For Gods sake.. it is hordes. H O R D E S. Not hoards. That is a big pile of something.
And actually is probably is still possible to take a base with 5 or 6 guys if you can take down the town, then have the goon drop right away while the others cap the field. You couldn't do it if people were in the air already though, because then they'd kill you while you were heavy.
Honestly, I prefer the small maps because you WILL find a fight on the small maps. There are only so many places to attack, so fights tend to happen there. NDIsles is actually my favorite map, because there actually usually is something for everything. You want to GV? Go to the center isle, or any of the smaller islands with bases on opposite ends. You want to go GV hunting? Do the same. You want to kill planes? Fly to a base, or fly over the middle of the center isle and kill the planes killing the GVs... eventually an air to air fight happens there every day.
Sure it is "mindless furballing" with "no purpose".. but fighting is its own purpose.
On the large maps, if you want to play around in GVs it involves finding the one guy milkrunning a base in a Panzer or Flak*****, killing him, then finding him again as he milkruns to a new base. The only air to air fights are typically horde on few, as very few people will take off over and over again to be killed repeatedly by one or two guys flying over enemy territory by themselves.. they'll die once and go off to milkrun, or join the horde.
I know being "forced to fight" grates on some people (and no Voss, I'm not saying you are on of them, just people in general), but I honestly think that "forcing" the population to fight by sticking them in a limited total area with a limited number of things to bomb or attack makes for a better game for everyone.