Tip 19 - Recross

URL: http://half-life.morat.net/tfc/guides/

Some people have ocmmented that my map tips don't seem to make sense on public servers.

This is because they are optimised for organised play, where people WILL do what you tell them to, where you CAN organise all 8 team members, and they assume all basic knowledge of the map.

Newbie / pblic server tips will come later. Maybe.

Oh, on those lines - I'm talking about 8 players. I am aware that some leagues play with more or less players, but most play with 8 or around that.

The tips should hold together with 9, simply throw the 'spare' player wherever he is need to counter the enemy, and with 7 players you'll usually choose to lose one fom your offence.

Right, on with the show. Crossover2.

Not, in my opinion, a great map. But lets put together some basic defence anyway.

Assume the enemy can concjump.

If the enemy cannot concjump, then defence at the flag point and the upper respawn room will hold the flag.

However, if the enemy DOES jump, then *all* of that defence becomes useless - and several caps will go by as you reorganise.

Now, because of this, the map has three areas where you know the enemy will arrive.

The bridge, the yard, and the flag well.

First off the flag well. This is a large area, and as such can be hard to defend.

A sentry gun works well - your engineers should find at least 4 places a sentry gun can work in - but all are passable if the enemy knows about them, and can be destroyed from afar (raining grenades from above for most positions) if the enemy is allowed to approach freely.

The amount of defence you put down here depends strongly on the enemies strategy.

If the enemy is attacking with a lot of light classes, using the water a lot, or cannot concjump, then you'll want to put some heavy defence down here.

If you have players who can reliably time their shots at the actual target even in the middle of a firefight, then youcan happily put three defenders down here - engineer, demons, and possibly a HWG.

Pipefield the flag, and keep the SG alive.

The fourth defender in this case will want to roam the field, preventing anyone getting into position to rain explosivs down from above.

SGs guarding the yard.

IMHO this is a waste of time - three or four SGs will lock out, but spies will breach it, there IS a water route direct past it, and it takes ages to set up, and reset when broken (no restock near by)

Plus some of the better SG positions require explosive jumps to get to.

HOWEVER - it usually IS worth guarding the yard somewhat. Soldier or HWG can do nicely.

A good sniper can be effective too.


The bridge.

Spam city. I'm sorry - but spam IS effective here.

Don't overdo it, but it will force the enemy to bunch up into waves, giving your rear line defenders time to restock.

If the enemy is using the water a lot, consider putting a HWG or sniper under the water - it will lock that route out completely.


Blow the enemy tunnel - and expect yours to be blown too.

There isn't any reliable way to pevent an early detonation - a scout chasing a demon in to defuse it will get killed due to the tight quarters making dodging next to impossible.

So don't obses on the main route into your yard - and if guarding the bridge, tell your team which route in they take.


Your lower backpack.

In the flag well is a backpack that the enemy can use - stop the enemy from doing so.


Ok - this is a fairly atypical map - in that it is very easy for the enemy to get to your flag, but very hard for them to escape with it.

Or it would be if they can't grenade jump.

Knock their jumps off target, prevent them doing handoffs - remember the routes out of your base.

And if you can, keep the flag on the field as long as possible. Give your defence time to rebuild, and slow the enemy down.


Offence.

I'm not sure I even need to talk about offence, it's such an attackable map.

I'm reliably informed that it is posible to drop a detpack over the edge of the flag well - and this is even nastier than raining mirvs down.

If the enemy is playing a full flag well defence, then you can play the game territorially, taking and holding the bridge, then slowly moving the midfield into their yard...

Unless they have a very good spy or scout who can get through your blockade, this is a sure win for you - though it could take a while.

Coordinate to take out he forward sentry guns.

If the enemy builds a gun in a position that your team can avoid, encourage them to kepe it there by killing it, and being killed by it occasionally. (I'm thinking upper respawn here)

Don't forget the moving walkway out, if you can't concjump.

Soldier is a good attacker on this map - they can survive the spam filled bridge and yard, drop down into the flag well and advance the flag - and if somehow they get through almost unhurt they can gren1 jump the flag out - which is much easier than a concjump.

Attacking engineer can work well - EMP the inevitable pipes on the flag - and if you attack DOWN through the upper respawn route, then you can EMP through the back wall of the flag well.


Pressure

This rarely works due to the sheer size of the map - BUT there is a variant.

Go in in a group, then deliberately delay, to simulate pressure over a preiod.

If you all go in in a single rush then you will often be unsuccessful due to area effect weaponry, and the fact that there is only one area you really want to be in.

Do be aware that a rush is often better though.


Flag in yard

You will often find that the flag is stuck in the enemy yard for protracted perids of time.

To get it out, you will often need about 3 attackers, at least one of which wants to be a heavier class - and one of which wants to be a scout or spy.

The heavier class attacks first, distracting the enemy. Try to say alive as long as possible - the enemy outnumbers you, so winning the fight is unlikely.

Use grenades liberally - but leave a path for your light attacker, who wants to get the flag out while no one is looking.

Similar strategies work for taking out critical guarded sentry guns, or the demon who is maintaining a pipefield. (Though 2 scouts one after the other, works too - he can't get BOTH with the field)

The third attackers job is to get into the flag room - eithr the defence moves to cover, in which case it's that bit easier to get the flag out - or they don't and you're set up for a repeat performance as soon as it's capped or returns.


Spy spy spy.

Even if the enemy knows you are a spy, it can work on this map.

Many defence positions only work because they know a sentry gun will give them warning of approach from another direction.

Also liberal use of gas grenades can make it unclear who is the spy, and get the defence shooting each other. Again this is a good reason to guard the yard, because otherwise you can rain it down from above.


What else? Places to shoot the common sentry guns from.

On top of the lift outbuilding - from the tunnel exit.
On top of the main building - from the tunnel exit.
On top of the plinth near the middle respawn room - from the top of the moving walkway.
On the rafters near the upper respawn - from the cap point gantry or ignore.
Opposite the flag - grenades from above, or from above far sides.
In the flag room - grenades, or can be ignored.
Flag well, on the 'free' backpack ledge - from the water exit, or bottom of walkway.


Final tips:

Exiting the water really gives you away, but the defence has to be down there to DO anything about it.

When going up the moving walkway, crouch jump when you get to the top, or you momentarily get stuck, and shot in the back.

Double back a lot - this is a big map, defenders will often pursue, and can be easy for them to los track of ho many scouts are where, which is when you steal the flag.

Roving middle/light defence. Play with a heavy forward defence, and more defence in standard(ish) positions far back - have a couple of defenders playing faster classes who are able to move to cover each defencive point as it is attacked, and respond to the forward defence's description of what classes got through, and where they are headed.

Needless to say, this requires a LOT of comms between the roving defence and the rear line about what attacks can be handled.

MOVE your senntry guns - all positions are defeatable, IF the enemy knows its there. Level two sentry guns probably give the right balance between lock on speed, ability to kill, and time required to construct.

Your dispensers are critical, don't JUST use them as bombs (and likewise, DO kill the enemies)


Comms comms comms.

Your team should know when a flag is a certain cap before the enemy does - use this, so that your offence is never waiting around, or attacking a positiion that is already defeated.

Also it's rarely worth having more than one attacker waiting in the flag room for the flag - any others should be out harassing the enemy, stopping them rebuilding.

Oh, and don't wat around in the actual flagroom itself, you're too easy to kill there. There ae plenty of othr hiding spots nearby if you kep your ears open and are willing to move on, or pretend to be a badly lost enemy spy :)


Humm - looks like I got my second wind :)

I still dislike this map - without concjumping it is too defencive, and with it, too open.

Anyway, there you go, just for completeness. I'm sure people will fill in the gaps, so that I can write a part 2 :)

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