Alright, so. A lot of people like the current Conquest mode for the most part. As I see it, there are two reasons: First of all, many players hate Conquest as a whole, mostly because they're far more interested in stompy robuts blowing up stompy robuts rather than actually playing a tactical game. Second of all, the terrain in the area around the main contention area (I6-J7) is varied and interesting, preventing battles from turning out exactly the same over and over.
In the four points, we have our closest match to current Conquest. The H7 and J8 points remain exactly the same, because they provide a lot of the value in contesting that interesting part of the map. Similarly, the blue team starting cap in J5 stays there. The other two points have been moved, though. L7's cap point draws more attention into the lowest parts of the map while still remaining pretty close to the usual conflict zone, and prevents either team from having an easy roll over from their first cap to the second cap.
The fifth cap point, though, has been moved to J10 and designated as Red team's starting cap. This draws the focus of the contest even further off of the H10 hill, and removes the much-argued-over Gamma point 'do we waste a lance' question entirely- which is good, because it typically is a waste. Anyone going after that point in current Conquest is pretty much irrelevant until after most of the match has been decided, no matter what they're driving and what happens over there. There are occasional matches where it matters, but usually it just has no impact beyond who it's pulling away from the main contention areas.
With that shift, each team has its advantages and disadvantages.
Blue team can reach two of the middle points faster and with better cover than red team, but will likely have to pick one of the two 7-line points to put most of their forces on, lest they lose half their forces to bombardment/assault from J8. Blue team can also set up defensively around cap points more easily, assuming they're willing to risk sitting still. An adventurous North spawn light team can even run through the H or G line to try and back-cap red team's starting point.
Red team has a very easy time taking their first cap point, but things get a little messy from there- while they have better access to I9's excellent sniping position, the J8 cap point is out in the open. They'll have to decide if they want to advance through cover on H7 or J5, pull a hard left and stomp all over L7, or split up from there and try to draw blue team off of a cap point. Red team can get an early resource lead from placement, especially if their South lance can advance on L7 uncontested or quickly, but has a more difficult time retaining what they've already got.
In the five points, we have a different take on how to use the H9-I10 hill. Contests of resource will devolve around that part of the map, but they'll do so differently from how they would in current Assault or Skirmish mode.
Blue team starts out all clustered around their initial point in H5. This gives them freedom to act under cover, and they can easily pick up J6 with their fastest 'mechs right off the bat. Similarly, with Red team up in G11, it's easy to take F9 early on.
After that, things get interesting, though. Red team gets several interesting options- sending the main force to F9 can leave the light 'mechs to curve around J10 and attempt to sneak J6 and possibly even H5 out from under blue team. Alternatively, the light lance could go for F9 while the heavier 'mechs move up to H10, from which point the entire force can gather up and sweep down on H8 for the central point, sit and bombard the central point, or the light 'mechs can cap H8 while the heavier machines provide overwatch.
Blue team has to decide how much value they place on taking the central H8 point. If red team is focused there, it's easy for the lights to either sweep around the south from J6 and backcap, or run uphill and try to come around behind F9. If the whole team is moving fast enough, though, they can take up points near F7 and make it hard for the red team to do anything serious about the central cap point.
This utilizes more of the map than the current Conquest mode, and further puts the flow of the battle even more to the overall strategy of either team- defensive or offensive, end-runs or unified motion, et cetera, et cetera.
In the six points, we get a bit less specific. There are no spawn points placed, because the intent is for the entire team to spawn as close as (reasonably) possible to their starting cap point. Alternately, spawning one lance on the starting cap and one each two full grid squares in either direction from the starting cap would work.
The main point here is the spread of central cap points, which use the majority of the map and provide interesting advantages and disadvantages to both sides.
The J10 cap point is very easy for the blue team to take, but difficult to keep- red team has easier access to the hill, and can take a high-ground advantage to strike down at anyone still on the cap when they arrive. There's a high risk of leg damage for red team members trying to take it, though.
The H5 cap point is relatively easy to reach for either side, though red has a distance advantage, but its position is very easy for both sides to fire upon. Red team has less cover on their approach, making it riskier if they don't take the point immediately, and the blue team takes longer to get there but can more easily stop reds from capping.
The I8 point is the most interesting, though. The small hill immediately North of it places it in a difficult position. Red team is excellently placed to reach the point first, since blue team has no straight line to reach it- even jump capable 'mechs have difficulty with the slope in that square. Blue team, though, can easily open fire on it even from early in the match, because it's right at the top of that slope. This makes it the major point of contention for the map- I would expect a lot of uphill/downhill fighting over that point most matches, providing neither side manages to take both H5 and J10 at the same time.
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smokefield, on 14 January 2016 - 10:13 PM, said:
