Starcraft

Marine
Your primary troop type and most effective form of defence Marines are very effective against both ground and air units. Unlike some games in Starcraft you will find that your most basic troop is essential to your war effort. Heavily armed and armoured the marines have an extremely rapid rate of fire - enough of them together are capable taking down the largest of targets with little loss of life. Combine their effectiveness with their cheapness and you have an ideal base for any fighting force.

It is always a good idea to upgrade your marines as soon as possible, as soon as your technology and funds allow build an Engineering bay and academy. In the Engineering shop you can increase the damage of the marine’s Gauss rifle and the density of their armour, whereas at the academy you can increase the Gauss rifle’s range and build stimpacks.

Stimpacks are a two edged sword, they drastically increase your marine’s rate of fire and movement rate, whilst severely depleting their health. If you have a plentiful supply of marines this is a good idea as they will be able to take down troops quickly and before they can reach the marines. However if you have few marines then it is a good idea to preserve their health as much as possible so that they can last longer against their adversaries. Stimpacks are also effective for marines that are stowed away in bunkers, with a greater rate of fire and the added protection of the bunker you will be able to make use of their increased rate of fire without having to worry about the loss of health.

Marines are a small unit therefore they are best able to make use of the cover available form trees, their size means you can fit a lot of them into a fairly small area enabling you to maximise their effectiveness.

Weapon: 8mm C-14 “Impaler” Gauss Rifle
Damage: 6
Damage increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3
Armour: 0 +1 +2 +3
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3

Firebat
The counterpoint to the Marines, Firebats are more heavily armoured and armed but with a drastically reduced movement and range. Firebats are extremely effective against small units such as marines, zerglings and zealots, their flame-throwers inflicting massive damage with an area effect but unfortunately they are useless against air based troops. The firebat’s effectiveness against medium and large targets is reduced drastically, although still effective they tend to get beaten to a pulp by large units, this combined with their limited range makes the Marine far more effective overall.

Firebats can be equipped with stimpacks in the same manner as the marines, although this does tend to make them even less useful except against large targets that would normally take them out in one or two hits.

Firebats on their own aren’t very effective, their massive firepower being counter somewhat by their short attack range and slow movement. The best way we found to use firebats was to use one in a bunker in combination with three marines, this way the marines can lay down long range fire that weakens the larger targets, hopefully taking care of them before they get too close. If units do get too close you will be grateful of the extra firepower afforded by the firebat, especially with the small or medium units where their area effect will come to the fore.

Weapon: Plasma based Perdition Flame Thrower
Damage: 16
Damage increase per upgrade: +2 +4 +6
Armour: 1
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3

Ghost
Ghosts can be very expensive, the basic troop type costing more than twice as much as a marine or firebat, this combined with the research necessary to give them their special abilities and you are looking at a unit that can as much as the heavier units like the goliath. Once you have expended the crystals and gas to train your ghosts they can be your most useful, if not most powerful troops.

The canister rifle is a powerful weapon in itself but the ghost’s main strengths lie in their special abilities; the most notable of these and the one for which they are named is cloaking. Cloaking allows a unit to be rendered invisible to all but specialised spotter units; this makes them invaluable as “eyes” for your Arclite siege tanks increasing their range to beyond their normal visual field, and as reconnaissance. Sending Ghosts into an enemy camp can be suicidal as the enemy camp will almost certainly have spotters, either in the shape of units such as science vessels, but more likely in the form of defences. The defences that are able to pierce the veil of your Ghost’s invisibility are: Terran missile turrets; Zerg spore colonies; Protoss photon cannons. Terrans will very rarely have any units patrolling that are capable of spotting, Zerg however need Overlords in the same way Terrans need supply stations and Protoss need psi pylons, so they will almost always have Overlords patrolling the perimeter of their encampment. You have been warned.

It is always advisable to upgrade your Ghosts as soon as possible, without their cloaking ability they’re just another expensive unit, dangerous certainly but not worth the resources. The Ghost’s other ability, lockdown, is a form of stasis field that prevents mechanical units from performing any actions for the duration of its effect. Although this is essentially useless against Zerg it can be invaluable against Protoss and Terrans. Their limited power supply and the high price of lockdown means that it should be used sparingly and only against powerful targets such as Terran Battlecruisers and Protoss Carriers.

The most powerful of the Ghost’s abilities is the nuclear strike, this is performed in combination with the nuclear silo that can be added to the command centre. With their cloaking the Ghosts can generally get very close to a target without being spotted, from this point they can target either units or structures with a special frequency targeting laser. Whilst targeting Ghosts cannot move, this isn’t necessarily a problem as they are positioned just out of range of the bomb, also just before the bomb detonates the Ghost is able to move and can therefore withdraw to a suitably safe distance and watch the fun. Most troops will be destroyed instantly by the bomb, larger units such as tanks and ultraliths will be severely damaged, reduced to critical damage softening them up for a quick strike. Marines are generally best for this as they are fast with fairly long range weapons and so can get in and out quick for few losses, taking out the weakened targets with maximum speed.

Weapon: 25mm C-10 Canister rifle
Damage: 10
Damage increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3
Armour: 0
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3

Vulture
Fast scouting units that can outrun any other unit on the field. Armed with grenades that are extremely effective against small or lightly armoured targets and with the speed and manoeuvrability to perform hit and run attacks without any fear of being caught. Their special weapon, the spider mines, are ideal defences and can be placed in strategic positions to intercept attacks without risk to your own troops causing crippling damage upon ground based units. The vulture’s primary asset is its speed, ideal for scouting large areas quickly and with a turn of speed to make an F1 car blush, the vulture’s speed is not affected by terrain as other units.

Not much use against larger targets the vulture is best used in combination with your defences used as a lure to bring the enemy into your ambushes. Vultures should never operate alone, send them out in twos and threes, this gives them a degree of firepower to bring to bear if it becomes necessary whilst still giving them the speed to get through any gaps they make.

Weapon: Anti-Personnel Fragmentation Grenades, Spider mines (optional)
Damage: 20
Damage increase per upgrade: +2 +4 +6
Armour: 0
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3
Special: Spider mines 125 damage

Goliath
An extremely powerful mechanical unit with masses of firepower for both air and ground targets. Goliaths are heavily armoured units best used in the support of the Arclite siege tank, able to inflict more damage upon air targets than ground units the Goliath more than offsets the siege tanks vulnerability to air assault. Goliaths on their own can make a very effective assault force, they are fairly quick and are well armoured giving them the edge over most ground troops, but they only really come into their own as support troops or as shock attack groups.

Goliaths in themselves suffer greatly in ground fights due to the limited range of their 30mm cannons, so it is a good idea to keep either siege tanks or marines with them to bolster their capabilities and to allow them to bring their devastating firepower to bear against the enemy.

Weapon: Twin 30mm Cannons, Hellfire Anti-Air Missiles
Damage ground: 10
Damage air: 20
Damage increase per upgrade ground: +1 +2 +3
Damage increase per upgrade air: +2 +4 +6
Armour: 1
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3

Arclite Siege Tank
The most powerful of all ground based units the Arclite siege tank has two distinct forms, the first is its standard or primary form. In this form it is fairly mobile if a little slow, has a fairly slow reload but does a massive amount of damage to both units and structures. It’s second form however is its most powerful, in this form it becomes stationary, unable to move, but it can then deploy its second cannon. Its range is increased drastically and it is able to bring to bear more than double its firepower.

Although it is heavily armoured and armed the siege tank has two very distinct weaknesses. Firstly it is unable to attack any air units, making the stationary or slow moving target extremely vulnerable. This can be offset by either including a unit that is able to attack air units, such as the Goliath, marines or Wraiths, or by building missile turrets as you go. Missile turrets are cheap and increase your visibility range and so are ideal for Arclite siege tanks when they are in siege mode.

The second weakness is mainly when your tanks are in siege mode, if a fast moving unit manages to get close to your tanks you will find that all you tanks will fire at that unit. This would not normally be a problem except for the fact siege tanks inflict splash damage, which invariably includes your tank within its range. This can prove very expensive in tanks so it is a good idea to space your tanks well and to include a few marines with them to take care of those damaging little units.

The Arclite siege tank is a very adaptable unit, its power can be used for both attack and defence. Although they can be damaging to your own units the benefits of their firepower far outweigh any potential hazards inherent in their use. Placed behind bunkers with a missile turret either side the Arclite can be the single most effective defence against ground targets whilst the turret takes care of air targets and the bunker decimates the smaller ground targets and pummels the air targets simultaneously.

Ideally the siege tank should be combined with Ghosts to act as spotters, giving the artillery greater range and effect, and Goliaths to take down troublesome air units and troops. Try to have at least one Goliath for every siege tank, financially this may not be viable so at a push you can substitute marines for Goliaths, as long as they have the range upgrade available from the Academy and their weapons and armour upgraded to at least level 1.

On the attack it is best to position your tanks in rows, then when you attack move the back row forward so that the front row is covering their movement. This will slowly increase your range driving your enemy back and allowing you to destroy everything within your range quite thoroughly. A Ghost sent up ahead would give your tanks the advantage they need to destroy most targets before they can get close enough to do any damage.

Weapon: Twin 80mm Cannons, 120mm Shock Cannon
Damage 80mm cannon: 30
Damage 120mm cannon: 70
Damage increase per upgrade 80mm: +3 +6 +9
Damage increase per upgrade 120mm: +5 +10 +15
Armour: 1
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3

Dropship
Heavily armoured and able to soak up a lot of damage these slow moving ships can pick up and carry quite a large number of units, up to four Goliaths or two tanks. Although they don’t really serve any direct purpose you will find that they are ideal for quickly moving units to a strategically important location, such as to the top of a nearby bluff. Guard full dropships well, the enemy know when to attack them and when they are just scenery (which is frankly unfair but who are we to complain).

Weapon: N/A
Damage:
Damage increase per upgrade:
Armour: 1
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3

Wraith
Used for scouting and fast attacks the Wraith is a very powerful unit capable of destroying targets much bigger than itself without ever being seen. Equipped with a cloaking field the Wraith can become invisible in the same manner as a Ghost and can be detected in the same way as the Ghost. For fast scouting in dangerous areas the Wraith is perfect, its cloaking field offering protection from the majority of prying eyes. In itself the Wraith is not the most powerful attack platform for an attack, although it does offer fine protection for tanks in siege mode, its most effective weapons being brought to bear against air targets.

A squadron of 6-12 Wraiths can be a very powerful tool, simply build the Wraiths, develop the cloaking field and then wait for their cloaking power to reach full so they can stay cloaked for as long as possible. Then cloak all your Wraiths and send them out on raids deep into enemy territory taking care not to get too close to spotters, if you do it right you can wipe out all the outlying troops and buildings with a very small loss. Keep your Wraiths tightly under your control as they have a tendency to lock onto one target and then follow that target, usually straight to the nearest anti air defences.

Wraiths are most effective against air targets, although they cannot stand one on one with Protoss scouts or the Zerg Mutalisk (which are the alien equivalents) but with their cloaking field they can take down air targets very quickly without alerting other units that they are in the area.

Another good use for the Wraith is patrolling, if you keep them cloaked and allow them to patrol the perimeter of you base then you will find that they will harry the enemy giving you extra time to mobilise your defences. Sometimes the Wraith can harry the enemy units so effectively that they retreat, this is not always desirable as the Wraith will feel inclined to pursue the enemy, usually to the nearest anti air defences. Keep an eye on these valuable units, it may even be worth spacing them along the perimeter of your base cloaked, click on the hold position button, this will solve the problems of them running off on their own, it will also make them less useful, limiting their mobility.

Weapon: Gemini Air-to-Air Missiles, 25mm Burst Laser
Damage air: 15
Damage ground: 8
Damage increase per upgrade air: +2 +4 +6
Damage increase per upgrade ground: +1 +2 +3
Armour: 0
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3

Behemoth Battlecruiser
The biggest beast of a ship to be found anywhere, the Behemoth can take a massive amount of damage and inflict even more. A mobile army in itself the Behemoth is perhaps the most feared unit to appear on any battle field, equally as useful against both air and ground targets and armed with the devastating Yamoto gun nothing can stand one on one against this brute. The most powerful aspect of the Behemoth is the Yamoto gun, this does not come as standard it must be developed in the physics lab (add on to Science facility) do this early as it is the singularly most satisfying weapon available.

No real advice can be given about using the Behemoth as it is too slow to be part of any effective hit and run except using the massive range of its Yamoto gun. The best we can offer is a few tips on what not to do and how to protect this valuable investment. Firstly given the extortionate cost of this unit it is reasonable to expect that most players will be reluctant to use it too often, perhaps even keeping it out of the fighting altogether just in case it gets damaged. This is not the way to proceed, the Behemoth is the most powerful unit available to the Terrans and should not be wasted do nothing. If you are worried about losing your Behemoth then simply use a squadron of Wraiths to protect it and give it a wide ranging scout force to search for trouble. It is a good idea to have a Science vessel attached to the Behemoth to prevent it being attacked by cloaked units.

Behemoths work best in small groups, two to five, this gives you a lot of power concentrated in one place, ideal for cutting a hole in the best of defences. The most powerful weapon available is the Yamoto gun, this nasty weapon fires a controlled nuclear explosion at a target, making it the single most devastating weapon available. Another advantage of the Yamoto gun is its massive range, this means you can use the Behemoth to get fairly close to the enemy’s defences, still remaining out of range of their defences. From this position you can destroy powerful units or defences in one shot, you can then retreat a little and let your Yamoto gun recharge, and the enemy will not even realise you are there as you will be out of their visual range.

Damaged Behemoths can take an age to repair due to their sheer size, so if your Behemoths get battered retreat it to your home base to repair it, their it can sit for five minutes quite comfortably without having to worry about revenge attacks.

Weapon: Laser Batteries
Damage: 25
Damage increase per upgrade: +3 +6 +9
Armour: 2
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3
Special: Yamoto Gun

Explorer Science Vessel
This unarmed and heavily armoured unit is actually more useful than it would first appear. The basic science vessel is a mobile spotter, giving it the ability to see cloaked units, making it an invaluable addition to any force being built up. Another of its abilities is its defensive matrix, this is a short term force field that can be projected upon any unit, this will take a lot of punishment increasing the life expectancy of any unit equipped with it.

The Explorer can be equipped with both the EMP shock wave and Irradiate. These two very different powers can be developed at the science facility and can be invaluable in the right situation. The EMP shock wave is a must when fighting against the Protoss as it takes out all shields within the area of it effect, removing one of the Protoss’ major advantages. EMP can also be used to disable enemy Explorers, temporarily removing their special abilities.

Irradiate allows the Explorer to project a powerful radioactive field onto any unit, this field will damage any other units the irradiated unit comes into contact with. This can be especially useful against bunched units, inflicting small amounts of damage to everything softening the enemy up for an assault.

It as to be noted that the Explorer’s biggest weaknesses are its slow movement and lack of armament, this can be a problem but as long as you keep either a few Wraiths or troops attached to it, offering protection. The advantage of this arrangement is that if the Explorer does get attacked then it has many powers that can lend the advantage to its protecting troops.

Weapon: N/A
Damage:
Damage increase per upgrade:
Armour: 1
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3