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COMMON HEADER INFORMATION TO ALL MAP & MODE REVIEWS
Maps will either be listed with Smurfy links when you can mouse over Lance and Turret locations to see what is where at match start. I will provide a map image or two of my own modified from Smurfy’s with marking showing in White outlined areas where typical combat is at least in my ELO bracket and possible recommendations for new Turret locations for reasons described, these will be in SPOILER sections. If two maps are similar (ex: Frozen City & Frozen City Night) I will combine them into one review noting any differences between them.
This is the second in the series on a map some have previously said they don‘t like (search for Alpine Peaks to find topics).
I would like to note one common thing about Turrets on all Maps.
With a LRM Turret having 2LRM10s (unknown if Artemis is present), I think of these as a Medium LRM Mech.
With a Laser Turret having 2 Medium Lasers, these are slightly less firepower then even a Locust.
Given the ‘Mech equivalent strength of the two Turret types, I believe the LRM one may be one launcher size too big and should be dropped to twin LRM5s.
ALPINE PEAKS
Both maps have the same Lances names opposite each other (Alpha vs. Alpha, etc.) except in Conquest. Given that any pre-mades will usually be in Alpha, that means if there is one pre-made per side, they start against each other.
Now let’s get you the Visitor’s Guide. Note, some of the locations are called by Community Names I know of, others I don’t and some I just plain made up.
In this map:
Spoiler
The White area is the Hill.
The Green is Antenna Hill or Mountain.
The Purple area is K-Town where all the good threads go.
The Orange area, I forget the community name, something like the Valley.
The Pink area is the Trench.
The Tan area I am calling Gamma Base due to the buildings and Gamma being here in Conquest.
The Brown area I am calling Sigma Base due to the buildings and Sigma being here in Conquest.
SKIRMISH MODE
Spoiler
Gameplay - Most combat here happens in the White outlined area. Just head to the hill and fight. Personally, it has gotten a bit stale but no one seems to want to go anywhere else. All lances start opposite each other but this does not make much difference as each side groups together before the herds move to the White area.
Skirmish has gotten stale. Attempts to get teams to fight elsewhere besides the Hill and Antenna Hill have not gone well or usually been ignored. Start points favor the North team a bit more, they have more open terrain to get into position while the South team is facing the cliffs of the Hill with few paths up or they can go into the Valley but risk getting shot from height and giving the Hill high ground to the North team.
CONQUEST MODE
Gameplay - Has been somewhat lively and interesting since the changes of the Base locations a while back with fighting happening around all bases except Gamma. The only real problem here is Gamma Base, it is located too far away from the others so there will not be a lot of fighting over it. Whoever gets it early will tend to keep it unless some Light Mech dashes off at high speed to try and take it back.
ASSAULT MODE
Spoiler
Gameplay - Up until a month ago, the White area was also where fighting happened in this mode as well. Then Sigma Base Team decided to force Gamma Base Team to come to Sigma Base. Since then, the Green area is where Assault battles take place and they usually go in favor of Sigma Team. At best Gamma Team could push for a Tie on Time Out or a victory by 1 kill.
There might be backdoor approaches through which a Mech or two could cap a base. Gamma would be easier to access than Sigma due to Turret placement. All the Gamma Turrets are West of G11, even a Light Mech can dodge in avoiding fire and use cover to take out 1 LRM Turret, possibly a ML Turret then cap. Sigma is a bit tougher requiring 1-2 more Turrets taken out. The problem here, unlike other maps with backdoors to bases, is that the route is long. The capper would have to scale the heights of the map edge then run that edge to the backdoor entry point. No one seems interested in trying though.
PERSONAL CHANGES SUGGESTIONS
Geography might need a rework.
Skirmish might play over more of the map if start positions were changed.
Conquest seems fine except for Gamma Base. I would suggest it be moved somewhere closer to the others so all five bases can be fought over, anywhere in the H8/9 vicinity for example.
Assault needs a shakeup, possibly relocate the bases to more open terrain.
