Since this got denied as a suggestion by mods, I’ll leave it in the discussion section.
At this point, I think most players would agree that the game has become somewhat stale and repetitive, with a lack of fresh experiences over the past decade. We’ve seen the same short-lived deathmatches again and again, and the only new content tends to be vehicles and maps, mostly for low-tier battles.
Given that the game features multiple tech trees for air, ground and naval forces, I believe it’s only fair to propose a new game mode that incorporates all of them (at least as a starting point). This game mode features various mechanics, some of which already exist in the game in other modes.
Name: Frontline
Type: Mixed Realistic Ground Battles
Duration: 40–60 minutes
Size: 32–64 players
Each team begins at their respective spawn point and advances toward the enemy’s side, capturing key positions along the way to establish a frontline OR if the map is too big, both teams start at the closest to the frontline spawn point in the middle of the map.
Eventually, both teams meet near the center of the map, where the real battle begins. From there, both sides fight to push the other back to their original spawn and recapture territory to earn points.
The match ends when time runs out or a victory condition is met. The team with the most points at the end wins.
Some details:
- Players can respawn as many times as they want.
- If a player leaves the match, new players can join and take the available slot. This keeps teams full and helps maintain balance.
- All players will receive rewards based on their performance during the match, which are distributed after the match ends.
- Players can respawn on captured points, but not closer than one sector behind the frontline. This prevents long travel times from the initial spawn area (see image below).
- Players can’t capture enemy points beyond one sector ahead of the frontline. They must secure the nearest objective to extend control and push forward. However, flanking into enemy territory is allowed.
- Initial spawn zones (marked in orange on the image) are off-limits to enemy players to prevent spawn camping.
- Costs and rewards should be balanced to encourage players to stay in the match longer, without the stress of leaving early due to high SL costs.
- There won’t be a match-ending feature like a nuclear strike, as the goal isn’t to end the battle as quickly as possible. However, there could be an equivalent, such as a mini tactical nuke (top tier only) that if used strategically, creates a temporary opening for allies to push deeper into enemy territory.
I’m not going to provide exact spawn cost values, as that would require testing, but here’s a general idea of how this could work:
- Light, medium and heavy tanks
- Silver lions +
- Spawn points - free
- SPAA
- Silver lions +
- Spawn points +
- Fighters
- Silver lions +
- Spawn points ++
- Bombers, attackers
- Silver lions ++
- Spawn points ++
- Helicopters
- Silver lions +
- Spawn points ++
- Coastal fleet
- Silver lions +
- Spawn points - free
- Blue waters fleet
- Silver lions ++
- Spawn points +++
As shown, some vehicles don’t require spawn points. This allows players to stay in the match longer and accumulate enough spawn points to access more powerful vehicles later on.
SPAA units do require spawn points, as some (e.g. ZSU-57-2) can be overly effective against tanks. This cost is intended to prevent abuse and force players to make strategic decisions, whether to spend some spawn points on SPAA or save up for aircraft or ships.
Blue-water fleet units (available only at lower tiers) have the highest spawn cost, comparable to a nuclear strike. These ships can be extremely powerful against ground and even air targets, capable of bombarding large areas from a safe distance while being difficult to destroy.
For example here is how it can look on the Normandy map for top tier battles.
There are no modern naval vehicles in the top tier yet, so this example doesn’t include them.
Current map layouts
Frontline layout
For slow WW2/cold war vehicles, the map can be scaled down to 4 sections instead of 6. Or maybe even go alongside the shore to make possible the inclusion of naval content.
Now you can apply these ideas to other maps and see how they can work out including naval gameplay with some extra points to capture.
For example Port Novorossiysk
Naturally, this game mode would require some reworking of existing maps to support this gameplay and visual fidelity.
New maps should be designed with top-tier battles in mind from the start, and then scaled down for lower-tier gameplay, rather than the current approach of designing maps primarily for low tiers, which often don’t scale well for high-tier gameplay.
This change could bring several positive improvements to the game:
- No more frustration with one-death leavers, teams remain full and balanced throughout the match
- Unlocking extra crew slots and creating bigger lineups actually makes sense
- Longer, more immersive battles with dynamic map progression and a wide variety of vehicles used in a single match
- Enough time to actually play the game, strategize and test various mechanics
This is simply a general concept outlining a possible new game mode and its gameplay, without going into specific details. Everything mentioned is a subject to change and open to discussion.
- Yes
- No