#0 - Feb. 11, 2008, 2:20 a.m.
It is my opinion that the layout of the alterac valley battleground is unbalanced and should be adressed, to substantiate my point I will analyse the map from the viewpoint of map flow. Which I believe is one of the most deciding and least discussed aspects of Alterac Valley.
First we must define our concept, map flow. What does it mean, and more importantly, why is it important. Map flow in this definition describes the ease with which one attacking force can move through the map. Important aspects are choke points, travel times, accessibility to key structures and spawn locations. Having now established the meaning of map flow, we can move on to investigate the various aspects of it in relation to Alterac Valley.
First however, I will discuss why this is relevant and important. To do so I will use the words of what is considered the inventor of modern warfare, Sun Tzu:
Q u o t e:
The army's formation is like water.
The water's formation avoids the high and rushes to the low.
So an army's formation avoids the strong and rushes to the weak.
Water's formation adapts to the ground when flowing.
So then an army's formation adapts to the enemy to achieve victory.
This is a way of saying that the shape an army assumes is dictated by the circumstances of the situation, as is the way it moves. In Alterac Valley, where in principle the shape and size of the opposing forces are equal, themap design and lay out is the only element, the deciding factor, in shaping the movement of the two forces.
Now, this is even more relevant in the current incarnation of alterac valley because since the npc nerf it has become the fashion to focus on offense to maximize honour per hour gain. This means that whichever team has the advantage in reaching their objectives first will win the game as defense is usually very light.
So let's take a look at those deciding factors then!
Alterac Valley chokepoints
Below you can see the map of alterac valley with all relevant key structures and in this case, chokepoints.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hattuma/av.jpg
Chokepoints are good defensive positions through which an offensive force has to move through in order to advance. These points are defined by their accessibility to a graveyard and often cover fire from a nearby bunker.
As you can see, the allocation of chokepoints heavily favours the alliance side. I will analyse these points one by one.
Point one
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hattuma/point1.jpg
This point has a close proximity to the Iceblood Graveyard and partial cover from Iceblood tower. This is the key defensive position for the Horde in AV and is the basis of the 'scorched earth' tactic employed by the horde in the US in certain battlegroups. By successfully defending this position the horde can cut off the alliance from almost all horde positions in AV.
Point two
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hattuma/point2.jpg
This is an excellent defensive position for the alliance. It has full coverage from the Icewing bunker and can be resupplied with freshly spawned defenders from Stonehearth graveyard. Though cutting horde effectively off from the rest of AV, it is possible to pass by the left side of the icewing bunker. Alliance defense around this position is therefore usually located just in front of this point to cut off all horde completely.
Point three
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hattuma/point3.jpg
A classic defensive position, surrounded by high ridges on which defenders can take place, a corner to break line of sight and a graveyard just behind that. Although not a 'true' chokepoint because it is possible for the horde to pass under the alliance bridge and around the east road, it has nevertheless served that function in many AV's where the horde zerg is stopped at this position. This is an important point, which I will discuss later.
Point four
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hattuma/point4.jpg
The mother of all choke points. I've seen seven hour long battles fought over this position. Absolute only way to enter the alliance base as horde. Halfway across the bridge horde comes in range to the Dun Baldar north bunker, while at the end the south bunker also comes into play. Close resurrection point for alliance at stormpike aid station.
Defense: base entry, towers, graveyards
Base Entry
This last choke point brings me to the point of base entry. As you can see horde entry to the alliance base is severely limited by an extremely good chokepoint. In reverse however, he horde base is completely open to alliance entry as you can see in the following screenshot:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hattuma/openhouse.jpg
All one has to do as alliance is jump over the fence and one is in the base. The fence and main gate are not under cover from archers and are a long way from the Frostwolf Relief hut where the horde spawn.
Graveyards
Alliance and Horde each start with two main graveyards located outside their base. Stonehearth and Stormpike for the alliance, Iceblood and Frostwolf for the horde. Iceblood and Stonehearth are quite equal when it comes to defending them. When it comes to Stormpike and Frostwolf however, things are quite uneven.
Let's compare the two:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hattuma/stormpike.jpg
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hattuma/frostwolf.jpg
As you can see, stormpike has only two main entry ways, whereas frostwolf is approachable from every side. Apart from that, one of those two ways is through choke point number three and one has to pass this spawn point to enter the alliance base. Frostwolf however can be skipped entirely by jumping into the horde base over the fence. So not only is the horde position much harder to defend, but when horde does succeed in holding it, it is irrelevant as it offers scarcely any mean to keep alliance out of the base.
There is also the matter of the graveyards that are located in the horde and alliance bases. The issue at hand being that the horde graveyard is located quite far away from the defensive tower positions, leaving it isolated from the rest of the base. The alliance graveyard however can count on heavy support not only from its archers, but from several combat NPC's located quite near it, including the stormpike stable master which for all intents and purposes has the same HP pool as a warmaster.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hattuma/abase.jpg
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hattuma/hbase.jpg
Tower design
Tower/Bunker design is also heavily skewed. Whereas it is not possible to cap an alliance bunker without killing the defending npc's first, one does not have to kill a single horde NPC to accomplish the same. An exception to this rule exists for seasoned players who can find the exact position in which to stand without being hit from the archers in the alliance bunkers to cap them. These positions however differ per bunker and are unknown to 99% of the player base.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hattuma/tower.jpg (horde tower)
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hattuma/bunker.jpg (alliance bunker)
