SCAR'S MATCH ANALYSIS
BELGIUM & NETHERLANDS VERSUS TURKEY
The match between Turkey and Belgium & Netherlands was without a doubt one of the most even matches we have seen this Nations Cup, yet both teams played completely different styles as this article will try to show. The player skill was relatively close, and a lot of the rounds were won by decisive decision making and shout calling. Yes, there were a few closer rounds where it actually came down to player skill, but these rounds were exceptions to the rule - during the regular match.
(UN-) SUCCESSFUL PUSHES
The style that Turkey played this match was largely based on making proactive decisions throughout the game, preparing pushes and trying to gain a lot of momentum in order to win Infantry engagements. They kept playing according to this concept throughout the whole match, but there were rounds were it worked out, and rounds were it didn't.
Already in the very first round of the match, Turkey prepare to push Belgium & Netherlands behind a house were they had set up. The reasoning behind this decision is simple – Belgium & Netherlands don't have any positions for their rangers if Turkey can force a fight behind the house, and the Turkish infantry will push with a lot momentum and cohesion, giving them an advantage in the Infantry fight. In order to create an Infantry-Ranger-Crossfire behind the house, Turkey have to split up and send one of their rangers, in this case Menethil, around the other side. However, Belgium & Netherlands realise what Turkey are going to do due to their cavalry scouting Menethil as he is pushing up too quickly for his team to follow up on his aggression. They manage to pick him up without any trouble, which then leaves Turkey in a very poor position for the rest of the fight as their rangers had to leave their positions to push with the main group. They get forced into melee immediately whereas LeRoux can shoot completely uncontested from behind the fight. Here is the flaw that lies with this style – maybe not even a flaw, but rather a difficulty. Pushes, especially splits like that, have to be very coordinated in order to succeed as you give up your positions for free. If your opponents have the information - just like BeNe had during this round - and is decisive enough to push on side of the split, there is not much you can fall back upon to.
A round where Turkey played it way better was in the fourth round of the same set. This time Turkey decide to push BeNe's spawn as one big cohesive unit. They didn't split up, so BeNe couldn't just push one group or a single player like they did in the first round. The Turkish players have much more momentum than the Belgian & Dutch Infantry and can simply just overwhelm them. Now there are two ways you can react to such a push – either you counter-push Turkey in order to neutralize the momentum advantage, and actually give your infantry a chance to fight properly, or you have to fall back onto a crossfire you have set up before. However, the BeNe spawn in this case is very open, and BeNe didn't have their rangers in position to put pressure on the Turkish death ball. After Turkey gains an early lead in the round, they manage to play their 2v1 correctly and turn the round into a big snowball.
DEFENCE & FLAG PRESSURE
Now, let's look at BeNe's general approach, which is a mix between playing proactively and reactively. First off, BeNe put pressure on their opponents to make a move by putting a player on the flags to start raising it. The teams than sets up in defensive positions at a choke point on the way to the flag, that their opponents have to push into in order to get to the flags.
A prime example of this way of playing is the first round of the second set, where the flag spawns at the church, and BeNe let one of their cavalries dismount on the flags. Meanwhile, the rest of the team sets up a defence at the platform near the flags, which is probably the most important control point for that flag. Turkey has to push into the BeNe team, their Infantry front line and the crossfire, in order to get the flags. And whilst the Belgian and Dutch rangers can effectively shoot into the melee, the Turkish rangers have much less impact as they can only shoot from behind the fight. Turkey actually tried to send one of their rangers around the platform to create a crossfire themselves, but it took way too long – the fight was already won when Tirtil reached his destination.
Now the reactive element of this approach lies within the decision to push splits when your opponent tries to set up crossfires themselves in order to break up your defence. This is essentially what BeNe did in the first round, as I already explained above, when they pushed Menethil. In order to make this style work, you have to have the information on what your opponent is doing at all times however. If you scout a push too late or not at all, there won't be enough time for you to punish a split effectively, and you will get caught in a crossfire most of the times. This is what happened in the very last round of the regular match, when Turkey switched to 6 Infantry and 2 Cavalry and decided to push BeNe right away. BeNe just tried to setup in the same positions as last round, but didn't scout two Turkish Infantry were approaching from the left, whilst the main group was coming from the right. Two of their players got caught, so BeNe either had to leave these two players behind, lowering their chances to win that round on the flags significantly, or they all had to commit to the fight, like they did, but in very bad positions compared to Turkey.
CLASS- & FACTION ADVANTAGES
Another aspect that stood out for me was Napoleon's decision making based upon faction and-/or class strength and weaknesses. In the last round of the first set, the Turkish commander decided to push the tower where BeNe had set up. Now normally this isn't that much of a great idea, but he knew that it will be very difficult for the BeNe cavalry to support the fight in such a closed area. Rhodok cavalry are very limited when it comes to supporting in tight areas as their horses have significantly less manoeuvrability than Veagir cavalry, so the Turkish cavalry had way more opportunities to have an impact on the fight.
MORAL, FIGHTING SPIRIT … AND JAVELINS
Tiebreaker! I don't want to say all too much about the three tiebreaker rounds, as both teams basically had the same approach for the map which was basically fighting in the central area. They even took the same class set up – 5 Infantry, 1 Ranger and 2 Cavalry. An aspect that decided this match eventually was moral I think. It might have been the case that Turkey expected to win the match rather comfortably, Napoleon tweeted they didn't lose a single training match to BeNe. Anyway, BeNe simply looker fresher in the end, they saw their chance to make it to the finals for the first time in their Nations Cup history, and all they players were as motivated as they could be.
Ah well, and their javelins. I think BeNe got an early javelin kill in every single tiebreaker round, giving them a huge moral boost for the fight. Caius and Kellermann were absolutely outstanding with their javelins, I said myself I've never seen a match before that was genuinely won by javelins.
This articel was supposed to be posted on the Competitive Mount & Blade Facebook Page, but it is too long, so I posted it here.
