Map Control

In Dawn of War, holding the map leads to increased resources. This in turn allows you to more effectively hold the map. This pressing advantage leads more defensive strategies to center on map denial, to remove the ability to secure an advantage on you. Before we go onto that though, the article will talk about map control.

Economic gains
Critical Locations provide larger gains in the mod. A critical location now gives you almost the same economy as an additional listening post. Let us say you're on Blood River and hold an equal number strategic points and hold your relic, you would have: As can be seen at a glance, Critical Locations now represent an even larger proportion of your income. As Critical Locations do not require a Listening Post (an upfront capital cost which requires a return on investment over time), taking and denying Critical Locations provides an immediate benefit.
 * 4x Strategic Point: +24
 * 1x Relic: +6
 * 5x Listening Post (one for each of the above): +30
 * 1x HQ:

Over time economic sources decay. Critical Locations are no different. Decay, however, resets each time a point is de-captured and captured. As this happens frequently to Critical Locations, decay is unlikely to impact them. Hence, as the gets longer holding Critical Locations grows in importance.

Capture rates
Capturing the map is a hasty affair, as it can be done in short order. As you will see in later articles, most timings (such as for research) take 30 seconds which leads to a more consistent feel for time in the game. That feeling for time in the game can lead to a strategic edge. In Soulstorm the timings are very inconsistent. As the objectives now take a more similar time to capture, it is possible to be unpredictable in your capture order without hampering your economy.

Units that can Jump, such as Assault Marines, capture points at an accelerated rate; This is consistent across all races. All other units that can capture will do so at the standard rate.

Gameplay effects
Killing enemy low population units undermines the enemies' ability to re-take the map swiftly. Also, players can rely more on high population cost units at a strategic cost.
 * The reduction of capture rates encourages aggressive play, as it is now faster to take and re-take portions of the map.
 * As objectives take There is more leeway to be less predictable in your capture order.
 * Being decapture harassed delays your ability to contest the map.
 * Races find it easier or more difficult to secure different parts of the map, so The economy is more closely balanced between all of the matchups, regardless of capture order.
 * Many capping orders are balanced There is more predictability in how many points you have, regardless of capture order.

The rate at which players capture points is now primarily a function of:
 * Movement speed
 * Distance between points (larger maps or those with more points are easier to decapture harass).
 * Unit type (jumpers capture faster than grunts)