99 replies to this topic

[Kanin Zeta]

Thanks for an excellent map! A map that forces terrain awareness, avoiding sky-lining yourself and keeping your head on a swivel not only for the enemy but for your next choice for COVER...takes me back to my days as a grunt

I can see where it will greatly upset some of the LRM-phobic and meta driver crowd, but IMO this the best map going!

[Wintersdark]

Kanin Zeta, on 19 January 2016 - 11:24 PM, said:

Thanks for an excellent map! A map that forces terrain awareness, avoiding sky-lining yourself and keeping your head on a swivel not only for the enemy but for your next choice for COVER...takes me back to my days as a grunt

I can see where it will greatly upset some of the LRM-phobic and meta driver crowd, but IMO this the best map going!

It's still possible to deal with LRM's on this map.

1: Stay the heck out of the middle flatter area of the map
2: Have scouts, find them before they find you. Light mech dominance on this map is critically important; the map is huge and having spotter control is key.
3: Stay low; don't allow multiple mechs line of sight on you. Be able to break LOS when you need to.
4: Understand ECM distances, and if you have friendly ECM, use it.
5: Don't back up willy nilly. I keep seeing people backing up, and going up hill. You skyline yourself, and you get ripped apart by massed laser fire. It's hilarious when people do that.

In regards to #5 above - I kept seeing people get hit by LRM's, and automatically start backing up and turning, the classic way to dodge them.... but then backing up the other side of the gully, just to be omgrekt by the entire OpFor.

I have no pity for the LRM phobic. They're decidedly strong on this map, but then they're very weak on several others, so it seems fair enough. ECM, Radar Derp, simply mounting AMS.

There are lots of tools people can use if they wish. If they feel AMS isn't worth the tonnage, then they shouldn't cry when they get lurmed to death.

[ChapeL]

Yes, lovely map at least after only one go at it.

[Wintersdark]

ChapeL, on 19 January 2016 - 11:50 PM, said:

Yes, lovely map at least after only one go at it.

Plays very differently from other maps. There's an innate tendency to try to NASCAR it, but it's waaay too big for that. Get spread out and you can get taken apart peicemeal. The middle of the map is a near deathtrap, too - the sides all have great cover, but the middle is deceptive. There's rolling sand dunes, but with very shallow sides. You can control LOS still, but it provides no cover when pushed... or lurmed.

The sides, though. Multiple paths, lots of opportunity to move around without giving away your position. Really exciting for faster brawlers.

Scouts are immensely valuable. Finding them before they find you is a huge advantage, and of course having spotters for lurms on PH is a goldmine. Battles tend to spread out, too, so having some mechs able to move around rapidly is necessary.

Definitely plays differently than all the other maps, and I'm deeply, deeply happy about that.

[AssaultPig]

I'm gonna withhold judgment until I get to play it a few more times (and get to see conquest), but it seems like a pretty bad map

1) it's far too big for what it is, which leads to a lot of aimless walking. I had a game earlier where neither team found the other for ~8 minutes.

2) it's too featureless, which really hurts short range mechs. There's really no way to create short range fights other than to camp out behind a hill or one of the few buildings.

it seems like a hillhumper's paradise though

[Tertius]

I wish there would be more maps as bifg as this. It adds the need for teamplay and tactics.

[FREDtheROLF]

What I really like about it is the are those 6 start point.

I did not figured out jet if the teams always start on the opposite site of the map or if teams can start on the spawns right next to each other.

As the map is so flat the drop ships kind of take away the surprise.

FtR

[Captian Insano]

Kanin Zeta, on 19 January 2016 - 11:24 PM, said:

Thanks for an excellent map! A map that forces terrain awareness, avoiding sky-lining yourself and keeping your head on a swivel not only for the enemy but for your next choice for COVER...takes me back to my days as a grunt

I can see where it will greatly upset some of the LRM-phobic and meta driver crowd, but IMO this the best map going!

I couldn't agree more!! Great map love the change in play!!

[Kanin Zeta]

AssaultPig, on 20 January 2016 - 01:11 AM, said:

I'm gonna withhold judgment until I get to play it a few more times (and get to see conquest), but it seems like a pretty bad map

1) it's far too big for what it is, which leads to a lot of aimless walking. I had a game earlier where neither team found the other for ~8 minutes.

2) it's too featureless, which really hurts short range mechs. There's really no way to create short range fights other than to camp out behind a hill or one of the few buildings.

it seems like a hillhumper's paradise though

1: An excellent feature that I hope is intentional. The large map forces scouting and coordination and adds an element of realism that anyone who's ever walked a "Movement to Contact" patrol will find quite familiar! Light mechs/Alpha lance can really shine on this map.

2: Another excellent feature that may be bad for ALPHA/SPLAT builds but again, that's realistic. I'd been hoping they'd find a way to encourage more balanced designs. If you simply MUST run a SPLAT build, you just have to gut it out until CQB rolls in. Don't forget your Lurmbrella Better yet, drop a c-ersl or two and invest in an ams. The guys to your flanks will much appreciate it

3: There will always be the dedicated Hill Humpers in PUGs. Maybe PGI can come up with a way to discourage a drop with 8 snipers and 4 frustrated fighters. I've seen it time and again where the fighters get mowed en masse in a scene that Custer would appreciate and then I spectate as the snipers get swarmed one by one.

Edited by Kanin Zeta, 20 January 2016 - 09:46 AM.

[SteelBruiser]

I love this map. I've played it several times already and every time my first order of business is to tell the biggest and brightest colored mech to get his tin tail off the rise! For some reason they immediately run to the top of the slope to get a view. Makes me wish I was at the other end to make that easy shot! As noted in an earlier comment, this is a lights paradise. Fairly flat with plenty of ravines and gullies to scurry through. Teams need to learn to rely on these guys to use their speed to find the enemy and get everyone where they need to be. I've even been enjoying running my KGC through due to it's generally low profile. Looking forward to crawling through this terrain again soon.

[Barkem Squirrel]

I played this a few times this morning and one thing that stands out.

SCOUTING IS KEY!

But not all. Good light or medium pilots are a necessity. Then covering the movement of the assaults and heavies. This map forces you into roles. Scouts, long range skirmishers, counter scout and force concealment. Almost forgot the most important role, BAIT. In the army they taught: move, shoot, communicate. After we did some testing for computers in the vehicles, we changed that to communicate, move, then shoot.

I was in a match this morning with 4 brawling atlases and the other team never saw them until that direwolf turned the corner and died (some thing like 64 SRM's, 4 AC 20's and 16 ML's). What happened, I played LRM bait while preventing them from going left on us. The hellbringer walked in the middle of the Steiner scout lance while me and one other mech worked in a team as LRM bait and the only visible team members other than the lights. We had all the information we wanted, drew their lights to the 'bait' and killed them, but had two lights keeping line of sight on the other team. I was the only LRM boat on our team, but they had 4 LRM boats. We won 12-2

The big thing was how much we were talking to each other. Then keeping everyone with in supporting fire range of a few other mechs.

Edited by Barkem Squirrel, 20 January 2016 - 10:57 AM.

[Sable Dove]

It's not the worst map, but it's kinda bland. Not helped by being yet another snow level. Given that it takes 2-3 minutes to even meet the enemy, than another couple of minutes for the assaults to catch up, then the two teams have to spent 10 minutes peeki'n'shooting. It kinda feels like they just said "How can we make more people buy premium time without being too obvious about it?" Giant map. Snow to reuse assets. Matches take 2-5 minutes longer than on smaller maps.

If the game didn't have obscene amounts of grinding already, I'd be okay with it (though I do wish they had chosen something other than snow), but given how much longer matches take on this map, it feels like its purpose is simply to make the grind even longer.

[AssaultPig]

it doesn't incentivize 'balanced' designs though (whatever those are), it just favors long-range builds to a ridiculous degree. There's hardly any way to close distance to the enemy that doesn't involve being exposed to a huge amount of fire.

I mean, if you brought LLs, PPCs or gauss it's wonderful. If you brought anything else... blah

[Jeep]

Not a fan of it. Want to make it interesting though? Drop three companies instead of two.

[Jettrik Ryflix]

Like others have said - great map!

The team that scouts and communicates comes out on top.

Having to search for the enemy is exciting... it gives the game a more "realistic" feel, and gives the light 'mechs their proper role.


As for all those people complaining about LRMs - managing your Line-of-Sight with enemy 'mechs is key. Don't stand out in the open, try to stay low whenever possible. Situational awareness goes a long way.

[GI Journalist]

Best map so far, largely due to its size and requirement to use the sparse terrain.

Great work!

[Ragnahawk]

Worst map I have ever played in my life. No cover, can't play brawler, that map is ********. Let me just get my 900 m range cicada X-5 to hit you at the extremest range and kill all 12.

[GrayEternity]

Things I've learned after 3 plays on this map.

1.This map is a PUG player's worst nightmare.
2.Without communication you will lose.
3.If you have a light with a NARC on your team you just about own 80% of the map.(If not more.)

Honestly I'm not digging this map, I hope that changes as people learn how to play it. But it looks like there'll end up being one or two areas that all (or most of) the matches are fought.

[General Solo]

New map to learn challenge, Sweet!

[Kurbeks]

boring, will probably afk quit evertime i drop in this map