"Vegas, who will henceforth be called bunker boy"
-WilliamWC3
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| Melting the Ice Floes | | | Author: | | | IP: | XXXX | | Date: | 08/09/99 03:08 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | Starcraft(1), Text Only(1) | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 2, Max: 7, Min: 7
Lifetime Rating for Dev: 7.8723 |  | After my last battle report, a very thourough trashing, I reluctantly approached battle.net for my usual pair of morning 1 on 1s, on Fast speed. This Battle Report will focus on the second, one of the most enjoyable games I've ever played on battle.net.
The Map: Ice Floes. A small 1:1 map with two ramps leading to high-ground main bases, and several almost-island expansions (they're quite small, and they have ramps up, but they're not truly high ground).
The Players:
Dev (Tyderis), who's not entirely confident in his playing ability.
Randomed to Red Protoss, Top start location.
Halo7
Randomed to Brown Zerg, Bottom start location.
Time to burn the house down...
I started with the horribly standard double gate, double pylon opening, and sent a probe to scout for my opponent's race. I trained two zealots and placed them on my ramp, holding position, and moved my probe into the enemy's base.
I saw a hatchery with a spawning pool, along with a sunken colony and three eggs. My probe stayed on the plateau, but was eaten by six newly-hatched zerglings.
Zerg, eh? I guessed that with his early sunken, my two zealots could hold off a zergling incursion, and placed an assimliator for gas. I proceeded to warp a forge, a cybernetics core, and two more zealots. I then unfolded my (not so) master plan.
Clang! That's the sound of a zergling taking a whack on the head from a zealot defending the top of my ramp. Halo wisely retreated his scout upon seeing that he could not gain entry to my main base.
I research level one ground weapons, and warp a Citadel of Adun and a Templar Archives. I'm guessing that perhaps my opponent will try to come in with a few mutalisks. I drop two cannons to flank my probes, and place two more at my ramp. I begin to warp a final pair on the open side of my main's cliff to ward off a drop.
During this time, I'm producing high templar from two gateways. The first four, however, I merge into a pair of archons. I produce a fifth templar while researching psionic storm, and take my four zealots and two archons down my ramp to see what's containing me.
I spot a group of zerglings at the bottom of my second ramp. They quickly charge to the attack...
*Zot* *Slash* *Clang*
And are smacked down very satisfyingly by my upgraded zealots and archons. The remaining group of zerglings turns around and flees in terror.
I move my force down the center of the map, checking the rich middle expansion for a zerg base. Finding none, I continue on to the expansion at 8:00 to spot three sunkens defending the expansion ramp. Aw, nuts.
About this time three mutalisks flap over my attack forces. The archons give them a good scorching, but they continue on to my main base. They flap in to attack my probes, and are shot out of the sky by my defending cannons and third archon. Rawr.
I have psionic storm and the khyadrin amulet upgrade, and move to expand to the middle of the map. This seems kind of risky, since there are two ramps in and it's pretty obvious, but it is the richest in minerals and gas, and will afford me great map control if I can hold it.
I warp a nexus, two pylons, and four cannons right on top of the nexus. I move down a high templar and an archon, and the expansion is open for business. I'm still producing archons and templar, and I also train a single dark templar for a very special task.
I drop a pair of stargates and begin corsair production as well, when I notice a large group of hydralisks and zerglings in the ice trench between my center expansion and Halo's main base. I move a templar down and with three quick psionic storms, melt the zerg force down to nothing at all in no time flat.
Halo moves more hydralisks and zerglings out of his main base, moving them over toward his expansion. He also has mutalisks watching the 2:00 and 10:00 expansion sites.
My first two corsairs finish training. I send them sweeping, taking out Halo's recon mutalisks, then gather six fighters and my dark templar near Halo's 8:00 expansion.
As I thought, only one overlord was keeping vigil over the base. I sweep in with six corsairs and blast it to bits, but hydralisks reinforce from a nydus canal to drive my corsairs away. I move my Dark Templar towards the ramp with drone assassination on my mind, but I quickly have second thoughts when the force of hydralisks and zerglings I saw earlier begins to move, with an overlord overhead.
I think the zerg units were massing for an attack on my expansion, and the overlord was going to replace the one I shot down. At any rate, I didn't wait to find out. Moving my defensive templar away from my middle expansion and again abuse psionic storm three times.
The enemy force melts and I cackle with glee. I send my corsairs in again, destroying the new overlord at Halo's 8:00 expansion, but now he has constructed spore colonies. Drat. My Dark Templar is eventually lured into my opponent's main base and dispatched.
I now have a sizable corsair group, a few archons and zealots, and some templar. I branch to the robotics arm of the tech tree and assemble a reaver and shuttle, and begin observer tech. I also make a few scouts and grab disruption web for the heck of it.
My opponent charges a sizeable group of hydralisks at my center expansion. One cannon crumbles, but a trio of templar and an archon were able to microwave the entire zerg force before it could reach either the probes or the nexus.
A small scattering of zerglings attacked next. If you've ever seen ten zerglings attack a level-three weapons archon before, try it once. It warms the heart. The psionic warrior laid waste to all before him and withdrew while new defensive cannons were erected.
I assemble a reaver and an archon for a drop on Halo's 8:00 expansion. Using disruption web to disable the sunkens near his drones, I drop my forces and watch as ten drones quickly evaporate. However, the last bit of minerals at the base were mined just as I dropped.
Reinforcing hydralisks poured through a nydus canal to defend the beleguared expansion, but were repelled and blasted to tiny bits by my small, but potent force. Eventually the reaver fell before I was able to burn down the nydus canal.
Another hydralisk/zergling attack strikes my expansion. My templars have recharged and I have sent six zealots to help hold the base. The zealots end up cleaning up the scraps as my valiant templar rack up another mess of psionic storm kills.
Realizing there's no need to pursue an attack on the thick defenses of the 8:00 expansion, I pick up my remaning archon and a replacement reaver from my main base. I scout quickly and identify another enemy expansion, this one at 4:00, where there are only minerals.
I have somehow missed the fact that there was no extractor on the 8:00 expansion, and that I neglected to destroy the hatchery there. Oops. At this point I had thought I would choke off my enemy's gas production.
I pack another shuttle with the reaver/archon combo, and take both shuttles to the 4:00 expansion. I use a disruption web to disable the sunken near the minerals and drop my troops, intent on slagging all Halo's drones.
An observer notices a large flock of mutalisks hovering over the expansion at 2:00. These mutalisks immediately respond to my attack, recklessly attacking my reavers.
One reaver explodes, but half the mutalisks are ripped from the skies by powerful psionic shockwaves from the archons. The remaining mutalisks retreat, but run smack into my squadron of scouts and corsairs that I positioned to intercept them.
One archon broke ranks and was destroyed by a mass of sunken colonies, but I was able to keep the second next to my remaning reaver and systematically destroy several drones, sunkens, and Halo's hatchery. Halo loads several drones into an overlord to escape to his main base, but my fighters swing around the expansion base and tear the overlord asunder.
I am driven off, however, when lurkers and hydralisks arrive via nydus canal and are able to destroy my reaver and archon. Although half of the base is a flaming ruin, I haven't quite denied my opponent as much as I'd like to.
I purchase the corsair energy upgrade, scout thruster upgrade, and gather five archons outside the ramp of the 4:00 expansion, which I assume to be Halo's last source of income.
In a spectacular series of battles, disruption web, psionic storm, scout photon blasters, and archons face off against lurkers, hydralisks, zerglings, ultralisks, plague, and dark swarm. My entire fighter group was plagued several times (redundantly) and I ravaged what I could before I finally ran out of archons and templar energy.
I traded five archons and a high templar for probably eight hydras, eight zerglings, four lurkers, two sunkens, a spore, a nydus canal, and three ultralisks over a ten-minute series of clashes. When I finally left the base, it was mined out and half-burned to the ground.
I switched gears. Finding that Halo's main base was sparsely defended, I dropped two reavers and two archons there for a harassment strike. My targets were the ultralisk cavern, defiler mound, and nydus canals.
The attack was vicious and bloody. After the ultralisk cavern and nydus fell, a defiler plagued my reavers and archons. Packs of hydralisks from every hatchery Halo commanded charged at my forces. Insane numbers of hydralisks, arriving piecemeal, were destroyed while barely firing a return shot. Eventually one reaver and one archon fell, but Halo was now reduced to flinging zerglings at the remaining pair. I would alternately load and unload both the reaver and the archon from the shuttle, preserving them while destroying a few sunkens and the defiler mound. By popping and dropping my forces, I was able to destroy perhaps twenty enemy zerglings before the reaver fell.
I evacuated my archon, but I had not been idle at home during the fight. Four reavers and two archons had been produced. I picked them up in three shuttles and moved to finish the job.
I noticed a pack of eight to ten zerglings at the 2:00 expansion, apparently waiting for Halo to expand up there. I dispatched a single archon to attack. In a frigtening display of raw power, the upgraded archon burned through all ten zerglings without dropping below 50 shield points.
I dropped my forces again on the ravaged enemy main base, in the same spot I had previously. I also moved my fighter group (at this point, six corsairs and five scouts) to back the attack up.
Halo came in with another plague, spattering three of four reavers. He then ran scourge into all three empty shuttles to prevent me from popping and dropping.
It didnt' do him any good. Four reavers provided enough sheer overwhelming power to overcome the tide of hydralisks and zerglings that swarmed to the defense. Although two reavers fell, the remaining two archons and two reavers were able to maim the primary zerg hive, sparing nothing.
My observer at the 2:00 expansion again reported zerg activity. A large pack of hydralisks, accompanied by a drone and an overlord, were attempting to set up an expansion.
One lone high templar was sent to end this insurrection.
Three abusive psionic storms completely destroyed every trace of zerg in the area.
Meanwhile, a final last-ditch assault of three ultralisks was hurled at my middle expansion, now nearly dry. The last bit of minerals were mined away as the ultralisks crashed through the defensive cannons and were met head on by a single archon and six zealots. Without upgrades and already damaged by cannon fire, the ultralisks quickly fell. I moved my scouts back to my middle base to strafe the hapless beasts should I have any further trouble with them.
I loaded up two archons to attack my opponent's last source of vesepene, at 8:00. Three disruption webs and two archons handily dispatched the extractor and nearby sunkens. I dropped four reavers to clean up the rest of the base.
Nothing happened.
The reavers were out of scarabs. Hmm. I clicked on the build scarabs button.
Not enough minerals.
Oh damn.
I had run myself down to 5 minerals through the purchase of an INSANE number of reaver scarabs. With no source of income, I would be forced to shuttle probes until I could expand again to re-arm.
Halo took one last shot at expanding to the 2:00 position, again underneath my watchful observer. Six zerglings, a defiler, five drones, and an overlord were in the area.
I destroyed the expansion the safest way I could; five scouts decended from the clouds and cut the zerg forces apart with photon blasters and anti-matter missiles.
Halo then surrendered, sparing me from the necessity of scavenging for enough minerals to finish him. Phew.
Lessons:
- Archons with upgrades are pure power. They enabled me to rip through obscene numbers of zerg units over and over for very little cost. With the addition of shield batteries, they could be a nasty zerg-killing weapon.
- A mixed fighter group of scouts and corsairs is very flexible. On several occasions I took out spore colony/lurker combos by webbing the spore and using scouts to destroy the lurker from above.
- I was able to make up for my horrible macro with good micro. I hardly built much in the way of units, and my standing forces were never large. But by using the cost effective weapons of Archons, Reavers, and High Templar, I was able to win the day.
- Psionic storm is laughably abuseable. On many occasions I was able to prevent attacks on me entirely by using a single templar and his three-storm capacity to decimate the enemy forces where they massed.
By the way, the final kill ratio was 250 Zerg casualties to 41 fallen protoss.
Game time: 1 hour, 1 minute.
Halo, excellent game. I sincerely hope to play you again in the future.
-Cheers,
Dev |
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