"Don't just read the book of Heartcutter. Practice it."
Heartcutter
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| TvP Imbalance Can Shove It: Vultures Rule! | | | Author: | | | IP: | XXXX | | Date: | 06/16/99 12:06 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | Starcraft(1), Text Only(1) | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 1, Max: 6, Min: 6
Lifetime Rating for Twip: 5.2857 |  | For a quick background, I'd like to say that I have a personal hatred for Terran infantry because it's so simple and basic. And someone like that just can't use Terrans very effectively, can they? This [not really] "new" Vulture strategy that had recently popped up in the forums interested me because it involved Terrans doing something without infantry (for once).
I was on Bnet under the name I33t-h4x0r for 1 on 1 practice, but his record was 0-0-0 so I couldn't play ladder yet. I would've laddered with l33t-h4x0r (the real account) but he's had hard luck and has been unfairly given a loss and a disconnect by Bnet, such to the point that no one even wants to play him. I waited for a while, looking through public games trying to find a 1 on 1 game on a decent map. I was about to give up and create the game myself, but I found a 1 on 1 Challenger game in the FFA game type (surprisingly enough).
So I joined, but the creator kept telling me to hold on and wait for him. The creator and I each picked our races before-hand, Protoss and Terran respectively, and finally the game commenced. Let the games begin!
| Map: | Challenger |
| Players: | Me (Twip), Terran, top center (12:00) |
| | S-PLATOON, Protoss, bottom center (6:00) |
I started off quite slowly, the SCV's disobeying orders and such to a point where I must've lost a good 32 minerals by messing with them. Finally they started mining correctly : and I went about my way. I knew beforehand what my plan would be: quick Vultures and Spider Mine containment. I used a faster build than I usually do with this, placing a Supply Depot on 8, Barracks on 10, and Refinery at 11 supply.
An SCV went down to scout relatively early (maybe SCV #9?) and picked off a Probe who was standing idly beside a lone Pylon when it reached his base. From there I sent the SCV down by his mineral line, pleased to see no Assimilator (for the absence of another structure beside the Pylon). As I noticed my SCV's HP lowered to 10 from hostile Probes, I immediately pulled it back and started a Refinery on his vespene gas geyser. It was eventually destroyed by 5 Probes attacking it at once (or so he probably thought; I canceled it just in time :).
Back at my base, things were going smoothly. Because my SCV scout hadn't found any other structures beside the Pylon in S-PLATOON's base, I had decided it safe to get by with only 2 Marines and no Bunker. I built in somewhat of a formation, putting Depots in a ring so my 2 Marines could easily stand behind while any Zealots would have to go around. As it turned out, the Marines remained a waste of 100 minerals and 2 supply for the rest of the game.
I started on 2 Factories early, adding a Machine Shop to the first one that was finished. I sent my first 2, then 4 Vultures down the map reluctantly, expecting to run into a pack of Zealots at any time. As I left my base I noticed an enemy Probe heading left of my choke (incidentally where I knew there was an all-mineral expansion). The Vultures killed it quickly and continued on their way.
When I reached his choke once again, with 6 Vultures, I was somewhat surprised to see 4 Cannons lined up, blocking me off. So surprised, in fact, that I lost 2 Vultures as I discovered them. That's what I got for not scouting better. : Anyway, I mined his choke fairly well, and then sent a Vulture who still had mines to his nearby mineral expansion to place a mine and monitor the expansion.
This game was just full of surprises. What did I happen upon, but a newly-made, undefended expansion! I ordered my Vultures to the area, taking out Cannons he created in a desperate attempt to save his expansion with my now 8 Vultures. They continued to assassinate all of his mining Probes when I heard "Your forces are under attack!" and Spacebar'd to find a small group of Zealots running through my minefield. An entire 2 of them made it out semi-intact and promptly died to Vulture-fired fragmentation grenades. The Vultures finished the expansion and headed back to his choke.
From here, I placed a mine at each of the 4 land-accessible expansions on Challenger, and blocked off his choke with my Vultures. I had expanded via floating CC to a nearby island and gotten a Starport as well, and made a Science Vessel first thing for fear of DT's. As another Starport went up, I started a Machine Shop on my second Factory and made Tanks from the first, planning to simply siege him out.
I sent first 3 Tanks down to his choke, followed by my lone Science Vessel. The Tanks reached their destination, sieged up, and began blasting away at Cannons. He tried in vain to stop my siege attempt, sending a number of Zealots and Dragoons to fend me off. A few dead Vulture pilots and a Defensive Matrixed Tank later, he was out of troops with nothing left (apparently). I sent down more Tanks, and pushed further in.
Just to make sure, I sent 3 Wraiths to his nearby island to find another undefended expansion! Dropships were immediately queued as I figured my Wraiths wouldn't be able to destroy the expansion before he could get Cannons up. Sadly, he left the game at this point and my poor Vultures and Tanks never got the chance to meet the expansion's inhabitants.
Although this particular game wasn't extremely exciting, the real meat of this is the fact that Vulture rushing is a great way to show the Protoss what DT's are like on the receiving end! At least I've found a decent way to play Terran now, WITHOUT infantry. :)
- Twip -
P.S. - I was planning on having pictures with an entire map display and everything, but unfortunately Battle.net AND Blizzard.com are messed up right now (there's a password prompt?), and I took no screenshots. Oh well, maybe in another report. |
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