Warning: After creating an all-text report to end all all-text reports, I decided to gloss it up with pretty colorful pictures and gifs. This in turn had a negative effect on the text and the battlereport itself, so I decided to do things a little differently. On the one hand, most people that frequent this site don't seem to visualize very well without pictures, while there are a special few that enjoy and cherish a good read. So my friends, I present you with a choice. Below you will find an all-text report, taken from a replay, of a game from some time ago. Also below, you will find a link to the same battlereport with pretty pictures and stuff. Choose, but choose wisely, for while the all-text report will bring you happiness and knowledge, the report with pictures will kill your hamster. That is all.

Yay, 1.08 is finally here, and my friends and I had been playing almost non-stop since Blizzard released it. We had been adjusting nicely to the changes, (IMO it was pretty balanced before 1.08, but what do I know?) and a particular 3v3 BGH game sparked my interest for another battlereport. So here goes...

halby hosted up a "Top vs Bottom" game type on BGH, hoping for a little 3 on 3 action. Iambadatsc (me) promptly joined, along with our other comrade in arms, Slappyputty. After about a 15 second wait, 3 challengers had joined the "Away" team, and we were off.

So now that you know all the players starting locations, I should probably give you their build orders. I'm inclined to because my little leprechaun friend told me:

halby started off building scvs until 10 supply, then making a barracks. Immediatly following the barracks a depot was started. At 12, a refinery, and 13 supply saw the construction of a bunker below his comand center. Then at 17 supply, halby made another depot, followed by 3 factories. Since halby almost always goes metal, this is what his build was aiming for.

Iambadatsc started with a conventional Protoss dual gateway build, consisting of 8 pylon, 10 gateway, 12 gateway, 12 pylon. The probe that warped in the first pylon was sent to scout, counter-clockwise from Iambadatsc's main. At 16 an assimilator was started, and at 20, another pylon. Iambadatsc had been pumping zealots for early defense/rush and didn't start a cy core until 25 supply.

Slappyputty began by sending his first overlord north to scout for enemy activity. At 9 supply he pooled, made another drone (9), made a hatchery at his natural, made another drone (9) and then his second overlord. The hatchery at his natural completed and 3 creep colonies began to gestate there, at 12,13, and 15 supply. They were later morphed into sunkens. Also at 15 supply he started 2 extractors on the vespene geysers in his main. It's hard to tell what direction he was taking, but he was powering like a madman.

andyman866 went 7 barracks, 8 depot, another barracks at 10 supply, and a refinery at 11. A bunker was constructed just above his comand center at 13 supply. At 15, an academy was started to the right of his main, up aganist the edge of the map. andyman866 then started a depot at 18 and another depot at 20 supply. He seemed to be heading for a late infantry rush.

Perrin_Ayabara sent his first overlord on the long journey to andyman866's main while pumping drones. At 7 supply, he hatched his second overlord which immediatly headed for Terran[]Ryu's main. At 13, he made his second hatchery, a little to the right of his original one. He pooled at 14 supply and made two creep colonies when his pool was about halfway completed, morphing them to sunkens when his pool finished. At 16 supply he started his third hatchery directly adjacent to his second, and hatched six lings. He was doing a 3 hatch ling power build of some sort.

Terran[]Ryu started a depot on 8 supply and also sent a lone scv out to scout the map counter-clockwise. He then proceeded to construct 3 barracks at 12, 13, and 15 supply. A second depot was started at 18 supply and a third followed at 21. He obviously was headed for an early marine rush, as he was training then constantly out of his 3 barracks.

The first enemy sighting took place when Iambadatsc's scouting probe crossed paths with Perrin_Ayabara's first overlord, headed for andyman866's main. This serves to alert both players to the race and position of each other. Terran[]Ryu is the first to draw blood, as Slappyputty's scouting overlord is left unattended, flying over 3 blinking barracks. Needless to say, ovie guts rained down from the sky. In the first offensive (if it can be considered offensive) action of the game, Iambadatsc does an assimilator rush versus Terran[]Ryu's top most geyser. He quickly cancels it, and retreats the now battle weary probe to the empty 3 o'clock start position, with thoughts of a future expansion perhaps.

The first major conflict of the game occurs at Slappyputty's natural expansion. Six lings and 6 of Terran[]Ryu's marines engage 2 sunken colonys, with one more sunken morphing. Iambadatsc sees the situation and dispatches his standing army (5 zealots) to help deal with the threat. Two more lings and 3 more of Terran[]Ryu's marines join the attack squad. The third sunken finishes morphing, just as one of the original sunkens dies, with 4 lings and 4 marines left to kill. A couple of drones start spitting green goo as reinforcments in the form of 3 zealots arrive on the scene. The attack is suppressed with 2 sunkens surviving (one with 16/300 hp left!) The other 2 zealots intercepted 3 late marines sent in by andyman866. After killing 2, they turn tail and run back to the sunkens at the site of 3 more white marines and 2 more lings from Perrin_Ayabara. The 5 zealots are soon reunited, and after regrouping they give chase to the surviving enemy forces, which head back to the middle of the map. Seeing superior enemy numbers, the zealots return to Iambadatsc's main.

At this point, Terran[]Ryu , andyman866, and Perrin_Ayabara start to gather a sizeable force of troops in the center of the map consisting of: zerglings, marines, and a couple medics. Meanwhile, halby now has 5 vultures, all armed with mines. He mines the choke into his main, and then proceeds to Perrin_Ayabara's choke. Perrin_Ayabara must have seen the bikes fly by because he immediatly sends in 12 lings from the middle and 11 from his main base. The result: halby's forces are surrounded and slaughtered, with Perrin_Ayabara coming out 150 minerals ahead for now, losing only 9 lings.

After this little victory, the "Away" team decides that halby's main needs to be paid a visit. A control group of zerglings, 17 marines and 4 medics from Terran[]Ryu, and 4 marines and 4 medics from andyman866 charge up halby's choke. The only thing in their path are 12 spider mines, courtesy of the previously slaughtered vultures. Perrin_Ayabara leads the charge, losing 2 lings to three mines at halby's natural. The lings then pause and wait for the rest of the attack force to catch up. Reinitiating the charge, 4 lings die to a single mine, then 2 more mines kill 2 more lings. With only four "mine finders" left, marines start trickeling to the front of the pack. Two marines and the rest of Perrin_Ayabara's lings die to four mines. At this point halby has one vulture, which engages the front marines. The last two spider mines succeed in killing another marine, just as 2 tanks finish building out of halby's 2 machine shopped factories. Iambadatsc decides to start 8 zealots and 3 dark templar on the long journey to aid his ailing ally. A vulture finishes and only serves to stall the attack force long enough for halby's new tanks to seige in his mineral line, one taking heavy damage on the way. Terran[]Ryu's marines target the machine shop on one factory, and succeed in destroying it, while losing 5 of their number to seige tank fire. Two more vultures complete, one dieing immediatly, while the other lays a few mines. The heavily damaged tank explodes, just as another control group of now speed upgraded zerglings arrive from Perrin_Ayabara. halby's half-full bunker starts exchanging guass fire with the now 15 marine, 7 medic, and 12 zergling strong hit squad. Five scvs start to repair the bunker, while 4 tend to the tank. The second tank explodes, just as Iambadatsc's DT's enter the battle. halby's bunker falls to 27/350 hp, but with constant repair, hangs on. The DTs start slicing into the attacking force, racking up 27 kills between the 3 of them. A scan comes too late and the DT's easily mop up the remaining enemy forces. The eight zealots finally arrive, and engage 10 more lings from Perrin_Ayabara. All the speedlings perish at the cost of one zealot. This attack was very costly to halby's economy as he loses 16 scvs.

Fourteen lings finally arrive at halby's main, courtesy of Slappyputty. He has such great timing. Anyway, they meet up with 6 of the 7 surviving zealots and 3 DTs left over from the previous battle, and decide amongst themselves to go beat down Terran[]Ryu's main. His choke is guarded by 20 marines, 4 medics, and one tank. A turret is also being constructed, in fear of the mighty Dark Templar. One zealot and all but two of Slappyputty's zerglings, enroute to Terran[]Ryu's main, run into 23 teal zerglings at the natural expansion just above the center of the map. Thirteen of Perrin_Ayabara's zerglings emerge victorious and follow the rest of the attack force up to Terran[]Ryu's main. Two zealots and 2 zerglings charge the mass of white, losing all of their number and inflicting no casualties. Our 3 DT heros from the previous battle arrive and kill 3 marines before a quick scan ends their lives. The other 3 zealots make an abrupt u-turn and run into the trailing 13 speedlings. They manage to kill 7 lings before being sent back to Aiur the hard way.

halby is in rough shape. He's only managed to rebuild 1/3 of his scvs, but 3 factories are still standing. A choke defence has been errected consisting of 3 seiged tanks and 3 vultures, witht two of the vultures laying 6 mines at the entrance to his main. Two armories have been built and have begun researching level 1 vehicle armor and vehicle weapons upgrades.

Iambadatsc has started warping in an expansion nexus at the 3 o'clock main. Psi storm is 1/4 researched. Three gateways are producing high templar, with a fourth gateway freshly warped in. His standing army consists of one zealot in halby's main, 5 dark templar in the center of the map, and 3 DT's at his main. Level 1 ground attack upgrade has just finished.

Slappyputty's natural has 6 sunken colonies protecting it. There are now 3 more hatcheries in his main, and he has been pumping drones and the occasional overlord. He currently has 2100 minerals and 1200 gas in the bank, hopefully planning to spend it. Currently no upgrades.

andyman866 has constructed a choke defense above his natural expansion consisting of a supply depot, a bunker full of marines, and a single turret. Three barracks are producing marines with some medics mixed in. Two factories are producing tanks. Standing army: 12 marines, 2 medics, one tank. Currently no upgrades.

Perrin_Ayabara is pumping zerglings out of 4 hatcheries. A queens nest has recently been completed and a hive has started morphing. Standing army consists of 21 zerglings with more being hatched when larve become available. Currently no upgrades.

Terran[]Ryu is clearly the most powerful player at this point. Four barracks are constantly training marines and medics. A single factory is producing tanks. Standing army consists of 23 marines, 4 medics and one tank. Currently no upgrades.

At the expansion just above the center of the map, Terran[]Ryu and Perrin_Ayabara are preparing for another attack on halby. Mines are still being deployed when 8 zerglings charge up the choke. The first mine takes out 4 lings and one of halby's vultures. Siege tank fire rains down upon the first ling, splattering his guts all over map. Another mine kills the last 3 lings, just as terran re-inforcements start streaming up the choke. Thirteen marines, 4 medics, 1 tank, and 1 scv charge the defending tanks, losing one of their number before engaging a nearby mine. Two vultures and Iambadatsc's lone zealot (remember him?) try to hold the marines at bay while the tanks fire away. The two vultures explode, as Terran[]Ryu's tank finally arrives. After taking two shots at the zealot, the tank promptly retreats. andyman866 sends 9 marines and 3 medics to aid his teammates in the attack, but they are cutoff just outside his choke by 5 of Iambadatsc's DT's which were guarding the middle. After 6 of his marines are killed, andyman866 retreats his remaining forces back to his bunker/turret defense. The DT's decide to head to halby's main instead of following the retreating troops. Back at the battle, 2 seige tanks and the lone protoss warrior have fallen, but the attacking force has been reduced to 2 marines and 4 medics. Terran[]Ryu's last two marines die to halby's last tank, while three medics wander too close to a mine and end up "un-healable". The last medic is easy killing for the 3 newly built vultures and the attack is thwarted. In another imressive show of timing, the DT hit squad finally arrives to find nothing to hit.

During this skirmish, Perrin_Ayabara started an expansion hatchery at his natural and the zergling adrenal glands upgrade finished. andyman866 started construction of a starport and Iambadatsc added a second forge for upgrade purposes. Thirteen marines and one tank from Terran[]Ryu head to Iambadatsc's main, which is protected by 5 high templar (now armed with Psi storm), 3 DT's and 2 dragoons. A single crackling gives his life to scout the enemy protoss base. The tank gets a little over anxious and before sieging, fires a shot at one high templar, causing 2 DT's and one goon to charge. A quick scan reveals the cloaked assassins, and along with the goon, the three protoss troops perish just as the first storm is unleashed. Six marines are stormed to death, and the last DT dies to friendly "psi" fire as another storm finishes the tank and 3 marines. Perrin_Ayabara chooses now for his 12 cracklings to arrive, with 5 high templar and one cannon as Iambadatsc's defense. The lings pause, storm is cast, and 3 cracklings die as they advance. They get into cannon range and 4 die before Perrin_Ayabara retreats them to the left side of Iambadatsc's main. The 5 remaining lings dodge another storm, and target a single high templar. Four brand spanking new dragoons warp in and end the threat, but not before the high templar disappears in a cloud of blue smoke.

Three of Slappyputty's freshly made hydras finally arrive to aid the mighty protoss, and finding nothing but 2 overlords at Iambadatsc's natural, they are content to spit at and chase them to the middle of the map. However, Perrin_Ayabara has 12 fresh cracklings waiting there and they engage the hydras. The lead hydra gets surrounded and dies and the second hydra is soon to follow, as 2 lings fall. Three more hydras join the battle, and when the dust settles, 8 lings emerge victorious. Three more hydras and 4 dragoons arrive to aid their brethren as 12 more of Perrin_Ayabara's cracklings crash the party. One hydra and 4 lings perish as 3 more dragoons join the battle. After killing all but 3 lings, 4 re-inforcement lings arrive along with another seige squad from Terran[]Ryu consisting of: 2 tanks, 5 firebats, 8 marines and 3 medics. The terran infantry now has a level one attack upgrade. Iambadatsc retreats his dragoons at the site of this, and the combined terran/zerg force begins a seige on Slappyputty's natural. Eight hydras engage the leading firebats, drawing them into sunken range. The 2 tanks arrive and kill 2 hydras before laying siege to the zerg expansion. More of Terran[]Ryu's terran troops arrive in the form of one tank, 3 bats, 4 marines, and one medic. Perrin_Ayabara's cracklings hold the rival zerg at bay while 3 hydras succumb to seige tank fire. Five of Iambadatsc's dragoons and 2 high templar decide to end this 2v1 crap, just as 12 re-inforcing cracklings from Perrin_Ayabara arrive, effectivly stalling the dragoons. Nine more hydras are thrown at the seige, as psi storm erupts over the seiged tanks. One tank is destroyed along with 2 marines, and another storm is unleashed killing another tank, a spotting overlord, and 2 more marines. Perrin_Ayabara's cracklings dispatched the 5 dragoons with 7 losses, and then murder both high templar. Fourteen cracklings, and later 7 more, gather at Iambadatsc's natural with the 5 remaining lings. halby reminds the protoss executor of the 5 DT's at his main, and they are quickly dispatched to the battle.

Slappyputty must have felt that even semi-containment sucks, because he sent 19 now 1:1 hydras to break the seige, killing the one tank and 3 medics left. Terran[]Ryu made a small dent in Slappyputty's defenses though, killing 2 sunkens and a few drones that were mining gas. Iambadatsc's DT's run into 11 of Terran[]Ryu's marines enroute to the seige, killing 6. The remaining 5 marines are joined by 2 more tanks and 12 teal lings, while 17 of Slappyputty's hydras make it to the center of the map. A scan comes way too late, as all the marines and lings are killed, with no losses on the protoss/zerg side. Terran[]Ryu retreats his 2 tanks with 2 DT's and 4 hydras in hot pursuit. Eighteen cracklings, that Perrin_Ayabara had waiting at Iambadatsc's natural, flank Slappyputty's hydras in two waves. The first wave kills nothing, losing 8 lings, while the second wave catches 2 hydras away from the group, killing them both with no losses. The 11 lings continue to the middle, while Iambadatsc decides to break out of his main. Eight now 1:0:1 dragoons engage 8 cracklings, losing one dragoon. They continue to the middle where they meet up with the 8 battle weary hydras and one dark templar. The pursuing DT's and hydras retreat to the middle at the site of 11 fresh marines and one tank (supported by a spotting overlord), at Terran[]Ryu's choke. They did manage to trade 2 hydras for 2 tanks though. Perrin_Ayabara sends 12 more cracklings to attack the middle, and they kill 6 hydras before being taken care of.

At this point, you may be wondering what andyman866 and halby have been up to, considering they have been absent from all the proceeding action. halby has been rebuilding his economy and now has 8 tanks, 2 goliaths, and 6 vultures. Vehicle upgrades have reached 1:1. Three tanks, 2 goliaths, and 5 vultures move out towards Terran[]Ryu's main. They meet up with 13 hydras, courtesy of Slappyputty, and 7 dragoons from Iambadatsc's expansion. This attack force charges up Terran[]Ryu's choke. His defense consists of 3 seiged tanks, 12 marines, 7 medics, and one turret. halby's 3 tanks seige back from the choke and vultures lay mines around them. All the hydras get splattered, followed by 3 vultures, both goliaths, and 3 goons at the expense of one tank and 6 marines. Iambadatsc sends four more goons in and halby's tanks finally move forward and seige, accompanied by 2 vultures. Terran[]Ryu's newly trained marines join the fray and 2 new tanks siege. Aid, in the form of 1:1 cracklings and 1:1 hydras from Perrin_Ayabara, try to help. halby's tanks and mines stop some of this, while the rest of Perrin_Ayabara's force intercepts more hydras from Slappyputty. His hydras easily kill the help force and continue to Terran[]Ryu's main. With the help of 1:1 marines and tanks being made constantly, Terran[]Ryu just barely held on to his main, withstanding another hydra assault from Slappyputty. This time, halby's tanks and mines can't hold back Perrin_Ayabara, and the attack fails.

Now for our other non-combatant: andyman866. Being pretty much absent from all the afore mentioned battles, he has had alot of time on his hands. Two factories and 3 starports have been built, pumping tanks and dropships, and he opts to join in on the action. About halfway through the preceding attack, 8 tanks, 13 marines, and 3 medics took a short flight over the water to Iambadatsc's main. All troops unload, and the tanks seige. Thirty or so probes are happily mining away when seige tank fire hits them. Sixteen probes wonder how they got back to Aiur before Iambadatsc even reacts. Five more probes are blown to bits before 5 DT's finally charge the intruders. A science vessel is on the scene though, and 2 die before they can even attack. Two marines get sliced in half before the cloaked assassins are laid to rest. The crackle of psi storm erupts over the center of the tanks, killing 5 marines and heavily damaging the tanks. Another storm is let loose, this time killing 4 tanks. Eight dragoons finally arrive and clean up the rest of the marines and damaged tanks, losing 6 of their number. andyman866 lost the whole attacking force, but managed to cut Iambadatsc's mineral intake by 70%.

An almost electric intensity can be felt as a lull settles over the battlefield, and our players rebuild their respective armies. halby has rebuilt all the scvs lost in the first attack on his main, and is producing mainly tanks out of 3 factories. A starport w/addon has been added, along with a science facility. A covert ops is later the addon of choice, and ghost lockdown is researched. Iambadatsc is rebuilding the lost probes at his main as fast as one nexus will allow. The 3 o'clock exspansion is running at full capacity, producing dragoons out of 4 gateways. This complements the now 7 gates at his main. Upgrades are now 1:0:2 for ground units. Slappyputty has 8 hatcheries and is producing 2:2 hydras. andyman866 begins producing battlecruisers out of his 3 starports and continues pumping 0:1 marines out of 3 barracks. The choke above the 5 o'clock natural expansion is completely walled off, but no expansion is present. Only 14 scvs are mining his main, with 6 on 2 refinerys. Perrin_Ayabara's natural is fully operational. A spire has been morphed, and 6 hatcheries are pumping various units. Current upgrades: 2:1:2 for ground units. Terran[]Ryu is producing tanks out of one factory and 1:1 marines and medics out of 4 barracks. Only one refinery manned by 3 scvs, and 15 scvs mining minerals at this point.

Slappyputty and Iambadatsc decide to exercise some map control, and mass 15 hydras and 15 dragoons (from his expansion) in the center of the map. Perrin_Ayabara spots this as 6 unlucky mutas fly directly over this force, losing 2 of their number enroute to andyman866's main. This draws 4 goons into range of andyman866's expansion wall in, and 3 are turned to blue soup. Due to either poor dragoon pathing or tremendous dragoon testicles, the fourth goon dances around and finally charges the wallin alone, dieing a quick, messy death. Sixteen more hydras arrive in the center just as Iambadatsc's ground forces reach 2:0:2. Meanwhile, Terran[]Ryu erects a choke defense in the center of his natural consisting of 5 seiged tanks, 17 marines, and 4 medics. Also present are 16 of Perrin_Ayabara's cracklings and a lone hydralisk. Across the way at the expansion just above the center of the map, halby seiges 8 tanks and sends 2 ghosts to the center of the map. A seige tank standoff has ensued. This serves only one main purpose: Terran[]Ryu's ground forces are effectivly cutoff from his allies.

andyman866 again tries to cripple Iambadatsc's economy by dropping 13 marines in his expansion's mineral line, courtesy of 2 dropships. Every last probe (18 in all) and the only assimilator are destroyed before fresh dragoons come and end the threat. During this precison strike, the now 45 hydra and 11 dragoon force in the center make a strong push to eliminate Perrin_Ayabara. With the goons leading the initial charge, the attack force makes way for the 9 o'clock main. Four cracklings and one hydra engage the attackers at the entrance to the 9 o'clock natural, and are easily dispatched. More cracklings begin morphing from all 6 of Perrin_Ayabara hatcheries, as the first phase disruptor burst hits the expansion's extractor. Two hatcheries at the natural expansion are razed to the ground, with one hydra lost to the attacking force. Ten more now 2:0:3 dragoons try to join the battle and because the choke is so narrow, the attack slowly presses towards the 9 o'clock main. Seven hydras, 16 cracklings, 2 sunkens, and 2 creep colonies are the only defense present at Perrin_Ayabara's main. Two of Perrin_Ayabara's hydras and one ling engage the first attacking hydra to squeeze through the bottleneck, killing it before any other troops get in range. Two lings and one of the front defending hydras paerish as the 2 sunkens start to tongue the attackers to death. The closer of the 2 creeps begins to morph into a sunken, as the other front hydra dies. Ten cracklings charge the attackers, allowing the sunkens to score free hits. One of Slappyputty's hydras is gutted, as 7 lings are killed. The first goon is souped by a sunken, and another hydra dies. Four lings now remain, and are handily dispatched. The nearest sunken starts taking fire, and explodes just as 4 lings hatch. Accompanied by 2 hydras, they serve to stall the attack force long enough for the morphing sunken to finish. Two more blue hydras pop, along with another dragoon. More cracklings charge, another of Slappyputty's hydras dies, and both sunkens are taken down. The attacking troops move in closer, engaging 3 of Perrin_Ayabara's hydras. The defending hydras perish, taking one attacking hydra with them. The other creep colony, which is farther into Perrin_Ayabara's main, begins the morph into a sunken colony. Two hatcheries are razed to the creep, and as most of the attacking troops advance, all but 9 of Slappyputty's remaining hydras are given orders to retreat. Iambadatsc's 19 remaining dragoons ponder this revelation, and continue to press the attack. Perrin_Ayabara's last sunken comes online and 5 goons are quick to destroy it, losing one of their number. Drones are loaded into nearby overlords and evacutated north to Terran[]Ryu's main. Eleven drones escape certain death, as Perrin_Ayabara's main is totally destroyed. One drone begins morphing a hatchery to the right of Terran[]Ryu's barracks, keeping him in the game.

andyman866 tried to help his ally by sending 4 newly constructed battlecruisers towards the battle. However, they get cutoff at Iambadatsc's natural expansion by 4 cowardly dragoons hiding from the attack. Quickly lasering into the goons, blue goo is spread over the nearby extractor. One battlecruiser is heavily damaged (40/500 hps left) and the site of 8 goons leaving Iambadatsc's main prompts andyman866 to retreat the damaged crusiers to his nearby, heavily defended, natural expansion for repairs.

Now, the reason that Slappyputty's hydras retreated in the middle of the attack and that Perrin_Ayabara's main had hardly any defenders was that a drop was already underway. Seven overlords unloaded their 25 crackling and 13 hydra cargo just above Slappyputty's mineral line. Two nearby zerglings are splattered, ending the existence of the only defenses in his main. Three nearby hatcheries are torn into while 2 cracklings run into the mineral line and rack up 5 kills apiece. Satisfied with the demolished hatcheries, the attack force moved on to the nearby hydralisk den. Slappyputty morphed 12 larve into lings, just as his spawning pool is destroyed. The first wave of reinforcements in the form of 7 hydralisks returning from battle, are quickly engaged by 7 attacking hydralisks and 5 cracklings, and promptly die. By now, both extractors have been torn down, and the hive is being worked on. Slappyputty's 0:2 zerglings finally hatch, but they are no match for the 2:2 cracklings and 2:1 hydras. The rally points on Slappyputty's hatcheries also must have been set to the entrance of his main, because most of his lings die without even attacking. Four more hydras arrive, and after being dealt with, Perrin_Ayabara's zerg drop of death was still 9 hydralisks and 15 cracklings strong. They finish off his main, taking down 4 more hatcheries, both evolution chambers and a queens nest. Twelve of Slappyputty's hydras finally start to make their way home, finding it a lot more spacious then when they left. The rival brood is quickly engaged, removing the bulk of the attacking force. More hydras arrive and his main is cleared of the intruders. If Slappyputty's natural expansion hadn't been fully operational (having 3900 mins and 1500 gas in the bank doesn't hurt either) the game would have been an even 2v2 match for a while.

Just as Perrin_Ayabara's main is finished being razed andyman866 carries out another strike against Iambadatsc's expansion. The same four dragoons that ended the last attack on their worker brethren are still on the scene as 2 dropships unload 16 marines, to the left of the nexus. Opening fire on a warping assimilator brings a heavily damaged dragoon into gauss rifle range, ending his exsistence. The marines take some drugs, target the nexus, and charge. The other 3 dragoons fire on the attackers, killing 5. A nearby high templar casts psi storm over 5 marines, as reinforcing vultures from halby end the threat. The nexus just barely survives with 144 hp left.

halby has recoverd nicely. Three factories are producing tanks, with the occasional goliath thrown in. His containment force at Terran[]Ryu's choke has grown to 9 tanks and 4 goliaths. Four ghosts, 3 tanks, 3 vultures, and one goliath are guarding the middle. Currently vehicle upgrades are 2:2, with the last levels being researched.

Iambadatsc is now the only player with an expansion and a main, allowing him to support his army of 38 now 3:0:3 dragoons and 9 high templar. His main is being fully mined again and 11 probes have been replaced at his expansion, along with the extractor. Eleven gateways are producing mainly goons, with the occasional high templar.

Slappyputty's natural is his only source of income. His old main has been cleared of all enemies and 3 hatcheries have begun morphing there. No troops are being produced, but 20 2:2 hydralisks are in assorted locations around the map.

andyman866 has added 2 more 0:0 battlecrusiers, bringing the fleet's total to 7. Three starports are constructing 3 more cruisers. No expansion yet at his natural, even though it is heavily defended.

Perrin_Ayabara has 2 morphing hatcheries, one to the right of Terran[]Ryu's main and the other at the 12 o'clock main. Standing army consists of: 4 mutalisks in andyman866's main, 2 scourge, one hydra, 19 cracklings, and 9 drones. Upgrades are 2:1:2 for ground units.

Terran[]Ryu has increased his choke defense located at his natural to 10 tanks, 29 marines, 4 firebats, 3 medics, and a science vessel. Upgrades are currently 1:2 for infantry units.

andyman866 must have a strong dislike for Iambadatsc's 3 o'clock exspansion, because 5 battlecruisers stop by for a visit. The expansion is guarded by 3 dragoons below the nexus and 7 high templar and one goon near the gateways. One of the nexus goons falls, as the assimiltor is destroyed. The first storm is cast over 2 cruisers, as the other 3 start shooting at probes and the already damaged nexus. The stormed cruisers shoot at the templars and after 3 more storms, one cruiser is finally destroyed. Two more battlecruisers join in on the action, killing the remaining 2 dragoons south of the nexus. The nexus explodes in a cloud of blue smoke and the remaining probes are blown to bits. The single remaining dragoon takes 3 shots at the other stormed battlecruiser, bringing it down, as 6 goliaths and 4 ghosts armed with lockdown arrive. halby's forces arrive to late to save the expansion, but the attack he has begun at andyman866's natural, along with another storm, cause the remaining 5 battlecruisers to retreat.

halby's attack consists of 3 tanks, 2 seiged in range of the wallin, and 5 vultures. The 2 supply depots and single bunker in range of the tanks explode just as andyman866's battlecruisers arrive and begin shooting the tanks. halby brings his expansion rescue team of goliaths and ghosts to rescue his tanks, and the first ghost to arrive casts lockdown on the lead cruiser, just as the front two tanks explode. Four cruisers in all get stuck in a white bubble, as the fifth retreats. The golaiths start destroying the immobile flagships, as 12 dragoons arrive. One goliath wanders too close to the single seiged tank and explodes, as 3 of the 4 crusiers are destroyed. The attack force is joined by 19 hydras from Slappyputty, and together the force pushes down the choke. Two goons are lost to the tank and 8 marines (4 in a bunker) before the wallin is destroyed. The hydras stream down the choke into andyman866's main, which has 4 battlecruisers and 7 marines for defense. A bunker being constructed at the choke is never completed as the hydras destory the busy scv. Two nearby cruisers and four marines engage the attackers, killing 3 hydras, but losing all the marines and one flagship. Two tanks and 3 more marines finish, and andyman866 takes this moment to load 12 scvs into his 6 dropships. The other battlecruiser manages to kill 2 more hydras before dieing, and 7 goons finally show up to press the attack. Five hydras engage one tank, killing it after losing one of their number, as another battlecruiser completes. halby's 3 goliaths, 3 ghosts, and 5 vultures also join the attack, while the 6 dropships retreat to the north. Two battlecruisers and the last tank attack, with one cruiser being locked down, quickly followed by the other. After these forces are destroyed, the last cruiser retreats over the water to the west, surviving with 152/500 hp. It later explodes over Perrin_Ayabara's old natural expansion, where three dragoons are stationed. The rest of andymann866's main is razed to the ground, save for a single barracks that escaped with 200/1000 hps. Being in the red and having no scvs nearby to repair, the barracks slowly burns down.

Remember the four mutalisks left in andymann866's main by Perrin_Ayabara? Well, at the site of the attacking force, they retreat north and attack a newly warping nexus at the 3 o'clock main. Two are blown out of the sky by 3 dragoons, before they retreat west. It really wasn't a good day to be a mutalisk as the 2 remaining mutas run into 2 goliaths and one dragoon at andymann866's natural, losing one of their number. The last muta is later destroyed trying to reach Terran[]Ryu's main by the same dragoons that killed andymann866's last battlecruiser.

During this attack, for some odd reason, Iambadatsc decided to conduct a field study on Terran[]Ryu's defense with 12 now 3:1:3 dragoons. Results: 6 dragoons are souped before the attackers are pulled back, without even getting a single shotoff. halby started an expansion at the 3 o'clock natural and added 2 more factories, producing 3:3 goliaths. At this point, Slappyputty's main is back online. Four more hatcheries have been morphed, along with a spawning pool, 2 extractors, a hydralisk den, and 2 evolution chambers. Perrin_Ayabara's 12 o'clock main is being fully mined and 2 more hatcheries have been added to complement the 2 extractors, spawning pool, hydralisk den, and evolution chamber. Lair tech has once again been reached. Probes are being rebuilt at Iambadatsc's newly warped in expansion nexus and he has almost reached the psi limit. andymann866's escaping scvs managed to build a supply depot at the 12 main before his barracks exploded, but with only 236 minerals, the game is over for our terran warrior.

halby begins a nuclear silo on his expansion's command center. The terran standoff has now escalated, with 13 seiged tanks, 47 2:2 marines, 4 firebats, 3 medics, and a science vessel on Terran[]Ryu's side. Across the void, halby has 9 seiged tanks, 26 goliaths, 5 vutures, 4 ghosts, and 2 science vessels. Also supporting this are an overlord from Slappyputty and 4 high templar from Iambadatsc. After a small time of relative peace, Iambadatsc sends in a brave zealot scout, and all that is learned is that one zealot survives for .02 seconds at the expense of Terran[]Ryu's seiged tanks. At the same time, halby sent in one of his science vessels and irradiated a medic. Because she was a Lara Croft look alike, this pissed off 18 nearby marines, so they decided to charge after the retreating vessel and walk right into range of halby's seiged tanks. Thirteen marines and Ms. Croft are pummeled to death by tank fire before the retreat order is given. andymann866 uses a dropship to scout out the opposing terran troops, but it wanders too close and some hellfire missle packs take it down. Two more of Terran[]Ryu's marines are killed by halby's tanks, while the same science vessel moves forward and irradiates another medic. Terran[]Ryu exhibits better unit control this time, and only loses one marine along with the irradiated HMO director. Getting a little over anxious, Iambadatsc sends in 5 zealots to draw tank fire so a lone high templar can get in range to cast psi storm. The zealots do their job, and storm is let loose. Two marines are killed and 4 tanks are put into the red as the templar is replaced by an orange circle. halby's other science vessel irradiates a marine, killing it and drawing 7 more marines and one medic towards the opposing tanks. Only 2 marines and the medic make it back alive. Two more of andymann866's dropships move forward to spot for Terran[]Ryu's tanks, and halby loses 4 ghosts to this move. Another irradiate is cast on an innocent marine standing in a crowd, and the other marines charge after the vessel yet again. Five more marines are lost to halby's baiting tactic, and another high templar is killed when he wanders in tank range. Perrin_Ayabara uses a nearby scourge to kamikaze halby's already damaged tank spotting science vessel, and the standoff continues.

Iambadatsc starts to become irritated with the fact that he has reached the supply limit and his army of 63 3:2:3 dragoons and 8 zealots are quietly minding their own business when they should be killing something. halby is informed of this, and he unseiges his 9 tanks and gives the general "charge the opposing tanks and die" order. The tanks lead the charge, followed closely by 7 zealots and 24 goliaths. Only 3 tanks managed to get in killing range, blowing away 2 marines before being obilterated. The 7 zealots are also destroyed, accomplishing nothing, as goliaths start making it towards the front. Perrin_Ayabara sends in 12 cracklings from the 12 o'clock main. Our other zerg player has been massing hydras in the center of the map, and 40 charge up the choke. Four goliaths are killed, while Perrin_Ayabara's lings keep the attackers at bay, letting the tanks do the all the work. Cracklings don't survive long to that kind of splash damage though, so Terran[]Ryu sends 13 marines and 2 medics to continue this effort. By now, the choke has become quite clogged, and as more goliaths are destroyed, Slappyputty's hydralisks start to make it to the front. In a very strange move, Terran[]Ryu unseiges 4 tanks and moves them forward, seiging them again about 4 tank lenghts from where they originally were. All the marines are killed, along with 8 more cracklings from Perrin_Ayabara. Because they have been moved forward, Terran[]Ryu's tanks start to take fire much sooner then if they had stayed put, and 3 are destroyed. Nine more marines and 2 medics make it to the front, again letting the seiged tanks pummel the opposition. Overwhelming numbers eventually kill the marines and medics, and the other tank that moved forward explodes. halby has lost all his tanks and 12 goliaths, while Slappyputty has lost 20 hydras. Dragoons finally begin to see some action, as 4 make it to the front. Three are immediatly souped, and the other manages to fire a single burst before dieing. A single ghost is also in this mess, and he manages to lockdown a tank before being killed. More reinforcements arrive in the form of 16 cracklings from Perrin_Ayabara, as everyones 3 favorite words appear on all players screens.

During all the preceding action, halby's nuclear silo finished, followed by a nuke. A single dropship dropped a single cloaked ghost below Perrin_Ayabara's new main, and the nuking was on. The red dot must have been spotted because Perrin_Ayabara flys 9 overlords and 6 mutalisks in its direction. Being too far north to spot the ghost, the payload is delivered, and lots of blood and guts are splattered everywhere. Seven mutalisks, 4 overlords, 2 scourge, 10 cracklings (2 still in an egg), and 2 drones mining gas are all lost in the mushroom cloud. Terran[]Ryu lost the eight marines stationed there on guard detail to the atomic inferno. I could not count all the cancer casulties, because the game was drawing to a conclusion.

Everyone likes a good nuking, unless you're on the receiving side of it. Back at the choke battle, Terran[]Ryu's defense has been reduced to 3 tanks (one which is locked down) as 24 of Iambadatsc's dragoons finally begin to see some action. Nine head for the zerg infestation at 12 o'clock, while the other 15 manage to destroy the remaining 3 tanks. Eight zealots and 5 more dragoons are close behind, as Perrin_Ayabara's 19 cracklings and one hydra at the entrance to Terran[]Ryu's main engage the attackers. One goon and one hydra fall as 12 lings are taken down by the combined dragoon/hydra/goliath force. The last zerg defenders are quickly destroyed, and 10 marines are now left with the duty to defned their base. Four marines are quickly splattered over the nearby barracks, before the rest retreat. They did manage to kill a single hydra though.

Over at the 12 o'clock main, Perrin_Ayabara's forces are no match for Iambadatsc's 12 dragoons and 7 zealots. This prompts andymann866 (he was a spectator at this point anyways) to leave the game. At the entrance to Terran[]Ryu's main, 6 cracklings and 2 mutalisks charge the attackers, quickly dieing a messy death. Then out of nowhere, 12 mutalisks courtesy of Slappyputty arrive, followed moments later by 10 more. A single seiged tank kills a dragoon, before a zealot destroys it. The attacking forces begin to destroy buildings left and right, and halby adds 4 tanks and 4 goliaths to the fray. The 12 o'clock main is totally razed, and the troops there head for the terran encampment to the west. Another tank is completed, and some nearby zealots turn it into scrap metal. Six newly hatched cracklings manage to halve a goliaths hitpoints before nearby tanks splatter them. This buys Perrin_Ayabara .0001 seconds of extra life, as the last structure he has, a spawning pool, is razed. Terran[]Ryu is left to fend for himself, and fend he does, as 2 cloaked wraiths attack the detectionless attackers racking up an astounding 6 kills before he is eliminated.

Winners: The "Home" team consisiting of: halby, Slappyputty, and Iambadatsc.

Well, I hope this all-text has been thoroughly enjoyed by one and all. If you have made it this far, kudos to you for reading the whole thing with no pics. Feel free to use the link provided, and go view the pics and flame me for them :) Until next time....

Skimoose