The third edition of The Way of the Spy takes a slightly different direction than the previous entries. The Way of the Spy is a series that focuses on locations within maps that spies should notice. Part 1 was a spy path in cp_fastlane that let you travel halfway across the map while remaining cloaked, setting up a good strike. Part 2 was a prowling location on cp_dustbowl that let a spy harass the enemy rear and keep engies at bay. This edition is about a deathtrap on pl_goldrush that can be set up by a single engineer.
I noticed this deathtrap when playing this map earlier tonight in a 12 v 12 match. A single engie had set up a forward defense on stage 1 that almost completely stopped me from getting behind enemy lines and harassing the enemy players as they were moving around. In this scenario, I was on defense and the engineer was on offense. It only becomes very useful to do this once the payload cart is well past the first control point…
The entrance to the death trap
Once the cart is in this location, the majority of defending players will be in the area around the RED spawn room, focusing on the tunnel, the doorway to the right of the cart, and the windows above and to the left of the cart. Every enemy except the spy, that is – the spy will be trying to move through the tunnel and into enemy territory to harass the rear of the offensive forces. This tunnel is the only path from the RED spawn area to the large area between BLU spawn and the first control point. There are other ways for BLU players to move forward, but no other ways for RED to push past and into the enemy rear. This bottleneck is easily defended by a single sentry.
The engineer building setup
This sentry will not only cover RED soldiers, heavies, demomen and pyros from moving into enemy territory, but that dispenser next to it allows the engineer to bunker down in a very strong defense. The dispenser will keep the engie full of metal as he repairs while under fire, and will also keep him full on ammo as he randomly fires shotgun blasts into this tunnel.
The engineer's view
From this spot, the engineer only needs to spray shotgun blasts into the tunnel to cripple a spy. Should he hit the cloaked spy, he will cause the cloak to flicker, and can easily follow up with the kill (or nearby allies can jump in to finish the spy off). Even if the spy is wise to this plan, while waiting for an opening (the engie has to reload his shotgun sooner or later), precious cloak time is lost. Not only is cloak time lost, but this tunnel is the focus of frantic action – the kind of action no spy wants to be in.
As a spy, I was crippled by this simple setup. I rarely managed to get by the engineer without losing so much of my cloak, I had to uncloak in the front lines, which is very risky. Even if he never caught me, he hindered my movement so thoroughly as to make me useless.
My team still won this match and defended until time ran out, but I was little help to the effort. Kudos to the engineer who set this up, and I recommend other engies try this defensive tactic to keep spies at bay. Even though I did occasionally get by, and even once disabled this nest, I was quickly killed and before I could make my next incursion, he had set the defense up again.
As a spy, I can’t really think of a counter to this, so if any of you can think of a counter (or better yet, point out an alternate route I was unable to find), please let me know.