While combat maps are much smaller than regular NS map, I'd prefer having minimaps so that I know where my teammates are and what's going on.

So, a simple suggestion - Add minimaps for combat similar to classic NS maps.

I was going to suggest going into each map while developer mode is on and create your own minimaps using the buildminimap console command.

But then I discovered that the +showmap command is disabled on combat maps, so I guess the devs have a reason for this, however I'm not quite sure what the reason is...

yeah, i always disliked that about combat. Sure you dont need the minimap nearly as much, but its how I learn maps. Without it i just dont want to put in the effort... maybe also because i prefer NS over CO