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Al Marj Encampment is a map featured in Battlefield V that was introduced in the Summer Update. It was first announced on April 23rd, 2020[1] and released on June 4th, 2020.[2]
The map is set in the town of Al Marj in the Barce region of Libya, which was captured by Australian troops from the Italian Army on February 5th, 1941 in the aftermath of Operation Compass. However, in-game the engagement is fought between members of the United States Armed Forces and Germany.
Overview[]
Al Marj Encampment is set within a sprawling North African city, its vast expanse of sandstone structures spread out over the face of a large hill, amidst the backdrop of a desolate mountain range. Houses are packed in tightly along the main road, connected by labyrinthine alleyways and courtyards, as are the larger community buildings such as the charming Spice Market and vine-adorned Town Well building. On its outskirts, the bustling city gives way to a series of narrow canyon passages, scorched sand dunes and a withering oasis, further varying its topography. At first glance one might assume the map is set centuries in the past, with the ancient city walls and towering central bastion implying a storied martial history - most recent of which is its occupation by Axis forces. The Germans have constructed a large airfield near its East Gate, as well as setting up checkpoints and fortifying positions throughout the City Limits. As a result the town must yet again become a battleground as US troops march south from the coast, while in the hazy skies above them, British Mosquito aircraft keep the Germans grounded for a one-on-one street battle.
With only light vehicles for support, Al Marj is foremost an infantry focused map with a classic, multi-lane based layout in the vein of Operation Underground, with design ideas further borrowed from Battlefield 1's Zeebrugge and Achi Baba.[3] While the map's aesthetic sets it apart from other urban maps like Rotterdam and Devastation, gameplay is resolutely fast and at close-quarters, with players battling for control of streets, buildings and corners as they fight from one objective to another. Despite this, Al Marj Encampment places less emphasis on destruction and Fortifications that any other map in game. Although most of the grand stone structures like the city walls are, as expected, indestructible, individual houses that are similar in model to those that appear on other maps cannot be consistently destroyed. The same is true of Fortifications, with the relatively few opportunities for building concentrated almost exclusively around objectives.
As for objectives, Al Marj is unique as the only map in Battlefield V to have multiple possible flag layouts within the same multiplayer gamemode - Conquest has two alternative objective layouts, while Domination/Team Deathmatch has three. Breakthrough also deviates from the standard gamemode ruleset by introducing Conquest Assault spawn rules in the final sector.
Flag Layout[]
Control Point | 5-Flag Conquest | 4-Flag Conquest | Breakthrough | Squad Conquest | Domination |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
US Deployment | |||||
Village Ruins | 1A | ||||
West Gate Pass | 1C | ||||
Canyon | A | A | 1A | 1B | |
Town Well | B | B | 2A | A | |
Battery | C | 2B | B | 2B | |
Fortress (Old Fort) |
2A | ||||
Old Garden | D | C | 3A | C | 2C 3A |
Spice Market | E | D | 4A | 3B | |
Excavation Site | 4B | 3C | |||
German Deployment (Otto's Airfield) |
4C |
Conquest[]
In Conquest, matches on Al Marj Encampment can vary between a four and a five flag setup. The four flag version has the objectives arranged in a generally linear formation across the length of the town. The additional fifth flag is located around the center of the map, outside the city walls on its southwest side.
In the four flag version, each side starts with 450 tickets; with five flags it is 600. Vehicle loadouts are the same in both versions.
Equipment[]
USA | |
Light vehicle(s) |
1 GPW |
Half-track(s) |
1 M3 |
Germany | |
Light vehicle(s) | |
Half-track(s) |
Deployments[]
US Deployment[]
The US team, whose base is at the northern end of the map, have a choice of two deployment points. Their primary spawn is to the west in a dry River Bed in the Waterfall area. The faction's light vehicles spawn here which, with the riverbed serving as a roadway across almost the entire length of the map, can be used to bypass the town center objectives by driving outside the city walls. The GPW variant used on this map is the unarmed four-seater version.
The secondary spawn point, the Upper Canyons, is directly north of the Canyon capture point, linked via a couple of narrow passages. While this secondary point can give the US team a slight territory advantage by allowing them to reach the town objectives first, the terrain around this flag can make a breakout difficult if the Canyon flag is captured by the enemy. Furthermore, the US have a smaller number of light vehicles than the Germans, limiting more ambitious starting round pushes.
Ammo and Health stations can be found at either spawn location.
German Deployment[]
The Germans have a singular deployment point at the southeastern edge of the map at Otto's Airfield, a moderately sized airstrip and encampment just outside the city limits. The team's light vehicles all spawn next to the main gate, with the two roads out of the base leading either northeast and around the city exterior, or directly north and uphill to Spice Market. The area is considerably more open than the US deployment but with a generous team boundary that prevents enemy players from seeing into the base from most angles. Despite this, a Stationary MG34 is set up on the north side to deter long-range attacks made from the southern extremities of the Battery flag.
Ammo and Health stations are positioned alongside the vehicles near the gate.
Flags[]
Canyon[]
The Canyon objective can be found on the north side of the map between the US spawn and Town Well. The capture radius makes up the majority a large, circular canyon surrounded on all sides by tall cliffs. The terrain tapers downwards from the rocky ledges of the so-called Upper Canyon areas, located against the north and east cliff walls, to the flat canyon bottom where a small campsite is located. Along with the intermediate height Middle Canyon on the northwest side, this means there are several vantage points from which to view the capture zone.
The tall crags of the adjacent areas and the winding narrow routes between them means that there are five entrances into the capture area, with the two northernmost routes only available to the US team. Although defenders can be attacked from virtually all sides the limited number of passages into the box canyon can be effective for keeping control of the flag, with the high ground further capable of being reinforce with stationary HMGs.
The flag spawns a light vehicle when captured. Ammo and Health stations are located in the campsite, by the parked trucks near the flag itself.
Town Well[]
The Town Well is just inside the northern city walls, adjacent to one of two main gates into the city, as well as the Main Street that links each gate end-to-end. The flag is concentrated around an oblong pavilion, only partially enclosed due to the large arches cut out of the walls. Inside the structure, the floor is slightly below street level, with the foundations providing some cover from the outside when crouched, however the destroyed roof means the area is unprotected from grenades or Sector Artillery. In the centre of the pavilion is the well itself - covered with an iron grate to prevent players from falling in and trapping themselves.
The area around the flag is some of the most open terrain found within the city limits, with the main road separating the capture zone from nearby buildings, which includes the Old Fortress to the southeast. Ammo and Health can be retrieved from outside the Town Well building on its north side. A light vehicle spawns across the road to the south once the point is secured.
Battery[]
The Battery flag is located in the map center, outside the southern wall. It consists of a fortified anti-tank battery built onto a series of low rocky cliffs, orientated south towards the River Bed and Sand Dunes. A shallow trench, dug parallel to the exterior roadway, links a number of netted fighting positions housing unusable flak cannons. The flag provides good sightlines against the external city approaches, especially the route between Canyons and Town Well, and can be used to enable friendly or block enemy flanking actions using the roadway. Despite this, the fortifications are generally too shallow to provide much cover, and the position lies in near full enfilade from the adjacent roadway. The flag can also be approached by following the River Bed on the southern edge of the map, as players are hidden from Battery by a semi-continuous ridge. Health and Ammo stations are located next to the flag itself.
This flag only appears as an objective in the five flag version of Conquest.
Old Garden[]
The Old Garden objective is on the south side of town. The opposite ends of its capture zone borders both the exterior roadway and the interior Main Street. A public leisure area, the Garden is split by elevation into the Lower and Upper Garden areas, with the Main Street dividing the two. This Conquest objective is concentrated on the Lower Garden, which consists of a semi-enclosed stepped park, walled off at its sides but with large open archways at both the top and bottom confines. Aside from a few shrubs and dark corners to hide in, the flag offers very little cover inside the capture zone. A neutral GPW spawns on the roadway next to this flag, regardless of capture status.
North of the flag and across the street, the Upper Gardens overlook the Lowers from atop a stone staircase. The large stone archways provide the majority of cover here, as well as housing the flag's resupply stations.
Spice Market[]
The Spice Market is near the northeast map boundary, separated from the German deployment by the East Gate and from Old Garden by a tightly-knit residential block known as the Hillside Homes. The Market structure is similar to the one at Town Well, being a sturdy square hall with an open roof, but larger and with fewer entrances. Although one big room, the space is separated by a number of stone pillars, broken walls and awnings that can be stood on top of. The area is also visually cluttered by hanging fabrics and rugs, displays of decorative pottery, and market stalls stocked with baskets and barrels full of spices that explode in vibrant-colored clouds when shot. This confusion offers defenders a number of advantages, however for every dark corner offered for defenders to hide in, of which there are many, there are an equal number of entry points for attackers. For those wanting to avoid the street entrance, there are four other smaller entryways along the length of the hall, as well as several boarded-up sections of crumbing wall which can be climbed through from the east side.
The flag's Ammo and Health stations are found in the southeast corner of the hall, near a watermelon stand. A light vehicle spawns on the road outside the main entrance once the flag is captured.
Breakthrough[]
In Breakthrough, the US face a tense battle for the capture of Al Marj and the German airbase beyond. Although weathered by time, the city's grand outer walls were expressly designed to resist a classic siege scenario. For the Americans, lacking in tanks, aircraft and heavy bombardment, this is the only plan of attack available to them - a head-on infantry assault spanning four phases, with 350 tickets to achieve victory.
Sector 1[]
In the first sector, the US attack out of their split Conquest spawns at Waterfall and Upper Canyon, advancing on the first line of defense around the northern city outskirts. Objective A is located within the Canyon area, while objective B is by the riverbed to the west, around the Village Ruins. The Canyon flag can act as a substantial bottleneck for attackers, as they are forced through only one of two narrow passes each with a blind corner at the end. The passages emerge completely exposed in front of strong elevated positions of the east side of the canyon, which includes a buildable stationary machine gun. Furthermore, as both passages are beside one another, defenders can concentrate all there strength in a single direction so long as their other objective is held.
Forcing the Canyon flag using the direct approach is likely to incur significant casualties, but a breakthrough is possible via a dedicated push, supported by liberal use of smoke, made before the enemy can become entrenched. However in most cases, capturing the Village Ruins objective first is safer, and can open up the two eastern passageways into Canyon and putting additional pressure on defenders. Old Village is a small ruined settlement build onto the slope of the eastern riverbank. In addition to the large cover and slight height advantage provided by the position, relative to the mostly exposed and flat approach of the River Bed available to the US team, the capture zone is quite large, covering virtually all structures within the settlement, which can make it quite difficult to clear, however if captured the Germans face their own difficult advance along the open exterior roadway when counterattacking.
In this and all subsequent sectors, the US team are allocated one unarmed GPW and an M3 Half-track. In spite of the urban terrain, these vehicles can be useful for speeding past enemy strongpoints or acting as a mobile spawn point.
Sector 2[]
In sector two, the two objectives are located at the Village Well and Battery, respectively. The US face similar terrain adversity in this sector, with the Village Well advance being made through the confined Lower Canyon towards built-up enemy defenses. Despite being a partial ruin, the city walls surrounding the Well can act as chokepoints for attackers. The Battery objective, while isolated and less thoroughly reinforced, is situated on high ground that overlooks cover-devoid approaches of Canyon Outskirts and the roadway.
Sector 3[]
Having definitively breached the city's outer walls, combat is concentrated on capturing the town center and its singular objective - the Old Garden. Compared to Conquest, the capture radius is larger, spanning both the Upper and Lower Garden areas. This gives defenders options from where they may defend from, although by this point the US advance is more substantially covered, with a number of houses and walled compounds lying adjacent to the Main Street that can be leapfrogged between to close the distance.
An emplaced MG34 HMG is set up on the exterior roadway.
Sector 4[]
In the final phase, the US must capture and hold three flags simultaneously, located at the Spice Market, Excavation Site and Otto's Airfield. In this sector, the Germans have no main spawn similar to Conquest Assault, and must therefore keep flags under their control to continually reinforce. The Germans are further allocated one Sd. Kfz 251 halftrack, available from the airfield flag.
The Spice Market is largely the same as in Conquest, with attackers having to clear out the singular structure. The Hillside Homes surrounding the flag can hide players from either side - the lower destruction level of the map can make each one a fortress if heavily reinforced, with a number housing buildable HMG positions.
The Excavation Site is found just outside the wall near the East Gate. Low fortifications and covered-up flak positions surround a archaeological dig site, with the pit acting as shallow omnidirectional cover for those inside. Its location along the exterior roadway allows it to be assaulted by vehicles, although it too is covered by a sandbag bunker housing a Stationary MG34.
Otto's Airfield is at the far eastern end of the map, and the largest of the three capture zones. Surrounded by wire fences and defended by watchtowers, several HMG positions and at least one Pak 40, the majority of cover provided by this flag is the large number of barrack huts aligned along the main road, along with the occasional supply cache or sandbag wall. Both teams have ample places they can influence capture from, although those closest to the flag itself, i.e. the most influential on traction, are generally lacking in cover. With nowhere else to go, defenders will spawn directly in the middle of this flag even if it is being neutralized - presenting a final opportunity for holding the objective, and a potential surprise for attackers.
If the US manage to capture these last objectives, they win the match, and the Axis lose yet one more stronghold in Libya.
Squad Conquest[]
Squad Conquest predominantly takes place across the northern side of the city. The built up area means combat is mostly limited to close range, although select areas like the Main Street as well as around Battery are more open. Teams start with 160 tickets, and no vehicles are available.
Deployments[]
US Deployment[]
The US deployment is located within the Lower Canyons, in the narrow passes between the smaller bluffs directly bordering the bowl Canyon to the south. The team is funnelled uphill past the West Gate on their route into Town Well, which can be a potential bottleneck if the area is actively defended. Teams can also follow the main road directly to Battery.
German Deployment[]
The German deployment is within the Hillside Homes map location of the Southern City. Their spawn area is very close to Old Garden and although blocked from direct line of sight by walls, the upper storeys of said Homes can be used to project fire onto the Garden flag if it is seized by the enemy. They can alternatively breakout by heading through gaps in the city walls to the southwest.
Flags[]
A: Town Well[]
The Town Well objective is found in the map's north. Compared to the German proximity to Old Garden, the Americans have a longer journey to reach this flag, but have a shorter route to Battery. The objective can be hard to defend due to the may openings in the structure surrounding the Well itself.
B: Battery[]
The area around the Battery objective, found outside the city walls to the southwest, offers the most clear sightlines of the map and virtually the only opportunities for long-range combat. Holding this objective can effectively lock down the exterior portion of the map by preventing flanks along the southern dunes. However, while difficult to approach the general lack of cover within the capture zone can limit the capacity of the team to hold said objective.
C: Old Garden[]
In Squad Conquest, the Old Garden objective is instead concentrated on the Upper Garden map location with a capture zone that includes the stairway up to the high ground as well as the columned ruins below it. Atop the hill, the area is generally lacking in cover aside from a waist-high stone walls and while it offers good sightlines over the low ground approaches to the north and west, the split level layout of the capture zone can offer a hiding spot against defenders on the high ground.
Domination[]
Like Conquest, Domination on Al Marj Encampment is unique it that there are three possible layouts for the map.
Layout 1[]
This version takes place in the north of the map, and includes the areas adjacent to the Canyon as well as the northern town outskirts.
A: Village Ruins[]
The Village ruins objective covers most of the buildings within the Old Village map location, except for those bordering the roadway on its eastern edge.
B: Canyon[]
The Canyon flag is located in the middle of the open Canyon area, close to the northern map edge. The capture zone is a bit smaller than in Conquest.
C: West Gate Pass[]
The West Gate pass is directly northwest of the Village Well area, and is based around a crumbled section of the city wall cuts directly through the center of the capture zone, considerably blocking line of sight.
Layout 2[]
In this version the objectives are concentrated within the center of town, although players can still move along the sand dunes outside of the wall as a means of avoiding deadlocks.
A: Old Fort[]
The Fortress objective is located on the north side of the play area. It consists of a large square fortress adorned with German banners, with an interior courtyard with ornate columns at its edges. The interior can be reached through the main entrance on the south side, or a breach in the eastern wall. The capture zone generally conforms to the building floor plan.
B: Battery[]
The Battery objective is positioned to the south overlooking the western dunes.
C: Old Garden[]
The Old Garden flag has a capture zone concentrated on the stepped Upper Garden near the city wall, comparable to its Conquest radius and placement.
Layout 3[]
Layout three takes place on the southern edge of town, with objectives found within the urban areas. Although the Airfield is inaccessible, areas outside the walls like the Excavation Site, Watchtower and Battery are within the play area.
A: Old Garden[]
In this layout, the Old Garden objective is concentrated on the Lower Garden area.
B: Spice Market[]
The Spice Market objective is in the southeastern corner of the play area.
C: Excavation Site[]
The Excavation Site is in the southwestern sector. Its large capture zone encompasses the excavation pit as well as a portion of the broken city walls to its east.
Team Deathmatch[]
Team Deathmatch can use the same map boundaries of any of the Domination layouts.
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- The map's internal name is MP_Libya.
- Al Marj Encampment was originally designed for the cancelled 5v5 gamemode, however it did not release alongside the other maps intended for the mode, Lofoten Islands and Provence, during Defying The Odds.
- To the west of the Excavation Site, players can dig up T-Rex skull using the Toolkit. Standing on the skull are replicas of the T-Rex toy carried by Jonathan Miller from Battlefield 3.