Dead Rail

Dead Rail is a map in World of Tanks Blitz. Dead Rail is the first winter map and is one of 6 original maps in Blitz, the others being Falls Creek, Rockfield, Fort Despair, Copperfield, and Middleburg. Combat primarily rages on in the valley and the mountain. Heavy tanks generally take the valley while mediums and lights generally take the mountain. Tank destroyers may choose to sit back and snipe, but can also take a more active role on either flank, or take the town.

## Notes

* Usually the team that takes control of the mountain wins the battle
* The valley has a far side and the hill side
* There is a town on the hill side of the valley, however you are prone to crossfires from both flanks and there is almost nothing saving you from crossfires originating from the mountain
* Attempting to retake control of the mountain is hard, as players on the mountain can shoot at you almost everywhere they please. Not even the train carts will save the team if the enemy is lucky or has an accurate gun to shoot through the gaps

## Strategy

### Mountain

As stated earlier, the mountain is a major deciding factor in determining who wins the battle. On both ends there is a hill with bushes close to the foot of the mountain that allows tank destroyers to snipe. There is a single more sharply raised hill on the main mountain. It can either serve as cover or allow you to take a side-scraping position. There are also two rocks on either side; these are important as they serve as cover.

Be wary of pushing too far forward. There are two alternate routes that go from the town area up towards the mountain, and you can get hit from there. Tanks can come up from here and become a problem quickly. If you can't dislodge them then you or an ally will be forced to go take care of them. While these alternate sides are shielded by rocks and are largely sniper-proof, the only way for them to fire shells is to poke out.

While this is usually the medium and light tank flank, due to the importance of mountain control some heavies and/or assault tank destroyers (e.g. T110E3 and Minotauro) may try to take mountain control with their mediums and/or lights. In the event that this happens, either try to push through valley side or whittle down the enemy's most mobile tanks present at the flank or take out the heavies/assault TDs.

There is no single strategy for trying to take or hold mountain control. Sometimes, even when a team has mountain control, they still lose the battle, such as Supremacy mode capture point loss or being suddenly stormed by all tanks.

### Valley

The valley is where most heavy tanks, some sniper and support TDs, and more heavily armored assault TDs go. Hull-down tanks fight for the ridge while using rocks as cover while side-scrapers and peek-a-boom take the lower valley. On both sides there are two hills, these hills serve as hull-down cover for some tanks (e.g. WZ-113G FT) and are sometimes considered to be annoying to deal with. Even further back, there are hills where sniper TDs go. The strategy here is to simply not rush, as pushing too far outward without cover exposes you to sniper positions. Even if it gets you early spots (unless if it's Uprising or Gravitizing and your tank has Time Jump, even then you need to be quick with Time Jump) your vehicle will likely get spotted and will either be crippled or destroyed by the TDs and slower heavies.

Most battles end somewhat like the following:

1. One side is bled out from the sheer attrition of the enemy team and loses control of valley
2. Medium and/or light tanks win control of the mountain and sweep through the flank and set up crossfires for their team's sniper TDs. Assuming they don't get destroyed, the enemy will be forced to redirect their attention to the faster vehicles and may even be destroyed
3. One side decides to rush the enemy flank. This either results in the opposing team being caught off-guard and a swift victory is achieved, or the team that rushed them is destroyed as they are pummeled with a variety of shells
4. A group of vehicles, usually medium and light tanks, though heavy tanks that can side-scrape can go here too, decide to go for the rails and town area. While it is possible to shoot through the train and train cars, it's difficult to do so. Side-scrapers are capable of using the buildings to their advantage. While it doesn't necessarily secure a victory, it can make any enemy that tries poking through the most direct way to the opposite flank get hit with shells

Usually scenarios 1 and 2 are the most common, since mediums and lights go to the mountain and heavies go to the valley. Mountain positions cannot hit the entirety of the valley due to the presence of buildings and rocks. The far side of the valley is also largely immune to snipers positioned on the mountain. Due to how open the valley is, from both spawns it is possible to blindshot (hitting an unspotted enemy) snipers from spawn. The most common sniper positions for the valley are in both spawns, that is being a rock with a bush and a small hill with a bush to the left or right depending on where you spawn. There is a likelihood that if a player shoots one of these positions, then they can potentially hit a tank.

For heavies at the front, the ridge-line serves as hull-down cover with a rock as cover. On the lower end away from the town, there is an area where hull-down vehicles can push a little more forward and shoot at other hull-down heavies or shoot at rushing tanks from below. While it isn't the most secure position due to the hill ending where heavies can poke the corner to fire at you, it can still decide the course of battle. Do not attempt without knowing where are least one of the enemy's sniper TDs are, since it's easy to get shot in this position.

The general idea on Dead Rail is to think and play cautiously. Direct your team to where you want to go and prepare for the worst. Again, securing the mountain can decide the battle, since snipers get a wide view and a push is possible into the enemy's spawn.

### Supremacy Mode

The bases are located at the mountain, in the town, and the last one is in the valley. If you are in a fairly mobile tank, then when all of your allies are destroyed, you can run around and keep yourself unspotted while capturing the bases. Most of the fighting is at the mountain and valley base, so securing Base B can be important. Later on, if a team has slower vehicles and the last enemy is a faster one, then usually the enemy team wins due to the map's geography, unless if the team has at least 3 somewhat fair health vehicles remaining.

## Trivia

* Map loading music is part of Mannerheim Line (Intro).