Terran Strategy

Terran Strategy

Matchups:	TvT, TvP, TvZ
Type:	Strategy, Build Orders

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General Concepts

There are some general aspects of Terran which play a large role in most Terran strategies and builds:

• Unit composition - There are many tech trees to experiment with Terran, but each one has units that use income a slightly different way; each composition has different goals on the map and ways to control the enemy's composition. But, because of the extremes of strengths and vulnerabilities of all Terran units, understanding of units' difference is important.
• Defense - Because of the stopping power of Siege Tanks, Missile Turrets, Bunkers and the Planetary Fortress, Terran players tend to keep their units together, preferring to be attacked, rather than, into attack into enemy troops. Because of these strengths the Terran race is also the best at turtling. Because of these characteristics, using high ground for the immobile part of the Terran army and moving with Marines and Hellions to gain ground is important.
• Harass - High mobility harass units, such as Hellions and Banshees, or Medivac-based drops; make harassment the most important tool for buying time. It is a common tactic to trade mineral-only units, namely Marines and Hellions to deal damage to worker lines; and may be a building or two.
• Occupying Key Positions - Because of the Siege Tanks, provided with anti-air and a damage buffer support, Terran's tend to hold strong positions on the map to starve the enemy of extra mining bases.

Styles

Bionic

A Bio, or Bio-Centric, style is one that focuses on Barracks production of Marines and Marauders for the early and mid-game (while unit compositions are simple), which are cheap and quick to replace, especially with Medivacs to drop army and attack wherever the enemy army is not; and attack another enemy position while they are distracted.

Bio builds are often characterized by periods of extreme aggression and army trading, combined with multi-pronged attacks and highly mobile harass. Pure-Bionic units are most effective in small groups; here-by referred to as 'squads'.

The effectiveness of Barracks units is purely based on the mineral income of Terran, gas is spent on Starport units and upgrades. Often, because of the relatively low number of Medivacs required, these compositions result in plenty of free gas.

Marines, Marauders, and Medivacs or MMM, is the TvP standard for drop and map control until Colossus and High Templar tech are complete, then either Vikings (for Colossus) and Ghosts (for High Templar) need to be added to counter; called MMM+G or MMM+V.

Bionic-Tank is the standard for TvT and TvZ, unlike MMM, is positionally stronger and can attack from strong positions after starving the opponent's economy for a while; this can be strengthen by anti-air and buildings to get in the way of melee troops and bum-rushing.

Unit Roles

Marine - The bread and butter of most Terran builds, known well for the excellent damage and ability to melt through much bigger tier-1 units with big enough of a squad. But in the mid and late game its lack of health becomes a big weakness due to the Splash and Area of High Templar; so fewer numbers in the late game are prefered. Marauder - With high health and Concussive Shells to prevent kiting, these units stand at the front and take the majority of the damage; so Marines have more time to do their damage. But like Hellions are a bit too expensive to produce en masse. Ghost - Anti-spellcasting (and damage versus Protoss Shields) unit with EMP Round or high damage output against biologically-attributed units with Snipe. Can be upgraded to use cloak as well for Tactical Nuke and harassing an opposing army that is lacking detection. Medivac - Medivacs are an extremely powerful complement to any biological army, as they provide both a highly mobile transport for harass and the capability to heal damage, either from battle or use of Stimpacks, greatly increasing the cost-effectiveness and survivability of the army. Viking - Vikings are used to prevent Barracks units being kiting by air units and Colossus, but are not needed on mass unless the opponent is going mass Colossus, Battlecruiser, Carrier and other Vikings; the need for this late-game which is characterised by the double-Reactor Starport. Siege Tank - In larger army battles having the large splash damage Tanks add is needed; giving you enough stopping power and threat to make the opponent think twice about trying to bum-rush the main army. Leapfrogging just a few at a time will make only a few fire at a time giving the enemy the mistaken idea to attack into the low Tank numbers; if you only have a few engage with them all pre-Sieged if you can to maximise the damage.

Mechanical

A mech, or mechanical, style is one that focuses on the stopping power of Siege Tanks and high health of Hellions and Thors to defend the early game; and wait for a larger army and upgrade advantage. Terran Mech users utilize a "Doom Push" with a huge army (usually 160-200 food) with fast Armory Attack-upgrades at least (for Tank and Thor damage); known for its amazing strength against strategies that rely heavily on tier 1 based armies; like Marine/Marauder or Zergling/Baneling/Mutalisk armies.

Important to note that none of this is true for Protoss; pure-Mech is proved to be in-effectively against basic-Gateway armies and pure-Mech is strongly not-recommended; without harassment openings to buy time for the Doom Push.

Mech is mainly known for its amazing strength defensively but weak early offensive strength until a high Siege Tank count is reached. Once the "Doom Push" starts, it must be well thought out and executed slowly and methodically. A Mech army is vulnerable to attack when the Tanks are unsieged and/or separated from the rest of the army.

Once the Mech army reaches a strong position on the map, Terran can focus on a starvation game and destroy the outlying expansions that the enemy will have taken with small groups of Tanks and Hellions; methodically strangling the opponent's economy while getting a head and waiting for a desperate counter from the opponent into the heavily defended central position of the Mech army.

Pure-Mech is almost never used against Protoss due to the popularity of Robotics Facility builds. Immortals are extremely effective against both Siege Tanks and Thors, and Stalkers ability to Blink in, snipe Tanks, and out with minimal damage.

Common options for early pressure are Banshee/Hellion harassment that doubles as scouting the enemy; or an early Marine and Siege Tank push to kill greedy tech-builds.

Unit Roles

Siege Tank - The main advantage of the mechanical army is the huge stopping power of Siege Tech, the immobility of Tanks being the downside. The combination of impressive burst damage in siege mode, dps in tank mode, and splash damage capabilities make it a very dangerous unit to engage with enough units to hold the opposing army from bum-rushing in. However, it lacks any anti-air attack, and when in siege mode is unable to fire at point blank. The siege splash damage is also unfriendly, potentially destroying one's own army if the Siege Tanks are poorly positioned or attacked by Brood Lords. Hellion - As the most mobile part of a mechanical army, Hellions often see play early on for harass, though their splash damage and bonus against light units can also deal with Zealots, Zerglings, Marines and workers. Thor - The main meat-shield of the mech army to act as a buffer between the opponent's army and Siege Tanks, Thors are especially strong against Mutalisks, though the effectiveness of their splash-damage based anti-air attack is mostly negated through the Magic Box technique. They still have an incredible amount of HP, and have a variety of uses against all three races - Thors are capable of tanking splash damage from an enemy Siege Tank line during an advance, and through the use of their 250mm Strike Cannons, they can negate the threat of smaller numbers of Immortals. Vikings and Ravens - Vikings allow for slightly more mobility but have limited use besides air-to-air attack and spotting for Siege Tanks. With Ravens for Detection and Point defence drones and Auto-Turrets great for attacking into and holding positions. But focusing too strongly on Starport units ruins the army size of Factory units, it really is one or the other. Missile Turrets - are used to hold positions, once Terran is in a strong position to threaten the opposing main base.

Sky Terran

The lesser-known and developed style, preferring to avoid unfavorable battles using the mobility, when possible, of Terran Air units to retreat and harass the opponent into a divided army and putting Terran firmly in the role of harasser, just like Medivac-drops would.

With a relatively smaller number of "traditional" army units like Marines and Siege Tanks to supplement Starport units' longer build time and high gas intake, mineral sinks like Hellions or Marines to act as a health or damage buffer for the air units; this also gives the air units more breathing room in battle.

Sky Terran does have high damage output but poor massing power, because long production times and high gas intake, and needs units specific to the match-up (Described in the Match-Specific Uses). As such Sky Terran needs to spend its minerals in Bionic or the costly Hellions units to stand as its own unit composition; but stands stronger as a transition from Mech or Bio.

Using the high damage output and Cloaking Field ability of Banshees and range of Vikings to surgically damage the opponent's production and economy. The constant Threat of an attack will put the enemy at risk whenever they leave their base.

The Sky Terran army has the same vulnerability as Mech, which is Terran Air takes a lot time to rebuild a large army and needs to stay together to keep the damage concentrated enough to engage against an opposing army that can probably be built a lot quicker.

Match-Specfic Uses

Each unit has very specific roles, but these roles can be put to a little extension, keep in mind though: these roles are EXTREMELY specific timings depending on the enemies tech; which will be described in each match-up. Terran vs. Zerg In early and mid-game, should the opponent choose Infestor-tech, instead of Mutalisk and pre-Hive Spire. There is the opportunity for Hellions and Banshees that cause the need for air-to-ground; and only a small amount is needed. But gives you the role of harasser that Hellions do instead of Zerglings and Banshees instead of Banshees. If the opponent chooses to go for Mutalisks as a panic button, this gives you a stronger Thor and upgraded-Marine timing; depending on how many they make. A single Raven gives the opportunity for denying Creep, and with Banshees gives more map control against Roaches as well. But should not stray too far from the army. Terran vs. Protoss Besides the obvious use of Vikings, which can be interchanged with Banshees; as long as the opponent does not make Phoenix (then Vikings are needed). Banshees force the opponent to make Stalkers, and less likely Phoenix or two. And Should the opponent run low on either of these units you have FREE REIGN on their ground-only units that are used to deal with the massing power of Bionic armies.

Unit Roles

Banshee - Purely used for the high damage output and the Cloaking Field ability, puts this unit in the role of Harasser (like the Hellion). Also like the Hellion, Banshees can cause a HUGE level of Threat when it has higher numbers than your opponent's anti-air can handle; which will usually cause a retreat or victory condition. Viking - Purely a massing unit to establish or gain air superiority, due to the un-matched air-to-air range and versatility in transforming between ground and air mode. Raven - Ravens can be used to secure positions much stronger, in the same way as Bunkers give a health buffer, Point Defense Drones and Auto-Turrets give instance relief to your ground and air armies being a damage buffer; by reducing the enemy's fire power. Battlecruiser - High Armor and Health unit, with a decent damage output; due to the long build time it is hard to place a use in a timing-specific game. Battlecruisers have a strong effect on the air fleet pushing strength; that gives the fleet the title of The Terran Victory Fleet, and demands a strong anti-armored and air response from the enemy's army production. Yamato Cannon does have a great role of being able to severly units like Immortals and Colossus in one shot; making them easy targets instantly. Anti-Air/Armored units, namely Vikings, Corruptors and Void Rays are the correct counter to this unit, but damage the enemy's ground army production heavily making Battlecruisers worth the opportunity if your follow-up is strongly anti-ground.

Macro mechanics

The Orbital Command has three abilities: Calldown: MULE, Calldown: Extra Supplies, and Scanner Sweep. All three have a place in the game. It is important to know which to use at which time. Production buildings can also attach a Reactor or a Tech Lab as an add-on to enhance production, either to switch tech or to boost production by simply by rearranging their production structures.

Orbital Command Abilities

• Calldown: MULE significantly increases mineral income. The MULE synergizes well with Terran Bio units like the Marine and Marauder, which are mineral heavy.
• Calldown: Extra Supplies allows Terrans to overcome being supply blocked, instantly granting 8 more supply to a supply depot. Because this comes at the cost of a mule, which would yield 240-270 minerals on a normal mineral patch, this is essentially building a supply depot for over double the cost.

Add-ons

Reactors allow the production facility to produce its base units (Barracks: Marines, Factory: Hellions, Starport: Medivacs/Vikings) in pairs, while the Tech Lab unlocks higher tech units of that facility. Add-ons are interchangeable between different building types - a Reactor may be pre-built from a Factory and then switched onto a Starport, which lets a smart player tech faster with maximum efficiency. In the early game, you should almost never have a building idle; if it isn't producing units, it probably should be constructing an add-on for the next building that will need it.

General Builds

General Orbital Command Opening 1Rax 1Fact 1Port 3-Rax Stim Banshee Opening 1 Rax FE for a Bio Opening or Double gas FE for quick tech.

Cheeses 2 Rax Bunker-Rush 12 Marines @4:30 The Turbo Newbie - 5-6 Rax All-in Proxy All-in In-Base All-in

Match-ups

With each Terran match-up comes a different style of play, different units, different openings and build orders.

Vs. Zerg Unit Roles Bunker Rush Early Double Reactor Marine-Hellion Push Reactor Hellion FE , into Bio-Tank Griffith 4OC

Vs. Protoss Unit Roles Bio (vs. Protoss) 1 Rax FE (vs. Protoss) SeleCT 2 Rax Push (vs. Protoss) 1/1/1 into Marine+Tank All-in or MMM+Viking Pressure

Vs. Terran Mech Double gas FE, Standard for long distance Bunker FE into MMM: 3 Rax Combat Shields 3 Rax Marauder Stimpack Close Air positions: Gas First Banshee Expand Blue Flame Expand

Stub Builds

In the early stages of this game we're going to be strict as to what build to be published in the section above. Articles must adhere to the Strategy Article Policy and be written using the StrategyTemplate. Especially note Section 4 of the Policy - Articles must be backed up by at least 2 replays from a relevant Tournament.

Below are the articles that do not yet conform to the above. You can help by expanding them.

General

Openings Two Tank Push

Cheese Worker Rush Planetary Fortress Rush

Vs. Zerg MMA build (vs. Zerg) 2/0 Thor/Hellion Forgg build 1 Reaper Fast Expansion into Factory (TvZ)

Vs. Protoss Rainbow Rush (TvP) Fast Starport pressure builds: Polt timing attack (vs. Protoss) Hellion Drop into 2 Port Banshee Bio Pressure Openings: 5 Rines 1 Reaper Rush EMP push (vs. Protoss)

Vs. Terran Sky Terran, to overwhelm the Marine count and win by default iEchoic's Build Bio Rushes, Used to exploit Marine-Heavy Openings: 3 Reaper Rush Proxy Marauders

Outdated Builds

Below are builds that are no longer valid due to significant changes in gameplay or the metagame through patches.

General

Openings Zatic Build FSteve Expand

Cheese Cauthonluck cheese Wallie cheese

Vs. Zerg 5 Barracks Reaper (vs. Zerg) Nuke Rush Based off Rax Fac Opening Two Factory Siege All-in (vs. Zerg) Reactor Hellion into Marauder All-in

Vs. Protoss

Vs. Terran Ghost First