Empire's Edge

Empire's Edge is a map featured in Battlefield 1. The map takes place during the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, where the Italian army pushes back the Austro-Hungarian soldiers to the Adriatic Coast in the final Italian offensive of 1918. It features significant emphasis on naval and air combat with both vehicles and aircraft being available for both sides on this map.

Behemoth
The map's Behemoth is the Dreadnought. Scattered around the map are coastal gun batteries that may be used to combat the Dreadnought. It is countered by torpedo boats which spawn in for both sides on either side of the map.

Control Points
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Operations
Empire's Edge is the second and last map in Iron Walls in Operations. It, like the preceding Monte Grappa, follows an Italian, this time along the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Air, armor, naval and cavalry support are present but their availability is dependent on the faction and sector.

Sector 1 - Hill 201
The first line of Austro-Hungarian defense is Hill 201. Hill 201 has two objectives: (A) Villa Stefano, a foritifed Italian villa located inland, and (B) the Stefano Battery, a coastal artillery bunker equipped with a Fortress Gun.

The Italians begin their assault with two tanks, two planes and two cavalrymen, while the Austro-Hungarians receive no additional support.

Sector 2 - The Two Villas
When the Italians break through the Hill 201 defenses, there will be a soft valley containing Villa Martinelli and Villa Falconi, Objectives A and B respectively. Neither are heavily fortified, unlike the previous sector's Villa Stefano. However, the Austro-Hungarians do receive their first tank and air support at this sector.

Sector 3 - il Castello
After breaking through the villa defenses, the Italians then must assault the Castello, which is broken into three parts: (A) The Castello Gate, (B) The Castello Alto, and (C) The Castello Battery. The Castello Gate and the Castello Alto are linked by a long stone bridge over a shallow depression on the ridge, allowing easy access between the two points. The Castello Alto, with its high towers, overlooks a majority of the map and gives the Austro-Hungarian defenders a commanding view of this sector and the previous sector as well. The Castello Battery is a heavily fortified small island to the south connected by a similar stone bridge. The Battery's capture zone extends out into the water allowing M.A.S. Torpedo Boats to capture the point, and most of the structures and other cover on the island are destructible, making it not a very defensible position. Additionally, there is another Fortress gun bunker to the southwest of the Castello Alto but it is not associated with an objective.

The Austro-Hungarian defenders get an additional plane at this sector, bringing the number to two, and both sides receive a Torpedo boat.

Sector 4 - The Benetti Farm
After storming the Castello, there's one more villa to capture, the (A) Villa Benetti. A small ruined building, the (B) Benetti Tower Ruins, serve as the second objective for this sector. Both points suffer from a lack of defensible positions and are very visible from the new Italian positions at the Castello.

Once the Castello is secure, the Italians will lose their Cavalry support.

Sector 5 - Coastal Fortress
The final sector of this map, and of the operation, is the Coastal Fortress. It comprises the (B) Stella Fortress, an 18th century star fort apparently modernized with fortress guns, and the outlying (A) Bastion serving as the guard point and main point of access to the fortress. In addition to the direct route through the Bastion, there are multiple ways for the Italians to flank the fortress. The overland route to the north gate avoids most of the fortress' kill zones, but is vulnerable to flanking from the Austro-Hungarian spawn point. The fortress can also be flanked from the south, either along the coast or by using M.A.S. Torpedo Boats. The Stella Fortress capture point includes most of the northern part of the courtyard as well as the central two-story redoubt.

Historical Accuracy
Despite being based of the historical Battle of Vittorio Veneto, this map depicts a fictitious encounter between the Italian army and the army of Austria-Hungary. The coastal advance of the Italian Third Army along the coast of the Adriatic was unchecked by the Austro-Hungarians; their Fifth Army had already collapsed by the time the Italians crossed the Piave. Additionally, the coastal areas of Veneto are soft plains that end in sandy beaches and lagoons rather than the rocky cliffs depicted in this map, nor were there any coastal fortifications in the region. It is likely that this map was originally intended to depict the Italian Eighth Army's push to the city of Vittorio, but was changed early in its development to incorporate the Dreadnought Behemoth.