Kicking this LP into overdrive: Let's Play StarCraft 2!

[Artanis]

Looks like the winners are Meinhoff, Concussive Shells, and, by the slimmest of margins, Ultra-Capacitors.

On to zombie-zerg-land! I'll try to get the update posted tonight

[Artanis]

MISSION 8: OUTBREAK



Briefing:

Spoiler

Show

The refugees were in trouble. Not just the ones from Agria, but all of them. Refugees from most of the sector were fleeing to a staging center on Meinhoff, and now both disease and violence were running rampant in the camps. Emperor Mengsk, of course, wasn't doing squat. Somebody had to do something. Swann was particularly active in lobbying for us to go save the world, as he was from there and had once led a rebellion against the Dominion...a rebellion that had mostly been slaughtered until Raynor had shown up, but that's beside the point.

When we got to Meinhoff, it wasn't a refugee staging area anymore. It was Infested.



Most of the refugee camps had been Infested by the Zerg. All that remained was a major camp that, fortuitously, held most of Ariel's people from Agria. The only way to buy enough time to evacuate them was to get rid of the Infestation, and the only way to get rid of an Infestation was to burn it out.

Burn it all out.

The Mission:

Spoiler

Show

We got some good news as we boarded the dropship: something about Meinhoff's sun made the daytime deadly to the Infested, so they only came out at night lest they spontaneously combust. That made our strategy clear: hold the line at night, then tear down the camps unopposed during the day. Luckily, we landed during the daytime, giving us some time to get mining operations going and set up some initial defenses.

There were three entrances to our base. The one in the south had been barricaded by the refugees, so it could wait, albeit not for long. The north and east entrances each got a Bunker with a Firebat and Marines, backed up by an un-Bunkered Firebat and another Marine. I was counting on my Medics and the Firebats' Juggernaut Plating to keep them alive until more Bunkers could be built to house them.




Night fell, and with it, my Sensor Tower went crazy with inbound contacts. It wasn't long before the zombie-like Infested came into sight...and begged us to kill them.



That wouldn't be a problem.




The zombie numbers were light for the time being, and my troops held them off well enough to get another Bunker built at each of the threatened entrances.




As dawn approached, my defense line had things well in hand, and Swann sent in some Hellions and a Factory programmed with their schematics. Their flamethrowers, he said, would make short work of the flimsy structures in the area.




The Infested made one last push shortly before sunup, only to be blasted by my Bunkered infantry.




Daytime. Now it was our turn.




I sent out the Hellions: they weren't much, but they'd do at least a little damage while I built them some backup.



Even when accounting for their low numbers, the Hellions were largely ineffective against structures. There was, however, a solution: Reapers. I'd had my Barracks running non-stop through the night to arm troops to man the Bunkers, and immediately switched over to Reaper production. I figured that their bombs would make short work of the infested buildings.




I was right.






As more Reapers joined the fight, the cleansing went faster and faster.



Despite their speed, the Hellions simply couldn't keep up with the jet pack-equipped Reapers, so I sent them in a different direction.




Cleansing continued apace until just before nightfall, when I recalled my attackers. The day had been quite successful, seeing nearly one-fourth of the Infested structures destroyed. It was then that the Adjutant informed me that the Hyperion had detected a couple of nocturnal Zerg - not Infested, but outright Zerg - that would be invaluable for Stetmann's research. I made a note of their locations and went back to trying not to be overwhelmed by a swarm of zombi-zerg.

That night, the Zerg had a new trick up their chitinous sleeves: Infested Marines, a concept that appalled Tychus.




The attacks were heavier than the previous night, but nothing that three Bunkers per entrance couldn't handle.






Near daybreak, a group of Infested Marines broke through the southern barricade. Fortunately, I had had plenty of time to set up defenses.




At first, the second day was a repeat of the second, only this time with more Reapers.

A LOT more Reapers.








It stayed that way until the Reapers ran into Creep.



And then a Zerg base.




Against Reapers' bombs, however, even hardened Zerg defenses didn't last long.




With the infestation almost totally cleaned out, I had my Reapers stay out a bit after dark to kill the first Infestor before heading back to base.




That night, it was clear that the job was almost finished. The southern entrance was the only one that faced more than token attacks, and even with the addition of some sort of aberration-thing, they just couldn't threaten the line of four Bunkers that I had down there.




The next day saw the most of what little was left of the Infestation wiped out. All that was left was to kill the second Infestor, finish off a couple buildings the Reapers had missed, and get the hell off of Meinhoff.

Aftermath:

Spoiler

Show

Stetmann was practically giddy over the Infestor bio-samples we had brought him, going on and on about them being the "last piece of the puzzle" that he'd been working on. Or something. I heard him shout "EUREKA!" as I left the lab and hoped that he'd come across something useful like the last time, and not something that'd blow up the ship.


By the time I reached the Bridge, Raynor, Ariel, and Horner were discussing a new world that they had located for the Agria refugees.



Horner brought up the point that some of the refugees might be infested. Despite Ariel's indignation, Raynor and I agreed that potential infestation was an issue given that the new planet, Haven, was near the border of Protoss space. Raynor looked downright haunted, and I don't blame him given what the Protoss had done to the Sara system at the start of the Great War. Raynor told Ariel to start looking for a cure for Infestation, which is impossible, but if charred Brutalisk guts can make us better Bunkers, then some research into the Zerg virus can't hurt.

And now it's time for the epilogue to the mission: Audience Participation!


First, we have 180,000 credits in the bank. There's the upgrades, of course, and the mercenaries are just waiting to be hired.

-Mercenaries:
--Devil Dogs - Firebats (25,000)
--Hammer Securities - Marauders (30,000)
--Spartan Company - Goliaths (40,000)

-Upgrades:
--Marauder - Kinetic Foam: +25HP (90,000)
--Reaper - U-238 Rounds: More range and more damage vs. light armor (60,000)
--Reaper - G-4 Clusterbomb: Anti-infantry time bombs (75,000)
--Hellion - Twin-linked Flamethrower: Double attack width (40,000)
--Hellion - Thermite Filaments: More damage to light armor (60,000)
--Goliath - Multi-lock Weapons System: Can fire both weapons at once (50,000)
--Goliath - Ares-class Targeting System: More range (80,000)
--Bunker - Neosteel Bunkers: +2 Bunker slots (50,000)
--Bunker - Projectile Accelerators: +1 Bunker range (40,000)
--Missile Turret - Titanium Housing: +75HP (50,000)
--Missile Turret - Hellstorm Batteries: Gain an AoE attack (80,000)

-Save cash for later


The samples from the dead Infestors were enough for Stetmann to make a couple discoveries. It's weird just how the hell he wound up getting the discoveries he did out of a bunch of tissue samples, but hey, upgrades are upgrades, right?
--Planetary Fortress: Command Centers can be upgraded with giant guns. Said guns make them immobile though. Or, we can research...
--Perdition Turrets: Flame turrets that hide themselves when there's nothing in range.


We have two choices for our next mission:
--Tarsonis: The Great Train Robbery - Raid a Dominion train convoy
----Rewards: 110,000 credits, Diamondbacks, +3 Zerg Research
--Xil: The Dig - Recover another artifact
----Rewards: 120,000 credits, Siege Tanks, +3 Protoss Research

[arguskos]

First, we have 180,000 credits in the bank. There's the upgrades, of course, and the mercenaries are just waiting to be hired.

-Mercenaries:
--Devil Dogs - Firebats (25,000)
--Hammer Securities - Marauders (30,000)
--Spartan Company - Goliaths (40,000)

-Upgrades:
--Marauder - Kinetic Foam: +25HP (90,000)
--Reaper - U-238 Rounds: More range and more damage vs. light armor (60,000)
--Reaper - G-4 Clusterbomb: Anti-infantry time bombs (75,000)
--Hellion - Twin-linked Flamethrower: Double attack width (40,000)
--Hellion - Thermite Filaments: More damage to light armor (60,000)
--Goliath - Multi-lock Weapons System: Can fire both weapons at once (50,000)
--Goliath - Ares-class Targeting System: More range (80,000)
--Bunker - Neosteel Bunkers: +2 Bunker slots (50,000)
--Bunker - Projectile Accelerators: +1 Bunker range (40,000)
--Missile Turret - Titanium Housing: +75HP (50,000)
--Missile Turret - Hellstorm Batteries: Gain an AoE attack (80,000)

-Save cash for later


The samples from the dead Infestors were enough for Stetmann to make a couple discoveries. It's weird just how the hell he wound up getting the discoveries he did out of a bunch of tissue samples, but hey, upgrades are upgrades, right?
--Planetary Fortress: Command Centers can be upgraded with giant guns. Said guns make them immobile though. Or, we can research...
--Perdition Turrets: Flame turrets that hide themselves when there's nothing in range.


We have two choices for our next mission:
--Tarsonis: The Great Train Robbery - Raid a Dominion train convoy
----Rewards: 110,000 credits, Diamondbacks, +3 Zerg Research
--Xil: The Dig - Recover another artifact
----Rewards: 120,000 credits, Siege Tanks, +3 Protoss Research

Bolded. The Bunker Upgrades really are sadly the best thing here, especially because Spartan Company is basically useless unless you bother using Goliaths a lot, which you've already said isn't going to happen.

Also, Planetaries are only of marginal use in multiplayer, much less here. Orbitals are so much better. We roll with Perditions.

[ThePhantom]

First, we have 180,000 credits in the bank. There's the upgrades, of course, and the mercenaries are just waiting to be hired.

-Mercenaries:
--Devil Dogs - Firebats (25,000)
--Hammer Securities - Marauders (30,000)
--Spartan Company - Goliaths (40,000)

-Upgrades:
--Marauder - Kinetic Foam: +25HP (90,000)
--Reaper - U-238 Rounds: More range and more damage vs. light armor (60,000)
--Reaper - G-4 Clusterbomb: Anti-infantry time bombs (75,000)
--Hellion - Twin-linked Flamethrower: Double attack width (40,000)
--Hellion - Thermite Filaments: More damage to light armor (60,000)
--Goliath - Multi-lock Weapons System: Can fire both weapons at once (50,000)
--Goliath - Ares-class Targeting System: More range (80,000)
--Bunker - Neosteel Bunkers: +2 Bunker slots (50,000)
--Bunker - Projectile Accelerators: +1 Bunker range (40,000)
--Missile Turret - Titanium Housing: +75HP (50,000)
--Missile Turret - Hellstorm Batteries: Gain an AoE attack (80,000)

-Save cash for later


The samples from the dead Infestors were enough for Stetmann to make a couple discoveries. It's weird just how the hell he wound up getting the discoveries he did out of a bunch of tissue samples, but hey, upgrades are upgrades, right?
--Planetary Fortress: Command Centers can be upgraded with giant guns. Said guns make them immobile though. Or, we can research...
--Perdition Turrets: Flame turrets that hide themselves when there's nothing in range.


We have two choices for our next mission:
--Tarsonis: The Great Train Robbery - Raid a Dominion train convoy
----Rewards: 110,000 credits, Diamondbacks, +3 Zerg Research
--Xil: The Dig - Recover another artifact
----Rewards: 120,000 credits, Siege Tanks, +3 Protoss Research

Diamondbacks are very nice, you should get some.

[dgnslyr]

Perdition Turrets, Kinetic Foam, and SIEGE TANKS. You can't have enough dakka, after all.

[The Glyphstone]

Kinetic Foam, Neosteel Bunkers, Projectile Accelerators, and The Dig!

[Demon 997]

First, we have 180,000 credits in the bank. There's the upgrades, of course, and the mercenaries are just waiting to be hired.

-Mercenaries:
--Devil Dogs - Firebats (25,000)
--Hammer Securities - Marauders (30,000)
--Spartan Company - Goliaths (40,000)

-Upgrades:
--Marauder - Kinetic Foam: +25HP (90,000)
--Reaper - U-238 Rounds: More range and more damage vs. light armor (60,000)
--Reaper - G-4 Clusterbomb: Anti-infantry time bombs (75,000)
--Hellion - Twin-linked Flamethrower: Double attack width (40,000)
--Hellion - Thermite Filaments: More damage to light armor (60,000)
--Goliath - Multi-lock Weapons System: Can fire both weapons at once (50,000)
--Goliath - Ares-class Targeting System: More range (80,000)
--Bunker - Neosteel Bunkers: +2 Bunker slots (50,000)
--Bunker - Projectile Accelerators: +1 Bunker range (40,000)
--Missile Turret - Titanium Housing: +75HP (50,000)
--Missile Turret - Hellstorm Batteries: Gain an AoE attack (80,000)

-Save cash for later


The samples from the dead Infestors were enough for Stetmann to make a couple discoveries. It's weird just how the hell he wound up getting the discoveries he did out of a bunch of tissue samples, but hey, upgrades are upgrades, right?
--Planetary Fortress: Command Centers can be upgraded with giant guns. Said guns make them immobile though. Or, we can research...
--Perdition Turrets: Flame turrets that hide themselves when there's nothing in range.


We have two choices for our next mission:
--Tarsonis: The Great Train Robbery - Raid a Dominion train convoy
----Rewards: 110,000 credits, Diamondbacks, +3 Zerg Research
--Xil: The Dig - Recover another artifact
----Rewards: 120,000 credits, Siege Tanks, +3 Protoss Research

These are my votes. Another step towards battlecruiser and one of the most useful units in the game? How is that even a choice?

Do you have any idea how you're going to do the crystal missions?

[Artanis]

Xil, Perdition Turrets, and the two Bunker upgrades are winning at the moment. However, there's plenty of time left, and the rest of the money is up for grabs, with Kinetic Foam and Hammer Securities at two votes each and Devil Dogs and saving some money not far behind at one apiece

Also, Glyphstone, do you have a vote for research?

[The Glyphstone]

Whoops. Perdition turrets all the way.

[Artanis]

It appears then that we have some winners. I'll play The Dig, and post the update tomorrow

[Artanis]

MISSION 9: THE DIG



Briefing:

Spoiler

Show

The Moebius Foundation had found our next artifact, sitting in a ruined temple on a world called Xil. Moebius had already sent in a team, but had recently lost all contact with them. It was up to us to find out what had happened, and to extract the artifact ourselves.



Whatever had happened to the Moebius expedition was only our first problem though. We also had to open the temple itself, which had proven to be such a tough nut to crack that the Moebius team had brought in a huge honkin' laser drill to quite literally burn their way into the temple.

The Mission:

Spoiler

Show

We dropped a small team of infantry near the base site. It didn't take long for us to find out what had taken out the Moebius expedition: the Tal'Darim. Their small group of forward scouts proved to be little match for my infantry squad. The Marauder's Concussive Shells proved invaluable, preventing the Zealots from charging into range before they could be torn up by my troops' weapons fire.



The next Tal'Darim picket line was a trio of Photon Cannons that could rip apart a small squad of infantry. However, Swann had promised us Siege Tanks, and a second dropship delivered on that promise.




Siege Tanks have been a staple of Terran militaries for years because they bring two things to a fight: extreme range and firepower. Swann's two Siege Tanks demonstrated this to perfection, blowing up the Photon Cannons from where the enemy couldn't touch them.




The remaining Tal'Darim pickets were easily dealt with by the Siege Tanks, and before you know it, we had retaken the Moebius base. Everybody there was dead, but the Tal'Darim had decided to leave all the equipment intact.




You'd think the Tal'Darim would've destroyed the primary threat to their temple, but they hadn't. For some reason, they had left the laser drill intact. With everything still more or less operational, the drill and I went to work. I got mining operations going and defenses put up while the drill began...well, began drilling.




The Tal'Darim didn't waste any time preparing for a fight, as they started warping in troops almost the instant that we got the drill fired up.




The first Tal'Darim attacks were probes of my base's two main entrances. They sent a couple of Stalkers against each one, and found out the hard way that I already had each one covered by a bunker and one of Swann's Siege Tanks. The Stalkers didn't last long against good ol' fashioned Terran firepower.






The next couple of attacks were larger, but still not enough to get past my solidifying defenses.






Things continued that way for a little while: Protoss rally outside their bases, Protoss charge, Protoss get blown up by Siege Tanks.

Then, the Tal'Darim decided to send a couple of actual threats after me, both on the comms and on the front lines. I detected Archons and an Immortal rallying to my northeast as the Tal'Darim blathered on about destroying me. Now, Immortals are a major threat to Siege Tanks, as their shields stop most of a tank cannon's damage, and Immortals' guns rip through armor like crazy.



It was then that Horner managed to gain access to the giant laser's systems. Immortals may not fear a Siege Tank, but they do fear a giant frickin' laser.

And now I had control of one.




With the immediate threats neutralized, the giant laser promptly went back to burning through the temple's first door.




The Tal'Darim tried a different tack: an air assault with transports and a few Scout escorts.



It didn't work very well, but it did have the element of surprise. Specifically, it surprised me that the Tal'Darim were showing some level of tactical capability. Not a very high level, mind you, but still better than what they had shown on Monlyth and Bel'Shir.


I, on the other hand, had also set up a couple of surprises. I hid a couple of Perdition Turrets in the two main paths of enemy attack.





Unfortunately, that, too, did not work terribly well. One was easily blown up and the other badly damaged while not dishing out a whole lot in return. It was a valuable lesson: put the damn things on the high ground.


As I mulled my failure with the Perdition Turrets and watched my ever-growing legion of Siege Tanks blow away Archons without help from the giant laser, Horner called up and informed me that the Hyperion had detected several Protoss relics in the area. Said relics were in satellite temples that were too tough for my troops to blast their way in. Good thing I had a giant laser that I could shoot them with while my troops amused themselves blowing up a Pylon.



Between attack waves, I sent another infantry team to take the third relic. The Pylon powering a pair of Photon Cannons was quickly burned away by my giant laser. My troops tried to look useful while the giant laser then burned away the shrine holding the relic.




The Tal'Darim tried another air attack, this time with Void Rays. I had a lot more missile turrets than first time they'd tried it, easily dealing with the Scouts and transports. The Void Rays fell prey to my giant laser.




With the Tal'Darim stonewalled by my entrenched forces, the giant laser was making excellent progress on the temple doors.




As the drill burned its way through the doors and began working on the temple door itself, the Tal'Darim brought out a new weapon: Colossi. The things were giant robots big enough to see up the cliffs upon which my defenses were placed. Considering that my strategy to that point had mostly revolved around pounding enemy troops with hight-hidden Siege Tanks, Colossi could be a Very Bad Thing.

Lucky for me, I had a giant laser.




At least one Tal'Darim seemed to pick up on the whole "zap them with a giant laser as they rally" thing I'd been doing the entire mission, and tried sending an attack straight from their base to mine without forming up first. Did I mention that Colossi could be a Very Bad Thing for my defenses? Because one of them made it to me before the giant laser could swing around and kill it. Four Siege Tanks were melted into slag by the Colossus's heat rays before it could be killed.




The mission settled down into a rhythm: melt the Colossi with the giant laser and let the Siege Tanks blow up the everything else. I had so many Siege Tanks, in fact, that even Immortals weren't worth using the giant laser on anymore. Despite another air attack and ever-increasing Tal'Darim numbers, not much could touch my defenses.






With the Tal'Darim totally unable to dent - much less break - my lines, the giant laser finished burning its way to the artifact with virtual impunity. The Tal'Darim had no reason to keep fighting once the giant laser finished, and they retreated. With the Protoss gone, it was a simple matter to load up the artifact and head back to the Hyperion as Raynor and Tychus argued about the value of the artifacts. Despite their monetary value, Raynor brought up an excellent point: "being vaporized by the Tal'Darim definitely counts as diminishing returns."

Aftermath:

Spoiler

Show

Raynor began drinking practically the moment we got back. He really hated killing Protoss, even if they were nutjobs like the Tal'Darim. I, meanwhile, got to work humiliating myself on Lost viking, and as such barely noticed when Raynor filled up his flask and left the Cantina.




After getting killed by the damn Carrier for umpteenth time, I gave up on Lost Viking and headed for the Bridge. There, I found Raynor and Horner talking, with Raynor looking like he had seen a ghost.

Turns out Raynor had seen a ghost...or close enough to one. He told us that he had run into Zeratul. He then told us that Zeratul had given him a device called an Ihan Memory Crystal...and a dire warning about the future.

You guessed it, it's time now for Audience Participation!


First, we have 180,000 credits to spend. There's new mercenaries, and we have upgrades available both for our new Siege Tanks AND for our SCVs.

-Mercenaries:
--Devil Dogs - Firebats (25,000)
--Spartan Company - Goliaths (40,000)
--Siege Breakers - Siege Tanks (45,000)

-Upgrades:
--Marauder - Kinetic Foam: +25HP (90,000)
--Reaper - U-238 Rounds: More range and more damage vs. light armor (60,000)
--Reaper - G-4 Clusterbomb: Anti-infantry time bombs (75,000)
--Hellion - Twin-linked Flamethrower: Double attack width (40,000)
--Hellion - Thermite Filaments: More damage to light armor (60,000)
--Goliath - Multi-lock Weapons System: Can fire both weapons at once (50,000)
--Goliath - Ares-class Targeting System: More range (80,000)
--Siege Tank - Maelstrom Rounds: A LOT more damage to primary target. Doesn't affect splash damage (105,000)
--Siege Tank - Shaped Blast: 75% less friendly fire damage (140,000)
--Missile Turret - Titanium Housing: +75HP (50,000)
--Missile Turret - Hellstorm Batteries: Gain an AoE attack (80,000)
--SCV - Advanced Construction: Multiple SCVs can help build structures (60,000)
--SCV - Dual-Fusion Welders: Double repair speed (80,000)

-Save cash for later


The relics we got from Xil were just barely enough to get another research upgrade! We can get:
--Orbital Depots: Supply Depots build quickly, or...
--Micro-filtering: Harvest Vespene 25% faster.


We have two (well, two and a half) choices for our next mission:
--New Folsom: Breakout OR Ghost of a Chance - Raid the prison world
----175,000 credits, Spectres OR Ghosts
--Tarsonis: The Great Train Robbery - Raid a Dominion train convoy
----Rewards: 110,000 credits, Diamondbacks, +3 Zerg Research
--Prophecy Mission: Whispers of Doom
----+3 Protoss Research, +3 Zerg Research

Regardless of what mission you vote for, please also vote for if you want me to do the Prophecy missions all in a row (when I get to them, of course), or intersperse them with the other missions like normal.

Also, if Breakout is chosen, I'll be playing it on Brutal

[Demon 997]

-Mercenaries:
--Devil Dogs - Firebats (25,000)
--Spartan Company - Goliaths (40,000)
--Siege Breakers - Siege Tanks (45,000)

-Upgrades:
--Marauder - Kinetic Foam: +25HP (90,000)
--Reaper - U-238 Rounds: More range and more damage vs. light armor (60,000)
--Reaper - G-4 Clusterbomb: Anti-infantry time bombs (75,000)
--Hellion - Twin-linked Flamethrower: Double attack width (40,000)
--Hellion - Thermite Filaments: More damage to light armor (60,000)
--Goliath - Multi-lock Weapons System: Can fire both weapons at once (50,000)
--Goliath - Ares-class Targeting System: More range (80,000)
--Siege Tank - Maelstrom Rounds: A LOT more damage to primary target. Doesn't affect splash damage (105,000)
--Siege Tank - Shaped Blast: 75% less friendly fire damage (140,000)
--Missile Turret - Titanium Housing: +75HP (50,000)
--Missile Turret - Hellstorm Batteries: Gain an AoE attack (80,000)
--SCV - Advanced Construction: Multiple SCVs can help build structures (60,000)
--SCV - Dual-Fusion Welders: Double repair speed (80,000)

-Save cash for later


The relics we got from Xil were just barely enough to get another research upgrade! We can get:
--Orbital Depots: Supply Depots build quickly, or...
--Micro-filtering: Harvest Vespene 25% faster.


We have two (well, two and a half) choices for our next mission:
--New Folsom: Breakout OR Ghost of a Chance - Raid the prison world
----175,000 credits, Spectres OR Ghosts
--Tarsonis: The Great Train Robbery - Raid a Dominion train convoy
----Rewards: 110,000 credits, Diamondbacks, +3 Zerg Research
--Prophecy Mission: Whispers of Doom
----+3 Protoss Research, +3 Zerg Research

[arguskos]

First, we have 180,000 credits to spend. There's new mercenaries, and we have upgrades available both for our new Siege Tanks AND for our SCVs.

-Mercenaries:
--Devil Dogs - Firebats (25,000)
--Spartan Company - Goliaths (40,000)
--Siege Breakers - Siege Tanks (45,000)

-Upgrades:
--Marauder - Kinetic Foam: +25HP (90,000)
--Reaper - U-238 Rounds: More range and more damage vs. light armor (60,000)
--Reaper - G-4 Clusterbomb: Anti-infantry time bombs (75,000)
--Hellion - Twin-linked Flamethrower: Double attack width (40,000)
--Hellion - Thermite Filaments: More damage to light armor (60,000)
--Goliath - Multi-lock Weapons System: Can fire both weapons at once (50,000)
--Goliath - Ares-class Targeting System: More range (80,000)
--Siege Tank - Maelstrom Rounds: A LOT more damage to primary target. Doesn't affect splash damage (105,000)
--Siege Tank - Shaped Blast: 75% less friendly fire damage (140,000)
--Missile Turret - Titanium Housing: +75HP (50,000)
--Missile Turret - Hellstorm Batteries: Gain an AoE attack (80,000)
--SCV - Advanced Construction: Multiple SCVs can help build structures (60,000)
--SCV - Dual-Fusion Welders: Double repair speed (80,000)

-Save cash for later


The relics we got from Xil were just barely enough to get another research upgrade! We can get:
--Orbital Depots: Supply Depots build quickly, or...
--Micro-filtering: Harvest Vespene 25% faster.


We have two (well, two and a half) choices for our next mission:
--New Folsom: Breakout OR Ghost of a Chance - Raid the prison world
----175,000 credits, Spectres OR Ghosts
--Tarsonis: The Great Train Robbery - Raid a Dominion train convoy
----Rewards: 110,000 credits, Diamondbacks, +3 Zerg Research
--Prophecy Mission: Whispers of Doom
----+3 Protoss Research, +3 Zerg Research

Regardless of what mission you vote for, please also vote for if you want me to do the Prophecy missions all in a row (when I get to them, of course), or intersperse them with the other missions like normal.

Also, if Breakout is chosen, I'll be playing it on Brutal

Bolded.

Also, we need to save cash for the Shaped Charges for the Tanks. Don't want to blow it all at once, since the Orbital Command upgrades and the second tank upgrade are all expensive.

Also, we need Specters, since Specters are awesome at everything forever.

[Cieyrin]

You guessed it, it's time now for Audience Participation!


First, we have 180,000 credits to spend. There's new mercenaries, and we have upgrades available both for our new Siege Tanks AND for our SCVs.

-Mercenaries:
--Devil Dogs - Firebats (25,000)
--Spartan Company - Goliaths (40,000)
--Siege Breakers - Siege Tanks (45,000)

-Upgrades:
--Marauder - Kinetic Foam: +25HP (90,000)
--Reaper - U-238 Rounds: More range and more damage vs. light armor (60,000)
--Reaper - G-4 Clusterbomb: Anti-infantry time bombs (75,000)
--Hellion - Twin-linked Flamethrower: Double attack width (40,000)
--Hellion - Thermite Filaments: More damage to light armor (60,000)
--Goliath - Multi-lock Weapons System: Can fire both weapons at once (50,000)
--Goliath - Ares-class Targeting System: More range (80,000)
--Siege Tank - Maelstrom Rounds: A LOT more damage to primary target. Doesn't affect splash damage (105,000)
--Siege Tank - Shaped Blast: 75% less friendly fire damage (140,000)
--Missile Turret - Titanium Housing: +75HP (50,000)
--Missile Turret - Hellstorm Batteries: Gain an AoE attack (80,000)
--SCV - Advanced Construction: Multiple SCVs can help build structures (60,000)
--SCV - Dual-Fusion Welders: Double repair speed (80,000)

-Save cash for later


The relics we got from Xil were just barely enough to get another research upgrade! We can get:
--Orbital Depots: Supply Depots build quickly, or...
--Micro-filtering: Harvest Vespene 25% faster.


We have two (well, two and a half) choices for our next mission:
--New Folsom: Breakout OR Ghost of a Chance - Raid the prison world
----175,000 credits, Spectres OR Ghosts
--Tarsonis: The Great Train Robbery - Raid a Dominion train convoy
----Rewards: 110,000 credits, Diamondbacks, +3 Zerg Research
--Prophecy Mission: Whispers of Doom
----+3 Protoss Research, +3 Zerg Research

Regardless of what mission you vote for, please also vote for if you want me to do the Prophecy missions all in a row (when I get to them, of course), or intersperse them with the other missions like normal.

Also, if Breakout is chosen, I'll be playing it on Brutal

Votes above, including doing the Prophecy in one acid trip.

[Altaria87]

-Mercenaries:
--Devil Dogs - Firebats (25,000)
--Spartan Company - Goliaths (40,000)
--Siege Breakers - Siege Tanks (45,000)

-Upgrades:
--Marauder - Kinetic Foam: +25HP (90,000)
--Reaper - U-238 Rounds: More range and more damage vs. light armor (60,000)
--Reaper - G-4 Clusterbomb: Anti-infantry time bombs (75,000)
--Hellion - Twin-linked Flamethrower: Double attack width (40,000)
--Hellion - Thermite Filaments: More damage to light armor (60,000)
--Goliath - Multi-lock Weapons System: Can fire both weapons at once (50,000)
--Goliath - Ares-class Targeting System: More range (80,000)
--Siege Tank - Maelstrom Rounds: A LOT more damage to primary target. Doesn't affect splash damage (105,000)
--Siege Tank - Shaped Blast: 75% less friendly fire damage (140,000)
--Missile Turret - Titanium Housing: +75HP (50,000)
--Missile Turret - Hellstorm Batteries: Gain an AoE attack (80,000)
--SCV - Advanced Construction: Multiple SCVs can help build structures (60,000)
--SCV - Dual-Fusion Welders: Double repair speed (80,000)

-Save cash for later


The relics we got from Xil were just barely enough to get another research upgrade! We can get:
--Orbital Depots: Supply Depots build quickly, or...
--Micro-filtering: Harvest Vespene 25% faster.


We have two (well, two and a half) choices for our next mission:
--New Folsom: Breakout OR Ghost of a Chance - Raid the prison world
----175,000 credits, Spectres OR Ghosts
--Tarsonis: The Great Train Robbery - Raid a Dominion train convoy
----Rewards: 110,000 credits, Diamondbacks, +3 Zerg Research
--Prophecy Mission: Whispers of Doom
----+3 Protoss Research, +3 Zerg Research

Also, I second the votes for Spectre-based fun and doing all the Prophecy Missions in a row.

[ThePhantom]

-Mercenaries:
--Devil Dogs - Firebats (25,000)
--Spartan Company - Goliaths (40,000)
--Siege Breakers - Siege Tanks (45,000)

-Upgrades:
--Marauder - Kinetic Foam: +25HP (90,000)
--Reaper - U-238 Rounds: More range and more damage vs. light armor (60,000)
--Reaper - G-4 Clusterbomb: Anti-infantry time bombs (75,000)
--Hellion - Twin-linked Flamethrower: Double attack width (40,000)
--Hellion - Thermite Filaments: More damage to light armor (60,000)
--Goliath - Multi-lock Weapons System: Can fire both weapons at once (50,000)
--Goliath - Ares-class Targeting System: More range (80,000)
--Siege Tank - Maelstrom Rounds: A LOT more damage to primary target. Doesn't affect splash damage (105,000)--Siege Tank - Shaped Blast: 75% less friendly fire damage (140,000)
--Missile Turret - Titanium Housing: +75HP (50,000)
--Missile Turret - Hellstorm Batteries: Gain an AoE attack (80,000)
--SCV - Advanced Construction: Multiple SCVs can help build structures (60,000)
--SCV - Dual-Fusion Welders: Double repair speed (80,000)

-Save cash for later


The relics we got from Xil were just barely enough to get another research upgrade! We can get:
--Orbital Depots: Supply Depots build quickly, or...
--Micro-filtering: Harvest Vespene 25% faster.


We have two (well, two and a half) choices for our next mission:
--New Folsom: Breakout OR Ghost of a Chance - Raid the prison world
----175,000 credits, Spectres OR Ghosts
--Tarsonis: The Great Train Robbery - Raid a Dominion train convoy
----Rewards: 110,000 credits, Diamondbacks, +3 Zerg Research
--Prophecy Mission: Whispers of Doom
----+3 Protoss Research, +3 Zerg Research

[Artanis]

Man, this is a close one. There's a tie for the next mission, and four cash options at either two or three votes apiece. Keep the votes coming!

Also, ThePhantom and Demon 997, do you have votes on whether or not to do all the Prophecy missions in one go?

[vikingofdoom]

VOTES:
Get Siege Breakers, Maelstrom Rounds, and Micro-filtering.
Save the rest of the cash.
Do Ghost of a Chance.
Complete all the prophecy missions at once.

[Artanis]

Voting update!

In the cash department, almost everybody has voted to save something, so if things stay as they are, I'll definitely keep frugality in mind when choosing how many things to buy, and for tiebreakers . The rest of the votes look like this:
--Siege Breakers: 4
--Maelstrom Rounds: 3
--Advanced Construction: 3
--Dual-Fusion Welders: 1
--Devil Dogs: 1

So there's a tie for second place between Maelstrom Rounds and Advanced Construction. Heck, there's even a tie between the combinations of Siege Breakers+MR/AC+save, at two each. Seriously, it doesn't get any closer than it is right now between those two.


Voting for the next mission is also close. We have:
--Breakout: 2
--Whispers of Doom (Prophecy mission): 2
--Ghost of a Chance: 1
--The Great Train Robbery: 1


On the research front, Micro-Filtering has a commanding 5-1 lead over Orbital Depots.

How to do the Prophecy missions is equally lopsided at the moment, with doing them all in a row holding a 4-0 lead over spreading them out.


I really appreciate the votes, guys. It's great to see that so many people are enjoying the LP

[Demon 997]

I'm going to change my votes to siege breakers and maelstrom rounds then. Do all the prophecy missions at once.

[Artanis]

Seems like that'll about do it then: Siege Breakers + Maelstrom Rounds, Micro-filtering, and doing all the Prophecy missions in a row. I'm going to go with Breakout, since there was also a vote for the other New Folsom mission...which I guess counts as a tiebreaker. Or something

[Artanis]

MISSION 10: BREAKOUT



Briefing:

Spoiler

Show

After the fight on Xil, it didn't take long for Tosh to approach Raynor with a new mission. He wanted to break into the prison world of New Folsom and release a whole bunch of his fellow Spectres who had been locked up there. There was a problem, however: this was New Folsom we were talking about. In its fifty-year history, nobody had ever broken out. Nobody.

But then, nobody had tried it with an army like ours and a Spectre like Tosh.


After Tosh left to sneak on-planet, another complication arose. We got a call from a Ghost named Nova. She insisted that all Spectres eventually went berserk, and they'd been locked up to keep the populace safe from them and whatnot. Raynor patched through Tosh, and the two covert operatives argued for a while.



In the end, Raynor, Horner, and I all agreed that we should trust the guy who'd been helping us and fighting alongside us over one of Mengsk's pet assassins


In looking for a landing site, Tosh had picked up some pictures of New Folsom's defenses. Dominion forces there were on high alert, no doubt due to a tip-off from Nova. They had put special effort into fortifying the section of the prison that held the Spectres.



Breaking in still looked possible, but had just become a hell of a lot harder. I steeled myself for the coming battle and headed for the dropship: Tosh would need diversionary troops, and I was going to provide them.

The Mission:

Spoiler

Show

Tosh was already on-planet when I arrived, and he didn't seem the least bit worried. I soon found out why: his abilities put those of normal Ghosts completely to shame. He was able to permanently cloak himself, much like Protoss Dark Templar...



...and unleash a psionic explosion that he called "Mind Blast" that could wound and stun a bunch of enemies at once. He used it to fight his way past a Missile Turret - which could see through his cloak - with barely a scratch.




I started to suspect that he was showing off when he activated a Protoss-style psionic shield. It let him survive Siege Tank - yes, Siege Tank - fire long enough to destroy another Missile Turret.




Soon enough, Tosh had found the Dominion's first real line of defense, with a Siege Tank and a couple of Bunkers, backed up by Missile Turrets. It was time for me to start sending in troops. I couldn't send much yet - just a few Marines backed up by a Medic - but it would have to do for the time being.

Tosh, meanwhile, found a sniper perch up above the enemy defenses where he could rain down fire from out of sight. Sure enough, the Siege Tank was dead and one of the Bunkers was burning by the time my sacrificial first wave arrived.






It was then that I found out just why Tosh needed those diversionary troops. He waited until my next wave had occupied the Dominion defenders before raising his shield and rushing in to kill the nearest Missile Turret.




Tosh busied himself burning down the remaining Bunker and killing the nearby Dominion troops as he waited for another wave to come. The distraction I provided gave him a chance to destroy the remaining Missile Turret.




With the area now devoid of cloak-detectors, Tosh went to work wiping out the strongpoint's remaining defenders and destroying the nearby Factory. After Tosh and my next wave of troops secured the area, I was able to set up a forward base to provide more - and closer - support for Tosh.




The next defensive line blocked not just progress towards the main Dominion base, but also to the first cell block that we had planned to liberate. Getting past the line was not going to be easy: it consisted of a Missile Turret bracketed by Bunkers, backed up by Siege Tanks, and unlike the first one, supported by a couple of SCVs. There was no way Tosh would last long enough to kill anything before the SCVs repaired the damage.

Luckily, Tosh found a way around behind some nearby buildings. Like his earlier sniper perch, this put him out of sight long enough to get past the Missile Turret's detection radius, putting him right alongside the now-vulnerable Siege Tanks.






The Siege Tanks - and the SCVs that tried to repair them - quickly fell prey to Tosh's gun. He waited for an attack wave to distract the two Bunkers before raising his shield and running in to kill the Missile Turrets. That left the Bunkers with no protection from Tosh, and they burned in short order, leaving the way to the first cell block open.

The defenses of the first cell block were an interesting challenge. There was a Missile Turret, but to get to it, Tosh would have to go through a bunch of infantry and a Siege Tank.



Tosh's shields held long enough to make it into a corner out of the Missile Turret's detection range from which he could snipe the Siege Tank.



A couple of Mind Blasts and some shooting later, and the infantry had been taken care of.




I thanked God for good ol' fashioned human stupidity, namely that which puts a motor pool full of Diamondbacks right next to a bunch of prisoners. One by one, the prisoners started getting the Diamondbacks up and running while Tosh and I began an offensive against the next Dominion outpost.




My forces headed straight for the enemy while Tosh suddenly veered off behind some buildings. Once again, he had found a nice, high sniper perch.



After killing a troublesome Raven, Tosh had free rein to take out a Siege Tank and a Missile Turret...



...which let him come back down and take out one of the Bunkers with total impunity.




From there, the second outpost became a replay of the first. Tosh's shield allowed him to get in and kill the Missile Turret despite the Siege Breaker shooting at him, then the lack of a Missile Turret allowed him to clear out almost everything else.



Then the two of us finished the job, giving me an opportunity to set up another forward base. Our assault was really starting to gather steam.






Tosh headed for the second cell block as I prepared to launch an assault against the main base. Unlike the first cell block, this one was guarded by a Raven instead of a Missile Turret. It also had more overall firepower, with two Siege Tanks and a Viking backing up the infantry.




Fortunately, the Raven was on a predictable patrol route, leaving the nearby forces vulnerable. In just minutes, Tosh had completely dismantled the guards and opened up the cells. The prisoners streamed towards the Siege Tanks that the Dominion had so graciously left nearby.






The prisoners were free, my forces were inflicting heavy losses on the guards, and Tosh was on a rampage. It was time to attack the main Dominion base.

The entrance was extremely heavily guarded, and with no convenient high ground for Tosh to sneak up onto. Tosh wasn't our only trump card though: Raynor had let me bring four tactical nukes with me, and now was the time to use them. I gave Tosh the codes and told him to go to town.

And did he ever.


The first nuke took out the door fortifications.






The second took out a veritable army waiting for us inside the front gates.






The third and fourth were used to take out a major production facility flanking the main base.






Tosh snuck around to the west and took out another Missile Turret and a Starport, leaving the enemy without Ravens. All that was left was the final attack up the ramp into the base proper. Said ramp was heavily guarded, including by a Battlecruiser...



...but with all the SCVs having been nuked, a couple Siege Tank hits set one of the Missile Turrets ablaze. There was nothing to stop Tosh from simply walking up the ramp and tearing things apart.



And as the base's defenses burned, there was nothing stopping me from following him.



And with that, the battle was all but won.




Nova sent us a transmission warning us of the "nightmare" we'd just "unleashed". She was right, we had unleashed a nightmare...a nightmare for Mengsk. I headed for the dropship, my job complete, as Tosh welcomed his long-lost comrades to their new lives as free men and women.

Aftermath:

Spoiler

Show

Somehow, we had done it. In a single day, we had accomplished what nobody else had done for fifty years: we'd broken open New Folsom. In doing so, we had released Tosh's Spectres, giving us a hand up in our ongoing war against Mengsk. What the Emperor had once locked up as mere weapons were about to be turned against him.




What's more, Horner pointed out that we had released every person who had been locked up for opposing Mengsk's reign. Rebel and philosopher alike were now free, putting us one step closer to the "better tomorrow" that he so desperately wanted to see.

I hope you enjoyed a look at Brutal

Now though, it's time for Audience Participation!


We have 205,000 credits to spend, which I believe is a new record for us.

-Mercenaries:
--Devil Dogs - Firebats (25,000)
--Spartan Company - Goliaths (40,000)

-Upgrades:
--Marauder - Kinetic Foam: +25HP (90,000)
--Reaper - U-238 Rounds: More range and more damage vs. light armor (60,000)
--Reaper - G-4 Clusterbomb: Anti-infantry time bombs (75,000)
--Hellion - Twin-linked Flamethrower: Double attack width (40,000)
--Hellion - Thermite Filaments: More damage to light armor (60,000)
--Goliath - Multi-lock Weapons System: Can fire both weapons at once (50,000)
--Goliath - Ares-class Targeting System: More range (80,000)
--Siege Tank - Shaped Blast: 75% less friendly fire damage (140,000)
--Missile Turret - Titanium Housing: +75HP (50,000)
--Missile Turret - Hellstorm Batteries: Gain an AoE attack (80,000)
--SCV - Advanced Construction: Multiple SCVs can help build structures (60,000)
--SCV - Dual-Fusion Welders: Double repair speed (80,000)
--Spectre - Psionic Lash: BIG damage shot (100,000)
--Spectre - Nyx-Class Cloaking Module: Infinite cloaking (125,000)

-Save cash for later


We have three choices for our next mission. Or six and a half choices, depending on how you count them . At any rate, we have:
--Haven: Safe Haven OR Haven's Fall - Save the Agria colonists' new home
----Rewards: 125,000 credits, Vikings, +3 Zerg OR +3 Protoss Research
--Tarsonis: The Great Train Robbery - Raid a Dominion train convoy
----Rewards: 110,000 credits, Diamondbacks, +3 Zerg Research
--The Prophecy Missions: Relive the recent adventures of Zeratul
----+13 Zerg Research, +11 Protoss Research in total

[arguskos]

We have 205,000 credits to spend, which I believe is a new record for us.

-Mercenaries:
--Devil Dogs - Firebats (25,000)
--Spartan Company - Goliaths (40,000)

-Upgrades:
--Marauder - Kinetic Foam: +25HP (90,000)
--Reaper - U-238 Rounds: More range and more damage vs. light armor (60,000)
--Reaper - G-4 Clusterbomb: Anti-infantry time bombs (75,000)
--Hellion - Twin-linked Flamethrower: Double attack width (40,000)
--Hellion - Thermite Filaments: More damage to light armor (60,000)
--Goliath - Multi-lock Weapons System: Can fire both weapons at once (50,000)
--Goliath - Ares-class Targeting System: More range (80,000)
--Siege Tank - Shaped Blast: 75% less friendly fire damage (140,000)
--Missile Turret - Titanium Housing: +75HP (50,000)
--Missile Turret - Hellstorm Batteries: Gain an AoE attack (80,000)
--SCV - Advanced Construction: Multiple SCVs can help build structures (60,000)
--SCV - Dual-Fusion Welders: Double repair speed (80,000)
--Spectre - Psionic Lash: BIG damage shot (100,000)
--Spectre - Nyx-Class Cloaking Module: Infinite cloaking (125,000)

-Save cash for later


We have three choices for our next mission. Or six and a half choices, depending on how you count them . At any rate, we have:
--Haven: Safe Haven OR Haven's Fall - Save the Agria colonists' new home
----Rewards: 125,000 credits, Vikings, +3 Zerg OR +3 Protoss Research
--Tarsonis: The Great Train Robbery - Raid a Dominion train convoy
----Rewards: 110,000 credits, Diamondbacks, +3 Zerg Research
--The Prophecy Missions: Relive the recent adventures of Zeratul
----+13 Zerg Research, +11 Protoss Research in total

The cash works out to perfectly broke, and the mission gets us closer to every upgrade ever.

[Demon 997]

Should we look at what upgrade we want down the line and save for them? Are we going airpower, mech ball, infantry, etc? Air or ground for all in?

Artanis: How do you play? Do you end up using mercs?

[Altaria87]

-Mercenaries:
--Devil Dogs - Firebats (25,000)
--Spartan Company - Goliaths (40,000)

-Upgrades:
--Marauder - Kinetic Foam: +25HP (90,000)
--Reaper - U-238 Rounds: More range and more damage vs. light armor (60,000)
--Reaper - G-4 Clusterbomb: Anti-infantry time bombs (75,000)
--Hellion - Twin-linked Flamethrower: Double attack width (40,000)
--Hellion - Thermite Filaments: More damage to light armor (60,000)
--Goliath - Multi-lock Weapons System: Can fire both weapons at once (50,000)
--Goliath - Ares-class Targeting System: More range (80,000)
--Siege Tank - Shaped Blast: 75% less friendly fire damage (140,000)
--Missile Turret - Titanium Housing: +75HP (50,000)
--Missile Turret - Hellstorm Batteries: Gain an AoE attack (80,000)
--SCV - Advanced Construction: Multiple SCVs can help build structures (60,000)
--SCV - Dual-Fusion Welders: Double repair speed (80,000)
--Spectre - Psionic Lash: BIG damage shot (100,000)
--Spectre - Nyx-Class Cloaking Module: Infinite cloaking (125,000)

-Save cash for later


We have three choices for our next mission. Or six and a half choices, depending on how you count them . At any rate, we have:
--Haven: Safe Haven OR Haven's Fall - Save the Agria colonists' new home
----Rewards: 125,000 credits, Vikings, +3 Zerg OR +3 Protoss Research
--Tarsonis: The Great Train Robbery - Raid a Dominion train convoy
----Rewards: 110,000 credits, Diamondbacks, +3 Zerg Research
--The Prophecy Missions: Relive the recent adventures of Zeratul
----+13 Zerg Research, +11 Protoss Research in total

We got Spectres, we might as well pump them full of upgrades and use them

[Artanis]

Should we look at what upgrade we want down the line and save for them? Are we going airpower, mech ball, infantry, etc? Air or ground for all in?

Artanis: How do you play? Do you end up using mercs?

It probably would be a good idea to look down the line. I'll try to tailor my play to what gets voted on, both to try to respect the audience participation and also to try to use stuff I've never used before. For instance, I've never made much use of Firebats, but in this playthrough I'm looking for ways I can use them in order to take advantage of the upgrades that have been voted on and to get a bit of a new experience

For what I usually do, it usually consists of turtling up and then just using what the mission gives me . But like I said, I'm really open to trying new stuff that I haven't used much before


As for Mercenaries, if I'm using the base unit, then I generally make pretty extensive use of the mercenary counterparts. For instance, in the past, if I found myself using Banshees, it was a safe bet that plenty of Dusk Wings would show up.


For All In, I've always done Shatter the Sky, which is actually a pretty good reason to do Belly of the Beast

[Cieyrin]

I put all my votes on what arguskos voted on, as it's what I was going to vote, anyways.

[The Glyphstone]

Shaped Blast for tanks, Devil Dogs, Save surplus, go for Prophecy Missions.

But no Spartan Company - they suck only marginally less than regular Goliaths.

[Cieyrin]

But no Spartan Company - they suck only marginally less than regular Goliaths.

I only vote for Spartan Company because I like getting more mercs in Cutthroat. >_>;;

[vikingofdoom]

Shaped blast, save the rest; Prophecy mission section