History of the Pacific Islands islands to create Polynesia. During pre-European-contact times there was frequent canoe voyaging between the islands as Polynesian navigation skills are recognised to have allowed deliberate journeys on double-hull sailing canoes or outrigger canoes. Eight of the nine islands of Tuvalu were inhabited; thus the name, Tuvalu, means "eight standing together" in Tuvaluan. The pattern of settlement that is believed to have occurred is that the Polynesians spread out from the Samoan Islands into the Tuvaluan atolls, with Tuvalu providing a stepping stone to migration into the Polynesian Outlier communities in Melanesia and Micronesia. In 1568 Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña
Victory in the Pacific board divides the Pacific Ocean into 13 sea zones. Each turn players commit their ship, air, and amphibious units to particular zones, and then (if there are opposing forces in the same area) a battle is fought in each zone, until one player retreats or is eliminated. Points of control (POC) are earned based on how many zones a player controls in that turn. Certain areas are worth more to one or both players than others. For example, the Japanese (IJN) player receives 3 POC for controlling Indonesia or the Japanese Islands, but only 1 for controlling the North Pacific.