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This item has a Codex entry: Le Château
"Join the final offensives along the Meuse River in 1918. Here, fierce fighting in trench lines is quickly replaced by the untouched beauty beyond hell. A massive French chateau, previously home to officers beyond the rear lines, is now the scene for a battle with both tanks and flamethrowers. The chandeliers are shaking from the barrage as the American forces push for the final railway hub at the edge of this map."

— Official website description

Ballroom Blitz is a map featured in Battlefield 1.[1] The map takes place during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of late 1918, where US Forces sought to break the German supply lines by overrunning the railway network at Sedan. The fight reaches a French Château, previously serving as officer's quarters behind the line, which serves as the map's focal point.

Overview[]

Next to the Meuse river stands a palatial château, a grand structure of white stone that lies at the heart of an extensive, equally opulent estate. Gravel pathways run between the neat gardens, connecting to split-level leisure areas and paved plazas, each adorned with statues and decorative masonry. High walls and gateposts form the outer perimeter of the estate grounds, beyond which lies more uneven ground. On the northwestern side is a rail station at one end of a bridge over the river. On the opposite side are recently fortified trench lines, an indication that American troops will soon be pushing through the region.

The Château interior has several indoor areas that can be entered by infantry. The exterior walkway that surrounds the southern Courtyard offers a good view over the remainder of the map, although its large size makes it contestable.

Behemoth[]

The Behemoth is the Airship L30.

Control Points[]

show/hide


Control Point Conquest Domination Rush Operations Frontlines
US Deployment BF1 United States Icon
Crownprince's Trench BF1 United States Icon 1A 1A
Brandenburg Trench 1B 1B
Servants' Quarters A 2A 2A
LaCroix Pond B 2B
LaCroix Battery 2B
West Gate 3A
Hallway A
Courtyard B 3A 3B
Ballroom C BF1 Sentry Icon C 3B BF1 Flame Trooper Icon 3C
North Garden D 4 4A
Railway Hub E 5 4B BF1 Flame Trooper Icon
German Deployment BF1 German Empire Icon

Conquest[]

Teams battle over five flags, with the ballroom as the center flag. The low amount of transport vehicles, none of which are provided by flag capture, make the battle primarily infantry focused, with the château interior, and outlying areas of Servants' Quarters and Railway Hub lending themselves to well to infantry engagements. However, the open ground between the objectives allows tanks and aircraft to roam about the estate.

Equipment[]

BF1 United States Icon United States of America
Light vehicle(s)

2 Horses
1 F.T Armored Car

Tank(s)

2 FT-17/Mark V/A7V/Artillery Truck/St Chamond/Putilov-Garford

Fixed-wing aircraft

2 SPAD S.XIII/A.E.F 2-A2/Caproni Ca.5/Ilya-Muromets

BF1 German Empire Icon German Empire
Light vehicle(s)

2 Horses
1 EV4 Armored Car

Tank(s)

2 FT-17/Mark V/A7V/Artillery Truck/St Chamond/Putilov-Garford

Fixed-wing aircraft

2 Dr.1/Halberstadt CL.II/Gotha G.IV/Ilya-Muromets

Deployments[]

US Deployment[]

The US starts on the last stretch of shelled trenches on the approach to the château perimeter. Their base is alongside a road leading past the Servants' Quarters up to the château's south Courtyard, from map's southeastern edge beside the fortifications of Crownprince's Trench.

German Deployment[]

The Germans deploy from a set of fairly open riverside meadows on the northwest side of the map. Their roads forward takes them past the Railway Hub and North Garden towards the northwest gate into the château's inner courtyard.

Flags[]

Servants' Quarters[]

A walled and gated compound located beside the road on the map's southeast side was the former residence of the château's domestic staff. The area has been subject to bombardment, leaving only the buildings facing the road still standing - the inner longhouse has been gutted and remains only a smouldering debris. Some of the surviving buildings, which includes three bungalows and one three-storey house, have had walls and roofs caved in, but these structures still offer the best available concealment in the objective area. The adjoining courtyard to the immediate west falls outside the capture zone. Across the road to the north, a tall bank separates this area from the artillery battery at LaCroix Pond.

An FK 96 sits by the gate on the main road outside the three storey house, while an QF 1 AA is emplaced inside the compound between the intact and burnt-out buildings.

LaCroix Pond[]

On the low ground outside the château's east wall is a paved area surrounding two manmade ponds. The leisure area is lined with ivy-covered walls and decorative pedestals, as well as a number of heavy artillery guns awaiting limber. A split-level plaza is found between the two ponds. This and the western pond fall within the capture radius of this objective. The well-spaced plaza lacks much in sturdy cover and the multitude of adorning walls do not survive much punishment. The artillery guns and corner statues prove more resilient, although their protection is still only directional as the area is surrounded to the west and south by high ground.

A heavy machine gun on a shielded carriage is set up in the central plaza, oriented toward the manor house Courtyard.

Ballroom[]

The map's centerpiece, the château is split into two main sections; the central building and the courtyard. The two areas are cut off from one another by side buildings and the column walkways around the courtyard. The complex has five portcullises that allow entry to vehicles - players must interact with the control for about ten seconds in order to raise the gate. The gate can instantly be lowered, destroying anything caught beneath.

On the south side is the courtyard, which consists of a large square yard surrounded on all sides by a two-storey walkway. Though barricaded and wired, the defenses can be torn down to allow ingress by infantry. Square planters and a central statue offer some interior cover and block sight between the four main entrances. Four field guns and two anti-aircraft guns are situated outside the Courtyard perimeter.

In the northern sector, the central building stands connected to the east wing of the manor by a corridor, and separated from the west wing by another open courtyard, with steps leading down to a smaller yard with a retractable gate at each end. The wings have many doors leading outside, and wall sections that can be blown open. In the west wing is a stairwell leading down towards the North Garden. A path along the riverside allows flanking around the château.

The capture zone itself is inside the Ballroom in the center of the courtyard, underneath the château's tall spire. The single, square room has glass conservatory doors around three of its exterior walls, with the east wall containing steps up to a split level terrace that looks out onto the ballroom, and connects to the east wing corridor. The Ballroom interior has been converted to a storage area, with piles of crates and stacked shelves lining the middle of the floor. A Sentry kit can be found at the Ballroom.

Two additional anti-aircraft guns and two more field guns can often be found in the triangle yard, beside the inoperable artillery guns, and can be used to defend the three vehicle entrances into the inner sanctum.

North Garden[]

West of the château is a large open plaza with gravel pathways crossing the grassy, undulating terrain that surrounds the central monument, the location of the capture zone. The plaza is bordered by walls on the north and south which separates the area from the adjacent Railway and partially blocks sight from the upper walkways of the Courtyard. The capture zone is otherwise quite exposed, although the raised oval platform the monument stands on is bordered by marble walls and statues, with the elevation changes in the surrounding area providing some modicum of cover.

Railway Hub[]

At the foot of a hill on the northwest side of the map is a train station and supporting buildings. Two sets of track and a siding are divided by a central platform, beside which stand an engine attached to a passenger train and a stationary line of goods wagons. These two sets of cars can give cover and concealment. Alongside the main platform are two buildings; a three-storey house and a one-storey, with a third building further back from the line to the north, outside the capture zone. Tall wooden walls run between the structure, forming enclosed back yards.

Stationary weapons are found at either end of the main platform. A QF 1 AA is positioned on the west side, and an FK 96 is located aside from the train engine on the east side.

Operations[]

Ballroom Blitz is the first map in Conquer Hell in Operations, where the Americans attempt to push back German defenders across four sectors.

Sector 1[]

Fighting begins in a series of zipper trenches at the southeast entrance to the estate. US Forces spawn in the third trench. The German Empire defends two positions in the first trench, and deploy from the ridgeline behind a tall brick wall. Objective A is the Crownprince's Trench at the southern end of the German line. It features a pillbox, behind which the trench enlarges to house a compartmentalized command post constructed of sandbags. The Brandenburg Trench is the northern position, with two more pillboxes at the wall beside a ruined house. The area is overlooked by another pillbox atop the ridge.

The trench lines and pillboxes have a number of heavy machine guns trained on the American deployment, as well as two field guns to the north and south of Brandenburg Trench. The US troops must cross the shelled landscape of no-man's-land and capture the German trenches. Alternate routes exist around the flanks, such as the forest south of Crownprince Trench and the riverside trenches north of Brandenburg.

The Americans bring two heavy vehicles into battle.

Sector 2[]

The Americans advance onto the château grounds to secure the Servants' Quarters and an artillery battery at LaCroix Pond. Of the two objectives, the Pond is considerably more open, isolated from neighbouring positions by exposed approaches, which can make attacking or counterattacking difficult. The Servants' Quarters has more covered approaches around the bombed forest and foothills to the east and west, but the capture zone is quite small, consisting only of the smaller courtyards on the west end of the area that houses a lone single storey building.

Though the château is mostly off-limits, defenders can take positions along the elevated walkway and the emplacements before it, which include a pair of QF 1 AA guns.

The Americans gain the support of a plane, while the Germans receive one tank and a plane. If Americans have their airship in action, the Germans will have another plane.

Sector 3[]

Fighting moves indoors as American forces aim to clear the Germans from the château, where they hold three positions. Objective A is known as the west gate, across from the main entrance into the château Courtyard. It consists of a sort of manmade trench, with higher ground foundations forming the walls to a wide, recessed passageway. Large planters in the passage give some cover for infantry, who otherwise have to watch the long lanes and attackers who may leap from above. Objective B is the south château Courtyard, which can only be captured from the lower ground, leaving those doing so exposed to fire from the encircling walkways. Objective C is in the Ballroom, requiring a close-quarters fight to control.

Sector 4[]

The main objective of the map is the railway station to the northwest of the château. A secondary objective at the North Garden provides a buffer for defenders. The two positions are relatively far apart from one another, secluded by a high wall and long hillside. Once the Americans control the high ground overlooking Railway Hub, it is unlikely the Germans can retake North Garden.

Upon securing the map, fighting moves to Argonne Forest, further along the railway.


Frontlines[]

Ballroom Blitz was be added to the Frontlines gamemode with the Lupkow Pass Update in August 2017. The five-flag layout roughly follows the same layout as in Conquest, centering on the Courtyard instead of the Ballroom.

US Base[]

The US telegraphs are located on the southeast side of the map, around Crownprince's Trench. One telegraph is outside the pillbox north of the road, the other is in the separate trench off the south side.

Servants' Quarters[]

Located amongst the half-ruined cluster of houses south of LaCroix Pond.

LaCroix Pond[]

The capture zone around LaCroix Pond is shifted westwards towards the manor house, with the flag now centered around the pond with a radius that extends to the lower portion of the stepped monument at the east end.

Courtyard[]

The Courtyard is the central objective in Frontlines. The capture zone includes the lower level walkway around the perimeter of the yard, but not the upper walkway.

Ballroom[]

Confined to the Ballroom interior to the direct north of the courtyard.

North Garden[]

Concentrated around the monument installation outside the chateau's west gate.

German Base[]

The German telegraphs are positioned around the northwest end of the map, within the Railway Hub. Of the two objectives, the first is downstairs in the three-storey house and the second is round the north side of the single floor station building.


Rush[]

The Americans attack five German sectors in Rush.

Sector 1[]

As in Operations, fighting begins in the trenches, with telegraphs at each end of the line beside pillboxes.

Sector 2[]

Attackers breach the wall and seek telegraphs at the LaCroix artillery battery and Servants' Quarters.

Sector 3[]

Defenders retreat to the château, with one telegraph in the Courtyard and another in the Ballroom.

Sector 4[]

Fighting returns to open ground. One telegraph stands at the North Garden plaza, and another along one of the low passages leading from the West Gate.

Sector 5[]

Having pushed all the way to the railway, attackers head for the final telegraphs along the train platform and in the ground floor of the two-story building.


Domination[]

In Domination, fighting is generally confined to the château ground, although large pathways around the exterior perimeter allows players to bypass indoor areas and inner courtyards. A full circuit is not possible however as the north side of the château past the northeast and northwest portcullises is inaccessible.

Hallway[]

Ballroom Blitz Domination Hallway

The Hallway objective is found at the south end of a corridor in the east wing of the chateau that connects the Ballroom, east entrances and lower courtyard walkway. At the point around the objective, the corridor widens out to twice the width, resulting in corners in which to hide when capturing the zone. Otherwise, the area provides little cover due to entrances and windows on three sides, and thin central pillars that cannot fully conceal a person behind them.

Courtyard[]

Ballroom Blitz Domination Courtyard

The capture zone of the courtyard objective is located around the central monument in the middle of the area. The short marble walls and single, sturdy statue do not grant much protection in this well exposed point, which is quite easily defended by fire from the side and upper walkways which look down upon the courtyard from all sides.

Ballroom[]

Ballroom Blitz Domination Ballroom

The Ballroom objective has a similar location and capture orbit as its counterparts in other game modes.


Team Deathmatch[]

Team Deathmatch takes place in the exact same boundaries as Domination.


War Pigeons[]

War Pigeons uses the same area as Domination and Team Deathmatch.


Gallery[]


Trivia[]

  • The map is inspired by the real life location of Château de Chantilly, which was not involved with the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in real life.
  • There are several bugs found in the upper levels of buildings. These, along with the absence of paths to rooftops, suggest that the map was designed primarily for ground combat.
  • Optimization bugs on some angled roofs may cause distant buildings to toggle appearance, even if they should be in view of the player.[2]
  • Some of the cylindrical towers at the corners of the chateau allow players to glitch through the balcony outside to untextured areas within.[3]
  • The name of the map, 'Ballroom Blitz', is inspired by the song of the same name by The Sweet.
  • In the game files this map is named MP_Chateau.
  • A map of Argonne Forest can be seen in a command station in the American spawn.[4]

References[]

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