Battlefields of Valhalla Discussion Thread

[Dignan]

Sure, I'll give this one a go. YES to review Asphalt Cocktail.

[RoninValentina]

Despite all of Typhon's hard work, I still think there is such a thing as too small a map. To say there is not a lot of tiles in that set combination is not an understatement. While I'm skeptical about Asphalt Cocktail, I don't see any immediate flags against it, so I will also say YES to review.

Also, I play tested Silence and Solitude just before the holidays, and never wrote up my review for it. I'll get on that and post it soon.

[1Mmirg]

DRAUGUR by mad_wookiee

I’ll try to keep this short. And I’ll spoil it all from the outset: I vote YES to induct Draugur into the Battlefields of Valhalla.

So now that I’ve lost the attention of most of you, I’ll tell the rest of you why I’m voting this way.

I should be clear and say that this was not an easy vote. This map is tight, it can be a Rat trap, and melee armies have to work quite hard to compete. It took me many games to finally feel fully comfortable inducting it into the BoV.

Draugur impressed me with its thoughtful line of sight blockers, the careful use of height changes and blind spots, and the often important shadow spaces. It can be punishing, but it also allows for multiple options and has thankful points of respite.

While Draugur can be tough and requires careful play against a savvy opponent (since it rewards smart play), it isn’t, in my view, overly damning of mistakes (or just poor luck). There is room (and cover) available to rethink, retool, and recover. And most wins are fairly hard fought. It’s certainly not a map that tends towards games that feel determined halfway in. Armies with seeming advantages don’t always come out on top, since there is just enough pathing and cover to allow for strong second half recoveries.

Draugur offers something distinct and valuable to the BoV. It’s a map that I’d personally temper, as an event coordinator, with some others that are a bit more melee friendly, but--however it is used--Draugur is certainly strong enough to join the ranks of the Battlefields of Valhalla.

[superfrog]

Just a note that Asphalt Cocktail is being used in SLH Season 7. Although that is C3G, you might be able to get a feel for the map by watching some of those games.

[MegaSilver]

Originally Posted by superfrog

Just a note that Asphalt Cocktail is being used in SLH Season 7. Although that is C3G, you might be able to get a feel for the map by watching some of those games.

Some tests are better than none, huh?

[Typhon2222]

Originally Posted by MegaSilver

Some tests are better than none, huh?

[dok]

FWIW, judges, you can consider my previous offer to set you guys up to review online tournament games that were played on candidate maps to be a standing offer. Round one of our current season was played on Dance of the Dryads - that's 14 pretty competitive draft games that you could review if you liked.

[RoninValentina]

SILENCE AND SOLITUDE by superfrog

Only needing 1 RotV and 1 TJ, Silence and Solitude is fairly straightforward. It uses RotV's generous amount of tiles to have a gently rolling terrain, and forgoes the Wall pieces for LOS blocking in favor of jungle pieces for additional defense. The map is 'divided' into three lanes aesthetically, with grassy outer lanes split by a rock lane down the middle. While this separation is almost entirely by color and not by intervening map features, it was notable in the games I played upon this map because while there is plenty of map to fight over, I found in the games I played the center lane took prominence every time, with one but never both green lanes also being utilized. Why this was took a little time to understand.

The center height feature, while not the highest point on the map, is too commanding over the rest of the map to ignore. This generally led to meat grinding situations where each player had to keep committing forces to the middle in order to ensure the other player wouldn't take map control for the whole map. This is pretty typical in most maps- and when playing or observing Heroscape I usually can use who controls the center of a map to determine which player has the upper hand, barring some luck factor. But there was one other element at play which when combined with the strong center point that really affected my decisions as a player.

That element is the rolling terrain; by slowing any non-flyers just enough that moving along the outside of the map was too slow to take equal or greater height, I often felt it was smarter to simply maintain pressure on the middle. A strong glyph could alter this equation somewhat, but generally speaking, controlling the center still let you better threaten both glyphs and so was still the smarter play. The center route is also still the closest route to your opponent most of the time, so for slower armies it has a greater appeal.

All my matches on Silence and Solitude were games that were interesting, but not because the map played a factor. This map is merely a funnel to smash my army into my opponent's army, something it does well. The map is aesthetically pleasing and the jungle pieces are placed well to provide cover, (maybe except the two adjacent to the center height) and the glyphs are hard to reach, and easy to threaten. The rolling terrain can trip up a player who is not paying enough attention, making tactical movements interesting. But what the map seemingly lacks is strategic movement; the map funnels you into a cage match, and doesn't seem to offer any alternative. The end result is a map that is good; capable of tournament play but without being that memorable. Unfortunately I have to vote NO to induct Silence and Solitude into the BoV.

[RoninValentina]

Hey all, hope I did this correctly.

Updated 01/25/2014

Logged RoninValentina's vote: NtI SaS

Asphalt Cocktail accepted for Review. (1Mmirg, mad_wookiee, Dignan, RoninValentina)

Maps pending acceptance for review:

———

Maps currently being reviewed:

DRAUGUR by mad_wookiee
Yes = 3 (Typhon2222, Dignan, 1Mmirg) ; NO = 0 ; PENDING = 2 (fomox, nyys) *mad_wookiee removed as map creator

DANCE OF THE DRYADS by Typhon2222
Yes = 2 (Dignan, RoninValentina) ; NO = 0 ; PENDING = 4 (1Mmirg, fomox, mad_wookiee, nyys)

SILENCE AND SOLITUDE by superfrog
Yes = 0 ; NO = 1 (RoninValentina) ; PENDING = 5 (1Mmirg, Dignan, fomox, mad_wookiee, nyys)

ASPHALT COCKTAIL by superfrog
Yes = 0 ; NO = 0 ; PENDING = 6 (1Mmirg, Dignan, fomox, mad_wookiee, nyys, RoninValentina)

[superfrog]

Thanks, RV.

I think it's easier to go left on S&S than right, and middle is easier still. But establishing an outside ranged presence is a strong play as well. I might see about revising it in the future to make the outsides more attractive. Then again, it was my first ever map, and I've learned a bit since then.

[1Mmirg]

My apologies, this semester has been busy and things have quieted down here. As is often the case when things get quiet here, we also have a judge who has stepped down and we have found a new judge to replace him:

Raider30 has (sadly) left the BoV and, in his place, we invited fomox to join us and he accepted.

Please welcome fomox to the BoV!

[Rÿchean]

Welcome fomox!!!!!!!