Interesting uses for Units

I feel like each terran unit is sort of given a very obvious role, for example: Helions are the worker/zergling roaster.

I'm just wondering if any of you guys have used Terran units in ways that are maybe way different than what Blizzard had in mind.

For example... I played one game where I had maybe 8 or so Ravens, I don't know how I got them but since they where there and almost full on energy I figured I would take this supportive caster detector unit and just roll with it. So I flew into the other player's base (he was Protoss, I beleive) and I just dropped a cluster of 20 or so turrets and managed to mangle his main base as well as a large portion of his army without actually losing much. So I managed to take a supporting unit and turn it into my main fighting force.

This doesnt have to just apply to terran now that I think about it, i just thought I would post this here since thats the race I play as.

 

Yes, I think Blizzard have thought of this - the Zerg has the Infestor, some players use a mass infestor attack and spawn hundreds of infested Terrans in the enemy base/army. The same is with Ravens, you can use them this way. The PDD are also excellent companion of the Auto turrets. I think they have thought of this because after the Infestor`s disput, they initially increased the energy for spawning inf. terrans, but later it was decreased to 25 again.

 

I keep 2 warp prisms hidden in my base when i suspect drops from a zerg. they always take my pylons... my army gets there and i get a few and they get out of there. i'm able to use my warp prisms in dire need.. i don't know if that is what you meant by using units differently. but most peopel use them to back door.

 

Scanspeak---

You're right, Blizzard probably thought of all of this, so maybe I should have phrased it more as ways other players wouldn't expect units to be used. Because, honestly, when would you ever go into the game thinking, "Alright, I really need to be careful in case he spams ravens!" I know I wouldn't

Sniper64--

I like your use of warp prisms, I occasionally dabble in protoss and I hate that feeling of losing your pylons. This is a really elegant solution to that problem, especially because you can always use the Warp Prism whenever you want for offense since it is never really threatened.

Thats the kind of stuff I meant when I started the thread, since most people see warp prisms as a unit for drops/warping in offensively and you converted it into a defensive unit that gets around some problems protoss face.

 

Spamming ravens, stupidest thing I have ever heard. (Get's pwned by them) ...

Seriously though, your right. I wouldn't ever think of that.

It amazes me that not many people use baneling mines. Really, they can be incredibly effective because the player never scans at certain locations.

 

The special Terran mining units, I forget what they're called, are obscenely effective at repairing. I was playing a 1v1 and he dropped 2 Thors in to my base then spawned a whole bunch of the special miners. My mutalisks would have won, if not for how quickly the Thors were being repaired.

 

Not a strategy of mine but I think it is TLO who does this really incredible thing with ghosts, he gets like 3 and then just walks into the enemy base and just starts demolishing the workers dt style.

 

That's exactly what my pick was going to be.

I only use real-time MULE healing for massive units like Thors and Battlecruisers. I find that real-time healing on siege tanks doesn't work too well since their HP is pretty low and they'll die if they get target-fired.

Otherwise, I like to use them in between battles as a fast way of negating the effects of attrition.

I'll still send fast air like Vikings and Banshees back to base for SCV-healing.

 

The MULE thing reminds me (I dont know why) of my "Overlord Smokescreen"

I was in a game playing as Zerg (which I don't do often by the way) in which I was getting wrecked, I got into a situation where I had one last chance for an attack and this one attack absolutely HAD to win the game. So I bunched my large amount of overlords together and make them into this sort of cloud and had my units underneath, at an angle, which made it actually pretty hard to see the units themselves.

So this guy sees the overlords and starts firing at them while my units manage to overrun his base.

Granted, this guy was probably just not paying attention, and I was also lucky he didnt have many ground only units and he focus fired the overlords, but it was still a funny way to take my food/scout unit and make them into the worlds flimsiest disguise.

 

I played this game where it got to late game and my opponent and I were both mining off one expo and were super low on resources. I flew around 8 overlords at my opponents base, past a Xel Naga watchtower so he'd see it coming. When the OLs got there they were annihilated, but my army took out his expo real quick.

 

I've seen a few pro games where Planetary Fortresses were used as static defenses- built right in the middle of the battlefield late-game.

MULES are great for quick repairs on the battlefield. When I go Battlecruisers, I sometimes build extra Orbital Commands just to provide extra MULES. As far as I can tell, not even the pros really do this a lot yet - I've seen a bunch of games where they were running around with a bunch of expensive units with red health when they really didn't have to.
Though, realistically, it's probably a better habit to just send your army out with a few SCVS. Tossing up Missile Turrets, Bunkers, and Sensor towers, right in your opponent's face is often very useful.

I've personally raided mineral lines with Ghosts- though mainly on accident after forgetting to build a nuke. It was so successful I am going to try it in other games after launch.

The "Overlord Smokescreen" thing is useful. I think players even did that in SC1. In SC2 it's even better because you can have them drop creep, speeding up your units. You can also bring a Queen or two along and lock the creep in place with Creep Tumors.

 

I've always wanted to try healing Ultralisks with Queens during a battle.
I'm sure that's not too odd, but I've never gotten around to trying it yet.

In 2v2, you can always use left over Medivacs to heal your Zerg friends.

Also, I told my friend to block his ramp with DT's to buy him time. Worked out well.
Yeah these aren't too odd, but I haven't seen anyone else try them, yet.

 

Place a bunker outside your protoss (could work for Zerg, but it would have to be QUICK) opponents expo. Fill it with units. They be contained until about 35 food. While they're contained by your army of 3 marines, 3 muraders, and a bunker, go for a fast expand yourself. By the time they destroy your bunker, you're at the resource advantage

So, yeah, bunkers are great early game containment!

 

heck, you don't need to put units in the bunker. just plop a bunker right on the zerg's natural. when he starts attacking it, just salvage. essentially free expansion denial.

 

I've never tried this(will try it when the game comes out)but can you use nydus worms,warp prisms, and overlords to set up outposts with defenses and hide tech and/or create units with nydus worms or protoss?

 

yeah, people have been known to hide tech. it's risky for zerg though, if the overlord gets sniped then the building will die without creep.

i've seen protoss proxy stargates and stuff pretty often. proxy pylons are pretty standard strategy.

 

No,I mean warp prisms and nydus worms, and queens and overlords.
What about building spine crawlers against Zerg, distrance their army, and run in with the spine crawlers and dig next to their miners and tech?

 

Do you think it would be doable to rush-build sunkens at a zerg enemy's base?

 

wouldn't bet on it. spine crawlers take quite a while to build. the enemy could easily pump a set of zerglings and take it out before it finishes building.

 

I'm not sure if this has ever been done before, but I play as Terran, and the game always seems to be nice enough to start me off with this awesome remote control car looking things, and when you move them onto mineral fields, they mine them... It works really really good, I'm just not sure what to do with the minerals yet...

But seriously, I really just want to second the Planetary Fortress as a static defense. Around mid-game, if I have any advantage over my opponent, I'll construct a CC in my base and float it into position before I send a formidable push of whatever I've got, and if/when I take out my opponents natural, if he has it, and push into his main, I'll drop the CC in where his natural expo is, get a Planetary fortress going ASAP and have a couple SCVs trailing my forces to throw up 2 Missile turrets and a bunker, drop some marines off my attack force and you've got quite a solid containment, given you put a good bit of pressure on during that attack and keep the pressure coming. It sounds like it might take too long, but you'd be really surprised. Two SCVs putting up turrets and one on the bunker, you'll have that entire setup done in about 30 seconds.