Friday, June 1, 2012

Map Analysis: Cliff


Each map in World of Tanks has some optimal places for tanks to go. No strategy is perfect and often times player skill rules, but a good strategy followed by a platoon can often times swing things in your favor. This series will hopefully lay out some ground work and give ideas on how best to tackle a map by analyzing the standard game play for each map.

Our second map that we will cover is Cliff. Starting in the north and south, both team are connected through a valley on the extreme west of the map. Large boulders offer cover south of the valley, and a small town provides cover to the north. The eastern portion of the map is elevated, with two large jutting hills providing cover from enemy fire. An overlooking position near the center of the map allows tanks to fire into the valley from above. Plentiful cover throughout the area allow for multiple attack routes, with careful coordination and flanking playing a significant role.







This map features 3 main avenues of traffic with one breaking into two separate paths that can be utilized. The Valley (columns 1 and 2) is a sniper lane, the Hill Access (column 6) where the majority of the battles take place, and the Lighthouse (column 9) where flankers will travel.





The Valley has two main features to it with the Red Line consisting of the flow of direction and vast sniper lanes between the village to the North and the rock outcropping to the South. These are the hiding spots for any Tank Destroyers that will be sniping or the general defenders. The Lime Line represents that travel path that any Heavies or Mediums will be taking as it hugs the cliff wall and provides limited cover from the snipers but no cover from the tanks above on the hill. Additionally, it is most common to see the SPGs set up in the A1 and A2 zones to the North and K1 and K2 to the South.





The Hill presents several options and will see the majority of the action. The main pathing for direct confrontations is in the Blue Line with the hill at E6 being the place that most mediums race to. The Yellow Line is the safe path around the mini mountain that many tanks will hug and use to take shots on anyone traveling through the center of the hill using the Blue Line path, this may be slightly exposed to fire from the capture zones and bottoms of the Valley. The last major area on the Hill to be utilized is the Orange Line, along the cliff face to the Valley. This allows for complete access to top shots and spotting of tanks that travel the Valley but can also be exposed to return fire as they must move down the cliff surface to be able to aim down.





Finally, the Lighthouse has a single path around it, with limited cover from shrubs. This flanking path is best taken by large amounts of Mediums and Heavies, or a few Light scouts attempting to get behind the enemy position. The Purple Line is the only path around the flank which also presents a bottleneck if large forces being to move this way. A few tanks can hold off an army here as movement is as limited as the cover and so lanes of fire can quickly become blocked by friendlies if too many are there.

Effectively plan around this analysis, use the route to your advantage to best take on what tanks to expect in each area, and always support where areas are lightly defended but be ready to reenforce as needed. With a good platoon at your side, and now knowing this map better, you should be able to light the way for your team in the Lighthouse.

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