The Scroll of Battlefield 23

[Sir Heroscape]

COMPETITIVE MAP
By Flash_19

[IMG][/IMG]
Download, (Online Map)
Required sets:RotV, FotA, TJ

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Map Bio -

Crack.

Agent Derek West turned and leveled his rifle towards the subtle sound of a branch breaking. The noise had apparently come from the clump of brush that now lay directly in front of him. With the rifle sights focused on the thick brush, he methodically picked his way across sand and rock towards the source of the noise, eyes and ears straining in the darkness for anything that seemed amiss.

There was nothing there.

A small fire nearby crackled and sputtered as bits of ash rose into the sky. Surrounding the fire were the other members of strike team Omega, a team consisting of 8 squads of Microcorp Agents en route to Ticalla. The team had been tasked with the delivery of as many extra weapons and supplies as they could efficiently carry for Vydar’s troops that were stationed there.

“Omega 9, you’ve moved from your post. Check in. Over.” The voice of his squad leader, Special Agent Jacobs, sounded in West’s earpiece.

“Roger, Omega 1. I thought I heard something. Request permission to make rounds over the perimeter. Over.”

“Permission granted. Check in upon completion. Over and out.”

West cautiously ventured out further from the camp into the darkness of the night. It was cool and clear that evening, and the dim light from the stars was enough to get a clear view of the land around. Thick underbrush dotted the grassy fields around the camp, which had been set up in between the crumbling stone walls of an outpost long abandoned. West had been along this pathway into Ticalla before. The team was nearing the edge of the jungle, and the brush was starting to grow denser. This would be the last breath of cool air before the warm, stiff air of Ticalla encircled them.

A shadow moved in the darkness.

West immediately swung his rifle towards the perceived direction of the shadow, his finger hovering over the trigger. Nothing. He waited, peering down the sights of the rifle, while the pounding of his own heartbeat sounded in his ears. Slowly, he began to inch backwards towards a large bush behind him, trying not to make a sound, but certain whatever the shadow was could hear the thumping of his heart.

He jumped as the sound of shouting and gunfire filled the air. Shots were being fired behind him at the camp. He looked back, trying to see through branches and leaves but he couldn’t make out what was happening. Mind racing, he glanced back towards where the shadow in the dark had been. There, a few feet above the ground, he could make out a pair of red eyes peering back at him. Off in the distance, a chorus of howls filled the night air – standing out above the flurry of noise from the camp. Suppressing the panic growing inside him, he breathed out slightly and squeezed the trigger, sights focused between the glowing eyes. The three round burst found its mark, and the red eyes sank to the ground while slowly flickering out.

A shrill howl came from his left, and West turned in time to see three large Deathstalkers barreling across the field towards him. Light glinted off bits of metal and wind blew through scraggly fur as the creatures raced towards him. Compared to them, he seemed to move in slow motion. Driven by sheer instinct, West raised his rifle, and sent three rounds into the shoulder of the leading wolf. It yelped and dropped to the ground with a crash of grinding metal.

The other two were mere seconds away. Agent West desperately pulled the trigger again and again, but they kept coming. After what seemed like ages, another of the creatures finally skidded to a halt on the ground as the final Deathstalker lunged towards him, teeth bared and red eyes flashing. He brought his rifle up, clutching it in both hands. He tried to swipe at the beast’s head, but felt it hit him as all went black.

* * *

His head was throbbing. It felt as if it had split open. Lifting a hand to his forehead, West tried to gently feel for the wound, but dried blood crusting his forehead prevented him from knowing how large the wound was.

He was lying face up on the ground. The brightness of the sun overhead somehow blinding him, even with his eyes closed. Suddenly, memories of the attacking Deathstalkers returned, and he bolted upright. A terrible mistake. Sharp pain shot through his head, and he gritted his teeth while slowly opening up his eyes.

It was a clear sunny day, and a light breeze whispered through the blades of grass. But the dead bodies of Deathstalkers sprawled across the ground plagued the serene sight. He needed to get moving. There didn’t seem to be any pain in his legs, so he tried to stand up. Everything seemed to be working okay, and as long as he moved slowly the pain in his head felt manageable. After bending down to pick up his rifle, he made his way carefully towards the camp.

The ground was littered with the corpses of dead Deathstalkers. And amid the fur and metal…

Deep breaths, West. Deep breaths.

He choked out a sob while trying to hold his emotions in check. Slowly and painstakingly, he moved between the bodies of his twenty-three teammates, counting each one and checking to see if any of them had made it. After wandering towards the outskirts of the camp, he counted the last one. His squad leader, Special Agent Jacobs, lay face up - eyes staring sightlessly into the sky. As he reached down to check for a pulse, he noticed two medium sized stones clutched in his hands. The stones had strange markings on them, and they felt unnaturally warm to his touch. It almost seemed as if they were… alive. Some sort of power or life surged through them. What on Valhalla? When he tried to pick them up, he was shocked at their incredible weight. He could barely manage to carry them. What are these, why did Jacobs have them, and how was he able to carry them?

The seeming problem gave him something to focus on instead of his grief. Agent West had to do something with those stones - he could sense that they were valuable. But what? He wouldn’t be able to carry them both back. He looked around for anything that might give some indication of what to do. A large scrap of metal that had somehow become detached from a Deathstalker lay a few feet away.

Using the jagged piece of metal, he dug twin holes in the ground on either side of the camp. It seemed foolish to him when he thought about it, but perhaps the extra work of separating the two would insure that one of them would remain a secret until Vydar’s troops could reclaim them. Vydar would want these back. He was sure of it. The ground was hard and rocky, and with only his improvised shovel, work was slow going. After digging for what seemed like hours, West placed the stones into the holes, filled the holes with dirt, and covered the broken earth with large stone slabs he had found next to the walls surrounding the camp. Hopefully it would be enough.

It was time to go. But, there was one thing left to do. West walked over to one of the trees that had been in the center of the camp, pulling out the combat knife that he wore strapped at his waist. Blinking back a tear, he cut into the bark of the tree - carefully controlling the movement of the blade as he carved the words and numbers. A few minutes later, he had finished.

“In honor of 23.”

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Reviews-
•Sir Heroscape
Originally Battlefield 23 rubbed me the wrong way. There were a lot of little things I wasn't liking. Overall it was a good map, but I was glad to see it make it's way back into the consideration of the judges for a 2nd run.

This time around Flash has provided rather significant changes to the map design WITHOUT disrupting the overall original footprint. i.e. it looks like the original. That takes a lot of time and effort to rework a map so that it maintains the integrity of the original design but make the changes necessary to balance it. This version does that in a much nicer way. The development feels more natural and both sides (whether with slow figures or fast), have equal opportunity to grab power glyphs. The hills on each side aren't really hills and do a good job with road and jungle and LOS blockers to make camping on one side NOT the obvious decision. Development through the center was much faster, and did lend itself to more conflict, but that's more an observation than a nitpick. I like maps that pull the tension between fast low ground and more developing time on high ground. The pitfall for most maps like that is that the hills can tend to be too strong, but the case is not here. The hills are still very accessible from the center if the conflict starts to evolve toward height/glyphs and that is a very good thing.

Overall, what was a good map and didn't make it in, is now a great map that has made it in. Thank you @Flash_19 for taking the time to be meticulous and prepare something great.

for Battlefield 23

•Biggabullfrog
Battlefield 23 by @Flash_19

The first version of Battlefield 23 suffered from some really strong high ground perches for Raelin/Range to abuse. Battlefield 23.2.0 strongly improves upon the first version, with the notable improvement of having the height more consolidated into certain focus areas, and having those areas more easily countered by the road that leads to them. Turns out, that makes for a really good map.

Battlefield 23 is definitely a top tier map in terms of balance and interesting/exciting plays. It has strong high ground on the sides that also have glyphs nearby to control, but they’re limited by line of sight blockers and being vulnerable to rushes from the road. There is also good potential to make aggressive pushes through the center utilizing the height there, but that is also countered by the road and jungle across the map. Even development has some good decision-making to capitalize on; usually I found that development to the left of the start zone felt easier with the road and closer high ground on the flank, but trying to slow roll left leaves a player open to counterattacks from central height, road, and even power plays on the same side from an aggressive opponent. Overall, games were constantly fun and exciting on this map, and I definitely recommend it.

to Battlefield 23 induction stuff.

•Nomad
Battlefield 23 by @Flash_19

I did not get a chance to play test the first version of this map before it received two down votes from my highly-esteemed fellow ARV judges. So, I entered play testing on the revised version with a blank slate.

Check this out. In four tests with 500 v. 500 point armies, the average margin of victory was 53 points. That is what I like to see! The armies were a variety of builds. Battlefield 23 is a wonderful sight to have set up on the table. Game play was solid - in every way. Height, cover, blockers, and pathing (even side to side considering how wide it is) were all beyond reproach.

I was initially concerned about all of the castle walls, palm trees, and battlements in terms of how huge figures would be able to maneuver - it seemed crowded in spots. I ran tests with Augamo, Greater Ice Elemental, and Nilfheim. All of the large/huge figures were able to be placed on every hex with the right positioning.

I liked this map so much, it has now moved into my top 10 of tourney maps with this terrain to consider when I host them (which will happen again someday!)

Oh, so this is an official for induction to the ARV cannon.