"Mark4 WAS still trying to think of ways to micromanage a single observer to victory."
-YourRoleModel
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| Terran vs Zerg: 2v2 on Orbital Death | | | Author: | | | IP: | XXXX | | Date: | 06/16/99 03:06 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | Starcraft(1), Problem: Broken Images(1) | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 2, Max: 10, Min: 10
Lifetime Rating for greyhoundbus: 9.7500 |  | Terran VS Zerg: 2v2 on Orbital Death
Having had it up to here with everyone saying 'omg' while I was logged on as omgtktt, I got in as greyhoundbus and prayed no one would notice my embarrassing normal-game stats. After having some derivative 'fun' on Dire Straits (da-da-da-da-da, another-Zerg-bites-the-dust!) I decided it was time to risk a non-island map again. I'm a sucker for punishment. The call sounds out for a 2v2, and I giddily wave my online hand. And whaddaya know, 5 guys show up in the private channel. Since I was starting to get into the BR thing, (AND I suddenly didn't feel like getting my butt kicked) I immediately volunteered to be observer. Having one of the players (Omnipresent I think, who had seen my BRs under omgtktt) vouch for my sincerity as observer helped, so no one questioned my intentions… hehe.
The map: Orbital Death
The Terran Armada:
'Imhotep': Blue, starting at 'middle' left
Worry2: Yellow, starting at bottom left
The Zerg Swarm:
Helmintes: White, starting at 'upper' center
{DL}Omnipresent: Teal, starting at bottom right
Starting positions!
Reports had reached the UED fleet of a Zerg infestation on an abandoned orbital platform, one of many the Confederacy was forced to abandon during recent conflicts with the dual alien threats. Rich deposits of resources were still stored on the platform, and securing such sources of income was considered vital to insuring a lasting victory and presence in this sector of space. The two Terran Commanders chosen for the job, 'imhotep' (named for a ancient Egyptian High Priest who was also the subject of a wacky 1999 remake of an equally wacky black-and-white horror movie) and Worry2 (the sequel to Worry1 no doubt… the Terran obsession with movies rears its head again) landed their CCs and began the war effort in earnest. The newly-born Zerg Cerebrates that Kerrigan had put in charge of colonizing the platform, Helmintes (An Ancient Greek Cerebrate? *shrug*) and {DL}Omnipresent (one of many Cerebrates who had adopted the odd habit of putting initials enclosed in parenthesis in their names in order to terrify their opponents) quickly caught the unwelcome scent of Terrans on their little piece of universe (it's easy when you live downwind from Terrans). They too begin preparing for the onslaught.
That Was Pretty Good Bull. Now Cut To The Chase!
Helmintes, {DL}Omnipresent, and imhotep start with defensive builds, with the terran making a bunker quickly and the two cerebrates placing sunkens at strategic spots in their bases. Worry2 uses a more 'ready-to-rumble' build by going hard marines without any bunkers. Medics start appearing soon as well. While the Terrans build up, Helmintes goes for the vaunted early 2 hatch strategy while Omnipresent ups the ante by building 3 hatcheries!
After a few minutes, both parties are beginning to wonder just how green the grass is on the other side. A lone SCV from Worry2's base moves east and runs into Omnipresent's base quick enough. Sticking to the Zerg base's parameter so as to avoid sunkens, the SCV passes the base and continues North, and then Southwest. When it runs into Helmintes' base, sunkens are quick to dispatch the suddenly suicidal SCV. One of Helmintes' drones, feeling equally feisty, moves West from his home and quickly runs into imhotep's base. Worry2's position is then inferred, and all combatants pretty much know where their enemies are at this point.
Omnipresent meanwhile has begun morphing his first Hatchery into a Lair. At first, with the absence of a Hydralisk Den, it appears as though Omnipresent might be going fast air. Whatever his original plans may have been, however, the next few minutes of action are enough to convince him that the offensive must be taken sooner…
Worry2 suddenly sounds the call to battle, and a strike force of 8 marines and two medics begin the march to Omnipresent's base. 8 of imhotep's marines run to join their fellows. When the two teams meet near Omnipresent's main, the assault begins. Omnipresent is quick to react to the threat, and sends a force of more than a dozen zerglings to meet the invaders. Imhotep's forces recklessly come within range of the sunkens, and although the first wave of zerglings are slaughtered, it is at the cost of imhotep's marines. Worry2's forces, noting the deaths of their comrades, are more cautious, and begin firing on those buildings undefended by the deadly sunkens. Omnipresent bides his time, and builds another full wave of zerglings. When the next 18 or so Zerglings strike at Worry2's crack troops, the marines are overwhelmed.
Helmintes, aware that both forces have moved to attack his fellow cerebrate, had already begun an attack of his own on imhotep's base. The Terran is at first forced to lift his CC in order to avoid the swarm of zerglings, but reinforcements that were moving to Omnipresent's base return promptly and hop into a nearby bunker, thereby fending off the over-ambitious zerglings.
Are we done rushing yet?
After a short while, we find that not only has Omnipresent begun expanding to the middle right starting position, but has also finished morphing a Hydralisk Den. Soon, a small force of Hydralisks stand guard at the main. Hoping to catch his opponent off-guard, he starts the evolution process that will allow his Hydras to morph into the dreaded Lurkers. When 4 of the abominations appear, they move with a small escort of zerglings to Worry2's base…
…where they prematurely run into Worry2's force of M&Ms at the small t-junction just Northwest of Worry2's base. The escorting zerglings are quickly dispatched, but the marines are quick to recognize the monstrous threat following the zerglings. Unprepared to face these hidden adversaries out in the open, the force retreats to reconsider their position. The Lurkers follow close behind, and stop just outside the base to begin chipping away at the outlying buildings. Having taken stock of their opponents' numbers, the marines gather and stim, briefly allowing the medics to nurse them back to full health. Then, with the help of 3 well-placed comsats, they move in an arc that allows them to hit the lurkers one at a time, and soon all four lurkers are killed with minimum losses to the marines.
Not to be deterred, Omnipresent quickly amasses a force of 10 Hydras and 2 lurkers and trot them off to camp at the t-junction near Worry2's base.
You can almost hear the Hydras going "Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to work we go...!"
Worry2, uncomfortable with this presence, and having sieged two tanks in his base, proceeds with a simple plan to rout the offending Zerg forces. Using his comsat as a sight, the siege tanks fire upon the Hydras standing guard. The Hydras, who don't really like being shot at, begin moving in to take out the offending tanks, but Omnipresent frantically has them move back to guard the Lurkers. Worry2 doesn't let up on the harassment, and comsats the Hydras again. This time, the Hydras, too maddened to listen to their master's warnings, run headlong into the terran base… only to be slaughtered by the waiting M&Ms. The burrowed Lurkers, lacking any support, are easily dealt with soon after.
You can almost hear the Hydras going "WTF?!They killed Bob! Get them! Get...URK!!!"
During all this hoopla, Helmintes, exhibiting the same deviousness as his fellow cerebrate, has taken the time to expand to the the topright starting position.
Imhotep, not wanting to be outdone, launches an attack of his own on Helmintes, sending a formidable force of M&Ms(at least a dozen marines from the looks of it) to the Cerebrate's Eastern choke, threatening both the Cerebrate's main and expansion. Quickly, equally large force of zerglings and Hydras are dispatched from the main to deal with the invaders. Furious fighting erupts between the two sides, with Hydralisks doing their darndest to spit their adversaries to death, and medics providing care to Marines on the battlefield even as reinforcements continue streaming from imhotep's base. During this assault, imhotep finds the time have an SCV begin construction of a CC at the small expansion point between the two terran bases. At this time, Worry2 is the only combatant without an expansion.
While the battle at Helmintes' choke continues, Worry2, encouraged by his success at fending off Omnipresent's onslaught, marches a proud army of 12 marines and 3 medics to Omnipresent's main, attacking from the same entrance as before. Omnipresent's Lurkers are quick to come to his defense. Worry2, unwilling to take too many chances with his troops, pulls them back for a moment, at least until 2 tanks can come in to lend support. Imhotep meanwhile has succeeded in pushing his way past the choke at Helmites' entrance and now stands at the very doorstep of his Zerg adversary! Two of Imhotep's own tanks come in to provide cover fire, and the situation begins to look very grim for the Zerg swarm.
imhotep's troops knock at Helmintes' door...
...while Worry2 also makes a social call on Omnipresent. One can never be too neighbourly!
Helmintes, however, isn't about to give up without a fight. With constant harrassment from hydralisks, he is able to keep the siege under control, but not without incurring many Zerg casualties. Realizing his Hydras cannot stand toe-to-toe with M&Ms effectively, he begins morphing six Lurkers at a quiet corner of his base. Imhoteps' marauding Terrans succeed in destroying one Hatchery before a wave of 6 Lurkers rush in, burrow, and obliterate most of the marines before the medics can so much as protest. A lone tank suffers the same fate moments later, and the threat to Helmintes main is over, for now.
Before: Can you guess what the 'After:' picture looks like?
imhotep laments about spilt milk, while Worry2's troops, forced to pull back a little, await SV support.
For Omnipresent, however, the battle isn't going nearly as well. Every attempt to break the siege on his base has been foiled by the two tanks and constantly stimmed M&Ms. Worry2, confident that he is keeping his opponent boxed in, has finally decided to expand to the middle bottom position. With a fully functional Starport and half-built Science Facility to maintain, the need for extra gas and minerals is starting to become urgent. Meanwhile, the slow push into Omnipresent's main is really starting to worry the beleaguered Cerebrate. His concerns are justified: when a Science Vessel arrives on the scene to spot Lurkers for the Terran ground forces, it is not long before the beautifully coordinated Terran troops mow through the Zerg defenses. Soon all that remains of the once-proud Zerg stronghold is blood and burning flesh.
A Science Vessel smiles a happy smile.
Lurkers With A Vengeance
However, the cunning Cerebrate is far from dead. During Worry2's siege on his main, Omnipresent had expanded again to the gimme between his main and his first expansion, thus ensuring a healthy flow of cash even if his main should fall. When a sizable group of Lurkers and zerglings move in from the north to attempt to save the Zerg main, Worry2 realizes his opponent still has a good economy going, and decides to proceed northward, albeit cautiously.
On the other side of the battlefield, Imhotep hasn't exactly been goofing off. Aware than Helmintes has an expansion at the top right position, he had already begun gathering a force of marines, medics, and, ultimately, tanks behind that expansion's drone line. When turrets are built to detect lurkers, the siege begins in earnest, and Helmintes' drones come under fire while marines stand by, ready to take on anything that dares to come near the tanks.
um... everything the previous paragraph said.
Another CC has also been built at the top left starting position. Imhotep has high ambitions, and at first it looks like he's got what it takes to pull it off…
… and then Helmintes gets tired of being kicked around. First, he realizes that trying to save his expansion is not going to be easy, so his band of 8 REALLY MAD LURKERS move out West from their main to find imhotep's undefended, shiny-new CC. When the subterranean spines start doing damage to the CC, imhotep is forced to lift it… only to have it blown out of the sky by marauding Hydralisks. At first, imhotep seems unperturbed by this lost, but when 3 Lurkers march right to his front door, he realizes with horror that he has virtually no defenses against the attack.
A quartet of Lurkers gleefully exact vengeance on their human oppressors.
His troops, having dealt the final blow to Helmintes' hatchery, start running in panic to save their main. The Terran lack of discipline quickly costs them dearly… as a hidden force of at least three Lurkers rip into the first few unlucky marines who step into the former site of his expansion. Realizing that he's walked into a trap, imhotep quickly scans the area and dispatches the lurkers, but not before losing more precious troops.
However, imhotep is hardly out of the woods. During the siege on Helmintes' expansion, the Zerg Cerebrate had (deviously, mind you!) massed an impressive force of more than 15 Hydralisks, who now take no prisoners as they rip through imhotep's base. Again imhotep's men run desperately to save their base, and promptly get slaughtered by the 3 or so lurkers burrowed at the entrance. What's left is easily cleaned up by the remaining Hydras, and, despite a futile attempt by Worry2's M&Ms to save imhotep's main, imhotep is soon left without a main or a fully functional expansion. During the destruction, he quietly retreats some SCVs to the lower middle starting position and begins rebuilding his army.
You can almost hear the Hydras going "Just whistle while you work, tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet...!"
Hey I Thought The Terrans Were Gonna Win!
Worry2 realizes the gravity of the situation. Although he has kept Omnipresent under his thumb throughout the game, his partner is now incapable of backing him up and he faces the threat of a very powerful enemy from the other side of the battlefield. He attempts to test Helmintes' strength by sending a token attack force to the Cerebrate's main, but the small Tank and SV team is easily dealt with by a band of Hydras. After an attack on Worry2's main is fended off by a combination of SVs and M&Ms, there is a lull in the battle as both sides take the time to consolidate their forces.
Omnipresent, who had lost his gimme expansion during the Worry2's siege on his new main position, had found the resources to begin an expansion at the gimme north of him. Helmintes, meanwhile, had re-expanded to his old spot at the top right, and also taken the spot at top left. Imhotep furiously builds to get his army back on it's feet, but as it turns out, it is a futile gesture.
Before long, Worry2 makes his last attempt at taking Omnipresent down. A large force of M&Ms and SVs head for the Zerg Stronghold on this do-or-die mission, and meet heavy resistance at the choke leading up to the base. At first, it seems impossible for the M&Ms to get past the defending Hydras at the top of the ramp. However, with SVs Irradiating the Zerg swarm, 8 stimmed marines and 4 medics succeed in pushing their way to the top of the ramp. Alas, even this victory is short lived, as Zerg reinforcements arrive in the form of two newly hatched Ultralisks and 5 Hydras. Against this sort of power, the heroic Terran force is no match, and every marine goes down in a blaze of glory (while every medic sort of splits apart in an icky way, eeeew).
The dramatic final Terran assault.
Aftermath
Before long, Helmintes' army of Hydralisks comes in from the North to obliterate Worry2's base, and the few remaining SVs don't nearly have enough energy to irradiate the entire swarm (though it IS fun to see the little jig Hydras do while writhing in pain). After Worry2's base is crippled, imhotep is next, and his base succumbs quickly to a deadly combination of Hydras, Lurkers, and Ultralisks. The two Terran commanders are captured alive, and subjected to whatever fiendish new experimental torture methods that Kerrigan has devised. Some of which no doubt involve tickling.
Lessons Learned:
- M&Ms, stim, and skillful use of comsat can actually be an effective combination for taking out over-ambitious Lurkers.
- This game said a lot for unit management and the M&M/Tank combo. I suspect the reason Worry2's siege on Omnipresent's base worked so well was because he kept his marines stimmed every time a threat appeared. This, coupled by the fact that he replaced a tank quickly everytime one got destroyed ensured that he was keeping constant pressure on his opponent. Omnipresent kept losing sizable forces of Hydras, Lurkers and zerglings to the near-perfectly executed siege.
- I also have to say this was one of the best turnarounds I've seen in a game. Players of lesser substance might have thrown up their arms and surrendered in the face of what the Zerg team faced midgame. But Helmintes got up the guts to go and hit imhotep where it counted: his poorly defended main. That and well-laid Lurker ambushes quickly turned the tide of the battle around. I've seen quite a few wimps who lack the brains to do that kind of thing… but they mostly play BGH, heh.
- Science Vessels are evil! An irradiate here, an irradiate there, and even a superior Hydralisk force in a tactically advantageous position will have a hard time against M&Ms.
- As Helmintes demostrated, a big force of Lurkers can be effective at breaking a seige. He might have been less lucky if there were more tanks and stimmed marines, but one can always send in some daredevil zerglings first I suppose.
The final score! Gee that greyhoundbus sucks! |
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