Brief note first off about teleporters. Granary is a bit shorter than Well so they’re not quite as necessary, but I was playing a round just the other day on Granary and the opposition took the middle control point, got their teleporters up, and from that time on our team lost all momentum, though we managed to hold our second control point until sudden death. The fact is that teleporters bring in reinforcements much faster and this helps everyone. It certainly helps engineers since these reinforcements defend the engineers and their buildings, so they may as well build them.
Again like Well, the primary objective of Granary is to hold the middle control point. From the word go it is a popular strategy to get the majority of the team to go scout and rush the middle point, and since both teams do this there is often a scout shootout in the middle before the slower classes turn up. This can be very effective, since multiple scouts can capture very fast, and I certainly recommend it to anyone who has a bit of a dab hand at scouting. Something I do often is run around the shipping crates and shoot the enemy scouts in the back without them knowing I’m behind them while my teammates start capturing the point.
However you and your team should remember two important rules. The first is that if you rush as a scout, after dying you should immediately change class to something more useful, such as a pyro, soldier, heavy, demoman, or especially medic. This way you are a much greater asset to your team, as scouts lose a lot of their value once the more powerful classes arrive at the middle point (especially those mentioned above). If the opposition doesn’t adapt and change from scout, your team has the immediate upper hand.
The second rule is the not everyone should go scout, and that you need a certain number of other classes in your class mix from the start. At least 1 or 2 medics is crucial to start with, since scouts have little health and once the health boxes are gone, they must either get themselves killed or retreat, which is about as helpful. You should also have a pyro for burning (or at least scaring) enemy scouts, a heavy to distract attention from everyone else and basically clear out the control point, and at least a soldier/demoman or two to deal the actual damage. Once you’ve cleared the enemy presence out of the middle point, demomen can plug up the two entrances with sticky bombs to deter enemy resistance – see my demoman guide for more on this important and effective tactic.
Well that’s a lot of information for the first minute or so of the game, but it’s also the most important. Winning the middle point from the start gives your team a huge advantage (see map control), but what to do after that? After taking the middle and pressing forward (especially with medics on soldiers, heavies and demomen), you should be able to force the enemy back to defending their second control point. When the area out the front of this building is clear, your team can pretty much set up shop outside (engineers can move their teleporters up and build some offensive turrets and dispensers) and wait for an opportunity to take the next point. This generally comes when one of your medics gets an übercharge. I recommend using it on a demoman and having him rush in and sticky bomb every engineer building in the control point building. After that his team can move in and take control.
With this done it should be a piece of cake to take the last point, especially with the recent update moving spawn points well forward when in possession of 4 control points. Engineers should move their teleporters up (entrances and exits), and soldiers can now take out sentry guns from the windows of the added room on the second floor of the second last control point’s building. Remember that sticky bombs are very effective deterrents, and two demomen can pretty much defensively hold off an entire team, so make sure they don’t get that second point back.
Of course if you lose the initial confrontation and your opposition takes the middle point, the most important thing to do is not stop trying to take it back. So long as they hold it they receive a devastating spawn location and time bonus which you can’t afford to let them have. Also when attacking the middle point, make sure you have at least one spy running around looking for teleporters. If you can’t easily fry the exits, run back and get the entrances first, then risk yourself on the other buildings.
