I have done a short workup on SVER Valor and Raven Domination maps, finding Raven to be extremely bad, to the point that it would seem Zipper was doing it as a joke... (a repost of that post can be found below)
That leaves Valor and SVER somewhat close, but issues remain. I have said MANY times that SVER bunkers are closer together, that their AAA is closer to the bunkers, and that the AAA is closer to the rear spawn (a generalized measurement that would indicate how easy it is to brink the front line spawns and AAA back up) giving SVER a distinct advantage in domination. Basically when you have reinforcements close by, you dont need to worry about much.
So, here is what I have found (I spent entire games mapping this out, and cross checking with the Zipper high-rez maps):
1. Bunkers; distance between (16 bunkers, 12 samples, measurements taken from turret to turret)
SVER: Mean: 47.75m (SD 4.22) Min: 41m Max: 55m
Valor: Mean: 59m (SD 10.62) Min: 44m Max: 79m
Difference: 11.25m (SVER bunkers are 19% closer than Valor's)
2. AAA; Between the two closest bunkers and the AAA - measured from the turret to the rear of the AAA (excluding obsticals, as all were minor and all samples had them)
SVER: Mean: 38.125m (SD 8.2) Min: 27m Max: 50m
Valor: Mean: 41.5m (SD 6.6) Min: 31m Max 53m
Difference: 3.375m (SVER bunkers are 8% closer to the AAA than Valor's)
3. Spawn to AAA (for this I picked one spot in the spawn, FRAGO'd each AAA and checked the distance. Only 4 samples, so I will just give the mean, the min and max are worthless because they were from a random corner of the spawn to get a basic picture).
SVER: Mean: 182.75m
Valor: Mean: 234m
Difference: 51.25 (SVER rear spawn is 22% closer than Valor to the front)
4. Distance from far left bunker to far right bunker (this indicates the relative time and ability for non-neighboring squads -ie Alpha helping Charlie or Delta- to help defend and repair bunkers and AAA - the close spaced, the easier mutual defense is).
SVER: Mean: 143.25m
Valor: Mean: 177m
Difference 33.75m (SVER Alpha and Delta bunkers are 19% closer than Valor's)
CLEARLY SVER has a very large advantage when it comes to moving around their battlefield. Basically, they are closer to each other, and therefore defensive fire is more concentrated, reinforcements arrive quicker (from the front and the rear), and engineers get a ~20% travel-time "bonus" when racing towards a destroyed asset.
Based on the numbers, you might argue SVER should have 20% better teamwork based on proximity alone.
That SHOULD end the discussion of the fact that SVER assets are more closely placed and that SVER enjoys stronger mutual defense BECAUSE of their maps, and not teamwork. I guess they could argue it does not give them an advantage, but that would be like saying the sun does not warm the earth.
The differences are so stark that it makes me wonder if Zipper ever intended the maps to be equal.
Here is my post from a thread about defenders advantage (
shouldn't all maps be defender favored? - PlayStation MAG ):
>>>>
Here are some issues with Valor and Raven defensive positions.
1. Cover:
Does the facility provide protection from direct and indirect fire? (are the objectives protected from airstrikes and direct fire from outside?)
* Ravens; absolutely not. FAIL
* SVER; Yes
* Valor; Yes
2. Are there covered routes to repair/resupply/evacuate? Movement between front and rear spawns/letters protected from direct fire)
* Raven; Rarely (two platoons are separated by a boat)
* SVER; Yes (movement between spawns and letters is almost entirely done covered from direct fire)
* Valor; Partially (letters are connected, movement between front line and rear spawn is partially covered)
3. Can buildings cover each other? (In this case, can the four pairs of letters cover the other letter in the pair?)
* Raven; Absolutely not (two of the four platoons are separated by a boat)
* Valor; Yes
* SVER; Yes
4. Observation of adjacent defensive sectors. (can one defensive position observe and reinforce an adjacent position?)
* Raven; Absolutely not (often separated by a boat or long distances/structures. Two AAA cannot be seen at all)
* SVER; In almost all cases (only second platoon has a difficult to travers trench)
* Valor; Impossible in almost all cases (obstructions, distance, terrain etc. 3 AAA's are difficult to see observe during the fight)
5. Do the Defensive positions provide interlocking fields of fire?
* Raven; Absolutely not (16 bunkers do not have interlocking FOF), two platoons cannot see or safely move to their connecting letter.
* SVER; ~60% 1st platoon has two isolated bunkers (attackers left); 2nd platoon is completely covered; 3rd platoon is completely isolated; 4th plt has interlocking bunkers with gaps on the attackers left.
* Valor; ~60% (6 are completely isolated) 1st Plt is completely covered; 2nd plt has two isolated bunkers (outside); 3rd plt has three interlocking bunkers (attackers right) completely isolated; 4th Plt is completely isolated.
6. Is movement of vehicles limited? (ie control of access is restricted by defenders)
Raven; Yes
SVER; Yes
Valor; No (in several cases, vehicles can bypass poorly placed obstructions)
Make them equal
Raven:
Tighten defensive structure dispersion
Eliminate/demolish buildings until 10 bunkers have interlocking fof
Open a protected gangway through the boats to allow access between C/D and G/H
Build a roof over the objectives (or move them to a building that has a roof)
Evacuate boats in the canal and replace with gangways to access left and right sides on 2nd and 4th platoons (edit: or orient the map so the canal duns diagonal)
Valor:
Tighten defensive structure dispersion
Provide additional covered routes from the rear spawn to front line for repair, etc
Block vehicle access
Better yet, Nerf SVER and Buff Raven. Valor seems about right for difficulty IN A GAME. About 70/30 in favor of the defender.