My opinion, if you want to make AH faster paced/more "combat-ee":
Reduce the distance between fields. It honestly sucks to die in this game. Not because of score (although there are a few who feels it is), but because of the time spent getting to the action. I hate...HATE...having to spend 5-10 minutes or even longer getting to the action. Rarely, a furball will happen right off a base, but then it turns into a pickfest because the other side has had room to get alt. Even more rare is a furball that happens right in between two bases, when both forces meet each other at relatively co alt and it truly turns into a test of flying skills. I wish that would happen more often.
Maps like ndisle and FesterMA are perfect for this reason. The TT in the middle is almost the perfect distance from one another and almost all fights are co E. if they were just a tiny bit closer, it'd be great.
And if you think about it, why does no one complain about dying in an RPG or FPS? Because they're spawned back into the action almost instantly. I'm not asking for an instant respawn in AH either, but just move the bases closer, so that fights are easier to find, funner, and quicker.
And yes, I understand every map will have to be changed, so it will likely never happen, but in the future for map makers..do me a tiny favor and just make bases closer.