tightrope's Pacific Invitational 3: A Meta Review

The third edition of tightrope's Pacific Invitational was the first 1v1 tournament after the big balance patch from the 21st of June. Five out of the eight participating players competed successfully in the ESL Go4Coh2 cups, securing 18 cup wins and the same number second places between them.

The small number of games doesn't warrant a full blown statistical analysis of the results. Instead, this post will summarize the player choices in terms of faction and command picks as well as build orders (BOs).

The replays for the games are available in the replay section and most games have been casted by tightrope.

It should be noted that the USF mortar was banned from the tournament.

Brackets:


On averages each game took about 27 minutes. The longest matches with a little less than 40 minutes were Talisman vs. Paul.a.D. (G2) and Luvnest vs. VonIvan (G1).

Map and faction choices

Almost all players stuck to one allied and one axis faction during the tournament, with Shadowwada, Luvnest, VonIvan and Apathy Prime only playing Soviets (SOV) and Ostheer (OH). Talisman picked exclusively OKW and Soviets, Waggles OKW and UKF and Luciano OKW in what seems to be the only game he actually played. Paul.a.D was the only player to use USF. On the axis side he chose OH once and OKW twice.

The tables below show matchups and results in terms of wins for the axis faction:


The win count is given only for completeness as the small number of games does not provide meaningful statistics.

Only three maps have been used: Faymonville Approach (six games), Kholodny Ferma (summer) (five games) and Crossing in the Woods (four games).

Ostheer

Ostheer was the favorite faction in terms of number of players preferring it over OKW. However, in number of total games it was used seven times, one game less than OKW.

The commander choices are similar to those during the ESL series, only that the Osttruppen Doctrine seems to have fallen out of favor:


The typical BO for OH is MG and three grenadier squads. However, the exact force composition before teching up to T2 varied slightly in all games.

• Shadowwada (Mob. Def.) wins vs. Talisman (SOV): MG, Gren, Gren, Gren, T2, 222 (2x), Mortar...
  
• Paul (Mob. Def.) wins vs. Waggles (UKF): Sniper, Gren, Gren, Sniper (replacement), Gren, T2, PGs...
  
• Luvnest (Mech. Ass.) wins vs. VonIvan (SOV): MG, Gren, Gren, Mortar, MG, Mortar, T2...
  
• Luvnest (Mob. Def.) wins vs. Paul (USF): MG, Gren, Gren, Gren, T2, 222...
  
• Luvnest (Light.) wins vs. Apathy Prime (SOV): MG, Gren, Sniper, Gren, Gren, T2, 222...
  
• Apathy Prime (Mob. Def.) loses vs. Luvnest (SOV): Gren, Gren, Sniper, MG, Gren, T2
  

The most unusual approach in high level games was taken by VonIvan as he tried to pull off a no-tech Mechanized Assault game against Luvnest's SOV. He was able to apply a lot of early game pressure and even managed to kill a KV-8 with massed StuG-Es. However, he eventually lost mostly due to a lack of AT.

The tournament shows that call-in vehicles are far more popular than stock ones for OH. The following table shows the total number of units fielded (not counting SdKfz. 250 call-ins) and - in brackets - the number of games in which the unit was used:


In the four games with the Mobile Defense Doctrine, T3 was skipped completely. In at least two of those, T4 was build but the only vehicle built from T4 was the Panther fielded by Shadowwada a minute before the game closed.

Soviets

Like in the ESL Go4Coh2 series, Soviets were the most popular allied faction being used in ten games. The commander choices were similar to those during the ESL tournaments, although Guard Motor Coordinator was more popular now:


In about half of the games the starting BO was Conscripts (x3), followed by Combat Engineers (CEs) and a tech building. In six games T2 was the initial tech of choice, while T1 was picked in the other four.

In his two SOV games Talisman built a late T1 after fielding the second CE squad. In the first of those against Shadowwada's OH, he proceeded to build a M3A1, a sniper and penals. In the other case it served merely to fulfill the prerequisite to build T3. The less usual build orders were:

• VonIvan (GMC) lost vs. Luvnest (OH): CE, T2, MG, MG, Cons, Cons, Guards, 120mm Mortar, T3...
  
• VonIvan (Part.) wins vs. Luciano (OKW): CE, T2, MG, MG, Con, MG, T3, T-70 (x5!)...
  
• Luvnest (Ind.) wins vs. Paul (OKW): Con, T2, MG, Con, Con, MG, Zis-3, T3, T-70...
  
• Luvnest (Arm. Ass.) wins vs. Apathy Prime (OH): T1, Sniper, Con, Con, Con, T3, T-70...
  

The most popular armor for SOV was the T-70, followed by the T34-85 and SU-76. Most other vehicles saw action as well, including the T34-76, IS-2, KV-8, M3A1 and the Katyusha. Since almost no heavier axis armor was fielded, there was apparently no need to build a SU-85.

OKW

OKW was used in eight games. Scavenge is still the most popular commander, in particular since on of the main selling point for Luftwaffe Ground Forces, the MG34, is now available non-doctrinally:


Talisman's build order was Volksgrenadier (VG), Kübelwagen, VG, VG, occasionally with a Raketenwerfer mixed in. Paul built the Kübel first, followed by three to four VG squads. Luciano and Waggles skipped the Kübel and instead opened with VGs only. Players varied their tech choices 50:50 between Battlegroup HQ and Mechanized Regiment HQ.

Beyond Kübels, Ostwinds were the most popular OKW vehicles (although mostly due to Paul spamming them desperately in the finals). Luchs' were used in four games. Other stock vehicles were used sparingly, although all but the IR-halftrack and the King Tiger appeared at least once. A LeiG was fielded in only one game.

T4 was not build often and vehicles from it were used in only two games: Talisman built two Panzer IV's in his first game against Shadowwada. The other game featured the least conventional OKW strategy throughout the tournament: Paul.a.D used the Firestorm Doctrine against Talisman's SOV, fielding two Hetzers, and later a JP/4 and a Panther but ultimately lost.

USF

Paul.a.D was the only player to use USF, and he did so in each of his four games as allies. His commander choices and BOs were very similar in each of these games. While he was able to win versus Talisman's (x2) and Waggle's OKW, he lost against Luvnest's OH in the finals.

His commander loadout was Tactical Support Company, Armor Company and Mechanized Company, but he always locked in Mechanized more or less instantly.

It seems like his general game plan was:


plus an ambulance at around the Lieutenant.

However, depending on the situation he adapted the order past the ambulance: In his second match vs. Talisman he teched for the Captain and brought out a Stewart before getting a Major, Sherman and Scott. In the finals against Luvnest, he brought out two AA-halftracks first which he later redrew before ultimately getting a Major, Shermans, three(!) .50 cals and a Jackson.

In effect, all stock vehicles with the exception of the M20 were used at one point.

UKF

The only player to use UKF was Waggles in the first round against Paul.a.D's OH on Crossing. The commander loadout was Royal Engineers, Special Weapons and Commandos, eventually picking the latter.

His earlier BO was Vickers, IS, Sappers x2 into AEC. While being able to kill two OH snipers fairly quickly, the pressure by Paul was so big that the game was lost for Waggles just before he could field a Comet, which would have been his first piece of armor after the AEC.