Match-up Melee 4: What do the Experts Say?

dance210: With the limit for this Match-up Melee brought up to tier VI, you can only expect the unexpected. Every team is going to have their own tactics, however, our expert, Rockstarx1, has suggested lineups and strategies for each map that will be played on in this tournament. Good luck tankers.   In Match up Melee 4 teams are allowed to have 5 players on the field with a total of 28 tier points between them. This leaves two viable line ups that maximize tier point usage: Four tier 6 tanks with a tier 4 scout tank, or three tier 6 tanks and two tier 5 tanks. This tournament is played on six different maps which means there is no optimal lineup that can be used for the entire time. Here is my take on ideal line ups for each maps.
           
Siegfried Line (Encounter): An encounter on Siegfried means that city play will be forced. That being said the field and outside areas should not be ignored. If you are a newer team I would advise a mixed line of heavies and light/medium tanks. Ideally I would include 2 x KV-85s, 2 x T37, and a Luchs or Stewart variant . This lineup gives you the weight and firepower to handle a team of heavy tanks, but stay flexible for a team favoring light tanks. Another viable configuration would include 1 KV-85, 2 x T37, 2 x KV-1S. This lets you bring in a bit more weight and another big gun to fight against heavier teams. A more experienced team will likely favor a far lighter line up. A variation of Cromwell's, T37s, and 2 x Chafee is what I would expect. A line up like this requires that a team have favorable early trades and excellent focus fire during brawls. The downside to a line up like this is a lack of hitpoints. It only takes a couple of bad trades, or a tank being caught out by itself to make clawing back into a round impossible.

 Sacred Valley (Encounter): Sacred Valley is a very open map, and unlike Siegfried, teams are not forced into tight areas. No matter the experience of the team, I highly recommend a much lighter line up for this map. 3 x T37 and 2 x Chaffee or 2 x Cromwell 2 x 37 and a Luchs or Stewart variant. Any mix of tier 6 lights and mediums should work. I would recommend staying away from more than one heavy tank at the most. Light tanks have plenty of room to work their view range and pick off straggling heavy tanks. The cap is clearly exposed and offers very little cover which will allow the light tanks to control the map with ease.

 Sand River (Encounter): Sand River is very similar to Sacred Valley. The wide open areas of approach make moving heavy tanks around the map very difficult. If played correctly, a lighter line up can move around the outside of the map or middle ridges and keep arms length from any heavy tanks. As long as you stay on the move and work your view range, heavy tanks can easily be excluded from a fight until the rest of their team is dead.

Ghost Town (Standard): At this point in the tournament the maps switch to the Standard game mode with two caps. While Ghost Town is a city based map, it also has a very open outskirt that can be utilized very well by lights and mediums. I would recommend a split line up such as 3 x KV- 85 and 2 x Chaffee or 4 x KV 85 and a Luchs or Stewart variant. I would highly recommend starting with a strong defensive posture and keeping your guns together. The lanes on this map are deceptively long and can quickly leave your guns isolated. Pushing away from your cap with these lines ups without knowing where your enemy is can leave you prone to being fast capped. Just stick to the basics, keep your guns together, and work on focusing fire as best as you can. Once a brawl starts on this map it is likely to be over very quickly.

Ensk (Standard): Like Ghost Town, this map is very city based. However, unlike ghost town the map is a bit smaller and offers several quick routes back to cap to get resets. I would recommend a very heavy based line up. 3 x KV-85, 2 x KV-1S will work best. Both the town and the field are workable. I would highly recommend keeping your forces together and clearing one side early. If they are not encountered quickly, you can double back to base before they are there, or you can push through to their base and split the map vertically.

Cliff (Standard): Cliff is one of my favorite maps in the game. The most important section of the map is E&F 5-6. This four square grid controls most of the map. Contesting for it early is important especially if the other team is composed of light tanks. If the opposing team is heavier, I would recommend using one tank in the middle to light, and flexing tanks out the 3 line for side shots. Because of the nature of this map and its aggressiveness I would recommend using either 3 x Cromwell and 2 x Chaffee, or 1x KV-85, 3 x Cromwell, and a Luchs or Stewart variant.  Cromwells are better for this map in my opinion because close ranged brawls are forced early, and I feel they are the best close range light or medium brawler. I would highly recommend going to the WGLNA Youtube channel and look at battles on the map for a better understanding.

Disclaimer: I wrote this based on my past experiences. I am sure there are other line up variations that are perfectly that are viable. This was written just to give new teams a point in the right direction. I highly encourage you to experiment with other tanks or make adjustments based on what your team has available. Good luck.