User blog:Techhead7890/Brood War campaign is insanely hard


 * (Excuse the ramble, this post is done by a relative noob and not indicative of the campaign's difficulty balancing at all. This is more of a journal of my experiences than something I expect other people to actually want to read, but you're welcome to suggest tips to me!)

So I thought Insurgent was hard enough. Your enemy gets archons and arbiter, whereas you have to move about the rather finnicky Dark Archon in order to gain much ground. Carrier (StarCraft)s are insanely mineral expensive when you can only take a limited number of expands (taking a whopping total of 550 minerals fully loaded), they die often even with x/3/3 armour because they only have 150 shield HP, and your opponent constantly spams scouts out of their bases.

So, yeah, I could probably learn how to use darchons and reavers a lot better, but still, pretty tough limitations. I decided to make another attempt later, thinking this mission was unusually hard because of the unit restrictions. I wanted to finish the episode's story at the very least so I could move on with things. So I skipped it and moved on.I had a look at the next map for Countdown, it seemed simple enough.

It turns out that Countdown was not at all what I expected. Thanks Jimmy Carr! You taught me nooothing!

I had noticed there were three AIs on the map (with ultralisk tech apiece), but I did not notice that two of them were on giant islands. I also had no idea their queens would start to learn about broodlings. That the AI had been programmed with the technique to mass drop units and get maxed supply air armies with tens of mutas and devourers. That they could rip through photon cannons and swarm past my awkward dragoons. That their defilers could plague my corsairs and they would be armourless once their shields dropped. That they could drop ultralisks?! Wait, ultralisks? &^$!!!!

Ultras wiping out my natural expansion aside, I ran out of minerals. Turns out you need to hold onto those bases next to the east player's air army and overlord swarm. No DT defenses there! I haven't quite figured out improvements, but I imagine it means either keeping dragoons at home, air of some kind, or defensive HTs. But scouts suck! ... and are super damn inefficient...

Anyway, so I started to try and get a grip on things with some test cheatcodes so I could start to figure out what was going on in the mission (mostly so I wouldn't have to spend a whole week learning it by rote). Noticed the island bases with spores, crap, carrier sieges again. Welp, might as well advance the mission and get Zeratul and Artanis past those creep colony defences...

 You have to set up a harvest operation there on the temple?!?!?!?! 

I think I need a break... and I'm definitely going to have to do Tassadar's Episode III before I come back and finish the last two missions of Razagal's IV proper or even sink my teeth into the UED's part V. I really don't know enough past zealot/dragoon and the odd robo trick.