Map:emp duststorm

Home > Map:emp duststorm

Minimap of Emp_Duststorm

General Map Information

Duststorm is a desert with hills in the center and northwest and ruins in the southeast. The NF starts in the southwest and the Bren in the northeast. This is one of the most popular Classic maps in Empires.

Commander Strategies

Forward Bases: Both the Brenodi and NF have several good locations for forward bases. The middle, for example, can be taken and fortified without much trouble. The NF can take and fortify the northwest corner early on. While it is possible to make a forward base in the ruins, it is not suggested to make that the main focus as bases constructed in the ruins are harder to defend from artillery and armor.

Dragon's Teeth: The ruins on this map, in addition to having heavily fortified walls, are surrounded by a shallow creek. While this is usually only good for mild infantry cover, it can easily become a vicious tank trap. A particularly clever commander tactic is to place small, short segments of wall in the deepest points of the stream (NOT a continuous wall, as this is easier for the enemy to notice)-- but do not have your infantry build them. Any fast moving tank will cruise into them at top speed, attempting to cross the deep water as quickly as possible, only to get caught on the hidden segments. The water, unfortunately, is too shallow to cause any serious risk to tanks--it's even possible to drive over the wall completely, if they're lucky--and as such, this technique is merely a stalling device. But after getting caught in the creek a few times, the enemy will concentrate their heavy units through the bridge chokepoints, and this is never a bad thing.

Sneaky Base: Some clever commanders have placed a forward base in the extreme north-west corner of the map at A5. Behind the more obvious refinery to the south-east and walled off by hills and the map border, only two choke-points into and out of the area mean that tanks will have a difficult time assaulting the position and infantry can use the hill as an excellent vantage point. Do not rely too heavily on this position, however, as there is limited room for a large base and it's dangerous to rely on the resource node when the enemy learns of this base location.

Tank Combat: This map is practically made for tank combat. Its many wide open areas provide little cover for infantry. In the end, it often comes down to whichever team uses their tanks better. Build many repair pads so that tanks can be repaired with greater ease.

Infantry and Squad Strategies

General Infantry Combat: As stated previously, the major geographic feature in this map is flat terrain with no cover and steep hillsides quickly scalable by infantry and slowly scalable by tanks. It is essential that you stick to these hills. If you're caught by a tank in the middle of a field, you will get cut down. You can prevent this by relying heavily on walls, but this will consume time, resources, and impede your own tank assaults. Plan your footwork carefully instead.

Scouting: Although any unit can stick to the hills and spot incoming assaults (and should do so whenever possible, considering you should stick to the hills, anyway), the wide open nature of this map means that it's a scout's paradise. Sniping from the center hills can halt all infantry assaults while allowing you to spot for your team. An early scout rush to the center, if you're good enough, can cripple the enemy for the rest of the game. (Granted, you better be one hell of a scout to stop the rush that is inevitably heading in your direction.)

Tank Combat: The open layout of this map allows for fast and deadly tank assaults. Feints, fake retreats, and strong flanking maneuvers are all possible on the wide-open fields. Use this to your advantage! Because it's fairly easy to fall back, do so--don't waste your tank with a kamikaze assault. This map is so wide open you can strike with one unit, pull back, and let your teammates cover your retreat with strong rearguard actions. Don't be afraid to work with your squad to use hit and run tactics to hold off the enemy until you can suddenly turn around and mass a full counter-assault.