I’ve been playing Starcraft on and off lately and i’ve just completed the hardest mission i’ve faced yet – this one took three attempts, not because I failed the mission, but I ran out of minerals to build with so my defeat was inevitable.
I don’t know what the mission was called but I had the Zerg on one side whom I was to protect and the Protoss on the other whom I was to defeat. It was pretty tricky seeing as there was no alliance with the Zerg, they still attacked me, I just had to avoid destroying any of their buildings. To make matters worse there were two Protoss bases to conquer and a limited supply of minerals.
My first attempt relied too heavily on bunkers so I had more structures than troops (you can’t sell structures in Starcraft like you can in Command & Conquer) and I wasn’t able to launch an assault on either base.
My second attempt didn’t go much better and it wasn’t until my third attempt that I discovered a small mineral formation at the bottom of the map. Using this I was able to build a second base and launch an assault on the northern Protoss base. I flew a handful of marines and an SCV (Space Construction Vehicle) to the westernmost tip of the Protoss base using a drop ship, just out of sight of their photon cannons. Then while my troops fought off the zealots and dragoons (zealots are incredibly tough fighters when they get up close!) I got the SCV to build first a couple of bunkers and then a barracks. Slowly but surely, using drop ship after drop ship and flying in Siege tanks, marines and firebats, I got a foothold and then proceeded to take out the photon cannons at range.
One of the most effective weapons in my arsenal, and I used it repeatedly in the previous mission, is the Nuclear Missile. It takes a long time to get it (Science Facility-Covert Ops-Nuclear Silo) but it’s worth it. The silo attaches to your Command Centre – your first and most important building – you can also have a Comsat Station (satelite imaging) but you can’t have both at once. Most Terran buildings can fly so when I’m pushed I can fly the Command Centre between the two add-ons, but in this mission I was able to build a second command centre where the old Protoss base had been. I used nukes to decimate a good part of the Protoss base then I sent in marines and siege tanks to mop up.
Had the southern Protoss base decided to launch a serious attack at this point I wouldn’t have been able to keep a hold of my position and I wasn’t bringing in so many minerals again so I had to act fast.
I managed to drop ship some Firebats and an SCV into a corner of the southern base and again, by slowly building more bunkers I was able to establish a secure base of operations. Then, after building a second Nuclear silo and a handful of Ghosts (specialist cloakable units that guide in the nuke) I was able to take out the most important buildings before sending in the rest of my marines and siege tanks to finish the job.
One thing I did not expect was the sudden rush of Zerg units at this point – they overpowered the minimal defences in my original base (I had shifted almost every available unit to help fight the Protoss) and started laying waste to my buildings. Thankfully this turned out to be a set-piece as part of the ongoing plot but I had to move my ‘hero’ unit Kerrigan away from danger as it’s a prerequisite that she must survive. It would have been nice to try to take on the Zerg though.
Turns out the religious nut, Arcturus, that I’m fighting with is mad afterall and decided to leave Kerrigan to face the Zerg alone so my friend Raynor and I have branched off on our own to launch a rescue attempt. This is all part of the plot by the way – we can’t have violence for no reason can we? – it actually reminds me alot of Dawn of War though whether Dawn of War got inspiration from StarCraft or vice versa (Warhammer table-top games) is hard to tell. Alot of the units have big similarities anyway.
Anyway, i’m feeling pretty stiff – strategy games have a habit of inflicting these aches and pains as it’s impossible to predict how long a game will really take. Time for a coffee break anyway and I’ll post tomorrow with an update of what i’ve been doing when i’ve not been playing StarCraft.
P.S. I don’t have any from that battle, but here are some screenies from a previous fight:
