Map Summary
This map is one of 'equal opportunity'. The map has
been designed specifically so that whatever position
you start in you have every advantage and disadvantage
as your opponent, regardless of what team you are.
This map has a lot of resources available to you, so
you can get a massive army up very quickly. Both sides
of the map have a huge gem patch with a garrisonable
hut in the middle, and a big ore field. On this map
there are a few key points into winning more easily.
The key points on this map are as follows:
- The immediate oil derricks (not the ones
across the broken bridges)
- The three land access routes
- The later oil derricks (the ones across the
broken bridges)
There are ways in which you can improve your chance of
taking control of this map and taking control of the
derricks before your opponent does. One of these ways
is too expand near the gem field that is located
closest to you, to gain cash very quickly. If you do
not follow this basic map tactic then your opponent
may have a much better chance of winning if they
process gems while you process normal ore.
The second and most important factor of this map is
the oil derricks that will and usually do make the
difference between victory and defeat. You must take
control of these accordingly to deny your opposition
valuable resources that could be used to defeat you.
Now at the start of the game there is a better chance
of gaining hold of at least one of the oil derricks
relating to your starting position. Now from whichever
position you start in it is advisable to build up to
the gem patch first to gain a better economy faster
and also by doing this you will reduce the amount of
time it will take an engineer to get to the nearest
oil derrick. From starting at the top position after
building down you should always attempt to gain
control of the derrick which is on the middle right
side of the map, and from starting at the bottom
position you should always attempt to gain control of
the derrick which is on the middle left side of the
map. Saying this you should try to gain control of
both 'immediate' oil derricks, but go for the closest
one first to enhance your chances of gaining at least
one. Your best bet is too send one dog to each derrick
ASAP to fight off other scouts and after which then
send engineers to gain control of them. Remember to
place a sentry gun/pillbox next to the oil derrick for
the time being to kill any enemy engineers.
Because of the huge resources on this map it is very
possible to keep churning out tanks constantly. Other
advantages because of the large economy mean you will
be easily able to get a naval base and naval units
built up if you need too. Because this map has no
cliffs or ridges there are not many advantages that
you can use in terms of the landscape. The only real
land sections of the map you can use are the three
sections in the middle where your units are forced
though in a reasonable small space, although fairly
big enough to take six tanks at a time. Instead of
leaving your own tanks idle a base you should
'garrison' these positions so it is difficult for your
enemy to advance to your position. When you have
'garrisoned' these positions with your tanks, this is
an ideal time to get aerial units, i.e. harriers/
rocketeers and even kirovs. If you can do this it is
also probably the best time also to get a few
dreadnoughts/aircraft carriers to harass your opponent
forcing him to building naval units and AA defenses
allowing you to build a bigger land assault against
your enemies base.
As stated above gaining control of the derricks is
almost vital to winning on this map. Once you have
secured these first initial derricks you can acquire a
further two oil derricks. These ones are located
across the broken bridges so you will need two
engineers to each section, (one to repair the bridge
and one to capture the oil derrick. Through personal
experience of playing this map I have also devised a
devious strategy that will catch your enemy off guard.
After acquiring one of the derricks across either of
the broken bridges you could build your radar and
battle lab at this position, and also your naval yard
in the surrounding water. Because your opponent will
most likely not have a naval yard by this time and
won't have scouted here by land, as the bridge was
broken, you can have a nice surprise ready for him in
the form of a naval assault. Build just one
dreadnought ASAP, as it should be all you will need.
Because you are placing your radar and battle lab
across here the enemy will think you are not 'teching
up', so probably will not be ready for a naval attack.
You can constantly produce tanks on this map whilst
getting four miners at the same time by building and
selling refineries. Four miners are all you should
need. Also when you do have a nice amount of cash
getting at least one more war factory is normally a
must against higher ranked opponents so you can
produce tanks a lot faster, and further war factories
will help produce tanks faster. Another good tactic on
this map, especially as the soviets is the engineer
rush as the other player will probably be more
concerned with getting tanks and economy up and
probably wont worry too much about their base. With
all the cash you gain on this map very quickly and
considering other players do use the engineer rush on
this map frequently it is idiotic not to spend a mere
$400 on walls for your construction yard which will
save your life from an early engineer attack. With
this attack then easily countered with your tanks you
would have gained on your enemy in the fact you should
have more units than him, and would have wasted his
own resources on a failed tactic.
Another way too secure at least two of the oil
derricks is too send a couple of dogs to the closest
'immediate' oil derrick to secure it then a further
three engineers so you can take control of the one
across the broken bridge also. By doing this you have
a better chance of gaining control of at least two of
the derricks so even if your opponent does the same
you will be even in this respect. Doing this though
does allow your enemy a better chance to secure the
other side, which means you will need to be more
aware of naval attacks and so fourth. Even if going
for the two oil derricks closest too you, it is a good
idea to send a couple of dogs to the other 'immediate'
oil derrick to attempt to deny the enemy from
capturing it, and later you might consider also
capturing this oil derrick and the on across the
broken bridge also to gain a better economy over your
opponent. If playing against the Allies then remember
to have at least one flak cannon/patriot missile
guarding your oil derricks, as they will most likely
use rocketeers to destroy them or take down ground
defenses such as pillbox's/sentry gun's, in order to
capture it. With your own units hopefully
'garrisoning' the three land access routes you can use
these units also to protect your oil derricks from a
land attack which your defense structures wont be able
to handle.
Games on this map rarely come down to this, but there
are also a further two small islands located in the
top right corner and the bottom left corner with a
fairly large amount of ore on, which if you are
desperate for cash and you shouldn't be if you have
some oil derricks, you can send your miners across on
amphibious transport to acquire this ore, or better still
spend $3000 on a new mcv and start a refining base on
the island closest to you so you will, (providing your
enemy hasn't done the same), you will eventually out produce your
opponent. Failing this you can still use your miners
as cover for your tanks, especially when playing as
the soviets as war miners are armed and can help
eliminate decoy dogs and men. Also if it looks like an
even battle in the terms you both have similar amounts
of units, and at the same time you own a larger number
of oil derricks than your opponent, then the best
thing to do is to just wait until you do out build him
in terms of tanks, and attack when you are confident
you have a larger army, so your chances of winning are
much greater.
I would recommend both Allied and Soviet teams on this
map but would have to favour this as a Soviet map
because the ore fields are relatively close to your
own base meaning the chrono miners ability to chrono
back reducing mining time by half to that of the
soviets is not as useful. This is because bearing in
mind war miners have double the capacity to that of
the chrono miner, meaning a Soviet player will gain a
bigger economy in less time.
Allied Tactics
The Allies are at an early disadvantage on this map,
as they will take longer to gain a stable enough
economy to produce tanks constantly. Early on it is
more of a need to gain as many oil derricks as soon as
you can so you will be able to build a big enough
defense team to stop an early attack, especially from
a Soviet player. After you start to gain enough money
to constantly produce, your best bet is to produce a
large number of grizzly tanks as your first goal to
both defend and attack with. After you have done this
the 'teching up', to mirage and prism tanks will help
to defeat your enemy. Getting a naval base and
establishing air superiority will help you to win
especially against soviets, and having more AA, is
Useful against other allied teams on this map as other
allied players may want to go for an early rocketeer
attack of aircraft carrier attack. With the advanced
mirage and prism tanks you will have an advantage over
the soviet teams when 'garrisoning' the three land
access points, as you can have both prisms to weaken
enemies from long range whilst your well placed
mirage's can pick off a majority of the enemy forces
being forced through the smaller access route. Another
thing, because you will be using mirage's any decoy
units such as dog's wont last very long if they are
sent first, and if they send the tanks in first then the decoy
units, their own tanks wont last very long. Back your
mirages up with grizzlies and ifv's which should
include some repair ifv's, rocket ifv's and tanya
ifv's to kill enemy dogs/GI's/conscripts, but more
importantly soviet desolators, which can tear though
enormous amounts of mirage/prism tanks and ifv's. This
strategy also works against other allied players but
you may want to increase the number of rocket ifv's,
and prism tanks. Also I would recommend a mix of GI's
and dogs at these garrison points to add extra cover
for your own tanks. Also with all the cash you are bringing in
why not but one of the super weapons? The chronosphere could be used to transport prism tanks to knock out vital structures in your enemies' base, or every seven minutes you could dump a pack of enemy tanks into the water or ships on the land. With the weather control device you
force your opponent to attack, and if he doesn't you can wreak havoc in his base.
Soviet Tactics
Because this is a small map in size, the Soviets
therefore have the early advantage especially when
playing against an Allied team. Despite the economical
advantage you should always try to go for as many oil
derricks as you can to get an even better economical
advantage over your opponent. If playing another
soviet team then it will generally become a tank
building contest so try to include some terror drones
as defense against enemy rhinos. Getting a naval yard
with a dreadnought and/or a Kirov is also helpful as
it will force your enemy to get AA defense allowing to
more time to build up the basic rhino tanks and
apocalypse to overrun your enemy. Try to garrison the
three land access routes with rhinos, apocalypses and
terror drones with a mix of dogs/conscripts for an
effective defense against both allied and soviet
teams. If playing an allied team make sure you have a
few flak tracks/troopers because they are more likely
to get large numbers of rocketeers and harriers.
Fortunately your apocalypse tanks can serve as AA
defense also. V3's are useful in taking out enemy oil
derricks but not a lot else on this map. Another
useful tactic on this map as stated above is the
engineer rush in a flak track. Also if mcv re-deploy
has been turned on then send a terror drone in the
flak track also so if they un-deploy their mcv you can
'drone it' preventing it's deployment almost certainly
guaranteeing you the win. If playing soviets it is a
very good idea to attempt to send terror drones in
your opponent's war miners so they will either be
destroyed, or delayed as your opponent hurriedly gets
a service depot built to repair his miners. Either
that or he will cut his own losses and destroy the
miner(s)himself. Whichever the opponent chooses it
buys you valuable time to over run your enemy with
more tanks. You would want to do this terror drone
tactic early on and as he would most likely be mining
the gems he may have garrisoned the hut meaning your
drones will be easily destroyed, even with only one
conscript garrisoning it. So I recommend you put
two terror drones in a flak track with a conscript/dog
for distraction so your drones may infiltrate your
enemies miners. With all the money you are earning, why not spare
$2500 or even $5000 for one of the super weapons? The nuclear
silo will force your opponent to attack, and if he doesn't just
chuck it on his base for mass destruction. The better one though is
the iron curtain as it costs less and every five minutes
you can weaken your opponent's forces before you finish him off.
Nations
Libya: (Dont recommend)
Although being a small map therefore a 'demo truck rush' could be
effective, it is not the case. You could take the gamble of getting your radar up quickly and a demo truck with only two war miners on the
field bringing in a low economy. But if you fail you're opponent could and should by now have gotten three or four tanks easily crushing you.
I would recommend that Libya is best for prolonged games.
Iraq: (Best Soviet Choice)
As usual Iraq is the best soviet team there is. Although not very many
landscape tactical advantages, it is best to be Iraq when facing allied teams because getting 'teched up' on this map is very easy whilst producing basic tank units, therefore the desolator as usual could mean the difference between victory and defeat when you have to fight the dreaded mirage and prism tanks.
Cuba: (Recommend)
Although it is not best for a rush with the Cuban terrorists, later on they can prove useful especially if combined with flak tracks and the iron curtain. They could also be used to tip the scales in your favour by removing oil derricks. The terrorists don't have many other uses than this on this map, but can be used effectively in the hands of a skilled soviet player.
Russia: (Recommend)
Russia is a well-rounded soviet team that has the good old tesla tank. Excellent for frying enemy infantry and tanks, it makes Russia the second best choice next to Iraq. I would recommend that 'newbies', use Russia instead of Iraq because of the skill needed to use desolators.
Korea: (Recommended)
This map is mainly about land advantage so what better way to break up a few ground units than to decimate them with some black eagles, and make them pump AA. Korea is an excellent choice for this map but probably won't be as useful in prolonged battles making them only the second best allied choice for this map.
France: (Recommend)
Again, because of the huge land battles that could take place on this map a few well-placed grand cannons can tear apart incoming tank columns whilst your own units can sit in comfort until they are needed to engage the remaining damaged enemy units. Placing these next to the oil derricks gives you a nice field of harassment weakening enemy units and forcing them through one of the three access points which you should have 'garrisoned', therefore it will be easier to destroy the enemy forces.
USA: (Best Allied Choice)
The para drops are very useful for sneak attacks on enemy positions, but more importantly they can be used to fortify key points on the map, i.e. the land access routes. Considering you get $1600 worth of free GI's every 3-4 minutes it is a very good idea to choice this team if playing as the allies.
Great Britain: (Recommend)
I do recommend this team because of one reason only. If major land battles are to ensue, you can be sure they mix plenty of dogs in as cover. Now you could use these snipers in ifv's to kill the decoys allowing your tanks to concentrate on eliminating the enemy armour division. What is better is snipers always target biological units and not enemy armour, unless you force them too do so.
Germany: (Recommend)
Now if a big land battle is going to take place a dozen or so tank destroyers can be very deadly and especially if vs a soviet player you should come out on top every time if the tank forces are the same in number. Just mix with mirage and prism at the least because they have a slow rate of fire and are prone to terror drones.
Sample Build Orders
Soviets: power plant » barracks » refinery » war factory (1 miner) » refinery (sell) » refinery (sell) » war factory » power pant » radar » naval yard » battle lab
Allies: power plant » barracks » refinery » war factory (1 miner) » refinery (sell) » refinery (sell) air force command » battle lab
Thank you for reading my map tactic on Official Tournament Map B. I hope this helps you improve your skills on this map.
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