The following notes detail the new map rotation for the December balance patch, along with all of the changes made in an extensive community map revamp. We have to give serious credit to SOE-Sturmpanther for coordinating the effort. Further thanks to community map makers Capiqua, Siphon X, Lord Rommel, Pigsoup, MonolithicBacon and WhiteFlash, who have used their skills to bring these changes to the live game.





MAPS TO BE REMOVED FROM AUTOMATCH

Based on community feedback, we have removed a selection of less played (highly vetoed) maps from the automatch pool. Multiple other highly vetoed maps have instead been adjusted to better suit competitive play. Below is the list of maps that will be removed from automatch as of the December Balance Update.

1v1

• Brynask Forest (community map)

• Caen (now custom games only)

• La Gleize Breakout (now custom games only)

• Halbe (community map)

2v2

• Pripyat Sector (community map)

• Hamlet (now custom games only)

• Schilberg Outskirts (now custom games only)

• Across the Rhine (now custom games only)

• Rhzev Winter (now custom games only)

• Dusseldorf (now custom games only)

• Lisores River (community map)

• Gelsenkirchen Refinery (now custom games only)

3v3

• City 17 (now custom games only)

• Montargis Region(now custom games only)

• Lazur Factory (now custom games only)

• Hill 331 (now custom games only)

4v4

• Montargis Region (now custom games only)

• Hill 331 (now custom games only)





NEW COMMUNITY MAPS COMING TO AUTOMATCH

2v2

• Poltawa (community map created by Donxavi)

• Stadtschutt (community map created by Zombifrancis)

• Fields of Winnekendonk (community map created by SiphonX)

• Alliance of Defiance (community map created by Whiteflash)





NEW COMMUNITY MAPS COMING TO CUSTOM GAMES

3v3 & 4v4

• Anklet & Archery (A Christmas special community map created by MonolithicBacon)





MAP CHANGES

1v1 Map Changes

Semiosky Winter

Playable preview available HERE

• Removed one spawn on each side allowing for better starting position balance.

• The Northern lake has been shrunk on the North and South side. The North now has a small footpath to avoid using the water, and the land in the South area has been expanded to shorten the time that vehicles spend on the ice.

• The house on the Northern fuel has been moved. Now the doors do not open onto negative cover, mirroring the South side.

• A haystack has been moved to replace the house, so that green and yellow cover are nearly identical on both fuel points.

• The long house and sight-blocking tree near the South fuel have been removed.

• The hedgerow near the church has been removed and replaced with a wooden fence that is crushable by all vehicles, along with two patches of "heavy bush" that are crushable by medium vehicles. This will allow the hedgerow to be opened up very early in game.

• Another ten metres of land has been added to the South bank of the Northern lake, and 5 metres has been to the Northern bank.

• The fuel points have been moved slightly to make them equidistant from each spawn.

• The Northern munitions cutoff has been moved slightly to make the cutoffs equidistant from each spawn. Buildings have been moved slightly to make this change more balanced.

• Deep snow has been removed.

Road to Kharkov

Playable preview available HERE

• 1vs1 version of this map now has one spawn for better starting balance.

Crossing in the Woods

Playable preview available HERE

• 1vs1 version of this map now has one spawn for better starting balance.

• Replaced house North of central bridge with sand bags. Sand bags now allow coverage of the centre, but can be flanked from the East, mirroring the situation on the South of the map.

• Minor adjustment to clump of trees near sandbags to allow for better pathing.

• Minor adjustment to width of large North Eastern group of trees allowing for more equal access to the munitions points.

• Decreased the Northern basebuild area slightly. Players will no longer be able to cap while building tier 1 buildings.

Khlodny Ferma Winter

Playable preview available HERE

• Deep snow has been removed.

• The Southern victory point has been made slightly easier to access for the Eastern player.

Westwall

Playable preview available HERE

• Building health has been significantly reduced in multiple key areas of the map.

• Cutoffs have been moved further away from the buildings.

• The line of sight objects at the church have been adjusted to mirror the situation on the adjacent side.

• Negative cover added to the road next to the church, mirroring the situation on the adjacent side.

• New line of sight blockers have been added around the victory points.

• Victory points have been moved further away from buildings to stop in and out capping.

• Increased space, and moved objects in select areas to improve vehicle pathing.

• An additional cutoff for munition points has been added.

• Base bunkers have now been fixed.

Minsk Pocket

Playable preview available HERE

• Removed one spawn on each side, allowing for better starting position balance.

• Green cover has been added on the Northern side of both munitions points, matching the green cover on Southern side.

• Some single trees which were acting a sight blockers have been removed in the central lane.

Langreskaya

Playable preview available HERE

• Both victory points at the edges of the map have been rotated to be closer to the opponent, allowing them to be more easily contested. Pathfinding and distances are now balanced between these victory points.

• The hedgerow South of the central victory point has been reduced, and additional yellow cover has been added to this area making this victory point more balanced to contest.

Crossroads

Playable preview available HERE

• Red cover in front of both North and South apawns has been removed.

• Eastern victory point has been moved slightly to the North.

• West victory point has been moved slightly to the South.

• Moved Northern house slightly to improve unit pathing.

• Some stones which were providing excess green cover have been removed.





2vs2 Map Changes

Crossing in the Woods (identical changes to 1vs1 variant)

Playable preview available HERE

• Replaced house North of central bridge with sand bags. Sand bags now allow coverage of the centre, but can be flanked from the East, mirroring the situation on the South of the map.

• Minor move to clump of trees near sandbags to allow for better pathing.

• Minor adjustment to width of large North-Eastern group of trees allowing for more equal access to the munitions points.

• Decreased the Northern basebuild area slightly. Players will no longer be able to cap while building tier 1 buildings.

Minsk Pocket (identical changes to 1vs1 variant)

Playable preview available HERE

• Green cover has been added on the Northern side of both munitions points, matching the green cover on Southern side.

• Some single trees which were acting a sight blockers have been removed in the central lane.

Hamlet

Playable preview available HERE

• Garrison on the Northern victory point has been destroyed.

• Base and bunkers have been moved back slightly to reduce their coverage.

• Some objects around the North spawn have been moved/ removed to improve pathing.

• Some individual trees, and a block of impassible trees have been removed from the Eastern forest to open the area slightly.

• The house near the South-East munitions cutoff has been rotated so that the door and windows are in a better position.

• Two blocks of wooden beams that provided green cover near the Eastern victory point have been removed to balance the situation on the opposing side.

Trois Points

Playable preview available HERE

• River to the North of the South spawn has been dried out and is now passable.

• Additional base bunker added on Northern corner of South spawn to protect from new dry river approach.

• River South of the Southern bridge now dried out and passable.

• New route from dried river bed up and across Southern bridge added.

• One of the buildings South of the Western munitions point has been removed to open up the area.

• The remaining building South of the Western munitions point has been changed and can now fire towards the central victory point and cover muntions. This building cannot cover the Western fuel.

• Green cover added to the roof of the building just to the North West of central victory point.

• Houses to the North of the Western munitions point have been deleted and replaced with an extended green cover wall, as well as new green and yellow cover objects.

• House to the South of the Western fuel has been moved further South and rotated.

• Small rivers South of the North spawn have been dried out and are now passable.

• Multiple new paths added into the Eastern victory point cemetery area.

• Grove of trees removed from Eastern victory point and replaced with gravestones and bushes.

• Direct path added from near cemetery area to the Eastern munitions point.

• Eastern munitions point has been moved West into the road. Cover objects in this area have been moved and reworked.

• River West of Northern spawn is now dried and passable.

• House just to the East of the central building changed to allow coverage of the central victory point.

Moscow Outskirts (Winter and Summer)

Playable preview of Summer available HERE & Winter HERE

• Eastern Fuel area layout has undergone extensive reworking.

• Sight blockers reduced to the West of Eastern fuel cutoff house.

• House to the North of the Eastern Fuel Point moved slightly to the West.

• Eastern Fuel point moved slightly towards Northern house.

• Wooden wall to the East of the house at the Eastern fuel cutoff cutoff removed and replaced by fence.

• Sight blocker added to the North of this house to make it more vulnerable in order to balance its newly increased line of sight to the East.

• Some fences have been removed in the area just to the North of the Southern base in order to improve flow in the early game.

• Fence to the West of the Northern fuel cutoff has been partially removed, allowing the North side spawn better access between their cutoff and fuel point.

• The house to the South of the Western fuel point has been moved slightly further South, and the fuel point has been moved slightly further North.

• Some fences have been removed or broken in the East of the map in order to mirror the situation in the West.

Semiosky Winter (identical changes to 1vs1 variant)

Playable preview available HERE

• The Northern lake has been shrunk on the North and South side. The North now has a small footpath to avoid using the water, and the South area has been expanded to shorten the time that vehicles spend on the ice.

• The house on the Northern fuel has been moved. Now the doors do not open onto negative cover, mirroring the South side.

• Haystack has been moved to replace the house, so that green and yellow cover are nearly identical on both fuel points.

• The long house and sight-blocking tree near the South fuel have been removed.

• The hedgerow near the church has been removed and replaced with a wooden fence that is crushable by all vehicles, along with two patches of "heavy bush" that are crushable by medium vehicles. This will allow this hedgerow to be opened up very early in game.

• Another ten metres of land has been added to the South bank of the Northern lake, and 5 metres has been to the Northern bank.

• The fuel points have been moved slightly to make them equidistant from each spawn.

• The Northern munitions cutoff has been moved slightly to make the cutoffs equidistant from each spawn. Buildings have been moves slightly to make this change more balanced.

• Deep snow has been removed.

Ettelbruck Station

Playable preview available HERE

• Two spawns on each side have been removed to balance overall starting positions as this was originally a 4v4 map.

• The health of the central train station building has been decreased to make it less of a focal point as the game wears on.

• The Northern victory point has been opened up slightly with an additional Entrance from the East.

• Green and yellow has been rebalanced around the central victory point.

• The drain/canal near the Western spawn has been removed to prevent bottlenecking and provide better access and pathing in the area.





3vs3 Map Changes

General Mud

Playable preview available HERE

• Various quality of life changes have been made to the bunkers in base sectors.

• All deep mud has now been removed from this map.

• At Eastern victory point the distances between the bases and the victory point and house have been slightly tweaked.

• The fence South of the victory point has been reduced in length as it was providing a cover. advantage for the North Spawn in this area.

• The territory point to the South of the Eastern victory point has been moved slightly further. South to mirror the distance between the victory point and the territory point to the North.

• The garrisonable buildings around the central victory point have been rebalanced to favor both spawns equally. Some buildings have been made less effective, while others have been made more effective.

• Cover items have also been rebalanced around the central victory point.

• Cover items have been reworked and added at the Western victory point.

• Some items in both base areas have been removed.

Across the Rhein

Playable preview available HERE

• Various quality of life changes have been made to bunkers in base sectors.

• Deleted various houses and fences in out of bounds sectors to improve vehicle pathing.

• The South West base has undergone various changes such as removed fences and widened paths, that now allow for better unit flow in and out of this area.

• Sections of fencing removed around Northern victory point allowing for more access options to this area.

• Section of fence South of Northern fuel broken to allow additional point of access from the South.

• Bushes near house at North of the Northern fuel removed to better indicate to players there is an access route in this area.

• The Southern victory point has undergone a major cover rework. Various cover objects have been changed, moved or added in order to better balance this area.

• Cover has been reworked at both the South East and South West territory points.

• Bushes have been added around the cliff at the Central victory point, blocking sight from the top down to the victory point.

• Sandbags providing green cover have been added to the West of the central Victory point

• Cover on the hill above the central victory point has been tweaked and rebalanced

Lanzeranth Ambush

Playable preview available HERE

• All deep snow has been removed.

• Thicket of trees has been opened up allowing easier access to the Eastern victory point from the Southern approach.

• The large block of trees South of the middle victory point has been removed to allow the Southern spawn easier access to this point.

• Some cover objects have been moved/ changed to provide better balance in key areas throughout the map.

Ettelbruck Station (identical changes to 2vs2 variant)

Playable preview available HERE

• The health of the central train station building has been decreased to make it less of a focal point as the game wears on.

• The Northern victory point has been opened up slightly with an additional Entrance from the East.

• Green and yellow has been rebalanced around the central victory point.

• The drain/canal near the Western spawn has been removed to prevent bottlenecking and provide better access and pathing in the area.

Rhzev Winter

Playable preview available HERE

• Ice has been replaced with land in the area in the vicinity of the Northern fuel cutoff. Vehicles no longer have to traverse ice in the area, and infantry have less ice to cover. This has been done as it was previously easier to hold the cutoff and deny fuel to the Northern team.

• Small pockets of additional land have been added in the area around the central victory point.

• The central victory point has been moved slightly further North to balance the distance between spawns.

Oka River

Playable preview available HERE

• Removed all deep snow.

• Many breaks in fences have been added throughout the map to improve pathing and balance the access to key areas.

• The garrison on the Western fuel point has had its health increased to mirror the garrison on the opposing fuel point. This garrison has also been slightly repositioned.

Essen Steelworks

Playable preview available HERE

• Various quality of life changes have been made to the bunkers in base sectors.

• Lowered wall at Eastern fuel to allow better vision of the area from South approach.

• The Western fuel point has been moved slightly to the North to balance the distance between spawns.

• Cover items have been reworked near the Western fuel to make the area fairer for the North spawn.

• Altered pipes near the Western fuel that were causing pathing problems.

• The high fence to the North of the Middle victory point has been removed.

• Quality of life improvements have been made to both base sectors to improve pathing issues.

Steppes

Playable preview available HERE

• Various quality of life changes have been made to the bunkers in base sectors.

• The cover around the Southern fuel point has has undergone a complete rework. Objects have been added, removed, and repositioned resulting in better balance.

• The cover around the Southern victory point has undergone a complete rework. Objects have been added, removed, and repositioned resulting in better balance.

• The cover around the central victory point has undergone a complete rework. Objects have been added, removed, and repositioned resulting in better balance.

Lienne Forest

Playable preview available HERE

• Various quality of life changes have been made to the bunkers in base sectors.

• Hedge in North base has been moved to eliminate collision with US bases.

• One of the houses in the West of the map has been moved to allow a new route for medium and heavy vehicle pathing.

• Objects have been removed within the North base that were obstructing base building and light vehicle pathing.

• Fences outside the North base have been cut in three places to allow better pathing and more balanced access to the nearby fuel.

• Fences outside the South base have received additional openings or have had their openings moved, allowing better pathing in the area.

• Additional fencing near South base removed to allow for a more direct retreat path.

• Health decreased on station house building.

• Many paths within the forest areas have been adjusted to allow for better vehicle pathing.

Red Ball Express

Playable preview available HERE

• A section of green cover has been removed at the Eastern fuel to balance the overall cover dynamic in this area.

• A new pathway has been created between hedges to allow the Southern teams another way of accessing Northern areas.

Port of Hamburg

Playable preview available HERE

• One spawn on each side has been removed to better balance overall starting positions.

• Various quality of life changes have been made to the bunkers in base sectors.

• Two new green cover objects have been added on the North side of the Eastern fuel so that both spawn have equal cover in this area.

• Brick debris object moved just to the East of the Eastern victory point allowing access to new green cover.

• Visual glitch of floating containers in the central area has been fixed.

• At the Western victory point, some yellow cover crates have been replaced with green cover to give the area better overall cover balance.

• Additional green cover has been added at the central victory point to give the area better overall cover balance.

• Additional green cover has been added at the central munitions point to give the area better overall cover balance.

• The Southern base has been reworked to improve pathing issues. Parts of the wire fences have been removed, along with truck near to fences.

• Moved the Western fuel slightly North to balance the timing between bases.





4vs4 Map Changes

Lienne Forest (identical changes to 3vs3 variant)

Playable preview available HERE

• Various quality of life changes have been made to the bunkers in base sectors.

• Hedge in North based has been moved to eliminate collision with US bases.

• One of the houses in the West of the map has been moved to allow a new route for medium and heavy vehicle pathing.

• Objects have been removed within the North base that were obstructing base building and light vehicle pathing.

• Fences outside the North base have been cut in three places to allow better pathing and more balanced access to the nearby fuel.

• Fences outside the South base have received additional openings or have had their openings moved, allowing better pathing in the area.

• Additional fencing near South base removed to allow for a more direct retreat path.

• Health decreased on station house building.

• Many paths within the forest areas have been adjusted to allow for better vehicle pathing.

Essen Steelworks (identical changes to 3vs3 variant)

Playable preview available HERE

• Various quality of life changes have been made to the bunkers in base sectors.

• Lowered wall at Eastern fuel to allow better vision of the area from South approach.

• The Western fuel point has been moved slightly to the North to balance the distance between spawns.

• Cover items have been reworked near the Western fuel to make the area fairer for the North spawn.

• Altered pipes near the Western fuel that were causing pathing problems.

• The high fence to the North of the Middle victory point p has been removed.

• Quality of life improvements have been made to both base sectors to improve pathing issues

• All deep snow has been removed.

Lanzeranth Ambush (identical changes to 3vs3 variant)

Playable preview available HERE

• Thicket of trees has been opened up allowing easier access to the Eastern victory point from the Southern approach.

• The large block of trees South of the middle victory point has been removed to allow the Southern spawn easier access to this point.

• Some cover objects have been moved/ changed to provide better balance in key areas throughout the map

City 17

Playable preview available HERE

• Various quality of life changes have been made to the bunkers in base sectors.

• At the North West base, tree stumps creating pathing issues have been removed.

• At the South West base objects causing pathing issues in and outside the base have been cleaned up.

• At the South East base, rocks which were causing issues for US forces have been removed.

• Additional green cover items have been added at the Eastern victory point to improve overall balance in this area.

• Additional green and yellow cover items have been added at the Western victory point to improve overall balance in this area.

• Additional yellow cover added to the central victory point to improve overall balance in this area.

• The fence to the North of the central victory point has been cut to allow an additional access route for the Northern team.

• Cover has been adjusted or added at some of the other capture points around the map.

Vielsam

Playable preview available HERE

• Various quality of life changes have been made to the bunkers in base sectors.

• Deep snow has been removed across the map.

• Moved one of the North base spawns slightly to the South, and removed a tree to improve vehicle pathing.

• Repainted the sector boundaries on the map to fix overlap issues.

• At the Eastern repair point, an additional entry point has been added to the South to balance entries.

• At the Western fuel, new entries to the area have been added to improve movement and gameplay in the sector.

• At the Western victory point, new entries to the area have been added to improve movement and gameplay in the sector.

• Additional areas have had new entries created to provide a more fluid and less predictable gameplay experience.

• Various capture points have undergone cover additions and rebalancing.

• One of the houses in the South East has been rotated 180 degrees to allow fairer access for the North team.

Red Ball Express

Playable preview available HERE

• A section of green cover has been removed at the Eastern fuel to balance the overall cover dynamic in this area.

• A new pathway has been created between hedges to allow the Southern teams another way of accessing Northern areas.

Port of Hamburg

Playable preview available HERE

• Various quality of life changes have been made to the bunkers in base sectors.

• Two new green cover objects have been added on the North side of the Eastern fuel so that both spawn have equal cover in this area.

• Brick debris object moved just to the East of the Eastern victory point allowing access to new green cover.

• Visual glitch of floating containers in the central area has been fixed.

• At the Western victory point, some yellow cover crates have been replaced with green cover to give the area better overall cover balance.

• Additional green cover has been added at the central victory point to give the area better overall cover balance.

• Additional green cover has been added at the central munitions point to give the area better overall cover balance.

• The Southern base has been reworked to improve pathing issues. Parts of the wire fences have been removed, along with truck near to fences.

• Moved the Western fuel slightly North to balance the timing between bases.

Lorch Assault

Playable preview available HERE

• Various quality of life changes have been made to the bunkers in base sectors.

• The Eastern base has had some bushes removed than hinder movement for USF players.

• The wall outside the church has received a new opening to balance the openings for both teams.

• At the North West victory point, an additional entrance has been added to the Eastern wall allowing players from that direction better access to the point.

• Cover has also been rebalanced at the North West victory point.

• At the North East victory point, two fences have been opened to allow better access to the area.

• At the Middle Munitions point, the bushes have been adjusted to allow for better pathing, and a yellow cover log has been added to balance the overall cover dynamic in the area.

• At the capture point to the West of the central victory point, additional paths have been added into the field.

• At the capture point to the East of the central victory point, additional paths have been added into the field.

• Other fences have been cut throughout the map to improve overall gameplay flow.

• At the Southern victory point, cover objects have been reworked to balance the area.