Finally, after observing 6 different games, I find ][~s1utty~][ and ~7th^jantaru willing to play Starcraft. I willingly volunteer to observe, still looking for a good game to watch. We enter the game s4/20, and with a fury of gl's, and hf’s, we enter the LOST TEMPLE. Remember that I was not the one who chose to use this overplayed map.

Both players decide to let fate decide the race that they hope will carry them to victory. As of yet, I have seen ~7nth^Jantaru play as terran, and protoss. In this game, fate has decided that he will control the powerful protoss. I have also observed 1 of ][~s1utty~][‘s games beforehand, where he has been terran. Here, fate orders his race to be the maneuverable and skilled Terran race again.

The placement of the player’s is an interesting one. As of all the games I observed that day, (which is today) I have seen the players be on opposite sides of one another. This game is no different, ~7nth^Jantaru is white, being on the left side of the map. The pylon’s blue energy fields radiate across the small area. The terran player is brown, being on the right side of the map, with his scvs itching to mine resources.

Some may say that the early part of one’s life is the thing that will change what we do in adulthood. This may be true, it may be false, but in Starcraft it is all-true. Your build order in the early part of any RTS game determines what your strategy must be. Thus, the terran player, ][~s1utty~][ begins by building a barracks, supply depot, another barracks, another supply depot, and a refinery. The white, protoss player, ~7th^jantaru begins with a pylon, a gateway, a pylon, an assimilator, and another gateway.

At this time, like so many games before, ][~s1utty~][ sends a scv to scout. At this time, unit wise, the brown ][~s1utty~][ controls 5 marines, while white ~7th^jantaru controls 2 zealots. The scv correctly goes west (for you folks who don’t know your directions, west is left) and encounters two of ~7th^jantaru’s zealots. The zealots mercilessly kill the scv, and that annoying bearded guy’s head is blown to smithereens.

Like his opponent, the white ~7th^jantaru has sent one of his probes to look for brown after the fiasco with the scv. The probe arrives at white’s base and is riddled by bullets sent from brown’s 6 marines. The robotic mind of the probe explodes, along with its body, revealing the location of brown’s base. Both players know where there adversary’s location is, and continue building their respective armies in preparation for their next move.

At this time, in addition to what they had built, ][~s1utty~][ has constructed an academy. On the other side of the map, ~7thjantaru has built a cybernetics core. Despite both players lack of progress in advancing up the tech tree, each player has accumulated a small army. White ~7th^jantaru has, in addition to his 2 zealots, 2 brand-new dragoons encased in that bluish, liquidy, thing. Brown ][~s1utty~][ has recruited 11 marines in total. Out of these marines, 7 suddenly start moving those clumsy legs of theirs. Their mission, destroy ~7th^jantaru’s base, or inflict as many casualties as possible without risk of losing human lives.

The marines make the small hike towards ~7th^jantaru’s base, and prepare to regroup 10 yards to the east of brown’s base. The troops start to rest, when one of the marines sees something in the distance. He shoots at it, bringing in a volley of dragoon fire. The other 6 marines converge on the spot, and begin firing at the 2 zealots and 2 dragoons.

The marines, for some reason, turn back, and are briefly pursued by the protoss forces. However, the protoss, wary of a trap, turn back as well, to protect the nexus that is now warping in. A couple of seconds later, ~7th^jantaru builds 2 pylons on the choke point between his two bases, and the outside world.

At this point, protoss ~7th^jantaru has, in addition to what he has on the top, a robotic facility, a Robotics Support bay, and a forge. ][~S1utty~][ has constructed a factory, which is building a machine shop, a Comsat addition to his command center, and is building a starport. Both sides have built numerous supply depots and pylons. Unit wise, ~7th^jantaru has in his small, iron fisted army, 4 dragoons and 2 zealots. On the other side of the map, surrounded by brown buildings and the like, ][~s1utty~][ has 9 marines and 2 medics.

Minutes pass with tension in the air. The two players brace themselves for the next move that they are sure will come from their opponent. The two go for one type of unit mainly, with ~7th^jantaru focusing on the construction of dragoons, while ][~s1utty~][ is building marines and medics. Within minutes, both sides have substantial armies. When his dragoons number 7, ~7th^jantaru orders the protoss warriors move forward with a small shuttle circling overhead.

For some reason or another, ][~s1utty~][ has a dropship out there, who sees the army coming when they have finished ¾ of the journey towards brown’s base. Also, for some reason or another, ][~s1utty~][ sends his army of 13 marines and 4 medics out to meet this advancing army, thus abandoning the high ground, a substantial advantage if such a battle took shape. Thus, I must make a historical preference towards this situation. If you do not like history, go ahead and skip the following paragraph, but I assure you that it does have meaning in this situation.

In September of 1759, France and England are at war throughout the world. As battles rage across 4 continents, the war now focuses on North America. England has sent a force of regulars to capture the capital of New France, Quebec. Led by the malicious, General John Wolfe, the English army of 5,000 consists of Iroquois Indians, American militiamen, British regulars, and a couple of gunboats. This force sails north, and arrives on the Saint Lawrence River bordering Quebec on June 26, 1759. The British troops make several attempts to land without success. However, on September 12, 1759, British forces, acting as a supply convoy, successfully land without provocation. The entire force of 5,000 men rallies in a small strip of open ground. The French army that is garrisoning the fort at Quebec decides to fight a European type of battle. The French army, command by General Montcalm, decided that his 10,000 strong army would wipe the British even if in the open fields. At dawn, on September 13,1759, the British were in lines 4 deep. The French were sniping at the Redcoats from the forests, but the British did not return fire. With each passing minute, the French got bolder and bolder, advancing to within 10 yards of the enemy troops. Then, the order was given, 5,000 muskets discharged across the planes known as the Plains of Abraham. As the French began to retreat, the British fixed their bayonets, and charged. An orderly retreat soon turned into a rout, and within 30 minutes, the fate of North America was sealed forever from the French.

7th^jantaru’s forces were moving at a very fast pace, and engaged ][~s1utty~][‘s forces just outside the choke point to ][~s1utty~][‘s natural expansion. The dragoons let off a small volley, and retreat a couple of feet. The marines fire their rifles as fast as possible, burrowing deep into the shields and armor of the dragoons. The shuttle that was following the dragoons arrived at the battlefront, and lands one of the members of its deadly cargo. The reaver now attracts all the attention of the marines, and the reaver sustains heavy damage. A single scrab leaves the reaver, and hits the left flank of the terran line, 4 marines and a medic are killed in the blast.

As of now, the terran line is starting to fall apart; the reaver sends a second scrab to hit the enemy, before being destroyed itself. The terran army is now reduced to 3 marines, and a medic. The terran forces retreat, meeting up with 2 medics along the way back to ][~s1utty~][‘s base. The dragoons follow post haste, trying to engage the enemy without stopping the chase. As the dragoons prepare to move up the ramp and attack the base itself, a lone marine comes down the ramp, and fires one burst of bullets at the dragoons, meeting a volley of disrupters in return. The marine retreats, and is healed by a medic. The entire defense force controlled by ][~s1utty~][ consists of 5 marines and 2 medics.

The terran force forms a line blocking the way up the ramp giving him a couple more seconds of time to build forces. The dragoons are forced to fire uphill to clear a way for them to get up the ramp. The dragoons successfully kill 2 marines, clearing a way for the dragoons to attack the enemy on the same ground. The dragoons ignore the fire of the marines, and ascend the ramp towards brown’s base. Realizing that the marines are damaging his dragoons, 7th^jantaru orders his dragoons to stop moving, and engage the enemy. The marines are killed instantly, but 2 medics continue to live on, trying to meet up with the 2 marines that are going to come out of brown’s barracks soon.

Realizing this, the dragoons kill the medics, before having to face the 2 marines who are going to make a last ditch defense of the base. The marines are killed, but they kill a dragoon, lowering the attack force’s strength to 6. The dragoons start to fire at the buildings, but a burst of flame appears on the screens of the 2 players and the 2 observers, along with a sound known to every experienced Starcraft player. A siege tank stationed near Brown’s command center fires another round, killing a dragoon. The dragoons move toward the siege tank in siege mode, and start firing, only to have another round pummeling them, along with 2 little marines firing bullets at supersonic speeds.
dragoons slowly lose their numbers but kill the siege tank near the command center, and the two marines. However, the troop count is down to one, and the remaining dragoon starts firing at the siege tank that has just come out of the factory. Before firing a shot, the dragoon is killed by the siege tank. The defense of ][~s1utty~][‘s base has been successful, for now…

Each side, now having lost huge amounts of men and resources, expand. White takes an expansion to his north while Brown inhabits his natural expansion. The 2 sides also climb up the tech tree a bit, with 7th^jantaru constructing an observatory and a templar archives, while ][~s1utty~][ builds a starport, a science facility with a covert ops, and a nuclear silo. Unit wise, the two players are trying to outdo each other in the least amount of time. The defense of brown’s base now rests on marines, medics, ghosts, and siege tanks; while the attack that will be mounted by 7th^jantaru looks like the attack will rest completely on reavers and dragoons.

As the two respected armies gain strength, 7th^jantaru orders an observer to investigate the defenses mounted by the terran player. A science vessel, just completed by le terran player sees the observer, and a single burst of rifles sends the observer scurrying back to the white base. 7th^jantaru, realizing that the attack, if it should be successful, will require huge amounts of firepower, constructs dragoons at a dizzying pace. When his troop count of dragoons reaches 17, a shuttle appears holding cargo that may spell the difference between victory and defeat. The attack force begins its march towards the enemy. As the dragoons finish ½ of their hike towards the enemy base, high templar begin coming out of the gateways controlled by white.

The defense of ][~s1utty~][‘s base rests upon two separate armies and a couple of siege tanks. The army in the front line is located right next to refinery in brown’s natural expansion. It consists of 8 marines, 2 medics, and a siege tank in siege mode. The second line of defense is located on the top of the ramp leading to brown’s main. This army consists of 12 marines, 3 medics and 3 siege tanks.

Right before the attack force engages the enemy’s first line of defense, the two zealots from the early part of the game show up and begin drawing the fire of the siege tank and marines, allowing the entire attack to come in without being bombarded by the siege tank. As the first line of defense is overrun, siege tanks and marines from the 2nd line of defense begin to fire at the attack force. The marines of the second army, itching for a fight, leave the high ground and begin to attack the enemy dragoons. Blood, bluish liquid, and explosions are everywhere.

By now, the high templar that were constructed right when the dragoons started fighting, have arrived on the battlefield. The terran forces begin to form a line with the marines while the siege tanks fire death upon the dragoons from above. The dragoons have had heavy casualties, but right when all seems lost, psi-storms begin to rip across the sky. Within 4 seconds, the entire force of marines and medics that were part of the second line of defense are gone. ][~s1utty~][‘s only hope is with the siege tanks. Only 3 are on the cliffs, and 2 of these are psi-stormed, thus heavily damaged. 2 marines from the barracks are constructed and sent to the front line meeting up with a couple of marines left from the first army.

The prospect for the terran player looks incredibly bleak; it’s as if he wasn’t watching this part of the battle. In reality, he wasn’t. “Nuclear Launch Detected” alarms ring across the map. It’s amazing that a terran ghost has penetrated the defense perimeter of 7th^jantaru’s base, and is landing a nuke right inside his first expansion.

But one nuke will not change the fate of a battle on the other side of the map. As the nuke lands, killing dozens of probes and buildings, the last dragoon in the attack dies, leaving the high templar to psi-storm as much as possible. The high templar retreat as the nuke hits its target, and a marine follows the high templar. 3 high templar remain, and two of these merge to become an archon. The terran player, fearing an archon, sends two more marines to attack it. The marines are successful in killing the last high templar, but all 3 are killed by the all-powerful archon.

By now, another wave of dragoons is en route towards the Terran base. In the middle of the map, they meet with the archon, and they continue towards the exposed base. Also, 7th^jantaru has constructed 2 more expansions. The 8 dragoons and archon arrive at the brown base not to see a severely damaged base with almost no defense, but an entire new army consisting of; 7 marines, a medic, and 3 siege tanks. The 3 tanks change to siege mode in unison, and the marines open fire, killing one dragoon.

The dragoons move to point blank range on the ramp, and open fire. However, within 12 seconds all of the dragoons are killed, and the defense is successful without a single casualty. Of course, 7th^jantaru is already building another wave of dragoons, but ][~s1utty~][ isn’t standing still to wait for them. Reinforcing his small army with a wraith, brown sends his army to attack the protoss base. The new wave of dragoons encounters the terran attack force in the middle of the map. The 5 dragoons are able to fire 2 volleys before beginning a retreat towards the 2 photon cannons on the choke point towards white’s first expansion.

The retreat is fake though, and another wave of dragoons meets up with the troops already in the front line. In a fury of blood, blue liquid, and explosions, we see the majority of the marines in the attack force destroyed, and 3 dragoons are left. Soon, a reaver and dragoons face the attack force, and destroy it utterly. The second attack mounted by ][~s1utty~][ has ended in failure. Both sides are now preparing for their next operation.

Mad with rage at his lack of progress in destroying the terran player utterly, 7th^jantaru builds a sizable army of Dark Templar and dragoons. On the other side of the map, the terran player is building a huge army of siege tanks, marines, and medics. The army constructed by 7th^jantaru is reinforced by 2 reavers, and begin the march, made so many times by heroes long gone, towards the terran base. The terran defense army consists of 16 marines, 4 medics, and 4 siege tanks.

The first unit to fire in this part of the battle is a reaver, killing 4 marines. The defense force rushes out to meet them, and another battle ensues. The dark templar rush in front of the attacking army and slay marines and medics alike. But the dark templar is shot at because of a missile turret in the middle of all this. The 4 siege tanks that are part of the defense army are above all this carnage, and slowly change into siege mode. As the missile turret is blown to pieces, the dark templar ascend the ramp and begin attacking the siege tanks. A Comsat is done over this area, and a couple of the dark templar are killed. Also, the two reavers that have survived the battle board a shuttle and are dropped right next to the siege tanks. The tanks are destroyed, and the dark templar are free to start laying waste to the terran base.

However, ][~s1utty~][ like so many times in the past, is trying to start a successful last ditch defense. 4 tanks are constructed and kill the remaining dark templar. The main attack force though is at ][~s1utty~][‘s only expansion, killing scvs. The army terran army starts attacking them from high ground. They kill everything except for the 2 reavers, who have boarded their shuttle and are retreating. But, another wave of dragoons is approaching, and engage the 3 siege tanks and 2 marines that are left over from the last ditch defense. The terran army is destroyed in this small skirmish.

Realizing that the game is lost, ][~s1utty~][ asks his opponent to ally victory. The offer is politely refused. After watching his base get destroyed, ][s1utty~][ surrenders. The game is over, and I believe that this is my best br yet. As usual, I ask of you readers to give me some feedback.
Lessons Learned
1) Constant waves of troops can overwhelm an opponent
2) Reavers are the best when it comes to massed fighting
3) Use the psi-storm often
4) Expand a lot
5) Last ditch deways give feedback on a br for the writer
6) When making units, make lots of buildings that can produce them
7) Always scout out the enemy
8) 8) Always give feedback on a br for the writer to read and give you better Br’s. (atleast when it comes to my br's)

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