Streams of Blood (Ranked)

Map analysis Terrain type Blocked Impassable Difficult Open Victory Total Quantity 14 32 0 96 1 143

Open terrain analysis No. of adjacent open terrain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total Quantity 2 12 10 18 26 13 13 0 97

Open terrain analysis: For each open terrain, count the number of adjacent open terrains. An open terrain has a minimum of 1 adjacent open terrain and a maximum of 8 open terrains.
The quantity signifies the number of open terrains with X adjacent open terrains. The distribution indicates the map difficulty in relation to movement.

Offensive Board Control

Choke Points and Pincers

Streams of Blood (SoB) is a PVP map containing 143 terrains with 1 victory terrain. There are no difficult terrains but a variety of narrow restrictive paths and four dead ends make SoB perilous to the unwary. Narrow paths give rise to choke points and kill zones, forcing your opponent to seek meager cover provided by Blocked terrains. Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 show the positions of various choke points in the map labelled as A and B. By occupying the various strategic points, opposing units are forced to fight on three fronts. Gradual pincer movements (as illustrated by the red arrows) squeeze the available pockets and entrap opposing units, making for quick easy kills. The primary difference between Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 lie in the victory square at B. When the map is split vertically, occupying B reduces the effectiveness of the choke point and pincer movement due to restricted line of sight. It can however be utilized as an ambush point for burst units equipped with Charge and step based attacks. Against the AI, Streams of Blood favors Amy's party of elves due to their natural Dash moves. An early Rockfall/Cave In combined with critical positioning make short work of any party.

Fig. 1: Choke points splits map horizontally

Fig. 2: Choke points splits map vertically

Line of Sight

Fig. 3: Line of sight at the victory square in the forward orientation

Due to the lack of open terrains in Streams of Blood, line of sight is a precious commodity crucial for long range spells and ranged units. As Fig. 3 shows, a unit represented by 'X' occupying the victory square can see 58 open terrains fore and aft providing much needed firepower and support to melee units. For a map containing 97 open terrains, this represents more than half the map. Offensive board control is easily established combined with choke points and pincer movements.