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How to Improve in Starcraft 2 – Part 10 – Terrain and Positioning

“Sun Tzu said: There are different kinds of terrain in nature. Some terrain is easily accessible, some is entrapping, some temporizing, some constricted, some precipitous and some distant.

What terrain is accessible? Ground that is easy for both your troops and the enemy’s to move across is called accessible terrain. If you enter the accessible region, you should first take high and sunny positions and keep your supply routes unimpeded. This is convenient for you to fight with the enemy.”

(Chapter X http://www.chinavista.com/experience/warart/warframe.html)

The above extract is quoted from Sun Tzu’s military text from his writings in ‘Art of War’. chapter X. Sun Tzu is a very famous military strategist of the State of Wu during the sixth century BC in ancient China. His influential military tactics written in the ‘Art of War’ has played a significant influence for battle strategies and tactics throughout history from the Ancient times of Chinese Emperors and conquerors till this very day. Art of war has been published by hundreds of different publishers in different languages around the world. His emphasis and in depth thoughts in military tactics has gained fame and ‘Art of War’ is deemed to be the oldest and most successful and influencial work books on military strategy.

Chapter X of ‘Art of War’ focuses on the specific topic;
Terrain
. Sun Tzu’s emphasis on the importance of terrain for the determination of a military warfare. Starcraft 2 is a game involving various military tactical strategies which plays a very similar role to a real time war. Strategies and the insights of the player itself determines the outcome of an individual match.

We will be looking on the specific topic on Terrain/ Positioning on today’s Starcraft 2 Tips and Guide. How often do you lose a battle due to bad positioning as a Protoss? Did you get your army consisting of 200 food Zerg units getting wiped out instantly? Why are you losing battles that you think you can win?
The very answer can often comes down to ‘Terrain and Positioning’. I will break this and look into Terrain and Positioning alone.

Terrain

What is terrain you may ask? Terrain in Starcraft 2 can generally be defined by a couple of factors.

I) Maps

Maps in Starcraft 2 itself is the direct and most specific way as a determination for Terrain. Different maps can often be considered as different Terrains. Take for example where Scarp Station is often considered as a Zerg favored map, where Zerg can expand safely. Maps such as Blistering Sands with a backdoor entrance often requires a different approach towards defending your base. Jungle Basin which seemed to be removed from the map pool often gives both players a free expansion easily defended within a base to each players. Hence, different strategies can be used and work best on certain maps while not on others.

II) High and Low Ground

Most of the Starcraft 2 maps gives a high ground defender advantage for each player’s starting base. High ground gives a greater sight on the map which often  translates to a defender advantage as you have vision of your opponent when he is outside of your base. In general, due to the creation of both high and low ground, it is thus, harder as the offender / attacker to win a battle. Terran is considered being the ultimate defending race due to the general design of Terran overall. Well placed bunkers and Siege Tanks often creates a near impossible fort to break in.

III) Island expansions that can only be accessible by air

Island expansions is often considered to be very save from your opponents onslaughts which can be only accessible by air. Often times, you can manage to sneak up an island expansion without your opponent’s knowledge until it is too late.

 

Positioning

My insight of positioning will be towards your battle army composition positioning.

I) Narrow or Open Position

Narrow or open position refers to the surrounding areas when both of you and your opponent’s armies collide. Often time this is very essential for a Protoss player to battle on a small and close position against a Zerg opponent. ‘Wall hugging’ is the preferred term here. This is due to Protoss Sentry’s Force Field ability and unit composition. Countless battles can be won if a Protoss player is able to get a few well placed Force Fields.
On the other hand, taken from the perspective of a Zerg player, the Zerg swarm will always try to force a fight in a wide area where flanking is often the winning strategy for Zerg players. If you manage to catch your opponent off guard and able to flank from both sides, the match will very likely swing towards your favor.
Fighting at a tight choke can often swing the battle outcome towards a certain player.

II) Army positioning

In general for example, as a Protoss player, you will always want your Zealots to be the front line. I have seen countless of Professional Starcraft 2 gamers made a mistake of not positioning their army strategically. Stalkers in general has a higher movement speed than other Protoss units and thus will always move towards your opponent first. Thus, it is best to always position your Stalkers behind your Zealots. It is most advisable to have two different hotkeys; one for Zealots and Sentries and another for Stalkers. However, I am just too used to putting them all together in a key.
As a Terran player, it is essential to always battle your opponent within your Siege tank’s range. Always try to kite and draw your opponent towards your Siege Tanks.
I hope you have gained a more indepth insight towards the importance of both Terrain and Positioning.

Cheers.

Come check out my blog at
www.sc2tips.blogspot.com
.
About the Author

I am currently ranked top 10 on the Starcraft 2 SEA Masters League for 1v1. I am currently playing under the uRvCovetous account. Protoss is my main race. I will provide you with the best tips and guide for you to improve your overall gameplay in Starcraft 2.

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