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Introduction
Greetings and welcome to my fourth BR. I'm glad to say that my chobo
SC skills are gradually improving. Working your way up again is tough. I
played a few of the Brood War missions, trying to get back to my roots. I've also
been going 1v1 against my brother (The-Nut). No, this battlereport is not A
Brotherly Brawl 3, but I hope to post that one sometime. For feedback, I've been
observing the gameplay of the 'better' players on Bnet. This probably helped me
the greatest in my conquest for non-n00b status. The contenders in the game I
chose to report are what I hope to become. They demonstrate numerous actions
of aggression, skill, and premeditated strategy, that far outweigh my current level.
I am not one to take gaming so seriously, but on the contrary, I do not desire the
losing end of a battle.
A few things I will try to improve on in this BR to satisfy the 'constructive criticism'
lads: no more smilies (:P :D, etc.), better minimaps/pictures, increased detail of
battles or other events, and white text that is legible. I'll be wary of those nasty
tense changes as well, although I'm expecting them to give me the most trouble.
I am aiming for a solid eight this time because I'm just sick of the sevens.
Well, isn't a flash always the best way to start things off?
The Matchup
As I mentioned before, this game might possibly be the best that I
have BR'ed to date. Not necessarily nine material, but it's sure as hell close.
For all those TvP lovers, this should be quite entertaining.
We have X-Conman, a conservative Terran at the
12 o'clock position and Visualiza, an imperialistic
Protoss at the 9 o'clock position on the Lost Temple. Players exchange their
gl/hf's and the match was underway.
Early Game (00:01 - 10:00)
The game begins on a rather interesting note. Both players start
building up their harvest force rapidly. X-Conman,
unaware of his adversary's race, decides it would be best to play it safe for the
time being, and commences construction on the traditional Depot-Barracks wall
at his entrance ramp. Shortly thereafter, he deploys an SCV to scout 9 o'clock.
As it closes in on the 9 o'clock natural, an enemy Probe scoots down the ramp.
X-Con assumes that it has just left its main base and
orders his SCV to pursuit the Probe, and jettisons the search operations.
Visualiza's Probe was headed for 6 o'clock and
the SCV remained hot on its trail. As the two peons entered 6 o'clock,
X-Con was stunned to uncover an infantile Protoss base.
The SCV poked around the youthful expansion for a few seconds, then executed
a greater search of 9 o'clock. Visualiza knew that
his enemy had discovered his early expansion, so he sent a second Probe out to
search 12 o'clock. His hopes were to identify what types of armies
X-Con might throw at him. Unfortunately, the Probe
was rudely turned down as it traveled up the entrance ramp because
X-Con's wall slammed shut in his face.
However, Visualiza's empire now spanned two
bases, handing him a valuable early game advantage: more booty than his opponent.
Albeit, an early expansion meant less troops, and apparently,
X-Con was well aware of this. He chose to harass his
enemy's utopia with a Vulture drop, as he had already teched to a Factory and
Starport within the sanctuary of his wall. His target: 9 o'clock
(Visualiza's main) to quell the harvesting force
present there. At about six minutes in, he commanded his Dropship loaded with four
Vultures (mine and speed upgraded) to land on the Eastern ridge of 9 o'clock. Once
unpacked, the wily Vultures headed West into the mineral fields, dodging a pair of
Dragoons when doing so. As they passed the Dragoons, X-Con's
Vultures planted spider mines in hopes of containing the Protoss infantry. This
was only partially helpful, since Visualiza
had just finished building his Observatory. After
laying the bombs, the Vultures targeted the Probes, sneaking behind the minerals and
opening fire. The Probes retreated East out of the mineral fields, however, the unsurpassed
speed of the upgraded Vultures was more than enough to keep the refugees in range.
The Dragoons remained useless against the nimble hovercycles for a good minute
and now thanks to Mattz, we all know how much servings of ownage they really can dish out.
It was only until they got a shot off that the Vultures began to hold back and retreat.
After ninety seconds of mayhem, Visualiza's Probe
count plummeted from twenty, to a discouraging three.
X-Con wasted no time celebrating
the success of his logistics. He was still bloodthirsty and readied a second drop.
Preparation lasted under a minute courtesy of his dual Factories. This time, the drop
consisted of three Tanks, one Vulture, and an SCV for maintenance.
X-Con's force dispatched en route to 6 o'clock. His intention
was to (once again) completely eighty-six Visualiza's
harvesting operations.
All seemed well at first. The Dropships hovered safely into 6 o'clock over the Northern
ridge. However, a Probe detected the enemy movement and
Visualiza ordered three Dragoons and a Zealot to report
to the location. The Protoss infantry swiftly moved across the base and the Dragoons
got in firing range of the Dropships. They launched their projectiles, which slammed against
the hull of the Terran transports. On cue, the Dropships unloaded the mech squad. The
Vulture began to plant mines and the Tanks remained in place.
X-Con didn't dare to siege, as the Protoss were far too
close. This prooved lethal for the Terrans. Visualiza's
early actions enabled him to thwart the second drop without the loss of a single
Probe.
Mid Game (10:01 - 25:00)
The mid game, at first, was of slowed pace battle-wise. After his second
drop failed miserably, X-Con knew he had to catch up
with his adversary and quickly expanded to his natural and the mineral base
Southwest of his main. The increased income allowed
him to toughen up his mech army. He produced several more Tanks and was in the
midst of constructing a third Factory. Meanwhile, Visualiza
was recovering well from the two offensives on his base and now had Photon Cannons
to guard the perimeters of both 6 and 9 o'clock. His economy was now in tact
and as a result, possessed an impressive total of six Gateways. He made good use of the buildings,
and maintained a formidable infantry force, accompanied by many Observers.
| Player |
Build
Order |
| X-Conman
|
Barracks, Refinery, Factory, Factory, Port, Bay, Academy, CC(expo), Factory, Factory, Factory, CC(expo), CC(expo), CC(expo), Factory, Factory, Factory, Port, Port, Port, Port, Armory, CC(expo), Factory, Armory, Facility |
| Visualiza
|
Nexus(expo), Gateway, Assim, Gateway, Cybernetics, Forge, Robotics, Gateway, Observatory, Gateway, Gateway, Nexus(expo), Citadel, Gateway, Gateway, Gateway, Gateway, Gateway, Stargate, Nexus(expo), Gateway, Beacon, Stargate, Forge, Gateway, Archives, Nexus(expo), Stargate, Gateway, Stargate, Gateway, Nexus(expo), Gateway, Gateway, Nexus(expo), Gateway, Gateway, Gateway, Nexus(expo) |
A Bold Move
With his ample Siege Tanks, X-Con decided to load em up
with a couple of SCVs.
He guided the filled Dropships toward Visualiza's
natural, but not for a third attack. This time, his objective was to further contain his
opponent by controlling his potential expansion. As the Dropships entered the area,
they were met with resistance. No Corsairs or Scouts. The fact was that
Visualiza had not even expanded to the 9 o'clock natural.
So, X-Con took advantage and hastily set up the classic
Tank-Turret combo on the cliff. The group faired well, as they got off a cheap shot here
and there at passing Zealots.
X-Con wasn't
done yet. He now had his eyes set on two more expansions. Stealthily, he took 3 o'clock
and the upper left corner. Both bases remained relatively unguarded for a while.
However, Visualiza wasn't
an invalid or anything and expanded to the mineral bases outside 9 and 6. He stationed
hefty groups of his infantry nearby for protection plus complimentary Cannons.
But the ground forces didn't stay stationary for long.
Visualiza had gained enough curiosity to check out
3 o'clock. A squad from his main and a squad from his expansion at 6 rendezvoused in
the center of the map, toward 3 o'clock. As the rather large army headed East,
they were bombarded with a few Tank shells. It turned out that
X-Con was attempting central domination. Now possessing
a jaw-dropping six Factories, X-Con had built up a fearsome
mech army right under his enemy's nose. He used these metallic monsters, to
virtually render the entrance to his base impassable by ground. The placement of the
defense was rather random. He basically sieged his Tanks (over a dozen) so that no two
were very close to each other. Then, he constructed Turrets and laid mines in the surrounding
area. Yet, Visualiza paid no attention at all to the Tanks,
and didn't lose any of his troops. The Protoss army continued East, then North up the
3 o'clock ramp. They found an unguarded Command Center without any SCV's gathering
resources. Suddenly, the CC lifted off and the Dragoons chased after it for a while, until
it disappeared off the cliff. Although 3 o'clock was now cleared,
Visualiza decided it would be too risky to pitch camp.
As an alternative, he settled for the much more placid 6 o'clock natural.
Battle for the Middle : Part 1
But, Visualiza was not about to let
X-Con take over the middle. It was a key rendezvous
point and he didn't want anyone bitching him around when it came to territorial rights,
and wasn't afraid to back his words up with troops. By now,
Visualiza had possession of a staggering, twelve
Gateways and a king-sized arsenal of infantry. Without delay. He ordered three
separate groups, one from 6, one from 9, and one from 3, to charge the middle and
granted them the license to kill. The considerable Protoss force soon came under fire
by the mighty Siege Tanks of X-Con. Mines popped out of the
ground and chased after the Protoss like burrowed Zerglings after a runaway bowl
of pistachios (i'm high on tic tacs). Despite the bombardment, Visualiza's
Zealots made quick work of the first few Tanks. However, the scattered grid of artillery
plus the expert microing skills of X-Con's Vultures
eventually took effect on the melee-based Zealots. In addition to the collapse of his
Zealots, Visualiza's legion of Dragoons were also taking
a beating. The plentiful Tanks, in the end, were enough to hold off the Dragoons, as
Visualiza chickened out and retreated back to his
6 o'clock expansion. His troops' mettle was at an all-time low.
After his victory, X-Con
doesn't hold back. He rebuilds and expands his web of Tanks and Turrets further into
enemy territory. On the very outskirts of this central defense, he spots one of
Visualiza's bases. It was the mineral expansion to
9 o'clock and it was vulnerable in the eyes of X-Con.
Without letting the opportunity flee from his grasp, he prepared his Tanks just outside
the enemy outpost. As they entered siege mode, he planted mines in front of them with
a group of Vultures. The shrewd biker punks then ventured deeper into the hostile
encampment were they were met by a control group of Protoss infantry. Swiftly, the
Vultures lured the Zealots and Goons closer to the Tanks and Mines. The plan worked
brilliantly, as the Protoss were soon shell-shocked by the behemoths on wheels. Even
when they tried to retreat, Spider Mines chased them down and blew 'em to bits. It
looked like a complete disaster for Visualiza, but
fortunately for him, he had two more control groups of brave warriors stationed at
6 o'clock from his previous encounter with X-Con. The plan:
to leave the Tanks facing a two front war, as one group headed in from the South, and
another from the East. X-Con's Tanks were strong, but not
fit for two battles at once. This time, there was no Vulture backup and
as a result, the Terran offensive was crushed. However, hell on earth wasn't over
for Visualiza. X-Con's seven
Factories enabled him to maintain an ample amount of Tanks. Shortly, after the first
group of mechs fell, he sent a second wave of steel monstrosities to the expansion.
There was more than enough Tanks and Vultures to overwhelm the Protoss. The
Gateways' slow production time kept Visualiza from
possessing an adequate enough remedy force for the Siege Tanks. Without a sufficient
army, Visualiza's Nexus was quick to fall before the
Terrans.
Battle for the Middle : Part 2
With the destruction of his expansion, Visualiza's
strategy made a transition from a totally ground based army to a mixture of ground
and air. He knew that Zealots and Goons alone was just not gonna cut it when it came
to dominating the fearsome Tanks. However, he had already built three Stargates and a Carrier
(several more in the making). Carriers were a perfect choice, as
X-Con's army contained no Goliaths or Wraiths. In fact,
the valid anti-air he had was the Turrets around his main and scattered in the middle,
but we all know that Interceptors > Turrets.
In addition to his infantile Carrier armada, Visualiza
had expanded to the 3 o'clock natural. He currently had a Nexus and two Cannons
at the young expansion, but no sooner did the Cannons warp in did they come under
fire by yet another group of X-Con's mechs. By now, you
can probably guess that Visualiza was pissed, and
indeed he was. But, his Carriers were operational and he commanded the group of four
(a number just under the 'gay' limit) toward the weakening base. As planned, the
Carriers were met with no significant anti air resistance, besides those pesky Turrets.
Without Goliath support, the mech army quickly became twisted metal in the vicious
swarm of Interceptors, taking out Tanks first, then Vultures. Although the Cannons
were down, the Nexus remained standing and Probe production commenced at the
Protoss base.
Visualiza found X-Con's
anti air weakness to be quite amusing and sought to further exploit it. A short bit
Northward was one of X-Con's mineral bases, and that was
the Carriers' next victim. The Protoss behemoths moved in for the kill, destroying several
Turrets along the way. When all the anti air structures were cleared, the Carriers
focused fire on the Command Center. It was set ablaze in a matter of seconds. Revenge
had never been so sweet for Visualiza. But just as
he thought the tides changed, matters hastily switched back to X-Con's
favor as a dozen cloaked Wraiths arrived on the scene. With a well placed scanner
sweep, Visualiza's Observers providing detection
for the Carriers were revealed. The Wraiths locked on the detectors and blasted them
out of orbit before they even knew what hit 'em. Now, the Carriers were rendered
virtually blind and attempted to scramble off the battlefield. But the versatile
Wraiths did not ease off and continued to bomb the shit out of them. For
X-Con, the duel became as simple (and fun) as throwing
rocks at a blind man.
Late Game (25:01 - 38:40)
The late game contained the most action, so best for last I suppose.
With the arrival of air forces, there was a need for anti air forces, right?.
X-Con finally began Goliath production and continued constructing
his precious Wraiths. He also regained the mineral expansion that the Protoss destroyed
only a few minutes ago. Visualiza, despite knowledge of
his enemy's Wraiths, started to manufacture a new group of Carriers. Bad idea. Very
bad idea. X-Con sensed that Visualiza
was still going (lucky guess) Carriers and prepared his Wraiths for a tactical strike
on the enemy Stargates at 6 o'clock.
At twenty six minutes in, the cloaked group of ten Wraiths soared into 6 o'clock.
Awaiting them were three Carriers. However, these Protoss cruisers weren't operational,
as they contained only a small amount of Interceptors. In addition to their low fire
power, they were once again caught with their pants down; blind against the cloaked
Wraiths. For the second time, the large Carriers attempted an escape and for the
second time, it didn't work at all. Visualiza guided his
fleet towards a stationary Goon-High Templar control group. However,
X-Con remained focused on the Carriers, as he knew they
could potentially do the most damage to his base. As his Wraiths approached the
Protoss control group, they had to dodge a couple of Psi Storms, but in the end, victory
was theirs, as the last Carrier exploded in a dazzling firework of blue under the supreme
fire power of the Terran fighters. They were in and out in under twenty seconds.
Visualiza
had taken enough beatings. The wearing and tearing effects of war were beginning
to show. X-Con was relentless and was not about to give up.
His next target was 9 o'clock. This time, he was going in the hard way; up the ramp.
X-Con gathered six Tanks and twelve Goliaths stationed in
the middle and headed West where they encountered light Zealot resistance. However,
his containment strategy all the way back from the beginning of the game was proven to
be a vital part of his attack. Any reinforcements Visualiza
sent down the ramp were decimated by the Tanks and eventually,
the Terrans were able to seize the entrance and move in. Although his main base
housed eight Gateways, the combo of Tanks and Goliaths against the Protoss was lethal.
To slow the resistance, X-Con targeted the Gateways first.
When he knocked out five of them, he set his eyes on the Nexus. Visualiza
was unprepared. With his Carrier armada annihilated, a sufficient defense against
the Terran mechs would take larger numbers of his troops. But he
did not want to go without leaving a mark. In his 6 o'clock base, he possessed a large
infantry army of Zealots, Dragoons, and High Templars. To save face, he assaulted
X-Con's central defense as the last of his buildings at 9 o'clock
crumbled. The Zealot-Goon team worked very effectively against the Tanks and they
dug a deep gash into the Terran forces. Yet, the road to victory seemed endless for
Visualiza, as more and more Siege Tanks and Spider Mines
appeared on his sensors. He made the decision to back down reluctantly.
It may seem like Visualiza was in pretty bad shape right now,
but it's actually not as ugly as it looks. Although his main was destroyed, he had every
part of the tech tree in his 6 o'clock expansion. Also, he maintained control of 3 o'clock
and the 3 o'clock natural and still had a formidable infantry army. As
X-Con was licking his wounds, Visualiza
struck the center again with a force of Zealots, Dragoons, HT's, and a Carrier plus Observer.
The army headed North, straight into the fray. At first, Goliaths were the only threat,
but as they fought further and further Northward, Siege Tanks began to bombard the Protoss.
Spider Mines gave the Protoss less trouble this time thanks to the Observer,
but X-Con would make up for it. Stationed nearby was
a group of (the dreaded) Wraiths. With a scan, the enemy Observer was uncovered.
Instantaneously, the Wraiths blew the Observer out of the sky and then cloaked.
Yes, Visualiza was now blind again and what undoubtedly
could have been a serious assault, turned into a wild goose chase, as the invisible
Wraiths flew after the fleeing Dragoons. However, the damage had been done.
Visualiza had pushed back the Terrans a considerable
amount. It was definitely enough to give him some breathing room, or so he thought.
Soon after the central assault, Visualiza was in more
trouble. X-Con had sent a fleet of Wraiths to his 3 o'clock
expansion. Presently, he had no army there or any Cannons at all. So he commanded
a legion of Dragoons from 6 o'clock up to the distressed expansion. As the Wraiths
encountered the Protoss anti air effort, they cloaked (how predictable). Without
an Observer or nearby Cannon, Visualiza's expansion
went to waste, severely stunting his income. The loss of resources forces him to expand
again. He decides against his will to take the mineral expansion outside 6 o'clock. The
area was extremely dangerous though. Tanks and Turrets laid out the outskirts of the
base gave Visualiza's troops a hard time, but gradually,
the Terran grip on the Protoss lifeline was released and a Nexus was soon erected.
Battle for the Middle : Part 3
The time had come for Visualiza to brake
free of the Terran dominance. With vigor, he amassed his largest infantry army yet.
Dozens of Dragoons and Zealots were trained for a last ditch attempt at survival. The
plan was a direct onslaught of the Terran defenses. He had several control groups
at his new expansion outside 9 o'clock, plus the forces outside 6 o'clock, and 3 o'clock.
Visualiza made sure he had an ample amount of Observers
and as soon as they were in position, he hurled his troops into combat. Three large forces
of Protoss infantry converged on the formidable Terran defense grid. Alarmed,
X-Con ordered mech reinforcements in from his main. With
the extra help, about two dozen Siege Tanks were now in place and he felt prepared. Stealthily,
he took the time to
expand to 3 o'clock. With his enemy directing full attention to the assault,
X-Con led a smaller attack on Visualiza's
expansion at the 3 o'clock natural with a group of Wraiths. The distraction was successful
and the Nexus was incinerated, as the base was defenseless, but he had other things to worry about. The Protoss
forces had cut a large hole in his defenses. Siege Tanks were exploding left and right.
X-Con had enough of this and sent in his cloaked Wraiths
along with a backup group of Tanks and Goliaths. The combination was very effective
against the Protoss, significantly slowing their assault. The Zealots had the most trouble,
trying to sprint their way up to the Tanks and the Terrans soon knocked out all of the frenzied
warriors. Then, they focused fire on the Dragoons. The four-legged fighters faired rather well
against the mechs, destroying most of the Wraiths and Goliaths. Yet the Tanks' incredible
damage packed a serious punch and Visualiza was forced
to retreat once again, bruised and scarred.
The Final Blow
Now under serious pressure, Visualiza struggles to rejuvenate
his army. X-Con is also training replacement forces. He decides
to take the 3 o'clock natural just for some insurance of victory. As of now, he was just
trying to starve his adversary of resources. To take his plan to the next level, he targeted
Visualiza's only mineral-filled expansion outside of 9 o'clock.
First, he brought in a sizable Tank force and sieged them just in range of a Photon Cannon.
As the shots went off, Visualiza immediately sent in
all his available troops, as he knew that the expansion was his only hope of survival.
His speedy Zealots arrived on the scene first. The Tanks didn't stand a chance, and
X-Con knew it. For backup, he commanded a rather large group
of Vultures in and began to plant Spider Mines at the choke points. The Vultures commenced
a micro on the Protoss infantry, dragging them straight into the deadly mines. The successful
microing pacified Visualiza's defenses just long enough
for X-Con to send in another group of Tanks. This time, nothing
would stand in their way and the expansion was rapidly destroyed.
With no income, the battle for Visualiza was over. His
troops fought bravely, scorched, twisted, and killed in combat. Several times, they
made valiant attempts to bring down the Terran dominion. However, superior tactics
and strategy won the game for X-Con. The combination of
his brute strength and his shrewd actions were proven unbeatable. The payers exchanged
their GG's and bid each other farewell. X-Con was victorious.
This Has Been A Shuriken Production
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