Grozny AAS Large

[waldov]

Another cloudy, gloomy day in Chechnya. A Russian convoy of infantry filled trucks, BTRs, a BMP and a T-72 roll headfirst into the bombed out husk of a city known as Grozny.

Barely a couple hundred meters into the city proper and one of the lead trucks bursts into flames under the impact of an RPG, AK fire cracks sporadically from hidden windows and craters at the Russian infantry dismounting from the trucks and APC's now jammed up in the tight crater filled streets.

The APCs bark back indiscriminately with HMG's and cannon at fleeting figures in track pants and old military fatigues moving through the catacomb of alleyways and bombed out buildings towards the Russian spearhead. RPGs, accurate gunfire and well placed grenades from rooftops and ruined buildings push back the attackers; leaving behind a burning APC, burning trucks and Russian bodies scattered in the streets.

A badly damaged, smoking BTR speeds out of the city passing by new waves of infantry and trucks pouring into the sounds of chaos behind it. The rotors of an approaching Hind high above can be heard...


This was my own experience within the first 10 minutes of playing the new Large layer on Grozny. One of the most immersive and true to the source experiences I've had in PR in years. Seriously great job everyone involved in making a game and map where that was possible.

Finally a layer where the Russians get to be the Russians, no more anemic Asset load-outs. A healthy serving of Soviet scrap with poor visibility, poor armor and a lot of indiscriminate firepower to feed the beast of a city that is Grozny, as god intended.

Now as for the problems: Who said the Chechen's were invited to the unrestrained asset party? Chechens have near asset parity, except for the extras the Russians start with (they dont last long trust me). 2x Ural AAA's and 3 (yes THREE) SPG techies absolutely chew up all of Russia's armor for breakfast, lunch and tea (and it really cant be stressed enough how devastating the Ural AA's are on APC's). Then they get 2 BMPs and 2 T-72s too boot.

They have defenders advantage, which on an urban map as intricate as Grozny is massive. My own personal experience as retold above we got absolutely dealt with against pure infantry, thats before the assets even arrived. By the time assets were in play by the Chechen's it was an absolute slaughter. Chechen tanks and SPG techies stalked our main killing many that dared too leave, anything that made it past that had WW1 levels of survivability in the city which is an RPG mans wet dream. The CAS was a nice morale boost, but that was about it.

Maybe we just fought a really competent Chechen team, but my feeling is that all things being equal, Chechen assets need to be nerfed. 1 whole less BMP and T-72 could well be in order. The fleet of techies with there 5 minute delays are near enough on there own to deal with the Russian assets as it is. The defensive advantages of the city, compounded with the poor visibility of Soviet era armor nullify the Russian assets greatly as well, impressive as their asset loadout might look on paper.

Grozny is so damn close to reaching the pinnacle of what it always was meant to be with this layer IMO, but it just needs some tweaking, that doesnt involve declawing the Russians and turning the map into a pure infantry slog. The Urban vs Armor dynamic is one the main draws of Grozny both historically but also in game. Not to end on a bad note though the map is looking and playing better then ever before. Great job to the map makers so far!

[Ason]

Thank you for the feedback. I agree with you, chechens look very strong asset wise, however 3 of the first 4 rounds were won by the russian side. I'm keeping an eye on it and will make necessary changes when more stats is available.

[puffkiller]

You're right, I was Chechnya yesterday and we easily won the game. I think Russia should strengthen, Chechnya doesn't need so much heavy armor and SPG

I have an idea that in the initial stage, Chechnya only has some logic and APC on the front line, and multiple FOB can be built, but the vehicle norespawn. More vehicles will respawn after 15 minutes, and all logi, armor, and spg will need to be delayed

Moreover, Russia's offensive route is very single. Can we use two bases and also put the base in the northwest into use, and allocate vehicles between the two bases

[waldov]

Thank you for the feedback. I agree with you, chechens look very strong asset wise, however 3 of the first 4 rounds were won by the russian side. I'm keeping an eye on it and will make necessary changes when more stats is available.

Thats a real surprise, but I wouldn't rule out that we may have just faced a very competent Chechen team. I've noticed Unconventional factions even in AAS layers do tend to bring out more casual/loose playing style from players (insurgency don't care if die mindset). Which might've done the Chechen team a disservice in some rounds, as track-pants and mismatch attire aside they're very equal to the Russians conventionally.

Would be nice to see the Chechens have to rely on a more asymmetrical play style, even with starting spawn caches/crates throughout the city for resupply/kits, perhaps even extra starting AT kits in place of more assets to counter assets, more in line with other unconventional AAS attack/defend layers like Ramiel, Dragon fly etc. Hopefully will get in some more rounds of this layer so I can get a more well rounded opinion.