| "We were playing a non-Blizzard made map originating off of Big Game Hunters. This one had more money. " - JeremyFJ
|
| never, Never, NEVER give up! | | | Author: | | | IP: | XXXX | | Date: | 05/29/99 08:05 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 1, Max: 9, Min: 9
Lifetime Rating for .Praetor: 8.2987 |  | Battle.net wasn't working in the morning, so I got some homework done. By the afternoon, I was able to get on, and I was rarin' to go. Unfortunately, Nohunters was empty. No problem, I'll just play ladder. Well I search around for a game, and no one will play me (1185) so I join a 4ffa (which I like best anyway). All the other players are cool cause I'm at least 100 points over them =). I go random with one other person, and the other two pick toss and zerg.
I land my brown pirate militia Command Center in the top left corner of the rich mining district of Ashrigo, on an islolated volcanic world. I plan to mine enough money to extend my hegemony over the sector.
[dasom]death (white) represented a small but noble tribe of refugees from Aiur, hoping to begin to rebuild their once great civization with the riches of Ashrigo. His honourable Nexus warped in at the top left plateu.
Two vile Zerg cerebrates were also attempting to control Ashrigo, as the first step in beginning their own swarms. zin-kazama's grotesque purple Hatchery raised it's fearsome visage bottom left. tackliff (red) infested the bottom right plateu.
Having obtained a general outline of the terrain through mapping on the way in, I refrained from taking valuable SCV's off of mining for worthless reconaissance. Instead, I built up my economy and base. I first built a supply depot, then a barracks, then a refinery then two more supply depots. My SCV's were being constantly produced, with 4 workers on gas production and countless workers swarming over the mineral piles. After I filled a bunker placed in my mineral line, I started a factory, and filled another bunker on the other side of my minerals. After starting another supply depot behind my refinery, I realized I may need detection soon, so I started an engineering bay along with my starport, and an acadamy after the supply depot was finished. I also built four more marines, bringing my total up to eight. When the starport was finished, I built a machine shop, a science facility, and a transport after a control tower. Filling in supply depots when needed, my base began to look very cramped, but it actually functioned quite smoothly. My building placement makes it virtually impossible for any melee unit to overrun my base. When the transport was finished, I filled it with four marines and four SCV's. I also had one tank, for lurkers, without seige. I started producing Science Vessels as a mineral cheap way to improve my forces. I then took my transport and started another base on the central island.
My first SCV began a second Command Center, with the second a bunker, and the third and fourth both missle turrets. I started another sci vessel at home. At my expansion, I build nine turrets, as many as can be built without interfering in mining operations. When my CC was done, I started another comsat station, and ordered two of my SCV's to build refineries, the other two to mine minerals. At this point, the air raid sirens go off at the base, and a missle turret begins throwing ordinance at the offending beast. Luckily for my expansion, it is nothing but an overlord, which ominously drops a drone onto the ground once it can get rid of its cargo. The purple overlord from zin-kazama keeps watch on it's side of the narrow lava gulf, and the drone scampers off to infest some other part of the battlefield. At this time, I find I have some money, so I begin slowly producing SCV's for my expansion, until there are four on each refinery, and one for each mineral patch. Worried about mass hydras, or goons, which is one of the best tactics against me, I research seige mode, and build two more tanks. At the same time, I start building supply depots and two refineries. Eventually, I have three seiged tanks, backed up by two bunkers, behind a double line of depots and two armouries, with only a single space entrance. Satisified with my defenses, I build some more sci vessels, as well as three more starports, and start on both upgrades for my air forces. I also add a physics lab to my sci facility. I have six sci vessels now, so I send three off to my expansion, research irradiate, start four wraith, and research cloaking. My money now absolutely depleted, I slowly order up more marines, and research mines, followed by building a vulture.
Feeling confident, I scan my three enemies to determine the best mix of forces. The Protoss looks almost laughable at this point, having five cannons and a few goonszealots. He has two gateways, and is warping in a fleet beacon, so I know I will face carriers later in the game. I am unable to tell whether or not he has expanded to his natural. zin-kazama looked unsure as to his future plans, as he had two hatcheries, and one Hive, with a spire upgrading to Greater Spire, as well as a den with two evolution chambers. I decide I can happily write him off as a newbie who will reseach the entire tech tree before attacking. The red tackiff cerebrate leaves no question as to his aims, having a spire and a lair at his base, along with some sunkens. Knowing I will be facing much air, I start more wraith, deciding against valkeries on account of carriers. I also build up my natural, with a command center a refinery a bunker and a missle turret. I take my pre-built marines and put them in the bunker. I then start another vulture and move my first off to the top middle expansion. I mine it for recon purposes, and send the vulture off to the middle right. There I see a new red expansion, with few drones mining, but three sunken colonies, with one spore colony, and one more sunken on the way. Deciding this would be an easy kill, I d-matrix one wraith, sending him in first, and attack the base with my eight wraith. Then I go back to my remaining vulture, and send him over to the middle left, where he promptly runs away from a red base mining happily away, with a spore colony, a sunken colony, a hatchery, and a nydus canal. Not waiting for re-inforcements, my vulture speeds to the bottom middle expansion, to find antoher base, also purple, with a hatchery and a nydus canal. I now figured purple would be my greatest enemy. Suddenly, I realized my mine was gone. Speeding up to the top middle, I found a protoss base with my glittering new cannons. Taking a close look at the white paint on them, my vulture was soon obliterated.
Just as I stared more wraith, purple attacked my expansion. To my horror, five guardians began rapidly pounding on my turrets. I immediatly irradiated three of them, and recalled my wraith from red's expansion. Then, as if in a nightmare, the corner of my eye saw the tail end of a red transmission on the minimap, right over red's expansion. I jabbed "1" twice, sending me to my wraith, where I saw the last three destroyed by two devourers and four mutis. Directing my attention back to my expansion, the guardians had pulled back. I irradiated one more, and then the overlord that came to drop off troops in my base four lings that dropped out of it quickly died to my bunker, before the overlord's rotting carcass disintegrated under turret fire. I could only assume that zin-kazama had not expected any ground defense. I quickly rebuilt my turrets, then replaced two SCV's attacked by the returning guardians, which mercifully died after their bodies could take no more radiation poisioning. At my base, I had four wraith, and I started two more, and two battlecruisers. I finished researching all the sci vessel upgrades, and also the battlecruiser upgrades.
Red was soon back on the scene. No sooner had I got my expansion up and mining, guradian fire started pelting my refinery. Bringing down my four wraith, they took down two guradians before an overlord arrived. Then I saw his six devourers and as many mutis. Starting to sweat, I brought my sci vessels down, and irradiated an overlord and two devourers. When scourge came down and killed my sci vessels, I lifted off my CC and moved it up to my main, as well as starting four marines, queuing two valkeries, and starting two more wraith. Just then my third weapons and armour upgrades finished for my air forces, making me feel better. Then I noticed purple preparing to take my expansion again, so I took my sci vessels, and irradiated two guardians early, as well as a hydra in the middle of the group =) and an overlord. He retreated his forces out of sight. Worried, I saw red had retreated, and started my natuaral up again. After a short skirmish, I killed 4 devourers and two mutis with 8 cloaked wraith, before I lost them to scourge when an overlord arrived. Feeling a bit better there, and afraid of purple, I send my battlecruisers and valks to my expansion in the middle. At this time both purple and red hit me again. Purple began first, sending in guardians as usual. I irradiated them, and started hitting them with valk fire and BC fire. Zin-kazama wisely retreated after destroying two turrets, drawing my forces towards his waiting hydras. I pulled back my BC's in time, but lost a valk and the other was half damaged. Red started hitting my natual again, with guardians as far as I could tell, so I send in my eight cloaked wraith, and stopped paying attention. Back at my expansion, three overlords were headed into my base, I fired at the first with my bc's and valks, irradiating it as well. I died dropping only one hydra, which then died to guass fire before it got off a shot. The other two overlords were also irradiated, and my BC looked to make short work of the hydras until zin-kazama cast dark swarm from the other side of the moat. Cursing, I sent two SCV's to repair my BC's while the continued to fire uselessly. Refusing to let this beat me, I irraiated two hydras that I could see in the swarm. When they died, taking a few with them, there were two hydras left, and one BC. I repaired the BC, and irradiated the other two hydras with the sci vessels reinforcing from my main. I then rebuilt my turrets and what SCV's I needed to. At my expansion, I noticed my wraith were dead, but I took the four I had newly built, and killed the last offending guardian and lings. Not watching as I rebuilt what was needed at the expansion, and filled a bunker with marines, the wraith followed red into his expansion and died to spore colony fire. Faced with a serious mineral shortage, I started pumping sci vessels in earnest. Eight more soon joined my forces, and at this time, I had transferred all my SCV working on minerals from my main to my expansion. Worried about white once again, I started building wraith. Feeling better with my economy back on track, and six vessels in each base, plus two at my natural, I started to relax.
Red reminded my of my problems, when four mutis came to probe my natural. I irradiated two of them, and red soon pulled them back. Guardians hailed the beginning of a new attack on my middle expansion. I quickly irradiated them, but the four guardians did their damage, and in came six overlords, hanging low in the sky. I yamatoed the first one, and proceeded to irradiate four out of the next five. Guass fire opened up, and my battlecruser fired away. As the hydras dropped out of their glowing overlords, I irradiated them as fast as I could, switching between sci vessels to better deal with cooldown problems. At least half of the hydras were glowing as they landed, and added with the sickness of their transports, they died at an incredible pace. Unfortunately, I lost my BC anyway, and my bunker was severly damaged. I rebuild the four turrets I needed to. Just before the end of this attack, eight carriers showed up at my door, fully loaded with interceptors, and quickly began obliterating my main. My wraith were done a few seconds into the invasion, but the four of them were quickly brushed aside as soon as they were finished. My transport was one of the first casualties, killing all hopes of evacuation. I simply let my base die, taking as much money as I could from my natuarl expansion. I moved my six sci vessels from my main back to my middle expansion. Sacrificing my two other sci vessles, I annoyed white with an few EMP shockwaves before a fleet of corsair arrived and neutron flares shredded my vessels into scrap metal. My natural expansion fell soon after that, to white. Red sent a few mutis up to take a look, but they retreated as soon as they saw the massive amounts of interceptors. Pulling two SCV away from mining, I took one to the ridge on the right edge of the map, and one to the top of my island, across the moat. I then spat out a few choice swear words at my opponents. My tanks had never even fired a shot. I started two starports with my two SCV's. The one on the ridge was soon found by white so I cancelled it, and send the SCV lower to build supply depots. Before my comsats were destroyed, I had a look around the map. White still held the top middle expansion, and purple the mid left and mid bottom expansion, though the mid bottom expanison had been newly razed, and purple was rebuilding. Red was rebuilding his expansion as well, it having been destroyed farter in the past (noted by absence of creep). I started wraith at the starport I built above my island, and I got three supply depots done above red's main. When he started killing them with 3 zerglings, I retreated my SCV to my old main, hoping to build starports there. My SCV was soon killed by carriers guarding a new white expansion warping in at my natural. I got one wraith out of my starport before I lost my depots. I cancelled the rest and pulled my starport above my island. I also started an engineering bay, and eventually it floated above my island too.
Feeling annoyed, and certain I could not win, I nonetheless perservered. I counted on the fun I could have irradiating the hell out of any zerg player that was fool enough to assualt my island. I had 12 fully upgraded sci vessels there. Of course, if Protoss suddenly walzted in, I'd fall like a house made of playing cards. So I used my last comsat to keep an eye on red's former expansion, which quickly developed into the major battlefield of the game. Before this, I had to irradiate a guardian, an overlord, and two hydras in the middle of a bunch by my island before purple decided he didn't want to mess with me. I think that was around the same time he found out my main had fallen, and I was no longer the main threat. I continued mining. Protoss was taking his sweet time, guarding his expansion concientiously. Purple razed expansion attemps by red at the battle spot at least three consecutive times. About this time, huge numbers of hydralisks stream by my base, all 33, and going somewhere in a hurry. I estimated about 60, basing my assumptions on 5 full battle groups. For once, they were not accompnied by defilers, probably due to the defiler's slow movement. I decided against irradiating some of them, since I wanted Purple to take out White Protoss, so I could have a chance of holding out. My first comsat confirmed their destination. My second comsat caught the first part of the battle. Purple had send his hydras straight in, without bunching them once he achieved the canyon outside my natural. This, I thought was a mistake. The hydras ran into five zealots, three cannons, and a score (10) of carriers. They were taking their sweet time dispatching of the zealots when my comsat ended. Being patient, I waited a few seconds before comsatting again. The zealots were gone, and the hydras surged forward to take out the cannons. In an impressive move, red had brought four devourers which were spraying acid spores on the carriers to weaken their armour for the hydras. Srangely enough, three of the devourers, and one carrier, had plague on them. I decided to send help. I got a sci vessel, and sent him out to emp the carriers, figuring this was my best chance to make sure white was not the strongest player. My sci vessel died almost instantly to about 12 corsair. Sigh. I comsatted again, and there were seven carriers left, no cannons, no zealots, and no hydralisks. The seven carriers moved south. Soon later, red announced he was dead. I was waiting to mine out my base, so I had room to build. A few minutes later, three carriers come ambling by and attack my base, obviously in retreat from red. I get one emp off, before corsair show up and d-web half my base. Scared, all my sci vessels retreat to the other side of the island, afraid for their lives. The corsiar do not continue their terror, instead moving north for unexplained reasons. The carrers also break off their attack, as they leave, I see that they have five hitpoints and no shields. Apparently red had obtained defilers as well. When my comsat had filled up, I checked the map again. White's base at my natural was razed, but maybe 40 minerals were left in two small patches. Red was starting a fledgling expansion at the often fought over min-only patch. Both of purple's expansions were razed, and both had hatcheries growing in them again.
Glad the Protoss war machine had apparently foundered, my SCV's redoubled their efforts in mining. Due to losses in the last purple attack, I had only two mining gas, but this was enough. Surprised I found I had approximately 50004000 in the bank. If nothing else, I could evacuate Ashrigo to continue building my empire elsewhere. Focusing again on more immediate affairs, I d-matirixed a sci vessel, and headed towards the min-only expansion. There I found a red zergling succumbing to three purple hydras and a defiler, with blood all over the ground. Purple had just started another hatch as well. I irradiated a hydra and moved my sci vessel around the cliffs by the expansion. I found about four observers, and red's natural was about half destroyed, presumably from white's abortive attack. On my way back to my base, I irradiated another hydra and a defiler. That pattern of attack continued for an incredible amount of time. Anytime purple sent stuff by my base, I would irradiate it. Every now and again, I would d-matirix a sci-vessel, scan, and irradiate three things at purple's base, which never got to mining much. About the time I finished mining out the minerals at my base, purple had finally got drones working at his base. Then two white storms erupted over his workers, killing most of them. I cheered, sent a sci vessel, irradiated a hydra, a templar, and a drone, leaving the other templar for purple's hydras. I saw red send about 36 lings over at the bottom middle expansion, but they died to about 24 hydras, who shot them down as they arrived. I irradiated two hydras there, and retreated, repairing as necessary. Only once did purple get more than 6 hydras at what became the only minerals left on the board. Then white came buy and stormed them, aimed well thanks to an observer. I came in, irradiatd the temp, two of the hydras, and left.
I had 1033 support at the time and needed more. Experimenting, I eliminated three turrets, and finally found a spot to build a cc. In the process of expirimenting, I also found a spot a little too close to a refinery I could build a barracks in. When those two got done, I started a factory, razed another missle turret, and started another cc. I also found space for 3 supply depots, getting rid of another turret. All the while I was irradiating hydras or drones or defliers, and anything that walked past my base (all of which was purple). By the time I stopped building, I had five turrets left, two starports (without control towers), two refineries, a bunker, and a cc with comsat station on my island. In the air I had floating an engineering bay, a barracks, a factory, and 5 cc's. I started on another cc, even though I was down to 3600 min. I also had 4 scv mining gas at each refinery, and 3 left over for repairing. I irradiated more stuff at the mineral expansion, and sent over my wraith, just as purple sent in his last gas mining drones to save him (many were carrying gas packets). I cloaked my wraith, and leveled his base, killing a defiler, 4 drones, 3 hydras, and about 9 drones as they wandered in. After that was finsihed I circled the expansion, and took out about 4 observers. I had 12 wraith at the time. My 6th cc finished, and I started another and more wraith. About this time, 6 lings and a drone came from red, were promply shot down, and red surrendered. Knowing I now possesed the only mineral source, my idle SCV's started doing a victory dance. I floated one starport over to the ledge by my new expansion, so it could build a control tower. I also sent over 2 cc's to expand at the spot, for faster SCV production. I set two science vessels patrolling in advance positions watching out for observers and templar, as well as 12 wraith patrolling over my expansion and the cliff and the approach area from purple. Comsatting the 9:00 expansion, I sent over my second group of wraith (4) and attacked 4 hydras while cloaked, and destroyed the undefended expansion. Deciding to speed up the process, I sent my patrolling wraith to the bottom middle purple expansion, and razed it to the ground. When that was done, I ran into 6 hydras and 3 overlords at red's natural. I destroyed the overlords, then the hydra, and replaced my losses from the 12 grouping with newly made wraith. About then Zin-kazama surrendered and fled the battlefield, but not before sending two lurkers to my new peon line, and killing all my workers. I irradiated the lurkers with a sci vessel. Building ever more wraith, I sent my damaged group over to my new expasion, where the SCV's popping out of the two command centers there repaired them. Two down.
At this point, my patrolling sci vessles were set upon by four corsair, I took up my newly repaired wraith, cloaked, and killed the corsiar, which were without observer support. My sci vessels barely avoided being killed, I sent them back for repairs. Now having a group of 12 wraith, and a group of 10, I scanned the 12:00 expansion. Not finding any templar, I sheilded one wraith and attacked the four cannons there. Two cannons fell, foolishly shooting at my sheilded wraith, when psi-storm began rippling. In a fury, I turned on the templar, only to have an arbiter come in and cloak it. Enraged, my wraith followed it and killed it. Wary of another templar, but deciding to hurrt the end. I attacked the base, leveling it without any further psi-storms. I could only conclude that the arbiter had merely cloaked the templar's death throes. At the end of the battle, I had one heavily damaged group of 12 wraith. Deciding to hell with repairs, I set about attacking white's natural, but not before I sent in a shielded sci vessel, and scanned white's natural and main. Finding two templar in white's main, I irradiated them, my d-matrix abosrbing cannon fire. White quickly merged them into an archon. My respect for white suddnely shot up a notch. This guy wasn't a bad player at all. The archon, glowing with psionic power, didn't even notice the radiation in it's vicinity. Happy with the results anyway, I sent in my wraith at white's natural. Queuing up attack orders, I quickly destroyed four cannons and a dragoon. As I eliminated the buildings, psi-storm crackled again, and I retreated, losing four wraith. Annoyed, I sent another sheilded sci vessel, going all the way into the back of white's base. I was just about to irradiate the two templar I found back there, when white stasised my sci vessel. Annoyed, I sent in another, irradiated the templar that had got my wraith, and another in the back before my sci vessel was shot down. Sending in yet another sci vessle, I irradiated the last two templar hiding, which then merged into an archon. I then moved everything I had to the top middle expansion, and started the construction of yet more wraith. I d-matrixed 7 wraith and a sci vessel, sending in the wraith. I got two cannons, then emp'd the archon and the arbiter, popped the archon, got another cannon, and killed the arbiter. The other archon uncloaked, finished killing my sci vessel, and was promptly killed by my wraith, after damaging them all. My wraith killed his last cannon, losing 3 more wraith, and white surrendered.
I sat in my command center in the middle island, and looked up from the situation board. I informed the protoss commander terms would be delivered soon, and looked at my staff. The whole ops center erupted in spontaneous cheering. I allowed the protoss to take whatever they could off the planet, in return for the closely supervised use of one dark templar, who killed the renegate cerebrates. The protoss swore that those present on the planet would never face my forces again in battle, and I destroyed the buildings they had left. After I had finished mining out the once rich area known as Ashrigo, my holdings were considerable. I had 8 command centers with which I could seed a better world than this, and begin my path to power. I even had 6 sci vessles and 12 wraith left to guide my forces through the depths of space. The four marines left with me, ans all of my scv's from the original founding of my expansion were given numerous medals. The enemy commanders had all been skilled, and I would remember the battlefield of Ashrigo in the days to come.
The lessons I took away from that battle were:
1)Irradiate ROCKS! Especially when you have a choke or an island, where you can't be swarmed. It isn't good against units en-masse, except for mutis.
2)I've still got it on Ashrigo (used to play it alot).
3)Sometimes playing conservative isn't worth it (aka my tanks). I'd build em again though.
4)Templar don't rule everything.
5)Archons suck if your opponent has EMP.
6)Defilers don't rule everything.
7)never, Never, NEVER give up!
Oh!
it is it is a wonderful thing.....
to be a PIRATE KING!!! |
|
|
|
Home
Forum
Starcraft Tournaments
