Big GAY FFA on Acropolis   WARNING: This game was a four player FFA which lasted well over an hour. I took 246 screen shots. Please take your dialup modem firmly in your right hand and push the back of your head between your legs with your left hand, and kiss your @$$ goodbye, because you won't be reading this report. =) On with the show.

Starting Positions & Initial Build Orders.

VisualJ++6.0 chose Terran and landed his teal CC at the 10:00 spot. aDarkKakaru randomed Protoss and warped in a red Nexus at the 8:00 spot. Flamin'Spork chose Zerg and morhped in a purple Hatchery at the 6:00 spot. Jug chose Protoss and warped in his orange Nexus at the 2:00 spot.   Let's take a look at how it started out:       The initial build orders and strategies for the game were basically summed up right there. At this point I guessed Jug was a newbie and didn't know what he was doing (his build order and style was very strange, even getting into late game), I guessed Visual would go for Heavy Metal, and I guessed Spork would go Hydras and Lings. I didn't have time to guess what Kakaru would go for, because when I turned to his base, this is what I saw:     Nobody admitted to pressing the drop button, but I suspected Spork because he asked who did it. I've got my eye on you, Spork.

The Muster of Rohan...well...units.

It was a long time before anyone attacked. Visual was climing the tech tree to Heavy Metal and Science Vessels, Spork had his expansion with gas and only two mineral fields running and five Hatcheries pumping Hydras, and Jug had successfully began all three advanced Protoss tech trees, along with getting a Forge for Cannons. Here's a more detailed update:   Visual: After constructing two factories and having a Machine Shop added onto one of them, he began production of Vultures and Tanks, mixed in with a small number of Marines from one Barracks. While doing this he also built a Starport and Control Tower, and later a Science Facility, apparently expecting Lurkers and Dark Templars. After this amount of tech was completed, he constructed another Command Center near the top of his base to float to the upper left island.     Spork: After securing his expansion near the middle of the map with three well placed Sunken Colonies (guarding against drops AND attacks from all sides), Spork morphed two more Hatcheries in his main base and another in the entrance from his expansion to his main. Using the creep from his fifth and newest Hatchery, he placed three more Sunken Colonies in his entrance and apparently felt safe. He then morphed a Hydralisk Den and began mutating a Lair, while pumping Hydralisks from four of his five Hatcheries. He later destroyed the former base of Kakaru, then expanded there. After this he put down three Evolution Chambers in order to acheive all three ground unit upgrades simultaneously. As was predicted, Hydras and Lings were massing in his base.     Jug: Following his Cybernetics Core, Jug proceeded to warp in a Stargate, Robotics Facility, and Forge all at the same time. At this point I still concluded he was a newbie and had no idea what he was doing. However, he soon managed to climb all three tech trees, also adding a Citadel of Adun. When his Forge finished he warped in Cannons relatively near his Nexus, to guard from drops, and also put a few Cannons in his choke, along with the Zealots he already had stationed there. Later he added a few Reavers and Corsairs to this defense. With the first Corsair that completed construction from his Stargate, he began to scout the map, first downwards to the bottom right corner, where he found a wandering Overlord of Spork's. Most of the comments coming from the only Zerg player were editted out due to their graphic nature.

Upgrades and Expansions.

Visual's Terran faction now controls the northwest sector of the map, with his main at 10:00 and expansions at 9:00 and 11:00. He has upgraded his Vehicle Armor and Weapons from two Armories, and nothing else.   Spork's Zerg brood has infested the southwest area of the map, with his main at 6:00 and expansions at 7:00 and 8:00. He has upgraded both his Hydras and Zerglings, and currently has a Hive and is upgrading the Adrenal Glands for his Lings.   Jug's Protoss tribe has gained control of the northeast territory of the map, with his main at 2:00 and expansions at 1:00 and 3:00. He has been upgrading his air units as well as his ground units.   And the minimap:

First Blood and the Epic Struggle.

In the next few minutes, Visual, who seemed to be in the best shape so far, decided to make his move. He sent his force of probably a Supply Limit worth of Vultures, Goliaths, Siege Tanks, and Science Vessels to the middle of the map, hoping to capture the rich center expansion and possibly the outer center ones as well. However, as his troops surrounded the lage patch of minerals, a skirmish on the southern frontier broke out between the forces at Spork's expansion and roughly 1/3 of Visual's troops. Thanks to the immense power of Siege tanks and the good cleanup duty of Vultures and Goliaths, Spork's entire army of Hydras and Lings was easily swept off the face of the center, along with his expansion.     For the next possibly twenty minutes, all was quiet on the western, eastern, southern, and northern fronts. Visual gleefully took his expansion in the middle and basqued in his own glorious wealth while Spork quickly switched his tech to Mutas and Cracklings, and Jug still had his turtle defense of nine Cannons, five Reavers, five Zealots, and some Corsairs. At one point Jug dropped six Reavers on Visual's 11:00 expansion, but Visual let his SCV's die and dropped Goliaths at the edge of the island where Jug's shuttles would later fly over. As they passed, one exploded and another was within one last Hellfire Pack of death, thanks to Visual's sharp thinking. Now I turned back to Jug's base...and all my visions of his extreme newbiness suddenly made sense...six Stargates were blinking quickly and a Fleet Beacon and Arbiter Tribunal had already been warped in. The turtle and Carrier technique was truly surprising. It was about this time that I also noticed Jug had the entire map observer'd out, so that he had total recon of nearly everything. Visual's whole force in the middle was surrounded by Observers and he had no idea. When my mind stopped strangling itself at this sight, and the fact that through all this, Jug was yet to be attacked, I took a look at everyone. Apparently Visual had comsatted the three Carriers which were hovering over Jug's defense, because he quickly constructed five Starports and built about two dozen Wraiths with Cloak. He harassed Spork's 8:00 expansion a little, but was repelled by Spore Colonies and Hydras after killing about half a dozen Drones. Then Visual mentioned he had to go soon, so I watched his supply limit worth of Tanks, Vultures, Goliaths, and Wraiths engage Jug's now twelve Carriers with four Arbiters, nine Cannons, a few Zealots, and plenty of Corsairs with D-Web. Just as this was happening...I noticed a purple streak swarm up from the 6:00 main into the middle of the map and Spork said "Khan =)" -- "I got it," I replied and the biggest and best battle of all time ever in the history of the world of Starcraft commenced. I can't even explain it with words, so this collage of pictures should do:     That was truly the gayest thing I had ever seen. Spork will probably never stop cursing about how gay Carriers are. However, if it works, it works, right? Jug's turtle then Carrier/Arbiter/Corsair tactic owned this FFA. After this there was a long period of Spork's bases dying one by one, his Devourers getting Stasis'd left and right, and Interceptors tearing through all the Zerg structures and units. It wasn't until about an hour and fifteen minutes into the game that something else interesting happened... That's right. An Infested Terran drop. Spork was desparate to do something fun before his bases were overrun, so he infested one of Visual's old CC's and dropped seven Drones alone with one Infested Terran on Jug's 4:00 expansion.     All those unit descriptions are separate units, meaning I did not take screen shots of the same Carrier four times as it progressed through kills, and yes...two Zerglings with ten kills each. The Drone...don't ask...   Well...I guess you've had enough of my 500x500 pics and your dial-up modem has probably exploded by now, so I'll finish off with the scores and some notes: Overview -- Total Score VisualJ++6.0 116438 Flamin'Spork 208618 Jug 243822 Units -- Produced / Killed / Lost VisualJ++6.0 161 174 121 Flamin'Spork 416 243 363 Jug 322 299 130 Structures -- Constructed / Razed / Lost VisualJ++6.0 68 8 7 Flamin'Spork 39 75 37 Jug 71 39 10 Resources -- Gas Mined / Mnerals Mined / Total Spent VisualJ++6.0 13854 31234 35050 Flamin'Spork 19162 38786 54275 Jug 20126 45026 51405   Notes: -Turtling and going mass Carriers/Arbiters/Corsairs will win you a lot of FFA's, but your opponents will hate you for it. -Sending mass Tanks and Goliaths down a ramp is always a problem, but with D-Web in the area, it's evern worse. -Muta/Crackling is stupendously strong. -Always upgrade. At the end of this battle, all players had full level 3 upgrades. -Use your units' special abilities. Stasis Field and D-Web will make your opponents mad, but that's the point. -Infested Terran drop > peon line.   Thank you all for the tremendous amount of time it took to read this BR. Sorry for all the huge pics...I mean...I'll get better ;P First time BR. Please comment =) K H A N