Some of the things I liked about WBs were the historic maps & matchups, total victory condition, two sides, no sideswitch timer, and the fact that if a map was rolled it came back up again until it was time for the next one to appear. That way good maps didn't go away too fast.
The fronts were dynamic and you could see them ebbing and flowing. Gave a real sense of immersion.
Symmetry in maps is not ideal, but with three sides there is not a lot a map designer can do.
