I'm not sure if this is posted in the right space or not, but here goes: Storyline-speaking, what is the fictional purposes of the bases in Blood Gulch/Coagulation/Hemorhage? Do they serve a purpose, or they just kindof, well, bases strictly for MP?
It has been confirmed that Forge World will not be anywhere in campaign, and Coagulation/Blood Gulch weren't in campaign either. So the bases don't have anything to do with campaign. However the planet you fight on in the first halo as the ring in the sky is the first halo master chief encounters.
That doesn't really answer my question at all. What I'm trying to say is, canonically speaking, what are they/what do they do? I mean, they must have a purpose. Examples: Cold Storage = Flood containment chambers Chiron TL-34 = Spartan training complex Damnation = hydroprocessing plant Assembly = Scarab Factory Blood Gulch = ???? Also, the structures in Blood Gulch must be important/serve some purpose. Take the examples I gave above. We have seen that the BG structures exist on at least 3, if not all, of the Halos. We can assume all. Thus, these structures must serve some functional purpose, seeing as it must be a central component that exists on all Halos. But what do they do? Are they there for training? Is it some sort of reserve? Do the bases serve some purpose (I have heard theories about controlling water levels on the halo by draining and pumping water across the installation as required, evidenced by the shape of the canyon and the drying river in Hemmorhage)? Or do they exist solely for multiplayer purposes? Why is it in a canyon?
The Reds set up a base in Blood Gulch because the Blues set up a base in Blood Gulch. There you go, that's the canon.
Aside from the map descriptions you can read when you load up the map, and the explanation offered by the guy above me, there's nothing really to go by. There shouldn't be either, no strategic commander in their right mind would set up camp directly next to another camp as it would jeopardize safety. You could make the argument about it being a form of "trench warfare" like WWI, but that was a system of necessity based on circumstance and previous military convention as opposed to a standard act. With the Halo-era military being so advanced, there'd be no strategic reason for putting themselves out in the open. Furthermore, Blood Gulch and its successors all take place on Halo rings, which to our knowledge humanity discovered through the united front of the UNSC. Thus, the distinction between two opposing factions and their base of operations on a foreign body (read: Halo) are strictly for multiplayer purposes. LOCKED.