Starfun FreedomCraft

Okay, said StarCrafting plans have a hit a bit of a snag.

I asked my mom if it was alright to have people over Friday for Starcraft while my dad was in the room, which was kind of stupid. See, not that it effects him at all since he's gone all Friday night (which is the reason I picked that night) but he likes to put in his two cents.

This time that two cents is "no you can't, that room downstairs isn't fixed yet."

With which I replied "yeah, Starcraft is a computer game, so we wouldn't be downstairs anyway."

His amazing reply was "There's not enough room downstairs anyway."

I don't think the recruiters of Mensa will be knocking on our door anytime soon. His reasons he gave my mom were "Andrew's only home for two weeks, he should do stuff with Stu." Well now that it's not going to be here, Stu can't play. Brilliant!

I think truth be told he just doesn't like company of any sort. Also, we're usually very loud.

So... if anyone else has a router and a willingness to host some nerdness, I'd still like to do a big old Starcraft LAN party come Friday night. If things change here, I'll let you know.

In other news, I'm going to try to play through the entire Prince of Persia series again while I'm home. Actually, I'd like to take this opportunity to claim that I can do it faster than Jordan, and make the open challenge to him. True, I have a three day head start, but I also have to contend with the fact that my dad took these two weeks off. That means he wants to play NHL 2004 with me, all the time. So far I have played PoP for 3.5 hours, and NHL 2004 for 7. I had to hide downstairs in the unfinished room until my dad went upstairs in order to play last night. Hide. In my own house.

Jordan should be just finishing up his last exam now, so hopefully he reads this challenge quick enough to respond to it. I know he has his own shall I say, impediment to video game playing, let's call her Sam. However, I still think this is a fair competition. If he wants, he could start with Warrior Within, since I'm going to be done Sands very shortly.

Fraser's joke title was my favourite so, it's going to be the name of this post. En taro Adun Mophead, may death come quickly to your enemies.

-Danger

I Sense Much Fear in You

I'm home, I'm getting settled, but I'm not forgetting the loyal readership. Let's get started.


I had my last exam at 12:30 on Saturday. This exam was #4 in the last 5 days, and I was tired of studying, so not much good studying actually got done. I could have done better, but I'm sure I survived that midterm, and I had a good term mark so that class should be fine. In any case, I had now earned...

FREEDOM!!!

HUZZAH! So what did I do? Well, nothing wild, sorry to disappoint, but a few things worthwhile. I did dinner with Liam and Jordan on Saturday, with some of the more memorable quotes being as follows:

"Yeah, you probably don't want to get stuck going the butt route, it makes for an embarrassing trip to the hospital." (I think this one if funnier if you don't know the context of the conversation.)

"Yeah, but if small animals were made of chocolate, wouldn't they melt in the summer?"

"You gotta dig up your whole friggin' yard to catch a groundhog, but its worth it."

Anyway, we managed to talk long enough to make Liam more than half an hour late for a meeting with a guy who was quite interested in being the porker's neighbour for the winter term. How'd that go Liam? You kinda just ran off, and I usually expect 2nd base or better if I buy someone a nice meal...

Unfortunately due to Liam's quick departure I didn't get a chance to tempt those two with an offer of some Starcraft that night. Luckily, I can improvise. I ended up playing Civ 3 until three in the morning, then (when my arms were getting tired) I decided to call it a night.

I woke up at about 1:00 the next day, and it was wonderful. Realizing that I had no breakfast food a small Sobey's trip seemed in order. I got moving remarkably quickly, I left by 1:15 and returned at 2:30. That's with a shower and brushed teeth, for my more hygienically challenged readership. Then, since it was a nice day I figured I'd just go out and wander around for a bit. Due to certain topics of discussion at the previous evening's dinner I ended up chasing some ground hogs. Don't ask. Just don't.

A little after 4:00 I figured it was getting darker, and colder, so I decided to swing by Jordan's place to borrow a movie. First up was Reservoir Dogs. That was a good movie, really had me pulled into the story. It helps that I got to use the 42 inch TV with surround sound that we have in basement, that was a sweet setup. I finished the movie, made some toast, and headed back to Jordan's place. (aka free movie rental central.)

Next up was Napoleon Dynamite. I knew I needed to watch that, just to be able to get the cultural references to it that pop up everywhere. It made me laugh, but it was cheap thrills. Not really much substance there. There were a couple of girls that showed up 5 minutes in and watched it with me, but they seemed to have seen it many times before. I did get some fuzzy peaches out of the arrangement, so I call that a net gain. That could have been innuendo, but I assure you it was not.

So now it's about 8:30, time for more movies! This time I went for "Big Fish" to finish off my night. (At this point I would like to thank Jordan for being such a good sport about me borrowing all these movies.) He was at about 30 hours of no sleep at this point, and needed something to eat so I came with him to the good old V1 caf. I kept inadvertently using phrases such as "I'm getting pretty tired" while he glared at me for being cheeky. (Jordan: 30+ hours since he last slept, Me: 9) It was like sitting in a bar with Chuck Norris and offhandedly saying "you know, I'm pretty tough."

Anyway, on my way back I noticed Beth's light was on. I had kind of been meaning to visit her all day, but she wasn't around. (I can see her "I'm at" poster through the door's window.) My brain seemed to battle about whether or not to knock. Sometimes when I visit (and it's usually in even spaced intervals of about a month) she seems to be busy and just too nice to say it, so I feel like I'm being annoying. Other times I get a big smile and a hug and she's all like "hey, how's it going!" and so on.

Anyway, the first part of my brain had what seemed to be a logical argument. We'll call this guy a mix of fear and general insecurity. He suggested Beth was probably studying for some exam and gets enough interruptions from her house as it is without me. He also pointed out that it was late (after 10:00) and that she was probably going to bed soon. I got as far as the front door before this prick convinced me I should let it go. So I headed on home.

The second part of my brain is hard to define, but I love this muthafucker. He's tough, he's clever, he's brave, and most importantly he's honourable. I can usually count on this guy to point me in the right direction, the problem is he's not always there when I need him. He was there on Sunday though, good thing too. He was asleep for a while, but when I walked away he started waking up. First thing he says as I'm passing the PAC is where do you think you're going you dumb shit? (At this point, I'm gonna start calling him Dwight, since he likes to swear.)

You know damn well Beth doesn't have another exam. Her MSN name said 3/4 done for two days before you saw her in the same exam as you, so use your head. Nobody's moving out at 10 on a Sunday night, so she's not saying any important goodbyes. Get your shit together man!

Well she might be going to bed soon...

If she was, she wouldn't have her light on!

I'm already passed her place, plus its cold so why turn back?

Man up, it's gonna take you about 5 minutes to walk back. You haven't seen Beth in a month, and if you don't drop by it's gonna be another month before you get another chance. Go back, knock, and if nobody lets you in then at least you fucking tried. You promised her you'd visit when she cried on your shoulder and she's not someone you're gonna let down.

At this point Dwight punched that other guy in the stomach and he went down for the count. Good job Dwight, give 'em another one! I turned around and headed back.

It turns out Dwight was right, she was done exams and she was just sitting around putting her "goodbye to my residents" cards in their envelopes. I'd like to take this opportunity to say she looked great, like she had been dressed up to go out somewhere. I have to admit, that other guy seemed to have come to at that point, since I couldn't really remember the things I meant to use as conversation starters. I told her about my donning, and she was like "yeah, I already knew, I asked my boss about you." She cleared some space on the couch for me, and I shut up and watched some TV with her.

Truth be told, shutting up was probably was a good idea since she had been watching "My Best Friend's Wedding" and probably wanted to see how it ended. I'd seen it before, but at the risk of being called a pansy I'd like to say I love that movie. It's kind of a chick flick, but I love the fact that Julia Roberts doesn't end up breaking up the wedding. Instead she does the right (yet painful) thing, and it works for me. I hate those movies where they justify breaking up a wedding by having the "other" person be a complete dick. Also, I love the gay guy in MBFW, if I were gay that is exactly what I would be like.

Anyway, I stayed until the movie was over and then decided to head out, since Beth was going to slip her letters under everyone's doors anyway. That bastard decided to speak up, something like "alright, well I hope I didn't interfere your duties" or something stupid like that. She replied with a friendly "nope, I'm glad you came by, it's nice seeing you." He started whispering to me that even if I was interrupting something Beth would be too nice to point that out, but Dwight came back with a 2 by 4 and clocked him in face. Take it at face value buddy, she's a sweet girl and she's not gonna pull the wool over your eyes. If you listen to this dick he'd convince you everyone was just putting up with up. Keep you chin up.

I smiled and headed back out for home. (UW home, but still home to me.) Really, the rest of these details don't matter, and the leading up details didn't matter either. I've typed 'em already, so they stay, but this story is really here to illustrate a point.

Don't you ever wish you could get rid of that bastard for good? That voice that makes you unsure about stuff, gets you all worried and confused. I'm not talking about schizophrenic voices here, but the personification helps. Don't you hate it when you get all weak-kneed and dry-mouthed in an important social situation? Or you get distracted while you're studying because he points out that there's not much time left before that exam?

I wish I could get Dwight a gun for Christmas. Unfortunately, I think he's too humanitarian to put that bastard down, but sometimes I swear it'd be for the best.

I know, kinda heavy stuff here but I just let the writing flow and this is where I arrived. I'm be clever again soon, don't worry.

Expect the next post to be more lighthearted and about video games. Special attention will be paid to games that start with "Star" and end with "Craft."

-Danger

The Grande Tour

I have once again returned to bring my readership more material for consumption. Blessed be my ever distracted study habits. Also, this post will nicely cover up the flaming wreckage that preceded it.

I got an official tour of good old Minota on Wednesday. The tour was given by Shandy, my commanding officer for my future donning position and she did a fairly thorough job for someone who's only been in the building once before. I'm sure I'll spend my first day wandering around there anyway so as to learn the ins and outs, but it was nice to see what the future holds.

Suffice to say that Minota is an awesome residence. It's pretty small, only 70 residents and 2 dons, and I believe it has one of the best don to residence ratios on campus. (Beth had about 58 of us to deal with all by herself!) The don rooms are the same as the regular rooms, and each room has basically what you'd expect from a res room plus a small fridge and a sink. Jubilations! The main bathrooms are shared like in V1, but you could brush your teeth and wash your hands in your own room if you so desire.

Next item on the list is the kitchens. These are sweet kitchens, and I'm a man who knows his kitchens. There's about the same people/kitchen ratio as I currently have at WCRI, but these ones outclass WCRI's by a long shot in both style and functionality. Don't take my word for it, do a virtual tour:

http://www.housing.uwaterloo.ca/residences/mh/tour/index.html

I could have provided that link first thing, but I wanted my readership to have to work for it. There's also a virtual tour of the rooms themselves and the main lounge on that page.

Which takes me to the next cool thing, the lounge. That thing is huge, as you've probably already seen, and is well decked-out. There's windows from the hallways in the upper floors so you can see who's in the lounge without actually going all the way downstairs. Plus, that place should be big enough to fit 72 people in there for house meetings, something we couldn't do in our V1 lounges.

The last thing I wanted to mention isn't on that virtual tour, so you'll have to use your imaginations. Minota's general outside area is perfect for summer activities. They've got the campfire pit just a little ways up the path, a few barbecues on the first floor patio and a rooftop patio with picnic tables. Exciting possibilities folks! Plus it'll be summer, and I've heard being on campus is so much better in the summer. I'm inclined to believe that, since I remember what it was like when the weather warmed up back in S2. I'm sure Liam remembers that the girls would lie in the grass behind S2 to tan, you'd always see them as you walked across the glass hallway to the stairs. Yes folks, the best things in life are free.

Since I was on the tour with Rachel, and we were walking a ways in the same direction afterwards we ended up talking quite a bit. I'd like to mention that I have learned most of what I previously posted through more conventional, socially acceptable methods now, so you can all get off my case. Mind you, I didn't see her in a bikini, though I'll attribute that to it being unseasonable attire at the moment and call it a moot point.


I wrote my Math 235 final today, and thank goodness that's done with. It was my worst class going into the final, I was sitting somewhere at about 60% for the term mark and the exam was worth 60% of our total mark. Unfortunately when I have trouble grasping material I tend to have even more trouble trying to study it, and I found distraction upon distraction in the past few days to hinder myself. The exam seemed to go alright though, I certainly didn't know everything but I kept a conservative running total of the marks I'd earned and I can say with nearly complete certainty that I passed the course. I can say with still strong yet somewhat less certainty that I got over 60%, and kept myself out of any sort of multiple secret probation.

ROBOT HOUSE!

After the exam I hurried home, but it was not the thought of my lonely readership that drove me onwards with such amazing speed. I had neglected to go to the bathroom before heading out to my exam, and I certainly wasn't going to leave during the exam when it had so much riding on it. However, I encountered some unexpected difficulties upon my return. I'll let Penny Arcade explain, since I like to keep this blog free of graphic descriptions.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/01/19

Luckily I found another alter to receive my gifts.

Oh yeah, FYI our toilet here is broken. Yeah, the flusher handle doesn't work, but one can still get it to flush in one knows how a toilet works under the hood. It's kind of inconvenient, but I don't think any of us care enough to fill out a maintenance form until exams are done.

One last, much more attractive FYI. I saw Beth on my way into the exam, she was writing Health 433. I didn't actually talk to her since I saw her from quite a distance but it didn't take much deductive reasoning skills to figure out what she was there for. The choices were Math 235, Nanotech 121, and Health 433.

That's all folks, I've got some studying to do and then in 22 hours my Christmas vacation begins!

Awesome.

-Danger

The World's 2nd Oldest Profession

(Whole thing deleted due to blaring criticism. Probably for the best)

Oh well. Second topic of the post!

I remember what I did for the afternoon leading up to the "rather full" Christmas party, if it may be so-called. I went on a music raid of the house, ripping a bunch of CD's onto my computer!

Anyway, the point is I found the one song I had been humming for so long! See, it was a song my dad used to play on longer car trips, so it was background noise to me and I didn't know the words. All I knew was the tune, and that it started with the line "something something my old friend." And I found it!

It was "The Sounds of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel. I ripped the whole CD and got a few other songs I knew and liked, but most of it's a little soft for my tastes. And my tastes are probably softer than my readership's.


Oh yeah, one last thing. I had a really vivid kind of "day-dream" in my OB exam. I dunno, I don't usually day-dream in my math exams because there simply isn't the time, but this exam was pretty tame. The dream was pleasant and such, but it was so... like... vivid! I was sitting there for a while and then a few minutes later I was like "right, I'm in an exam, better keep going on that."

Does that happen to anyone else in exams?

That's it, I'm going for a walk now.

-Danger

This Hurts Me

It seriously hurt my brain. I as a mathematician salute this man for his valiant efforts, and I think he did the right thing by posting it on the internet for all to enjoy.

It's 20 minutes of terrible customer service.

http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/#1275

It's linked to in a CAD news post, just scroll down and you'll see it.

It's sad that he went through so many people who didn't know 0.02 dollars is not 0.02 cents. I guess it's because in the States their math is done primarily in fractions instead of decimals (because the imperial system poorly translates to decimals) so basic elementary and high school math can't help these people.

So just as a note to my readership, never, ever, under any circumstance should you support Verizon wireless.

That is all.

-Danger

Rather Full

Alright, I'm too sleepy to study, but I'm not sleepy enough to sleep, so I'm gonna do something for all my readers out there.

I'm posting!

Alright, so last weekend (after my glorious victory) I went home. You'd think it was to study, but no, apparently not.

So Saturday at 4:30 we had a "Christmas party" to go to next door. I remember getting up well before 4:30, but I can't remember an inkling of what I did. Anyway, our next door neighbours own a bed and breakfast, so their house is a rather stately affair. It's furnished exactly like the set was at "The Importance of Being Earnest" though that reference will only help Jordan. For the rest of you, think late 19th century British upper class house.

I forget our neighbour's names now but I did remember them for the time being at this "party" though I'll use the term loosely for the benefit of my readership's demographic. Their house was cool to see, it reminded me a bit of the Resident Evil mansion, except that it was full of Christmas decorations. The only other people my age there were two attractive young ladies that were working the bar and the kitchen, so they must have been the daughters of our neighbours. My dad kept getting me to get him more wine, so I saw them pretty frequently throughout the afternoon/evening, and even got a good laugh when I returned the glass and said "I'm cutting him off, he's still got to walk home you know." But that's not the point of this post.

In each living room there was a table full of food, appetizers in the "fireplace room" and deserts in the "piano room." From my experience on cleaning out said foodstuffs I would like to offer the following advice on "eating everything without anyone knowing it was you."

1. Pace yourself. You've got all night to eat, and if you're not eating your going to have to listen to some old windbag give his opinion on politics or art or something like that. Plus, if people see you stuffing your face they'll get wise to you.

2. Never fill your plate to a noticeably large amount. You can fill your plate as many times as you like, so keep it light and refill often. Better yet...

3. Hover over the food, like you're trying to decide what to pick. People don't notice how many things you eat just standing there, as long as you don't stuff in anything too big.

4. If there's more than one food area bounce back and forth. That way people don't always see you standing over the same food.

5. Lastly, beware of foods that leave evidence of your crime. Shrimp tails are a good example, people can get a rough idea of what you've eaten by looking at your "spent shells" so to speak. Dump said evidence in the garbage often, maybe integrate it into your back-and-forth bouncing.

All I ate that day was breakfast and appetizers, so I felt proud. I'm sure as hungry students you're all probably experienced enough at said practices, but I thought the advice sounded funnier when explained seriously.

Tuesday was eventful. From 5:00-6:30 there was a Spring 2007 Dons... er... event I suppose. We got some info, but really I think it was to meet your donning team. There were some awesome sandwiches too, totally worth going for the food. Plus I met Rachel, my don partner at Minota for spring. She's a first time don too, I even recognize her from the carousal interview day. I'm actually getting pretty excited for the Spring term now, I think it's going to be pretty good. I've still got a lot to do before then, but it's looking up. Winter should be damn fine as well, so if we could just get these exams done with I'd be set...

The Sake ceremony was also on Tuesday, from 9:00 to .... well... er... I got home at about 2:30. I won't bore you with details, but the one first-year drunk guy I found extremely entertaining. At McGinnis he was asking people if they thought Sensei Jaime (Jay-Me) would date him (luckily after she had left) in an extremely overt fashion. It went something like "Hey, do you think I should ask out Sensei... wasser name? Jaime! Yeah, should I, 'cause she's HOT! And if she says no I'll be like... fuck you!"

Imagine that, with slurred words, and with him struggling not to fall off his chair. See folks, that's why I don't drink, that could just have easily been me under the right (wrong) influences. I'll admit Jaime is an attractive young lady, since my readership doesn't know her and it's relevant, but honestly! It's kind of like asking out your TA, it's not technically against the rules and they might say yes but they probably don't look upon their students as date-able. (I would imagine.)

I was going to say "it's like asking out your don" but I don't crush dreams folks. Well, not anymore.

Jordan, you're a good writer, keep at it!

-Danger

Glorious Victory!

This story is almost a week old now, but it is a tale that must be told!

On Friday (Dec 2) Binks, Jordan and I decided to do some good old LAN style Starcrafting. Liam, you would have been invited, but we only got things decided at about 6:45 and I was getting picked up at 9:00, so it was pretty spur of the moment.

Anyway, this is a blow-by-blow account of the battle. (More or less, I saved the replay for those who wish to see it.)

We played on a six-person island map, it was me (Terran) against an allied front of Jordan (Zerg) and Binks (Protoss). Now, we had played with said alliance the week before, but Binks was pretty rusty on the game mechanics back then. In the time between he had apparently been practicing.

I started off with the usual tech tree climbing and scouting. My comstat station found Jordan first, and from what I could tell he didn't seem to have a lot of defense units yet. I established a second mining base (gotta love flying buildings) pretty quickly and was able to comstat Binks's base as well. All three of us were on the bottom half of the map. I was on the left, with Jordan on the far right and Binks sitting in between us. I like to start bugging my opponent as soon as possible in a Starcraft match, and I noticed a wonderful piece of elevated land between Binks's and Jordan's base that was just begging for some siege tanks.

As soon as I finished my Starport I pumped out 2 dropships and picked up 2 siege tanks and some infantry (2 medics, 2 firebats, 4 marines) to provide cover. I flew my dropships out into the middle of the map (which was a lake) and was immediately spotted. Jordan had placed some overlords out there for scouting, and it became apparent throughout the game that Binks watches the map like a hawk.

Not knowing if they had any air units (I didn't) I bee-lined it for the ridge. Unfortunately for me Jordan had already established a solid air defense and I flew right over it. My tanks' dropship
went down, and my infantry just barely made it. I dropped them off and went back to my base to pick up some replacement tanks. However, my infantry were not prepared for what greeted them. I figured Jordan and Binks would only be able to pick up ground units and drop them on the ridge for defense. Instead, Binks comes in with a carrier. This was a frightening sign that Binks had greatly improved since the previous week, and it served as a bit of a wake up call.

Not being one to give up on a good idea, I replaced my forces, this time returning with 2 tanks, 4 goliaths and about 6 or 8 wraiths. The plan worked well, and while my tanks rained death from the ridge my goliaths and cloaked wraiths inflicted some serious damage on the air forces of the zerg and protoss. I knew my ground forces wouldn't last too long, but I find these types of skirmishes are good for keeping your opponent "looking over their shoulder" and wondering where you'll hit next.

Next on my agenda was to establish myself in the north, and really start harvesting resources. I established two bases up north, and got nukes. However, my comstat scans had been revealing increasing disturbing intelligence on my enemies. Jordan had built about 24 guardians, and Binks's airforce was large and well upgraded. I knew the combination of corsairs, carriers and guardians was going to be hard to overcome, so I decided to try to nuke their fleet. As a precaution, I also prepared 12 valkeries, 12 wraiths, and about 16 goliaths. With growing apprehension I moved in my ghosts. However, Binks's aforementioned hawk-like watching of the map proved too much for me, and I was detected on my approach. I managed to fire off one nuke into a mining base, but the rest of my ghosts were found and killed. As I watched them die, I was reminded of a certain Star Wars scene...

Obi-wan: "That boy is our last hope"
Yoda: "No, there is another!"

From my comstat sweeps I knew that the combined fleet of Jordan of Binks was sitting over Binks's considerable photon cannon field, untouchable by nukes. I could do the math, and I knew my prepared defenses would not stand against the overwhelming numbers I was about to face. But as far as I knew Binks and Jordan didn't know about my northern base. I checked my stock of resources and I knew I could build 12 Battlecruisers if I had the time. In my northernmost base I quickly built 4 Starports and a new science building. Just as I cued up 3 battlecruisers in the building orders of each starport I saw the enemy fleet move in. I sent a lone SCV out in my last dropship in case I didn't make it, and braced myself for the hit. My strategy was set, I knew if I could destroy Binkle's air fleet the guardians (which are air to ground units) would be done for.

They started with my main base. The guardians hit my buildings like a tsunami running over a sandcastle. I moved in my goliaths, but I didn't even see how they did. I hit Binks's corsairs with the combined might of my wraiths and valkeries and destroyed them, but barely. The complete decimated my wraiths (which is what they're made for) and chewed up my valks something fierce. His carriers made short work of my remaining air fleet, ending my main base's resistance.

With my existing forces destroyed Binks and Jordan swept through the rest of my southern bases, destroying most of my supply depots and two mining areas. I didn't stay to watch, I was busy recovering. I built as many supply depots as I could in my "Battlecruiser base" up north, and continued scouting with my lone dropship and SCV. I found a bunch of enemy mining bases, but nothing for my poor SCV to establish a base beside. Binks and Jordan fanned out, searching for my remaining bases. My first northern mining base was found and destroyed, leaving behind only 2 SCVs that managed to run into a corner. I now only had one base left. Jordan moved in with one of his guardian groups and began bombing my supply depots, but my first 4 battlecruisers had finally finished production and I opened fire. He withdrew his forces, and regrouped with the other 2 groups of guardians and Binks's remaining carriers. I called back my battlecruisers and joined them with the next 4 that had finished being built, ready to rock.


As Binks and Jordan waited outside my base I knew they could taste victory. They had just rolled over 4 of my other bases and they knew I was hurting bad. They moved in, and I went straight for the carriers. 4 left, 3 left, 2 left... (c'mon!) 1 left, and bang! they were down. Jordan's guardians were completely exposed. I gleefully sent my battlecruisers after them, and told Jordan "You deserve every bit of this." as he watched his forces perish. The guardians are extremely effect bombers though, and they continued to cause considerable damage to my base as I killed them. As they finished off my supply depots and my starports it occurred to me that this base contained my last buildings. If he destroyed them, I would lose the game, whether I had battlecruisers or not. I quickly took my SCV out of of the dropship that was hovering a good ways away and started building a command center, hoping against hope that I wouldn't lose before I got him building. When I checked back on my battlecruisers they had finished off the last guardians. I had 1 refinery left, and one missile turret, both flaming badly. That was close.

So now I had: 8 battlecruisers, 1 dropship, 5 SCVs, about 2500 minerals, 5000 gas and the aforementioned buildings left. I was down, but not out! Never give up, never surrender! I started building some command centers, and decided to blast through as many enemy bases as possible before they took down my fleet. I cleared out 3 or 4 bases in the north-eastern portion of the map, all the while shooting down the fresh air units they sent at me. Luckily those air units only came in groups of 4 to 6 at a time, so I outgunned them by a large margin. After sweeping through these mining bases, I took my 6 remaining battlecruisers back to my own base for repairs.

At this point I overheard some interesting conversation. It seems that I had destroyed all of their active mining bases, and in trying to take me down both Jordan and Binks had spent their way down to less than 300 minerals. They had no mining bases left, and not enough resources to establish new ones! Meanwhile, I now had 2 mining bases on the go, and was rapidly reclimbing the tech tree to get more battlecruisers. Both Binks and Jordan had substantial base defenses that I didn't have the strength to engage directly just yet, but I knew if I could stop them from getting any more resources victory would be mine!

Luckily for me, when I attacked Jordan at his main base he quit, so I didn't have to deal with all that air defense. This allowed me to look for Binks, and good thing too, because he has one hell of a will to live. He had manual flown a shuttle of probes to a resource patch, mined, and flown them back to his base until he had the 400 minerals necessary to build a mining base. Luckily I nipped that one in the bud, but he managed to hit me with one last air strike that brought me down to 2 battlecruisers. I still had my resources pouring in though, and mopped him up with a new fleet of battlecruisers.

So how's that for pulling victory from the jaws of defeat? I was so proud of my comeback...

I did some interesting stuff on the weekend, but this post is long enough, so too bad for you!

-Danger