Snowblind

Notes

Fast map where the enemy comes in quick waves. As such a lot of defence building isn't really practical. Turrets stand out quite well on the landscape and are generally exposed.

There are no powerplants to cripple and so the emphasis has to be on destroying their inventory stations, especially in their tower, and keeping pressure on their base defences to ensure that the bulk of their effort is involved in defence. The tower is particularly important to destroy as otherwise they have a close respawn & supply point that allows them to keep the waves coming in thick, fast - and frequently in heavies.

The command station is fairly useless on this map - it should be a low priority for repair.

Due to the hilly terrain and healthy fogging sniping is of limited usefulness. Units tend to be moving quite quickly on this map and mid air sniping is tricky at the best of times.

Defence - internal

Heavy, with shield or repair on flag. Second heavy providing backup and roving defence for the balcony. Plasma guns are vital here - especially with team damage enabled. Mortars for initial attacks on incoming external enemies but plasmas inside. The backup heavy should be just inside the door when not patrolling the balcony - ready to whip out with the plasma gun as experienced enemies will shell the flag room with bounced grenades.

One medium with repair pack doing roving repair and resupply. They should initially get an inventory station into the flag room and set up two turrets and a sensor jammer in there. Don't forget the jammer, it can frequently give the defender that fraction of a second advantage while the enemy tries to see where they are. (Too many people rely on the red triangle above the enemy for targeting.) Bring up am ammo station and deploy it behind the flag defender - they can then back into it for quick resupply and their body should shield it from most fire. Deploy two turrets down near the invenbtory stations - preferrably at the top of the ramp (I've seen some enemies try and flag run out through the bottom of the base counting on the slow reaction time of the door turrets to let them get out.) to bolster defences there. Then redeploy outside with an inv station and scatter turrets under sensor jammer coverage around the bottom of the base, just below the sight line of a hillock in the terrain is best. Defend yourself and take potshots at the enemy where possible but keep an ear open for damage in the flag room and resupply that as your priority.

Defence - external

Two lights, one with a Heavy killer loadout, patrolling close to base between the enemy tower and the base and the front of the base. Their role is to destroy any incoming units, especially Heavies before they get into range of the base.

One light doing roving midfield defence between the friendly tower and base. Keep an eye out for people attacking the tower if no one is near it at the time to defend it.

Of these lights one or two carrying an ELF gun can be quite useful. Being able to prevent or slow an enemy from jumping up towards the flag room - or hauling a flag runner to ground is quite invaluable at blunting the enemy offensive. Even pulling just one unit down can give the flag defenders that edge needed.

One medium/heavy to defend and repair the tower and plasma turret. Keeping the tower operational is important as it allows quick resupply of our assault forces. Placing turrets on likely sniping vantage points for the tower interior is advised when not doing anything else. Take a portable inventory station and deploy as many as you can under sensor jammer coverage.

Offence

One light with heavy killer loadout should patrol the enemy tower, destroy their inventory stations and keep them destroyed for as much as possible.

Heavy assault force. At least two heavies, backed up with as many lights running support as possible. One heavy should carry either an inv station or an ammo station (either is fine). Their goal is to penetrate the enemy base and setup inside the inventory room. Denying the enemy supply for as long as possible.

Two to Three lights as Flag assault. Grenade launcher is a requirement for this, bounce grenades into the flag room to clear it of turrets and deployables. Be wary of mines on the roof/balcony.

Repair Priorities

Flag defence
Inventory Stations
Motion sensor turrets (both at base and tower.)
Deployable defences and stations
Plasma turret near tower
Command station.

Tips/tricks

• Shelling the enemy base from extreme range with mortars allows you to destroy their inventory stations without having to penetrate the base. The explosion blast radius is large enough to penetrate through the wall if the shot is accurate enough. Set up an ammo station and shell from the mountains near your tower. Expect a somewhat irritated response. (This trick only works with servers running at a patch level less than 1.5.)
  
  
• If possible co-ordinate this shelling with an assault and shell into the flag room just prior to a flag grab attempt.
  
  
• After destroying the tower, get inside and place mines on the inventory station wreckage and just outside the door. Repair crews tend to be in a hurry, freshly spawned and quite susceptable to mines.
  
  
• When inside the enemy tower, place a beacon up near the roof. Let the team know and tell them to aim a little low when firing. This provides easy Mortar shelling of the tower and can survive for quite a while.