Battlestations: Pacific/Midway Islands

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

Escort
This is a rather straightforward map. Both sides have access to their cruisers (Northamptons, Yorks, Clevelands, and De Ruyters for the Allies; Mogamis, Takaos, Aganos, and Kumas for the Japanese). The Allies must sink two battleships while the Japanese must keep at least one afloat until it reaches the specified point on the map. There are two battleships Japanese must escort are a Fusō-class and a Kongō-class.

At first glance, the Japanese have a huge advantage in terms of firepower with the battleships. However, the battleships are quite slow and the new damage model lets cruisers cause considerable damage to them. This map still favours the Japanese, but a US victory is still entirely possible, especially at the end.

The Allies spawn to the southwest of the Japanese fleet, and continue to do so throughout the mission. The goal for the US at this point is to simply sink one of the two Japanese battleships and at least damage the second. If they can do this before their spawn is unlocked, then victory is possible. The Japanese must simply sink all the US players before they can cause considerable damage to the Japanese battleships.

The Allied players should rely on their knowledge of the AI and the damage model to be victorious. Firstly, destruction of the ship's magazine will really hurt a battleship. Once it's destroyed, however, it takes a while for it to regenerate. They should therefore focus firepower on the fuel section and set it alight. The AI does not set its repairs effectively, so fire damage will be crucial to sink the battleships.

The Japanese players should make use of their torpedoes and close within torpedo range to sink the Allied cruisers quickly. There is very little tactics for the Japanese; simply sink the enemy quickly.

Once the Japanese battleships get close to the island, the Allied spawn suddenly changes: they lose the spawn to the southwest and instead spawn directly in the Midway atoll, close to the Japanese goal. This new spawn can catch the Japanese players off-guard and can throw a huge wrench in the Japanese plans. Therefore, the Japanese should be sure to position several of their players in front of their battleships.

Island Capture - Small
Midway has an emphasis on troop transports and landings, and as such submarines play a role in eliminating these before they can deploy Daihatsus or Higgins Boats. The two carriers remain ever-vulnerable to submarine attacks, so it can pay to upgrade to an anti-submarine warfare unit like the ASW Fletcher.

Click on a Headquarters to see which units it can spawn

HQ 3 (Allied)
🇨🇴

CV(1) - Yorktown-class
Allied planes 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴
 * F4F Wildcat
 * SBD Dauntless
 * TBF Avenger
 * P-51 Mustang
 * P-80 Shooting Star
 * TBM Avenger

CV(2) - Sōryū-class
Japanese planes 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴
 * A6M Zero
 * D3A Val
 * B6N Jill
 * J7W Shinden
 * J9Y Kikka

Island Capture - Medium
Medium sized Midway uses the rarely-used De Ruyter-class light cruiser for the Allies. There are no LSTs in this map, so players will want to to rely on patrol boats to reach the supply bases behind their starting positions and try to secure an early lead.

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

HQ 5 (Allied)
🇨🇴

CV(1) - Sōryū-class
Japanese planes 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴
 * A6M Zero
 * D3A Val
 * B6N Jill
 * J9Y Kikka
 * J7W Shinden

CV(2) - Sōryū-class
Japanese planes 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴
 * A6M Zero
 * D3A Val
 * B6N Jill
 * J9Y Kikka
 * J7W Shinden

🇨🇴

CV(3) - Yorktown-class
Allied planes 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴
 * F4F Wildcat
 * SBD Dauntless
 * TBF Avenger
 * P-80 Shooting Star
 * P-51 Mustang
 * TBM Avenger

CV(4) - Yorktown-class
Allied planes 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴
 * F4F Wildcat
 * SBD Dauntless
 * TBF Avenger
 * P-80 Shooting Star
 * P-51 Mustang
 * TBM Avenger

Island Capture - Large
Large Midway is a lot like Jaws Medium - a key island lies in the corner of the map, and both sides must race to get it. Unlike Jaws, however, the player with control of this island does not gain units that will cause the whole playing field to tilt; rather, it is a position that simply offers another spawn. This leaves the other two bases open to a counterattack. With so many units focusing on the northeastern island, expect a few submarines or bombers to sneak in and strike from the southeast.

Click on a Headquarters to see what it can spawn.

HQ 9 (Allied)
🇨🇴

CV(1) - Sōryū-class
Japanese planes 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴
 * A6M Zero
 * D3A Val
 * B6N Jill
 * J7W Shinden
 * J9Y Kikka

CV(2) - Sōryū-class
Japanese planes 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴
 * A6M Zero
 * D3A Val
 * B6N Jill
 * J7W Shinden
 * J9Y Kikka

CV(3) - Yorktown-class
Allied planes 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴
 * F4F Wildcat
 * SBD Dauntless
 * TBF Avenger
 * P-80 Shooting Star
 * P-51 Mustang
 * TBM Avenger

CV(4) - Yorktown-class
Allied planes 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴
 * F4F Wildcat
 * SBD Dauntless
 * TBF Avenger
 * P-80 Shooting Star
 * P-51 Mustang
 * TBM Avenger