Time: Sun Mar 10 16:59:25 1996 Server: gs10.ariel.cs.yorku.ca
From: leonard@alw.nih.gov Date: 12 Mar 96 17:56:08 GMTAfter their hairline defeat to TUS, 99c Value Deal knew they had to get serious about netrek this season, else lose any chance at the Belt. So they went a-looking for the kind of impact players that could make the difference on a team that was already turgid with Klew. I had been considering the TuberStack, but eventually decided to go with 99c because I was concerned about getting playing time in the Stack, and also because I had never been on a CMU team before and wanted to give it a whirl. I felt that my presence on this team could make the difference it would take for the championship. Greg Dearing seems to have come to much the same conclusion... or maybe he just wanted the safety of guaranteed Neutronium (tm).
In their first plus-me game, 99c VD took the cement truck, asphalt, and steamrollers to Canada to take on Hocket Night in Canada. The pregame SMACK!-fest was definitely 99c all the way, although HNIC did have better macros. Here are a couple of highlights:
R0->ALL ****** Suck Junior Bacon Cheezeburgers, Moose Messier! R0->ALL ** O R0->ALL * ___> .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. R0->ALL \ <___ === === === === === === === === R0->ALL \___/ F3->ALL .(__\__/__) Moose sez: - What do you want to do tonight, team ? F3->ALL . (oo) - The same thing we do every night, moosy... F3->ALL . (__) - Gee... and what is that ? F3->ALL . - Try to take over the galaxy!99c VD took Fed, with Rig/Veg agri. I wasn't playing much attention so I don't know where the Rom agris were, but there was some surprise on my side when HNIC took Ori (Arc/Ant agri). I suspect their strategy was to hold onto Arc with their starbase. Anyway, while the choice of Ori did put all the Fed agris in our rear, it gave us repair/fuel on both Alp and Bet, and also at Spi. And of course their front agri was within reach.
The game opened with about even bombing on both sides. I took the Fed starbase, picking Earth and the mostly bombed Den, then to Bet and then Cet, which Jitesh (I think) guarded. FelixKnight (DarkKnight) took the Ori base. VD ended up with a better army stack, I think, but then the early game really means nothing anyway. HNIC drew first blood, taking Cet for their biggest lead of the game. After this, though, the game was solidly a battle for the Ori front line; two minutes later we had it, and then both teams started swapping down their army stacks.
At the thirty minute mark, it became clear that VD was having a very hard time ogging the Ori base, who was local and playing in the same room with 4-5 other locals. The base defense was generally very tight. Because of this, VD was never going to be able to hold onto Arc very long, and also we could never control their army flow. And because of that, we could never take them down into core and make it stick. There was some talk of trading base for base. But I felt that by being able to survive, thus far, around Bet with forays to Arc was enough to our advantage to keep our base.
Then I got ogged. HNIC had tried a number of times, but this time they finally punched it over with a solid ogg. It didn't help that my shields never went up (I died with 177 left), but I think they would have gotten me anyway. This gave VD an extra ogger. Soon thereafter, we ogged FelixKnight+4.
The midgame remained a trial about the Ori front, as they gradually came back up to 11-9 aided by plentiful poppage. VD showed its weakness as a carrying team, with lots of obvious heavy carries beaten back from Arc, often without ogg, but sometimes with. I would have carried myself but that we seemed to lack oomph on the front.
Finally, the part of the game that counts showed up. With 25 minutes left, the game was more or less tied. I got the Fed base out again, and VD started to implement the patented Wreck Rope-a-Dope. We piled, ogged, ASWed and piled -- and with me holding Bet and Cet, the only places HNIC could carry to were Spi (when we had it), and Org. This they did, or at least tried to do: here are the oggs from the part of the game that counts:
1:08 FelixKnight(CA) (O9+2 armies) was kill 1.63 for WHOPPER(CA) (F8) [pha 1:09 The Zamboni(CA) (O5+2 armies) was kill NO CREDIT for FelixKnight(CA) 1:09 Credit for O5+2 armies awarded to WHOPPER(CA) (F8), kill 1.32 1:10 Jumbo Jack(CA) (Fa+2 armies) was kill 1.50 for FelixKnight(CA) (O9) [ 1:14 McNUGGETS(SC) (Fc+1 armies) was kill 2.40 for The Zamboni(CA) (O5) [p 1:16 Medium Frosty(CA) (Ff+6 armies) was kill 6.07 for Mats Sundin(CA) (O4 1:17 Moose Messier(CA) (O3+3 armies) was kill 1.70 for Jr. Roast Beef(SC) 1:19 Jaromir Ogger(CA) (O6+2 armies) was kill 1.30 for JrBaconChzbrger(CA) 1:21 Jaromir Ogger(CA) (O6+2) killed by Arcturus (F) 1:21 Don Cherry(CA) (O2+2 armies) was kill 1.34 for JrBaconChzbrger(AS) (F 1:23 happy meeker(AS) (Oe+3 armies) was kill 1.40 for Jr. Roast Beef(SC) ( 1:25 The Zamboni(CA) (O5+2 armies) was kill 1.40 for Jr. Roast Beef(SC) (F 1:26 Medium Frosty(CA) (Ff+1 armies) was kill 3.76 for The Zamboni(CA) (O5 1:33 Don Cherry(AS) (O2+2 armies) was kill 3.53 for BiggieFries(CA) (F7) [ 1:34 BiggieFries(CA) (F7+1 armies) was kill 1.70 for happy meeker(CA) (Oe) 1:34 Mats Sundin(CA) (O4+5 armies) was kill 1.91 for JrBaconChzbrger(CA) (Crunchy! Note the totals: VD ogged 25 during this time while HNIC ogged only 11. But there was some small toll taken: HNIC managed to claw back to a lead, briefly holding Org for the second time in the game. At about 15 minutes left, the score was against us 11-9. But their numerous ogg attempts against me failed, including one at about 8 minutes or so where I chained three of them in a lump in front of me. (That one might have killed me had this not happened... who knows?) Note to HNIC: work on that dispersion around the base. And so that 11-9 was very deceptive, given that they did not also have a base mostly full at the front at that time.
And thus 99c VM unleashed Rick (Medium Frosty) in his DD of sprint. And here was the planet taking that counts in a game -- the last 10 minutes:
1:21 Arcturus->ORI Arcturus destroyed by Medium Frosty (Ff) 1:21 Arcturus->FED Arcturus taken over by Medium Frosty (Ff) 1:23 Organia->ORI Organia destroyed by Medium Frosty (Ff) 1:23 Organia->FED Organia taken over by Medium Frosty (Ff) 1:25 Arcturus->FED Arcturus destroyed by happy meeker (Oe) 1:25 Arcturus->ORI Arcturus taken over by Mats Sundin (O4) 1:26 Arcturus->ORI Arcturus destroyed by Medium Frosty (Ff) 1:26 Arcturus->FED Arcturus taken over by Medium Frosty (Ff) 1:29 Spica->ORI Spica destroyed by Medium Frosty (Ff) 1:29 Spica->FED Spica taken over by Medium Frosty (Ff) 1:33 Arcturus->FED Arcturus destroyed by Don Cherry (O2) 1:33 Cassiopia->ORI Cassiopia destroyed by Medium Frosty (Ff) 1:33 Cassiopia->FED Cassiopia taken over by Medium Frosty (Ff) 1:33 Arcturus->FED Arcturus taken over by BiggieFries (F7) 1:34 Spica->FED Spica destroyed by Moose Messier (O3) 1:35 Spica->FED Spica taken over by Medium Frosty (Ff)99c VD won the game 13-7 by virtue of this lopsided last minute push.
Lag was definitely a factor in the game, what with all their local players, but the outcome was never in much doubt. HNIC just didn't have the dogfighting skills it would have taken to control space beyond their front. Even had HNIC been able to ogg me in the last ten minutes, I suspect it would have been a long and ugly overtime, but with VD coming out on top.
The one thing that, IMO, HNIC should have done, but didn't, was pull out a base in the last twenty minutes to gather/hide armies and guard Arc. As it was, they were never going to hold it with the Fed base in plink range.
MVP for HNIC would probably be Don Cherry (Red Dawn), who racked up a healthy number of oggs while at the same time carrying 50 armies. It rewls to be local! (DarkKnight and Funky Booda also had good games.) My personal game highlight was fooling their scout by cloaking in my base forward of Alp when it popped to 7, and, as he maxwarped in unsuspecting from around Can, moving back and grabbing him before he noticed the '??'. Needless to say he got a bit more wary after that! I love cloaking in SB.
One last thing to mention: I am glad to see that this is penetrating its way into netrek minds that I have never even been on a team with:
0:50:58:T Oh->ORI GET IN THEIR SPACE-Leonard
From: mveaudry@acs.ryerson.ca (Christopher Veaudry - PHAS/W94) Date: 12 Mar 1996 22:10:32 GMTleonard@alw.nih.gov wrote:
: although HNIC did have better macros.You bet. If there is one thing HNIC can win, it's the macro war.
: 99c VD won the game 13-7 by virtue of this lopsided last minute push.Good write up and good game.
: One last thing to mention: I am glad to see that this is penetrating : its way into netrek minds that I have never even been on a team with: : 0:50:58:T Oh->ORI GET IN THEIR SPACEWoo Hoo, I get quoted. I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of playing on a team with you, Leonard, however I'm of the same mind. How can you ever expect to win if you just sit back and react to the other team? After HNIC got more aggressive, we did better. Now if we can just keep it up at the end, when it counts.
HNIC, despite the fact we are mostly canadian, are only a good controller and some experience away from competing on the same level as you guys.
Frothy
From: markiel@callisto.pas.rochester.edu (Andrew Markiel) Date: Wed, 13 Mar 96 05:09:53 GMTGratuitous editing is fun!
leonard@alw.nih.gov wrote:
: VD ended up with a better army stack, I think, but : then the early game really means nothing anyway. : At the thirty minute mark, it became clear that VD was having a very : hard time ogging the Ori base, who was local and playing in the same : room with 4-5 other locals. The base defense was generally very tight. : Because of this, VD was never going to be able to hold onto Arc very long, : and also we could never control their army flow. And because of that, : we could never take them down into core and make it stick.If you put the enemy team away in the midgame, then they lose and the last part of the game is not interesting (cf. Tubers beating Team 80s 14-6). If you don't, they have a chance to come back and the endgame is important, although the winning team has a big advantage.
If the game is mostly even for the first 80 minutes, then the final result is going to be determined by what happens in the last 10 minutes. That still doesn't mean the first 80 minutes didn't mean anything: it means that the first 80 minutes were a tie. If the game is tied after 80 minutes, then the final result could (suprise) go either way!
: One last thing to mention: I am glad to see that this is penetrating : its way into netrek minds that I have never even been on a team with: : 0:50:58:T Oh->ORI GET IN THEIR SPACECool! People really are forgetting how to space control, it's kind of depressing. They keep running off trying to kill people.
-Grey Elf