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Brood War Campaign Strategy Guide
by Steven W. Carter (scarter831@earthlink.net)
February 3, 1999
Disclaimer: I provide no guarantees here. These are strategies that worked
for me on version 1.04. I played each mission at least twice and generally
tried to mix up my strategies to see what worked best. What follows is a
summary of that work, with an emphasis more on how to start up each mission
rather than on details on how to destroy an enemy base once you are able to
repulse its attacks (and where preferences will vary anyway).
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Protoss 1 (difficulty 2)
Background
With Aiur in ruins and the Zerg still in abundance, the Protoss have decided
to leave the planet for the safety of Shakuras, home of the dark templar. We
know this strategy isn't going to work very well; otherwise the Protoss
campaign would be very short. In any case, you need to guide Zeratul and
several other Protoss units to a warp gate so they can escape the planet.
Starting Units
6 zealots, 3 dragoons, Zeratul. Other units will become available as the
mission progresses.
Strategy
You start in the northwestern corner and need to get your troops to the warp
gate in the southeastern corner. There is no time limit, and the Zerg don't
have a base, so there is no reason to hurry. Advance carefully and you
should be fine. You'll receive many reinforcements along the way, so don't
worry if you lose units in battle. Zeratul makes a good scout since he
has hitpoints and stealth.
In the southwest corner you'll find a battle in progress with several zealots
battling zerglings and hydralisks. Bring your dragoons in to support the
battle and add in your zealots and Zeratul as best you can; the area will be
crowded, and there won't be much room to maneuver. There are some Nydus
Canals here, which will add more Zerg, but try to get the main battle in
control before worrying about these. I let my zealots and dragoons fight
the battle and had Zeratul take the canals out once he could get to them.
Another major battle will take place in the northeast corner. Shortly before
arriving there, you will find reinforcements (including an archon and two
high templars) and two shield batteries. The Zerg opponents will be zerglings
and hydralisks again, but this time the emphasis will be on hydralisks. You
should have a dozen or more zealots plus others, so you should just be able
to swarm them and be fine. You can also try to have your high templars use
psionic storm, but I found that with the Zerg forces buried, once battle
started the sides got intermixed enough, the storm would have hit my troops
as much as theirs. So I just combined the high templars to create another
archon.
Once you reach the Protoss base with your units, simply walk over to the warp
gate with Zeratul. A battle will spring up, but the Yellow Protoss will take
care of it while your troops make their escape.
Protoss 2 (difficulty 2)
Background
Now that the Protoss have made it to Shakuras, they plan to start up a new
base and contact the dark templar. When the Zerg turn up on Shakuras as well,
you'll have to take out the Zerg base.
Starting Units
4 zealots, 4 probes.
Strategy
You start with your units at the center of the northern edge of the map.
There are resources to the west, and along the way you'll discover a couple
of burrowed zerglings. You only have 600 crystals at the start, so create
a nexus and two pylons first. That will allow you to pump out probes the most
quickly. Once your base has started (perhaps triggered by the completion of
the nexus), 12 hydralisks will attack, six from the east and six from the
south. Don't be alarmed; four dark templars will also show up to help with
the threat, but you should place your zealots to make sure you don't lose
either of the pylons.
The only land entrance to your plateau is to the south, and that should
provide an easy spot to defend with photon cannons and a couple dark templars.
Small packs of mutalisks will also attack on occasion, so be sure to put some
cannons at the eastern edge of your base as well.
The Zerg base is to the southeast, and between your base and it are several
sunken colonies which are easy prey for a couple scouts. The Zerg base is
not especially well defended. A simple rush or two of a dozen zealots
should be enough to take it out.
Protoss 3 (difficulty 2)
Background
There is an ancient Xel'Naga temple on Shakuras, but it is being guarded by
a pair of Cerebrates. Your job is to take the Cerebrates out.
Starting Units
2 dark templars, 5 probes. You will also receive 4 dragoons and 4 corsairs
shortly into the mission.
Strategy
You are given a partial base at the northern end of an island on the eastern
side of the map. The Zerg bases containing the Cerebrates are on an island to
the west. All Zerg attacks will be made by mutalisk packs (infrequently) and
by air drops (more frequently). That means you need to set up several photon
cannons on the western side of your island to protect yourself. The Orange
Zerg will attack mostly the northern side of the island, and the Purple Zerg
the southern side -- including an attack early in the mission that will
probably occur before you can set your defenses up, so be ready for it.
About a minute into the mission, a pack of four corsairs and two shuttles
carrying pairs of dragoons will enter the game under computer control and
attack a location containing two sunken colonies and two spore colonies.
Once the corsairs cast their disruption webs and the dragoons are unloaded
onto the ground, they will come under your control. Be sure to take out the
two sunken colonies first since those are the only ones that can harm the
dragoons. After the colonies have been destroyed, simply walk the dragoons
and fly the corsairs directly back to your base so they can help with its
defense.
The two Zerg bases are surrounded by spore colonies, and so the corsairs
will still have some work to do. However, don't be fooled into thinking that
the only use of the corsair is its disruption web. They can also do a modest
amount of air-to-air damage, and early in the game they can help you bring
down some overlords during the air drops.
Once you've created about eight scouts, it's time to make a breach in the
Zerg defenses. The corsairs can disrupt the spore colonies, but you'll still
need a moderate pack of scouts to deal with the numerous hydralisks and
mutalisks defending the bases. After you've made the breach, you can either
continue assaulting with corsairs and scouts, or you can make an air drop
of your own and use the scouts for air cover. I used the former approach
since the interior of the bases had almost no spore colonies, and so clearing
the way for the dark templars to kill the Cerebrates was pretty easy.
Protoss 4 (difficulty 2)
Background
In order to use the Xel'Naga temple, the Protoss need to acquire two crystals.
The first of these is the Uraj crystal, and it is located on the frozen world
of Braxis. Your mission is to guide Kerrigan to the crystal so it can be
picked up by a Protoss probe.
Starting Units
None -- until the computer coordinates an air drop for you and gives you
control of 3 dragoons, 3 reavers, 4 probes, and Kerrigan.
Strategy
The initial computer-controlled air drop will allow you to eliminate a small
Terran base and set up your own base in the same location. After killing the
military units, concentrate on the SCV's (who are mining your minerals, after
all) and the command center so you can warp in your nexus as soon as possible.
Then build some pylons so you will be able to support your initial troops as
well as build some new probes as soon as the nexus is complete. Soon you'll
learn that you won't be able to warp in any stargates on this mission, but
that's okay; you won't need scouts today.
Your base is on a plateau in the northern section of the map. There are two
ramps to the plateau, but the computer will concentrate on the southern one,
so put your best defenses there. However, don't spend too much time on
defenses, since you should be spreading out soon, and later outposts will
draw all the fire away from your first base.
The Red Terrans have four small bases as well as a larger base in the
southeast corner where the Uraj crystal is located. The closest base to you
is just to your southwest, and it is also the best-defended of the small
bases. But with your reavers as well as a small support group of zealots,
dark templars, and dragoons, you can take the base quickly and easily. There
will be resources at the base as well, just in case you need them. The other
bases (including the large one) will go down just as easily, and you don't
even need the reavers for them. With all the resources you should have, and
with not much else but military units to spend them on, swarming the bases
is quick and effective.
I didn't use Kerrigan at all in the mission, except to walk to the Uraj
crystal at the end. There really wasn't any need for stealth or subtlety
here. The only thing you might have to worry about is enemy airdrops. The
computer might drop some units behind your lines, so be sure to keep some
troops around just in case.
Protoss 5 (difficulty 6)
Background
The Protoss retrieved the Uraj crystal from Braxis, but they can't leave the
planet yet because the United Earth Directorate has set up a blockade. You
need to guide Artanis and assorted other Protoss to a space platform to
destroy five power generators and break the blockade.
Starting Units
4 zealots, 2 dragoons, 2 shuttles, 3 scouts, and Artanis. Each time you
destroy a power generator, you will also receive increasingly more powerful
reinforcements.
Strategy
This is a somewhat long a tedious mission, but it requires you to think and
use all of the capabilities of the units at your disposal. There are five
power generators (shown as yellow blocks on the minimap), and they're guarded
by a huge number of missile turrets and a lesser number of tanks and bunkers.
Basically, each generator is protected just badly enough that the troops you
have can take it down: zealots will destroy a missile turret which will expose
a bunker to dark templar attack which will allow dragoons to get in position
to destroy more turrets, and so forth. Each time you destroy a generator,
the remaining associated missile turrets will start detecting for you, so
don't destroy any turrets that you do not need to. Bunkers and tanks do not
get converted, so kill all of those you can.
I started with the southernmost generator and made my bridgehead at the
southern edge of the platform's defenses. Just sending the two shuttles to
drop in troops is not enough; four missile turrets will be in range, and
they'll take out one or both shuttles. Send in Artanis and your scouts
simply to draw off some fire. There are no enemy units on this part of the
platform, so your zealots and dragoons will be able to quickly dispose of
the turrets. The power generator is just to the northwest, and the dragoons
can be air dropped to destroy it.
I next targeted the easternmost generator. Taking out nearby missile turrets
will expose two bunkers to dark templar attack, but a third bunker will have
to be stormed by your dark templar and/or zealots. Destroy the nearby turrets,
and then air drop your dragoons to the platform to the northwest. It gives
your dragoons just enough range to first destroy another bunker and then the
power generator.
The center generator came next. It is surrounded by missile turrets and has
several wraiths guarding it. The wraiths can't cloak, so you don't have to
worry about that. Simply use your zealots to destroy the turrets and draw
out the wraiths one at a time for your scouts and Artanis to destroy.
The generator in the northeast corner is the trickiest to destroy. Guarding
the way is an area with two bunkers, three missile turrets, and a tank on a
platform above providing support. However, by this time you should have
received two reavers as reinforcements, and they can take out two of the
turrets and a bunker without getting into range of the tank. Note that with
no SCV units around, two hits from a reaver will put a bunker in the red,
and so you can conserve your reaver scarabs if you wish -- you'll need to
deal with some bunkers with the last generator as well. Once you've made
that dent in the defenses, you can either storm the other bunker and the
tank, or you can use your reavers again. It's possible the tank will come
down from the platform to visit you, making it easier to deal with.
Past this defensive point, the generator itself is on a platform with two
tanks and four goliaths. There are also ghosts at each corner, missile
turrets on each side, and a multitude of spider mines on the ground. With
observers in place, use you dragoons to take out the mines and the turrets,
and then use your high templar to dispose of the ghosts. Your high templar
should still have a lot of energy, so have them create several hallucinations
of Artanis. Have the hallucinations attack the goliaths and draw fire while
your real scouts and Artanis actually kill the goliaths. With the generator
unprotected from an air strike, finish it off.
The power generator in the northwestern corner appears to have a solid wall of
missile turrets guarding it, but there is actually a weak point on the eastern
side where you can drop off troops and set up your attack. There are two
layers to the defense of the last generator: the outside layer has turrets,
bunkers, and valkyries, and the inside layer has more turrets, goliaths, and
three battlecruisers. Unless you've been heedlessly killing off your troops,
you should have more than enough zealots, dark templar, and dragoons to take
care of the outer layer, with your air power mopping up the few valkyries.
For the inner layer, use the your corsairs to disrupt the missile turrets,
and then the concentrated firepower of your scouts and corsairs should be
enough to destroy the goliaths and battlecruisers -- and the generator.
Protoss 6 (difficulty 4)
Background
The Protoss are now off to Char to pick up the Khalis crystal. The new
Overmind is also on Char, and so you have the option of going after the
crystal directly, or damaging the Overmind severely and then grabbing the
crystal while the Zerg are dazed and confused.
Starting Units
3 zealots, 3 dragoons, 2 dark templars, and assorted others.
Strategy
You have two bases to play with, one Protoss and one limited Zerg. The Zerg
base can't make ultralisks or guardians, so it isn't too interesting, but it
is the only base with a vespene geyser, so you can't ignore it completely.
Decide which parts of the Zerg arsenal you want to use, and then only add
those structures and upgrades. The enemy Zerg will take a while to attack
seriously, so take some time to plan your defenses. Also note the two lurkers
stationed to the west of your Protoss base. Your two dark templars are just
the right people for welcoming the new Zerg additions to the campaign.
Of the two possible objectives, ``killing'' the Overmind is the easiest. It
is part of the Orange Zerg base in the southwest corner of the map, but after
destroying the small Orange base in the northwest corner, you'll have almost
an entirely free corridor right to the Overmind itself. A dozen scouts might
surprise the Zerg enough that you'll be able to kill the Overmind and finish
the mission quickly. Otherwise, Orange will flood the area with hydralisks,
and you'll have to assault the base normally. If the latter happens, try to
destroy the hydralisk den early. It is near the northern part of the base.
The Brown Zerg base has layers of spore colonies that you will have to pick
away at before finally reaching the Khalis crystal in the southeast corner
of the map. Brown also has many scourge stationed about, and so breaking
through will take a while. If you prefer hit and run tactics, then this is
the choice for you. But it doesn't matter which objective you meet; the end
result will be the same.
Protoss 7 (difficulty 4)
Background
Judicator Aldaris has started a revolt and has taken the high templars and
archons with him! You must find him and kill him.
Starting Units
4 dragoons, 8 dark templars, 2 dark archons, and some probes.
Strategy
You have most of your buildings already in place, so after you get your probes
going, start building some photon cannons. There are two square platforms
northwest of your base; put three banks of six cannons here: one between the
platforms, and one on each side. This should both protect your base and two
resources patches nearby. You might also want to put a couple more cannons
along the northern wall of your base. The computer might try an air strike
or air drop from there.
All you have to do on this mission is kill Aldaris, and conveniently his
position is highlighted. Inconveniently, two fake Aldaris's are also
highlighted. The real Aldaris is the one farthest to the north, and he --
and the fakes -- are pretty easy to kill since they don't defend themselves.
You can finish this mission off pretty quickly if you want. The Brown forces
are spread all over the northern part of the map, so it's possible to take a
dozen scouts and fly directly to the real Aldaris -- ignoring attacks along
the way -- and finish him off. Make sure your scouts are spread out though;
an arbiter will probably come over and cast a stasis field on you.
Even though you can finish quickly, don't be in a hurry to. This is one of
only two missions where you get to control dark archons, and they're fun to
play with. See if you can finish off Brown using only forces you've stolen
from him.
Protoss 8 (difficulty 7)
Background
With the revolt behind them and the crystals Uraj and Khalis in hand, the
Protoss are ready to use the Xel'Naga temple. Your mission is to bring
Artanis (with Uraj) and Zeratul (with Khalis) to the temple, and then hold
the temple while the two do their work.
Starting Units
4 zealots, 3 dragoons, Artanis and some probes at a southern base. 3 dragoons,
Zeratul and some probes at a northern base.
Strategy
You start out with two bases, and only the southern one has a vespene geyser.
What you need to do right away is get your probes going and create some photon
cannons. The bridge on the western side of the southern base will have the
most enemy activity initially, so put cannons there first. The southern base
will also have to defend against attacks from the north and east, and the
northern base from the north and south.
There is a Red base between your two bases, and that should be your first
target. It is lightly defended against air attack -- it only has two spore
colonies that a single corsair can deal with -- and it also has resources
that you might need later. Once that base is history, Red will pretty much
cease to be a factor in the mission.
The real threats in the mission are Brown and Orange, who each have large
bases and a dozen or more hatcheries between them. Luckily, you don't have
to eliminate their bases, but you might want to pare them down a bit before
you try to establish yourself on the island where the temple is located.
Once you decide to go for the temple, build up your defenses first before
bringing Zeratul and Artanis to the beacon. Just being in the area will cause
Brown and Orange to attack, but they won't really go after you until you've
triggered the temple. You should have a lot of resources available to you
from your three bases and also from the two resource patches at the temple,
so don't be stingy with photon cannons to protect the temple. Don't bother
with carriers for your perimeter defense, though. I tired that and about two
dozen scourge came after them, wiping them out.
When you trigger the temple, Zeratul and Artanis will disappear inside, so
don't count on them to help with the defense. Also, at this point your other
bases will become unimportant, so pull all your troops to the temple. Brown
and Orange will start up with some impressive and non-stop attacks, both at
the temple and your other bases, so you might need to slow down the game,
and you'll definitely need a hot keyed group of scouts to quickly help out
when Brown and Orange attack. The temple has 5000 hit points, and you only
have to defend it for 15 minutes, so as long as your defenses are sound, you
should be ok -- even if things get a little messy.
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Terran 1 (difficulty 3)
Background
The United Earth Directorate is finally ready to take on Emperor Mengsk I.
Their first target is a base on Braxis. Your mission is to destroy the base's
command center.
Starting Units
2 tanks, 3 marines, and 4 SCV's. Later you will meet up with Samir Duran and
receive 3 marines and 5 SCV's.
Strategy
As one of your marines will point out early in the mission, you do not have a
vespene geyser near your base, and so your first objective will be to find
one. There is a plateau north of your base, and there are three enemy marines
there, but it only contains some crystals. The vespene geyser is located on
the eastern edge of the map, past a small enemy outpost in the southeastern
corner.
Since you don't have any vespene available, you will have to make do with
marines and vultures to break through to the geyser, where you will also find
Duran and his (friendly) base. The enemy will keep sending troops to the
southeast in between your two bases, and so it's a good idea to put a couple
of bunkers and tanks in siege mode there. The enemy will also send out a
wraith every so often, so don't forget to put up a missile turret or two at
all of your bases.
Once you find Duran, he will show you a back way into the enemy base. All you
will have to deal with along the way to the command center is a single bunker,
but there is also a barracks you might want to destroy so you won't have to
fight on two fronts. About four tanks with an escort of marines can do the
job.
Terran 2 (difficulty 4)
Background
Now the UED wants to steal some battlecruisers from Mengsk's Dominion. Your
job is to put pilots in the enemy battlecruisers to convert them to your cause,
and then defeat the expected retaliatory force.
Starting Units
8 marines, 4 medics, and 3 pilots. After each area, you will receive more
military units and pilots.
Strategy
The shipyard is divided into four areas. For each area, you will receive some
troops and pilots. If you get your pilots killed before stealing all of the
battlecruisers in an area, you will receive an extra air drop of two more
pilots. If those pilots get killed as well, you'll move on to the next area
and leave the remaining battlecruisers behind. There is no time limit here,
so move your forces carefully. And don't forget to click on the pilots so you
can hear all of their acknowledgments.
The first area is the easiest. With a group of marines and medics, you can
simply storm each bunker to take it out. The medic will automatically heal
wounded marines, so you don't have to micromanage them.
The second area features some tanks you must get by. One of your medics will
ask to use an optic flare on a tank. Grant her wish. The flare is permanent,
so once the tank is blinded you can forget about it. There are two more tanks
in the area, and you can either blind those as well or use your ghosts to lock
down and then kill them.
The third area gives you access to four nukes. You only need three of them,
so if one of your ghosts gets killed while siting for a nuke, don't worry
about it. The first target to nuke is to the northeast of your starting
position. There is a science vessel guarding the target, so use a medic to
blind the vessel before sending in your ghost. The last two targets can be
nuked after going up to a platform to the north. Note that when bunkers get
nuked, their troops survive, but you can use cloaked ghosts to take the troops
out easily. There is a single spider mine on the way to the last beacon, so
make sure you send in a unit you don't care about before sending the pilot.
The last area starts out with a tank and two ghosts attacking you. The medics
can heal faster than a tank can shoot, so don't worry about that. Your tanks,
however, will quickly get locked down by the ghosts, and you'll need to use
your medic to restore them quickly before the ghosts do too much damage. From
here on the area involves first blinding or killing science vessels and then
using cloaked ghosts to kill bunkers and tanks.
Within the four areas you should have stolen 18 battlecruisers. Even if you
stole less, you should still be ok because the retaliatory force only consists
of 12 battlecruisers, and while you can use Yamato guns, the enemy won't. I
made it through the mission with all 18 battlecruisers still alive at the end,
but nothing special happens.
Terran 3 (difficulty 3)
Background
The UED has discovered a weapon called the Psi Disrupter on the planet
Tarsonis. It was developed by the Confederacy and can be used to disrupt
Zerg comminications. Although it has great power over the Zerg, your mission
is to bring Duran to the weapon so he can destroy it.
Starting Units
12 marines (8 in bunkers), 2 medics, Duran, and 4 SCV's.
Strategy
Watch the dropship as it brings Duran to your (soon-to-be) base. You can't
control your units until Duran is on the ground anyway, and the flight path
of the dropship will uncover a resource patch that you might need later.
Early in the mission four enemy bases will be highlighted, and you'll learn
that you have the added objective of destroying the hive of each base. Each
time you do, the enemy belonging to the hive will become neutral and cease
to be a factor in the mission.
The enemies will take a long time to put any pressure on you, and because of
that the mission is fairly easy. The Brown base is the closest and should be
your first target. Take a force of two tanks, four marines and a medic, and
walk them up to the ledge over the Brown base. The hive should be in range
of the tanks (in siege mode) and the marines should be able to stop overlords
from making most of their air drops and help kill what creatures do make it
to the ledge. Once Brown is gone, every future attack will come from the
north, and a missile turret or two will be enough to protect the resource
patch to the southwest of your base.
The Purple hive can be destroyed in a similar fashion to the Brown hive. The
only difference is that it will be above you rather than below you.
The Red hive is completely vulnerable to air attacks. It doesn't have any
spore colonies or even have a hydralisk den, although it will have a couple
hydralisks tucked away. A few wraiths can finish Red off.
The Orange base is vulnerable to ground attacks. It doesn't have any sunken
colonies, but it will have some guardians and mutalisks. A group of marines
with medics in support should be enough to kill the hive.
Once the four hives are history, walk Duran over to the beacon next to the Psi
Disrupter to finish the mission.
Terran 4 (difficulty 5)
Background
The UED has started its assault on Korhal, and your objective is either to
destroy Mengsk's physics labs to prevent him from using battlecruisers or
destroy his nuclear silos to prevent him from using nukes.
Starting Units
4 marines, 2 wraiths, 1 tank and 4 SCV's.
Strategy
You start with your base in almost the center of the map. There are Red bases
(with physics labs) along the northern edge of the map and Blue bases (with
nuclear silos) along the southern edge, so there are many places the enemy
might attack from. Luckily, the terrain is such that you can set up your
defenses so that the enemy only attacks from a couple directions.
You should set up your defenses in the following manner: one bunker with two
tanks south of the mini plateau at the southeastern corner of your base,
another bunker with a tank north of the same plateau, a bunker with a tank
at the gap directly north of your command center, and a bunker with two tanks
at the northern and southern ends of the large plateau to the west of your
base. Build the bunkers in the order listed here. The last two should also
protect a resource area on the plateau, just in case you need more resources.
You might also need some missile turrets: only Red will build wraiths, but
blue will use ghosts.
Since the computer handles battlecruisers much better than it handles nukes,
it is probably best to eliminate the physics labs of the Red base. But before
that, it's a good idea to neutralize the Blue base to some extent. Luckily
this is easy. There is a chasm along the southern edge of your base, and
there is a Blue base just beyond it -- so close, in fact, that you can hit
some of it using tanks in siege mode and a science vessel as a spotter. There
might be an enemy tank waiting for you to try this, so take that out first.
Afterwards, just leave your tanks at the edge of the chasm in siege mode.
They should also be able to take out a pair of missile turrets, a refinery
and a command center. Blue was thoroughly confused about what to do, and my
tanks were able to sit there and pick off several enemy units as well.
Once the Blue base is working at half efficiency (with only one resource area
instead of two), it is time to deal with Red. It has a pair of resource areas
as well, and the first order of business should be to remove the western one
from play. It is well separated from the other (major) Red base, so put a
bunker with a couple of siege tanks between the two. Now that reinforcements
will not be able to arrive, use a couple of tanks with an escort of marines
and a medic, and destroy the western Red base. From that point on, it's a
matter of slowly moving east, taking out Red as you go. The physics labs are
in the northeastern corner.
Terran 5 (difficulty 5)
Background
The UED is ready to attack Augustgrad directly. Your mission is to destroy
Emperor Mengsk's command center.
Starting Units
1 marine and 2 SCV's.
Strategy
I'm going to assume you destroyed the physics labs in the previous mission so
that you're playing mission 5a here rather than 5b. That being the case, you
pretty much have to watch and wait at the beginning of the mission. Nukes
will take out your three remote outposts, you'll receive some reinforcements,
and then nukes will take out the reinforcements and most of your remaining
base. The southwestern corner of your base is safe, so make sure your marine
and SCV's go there before the second nuclear strike. You can also move your
barracks and machine shop to get them out of harm's way as well. Your command
center will survive the attack, but it will be badly damaged -- or you can move
it as well if you want to interrupt your SCV's, who should have been gathering
crystals this entire time.
After the second strike, you will receive yet more reinforcements -- 8 marines
and 8 SCV's -- so immediately get to work gathering crystals and building up
your base. The Blue and Red forces will leave you alone for a while, but
you'll want to get some detection capabilities quickly. To that end, build
an academy first so you can add a comsat station to your command center. After
that, start building your defenses. Almost every attack will come from the
northeast, so protect that area of your base first. There are some plateaus
placed conveniently, and you can put some tanks on them to neutralize ground
attacks before they can even reach your bunkers. (Note: if you're facing
battlecruisers rather than nuclear strikes, don't put your tanks on the
plateaus. They'll just be wiped out by the battlecruisers.)
Mengsk's command center is in the extreme northeastern corner of the map,
surrounded by Red's base. Red's base, in turn, is protected by a layer of
Blue defenses. Since the enemy attacks were pretty light on this mission, I
simply built 10 battlecruisers, upgraded them, and then marched them slowly
and directly to Mengsk's command center. Neither Red nor Blue have anything
to really stop battlecruisers, but you'll want to take along a couple medics
and science vessels so nothing sneaks up on the cruisers or locks them down.
Terran 6 (difficulty 4)
Background
The UED has tracked Raynor and Mengsk to a Protoss base on Aiur. Your mission
is to destroy Raynor's command center in the base.
Starting Units
None. After a computer-controlled fight, you will receive the survivors out
of 7 valkyrie frigates, 6 marines, 4 tanks, 2 science vessels, 2 dropships,
and 6 SCV's.
Strategy
There isn't anything you can do at the start; just watch the computer attack
the Zerg base. Eventually your base buildings will arrive on the scene and
you will receive control of your combat troops. Immediately take control of
the valkyries and finish off the mutalisks. If you play this right, you
should only lose a single valkyrie.
Once the danger is gone, start landing your buildings. The computer put them
in pretty good places, but you'll probably want to crowd them a little bit
more. The area you have to defend isn't overly large, and you'll need extra
space for all of your supply depots. Supply depots, in fact, are the first
thing you should build so you can crank out a few more SCV's.
You are in an excellent defensive spot. There are only two ground entrances
to your base, and they're both next to plateaus where the computer has put
tanks for you. The tanks should maul any ground attack that decides to come
your way, but it's a good idea to put bunkers in each of the entrances anyway.
Really, the only type of attack you have to worry about is by air, and those
will mostly come from the east where there is an Orange Zerg base. A few
missile turrets and goliaths placed on the eastern plateau, backed up by your
valkyries, should be more than enough to handle the threat.
A couple minutes into the mission you will learn that somebody has activated
the Gate and that the Zerg are responding. Don't worry; be happy. The two
Zerg bases (Orange and Brown) will mostly attack the Protoss base (Blue), and
since the Gate will ``de-fog'' part of the Protoss base for you, you will get
to see some of these attacks as they happen.
Since the Zerg and Protoss will mostly keep each other busy and not bother
you, there isn't much for you to do at the beginning of the mission. Build
your base, upgrade your troops, put a strike force together, and do some
exploring. You should find a Protoss outpost to the northwest of your base
guarding a resource patch. Don't attack this base unless you need the
resources. They'll act as a buffer and prevent Brown from attacking your
base by air.
The Protoss base is fairly large, but luckily you can avoid most of it. A
large force of battlecruisers can skirt along the southern edge of the base,
and then head directly north to Raynor's command center (Yellow). You don't
even really have to worry about defenders if you don't want to. Just have
all your battlecruisers use their Yamato guns, and the command center will
be history.
Terran 7 (difficulty 4)
Background
That shady character Duran has convinced DuGalle that Stukov is a traitor.
(Gee, DuGalle has known Stukov for years and years, but apparently a
five-minute argument was enough to change his mind about the man. That's
the way it goes, I guess.) Your job is to enter the Psi Disrupter and kill
Stukov.
Starting Units
None. The computer will lead 9 marines into the compound to clear the way for
Duran and 2 medics, and you'll get to control the survivors.
Strategy
You have limited troops and no time limit (yet), so take things slowly and
carefully. The first thing you should notice is a beacon to your south. Only
a marine can activate it, and it will turn out to be unfriendly. Make sure
you have all of your marines in the area when you activate the beacon so you
can quickly destroy the traps it will activate.
For the most part there is only one path for you to follow, and Duran makes a
good scout since he has lots of hit points and can cloak himself. You'll run
into more unfriendlies and beacons, and eventually you'll find yourself at a
goliath repair bay. You have to be quick here. The civilians will run off
and wake up the goliath pilots when they notice you, and any pilot that makes
it back to a goliath will activate it for the enemy. Quickly move all of your
troops into the repair bay, and kill as many pilots as possible when they get
there. If any pilots make it to a goliath, you can use Duran's lockdown to
kill it easily. Once the pilots are dead, you can activate the goliaths
yourself if you want. Each goliath will cost a single marine, and even though
the goliaths are fully upgraded, I wouldn't do it. You can heal marines but
there is no way to repair goliaths, and eventually you're going to want speed,
and goliaths have all sorts of trouble maneuvering up and down ramps. (There
is an SCV near the goliaths that will supposedly join you and allow you to
repair goliaths, but it never worked for me.)
After traveling some more corridors, you'll finally find Stukov. The
computer will kill him for you, so you don't have to worry about that. In
the confusion, Duran will disappear and set the self-destruct sequence on
the Psi Disrupter. DuGalle will decide he likes the Disrupter after all,
and your new objective will be to reach the override terminal (another
beacon) within 15 minutes.
You don't have very much time to waste. The marines and traps you find will
now be friendly to you, but the Zerg will penetrate the compound, and you'll
still have a lot of killing to do. Try to keep moving at all times, and use
the ``A'' key to do so since Zerg will often pop up in front of you and behind
you, and they can do a lot of damage to troops who are moving and not fighting
back.
Soon you'll enter a room with two ultralisks and a zergling trapped in a
depression. Don't worry about them too much. At the northern end of the
room is a locked door, and eventually two ultralisks will try to come through
it. If your units are blocking the entrance, it's possible the ultralisks
will get confused and wander around for a while while your units shoot them.
Otherwise you'll have to kill the ultralisks normally, so make sure you have
medics nearby to heal the wounded.
Next you'll see a room just packed with zerglings, but don't worry. The
corridor leading to the room is lined with autoguns, and they'll kill the
zerglings for you -- although you'll want to help out so you can get moving
again. If you kill all of the zerglings here with about 10 minutes left on
the clock, you're making good time.
>From here on out, it's just a matter of killing things quickly. You'll receive
reinforcements along the way, so you don't have to be too worried about losing
troops -- and you'll mostly only be facing zerglings, so you shouldn't lose
many troops anyway, provided your medics are tagging along. The beacon is on
a platform guarded by a dozen or so zerglings. Once any unit reaches the
beacon, your mission is complete.
Terran 8 (difficulty 7)
Background
The UED is now ready to capture the Zerg Overmind. Apparently medics using
powerful neurostim drugs can do the trick, so your job is to get them to the
Overmind. Note that although the objectives also state that you are supposed
to kill three Cerebrates, you don't actually have to do this.
Starting Units
13 marines, 2 medics, and 4 SCV's.
Strategy
You are not based in a friendly position. The northern part of your base is
wide open, and the south part will get attacked just often enough that you
should defend there as well. The first thing to do, as always, is to build
several more SCV's and get them gathering resources. You start out with a
decent reserve of crystals, so take one or more SCV's and also start creating
some buildings. A machine shop is a good place to start.
There are three Zerg bases. The Red base is to your north, and it has
surrounded your base with indestructible sunken colonies. Your outpost to
the east is vulnerable to one of these colonies, but all you can do for now
is pull your marines back and let them stand guard around the one bunker that
is out of range. Note that all these marines are doing is using up your
supply depots, so once you upgrade their armor -- meaning it will take three
sunken colony hits to kill them rather than two -- send them west to your main
base and accept whatever casualties happen. You can minimize these casualties
to some extent by placing a marine/medic pair at the two colonies at the
eastern edge of your main base, and letting the colonies attack these marines
while their medics heal them. That will keep the colonies busy and save a
couple of your outpost marines.
The base you have to worry the most about is the Brown Zerg base. Its special
feature is the ability to create torrasques, a special version of the ultralisk
which can do 56 damage, has 7 armor and has 800 hit points. Every time you
hear a tortured roar, that means the Brown base has created one, and you should
get ready. Since the torrasque has such a high armor, marines don't do much
damage against them, and so you should make sure your bunkers have at least
two firebats each. I placed a bunker/tank pair at each of the original missile
turrets plus a couple other places, and this still wasn't enough to stop the
torrasque without it killing a tank and more. But you'll have to bite the
bullet on this for a while.
The third Zerg base is Orange, and the only special thing about it seems to be
that it has three infested command centers, so it can throw some infested
terrans at you. For the most part it won't, though, and it seems content
to guard the Overmind which is located in the center of its base.
There are four beacons around the Overmind, and the only thing you have to do
in the mission is put a medic in each of the beacons. Your life will be
easier, though, if you kill each of the three enemy Cerebrates (one in each
base) as the other mission objective suggests. Once you kill a Cerebrate,
the base it belongs to will stop functioning.
Your first target should be the Brown Cerebrate, since the only difficult
attacks on your base will be those from the torrasque. With about a half
dozen battlecruisers, move straight east and then north to the Cerebrate.
There shouldn't be much in the way of defenses, and the Cerebrate should go
down easily. The Red base is even more straightforward since there is almost
a completely clear path right to the Cerebrate. With the same half dozen
battlecruisers, you should be able to kill it as well with almost no trouble.
That leaves the Orange Cerebrate to take care of, and Orange has a large base
with several hatcheries. Luckily, Orange depended on Brown for much of its
southern defenses, and with Brown defeated there isn't much between you and
the Cerebrate. It might take more than your starting half dozen cruisers,
but the same type of strategy will work. Fly your group of battlecruisers
straight east and then north to the Cerebrate and destroy anything in your
path. Once the Orange Cerebrate is dead, simply fly in four medics to stand
on each of the beacons.
================
Zerg 1 (difficulty 3)
Background
The UED has started using the Psi Disrupter on Kerrigan's broods on the planet
Tarsonis. Your mission is to take a task force of uncompromised Zerg and
rescue Kerrigan's seven hives.
Starting Units
6 hunter killers and 2 zerglings.
Strategy
This is a fun, quick, and fairly easy mission. There are seven hives, and you
have to ``rescue'' each of them. That means you have to touch each of the
hives and prevent them from being destroyed. The next hive won't fall under
attack until the current hive has been rescued, so as long as you don't get
too close to the current hive, you can sit around and let your troops heal
before running off to battle again. Even if you rescue each hive as quickly
as possible, you should receive enough reinforcements along the way to finish
the mission.
All of the hives are pretty straightforward if you use the capabilities of the
units you're given. For example, the fourth hive will be attacked by five
guardians, but you'll be given ten scourges, and two scourges can kill a
guardian. The fifth hive will be attacked by six ultralisks, but you'll be
given four queens, and the queens can turn four of the ultralisks into
broodlings, and your hydralisks and hunter killers can kill the other two.
When you get to the last hive, you'll find that it is under attack by two
broods -- but that the broods will attack each other as well. You'll have
to use a Nydus Canal to get there, but don't be in any hurry since none of
the enemies will start out by attacking the hive itself. Let the enemies
abuse each other and a couple sunken colonies, and then charge in and touch
the hive. That will give you numerous zerglings and hydralisks for
reinforcements, and the result should be a slaughter (of them).
Zerg 2 (difficulty 4)
Background
Kerrigan didn't like what the Psi Disrupter did to her broods, so your mission
is to destroy it.
Starting Units
None. After a computer-controlled fight, you will receive control of an SCV
carrying a psi emitter, which will allow you to control any Zerg you find.
Strategy
After Raynor and his company destroy the Psi Disrupter's power generators, a
dropship will land an SCV carrying one of Mengsk's psi emitters on a plateau.
Nearby you will find two drones the the emitter will allow you to control.
Have one drone mutate into a hatchery and have the other mutate into an
extractor. Explore the plateau a little and you will find eight zerglings.
Use the zerglings to explore the area below the plateau and you will find
three hunter killers. The hunter killers will be enough to protect your base
for a while, so concentrate on creating drones and gathering resources.
Defending your base should be pretty easy. There is only one ramp up to the
plateau it is on, and the enemy will have to walk along the edge of the plateau
in order to get to it. A few sunken colonies along the edge and a couple more
by the ramp should be enough. The enemy will also attack through the air (but
only with wraiths), and these will normally come from the north and east, so
make sure you have some spore colonies there.
The main enemy base is along the northern edge of the map, but it has a few
outposts near your base. Each outpost guards some enhanced Zerg that you can
control -- three more hunter killers, three devouring ones, and your old friend
from two missions ago, the torrasque. Once you get all ten enhanced Zerg, the
mission is essentially over. Those ten alone can destroy the enemy base, but
it's probably not a bad idea to give them a little air support with some
mutalisks.
Zerg 3 (difficulty 5)
Background
Kerrigan is almost ready to attack Korhal, but first she needs to stockpile
some resources. Your mission is to invade the Kel-Morian combine on the
planet Moria and gather 10,000 crystals.
Starting Units
7 zerglings, 5 hydralisks, 2 ultralisks, 4 overlords, 1 queen, 8 drones, and
Fenix.
Strategy
The first thing you need to do is take your Starting Units and invade the
small Yellow base to the northeast. Fenix can almost do this all by himself,
and so with the added support, Yellow should go down easily. You'll find
yourself in an area surrounded by plateaus and with only two ground entrances,
one to the northeast and another to the south. The entrance to the northeast
will see the most activity, so place your defenses there first.
There are five enemy bases, and shortly into the mission you will learn that
Kerrigan also wants you to infest as many command centers as possible. For
each command center you infest, you will receive an infested command center
and an infested terran on the next mission. Since you don't really need five
infested command centers, there is no reason to attack some of the enemy bases.
If you infest all five command centers, you will automatically receive enough
crystals to make 10,000 and finish the mission.
There is a Brown enemy base to the north, both on the plateau and beyond. It
is the closest base, and it is the one that will attack you the most. It will
also try to airdrop some troops in behind you from time to time, so be careful
about that. Once you have a half dozen guardians, Brown will be easy to kill
since it won't create any wraiths to bother you with. Once Brown is gone, you
will have two new resource patches to use -- and, in fact, have all the
resources you need.
I decided to infest two command centers; more than that will just get in the
way during the next mission, and only the first two will trigger dialogues.
So my next target was the Red base in the southeastern corner of the map. It
has wraiths but no battlecruisers, and so a dozen guardians backed up by a dozen
mutalisks should be more than enough to take it down. Once Red is gone, you
will have even more resources at your disposal, and getting 10,000 crystals
from this point should be easy (if a little boring).
There are three more enemy bases if you're interested in attacking them as
well. When I played, all three of these bases basically ignored me and so it
was easy to ignore them back. The Orange base is slightly to the north of the
middle of the map. Like Brown, it does not create wraiths, and so it is easy
to kill. The White base is in the northwestern corner of the map. It is the
only base that builds battlecruisers, and so it is difficult to destroy since
mutalisks don't match up well with battlecruisers. If you decide to attack
it, make sure you have a dozen mutalisks with even more in reserve. The Blue
base is in the northeastern corner. It has nukes, but nukes are easy to defeat
if you have overlords near the edges of your base. Blue also builds wraiths,
and it is about as difficult as Red to destroy.
Note that you should start the next mission and save immediately. If you
start Zerg mission 4 from the mission menu, you will not receive any infested
command centers.
Zerg 4 (difficulty 6)
Background
With resources in hand, Kerrigan is finally ready to ``liberate'' Korhal.
Your mission is to destroy three outlying bases while Kerrigan assaults
Augustgrad itself.
Starting Units
4 hydralisks, 2 ultralisks, 5 overlords, 6 drones, and up to 5 infested
terrans.
Strategy
You start out with 10,000 crystals, so use one of your drones to mutate into an
extractor; you'll probably always be running behind on vespene gas on this
mission. Use your other drones to build an evolution chamber, a hydralisk
den, and three creep colonies to expand your base to the west. You have four
hatcheries, and use those to create more drones. Put four drones on the
extractor as soon as it is finished, and only worry about crystals if you
have drones but you're waiting for creep colonies to mutate or creep.
Your best initial defensive position is to place sunken and spore colonies
along the western edge of the plateau you are on, as well whatever other
colonies you think you might need to guard the two western land entrances to
your base. For the most part, attacks on your base will be by land and
through these entrances. You should have a lot of crystals to spend, so
don't skimp on the colonies.
Your first target should be a Blue outpost to the north. It is guarding a
resource patch, and you'll need the vespene gas as soon as possible. There
are only bunkers and missile turrets in the outpost, so you can use gas-free
zerglings to destroy it. As soon as you destroy the outpost, send some drones
there and start up a new base. This base will be a little vulnerable at
first, but you can place some sunken colonies just to the north of the ramp
leading up to your main base, and they will protect your main base as well as
the southern entrance to your new base.
Now that you have five hatcheries and gas coming in, start building up your
air force. If you get bored or run out of gas during this time, send in some
zerglings to the Blue base to the west. If Blue doesn't have any tanks around,
the zerglings will do a lot of damage. Also, if you have some infested terrans
you don't know what to do with, you can send them to attack Blue as well.
Once you have a dozen guardians and mutalisks, it's time to strike fear into
the hearts of the three enemy bases. You've already seen parts of the Blue
base. There is also an Orange Zerg base in the northwestern corner of the
map, and a White Terran base in the southwestern corner. Orange will also
have some defensive structures sprinkled around the two Terran bases, which
is an interesting sight to see. Basically, all you have to do is move slowly
from east to west and destroy everything you see. This will be pretty easy
against Blue, but once you get close to Orange and White, you'll start
encountering battlecruisers and scourges, so you'll want to supplement your
air attack with some ground forces.
Somewhere about two-thirds of the way across the map, you should create another
base -- not for resources, so there do not need to be any resources nearby, but
as a rallying point. Use a Nydus Canal so you can quickly ferry troops between
your main base and this new base. Then create some hydralisks and ultralisks,
and storm the Orange base using your air forces and these new ground forces.
Orange should go down quickly.
Reinforce your troops as needed, and then head for the White base. Be sure you
have some overlords on hand because you'll have to deal with wraiths and some
spider mines. You might also need some extra mutalisks standing by in case
White throws multiple battlecruisers and wraiths at you. Once you've
destroyed every enemy building, the mission is complete.
Zerg 5 (difficulty 7)
Background
Now Kerrigan is set to attack the main UED base on Char, but first she wants
you to take care of a little business. Your mission is to kill former allies
General Duke and Fenix and destroy their bases.
Starting Units
12 zerglings, 7 hydralisks, 3 lurkers, 5 overlords, and 6 drones.
Strategy
You get an almost free hand hand against the enemy bases for six minutes, so
use that time wisely. Enemy units will still attack you, but only if you
attack them first or attack a nearby structure. I find the Protoss to be a
more difficult enemy, so I selected their Blue base to receive the most damage.
Immediately send your zerglings and hydralisks east to attack the Protoss.
Target the gateway closest to your base. While they're in transit, send your
lurkers to the west to attack the Red Terran base. They'll have the easiest
time against bunkers since the units inside won't be able to retaliate. Then
start your drones to work: one to build an extractor, two to build creep
colonies so you can expand to the west and south, and the rest to start
gathering crystals.
While your troops are attacking the enemy bases, don't forget to build up your
own base. As soon as your six minutes are up, Red and Blue will send
substantial ground attacks at you, and so you'll have to be ready. Sunken
colonies won't be enough since Red will send tanks that already have siege
mode capability. Make sure you at least have some zerglings and perhaps some
hydralisks on hand. If you create any of these defensive troops early, send
them out to help the lurkers against the Red base, but be sure to get them
back in time. Also try to get eight or more drones gathering crystals and
four gathering gas. If things get too hectic, slow the game down as much as
possible.
You should have one goal in mind when attacking the Blue base: destroying
their two nexus structures and killing all of their probes. If you can do
this then you've dealt Blue a mortal blow and the Protoss won't be much of a
factor during the mission. The first nexus is in the middle third of the Blue
base, and it is lightly guarded, so it and its probes should be easy to
destroy. The second nexus is more difficult since it is in the heart of
the southern third of the Blue base, and it is guarded by a carrier and some
archons and zealots. Luckily the enemy troops won't attack all at once, and
you can pick them off one or two at a time. Your most difficult task might
be in controlling your troops so they don't start fights before you want them
to. Once the nexus and probes are gone, wreak havoc on Blue in any way you
want.
With your lurkers and perhaps other troops, make sure you destroy the command
center in the northern third of the Red base. After that there is another
command center in the middle third of the base that you can destroy, but your
base and the attacks against Blue should be your main priorities, and so if
you can't keep up with your Red-attacking forces much, just be content to deal
Red whatever damage you can.
Once the first six minutes are up, the mission will become pretty standard,
and you can attack the remaining Red and Blue forces in any way you want.
Blue won't attack you much after the initial volley, and so most of the enemy
attacks will come from the west. Given that, when you decide it is time to
expand, the easiest place to do so will be to the south. If you expand to
both southern resource patches at once, then the southernmost of the two
will protect the northernmost, and so the northernmost won't need any
defenses. The southernmost base will need defenses, though, and probably
a lot.
General Duke and Fenix are both situated between the middle and southern
thirds of their bases. Neither will go out of their way to attack you, so be
sure to attack any nearby forces first. Duke in particular might have a pair
of battlecruisers with him, and the battle will go much easier if you can
destroy those without provoking him. Fenix is a pretty easy1 kill since
guardians can attack him. Once those two are dead and their bases destroyed
with them, your mission will be complete.
Zerg 6 (difficulty 7)
Background
Rather than sit around and wait placidly, the UED has launched an attack
against Kerrigan -- using Zerg controlled by their puppet Overmind. Your job
is to beat back and destroy these renegade Zerg.
Starting Units
18 zerglings, 10 hydralisks, and 10 overlords.
Strategy
You're going to lose four bases pretty quickly, and there isn't anything you
can do about it. The Brown and Orange forces will overwhelm what little
defenses those bases have. The best you can do is try to move the overlords
out of harm's way, towards your island base in the center of the map. Brown
and Orange will leave that base alone for the time being, but when they attack
they will bring mutalisks and guardians, so make sure you get air defenses
up quickly.
Not long into the mission, you will discover that there is also a White Terran
base on the map, and that the 30 scientists there are the ones controlling the
renegade Zerg. Your mission will change to kill those scientists. The
strongest opponents on this mission will be Brown and Orange -- White is a
joke and it will never even attack your base. If you try to attack White
directly, Brown and Orange will help with the defenses, and they will also
simultaneously attack your base. So it's probably a good idea to at least
hurt Brown and Orange before going after White. The easiest way to do this
is to try and retake the bases you lost at the beginning of the mission,
which Brown and Orange will have replaced with their own bases. Destroying
those bases won't be too difficult. They are lightly defended, so a handful
of guardians and mutalisks should be able to do the trick. Don't forget to
research ventral sacs for your overlords so you can immediately move a drone
in when the enemy forces are gone.
Once you've destroyed the four enemy bases on your side of the map, set up two
new bases at the resource patches to the north and south of your island base.
The defenses at these two new bases plus the defenses at your island base
should prevent the enemy from reaching the eastern side of the map, and so
if you need to plunder the remaining two resource patches, those bases won't
need any defenses.
At this point the mission is essentially over -- White is no threat at all,
and Brown and Orange will now be down to limited resources -- and so you can
finish things off as you see fit. Note that there are some Red Zerg units in
the White base. I have no idea what their purpose is. There doesn't seem to
be any way for you to control them, and they only come alive (as enemies to
you) when all of the scientists are dead and the mission is over.
Zerg 7 (difficulty 8)
Background
In order to defeat the Overmind, Kerrigan needs the help of the Protoss. In
order to get help from the Protoss, Kerrigan needs to kidnap their matriarch
Raszagal. Your job is to create a diversion by blowing up the city of
Talematros so Kerrigan can do her evil deed.
Starting Units
6 zerglings, 4 hydralisks, 2 overlords, 4 drones, and Duran.
Strategy
There are two Protoss factions, Blue which has a base (Talematros) in the
center of the map that you can't get to (except via queen) and Brown which has
several outposts guarding the beacons you need to get Duran to so he can
overload the power pylons of the Blue base. The key is to try not to do too
much, and to finish the mission as quickly as possible. If you take too long,
Blue will eventually start attacking your base using carrier triplets with
scout and arbiter support, and that can be a little difficult to defend
against without air forces of your own. (If this type of attack happens,
remember that Duran can use lockdown to freeze two of the three carriers.)
Your base is in the southeastern corner of the map near three plateaus. Two
of the plateaus have resource patches, and the third will be used by enemy
forces for airdrops, so you'll want to take possession of all three. The best
way to set up your defenses is so your outer perimeter looks something like a
quarter circle along the edges of the plateaus, with mostly spore colonies on
the plateaus and mostly sunken colonies on the ground level. With that
approach, all three resource patches will be protected, and you won't have
to worry about expanding later. Another sort of defense involves the kakaru
critters. Use queens to infest the kakaru with parasites, and they will
provide you with good coverage of the map, often alerting you to enemy attacks
well before they happen.
Brown's beacon outposts generally aren't very well defended. The one in the
northeastern corner will have four reavers in it, but Duran can lock down two
of them, and a handful of ultralisks can take care of the rest. Brown's main
base can be difficult to destroy since it will usually have a couple of dark
archons hanging around, but Brown will often send these archon out to assist
in other places -- in particular the plateau where the southernmost beacon is.
If you plan your attack on that beacon carefully, you can often send in troops
behind the archons as they approach the plateau and crush them between two
forces. The best-defended beacon will be the one to the northwest of the Blue
base, but you don't have destroy that base at all. Just cloak Duran and send
him to the beacon during an attack. He will only have to survive for four
seconds until the Blue base explodes and the mission is complete.
Zerg 8 (difficulty 9)
Background
Kerrigan wants to UED-controlled Overmind dead, and your mission is to do just
that.
Starting Units
4 zerglings, 3 hydralisks, 3 mutalisks, 2 devourers, 4 overlords, 4 drones,
and 2 dark templars.
Strategy
This is a mission you just have to grind your way through. There are two
Zerg-and-Terran factions, White and Orange, and they both start out with
75,000 crystals and 75,000 gas -- plus their bases already built, of course.
They will attack you frequently and in large numbers, so you'll always want
to have a reasonable number of defenders at your base(s), even when you go
out on the offensive.
You start out in the southwestern corner of the map. There are three land
entrances to your base, and you should put good defenses at the eastern and
southern entrances. Your first target should be the White base to the north.
If you attack it right after creating a half dozen guardians, you won't get
more than a couple attacks at your northern entrance, and so it doesn't need
anything more than a sunken colony and your two starting dark templars to
protect it. There is also an Orange base to your east, and neither this base
nor the White base is well defended, and you should be able to destroy them
both with your guardians and air support from your mutalisks and devourers.
Immediately move north and set up your own base where the White base was.
Place three sunken colonies in front of three spore colonies on the eastern
side of this base. These colonies won't stop enemy attacks on their own, but
they will either help your defenders in repulsing the attacks, or let you get
defenders there in time before anything important gets destroyed. With the
defenses at this base and at your original base, you can almost start a base
at the resource patch along the western edge of the map without defenses.
You should put a spore colony or two there, however, to protect against the
odd mutalisk or guardian that might find its way there.
There are two ways to go from this point in the mission. You can either try
to destroy the White and Orange bases while moving towards the Overmind, or
you can try a quick strike on the Overmind by itself. The former is
straightforward; whatever method you have been using to destroy bases should
work here as well, although you'll have to deal with many more defenders than
usual. If you select this option, then you should move to the location of
the former Orange base and place your own base there. This will provide you
with a good rallying point for attacks on the bases, and also put you in
position to gather more resources. The second option is trickier, but a
successful strike on the Overmind will cut the time to play this mission in
half. There are no enemy units or structures along the southern edge of the
map, and you can move through this area and then straight north to the
Overmind, encountering few defenses along the way. With a combined air and
land assault, you can move your dark templar to the Overmind and kill it
during the confusion. Note that the enemy will bury some lurkers around the
Overmind, so be sure you also have some overlords on hand to spot them. The
only way the Overmind will die is if a dark templar makes the killing blow,
so you can have your other forces join in for a while if you need to damage
it more quickly.
Zerg 9 (difficulty 3)
Background
Zeratul has taken Raszagul to a Protoss base on the planet Char. Your mission
is to destroy that base before the Protoss can escape.
Starting Units
8 zerglings, 5 hydralisks, 2 guardians, 2 lurkers, 8 overlords, and 8 drones.
Strategy
This is a pretty easy mission. You start with a decent number of troops, and
your base is already complete. There are three enemy bases: two White Terran
bases at the northwestern and southwestern corners of the map, and the Blue
Protoss base to the east. Your first two targets should be the Terran bases
so you can get at the resources they are guarding.
First off, get your drones to work. Put half on the extractor and half on the
crystals, and then build more drones as you are able. There is an elevated
path to the west of your base that White will use every so often. Put your
two guardians there for the time being, and let them pick off some vultures
and firebats while your prepare a strike force. When you have at least four
guardians, move them over to the ramp leading to the northwestern White base.
White will have a bunker and tank there, and it's a good idea to take these
out before sending in your ground troops. Quickly destroy bunkers, missile
turrets, and unit-producing structures, and leave the other buildings for
later. Have a couple drones standing by so as soon as the area is reasonably
safe, you can send them in to mutate into an extractor and hatchery.
Now reinforce your original strike force with more guardians and ground units
if you need to. White will not build any air-to-air units, so you don't have
to worry about mutalisks or devourers for the time being. Repeat your attack
strategy from the northern base on the southern base, and then start up your
own base there.
With three bases, you should have crystals and gas coming in fairly quickly.
Create more guardians so you have at least ten, and also create some mutalisks
and devourers -- but mostly devourers if you have the time. Blue will have a
carrier plus assorted scouts and corsairs, so you'll need some good air-to-air
and ground-to-air capabilities. Meanwhile, create some more zerglings,
hydralisks and ultralisks.
For your attack on Blue, remember that the Protoss will have dark templars
available, and that you should have overlords on hand. Unless you upgrade
your overlords, it will take a long time to get them from your base to the
Blue base, so get them moving much earlier than your planned attack time.
The southeastern corner of the map is a safe place to put your overlords
and assault troops prior to the attack. White will have a tank and bunker
along the path, so make sure you have your guardians take them out first.
It will take somewhere around five minutes to destroy the Blue base, and
perhaps less if you continue to reinforce your troops while the battle is
going on. Although the mission objective is to destroy the Protoss base
within 30 minutes, you actually want to destroy it within 25 minutes so you
can access a bonus mission. That means you should start your attack on Blue
with at least ten minutes left. Let your air troops do most of the initial
fighting, and then bring in your ground troops to assist and destroy buildings
quickly.
Note that the bonus mission will not show up on the mission menu, so
immediately start the bonus mission and save at the beginning.
Bonus Mission (difficulty 2)
Background
Zeratul has discovered an unchartered moon with Protoss power signatures. Your
mission is to discover what is going on.
Starting Units
None, although you will quickly receive 2 dragoons, 4 dark archons, and
Zeratul.
Strategy
To the east of your starting position will be three marines and two tanks. Use
Zeratul to kill the marines. The Terrans will then send a science vessel to
search the area, and you can use your dark archons to control it and the two
tanks. From this point on, it's just a matter of following the Z-shaped path
to the southeastern corner of the map, killing or controlling enemies as you
find them and putting Zeratul on each of the passing beacons. Along the way
you will discover that somebody is doing some evil experiments and, finally,
who that somebody is. The mission will end when you get Zeratul to the final
beacon.
Zerg 10 (difficulty 10)
Background
This is it -- the final showdown. Three of Kerrigan's enemies (Mengsk,
DuGalle, and Artanis) have surrounded her position, and your mission is to
destroy them before they can destroy you.
Starting Units
6 zerglings, 4 hydralisks, 3 overlords, and 5 drones.
Strategy
Vespene gas is going to be in short supply for most of this mission, so
immediately put four of your drones on the extractor, and put the remaining
drone on the crystals, adding to it as you can. Once you have enough drones
gathering crystals, start thinking about defenses. You'll have a lot of
crystals to play with, so don't skimp and don't put defenses only at the
perimeter of your base.
There are three land entrances to your base, and the southern and western two
are the easiest to defend. Just add a couple more sunken colonies to each
entrance, and supplement these with some zerglings, hydralisks and eventually
lurkers. The northern entrance is the most difficult to defend because there
is not enough room for air defenses and land defenses both. In this case, put
spore colonies north of the ramp and put a couple sunken colonies further back
but within range of the ramp. Once you research lurkers, put some at the
northern entrance first. Also, once your drones finish gathering the crystals
in your base, you can put sunken colonies in their place, and they will be
more than enough to defend the northern entrance.
For air defenses, place spore colonies liberally around your perimeter, and
also put some in the interior for when corsairs decide to drop by and say
hello. Your base starts out with two spore colonies in the western corners
of your base. These colonies cannot be replaced, and they're a bad idea
anyway since it is better to present the enemy with a wall of colonies rather
than a single colony. So ignore these colonies and only put new colonies
where you can place them three abreast.
There are three large enemy bases you have to destroy: Red (Mengsk) to the
west, White (DuGalle) to the north, and Blue (Artanis) to the south. Red
prefers to use tanks and nukes, and only uses wraiths for air support. This
makes Red vulnerable to air attacks, and so it is the easiest early target
since a handful of guardians and mutalisks/devourers can do a lot of damage.
White prefers air and goliath attacks, so its base is not a good place for air
attacks, unless you can handle numerous battlecruisers, wraiths, valkyries,
and goliaths. Blue prefers variety, and so you'll have to be prepared for
all sorts of significant Protoss attacks. Blue also has the easiest base to
destroy, however, since it has the least redundancy (White has a half dozen
or so starports, for example). If you can catch Blue before it researches
spells for its high templar and dark archon, then it might go down fairly
easily.
The best way to deal with the enemy forces is to completely destroy them one
at a time. The only time you'll probably have trouble defending your base(s)
is when two or more enemies decide to make major attacks at the same time, so
reducing the number of enemies will make this less of a likelihood. You do
not have to destroy every building and unit to destroy an enemy. In fact, it
appears you do not have to destroy any units at all -- except to defend
yourself, of course -- and several building types can be ignored, such as
supply depots, bunkers, and missile turrets. Possibly, you only have to
destroy buildings capable of creating units in order to destroy an enemy, so
concentrate your firepower in those directions. Once an enemy is destroyed,
it may leave units behind, and you can infect these units to give yourself
better visibility of the map.
There are several resource patches on the map, and you'll probably have to use
at least three or four of these before you complete the mission. Your base
will provide you with enough crystals to last a while, but you may need to
expand just to receive some extra gas. If you can't finish off one of the
enemies before expanding, expand to the resource patch just to the south of
your base. Unlike the resource patch to the north, the resources here will be
between the defenses of the new base and your initial base, so your drones
will not be vulnerable. Once you finish off an enemy, immediately set up
bases at the resource patches the enemy was using (if there are resources
still there). These patches will generally be far away from the other enemies
and not visited as often, so they will need fewer defenses.
______________________________________
Copyright (c) 1999 by Steven W. Carter
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