Mafia Wars on mobile: Territory control design

In the mobile action strategy MMO space there are 3 fundamental issues that this system design aimed to address:

1) Players spend most of their time shielded avoiding combat
2) Alliances fight to "own" parts of the map, but this is not actually a real mechanic and is not visualized in anyway
3) There are few activities on the map to engage in while shielded outside of pve and farming

Territory control gameplay:
1) Send your dealer into the world to claim turf for you and your alliance: place it on resource nodes to earn income drip
2) Earn contraband through daily quests, loot drops, or purchase it for cash : drugs, cars, weapons, etc.
3) Supply your dealer with contraband from your city and watch it closely while it sells to earn powerful cash value rewards (or tell your alliance to watch it for you)
5) Good contraband requires your dealer to be vulnerable while selling so keep an eye on it!
6) Another player who manages to spot an active dealer can drop their shield to attack to try to capture the contraband for their own
7) If a dealer is attacked while selling then a king of the hill battle mechanic ensues whereby all city players can fight over the contraband and capture the dealer or fight to defend it.
8) If the dealer is captured then the turf tiles switch to neutral and another player can send their dealer there to capture it in the name of their own alliance

Other territory control features:
-Dealer gear determines the boost of the turf: defense, combat, faster timers (construction, research, recruitment, etc.)
-Dealers can level up and be upgraded to expand their turf tiles and improve boosts
-Connect your alliances turf to provide income and buffs for the whole alliance and create a good defense wall around your hive
-Turf is a valuable advantage when fighting over the kingpin tower at the center of the city-the point of the game is for your alliance is to control the city

The results of this system were pretty astounding when it came to the increase in total troops lost in battle in the game. Allianced engaged in all out wars losing troops left and right fighting over a dimebag worth 2 dollars of real money all in the name of refusing to back down.