Best 3v3/4v4 Map?

Jump back to quoted post15 Oct 2017, 17:31 PMRosbone

There are three types of play style in COH2:
1. Playing against the all knowing cheating AI. You want a lot of choke points so the cheaters cant sneak around behind you. People tend to use bridges a lot in comp stomp maps. Bots get confused by cutoff points.
2. Low Skill players. Similar to 1, you want choke points and strong places to put MGs and mortars. Many low skill players want to make a line of defense and mortar away at each other until tanks and artillery hit the field. These players dont care about cutoffs.
3. High skill players. These players hate choke points and strongholds that can house an MG and stop any attacks. These players prefer more open maps with more sight blocker objects that allow people to move freely and flank easily. These people play automatch only so they will never see your map. Cutoff placement is crucial.

Jump back to quoted post15 Oct 2017, 17:31 PMRosbone

This poll will tell you which maps are liked/hated the most.
Kick Out 4v4 Maps

Jump back to quoted post15 Oct 2017, 17:31 PMRosbone

There are three types of play style in COH2:
1. Playing against the all knowing cheating AI. You want a lot of choke points so the cheaters cant sneak around behind you. People tend to use bridges a lot in comp stomp maps. Bots get confused by cutoff points.
2. Low Skill players. Similar to 1, you want choke points and strong places to put MGs and mortars. Many low skill players want to make a line of defense and mortar away at each other until tanks and artillery hit the field. These players dont care about cutoffs.
3. High skill players. These players hate choke points and strongholds that can house an MG and stop any attacks. These players prefer more open maps with more sight blocker objects that allow people to move freely and flank easily. These people play automatch only so they will never see your map. Cutoff placement is crucial.

Personally, Redball has the best of all three play styles. The placement of fuel and VPs on the left and right sides pulls all initial fights to those points. There are a few sight blockers around those points so you can try to get around your opponent (Hay, trees, etc). If you are getting overwhelmed you can move to the middle and try to fortify that area. Which is nice because you get both munition points in the mid. Which is important for teching and late game arty. If you can push hard enough in mid you can get behind and flank your opponent as well. Almost the entire game happens very close to the middle of the map and usually ends with a massive arty tank battle in the mid to get the last VP. There are two domination buildings but they only cover the VPs, not important points like cutoffs or fuel. Redball also leaves nice open areas away from midline to allow massive armies to place units, tanks, etc. Some high level players hate this map because it can stall out late game and you end up having a TYPE 2 battle. MGs, ATs, and Artillery. But to me this map forces you to use every unit type you have available to you. You cant just blob OP infantry and win.

Jump back to quoted post16 Oct 2017, 11:07 AMAntemurale

I do believe I made a mistake when I did not clarify that my definition of "best" implies "well-balanced" and "competitive".



I would say that thread is much more "which 4v4 map do you dislike" than "which 4v4 map is well designed". I do, however, have a small request: could you get me a picture of the tactical map of your map (6-8) Arnhem?



Well said, thank you for your input on map design.

If I understood your point correctly, you would say that a well-designed, competitive map has:
- several "lanes" of combat separated by sight blockers or sheer space
- well-designed cut-offs
- few buildings
- open areas to flank

Jump back to quoted post16 Oct 2017, 14:58 PMRosbone

REDBALL EXPRESS ENGAGEMENT AREA
Here is Redball as an example:

The RED area is the main engagement area. YELLOW is open area where armies will build up mid/late game. Notice how the yellow areas are mostly open (small fences will be crushed by light vehicles by mid game). The GREEN arrows indicate cover objects. The BLUE arrows are sight blockers (Hay Stack, Scrub Bush, Tall Fence). The RED area is also encircled by fences providing cover for infantry as well.

EARLY RUSH
1. In an initial engagement you can rush the house using the fences, wall, and small hay for cover.
2. You can hide your inf behind the haystack or scrub bush to move them into the best distance from your opponent. Or use the sight blocker to try and get behind your opponent (flank).
3. You can just line up MGs around the perimeter fences and then start mortar barrages from hell.

All of the basic play styles will work well here. The RED area perimeter really could use a few more sight blockers and also be more balanced from top to bottom. Notice there are NO large sight blockers on the southern perimeter.

MID GAME SIGHT BLOCKERS / COVER
All of the small fences are easily destroyed by light vehicles. Many of the haystacks may also get destroyed by mid game. This is a problem. Since mid game and on, the map will favor long range units. Try to design your cover or sight blockers to last until a certain time of the game. Use fences if they should be destroyed early, use walls if you want the cover to last for a while, etc. Use Scrub bushes if you want your sight blockers to last until late game etc.

LATE GAME
Most of the objects in the large YELLOW areas will be crushed by late game. This will give your tanks, infantry, AT guns, forward HQ areas a place to exist and function smoothly without blocking each other. There is nothing worse than trying to retreat a tank into a giant mess of garbage and losing the tank.

Just behind the yellow areas should be more large sight blocker areas in case you need to retreat, you can move a small distance and hide behind the sight blocker as you move away.

ENGAGEMENT SUMMARY
This is just an example of what is good about Redball. It is not perfect. And if all maps looked like Redball it would be very boring.