H-Duo
Creator: Scurge || First Published: 04/21/2020 || Players: 2 || Size: 17x21
Categories: B-Rank, Heavy Naval, High Funds
Rating: 0 in 0 ratings
For design map discussion or to get suggestions from other users, visit the AWBW Discord Chat!
Comments:
Scurge (04/21/2020 12:27pm | Edited: 04/21/2020 12:28pm):
My initial vision for this map looked very different to how it's turned out, but I think and hope that it meets the intention; a small(ish) map that nevertheless promotes using transport units like the starting black boats but is still very open to building more powerful naval units as well. Given that that was the main intent perhaps I should remove the airports(?)... Speaking of the starting boats, do you use yours to speed up your capture phase or keep it in place to defend your HQ, given how close to the centre they are?
Voice of Akasha (04/30/2020 01:15pm):
Using shoal paths, port bridges and multiple dropoff spots is a good way to make naval relevant and interesting. You have all
of those, but I see some points that could use adjustments.
a) The main dropoff spots are defensive, which makes it really hard to make plays in the center because formations can be
reinforced really easily. As there are multiple spots that are easily reached, the defender never has to really commit his
troops until after the attacker committed to a front.
b) Offensive plays via transport invasion are hard to come by because there are no immediate threats, so there is little
incentive to use them for anything except shipping units from the backwards bases to the front. The main alternative play is
for a Bboat to serve as a wall in the center, which is again defensive in nature. Combined with point a), this makes transport
play less interesting than it could be.
c) The main attraction of naval combat are Bships, and even those are hard to afford without high funds. Ghosting the ports
takes away the possibility to build them for immediate offensive purposes.

There are multiple ways to address those points, but I suggest to force the players to make more decisions with their
transport reinforcements if you want naval units to be relevant. If that is not that important you won't need to make many
changes, except maybe widen up the sidefronts and make it easier to players to fight there, because currently fighting for
the tower area is extremely important and you most easily do so via the center.



Scurge (05/01/2020 06:42am):
Thank you for the feedback, there is a Z-game on this map currently in progress but I intend to edit once that's over.
I certainly don't mind un-ghosting the ports and changing the starting set-up so that it's optimised for High Funds.
As for removing drop-off points, I guess the best to get rid off would be the ones adjacent to the HQs and the corner ones bordering both cities, so that - aside from the ones on the same lines as the ports - the only shoals left in the centre are the ones making up the 'river' through the middle of the island(?), especially since having the closest land bridges to the staring areas to get onto the island being where the ports are will further incentivise building and using naval transport units.
That would also allow another couple of routes for non-transport naval units which would allow me to make another bridge linking the towers to the outer landmass, whilst likely also moving the towers a couple of spaces towards the north-west and south-east corners. Maybe switching them with the double-ports, so that non-transport naval units can traverse there. Then again, Battleships being safe from Submarines there thanks to a 'shore bridge' might not matter too much given that I do have airports on the map...
Scurge (05/30/2020 09:39am):
Made some changes to attempt the above, but also switched the ghosted-airports' and HQs' positions with each other.
Scurge (10/05/2022 06:19am):
Would greatly appreciate some tips for preferably-small changes I could make to this map for it to regain the A-Rank status it held until recently. I would just be content making new ones to effectively take its place in such a regard but all my recent creations are C-Rank, so I seem to have lost whatever positive was in my map-crafting abilities a couple of years ago.



Advance Wars is (c) 1990-2001 Nintendo and (c) 2001 Intelligent Systems. All images are copyright their respective owners.