Lienne Forest gameplay fixes

I really like the revised west (town) and middle of this map, but I feel the forest side (especially south side) is so annoying to play in I have to veto the map. I'd like to suggest some improvements:

1. South-east spawn train station retreat
Problem: for the south spawn if they lose the forest, they can't rotate to the middle (station) because retreating from there is extremely dangerous because the retreat paths takes units straight through the forest instead of back through the middle. The north spawn doesn't have this problem (if they attack south of the middle) and can safely retreat past the station.
Solution: I think the patch of forest south-east of the station should be modified so the retreat path is mostly safe. Or create a path infantry can retreat through. The enemy can still try to catch your retreating units at the "intersection" south of the strategic point (just right of the "game paused" text). This is somewhat mirrored in the north too.







2. South-west spawn town retreat
Problem: if there are 2v2 people fighting in the town and you are coming from the south spawn, flanking all the way around the west (to north of the central horizontal road) is extremely dangerous because from there the retreat path takes you straight through the middle road which is all red cover. Even if your enemies don't fully control this zone and your team holds the central garrison, it's very likely that enemy HMGs or infantry can wipe retreating units.
Solution: Not sure on this one, I think there should be a small hole in the wall to the west of the big central garrison, or the wall made slightly shorter (if that's enough). I think hole in the wall is best because it gives the north spawn also a safer retreat path if they push south-west. I think it will also help to move the HQ of base 1 (the most western one of the south spawns) slightly move west.






3. South side river not wide enough
Problem: the river is technically wide enough to fit most medium tanks, but not wide enough to fit larger tanks like the Panther. IMO this is very confusing for players because it looks like they should fit.
Solution: widen river slightly so larger tanks can fit in there too. Seems like there is one small piece that's too narrow for big tanks to go through (see second picture). A Panther can drive up to that point, but if you click past it it will reverse and go around.




4. Loose trees in forest make vehicle pathing horrible, and tanks get stuck on corners everywhere
Problem: this is mostly a south side problem, but north side is pretty bad too. Basically light vehicles can't manouvre at all because of all the single trees and they get stuck on every one of them. Also there are some very tight corridors that should be widened so tanks don't get stuck on the edges while trying to drive through these gaps.

I get that the discouragement of light vehicles in the forest might be the map's flavour, but with these pathing issues using light vehicles from the south spawn is next to impossible (rather than only being discouraged) because if they have to retreat they are as good as dead (because they always get stuck).

Solution: drastically reduce the amount of loose trees. Widen gaps and remove trees/hedges that are in the gaps.

For example, south-west side:



5. Unfair advantage for north because of the red cover river just south of the middle
Problem: if the battle is pretty even, and the defensive lines are pretty evenly split in the middle, the south side is at a huge disadvantage because they have to attack the middle mostly through the red cover river. Same for the north side having to attack the victory point.
Solution: move the river back a bit, so the south side has an equal amount of neutral cover ground to attack over when assaulting the middle. Create a neutral cover crossing north of the victory point.

Great work! We have our top men on the job.

Great to hear! Let me know if you're planning on implementing any of this and need some help testing!