So this was a Ranked 1v1 Cybran v Aeon on Open Palms. It was one of the best contests I've had yet (note not my best game), but unfortunately he dc'ed at the end (I don't know if it was his internet because my attack shouldn't have caused that).
I don't want an official review, but I would appreciate tips on improving my play (praise for anything good would be nice too).
A game played by two relatively new players, a good example of common issues faced by new players, and plenty of points to learn from! A pretty slow game, on what should be the fastest paced map. This is a bad replay to watch for entertainment, however, it is good that feedback can be given!
Overall gameplay rating : 2!
Quick Information
+ Starting Build orders were ok. - Unfortunately not a lot else. + Review posted so that original poster can receive some feedback!
General review
I started off listing the individual players, however to be honest, both players made exactly the same mistakes so I will comment with information for both players.
* Initial build queues were ok, however, it is good practice to have your comm build queue quite long. Both of you had short queues set up, sometimes forgetting to go back to your comm leaving it idle. This is bad news! Do not build too many pgens at the start on a map with hydrocarbon available, it is a waste. * Also, building placement. Never place a building so that your comm has to move unnecessarily to build it. Try to avoid placing buildings next to mexes, as you may need to build mass storage around it. * Generally, going Air Factory 2nd is a bad idea, as you need to have land harassment forces out asap. This factory should go third, consider it going 2nd if you are on a very large map and want transports out quickly. * Lots of mass wasted very early and then throughout the game. On a map like OP, you should be building as many factories as you can sustain, you should be expanding quickly and in force. * To expand quickly you need to constantly build engineers from your first factory. If you have a loop of 2 engineers and 2 Mantises then you can keep using engineers to reclaim and build/expand all throughout the game. * Don't forget to set waypoints on factories so that units can automatically go somewhere useful. Your initial factory should send units to the hydro on this map. * If you are wasting mass and you really can't think of anything to build, then put a mex on upgrade, at least you are investing in resources. You can always pause the upgrade once you figure out an action plan. * Poor scouting and lack of radar, this lead to many issues in attacks. If you cannot see what you have ahead of you, then fear will set in, and you will stop advancing or run your troops into unseen death traps. * Plan where you build factories, building a factory in the middle, then setting to upgrade is very very risky! You want to make sure your large mass investments are protected. On this map it is a good idea to have your main factory base around the hydrocarbon. Upgrade factories here. * Poor economy. You should be building pgens and m-fabs as soon as you can. Allain started to do so, that is why he had the edge and would have likely won in the end. * Teching to T2 on an aggressive map like OP, should see you producing T2 units like Tanks and MMLs first. Producing Engineers is not a great plan, you need military first. * T2 Buildings need a T2 economy, before you start thinking about throwing up T2 PD, shielding and Arty or going to T3. You should be considering T2 pgens/ mfabs and upgrading mexes to T2. * Sending all your mobile attacking forces in one lump to meet an aggressive force is not advisable unless you are on Winters Duel! This allowed a good flanking manouvere from BlackKnight888, who could get his units into the back of the base. The problem was then that due to insufficient scouting and target prioritisation, they didn't destroy the vital eco farm that was winning Allain the game. This happened too late.
There are quite a lot of points to look at really. I don't think all is lost, and you should consider being a lot more aggressive. The best advice I can give you is :
Keep building engineers so that you can keep building economy. If there is a mex left on the map, you should be working out how you can capture it. You can't stop considering mexes until you have T3 farms, you especially cannot forget about mexes, if you are not practiced in building T1 farms!
Good luck BlackKnight, a bit more practice and you will see a lot of improvement.
I don't really recommend anyone watching this replay, unless they intend to give advice, this is a game of two new players, one of which wants to learn
Thank you for the tips Sinz3r, I will try to implement them all in my future games.
I hate how inefficient those T1 mass fabs are, but they seem pretty integral to the beginning of the game, so I'll work on that.
I went T2 engies 1st because I attempted the TML assassination, but I stalled out my econ pretty bad, and he flippin moved right before the missles hit.
But I thought my initial mantis micro was pretty good, or does that need some help as well?
Remember in ranked you don't want to be building actual farms, all you need is a long line of Pgens.
Then build mexes in a little lines of 3-5 all over the place. This is inefficient, however, it will give you the edge and is less risky from a suicide attack to destroy them.
TML assasination is good when you are losing for a sneaky attack. However, as you learned it is easily guarded against either through moving or a TMD.
You would have had more luck simply pumping out T2 units.
For next time, I would really concentrate on getting at least 5 land factories up and running first, then tech one of them to T2. At your rank this will likely guarantee you the win.
The initial Mantis harassment was good, just try to back it up. On this map you need to keep up the pressure, remember to keep making radar units and using scout planes to patrol for vital LOS cover.
I don't want an official review, but I would appreciate tips on improving my play (praise for anything good would be nice too).