"Don't question me, I'm like a walking Stephen Hawking."
-LuckyNewbie
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| History Repeats Itself | | | Author: | | | IP: | XXXX | | Date: | 10/27/99 05:10 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 3, Max: 8, Min: 7
Lifetime Rating for LunarSkyz::AE::: 7.6667 |   |
this is my second post of this...i just used the image uploader till i find out what im doing wrong =) please enjoy!
I opened up a 4 player FFA ladder game on everyone’s least favorite map, Lost Temple. After 5 mins, however, only two opponents had joined: bliz501{sm} and Dragoon~Pheast . We all decided to go ahead and commence with the always fun 3 player FFA.
Bliz picked toss and spawned in the 9:00 position with the teal color.
Dragoonwent random and spawned in the 3:00 position with the white color.
LunarSkyz::AE:: (me) threw caution to the wind and went random because, frankly, I still haven’t decided what the best FFA race is (though Heartcutter would say terran =P). I spawned at the 6:00 location (thank God I didn’t get 12:00) and ended up with the noble and heroic protoss…all dressed in sissy purple. Yay.
The game starts withDragoon putting on all caps and yelling “CAN WE HAVE A RESTART?” Great, just what I need, a guy who yells in all caps. *Sigh* Oh well, too late to quit now “I GOT TERRAN” Dragoon yells and bitches some more then finally settles down…for now.
I decided to not tech too fast and went with my standard two gateway build:
1.pylon
2.gateway
3.zealot
4.gateway
5.pylon
6. 2 zealots
< I> The FFA turned 1v1…
At this point, I knew one opponent was protoss while the other was most likely terran…my scouting probe found bliz first and caught a glimpse of an assimilator being warped in. The probe retreated…I pondered my options…I had 1 zealot and my second gateway warping in. He hadn’t seen my probe… I could try the sinister cannon rush, but that would have required a forge and a large amount of minerals, leaving me open to an attack from the loudmouth terran: Dragoon~Pheast.
As soon as my 1st zealot warped in, I started two more warping and began work on an assimilator and a cybernetics core. I sent my first zealot to bliz just to see where he was teching. To my surprise, the zealot waltzed into his base and found no resistance. It was like the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in England, except unlike William and Mary, my zealot wasn’t invited. I went quickly to the task of dismantling his probes…and his probes went quickly to the task of dismantling my zealot. I killed 6 of his 13 probes and had 2 more zealots on the way.
They arrived just as one of his zealots warped in... he made a valiant attempt with his zealot and probes, but another zealot and dragoon sent by me proved to be his quick demise. One zealot was all it took to start the FFA turned 1v1.
< I> Round 1: Don’t forget to check the plateau…
“DID YOU KILL HIM??” Dragoon~Pheast’s screaming came across the screen. “dunno” I replied, “what do you think?”
“ARE YOU GOOD?” Dragoon yells.
“I’m ok…”I calmly reply.
“WILL YOU LET ME WIN??”
I decided at this point just to let him talk to himself, I didn’t need to be distracted. While I was finishing off the remains of bliz’s base, I found Dragoon’s base at 3:00. He had blocked of his natural with 1 turret and 2 bunkers and had already began to mine there. I had warped in a forge, then Robotics Facility, then observatory. I then sent observers to all the starting points and corners…except Dragoon’s base. I saved one observer for my growing force of goons, and zealots (now with the speed upgrade from my new citadel).
It had been a little too long since any action, so I decided to attack…my scouting observer reported the same defense as I had originally seen…1 turret, two bunkers. “Ahh…” I thought, “teching to BCs…” A quick smile lit across my face as I sent in my squad of goons and zealots. My facial expressions were quick to change, however, with the roar of arclite cannons. It wasn’t just one tank either. It was 10 sieged tanks on high ground my observer reported. Doh! I hadn’t even checked the cliffs before attacking. My goons and zealots were able to take out the turret, bunkers and marines, but the tanks were too much for the protoss warriors. Fighting to the very last ounce of life, they had not died in vain. Dragoon was forced to rebuild his defense and I had a better idea of his plan. I had an even better idea because my observer stayed over his tanks on the plateau…and it stayed there the entire game =)
Round 2: Tides Turn…
Fortunately, I had not been idle during the battle and had warped in a stargate and fleet beacon. The terran killer, D-web, was researching. Yay. Suddenly my observer noticed movement…6 tanks unsieging and heading my way. Crap. I quickly started warping some zealots, dragoons, and a third gateway… D-web finished researching as my 2nd corsair entered the Lost Temple from Auir. As Dragoon’s tanks and 1 goliath attacked, I attacked with 3 zealots at a time as they warped in from my 3 gateways. Dragoon advanced slowly, but finally some well placed D-webs and my tide of zealots (and a few dragoons) stopped the advance. One failed attack for me, one for him…things we looking good. I set up a nexus at my natural and made an “emergency” setup at the 9:00 position, bliz’s old base. This setup consisted of 2 cannons at the choke, 1 goon, 1 zealot and a probe. Just in case.
As soon as my natural was up and running, more arclite cannon started roaring, followed by a “HAHAHA.” Hmm…turbo newbie at my natural, what a surprise. I calmly dropped 2 dragoons (I had two shuttles at this time) and obliterated his two tanks on the ridge. My other shuttle was on HIS ridge above his natural. About 30 seconds after his turbo newbie tanks, my turbo newbie cannons warped in above his natural. Looks like he wasn’t ready either. Oops. It took him quite a while to kill the cannons and put his SCVs back to work on the blue rocks. While his attention was distracted, I started training another force of zealots and dragoons. I sent these to attack, only to have them met by a force of 6 BCs and more tanks. Damn. I quickly prepared for his counter-attack. 1 carrier, 6 dragoons, and 4 corsairs were hastily prepared. His BCs arrived and started to work on destroying my natural so I started warping a nexus in at my “emergency base” because a protoss with two bases is tough to stop. My goons, corsairs, and carriers were sent out to engage his BCs (supported by SCVs). Luckily, I had upgraded and he hadn’t. My goons and corsairs destroyed his BCs at a rate that surprised even me.
< B> Round 3: Keep an eye on the lawn ornaments…
Now I had three bases (6:00 main, natural, and 3:00) and was warping in a templar archives. I had decided that I was sick of toying around and it was time to end this game. I sent one probe in a shuttle and one carrier to his main base plateau. The whole left side was undefended and I was able to warp in 2 cannons undetected. This was distraction #1…I let it sit. Next, I dropped two zealots on his mass of tanks on his ridge (where my observer STILL sat undetected) I watched as his tanks blew each other to smithereens while trying to hit the zealots. LOL. That was distraction #2. While I was dropping off the two zealots, I noticed 2 things. 1) no Science Vessels…therefore no mobile detection 2) he had expanded to his mineral only expansion and had 4 barracks there. During my distractions, I had build a large corsair fleet (about 6 corsairs), and about 15 goons, as well as 2 dts. It was time to attack. I sent the 1st dark templar into his barracks expansion, where 13 marines stood around like decorative lawn ornaments…with no detection…ouch. I was able to kill about 4 marines or so before comsat interrupted my dark templar’s little party.
Round 4: Bring out the mops…
After that, I sent my carrier to attack his base at distraction #1. He moved all his tanks to take care of the cannons, and a few goliaths to attack the carrier. Ahh…my window of opportunity…as dragoons poured out of my gateways, I sent them all to the barracks expansion. I few well placed D-webs over his marines caused heavy micro for him and allowed me to take out his marines with ease. He then sent his tanks to try and help, but my 2nd dark templar intercepted them and, despite the comsat, was able to take most of them out. (see above pic). Finally, I sent my ever increasing squad of dragoons to mop up the mess that was Dragoon~Pheast’s base.
I felt like Napoleon marching through Europe with ease. (I just hoped I wouldn’t get exiled to some far away island like he did =P)
Lessons Learned:
1. One good turbo newbie deserves another. (Like the Roman’s tactics during their wars with Greece. 1-Find what works for the opponent. 2-copy it. 3-execute it a little better. 4-laugh. 5-repeat. )
2. Teching and turtling don’t always win FFAs (You can’t remain neutral like Switzerland always has. Unless, of course, all your opponents put their illegal money in YOUR banks)
3. Never, EVER, let one zealot (or small battle) beat you (hmm…kinda like the battle of Saratoga for the English in the Revolutionary war. Ouch.)
4. Corsairs and goons rule BCs (and everything else) outright. Especially if the BCs are unupgraded. To that end, any amount short of a full fleet of capital ships is worthless if your opponent is worth his beans. (In the Revolutionary war, the English had better cannons and ships, but guerrilla tactics were the deciding factor)
5. Use distractions to divide an opponent’s troops ( if you learn ANYTHING from history, its “divide and conquer”)
6. Don’t ever skimp on detection…especially late game…especially with terran. (That’s why we in the real world have satellites and spies)
7. In FFAs, take advantage of opponents with quick tech and little defense. They are the most dangerous late game, but can be handled easily early. (Hitler liked to invade countries that weren’t ready or expecting attacks. Awful man. Smart war tactic)
8. D-webs can actually be very effective on marines if used correctly. (YOU try finding a historical fact for that =P)
9. Don’t type in all caps, it pisses people off. (the second thing to learn from history: Don’t piss people off, pissed people are a lot harder to fight against)
That’s all for now…I truly hope that you enjoyed my report, please comment on it!
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| | Battle Shots! | 
Title (if it didn't work up top)
Gotta love those invisible dudes ;)
Clean up crew! (did YOU bring a mop for the party?)
storytime!
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