As the good book says:

When King Mark4 was old and well advanced in years, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. So his servants said to him, "Let us look for a young battlereporter to attend the king and take care of his need for quality literature. He can turn games into poetry so that our lord the king may have a warm heart."

Then they searched throughout the internet for a talented writer with a fetish for the ways of gaming and they found Slotham, an Australian, and bought him to the king. The young man was very gifted; he took care of the kings need for gold rated battlereports and the king was pleased.

Slotham then left the king's side and set out on a journey in search of the ultimate game, in order to bring praise to the temple of BR.com. When his friends and readers heard about it, they gathered together and all distress and discontent left them. The prophet LuckyNewbie:P said to Slotham "Do not stay in the realm of mediocrity, go forth and find greater riches beyond the firewall." So Slotham left and started to travel the information highway. His final words rang throughout the mountains as well as the hearts of his followers; "I fucken roxx0r! I'm like a 1337 haxx0r dude! Fucken kickass!".

After completing endless games with my four friends who featured in War and Peace, I was still lacking a suitably spectacular match that I could report on. Even with my limited experience I know that reporting on a unimpressive game is a huge waste of time. So I wasn't going to spit out a Generals tale simply for the sake of it, I wanted something worth it.

The only course of action that could be taken to overcome both the lack of good gaming and the internet sanctions applied to my connection was to search the web for a replay that someone else had posted. After many many minutes of exploring and at least one can of coke later a gem of a replay was discovered. Construction on the masterpiece you have already started to read commenced immediately, despite the constant threat of failing university. Perseverance and a deep seeded hate for study saw the report take shape, grow and evolve. Three, two, then one exam to go and still the piece was extended with ever-increasing time being invested into my new found love. Stints of brilliance at 3 o'clock in the morning resulted in not only interesting and informative reporting but also a caffeine crazed belief that a successful and profitable career could be made from my current hobby. But alas you must sit through some more information before you can get into the guts of the report for I have yet to cover the heroes. You can skip this introductory piece of information but It is not recommended. One may also consider it a good move to read my first report, War and Peace. I believe that a greater understanding of this superb game will give you a heightened appreciation for the report, and considering that I'm writing the damn thing you have no choice in the matter.

The heroes in Generals have special abilities that can be utilised predominantly in covert missions. They have a large line of sight, are stealthed and can detect other stealthed units. All the heroes are infantry units and as such are fragile. Care must be taken in the approach to an enemy base as well as the approach to the heroes target.

A quite fellow but do not make the mistake of assuming him harmless. He is armed with a high-powered sniper rifle that fires potent ammunition that can penetrate any armour known to man. This power allows Jarmen Kell to assassinate the crew of any vehicle, without harming the vehicle, rendering it derelict and up for grabs. Any infantry unit from any side can then enter the defunct vehicle and claim it for their team. This is extremely powerful when playing against China as a full health Overlord can be taken out and possibly captured before a battle begins. Jarmen Kell can only use this ability every few minutes. Being a sniper he is also a superb anti-infantry unit being able to take down anything on two legs at large distances. Kell is a viable and easy to utilise alternative to the fragile Quad Cannon.

This report is rated "OMG 15+" and may contain large purdy pictures, serious arsewhooping and counter-arsewhooping, cheesyness and a distinct smell of cabbage. Because of this rating small children and those of you who are unfortunate to have their name ending in "erG~LinG" are asked to leave, right now. Failure to comply with the rating may cause permanent irreversible damage and neither Battlrereports.com nor the author of this report will be held responsible for your sanity.

Furthermore, it is an offence both civil and military to repeat any of the following destructive action. If you intend to repeat any of the following then declare it to me now, your tongue will be removed but no further action will be taken. If in the future you are found to have repeated any of the following then you are liable for prosecution. You have been warned.

Tournament Desert

Tournament Desert for Generals is what the Lost Temple is to Starcraft/Broodwar. It is becoming the map of choice for most 1v1 matches and as you can see this game is no different. Its main feature is the three corridors running north to south along the length of the map. The middle corridor is where most of the battles take place while the outer two corridors are used for flanking attacks. In the center of the map there is an urban environment that creates a choke point between adversaries. There is a natural expansion and oil derrick for each player and the only other resources are the supplies found in the center. The urban area is of huge strategic importance so players usually make acquiring and holding the center ground their first priority. Holding the center gives you free reign over the supplies found there and it forces the opposition to attack down one of the small side corridors.

ace1gold opens with a Nuclear Reactor and sends his first Dozer to his expansion in the east. The expansions in Tournament Desert are so close to the mains that ace1gold starts the Supply Depot at his natural at the same time as the one in his main. When both depot's finish an extra Supply Truck is ordered at each and the focus is then turned to unit production. A War Factory commences building while the Dozer from the natural is sent to build a Barracks just south of the middle. It isn't obvious yet what ace1gold has used his opening General point on but his intentions to conquer the middle are unmistakable as a Bunker is built, soon to be occupied, and Gatling Tanks are cued at the newly completed War Factory.

Early Game

Pillars starts with a Nuclear Reactor but that's as far as the similarities go between the two build orders. His first Dozer is sent immediately to the middle to construct a Barracks, this move is to secure the supplies in the center for future use. Once the Reactor finishes a Supply Depot and a War Factory start and two Tank Hunters and two Red Guard march out from the Barracks. The Tank Hunters occupy a building each, one on the left and one to the right, and the Red Guard are sent to the two oil derrick locations. This setup allows Pillars to see the entire middle strip of the map so an early rush will be easily detected. Also, the Red Guard are already in position for when the capture upgrade completes so there is no delay in gaining the precious oil. The Supply Depot finishes at the main and the natural is taken straight after. Work on a War Factory starts and the Capture upgrade commences in the Barracks.

Pillars sends a Gatling Tank through the center and a Dragon Tank down the left corridor on recon missions into the deep south. ace1gold quickly dispatches the Gatling before it can reveal any important information on his building advancements and at the same time deploys his own recon team. This was a fortunate move for ace because he runs into the purple Dragon Tank just to the west of his main. A well-placed Fire Wall manages to eliminate ace1gold's Gatling Tank but Pillars is denied entry when his badly damaged Dragon Tank clashes with reinforcements from the center. The second element of ace's patrol is a Dragon Tank, interestingly enough Dragon Tanks can not damage each other, and it continues on its original mission. On it's way up it encounters Pillars Red Guard unit waiting by the Oil Derrick and quickly kills the feeble man but at the same time alerting Pillars to the intrusion. Three Gatling Tanks hastily seek out the potential threat and kill it with ease.

In this time of scouting both players climbed the tech tree by building a Propaganda Center, ace1gold starting just before Pillars. The two enemies synchronize their actions nearly perfectly as both train a Black Lotus at exactly the same time, it's surprising that the heroes didn't meet on the way to each other's base. Both Generals had the oppositions Command Center in sight and started the capture as soon as the coast was clear. The Black Lotus captures buildings extremely fast so unless an anti-infantry unit is close at hand then there are two choices; sell it or lose it. Both commanders choose the lesser of two evils and immediately sell their Command Centers leaving both without radar. Pillars also gains valuable information on which way ace1gold is advancing as his Lotus witnesses a Nuke Cannon drive from one of the two War Factories. ace1gold has spent his first General point on the mighty Nuke Cannon and it appears he's going to attempt an old school tank push. The three Gatling's that took care of the scouting Dragon Tank are ordered around ace's middle defenses and down toward the powerful but weak and expensive Nuke Cannon. In an interesting yet amusing outcome the Gatling's do take out the large cannon but in return the cannon also takes out the Gatlings. heh.

ace1gold responds to Pillars Black Lotus by bringing a few Gatling Tanks down from the fortifications in the center and starting the production of a Troop Crawler in his second War Factory. The Troop Crawler is an APC that can detect stealthed units and comes with eight Red Guard already inside. Pillars follows a similar path but decides a Troop Crawler isn't worth it and settles with Gatling protection. Both players start production on new Command Centers and ace also constructs a Supply Depot in the center. This is a risky move as the funds used in the venture might not be regained if the expansion falls too soon.

ace1gold's strike force

Pillars decides to fight fire with fire, or in this case nuke with nuke, and deposits his first General point into the Nuke Cannon. In the next few minutes a game of cat and mouse is played as each opponent attempts to use their nuke cannons to take the center. Pillars starts to push ace out of the middle with long-range bombardment and in return ace sends a small offensive strike force to dispose of the threat. The tables turn and ace brings his nukes to the front line and Pillars is forced to retreat. This center battle se-saws and the intense micro and the constant flow of troops to the dead zone ensures an amazing five minutes of stunning victories and crushing defeats on both sides of the urban strip.

Technology Downgrade

The deafening sounds of battle only subside when ace finds a gap in Pillars anti-Lotus defences and forces the selling of the Propaganda Center; Pillars is without the required tech for the nuke cannon. Although the responsible party for the sudden drop in tech was eliminated, this was no consolation for Pillars as at the same time ace finally finds Pillars hero with a roving troop crawler. The red guard dismount and line up as if part of a firing squad, eight shots break through the air and the Black Lotus draped in purple slumps to the ground. A defining moment in the game as Pillars is behind in tech, resources and troop count. ace also orders another Black Lotus to be trained.

ace pushes north

ace1gold pushes his advantage by adding two more nuke cannons to his arsenal as well as increasing his supply gathering in the center. The push from the south is mainly on the right side of Tournament Desert so Pillars attempts to stay competitive by mining the resources in the middle-left sector of the map. He also starts to produce larger numbers of low-tech units so he can hold out until he replaces his Propaganda Center. Instead of becoming passive Pillars harasses ace1gold's gathering efforts with a constant presence of Tank Hunters. Nonetheless ace gathers his force of three Overlords, three Nuke Cannons, two Dragon Tanks and an assortment of infantry units in preparation for a victory march. Before the attack is launched ace's replacement Lotus is sent up the left-hand corridor for some more sneaky-sneaky laptop action. While on transit a convoy of five enemy Gatling Tanks is seen heading down the left corridor and an Overlord is ordered to cover the bottom-left choke point. The Black Lotus stays on her initial instructions and comes across Pillars middle supply gathering operations; ace1gold's attack opens with the forced selling of Pillars' center Supply Depot. Pillars looks to be over-run as he quickly loses ground and units as well as one of his economic sources. His convoy of five Gatling Tanks is slaughtered by the single defending Overlord most likely due to a lack of micromanagement from Pillars, his attention would have been on the center battle.

One of the Nuke Cannons strays from the protection of ace's Overlords and is gutted by some very well placed Tank Hunters. This action lures two Overlords and the two Dragon Tanks towards the urban area occupied by many a purple Tank Hunter while at the same time ace's third Overlord engages a Battlemaster that has anti-armour infantry support. Pillars divides and conquers, he manages to take out a much superior force with some impressive micromanagement and the fact that he kept his forces well spread out. He controlled three fronts; it was a textbook ambush. In an attempt to catch up Pillars pushes through the center with two Battlemasters and ten Tank Hunters. The two retreating Nuke Cannons are eliminated but Pillars army makes little ground as red reinforcements bunker in and force the invaders back to their homeland. Silence prevails as both parties rebuild, but Pillars is still behind. Although he has just completed the rebuilding of his Propaganda Center he is behind in unit count, unit advancements, economy and map control. But it does look closer as Pillars has some good macro set up and is catching up in resources.

ace1gold's Overlord that recently destroyed five Gatling Tanks now made its way up the left flank for some recon and harassment. You know your ahead when your using Overlords for recon. The large cumbersome unit revealed that Pillars had mined out his expansion and that the only defences on the left-hand side was a single Gatling Cannon. The cannon was promptly destroyed but the intruder received the same fate as the fury of Pillars fell upon the lowly Overlord. The main reason ace decided to attack was to ensure safe passage for his newly trained Black Lotus, anti-infantry detecting defences don't go well for heroes. ace, despite defeat in the last skirmish, was determined to continually push his superior position and never let Pillars get back in the game. The red general was planning another push northward but was not going to make the same mistake as last time; he destroyed the urban area to the left of the center from the safety of his base then set up a well-balanced force.

Pillars struggles to fend off ace

The attack was set, the force in the middle ready to rein fire down from a distance and the Black Lotus in the northwest ready to sabotage Pillars macro. Again the push north commenced with the force selling of a structure, this time it was Pillars main Supply Depot. Three Nuke Cannons pummeled a Barracks and few Tank Hunters that were spread around the area, these kills lifted ace to General level three therefore allowing him access to Artillery Barrage. The fire support was immediately employed to destroy one of Pillars two War Factories while the Black Lotus started to capture the other, of course it was sold before the capture completed. Not one to give up, Pillars started two Barracks, a Supply Depot and then sent his own Black Lotus to do some damage. The Black Lotus had just completed training before ace destroyed the Barracks at the beginning of the attack. On the way south Pillars regained the left oil derrick in an attempt to maintain some sort of economic base but it all looks to be in vain as ace forces the selling of Pillars Command Center. A Barracks to the left of the center finishes and three Tank Hunters march out and join another three Tank Hunters and a Battlemaster. These seven units engage first an Overlord and then two Nuke Cannons and succeed without loss. I swear I could hear ace1gold say "meh" as his remaining Nuke Cannon destroys all seven units with one round and then the Barracks from which the nuisance spawned.

Pillars reminds me of Mark4's policy of "Never say die", he just won't give up. He starts a War Factory and attempts to replace his Command Center. He has one Barracks remaining from which a constant flow of Tank Hunters come forth and a Bunker is set up to protect his low tech army. Pillars doesn't get an opportunity to finish his Command Center as it receives fire from two Overlords, a Gatling Tank and a Nuke Cannon. He cancels the building and a strange twist of fate deals ace a horrible blow. ace was so keen to ensure that Pillars did not regain radar coverage that he attacked the half completed Command Center with all he had. It just so happened that the Command Center was between ace's forces and the bunker full of Tank Hunters. So when the building was cancelled this brought the two Overlords and the Gatling Tank into a clear line of sight of the bunker and surrounding Tank Hunters. Tank Hunters make short of any vehicle if given the opportunity, their only downfall is that they're so fragile. But this situation played perfectly into Pillars hands as the three tanks are eliminated in record time. The bunker survives and the veteran Nuke Cannon retreated back south. Unfortunately for Pillars not all went well during this time, the Black Lotus struck this time capturing the Propaganda Center.

Near Death Experience

Finally Pillars gets to inflict the same torture on ace that he has been receiving the whole game. The Black Lotus loyal to the north marches into the southern base with the orders from her superiors still clear in her mind, "Go fuck em' up!". The capturing commences, the first objectives being economics. The main Supply Depot, then the expansion and then the replacement for the main Supply Depot fall in quick succession. The Troop Crawler containing the firing squad of eight that executed Pillars first Lotus is sent to the rescue but is disabled before it can deploy its troops. The next target is the Command Center, which is sold by ace before it can be captured; the Propaganda Center is the next to go. Two Red Guard infantry units just happen to be passing the Black Lotus as it starts the capture of the Propaganda Center and they come so close to ridding the south of its blight.

But ace1gold has a very offense orientated style of play and once again he pushes north with two veteran Nuke Cannons and two Overlords, one with a Gatling Cannon installed. He slowly pushes forward while the Overlords take a few hits from some Tank Hunters that are streaming out from two Barracks. Pillars loses quite a few units but it is soon obvious he has a plan in mind. While Pillars is seemingly playing it passive and just accepting the hits he completes his third Command Center as well as another replacement Propaganda Center. He cues two Overlords and a couple of Gatling Tanks and sends some reserve Tank Hunters either side of ace's attacking force. Another Bunker is added and filled with Tank Hunters and the two new Overlords are put into place. Pillars has the advantage of having radar and therefore an ambush will be easy to set up and execute. Pillars starts to harass the Overlords which are protecting ace's Nuke Cannons in a hit and run fashion, this is a viable option because one of Pillars Overlords has a Speaker Tower installed. Eventually ace can't tolerate that damage his Overlords are receiving and moves to engage Pillars force, he believes with the support of the Nuke Cannons he can win the battle. But Pillars retreats only a little and brings the two attacking tanks into range of the Bunker while at the same time the Tank Hunters on the flanks of the intruding Nuke Cannons are brought in to exterminate the offensive. ace manages to turn around the trailing Overlord before it receives much damage but he loses the first. The Tank Hunters that were on the left flank sweep through and destroy their target but the Tank Hunters on the right flank are easily cut down by the Gatling Cannon mounted on the retreating Overlord but not before inflicting significant damage on their target. A follow up suicide mission by a couple of Tank Hunters ensure that the remaining Nuke Cannon is exterminated and the Overlord retreats south.

At this point in the game all supplies have been used and no one has set up their secondary supply sources due to the intensity that the game has been played at. Both players are just as much in need of supplies as the other, but Pillars now has the superior force. As you can see from the minimaps contained in the above collage Pillars is very low on buildings and ace1gold has all his buildings in the center of the map due to recent Black Lotus action. If you look closely at picture number 2 you will see a Black Lotus heading into Pillars base, this is ace's and is on a course to extract some revenge. Thus far Pillars has survived on ambushing ace's attacks and has done so successfully, but he has also been behind the eight ball the whole game. Now that all resources have run dry Pillars has come out on top with unit count but ace has more buildings, the first C&C Generals micro war is about to begin!

Now that Pillars has the troop count advantage he commences his first serious attack on ace1gold. The force moves through the center and around to the left in order to avoid ace's bunkered position. Pillars first targets are construction dozers and he manages to kill all but one. He uses his superior numbers to keep ace huddled around his bunker, his only salvation, while he forces ace to sell his buildings at will. Pillars also manages to assassinate ace's Black Lotus when it starts to capture the Command Center in the north. A newly completed Gatling Tank runs off the production line and straight into battle, destroying the threat. Pillars moves around south and to the east and approaches the bunkered position from below. This is to avoid getting caught up in the urban environment and getting picked off one by one. Pillars starts to capture the last building in the south while his forces approach the stronghold and ace's last dozer starts a Command Center in the very middle of the map.

Contact is made and the bunker falls quickly, but ace is smart and targets first the Overlord with Speaker Tower and then the two Gatling Tanks. So after about ten seconds of conflict the bunker is gone and five Tank Hunters emerge but Pillars is left with no anti-infantry units. With the Tank Hunters relatively safe ace is victorious and comes away from the day with two heavily damaged tanks, both with anti-infantry capabilities, and five Tank Hunters. ace1gold's Artillery Barrage once again becomes ready to use and it eliminates a War Factory. ace is very wary of Pillars Black Lotus, it is the only thing he has the can win the game for him. He stations his Overlord with Gatling Cannon and his Gatling Tank at opposite corners of his only remaining structure, his Command Center. He sends his five Tank Hunters to Pillars four buildings at the top of the screen and prepares for a well-fought victory.

If Pillars attempts to capture the Command Center then he will immediately be cut down handing ace the game. Pillars decides to use the AI to his advantage and brings his only other unit, a Construction Dozer, into the range of the Gatling Tank. The tank engages the Dozer and chases after it before ace can stop it, it was only for a second but the window of opportunity opened and Pillars decides to attempt to climb through. The purple Black Lotus positions itself in such a way that the Command Center blocked it from the line of sight of the Gatling Tank and so that the Overlord was out of range. The capture commences and the Gatling Tank scrambles to destroy the threat before it causes the game to be lost. But the victory goes to Pillars in the end as the Command Center is captured as the Black Lotus succumbs to the Gatling Tank.

This is one of the best games I have ever seen in any RTS game. So many times it could have gone either way it was unbelievable. Just when it seemed that one of the opponents was set to take the game the other would reach into the depths of his arse and pull out a counter. In the end Pillars won by two buildings and I congratulate both players on an awesome game. It was a pleasure.

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Number of structures captured/force sold by Black Lotus action:	30
Number of exams failed because I was writing this report:	2
Number of minutes I spent worrying about failing those exams:	4.5
Number of months from start to finish:	3
Number of raters that should rate this report:	5
Number of hours spent in photoshop:	15
Number of effective hours spent in photoshop:	3
Number of trips to the fridge to get more Coke:	37
Number of times I thought I'd never get around to finishing this report:	19
Number of days until the Australian University Games start: (ie. a week of women, booze and sport)	6
Likelyhood that I'll end up doing another battlereport because I love you guys so much:	87%

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