Connery vs Cobalt, ServerSmash Apr 2014

BLUF (bottom line up front): Planetside Battles hosted a 240v240 ServerSmash event (Connery vs. Cobalt). Rules. YouTube Part 1 & Part 2. RedolentBastard’s cut version. Connery won.

PS2 Pickup hosted its fourth server scrimmage between Connery (USW) and Cobalt (EU). It was hosted on the Planetside 2’s Test Server (PTS), on Esamir. The fourth server scrimmage saw a dual-lane battle between Ikanam Motor Pool and Sungrey Overwatch. This time the fight was over all of Esamir, and the two sides literally started with touching territory. Connery played Terran Republic and Cobalt played New Conglomerate. Both sides brought 5 platoons (240 players) to the fight. As you can guess, this fight was gigantic. Originally, the two sides chose the same warpgate to start from, but a virtual cointoss determined each side’s starting warpgate. If you caught the action in first person POV, please post your twitch link here. No inject was added…

Participating Outfits

Connery

[666] The 666th Devil Dogs
[ACNS] Ascension Company
[ADK] A Different Kind
[B4ND] Band of Anarchy
[BAID] Bellum Aeternus
[CIK] Communication is Key
[DPSO] Dropping Purple Smoke
[DL3G] Dread Legion
[EXE] Execution
[MERC] Mercenaries
[OO] Recursion
[OP4] The Opposition Force
[SOLx] Sol Ex
[TRG] The Republican Guard
[TXR] Total Recoil
[v0c] Havoc

Cobalt

[1TNC] The New Conglomerate
[7BAP] 7eme Battalion Aeroporte
[AOTR] Army Of The Republic
[BMGP] Blue Man Group
[BLNG] RedBlack Bling Squad
[CDGS] Chiens De Guerre
[CHI] CHIMERA
[DeOL] De Opressione Liberare
[DGMA] Deutsche Online Gamer Allianz
[F00L] TOOLS
[JEST] The Jesters
[JETR] together
[KAIN] Kinetic Armament Industries
[LACY] Beautiful and Tasty
[PL13] NAJWIEKSZY POLSKI OUTFIT
[PTMC] Phantom Company
[RE4] THERE4PERS
[RiMG] Red Impact
[RSG1] 3rd Republican Shock guard
[SFRA] Section France
[TEIC] Terran Imperator Company TIC
[TRID] Trident

Force Commanders

Connery:

Cobalt:

Greejal (Emperor of Cobalt)
Solaris (Overall Commander)
SoliderRush
Terrorbird
BlckJck103
SamDanvers

The Match

We have seen that with many previous Smashes they begin with huge air battles. This ServerSmash did not begin that way, even with 480 players. There was a small air skirmish at Eisa Tech Plant, but the majority the TR air went to Freyr Amp Station while the NC air went to Eisa. Both servers immediately sent their ground forces forward to engage in the key territories: Freyr, Eisa and Ymir Bio Lab. It looked like an event fight across all three regions, save for the middle of the continent. Cobalt deployed what looked like a large percentage of their force at Eisa and the Octagon in hopes of solidifying their position early. Perhaps this was to secure what they saw as a very intimidating lattice structure surrounding Eisa. Whatever their reasons, the less distributed deployments at Ymir and Freyr had them slightly out-popped enough to where they were losing the capture of those hexes to TR.

The TR captured Ymir fairly quickly, even with near 50/50 region population with the NC. Eisa was captured by the NC shortly thereafter, and Freyr was captured by the TR after that. As it stood, 10 minutes into the game, Connery had a 4-3 lead over Cobalt. The TR also took Rime Analytics and Aurora Materials Lab in a attempt to make a bee-line straight for Mani Bio Lab. However, the stalwart NC held on to Freyr Geothermal Plant, refusing to let go, and eventually gave the NC the springboard they needed to disrupt the TR’s advance to Mani.

Each server’s air force avoided each other for the most part, which was a peculiar move that we hadn’t seen before in a ServerSmash. Mainly because this is the first Smash to feature a fight over an entire continent, but it was interesting to see each server’s air force focus on close air support, rather than direct air-to-air engagements. Although, I was later informed that this was not by design. In the middle lane, before the NC could take the Octagon, the TR dropped infantry on the points and halted the countdown. A small NC armor push came in to deal with any outside spawn points, but were bombarded by the TR air force that showed up very suddenly.

Back up north, the TR was on Mani’s doorstep, even going so far as to starting an assault on Mani Bio itself, but the NC launched a furious defense that pushed the TR back to Mani Lake Satellite. The TR tried to dislodge the NC from Freyr Geothermal, but the defending squad held on for a long time before finally succumbing to overwhelming numbers. It was about this time that the Octagon came under TR control, and the NC tried to assault it yet again. Like the first time, the TR air force was called into bomb all sources of NC spawn within sight.

In the south, the TR had taken Ymir earlier, but wasn’t able to move an inch against the opposing NC force, who were proving to be an extreme menace to their plans. That’s when fresh reinforcements came to assist the NC, and they started capturing Ymir Bio with their superior numbers.

In the north, the NC used the momentum started at Mani Lake to launch a two-pronged attacked on Rime Analytics and Aurora Materials. Somehow, someway, despite being overwhelmed earlier, the NC were able to keep Freyr Geothermal in their control, preventing the TR from completing their attack lattice. This caused the TR to devote considerable manpower to stamping out the NC threat there; finally securing their control over the region. Because of this, their numbers at Eisa and Ymir started slipping.

The TR attack on Eisa failed and the defense of Ymir Bio Lab was lost to the NC. This put the score in Cobalt’s favor, 4-3. Then the NC dropped about 25 players on Rime Analytics, which it wasn’t able to take earlier, and finally captured the base. While the NC pushed to Ymir Southern Reach towards the TR held Elli Amp Station, the TR renewed their assault on Eisa Tech, dropping 48 players on [A] point. About 20 seconds before the TR captured Eisa, the NC pulled a very large MAX and infantry team that infiltrated the attacking TR force through the tunnels, clearing the area of the attackers. The TR, undeterred, sent yet another attack force to capture Eisa yet again. In the south, the NC successfully took Ymir Southern, and were making their way to the Bulwark. However, the attacking TR force at Eisa successfully took the region from the NC, reversing the score from Cobalt’s 4-3, to Connery’s 4-3.

The TR then secured Eisa Mountain Pass and pushed for Saerro Listening Post as they captured Echo Valley Substation. The NC secured the Bulwark, with a sizable vehicle and infantry presence that was ready to slam into Elli Forest Pass, which was the outer region of Elli Amp. While the NC were able to defend Saerro, they lost their entire force at Elli Forest to a TR counter-attack. The counter-attack pushed the NC all the way back to the cusp of Ymir Bio, while a TR advance was on the edge of Mani. Cobalt’s only hope, at 12 minutes, seemed to rest in their ability to attack Eisa Tech Plant from a newly captured Eisa Mountain Pass. Connery sensed this vulnerability and launched a huge defense, sending their entire air force and pulling multiple armor groups. However, Cobalt didn’t pursue this method, and instead defended the northern and southern lanes until the end of the match.

All in all, Connery looked like it’s approach was 25% air, 75% infantry, and focused on the northern and southern facilities. Cobalt looked like it’s approach was 10% air, 10% vehicles, and 80% infantry, while they focused on taking the middle, defending the north, and attacking the south. It was a very fun match to watch. The average live twitch views were 400, and the ServerSmash event got a shoutout from the GamersSphere.com podcast #6! This 240v240 match broke records… and it was an absolute blast to see happen.

As a extra bit, Connery and Cobalt had a sky whale war over Eisa after the match ended, it was a good time. And what Cobalt didn’t know until after the match was that Connery had a secret weapon. His name was Radlock. Like Winston Churchill he gave a stirring speech, giving Connery a fiery will that burned all game. You can also hear his post-game concluding speech.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Daninator and PassionateLover organized the Cobalt server. Lanzer organized the Connery server, created the schedule/rules, created the intro video, the cointoss video, and was the host for the event. SteelDragon created the PS2 Pickup ServerSmash graphic. Fara and KidRiotfrom INIcast, in association with ReachCast, were commentators for the event. ScourgeOfTheServer helped balance the initial starting territory.

Connery vs Cobalt

Final territory

Match report