![\"Shatter,](\"http:\/\/borkedcode.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Shatter-Basic.jpg\")
<\/a>Shatter, in al its frenzy<\/p><\/div>\n
The three caps demand that your team take and hold two of them, unless you are lucky enough to have a significant ship or point lead.\u00a0 Early game, I\u2019d have to say that you must angle to take two.<\/p>\n
The gaps among the big islands form a very tempting set of avenues for approach to the B cap, while both A and C have quite a few small islands creating pockets of cover.\u00a0 Surrounding the islands are wide open stretches of ocean without additional obstacle.<\/p>\n
Spawns on this map contribute to its confused play \u2013 both sides groups of seven will be split unevenly in a pattern that positions two clumps of ships to the North and South of A and C caps.\u00a0 This forces a quick reckoning for the fleets to decide whether they will press in as spawned, or regroup and enter in force.<\/p>\n
With that in mind, let\u2019s address the three approaches that both sides have to consider:<\/p>\n
One side cap and center \u2013 B and C or B and A<\/u>.\u00a0 This generally concentrates your forces on the side containing your chosen side cap.\u00a0 The forces that spawned on the other side end up pushing B while the others focus on their side of choice.\u00a0 I don\u2019t really like this attack plan very much, mainly because B cap is simply a deathtrap early in the game.\u00a0 By sending a bunch of your ships to B, you\u2019re granting a favorable angle for enemies opposite you to fire at, and you\u2019re abdicating a cap that is closer to you than B.\u00a0 If the enemy figures out what you\u2019re doing early enough (and there\u2019s a good chance that they will), they may be able to nose-in towards B cap with their heavies, hiding their forces from your side group using terrain while focusing on eliminating your B cap group.\u00a0 Since the cap itself is so constrained, it\u2019s very hard to maneuver and basically invites the enemy to spam torps and heavy gunfire at it to mow your cappers down.<\/p>\n
That said, if they don\u2019t<\/em> see it coming (won\u2019t happen often, but it does happen), you can set up to hold your side cap and given the angles of approach being so visible, it will be very difficult for the enemy to take B away from you.\u00a0 More likely it\u2019ll turn into a shooting gallery, with the enemy coming one at a time into view of your fleet for vaporization.<\/p>\n So short version, if you\u2019re going to try for B cap plus a side, be prepared to give up on B to save your fleet if you get figured out early.<\/p>\n \u00a0Side cap and deny center \u2013 A or C<\/u>.\u00a0 This method goes against my usual recommendation of grabbing and holding two caps, by focusing your fleet on taking and holding one side cap, and playing a denial game against the center cap.\u00a0 Strategically this is a risky gamble, since they might begin capping slightly in advance of you (establishing a point lead) and even if you somehow manage a perfectly even capping time, you are basically telling the enemy \u201cI\u2019m willing to accept a draw.\u201d\u00a0 If the enemy isn\u2019t willing to try for B, you might be forced to do so to get a win, and that puts you in exactly the bad position you wanted the enemy to be in.\u00a0 Since long range shooting between A and C is basically hoping that the RNG comes out in your favor, that\u2019s not a reliable strategy.<\/p>\n Side caps \u2013 A and C, ignore B<\/u>.\u00a0 This is my favored strategy for this map \u2013 but it demands that your team knows what to do.\u00a0 You send a destroyer forward to A and C, and have the respective group of heavies focus their guns ahead onto the cap before them with the specific purpose of killing enemy destoryers<\/em> that get revealed by the friendlies.\u00a0 As they approach the caps, the DDs will light up the enemy fleet heavies too, but ours have to resist the temptation of the long-range sniper game.\u00a0 Dodge the big guns while keeping focused on helping your destroyers here.\u00a0 If you have only one Destroyer \u2013 or worse, none (something is a bit askew with your fleet choices here if you are short on DDs), send it to one side cap while using a cruiser on the second.<\/p>\n Since you\u2019ll be split among the two caps, one side will have an immediate numeric advantage, and this should net you the cap.\u00a0 The other side, being at a disadvantage, should play a more conservative game.\u00a0 Follow the same path of getting a DD on cap fast in order to secure it while the others keep their guns on the cap to kill enemy DDs.<\/p>\n The first ship to secure a cap should then take stock of things \u2013 if there aren\u2019t any enemies nearby, start aiming toward B cap with the intent of either capturing it as well, or of surprising\/revealing an enemy trying to cap it.<\/p>\n If successful, you will establish team numeric superiority by avoiding long range fire and helping your DDs dominate the enemy destroyers, at which point you can begin winnowing away the cruisers and eventually the battleships.\u00a0 The intimidation factor of seeing their DDs killed or driven off will make them hesitant to try to recover the caps and may set them into a long-range sniper fight, trying to reduce your numbers before assaulting the caps themselves.\u00a0 This is fine, as you can use terrain to avoid their fire and force them to attack on unfavorable terms.<\/p>\n Coming at this map from the North, a few features make themselves quickly evident:<\/p>\n From the South, features of a similar nature come into focus:<\/p>\n Variations<\/u>:<\/p>\n Fast becoming my favorite TB\/RB map, \u201cShatter\u201d is a temperate map with a smattering of small islands scattered around a central group of very large islands.\u00a0 Three cap points make this a very complex situation that always seems to be … Continue reading North Spawn<\/h4>\n
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South Spawn<\/h4>\n
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