9:05 pm, December 2, 2013
3,319
Live Oaks: Random battles guide
Ive been thinking of doing some sort of guide for random battles on several maps for quite a while. I never did it before because I honestly lacked the knowledge to do it without looking like an idiot who has no idea what he is talking about (although I might still end up that way).
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There are still some maps where I have yet to learn what works and what doesnt, this is mostly a work in progress (even on those maps Ill make posts about in the future if all goes well with this one), all of this comes mostly from my experience in randoms. The enemy will always be there to teach you where you made a mistake but they wont be nice about it (having shells flying your way is pretty rude). Its very important that you notice all those lessons and find the best course of action for each map.
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A few things before I start:
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1. Im not the best player in the game, not by far. Im just a guy who does well enough that he can hold his own in the tanks he has in his garage right now. Always be skeptical and take my advice in this guide with a grain of salt, do your own tests and see if it works for you or not.
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2. This guide is not definitive, I would love to read some ideas about it and change it if there is anything that I like better than what I posted before. Its a personal project (which I plan to relay to people in my clan mostly) but I would still like to make it as good as possible.
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3. Any ideas you throw at me will be weighted by me against my own and what other people say. Do notice that I WILL be looking at your stats to see if what you say corresponds to good results in the game. I make a point to not be an *** about stats so I wont bring them up in any discussion here, but understand that the points you make might be rendered pointless if you are not doing very well at all so far.
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4. Im not a scout player, which is why Ill never give anyone good ideas for scouting. Im also not a TD player, but I do face them very often so Im quite familiar with their gameplay by now. This is mostly a guide for tanks but many TDs might be able to play the same role here.
.
Now, on to the guide itself:
.
This map is quite simple since there is a huge lake in the middle, half the map is already off limits to 95% of the tanks in the game. You are left with two choices, go to the city on the north or go to the tracks on the south.
.
Side 1
.
.
There are still some maps where I have yet to learn what works and what doesnt, this is mostly a work in progress (even on those maps Ill make posts about in the future if all goes well with this one), all of this comes mostly from my experience in randoms. The enemy will always be there to teach you where you made a mistake but they wont be nice about it (having shells flying your way is pretty rude). Its very important that you notice all those lessons and find the best course of action for each map.
.
A few things before I start:
.
1. Im not the best player in the game, not by far. Im just a guy who does well enough that he can hold his own in the tanks he has in his garage right now. Always be skeptical and take my advice in this guide with a grain of salt, do your own tests and see if it works for you or not.
.
2. This guide is not definitive, I would love to read some ideas about it and change it if there is anything that I like better than what I posted before. Its a personal project (which I plan to relay to people in my clan mostly) but I would still like to make it as good as possible.
.
3. Any ideas you throw at me will be weighted by me against my own and what other people say. Do notice that I WILL be looking at your stats to see if what you say corresponds to good results in the game. I make a point to not be an *** about stats so I wont bring them up in any discussion here, but understand that the points you make might be rendered pointless if you are not doing very well at all so far.
.
4. Im not a scout player, which is why Ill never give anyone good ideas for scouting. Im also not a TD player, but I do face them very often so Im quite familiar with their gameplay by now. This is mostly a guide for tanks but many TDs might be able to play the same role here.
.
Now, on to the guide itself:
.
This map is quite simple since there is a huge lake in the middle, half the map is already off limits to 95% of the tanks in the game. You are left with two choices, go to the city on the north or go to the tracks on the south.
.
Side 1
.
Spoiler
Assuming you decided to go north, there are the two obvious sniping positions on the hills right above the spawning area. Really good place for TDs since there is a lot of stuff you can use for camo while you fire into the city.
.
Going north
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my *****.
.
.
If your forces going north are small, then you should stop right there and bunker up, youll be in a great position to hold the enemy forces coming from the city, should they decide to push against your flag. If you have enough pubbies around you going that way then dont be afraid to get into the city if your tank isnt really that great at sniping.
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Once in the city you can pick any of the roads going to the A line. If you are fast enough then you could make it all the way to the A line before any enemy tank can get a firing position to shoot you as you make your way across.
.
If you are not so quick then any of the corners in that last crossing is a good place to sidegrind the enemy forces huddled up in A4 (assuming your tank can sidegrind safely obviously). The battle here is pretty straight forward, there arent many ways to go around and flank so it mostly comes down to which group can peek-a-boo the best.
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The enemy group in B5 will be unable to help their friends in A4 as long as you stay away from A3. You can focus on taking out that first group and then worry about the second when the time comes.
.
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Once that is done, if you are in the city then you need to look at the whole battle and make a decision. If the enemy won the south then youll probably have to defend your base. It depends on their numbers and whether or not you think that the people on the hill next to your flag will be able to hold them off as you capture theirs.
.
If you are on the hills yourself then youll have to make the same call. If you decide to stay then my advice is hold the hill on the right and if you are on the hill to the left then push south into that hole in G1. From there youll be able to stop the enemy as they move into your flag and not just when they are already on it. Perfect place if your tank has good gun depression/turret armor. The flag is pretty far from the hills so spotting range could be a problem if you decide to stand on the hills with no one moving forward to spot.
.
If you do decide to push their base then your best bet would be to rush down the A line, keeping that hill with the road on it to your right. That way the only people who can shoot you are people right in front of you. Try not to engage in a sniping battle there because youll have nothing to use as cover while you reload, while the enemy can just pull back behind those buildings at A9.
.
Its your call, but keep in mind that pushing that A line is dangerous if you dont have pubbies with you as support/cannon fodder. If all your pubbies died on the city then it might be smarter to just hold back and defend your base. Even if your team has enough people on the hills to **** anyone coming from the south, its better to help them or wait for them to be done with that so they can come over and help you push.
.
Going south
The king in the north! (<--- spoiler: they all die)
.
.
If you decide to march on the south, they I hope you have either speed or a good turret armor/gun depression combination. Things could get very bad down there pretty quickly.
.
If you are slow then you might want to hang back at K6 and try to snipe at the enemy tanks on the 9 and 0 lines. It could be a problem if there is arty on their team or if they have better camo/spotting range than you and the pubbies around you.
.
If things get ugly then my best advice is to hold back and make your last stand right there under that bridge. Its a horrible place to die, but getting out of there is almost impossible because of the water and hills around you. If you are fast then you might slip out the back to J4, if not make them pay for every little bit of your HP they take as long as you can.
.
If enough pubbies go with you south then it would be smart to take the chance and push all the way to the bottom of that bridge on H9. If you make it there then youll be in a better place to take care of the enemy forces on that hill above you and you wont have to worry about the arty that much.
.
.
Once there youll probably have two enemy groups to worry about. My suggestion is to focus on killing the group on the far south, since theyll be cut off from the other one and youll be able to get that last group in a crossfire after you are done with them.
.
Dont go all crazy though, if they have arty then it could prove to be tricky and that first group might try to move in and save their friends. Make sure some of your pubbies are left under the bridge so that they keep the first group busy by poking out to shoot at them. They may fail and a couple of your pubbies could die doing so, but it will buy you enough time to do what needs to be done.
.
.
Once you are done with every enemy tank in that area then its time to make a call to either push and try to cap or to pull back and try to reset. Depending on your tank, you might not be left with any choice but to push forward and wish for the best. You are very far from your flag, so you probably wont make it back in time unless your tank is fast enough, so I wouldnt even try it if that is not the case.
.
The approach to their flag could be dangerous
Assuming you decided to go north, there are the two obvious sniping positions on the hills right above the spawning area. Really good place for TDs since there is a lot of stuff you can use for camo while you fire into the city.
.
Going north
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my *****.
.
.
If your forces going north are small, then you should stop right there and bunker up, youll be in a great position to hold the enemy forces coming from the city, should they decide to push against your flag. If you have enough pubbies around you going that way then dont be afraid to get into the city if your tank isnt really that great at sniping.
.
Once in the city you can pick any of the roads going to the A line. If you are fast enough then you could make it all the way to the A line before any enemy tank can get a firing position to shoot you as you make your way across.
.
If you are not so quick then any of the corners in that last crossing is a good place to sidegrind the enemy forces huddled up in A4 (assuming your tank can sidegrind safely obviously). The battle here is pretty straight forward, there arent many ways to go around and flank so it mostly comes down to which group can peek-a-boo the best.
.
The enemy group in B5 will be unable to help their friends in A4 as long as you stay away from A3. You can focus on taking out that first group and then worry about the second when the time comes.
.
.
Once that is done, if you are in the city then you need to look at the whole battle and make a decision. If the enemy won the south then youll probably have to defend your base. It depends on their numbers and whether or not you think that the people on the hill next to your flag will be able to hold them off as you capture theirs.
.
If you are on the hills yourself then youll have to make the same call. If you decide to stay then my advice is hold the hill on the right and if you are on the hill to the left then push south into that hole in G1. From there youll be able to stop the enemy as they move into your flag and not just when they are already on it. Perfect place if your tank has good gun depression/turret armor. The flag is pretty far from the hills so spotting range could be a problem if you decide to stand on the hills with no one moving forward to spot.
.
If you do decide to push their base then your best bet would be to rush down the A line, keeping that hill with the road on it to your right. That way the only people who can shoot you are people right in front of you. Try not to engage in a sniping battle there because youll have nothing to use as cover while you reload, while the enemy can just pull back behind those buildings at A9.
.
Its your call, but keep in mind that pushing that A line is dangerous if you dont have pubbies with you as support/cannon fodder. If all your pubbies died on the city then it might be smarter to just hold back and defend your base. Even if your team has enough people on the hills to **** anyone coming from the south, its better to help them or wait for them to be done with that so they can come over and help you push.
.
Going south
The king in the north! (<--- spoiler: they all die)
.
.
If you decide to march on the south, they I hope you have either speed or a good turret armor/gun depression combination. Things could get very bad down there pretty quickly.
.
If you are slow then you might want to hang back at K6 and try to snipe at the enemy tanks on the 9 and 0 lines. It could be a problem if there is arty on their team or if they have better camo/spotting range than you and the pubbies around you.
.
If things get ugly then my best advice is to hold back and make your last stand right there under that bridge. Its a horrible place to die, but getting out of there is almost impossible because of the water and hills around you. If you are fast then you might slip out the back to J4, if not make them pay for every little bit of your HP they take as long as you can.
.
If enough pubbies go with you south then it would be smart to take the chance and push all the way to the bottom of that bridge on H9. If you make it there then youll be in a better place to take care of the enemy forces on that hill above you and you wont have to worry about the arty that much.
.
.
Once there youll probably have two enemy groups to worry about. My suggestion is to focus on killing the group on the far south, since theyll be cut off from the other one and youll be able to get that last group in a crossfire after you are done with them.
.
Dont go all crazy though, if they have arty then it could prove to be tricky and that first group might try to move in and save their friends. Make sure some of your pubbies are left under the bridge so that they keep the first group busy by poking out to shoot at them. They may fail and a couple of your pubbies could die doing so, but it will buy you enough time to do what needs to be done.
.
.
Once you are done with every enemy tank in that area then its time to make a call to either push and try to cap or to pull back and try to reset. Depending on your tank, you might not be left with any choice but to push forward and wish for the best. You are very far from your flag, so you probably wont make it back in time unless your tank is fast enough, so I wouldnt even try it if that is not the case.
.
The approach to their flag could be dangerous