Gnilias
Creator: ruinedshadows || First Published: 08/18/2016 || Players: 2 || Size: 20x16
Categories: New, Standard
Rating: 7.00 in 1 rating
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Comments:
ruinedshadows (08/18/2016 11:30pm | Edited: 08/19/2016 12:15am):
My first attempt at some nice fronts.

edit: realizing now that Sturm probably should always be banned to prevent recon rushing
the cap of the third base
Xmo5 (08/19/2016 08:40am):
Very nice work. This is where you get the advanced tips.

In order to effectively counter FTA here, you need to make sure each base is of equal
value. Right now, one base is responsible for capturing a few cities and defending one
front, while the other is responsible for capturing most of the cities, the neutral base,
neutral airport, and neutral tower, along with defending 2/3 of the front width and the
HQ. The simple way to fix this problem is to make the neutral base on the East side of the
map into a starting base, and make the other side neutral instead. This would mean one
starting base is responsible for the neutral base while the other is responsible for the
tower and airport, the front/cities are split nearly down the middle and both are
defending the HQ.

The thing you lose by doing this, however, is the tower dynamic you have right now. It
will ultimately belong to the side with the nearby neutral base, but in the capture phase,
it's much closer to the enemy base, which means you'll see a shift of control in that area
as the game progresses, which is a very desirable thing. You want a battle that's
interesting and always in motion naturally, and this is a perfect way to do it. As an
aside, this same close proximity also makes your current neutral base and the nearby enemy
base too close together- an infantry can interrupt capture. That should really be fixed as
well, regardless of which one of those two is neutral.

Lastly, funding is a little bit on the high end. It's okay where it is, but I wouldn't add
any more. If you want, you're probably able to safely remove up to about 4 or 5 cities per
side before your funding hits the low end of what you'd want for a map like this. For
reference, the lower the funding, the more infantry you'll see, and the higher the
funding, the more vehicles/less meatshields you'll see. Taken to the extremes you'll get
infantry spam stalemates or disorganized, scattered vehicles that can't adequately defend
themselves mindlessly hacking away at each other, respectively. The funding ranges I gave
you are the typical "acceptable" bookends for a 3 base + airport map, but you'll get a
feel for what I mean through playtests, etc.
ruinedshadows (08/20/2016 01:53am | Edited: 09/03/2016 04:15pm):
I really appreciate your comment, Xmo5! Thanks for the review. I will work on and
implement the changes after my two test games are finished. My first map I didn't put
enough cities so on this one I overcorrected and went overboard it seems.

The tower reversal dynamic is something I really want to explore in a game.

I think I am going to switch the bases but I'll play around with it and figure out
something that works.

Thanks again for the tips!
ruinedshadows (09/03/2016 04:26pm):
Made some changes, moved the comm tower one closer, switched the starting base and the
city on the road near the hq. This means capping the neutral base is a turn closer. Also
removed a couple cities. (shifted mountains and replaced with road from city to comm tower)
Xmo5 (09/12/2016 08:38am):
Looks good. The biggest problem you'll have now is STA. As it stands, the starting base
that captures the neutral base is responsible for the tower, airport, neutral base, and
more cities than the other starting base. That means that the FTA counter is worth more
than half of a turn, and there is STA. Similarly, if you put the counter on the other
base, it would be worth less than half a turn, and there would be FTA.
ruinedshadows (06/15/2017 11:59pm):
I updated this map to reduce the FTA/STA because of the uneven fronts. I moved the airport. Changed some city
locations and made the HQ a little more vulnerable so it's harder to barricade it in.



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