| Canis River Supreme Commander official skirmish map | |
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| Max Players Ranked as |
2 1v1 |
| Size | 5x5 km |
| Canis River is known for two things. The first is the river, which is home to mineral deposits, especially gold. The second is that it's ideal for a one-on-one fight. | |
Canis River is an official skirmish map from Supreme Commander. It is a small map and is very rich on resources for a one-on-one game. The 6 mass deposits at the player's initial location, with the many rocks scattered all over the map allow the construction of large tech one armies, making a rushing strategy essential. Both players also have access to one hydrocarbon plant.
The starting area is very small, and given the enormous amount of mass, Adjacency bonuses are less necessary. Therefore as many factories as possible should be packed into the base -- six mass extractors will provide 12 mass per second, which is at least 3 T1 land factories even before expansions. Then factories will be easiest to place at the edges of the map such as the 2-deposit expansions; the middle plains around the hydro and between the two largest mountain peaks on each side is hilly and difficult to place large buildings on, while the riverside area can be hit by indirect fire units such as MML. Expanding engineers should mostly be focused on reclaim but also crossing the nearby river crossing and establishing a foothold on the plateau before the enemy can traverse their plains area and exert control over their side of the river crossing.
The river in the middle forces the large groups of tech 1 units to go through either of the two choke-points, one close to the player's own base, one close to the opponent's base. It is easy to defend the closest choke point but virtually impossible to break through at the one furthest away. The river may block the path for most of the land units but it is extremely shallow so ACUs are still vulnerable if they stand in it.
There is a mountain dividing the far side of each player's river crossing into a mountain passage and a waterfront area, along with a third passage leading to the corner of the map. Walling off one of these passages will make it easier for the player to tactically control, either by blocking the short river attack to slow enemies or by blocking the mountainous area to stop themselves from being flanked and overwhelmed by a larger army. The third passage can be used to flank the mass deposits in the corner or also blocked off with an additional wall.
Finally, note that there are a significant amount of desert trees in the area and large 75-mass rocks in most of the water areas (1 in the smaller ponds at the edges of the map, 3 in the central lake, and 1 per side under the mountain by the mass deposit). The ACU will flatten nearby trees when it gates into the map, but engineers may have to spend time clearing space by reclaim when constructing other buildings.
