I said long ago that the map is ridiculous, but I'm working with what we've got.
It sure makes a change from gaming the game and organised gangbangery. What I do not want to see is a return to the old days, in which guys trying to fly strat missions (low level with heavy bombs, perhaps) get jumped by GTGs (gaming the gamers) from on high who are simply circling to await their victims, and as a result of this aerial vulching (and don't tell me that's not what it is!) can pad their scores and crow about how good they are.
For the first time since I rejoined AH last year, I'm seeing real estate change hands without some mindless 10-1 vulchfest. Now, we can engage the enemy in one area thus distracting him from another area where we are about to seize one of his fields. (Pay attention to the map, guys!)
By all means, shrink the map a little, or have an alternative map for quiet periods when there are less than 100 guys online. But please let's not go back to the situation we had before, in which strat missions get zapped by score mongers coming in at 20K from an airfield a few minutes away.