearby, which harasses Japanese ships with Dauntlesses and Avengers.

The goal for the map is for the Japanese to destroy all three shipyards, or for the Americans to sink the two battleships.

The Japanese always spawn with the battleships, and have their choice of light cruisers - either the Kuma-class, Agano-class, or Fubuki-class. The Allies, meanwhile, have only one spawn - the shipyard that is being targeted by the Japanese battleships. The first Allied base spawns only Fletcher-class destroyers. The second base will become accessible once the first is destroyed, and spawns Cleveland-class light cruisers in addition to Fletchers. The final base spawns York-classes as well as Clevelands and Fletchers. In the (rather likely) event the Japanese begin attacking the final base, the Allies' twin battleships also join the fray.

The Allies' strategy is rather simple, given the short supply of units at hand. Fletcher guns are useless against pretty much anything the Japanese have, so the goal for the Fletchers will be to simply, at the beginning, unload as many torpedoes as possible at the Japanese battleships and pray a few of them hit. The Japanese, meanwhile, should try to assist the battleships by closing in on the Fletchers and sinking them before they can torpedo the battleships. They can also speed up the destruction of the Fletcher base by shelling it themselves.

When Clevelands are added to the battle, the Allies must make the choice to continue with Fletchers or switch to Clevelands. The Cleveland lacks torpedoes, and it takes a lot of cannonade to put a Fusō-class under. That said the Cleveland sports a lot of guns, and can cause considerable damage to the Japanese Kuma and Agano-classes. The best tactic is usually for Clevelands to draw fire for the Fletchers. If the Allies manage to sink one battleship by their second base, they're in good shape.

The third base adds York-class cruisers. These CAs are the only of their kind to sport torpedoes (for the Allies anyway), but at only six torpedoes per ship (three each port and starboard) these heavy cruisers will have extreme difficulty in sinking the battleships alone. Fletchers, therefore, are still needed to sink the last battleship. If the final Japanese battleship will sink, however, it will be due to the combined firepower of the Iowa and the South Dakota - sink both quickly with torpedoes if you want that final Allied base gone.

Generally the map devolves into a massive every-ship-for-itself melee at this point. If the Japanese manage to sink the Allied battleships, the last shipyard is a no-brainer for them and the battle will be easily won.

Siege
"The Americans' next target for their amphibious attacks is an island with great industrial capacity. The Japanese are able to deploy cruisers while they have the Supply Depot and the Oil Refinery. If the US destroys the Defence Control Center the landings will begin. Allied players have to disable the enemy Headquarters, whilst the Japanese players must thwart this attempt."

- Map description

Competitive
"A Japanese carrier and enemy cargo ships are heading through an area controlled by US planes. Your task is to stop those cargos and their carriers escort."

- Map description