Some time ago, AJ announced that we would be doing something called Submission of the Week where we explore and credit the talented members here on the .Org. Well, I'm here to introduce my first impressions of a section that I feel is underrated here, the Strategy Section.
Today we'll be looking at a strategy article written by "TobeSlave" that explores the effectiveness of an Early Armory build used by Pro-Gamer By.FlaSh. The article explores strategy after an early expansion opening, where you will be working with a single factory and two command centers. The gist of it is that you quickly thereafter tech with an Armory which allows you to build Goliaths countering harass drops and Zealot Bombs typically used by Protoss in Early/Early-Midgame by new age Protoss.
The early Armory also allows Terran players to upgrade +1 attack ups cheaply, giving them an edge over Protoss players in midgame as players must start upgrading to maintain superiority in macro-focused play.
Perhaps more important than his walkthrough of the build order, TobeSlave set himeslf apart with a focused explanation of what makes this build effective, as seen in the following excerpt:
This is build is so good because its a counter build for almost anything and everything. Dt can be scanned, reaver/shuttle can be killed by gol/tank and you don’t have to waste money on turrets which mean you have goliaths which could help you push out stronger with more units (which means you can get an earlier only-mineral multi) than the usual tvp build. Whats so great about this build is +1 upgrades very early on which makes the mechanic units so strong in the beginning and throughout the end. Another thing about this build is the early science facility which makes arbiter vulnerable and could be easily beaten by the science vessel’s emp shockwave. Another thing about this build is very early scan allows you to pick off those sneaky observers so that the protoss doesn’t know if you going to push or not and you could scan his base very often to see what he is doing (usually to see carriers or arbiters, if not than his unit capacity). Carriers would be easily countered by your goliaths(SCAN OFTEN!)
The defining feature of his TvP is his fast Armory and Goliath use. Given the extensive Protoss mimicry in recent times (thanks Bisu) the most popular PvT build today is 2 base -> reaver. This build picked up mid way through 2006 with Bisu tearing up Shinhan S2 OSL with his highly aggressive PvT style. He along with the new age Protoss (Much/Free) used the 2 base reaver build extensively and that has brought them many wins.
Flash’s build counters that perfectly. He generally builds around 3~4 vultures with tanks then adds an armory. He then produces 3~4 Goliaths (or more on Katrina) which he uses to prevent any harass from dealing damage to him. He also uses these goliaths for killing shuttles when they try to zeal bomb him. In my opinion, its about time Terran’s started doing this as I have noted that a few goliaths are immensely effective against Protoss.
But with the fast armory comes fast upgrades. Flash knows that +1 weapons is an insanely cheap upgrade for the effects it has. Protoss tend to build a late forge to maximize gateway production, this came about from the macro age of Pusan/Anytime. Thus, Protoss are often ill equipped to go into an upgrade war. +1 Weapons adds 5 damage to sieged tanks, +3 to normal tanks, +2 to vultures and +2 to goliaths (subtract armor twice due to two hit system). Those kinds of upgrades overwhelm the pathetic +1 armor upgrade (and the over priced +1 shield).
