StarCraft/Terran mission 10: The Hammer Falls


 * Location: Tarsonis Space Platform


 * Difficulty
 * 8 out of 10


 * Mission Objectives
 * 1) Destroy the Ion Cannon.
 * 2) Raynor must survive.


 * New Units
 * None


 * New Enemy Units
 * Terran Science Vessel (Confederate Alpha Squadron)
 * Terran Science Vessel (Sons of Korhal)


 * Special Unit
 * Jim Raynor (enhanced Vulture)


 * Special Structure
 * Ion Cannon (destructible structure w/2,000 HP)

Raynor is outraged at Mengsk for betraying Kerrigan and decides to leave the Sons of Korhal for good (and he's taking you along). But before the fleet can evacuate you, you must disable an Ion Cannon to ensure its safety.
 * Mission Background

This mission will certainly be tougher than anything you've played so far. It can also get very frustrating when the huge enemy armies crush your towns over and over again as you rebuild them. Anyway, you start out in a very small low area. Put your SCVs to work, and put the conveniently placed infantry into two equal groups of 8 Marines and 1 Firebat each. Then put both groups ABOVE the ramp so that they have further sight range. Build up your base for a while as you've been doing until now, but in this mission don't be afraid to build 20 SCVs. You'll need the fast flow of resources to stay on top of things.
 * Walkthrough

Once you have a Barracks, set it to build some Marines and set out on the northeast path with a group of your infantry, the two Tanks, and the Vulture (not Raynor). Continue along this path until you've met and annhilated the small Red force guarding this spot. Then have an SCV or two start building a large defensive network of at least 3 bunkers and 3 Turrets on both entrances to your base. Make no mistake, the enemy attacks are HUGE, and you must be ready for them. Later, put six to eight Siege Tanks at each base entrance; also, you must have two SCVs at each entrance at all times to repair bunkers and Turrets as they take damage.

You have a lot of resources at your disposal, so tech up quickly. Also, consider building two Factories to speed up production. It's a good idea to have all Barracks, Factories and Starports you have produce units constantly. Barracks should make Marines, Factories should make Goliaths and Siege Tanks (little of the former and lots of the latter), and Starports should make Battlecruisers, Science Vessels (only two of them), and Dropships (seven or so). A problem when trying to defend your base is Nukes, but there's a way to counter this. All nuclear strikes come from the direction of the White base (aka the northeast entrance), so build about three Turrets far along the route so that the enemy will target those instead of coming all the way to your base. When they're destroyed, simply rebuild.

Speaking of countering, you might need help against the huge enemy onslaughts. Here are some common things the computer might try and their counters:


 * 1) Huge Infantry Waves. Believe it or not, these are deadly. The huge number of Firebats they throw in annhilates buildings and slow-moving ground targets, while the Marines get everything else. For this, you must have a lot of Siege Tanks ready to deal splash damage to them, but un-Siege each tank and have it retreat as soon as something closes up to it. Also, you need some air units (preferably any Battlecruisers you might have built, but heck, Wraiths are better than nothing) to target those Firebats. In addition, have a Science Vessel or two cast Irradiate on a unit in the midst of the wave for some free kills. This is also one of the few attacks where infantry in Bunkers is better than nothing at all.
 * 2) Heavy Metal. This is a multiplayer term for Siege Tanks, Vultures, and Goliaths. Neither enemy likes Goliaths, so they won't use them much (or at all). But boy, do they love Tanks... pretty much the only way to counter the Tank-Vulture (or even Tank-only) attack, apart from using Battlecruisers, is having more Tanks than them. You'll lose a few, but the more you have, the faster you can vanquish these attacks. Bunkers are of no use (Tanks in Siege Mode have longer range than anything else in the game), and so are all other ground units.
 * 3) Battlecruisers. Thankfully, they won't send in a fleet of 28 Battlecruisers at once... Blizzard saved that for the expansion, Brood War. Countering a couple of BCs is pretty easy. You need two Missile Turrets and four SCVs. Now, if each Battlecruiser attacks a different Turret, simply have two SCVs repair each Turret. This ensures that your repair rate is faster than the BC's attack rate, so the Turret is left intact as it pounds over and over into the Battlecruiser's hull until it's destroyed. If the two attack the same Turret, you need all four SCVs to repair it at the same time... which gets hard, since the perimeter of a Turret is only so large. The more realistic solution here is to use three SCVs to hold off the destruction of the Turret as long as possible while other Turrets fire at the BCs.
 * 4) Ghost waves. The most frustrating attack by far. These Ghosts will Lockdown all your mechanical units (bye-bye Tanks and BCs), Cloak to wreak havoc, Nuke your buildings, and worst of all, they'll be supported by their own Tanks and BCs so that your Lockdowned army is powerless against them! This is easily the hardest attack to counter, since you don't have much of anything to do it with. Let Turrets and anyone in bunkers fire away at the enemy while you Sensor Sweep an area so that any remaining units can kill the Ghosts. You need a lot of Marines around to kill BCs, but when it's time to go against the Tanks, well... you can't do much. Be sure to put Raynor in a safe spot away from the attack, then Liftoff your buildings, put SCVs in any Dropships you have, and attempt to save as many buildings as possible until the Lockdowned units are free again.

Work on building units until you have 8 Siege Tanks, 12 Marines, another group of assorted infantry, 8 Goliaths, and a Science Vessel. Do NOT pull these units from defending the northeast entrance, but you may pull them from the southwest if you wish. Guess why? Because you'll be attacking the Red base, of course!