"I just ramble until it sounds good and cut half. :)"
-~CattleBruiser~
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| Rabbit's Feet & 4-Leaf Clovers | | | Author: | | | IP: | XXXX | | Date: | 10/21/99 05:10 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 4, Max: 8, Min: 6
Lifetime Rating for Judge~Holden: 6.5882 |    | Another night, another ladder game. It is a quirk of mine that I only allow myself one ladder game per day... sometimes I will break this, but never if I lost the game. Psychology and confidence are a big part of winning, as is a never say die attitude (which will become obvious below).
My opponent tonight was a korean (or non-English speaker) of roughly equal rating (1060-1070) to me. Because I can't remember his name, and because the ladder forum has not reported the game yet, lets just call him Mr. Z. Dropper. He was of course, Zerg, and I was terran. Both of us picked our races at the last second and we played on (doh!) temple!
Z.Dropper spawned at 6, and I, Judge~Holden, at 9. My initial bo was straightforward:
8: Rax
9: Depot
10: Scout
12: Gas
13: Depot
14: Bunker (you almost always need em against zerg... so might as well get em early...)
My scout revealed two hatches, and a pool, with one hatchery morphing to lair. No troops at all, but I didnt think I could attack in time... and I had few troops anyway. I do find it necessary to rax on 8 on temple vs. zerg, just because so many zergies will 6 or 7 pool, and this is really the only chance of beating that for those of us without godly micro skills.
From there, I pursued tech: factory, add another rax, port when factory done, academy for range (vs. lurkers it is more important to have this than stim) then stim, ebay for turrets, and finally another rax.
Another scouting SCV finds his choke blocked by four hydras. I scan when my comsat hits 95 (want to keep one scan in reserve) and see the hydra den hump happening. Lurkers, right? Well, I wait. And wait. A dropship pops out. A SV pops out. I wait, I have about 15 marines, 3 medics, and two tanks... one tank is guarding my choke, the other at my base. Still nothing. The tension is growing. I send two marines to patrol the other start/expansions... What is he up to???
Then Z.Dropper's plan is revealed... and I think: "This looks really really bad..." 8 OL unload in my base, with a full complement of hydras. My defences are quickly destroyed, the tanks and all but 5 marines are taken down. Then he begins to focus fire on buildings, clearly hoping for a quick victory. I think I am toast. More hydras march to my base, and despite a bunker at my choke, manage to fight their way up. I am getting desparate. My buildings are burning left, right, and centre. My command centre is destroyed, and I have 65 minerals in the bank. Hmmmm...
Desparation breeds inspiration, I guess... I move 8 remaining SCVs to the middle of the map, float my factory north, and load up my dropship with 3 medics and 5 marines, and move my SV to over his base... no defences!
I unload my troops, stim, and attack. Those 5 marines and 3 medics performed like magic. 6 Hydras that he had hatching were destroyed as Z.Dropper forgot to focus fire. Then a swarm of drones bit the dust. Then he loaded his OLs with another 7 hydras remaining at my base and dropped them in his own. A quick stim, and the hydras were annihilated as they unloaded one by one (4 in one OL, 3 in the other!). I found it hard to lament their passing! Then, stim, and focus fire on the pool. With only marines, I didnt want to face a bunch of lings.
I grabbed my two patrolling marines, and sent them to attack the hatchery he had hastily threw up at his natural. They perished, but claimed the lives of 3 more drones. Then... the charge of the light brigade! 6 SCVs blazed into the natural, and began their attack! Drones melted into bloody heaps, and they targeted their torches on the hatchery! Z.Dropper pulled his remaining 3 hydras from my base, and attacked the SCVs. One hydra died, but my remaining workers met their demise too. :(
At last, all of his buildings at his main were eliminated. He had one hatchery, no drones, and 2 hydras left. I stimmed my marines, dmatrixed the 2 in the lead for added protection, and attacked. His hydras died, his hatchery died, and the screen flashed "Z.Dropper has been eliminated." I could hardly believe my luck. I had one depot left at my main (I think, maybe 2 or 3) and a floating factory in the north west corner. Total troop count: 5 marines (0/0), 3 medics, 1 dropship, 1 SV.
I can only regard this victory as part incredible luck, part good micro near the end, knowing when to stim and when not to in fighting hydras, and finally, to never saying surrender.
A very strange, but very fun game. After, my stats improved to 5/1, with a ladder rating of 1094.
And, in the words of AQD3, please comment on my strats and tactics, and those of my opponent. I am also curious if anybody can point out some tell-tale scouting signs that can help alert me to this strat. It is the second time it has been used on my, the first time causing my only loss (to date). This time, luck was definitely a big factor in my escape. So, any ideas?
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