Map Name:            TBA
Map Size:            15 x 15
Map Type:            Metal
Map Sub-Type:        Water
Map Filetype:        .ufo
Size of zip file:    2.61MB
Size of map file:    2.55MB
Players:             2-10
Memory:              32MB

Designer:            Charles Tosh
Created:             12 August, 2001
Tools Used:          Annihilator 1.5, Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7, Winzip 8

Installation instructions:
Unzip the file "TBA.ufo" to your TOTALA directory.  That is all...

Requirements:
Well, this should work fine on just about any system running TA:CC.  It was designed for LAN play using Uberhack 3 and above, versus BSR's Bloodthirsty AIs, but it fits human multiplayer just fine.

TBA:
"To Be Annihilated": lame, but the only thing that came to me when I was trying to figure out the map name.  Actually it was just because I wrote "TBA" in the map name that I stumbled across it.

The story:
During the ARM invasion of CORE Prime, a renegade CORE group tried to break away from their masters and vie for independance.  Caught in the crossfire between two massive armies, the rebels were forced further and further back into their strongholds, until even those were destroyed.  Now, with the armies of the ARM and the CORE horribly close, the rebels have taken refuge in an old computer mainframe.

The rampaging CORE Commander has only one small note in his tactical database regarding both the insignificant rebels and the ARM forces: "To be Annihilated".

Which, by a strange co-incidance, was exactly what the ARM Commander was planning on doing to the CORE.

The map:
TBA consists of two "base" areas and a central island.  The "base" areas are protected to a limited degree by a set of high walls.  The only route into and out of the bases is a submerged causeway shallow enough for ground units to use, but deep enough for most ships.  The high island in the middle is the obvious location for an advance defense site, but a decent navy or air force can simply go around.

This is an evil map for those porkers amongst us because of the obvious ease with which the chokepoints can be defended.  However, as long as the opponent has anti-nuke, it's very difficult for a purist porcupine to actually win.  LRPCs are of limited effectiveness, although a cannon on the central highground or walls can reach almost anywhere.

There are a number of strategies that -can- work, but the safest option seems to be controlling the seas.  Once you own the water, it's just a simple matter of trapping the other team in their base and shelling them out of it.  Land or air attacks are optional extras ;)

Starting positions:
Unsurprisingly enough, the enclosed "TBA-start.jpg" file shows the player start positions nicely:
Along the top; players 5, 1, 3, and 7.
Along the bottom; players 8, 4, 2 and 6.
Upper middle; player 9.
Lower middle; player 10.
If you have SY's Demo Recorder, you can play a non-team game by using the .cmdwarp function to alter the individual start positions.

En fin:
The playtesting was enjoyable.  However, it brought up a few issues:
- careful how you defend your ramps.  It's easy to block it off from your units... which is more of an issue for your allies than yourself.
- RFLRPCs can *really* own if sited on high ground, or on the left and right extremities of the map.  Solution?  Build your own LRPC/Air swarm/Nuke silo, or don't let it happen.
- the center island isn't hard to take when you've got the resources, but it's hard to hold if the other team has even one LRPC...
- I was cruelly forced to make the shallow water accessable from any direction by amphibious vehicles.  So you can drive your amph. tanks and gimps all around underwater, and over and through the shallows, 'n stuff.  I'm told it'll allow surprise attacks.  That's debatable, because amphtanks are too low to fire whilst in the shallows - but also too low to be seen until they swarm up the ramp.

This concludes the waffling-on section of this text file.  Enjoy the map, and watch out for its almost clone-like companion (20 x 20): "Renegade Mainframe."

If you want to waffle on about this map yourself, then you can e-mail my spamtrap at tkasi@crosswinds.net.