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I've never been a strong Mines player. Perhaps it's due to my single-minded goal of activating engine boost and rushing headlong at the hill. But more prominent than my bad play is the utter dominance a TD asserts—one Death Star, needing only one sentient teammate, can trap a medium tank on the hill; it can, under the protection of the absurd cover WG gives the backs of the map, single-handedly deny a flank through lighthouse and through town. To get an idea of a TD's strength just plop a tank down in the back on Map Inspector. The area it influences spans literally all 3 areas of the map (hill, town, and lighthouse area).
In one of my recent games, however, I was able to break the stranglehold some skilled red TDs; of course, it was through my totally skillful play that we won. The lineup consisted of 2 60% players, one on either side, -GP- on my side and GRIM on the other. At the start I sprinted to the hill and did my thing as a Leo PTA. But after a minute the reds mostly retreated to the base of the hill. Save for, of course, the camping 183, Grille and Jageroo. A green E100, trying to break the vapid stalemate, cautiously poked over the hill . . . and was literally instantly obliterated. I am not exaggerating; the very instant his gun peeked over the hill three tracers slammed into his turret cheeks, the aforesaid trio of campers each offering a single greeting. So . . . now what.
I try to flank through town, but the GRIM guy with his 121 outplayed me and I drive around to the lighthouse. By now there is a minute and a half left in the battle. I get caught by the camping 183 and need to hide behind a rock and reset my camo—approximately 15 more seconds off the clock. It's now a 4v4 game. My teammates kill the remaining red heavy, but their TDs kill our heavy in return. There's less than a minute left now. I thought about just yoloing at the camping Grille and 183, but in a stroke of luck the 183 pokes a little too far pas the camo of the bush; I track him, and my teammates finish him off as I begin to push. That leaves the Grille at the back; I take a shot from him as I desperately lunge forward, flailing an HE shell at him. He goes boom, but I have 70 HP left in a 2v1 situation; I have a 60% -GP- unicum on my side against the GRIM player in his 121, also a 1-shot. I'm beginning to enter panic mode, trying to bait a shot, but he won't fall for it; I call for my teammate to push, now with perhaps 10 seconds left—he does, but in my haste I get caught up in the chat thing and hit the damned settings button, oh god no, he's pushed without me and died—5 seconds left!—I'm too late, the 121's reloaded, but what the hell time's almost out; with 1 second left I round the corner on top of hill, all hope is lost, he fires, and—bounce! He's bounced a 400 alpha shell on the side of a PTA! I take the point-blank shot straight into his side, and as the clock ticks zero . . . we've won.
That game, besides having a really undeserved clutch finish, clearly highlighted the power of a TD in Mines. Driven by competent players, they were able to waste almost the entire 7 minutes of the game; that sort of thing really shouldn't be happening. I don't know what WG needs to do, but a few suggestions I have are to remove the bushes at the back of the map and/or add some hull-down cover on the plateau around the mineshaft entrance. This sort of thing just can't happen.
