Battlefields of Valhalla Discussion Thread

[Dad_Scaper]

Congrats, typhon! That's great!

[MegaSilver]

CoNgrats Typhoon and mad_wookie! Stygian Rift and Sirocco are both great maps; I had the chance to play on both at my last local tourney and I had a great time on them! (And I happened to win on both of them with an Omegacron build. )

[nyys]

Originally Posted by lonewolf

Booby Traps by nyys
Yes = 0 ; NO = 2 (1Mmirg, Dignan) ; PENDING = 3 (mad_wookiee, ollie, lonewolf)
*nyys removed as map creater

No to review.

When did this map get nominated? Must have been while I was away. Appreciated, but yeah, not all that great a tourney map.

[Typhon2222]

Oh wow, thanks folks! It's an honor indeed, a mighty honor. I'm elated! My wife is almost as happy too -- we're both checking internet now at a campsite in Italy, and I just leaned over to tell her the happy news. She doesn't even play 'Scape. But she saw that map for so many months, as it sat on our living room floor, revision after revision, that I think she probably knows it as well as I do. We're going to go drink some super-cheap Italian bubbly right now in celebration.

[Sheep]

A little late, but congrats to both of you! I'll start first with Sirocco/mad_wookie, I'll just say I hope someone can bring it to NHSD, I would love to finally play on this map. Now for Stygian Rift/Typhon2222, congratulations on your first BoV map, and I know this one is appearing at NHSD, so I'm thrilled to hopefully have the honor to play on it.

EDIT: Typhon you couldn't have hated my armies for NHSD more with Stygian Rift, I'm either playing Elementals (Problem: Kurrok needs line of sight to Elements), or Rats/Stingers/Hydras/Raelin/Isamu (Problem: Hydras may get wounds from lava (decreasing use of Hydra Heads, rats could die from lava (I'm only using x1), Isamu could die from lava), so I don't know which I'm playing if I do play on here. It really comes down to Lava Resistance vs. Solid Army.

EDIT 2: May I also say the display thread needs updated.

[Sheep]

Wookie confirmed that Sirocco will appear at NHSD, can't wait to possibly play on these two maps.

Again, the display thread needs updated.

[1Mmirg]

Finally back after a too-long "real life sometimes sucks" hiatus. I will get things updated here soon.

So excited to see two maps that have become favorites of mine added to the BoV! YEAH!

Also, I have a review for Arboretum that I had just roughed out before TS Isaac and our house decided to take us for quite a ride... I'll get it up soon as well.

Hopefully we can get the BoV wagon on the move again...

[1Mmirg]

Originally Posted by UtahScott

Congrats to Typhon2222 for his first BoV map! (I thought he already had one in there)

for the Master Index...
29) Sirocco (BftU x2, TJ)
30) Stygian Rift (BftU x2, VW)

Thanks to everyone for this year's judging to date.
That takes care of 2011's final nominations. On to 2012!

Thanks, UtahScott. I think I have things updated there now. Now I've got to get the current active list updated and post my Arboretum review.

[1Mmirg]

Arboretum by Robber

This will be a truncated review. My apologies, Robber. Because of Tropical Storm Isaac I lost my office/Scaperoom for quite a while and still don't have a place to rebuild the map.

What follows is based on extensive notes. Let me be clear. I had reached my decision on this map before Isaac hit. I just don't currently have the map built in front of me to look at, as I usually do when writing these.

This map is very fun, diverse, and quite active. It often breaks into two halves, but that’s not necessarily bad. (In fact, I like maps that do this in ways that are effective--like Elswin's Plateau.)

I like the way the Wound glyph required attention, pulling the action into the jungle/road. The castle high point was only intermittently used, depending on the glyph there and the range and speed of units. This led the map to sometimes feel a bit tight, and other times quite wide open.

I'm not sure if this "division" of the battlefield is finally good or bad. At times the map clumped up with everyone in the jungle and the Wannok always in play. In other games (especially with Marcu in play) the high point became most critical and the Wannok was left quiet. I think this works alright, but it may be worth exploring just a bit more.

One last related note: The high castle point was a struggle for melee. A range v. melee game tended to depend a lot on melee securing the Wound glyph. If it can't the game went badly. But, because of the way height and the Wannok were positioned, most melee armies could do fairly well. I liked that, generally.

Some issues:

The 7-hex swamp tiles near the Wound glyph are not equidistant. Also the distance from the castle road high point to the Wannok are not the same. A difference between move 6 and move 7 is quite a bit in many situations.

The high points near the random glyph are not quite balanced either.

Bottomline, for me, asymmetric maps require a lot of counting and ensuring of balance. How far from the start zone to this high zone for side A, then side B. How far walking? How far flying? Not every spot has to be the same—that's the point of being asymmetric, but some key points need to be—highest points, defensive points, glyphs, etc. (or something else has to clearly make up for a lack of balance in regards to these critical points).

The clumped jungle feels both odd and in some cases unwise. There are other options available (in some cases just moving a jungle one space allows for more useful coverage and no overlap between trees; also the outside edge spaces are available and could be really helpful).

So, my vote for now is NO to induct Arborteum into the BoV.

However, I think this map has significant promise. I would love to see it revised and resubmitted. An excellent map, no question.

[1Mmirg]

Updated the first post. Thanks, MW, for dropping me a note with the changes.

[Angear]

I am not sure if this has been discussed before, but would a map that uses the bases to the castle walls as support for the terrain be considered?

[dok]

Originally Posted by Angear

I am not sure if this has been discussed before, but would a map that uses the bases to the castle walls as support for the terrain be considered?

One such map (Bad Moon Rising) is already in the BoV. So the answer is yes.