Tactical (Taco) Tuesday: Power Plant

Fellow pilots,
Tuesday is a good day for tacos to talk tactics, and the venerable Power Plant map is our subject.  It's roughly symmetrical, has ground level cover from buildings, and allows for some long-range and aerial attacks.  Remember that 3-2 beacon games only last seven minutes!



Teams spawn either across from each other with ALPHA and BRAVO in between, or behind the mounds adjacent to CHARLIE with the enemy team opposite at one of the planetarium-looking places at ECHO or DELTA.

The "beach spawn" (opposite ALPHA and BRAVO) is straightforward - grab your home beacon, and win the brawl over A and B.  Because these two beacons are so close together but on different levels, a jumping robot has an advantage, and can exploit the natural cover.

Here, a HeyChee waits for prey to come around the towers.


Don't forget about the space behind the beached boat - it is a great spot for Rogatka or Hover.  Flanking opportunities abound at CHARLIE, because it's such a hike from home.  One of the U's favorite YouTube tacticians, Professor SOLVM, has an instructive video about this permutation.

The mound/observatory "hill" spawn points are much harder to win from, because your enemy has better access to ALPHA and BRAVO.  If you are lucky, as in the below, do as suggested in the "beach spawn" (grab A, B, and home) and hold on.

Me holding on ... the enemy can try for BRAVO, DELTA, or a long flank to ALPHA down by the boat.

The question becomes how to you win from the hills.  Your enemy will grab A and B, and you will have to dislodge them somewhere.  It's helpful to think in terms of area control, and now your job becomes to control the area around the main towers.  You want to hurt your enemy bad and force them to defend both one "observatory" beacon and BRAVO.  It's like Springfield: if you spawn "up" on the structure, you force your enemy to get across the riverbed.  If you spawn "down" in the riverbed, you force your enemy to go up on the structure and fight for those beacons. 

What not to do:

Again, take a look at Professor SOLVM:

If you see the enemy bunched, you can work your way toward ALPHA (far left in this picture).  Hover, or any of the fast runners, is a good choice.  No matter what you pick, use the cover if possible.  

The "hill" spawning team has to wrench a third beacon from red somewhere - use your battlefield awareness to make the best decision about where.

• If you have brawlers, work the sides of the towers to make a decision between BRAVO and an observatory beacon.
• If you have speed left in the hangar (consider saving a beacon runner for last), you may be able to attack ALPHA with BRAVO as a secondary target.
• If you only have long-range remaining, you may need to cap a beacon.  Consider walking forward from the hills to be ready.

Hope this is helpful, and enjoy your tacos tactical advantage on Power Plant!
Yours truly,
Professor Yat


Faculty Notes

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