"i'm not atheist. instead i believe in god so i can hate him"
-Persian
|
| An Ode to The Book of Heartcutter | | | Author: | | | IP: | XXXX | | Date: | 07/12/99 09:07 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 3, Max: 9, Min: 9
Lifetime Rating for YourRoleModel: 9.3626 |  |
An Ode to The Book of Heartcutter
After all the positive responses to my last report, I really wanted to try to top it. I figured that I would have to observe a game between Kain-the-Feared and Zileas to tell an exciting story. My battles are usually one-sided starve outs when I win, and it is hard to get good pictures of a battle when you are dying and losing your vision.
...but I failed to see any hall of fame like combatants in NOHUNTERS, so I joined a ladder game with funny letters. At least I can fight for the pride of the English typing players right? Heh.
The Lost Temple
Moyo1770 - He has zerg already selected.
YourRoleModel - I choose Terran.
Moyo was 10-2-0 with no ladder games... a total wildcard. He could suck to high heavens, or be Agent911 starting a new account.
I started at the 12:00 position, while Moyo started at the 6:00 position... but I am getting ahead of myself.
The Early Game
Zerg can hit hard and early, so I sent my 7th Peon to scout the 3:00 position, then 6:00. Fortunately, the zerg was not at the 3:00 start, and I happily found him expanded to his natural already... I guess with his 9th drone. Bravely, Deon followed my orders to attack the hatchery immediately. We are going to make this butthole micromanage early. Comstat orders a picture to be taken from an overhead space station.
Back at home, a barracks, depot and a half build barracks were on call, and I started sending my marines south to try to finish his hatchery. Before I could do the deed though, 2 sunkens finally finished and 6 lings ran up and killed 2 marines and Deon. I produced enough marines to hold my choke with no losses during his counter attack.
Things are not looking bad yet... he has set back his economy for a short time, and I am planning to send a six pack and 2 medics via transport to his main. If I take out some undefended tech buildings, I will win.
Fortunately, I am following the book of Heartcutter, and have an engineering bay, an acadamy for stim, range and comstat, and a few towers. I scan his main and see a Spire, which disturbs me slightly... so the transport flies the marines and medics in a roundabout route. Just then, my main is hit with 3 mutas... which I kill easily and follow up my drop. I manage to stim and kill a sunken, then work on his spire, but 12 zerglings and 2 mutas take out my forces and kill the shuttle as it limps home.
The Middle Game
My hands are sweating as I realize that I am being out resourced 2 to one by now, and my drop at his main produced little result. This guy has solid defense, and is going to try to swarm through my base.
My engineering bay continues to work on marine upgrades, while I build an armory, more turrets, and marines, with the intention of making valkries, then science vessels. I still have 400 minerals due to inattentive spending during my drop, and make a new CC to float towards the island to my left.
Comstatting for new expansions on his part, and knowing that I will have to strike if he expands... I nearly run my floating command center into a force of mutalisks that are guarding the island, but not an expansion. I distract the mutas with a suicidal wraith that had been hunting stray overlords and bring my Center back to safety. About now, I start hunting overlords with a single wraith, not leaving it too long in one place.
Also, I send 5 marines, 2 medics and an SCV over to the cliff above my natural to make a few towers. He has an overlord sneaking along the cliff, which looks to be planning a drop, but I stim and kill it very quickly. I have marine upgrades to 1/1, range, stim, 3 barracks 4 valkries and 2 irradiate ready science vessels. My command center settles into my natural, feeling somewhat safe, and I transfer about 8 SCVs to mining and start making more.
...it is about one minute later that all hell breaks loose. I catch a glimpse of about 12 mutalisks and 12 guardains approaching from the west. My science vessels are ordered to irradiated a mutalisk and 2 guardians that are in the tightest bunchings, while my valks attack the mutalisks. Comstat orders up another picture, but we in the command center fear the worst. While guardians destroy my towers and start pounding my base, I manage to make short work of the mutalisks, losing not one valkrie. Irradiate helps alot. The guardians continue to pound away, but I slowly finish them off. My valkries chase and kill several overlords that had accompanied his fleet, I guess my one wraith had thrown him off the valkrie scent. Science vessels could not have finished his fleet as quickly alone.
VICTORY!!! right? Umm... no,... to my right I see that zerglings have swarmed over my choke defense of marines and medics and start destroying one of my two inner-bunkers full of marines. If those bunkers go... I will lose my main. My barracks are cranking, but not fast enough. I send 4 SCVs from my supply line to repair the bunker as it is just hitting 30 hitpoints! Slowly the tide turns... zerglings die and my bunker repairs more quickly...
What just happened? I look around my smoking main and realize that I just killed an army at about a 5-1 ratio. So much for his economy being better right? I fortify, then expand to 3:00, while replenishing my troops. I did have a control group of marines and medics guarding my natural, but I couldn't have risked them to defend my main... It is a good thing I continued to defend my natural, because he hit with a followup wave of zerglings at my natural, then retreated them up my ramp, where firebats now awaited him. Comstat ordered up a picture of this too.
The Late Game
What Moyo1770 lacked in micromanagement, he sure made up for in multitasking. I comstatted about, discovering his first expansion attempt since his natural at the 9:00 site. I filled a transport with 6 marines and 2 medics, assigned two science vessels to it, and sent it on a destroy mission. Just then, he tests my ramp with hydras... this turned out to be a distraction however, disguising a lurker drop at the west side of my main. Comstat got pictures of all three attacks, and then I had to turn both of my Science Vessels around and kill the burrowing beasts.
As I destroyed his expansion attempt at 9:00, I expanded again to the upper left island and started turrets. Valkries had been patroling there earlier, after he lost his airfleet.
I also patrolled the southeast island with 3 valks and 2 science vessels, using them to harrass overlords and irradiate drones at his natural expansion.
The game is pretty well in hand at this point, and I am struggling to build enough supply depots to feed my ever growing army of science vessels and marines, firebats, and medics. My army is at 3/2, and I have enough science vessels to start throwing down at his natural site against hydras, sunkens and lurkers. He attempts to scourge my science vessels, but loses alot of scourge before two wounded scourge destroy one vessel. Moyo then attempts to attack my northern island expansion with mutas, and a hydra drop... it fails miserably, and as his expansion is about to fall... Moyo surrenders without a word.
Lessons Learned:
Heartcutter never talked much about Valkries, but I changed his recipe a little bit, and it worked. By the way, if you publish the book of Heartcutter, and the price is right, I will buy it.
You can learn alot by reading the battle reports of others and trying to apply what you see.
Do not give up while trying for a good battle report... I honestly thought I was going to lose when he attacked, but I kept taking pictures just incase... I hope it was worth it, because this was one of my best comebacks ever, and I can share it with you.
Oh yeah... there was, um, lots of drinking of malt liquor... ehem... never forget to mention that.
| | Battle Shots! | 
He makes you laugh, he makes you cry... Deon.
The good old, two-prong attack.
Another attempt to divert my attention fails.
I messed up the bottom crop blend, but you get the idea.
Just look at the kill ratio! I spoke to Mind-Twist right after...
|
|
|
|
Home
Forum
Starcraft Tournaments
