- 9/10 Supply Depot
- 12 Barracks (constant Marine and SCV production)
- 12 Scout with Initial SCV
- 15 Supply
- 16 Orbital Command
- 18 Command Center
- Bunker at next 100 minerals guarding your natural
Important Notes
- As most builds, it’s important to keep the scouting SCV checking for signs of early tech or a 1 base timing attack (e.g. Four Gate, Banshee Harassment, Roach-Ling all-in)
- Delays any form of effective harassment, early technology and/or map control (early army), but gives a significant increase in Economy and can set you up nicely for a 2 base timing attacks (e.g. 6 Barracks Stim timing push after expand)
- Is safe VS a variety of different aggressive openings/builds (although it is difficult to hold)
- Allows for different styles and mid-game compositions (e.g. Pure mech, Sky Terran etc.)
- Must remember to have a mobile unit (such as a Hellion or Marine) and Scan your enemy once or twice to have scouting and map awareness after the initial SCV scout
Holding All-ins or 1 base timing attacks
Although this build can be safe against many standard one-base plays, it is by no means impregnable. However, with good scouting and some preparation, you can hold these attacks with ease.
A good example is the Four Warp-gate. If you see Chrono-boost saved on the Nexus, no expansion and/or more then two Gateways, suspect Four Warp-gate’s incoming and immediately build an extra 2-3 Bunkers at your natural, stop SCV production (though continue to make unit production facilities) and pull off your SCV’s mining at your natural and place them in front of your bunkers to repair (Protip: right-click on repair to turn Auto-cast on).
Since this build can fit in with many different play styles, have fun experimenting around with what you think works for you. To help you get started, I will now go through some follow-ups in each match-up as well as some pitfalls to watch out for (most of these styles I will cover in future articles).
Terran vs. Protoss
1 Barracks Fast Expand into Bio + Vikings and Medivacs
- Build an Orbital Command
- Build 2 Barracks
- Build a Refinery, then a Tech Lab on one of Barracks
- Build an Orbital Command, then Factory and 2 more Barracks after (add a tech labs and a reactor to the existing Barracks)
- Once Factory is built, Build a Starport and add a reactor to the Factory
From here, you can add a either second reactored Starport if you see Protoss going for Colossus or a Ghost Academy.
1 Barracks Fast Expand into Million Man March
- Build an Orbital Command
- Build five more Barracks and Two Refineries
- Build Two Engineering Bays
- Get a Tech Lab
- Start Stim and +1 Weapons
- Move out and attack Protoss with 35 Marines, fall back to re-group and re-attack
- Add Reactors to one Barracks. Once one is finished, build a Reactor for another
This is a very aggressive tactic that aims to force the Protoss to be defensive and have non-stop unit production. Rallying your Barracks near the front of the battle will allow for quick reinforcement and quick aggression, as the first wave of units WILL fail to kill the Protoss. Constant Marine pressure, upgrades and expansions will eventually wear the Protoss army and economy out.
Terran vs. Zerg
1 Barracks Fast Expand into Marine, Siege Tank and Medivac
- Build an Orbital Command
- Build 2 more Barracks and a Refinery
- Build a Factory and a Tech Lab on one of the Barracks (swap with Factory after)
- Build a Starport and two Refineries, then a Reactor and Tech Lab on the Barracks
- Build two Barracks and two Factories (swap the Reactored Rax with Starport)
- Start Stim and Siege Mode (get four Reactor Add-ons for Barracks)
There are many different variations to this build, some involving Hellions for map control straight after, fast drop or cloaked Banshee harassment straight after. This build also allows for fast drop play.
1 Barracks Fast Expand into Mech
- Build an Orbital Command
- Build two Refineries
- Build a Factory and an Engineering Bay, get a Tech Lab on Barracks to swap after
- Build two more Refineries and then 5 more Factories
- Get Tech Labs on all but one Factory (get a reactor instead)
- Build two Armouries
- Get a Reactored Starport (for Hellion Drops and Vikings in case of Broodlords)
This a good build if you want to kill the opponent in one crushing blow. It’s a slow, immobile army compared to builds with Bio, but it is one of the strongest 200/200 army compositions in the game and only Broodlords can effectively deal with this army once maxed.
Terran vs. Terran
1 Barracks Fast Expand into Bio-Mech (MMM + Siege)
- Build an Orbital Command
- Build 2 more Barracks and a Refinery
- Build a Factory and a Tech Lab on one of the Barracks (swap with Factory after)
- Build a Starport and two Refineries, then a Reactor and Tech Lab on the Barracks
- Build two Barracks and two Factories (swap the Reactored Rax with Starport)
- Start Stim and Siege Mode (get three Reactor and a Tech Lab Add-on for Barracks)
Similar to the Terran vs. Zerg style of Siege, Marine and Medivac army composition, this is a good standard build for an all-round army with enough mobility to be able react to drops and harassment, use drops to cripple the opponent and be strong enough in direct engagements, provided you keep up on the Siege Tank numbers.
1 Barracks Fast Expand into Mech + Viking-Raven
- Build an Orbital Command
- Build a two Refineries
- Build a Factory and an Engineering Bay, get a Tech Lab on Barracks
- Build a Starport and swap with Barrack Tech lab after completion
- Produce a Banshee, then Build two more Refineries
- Build four more Factories (add Tech Labs to all Factories) and a Reactor Starport
- Build two Armories
This is a good style that puts harassment pressure on the opponent after your expansion to put you ahead and buy time to allow you to produce a formidable Siege Tank, Viking and Raven Mech force. Can have Hellions mixed in for added strength against Marines and harassment opportunities.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- is an economic build and will set you up for a macro game
- has many different transitions and allows for different army compositions
- Is not race specific and can also make the opponent guess your follow-up build
- Is safe against a lot of 1 base timing pushes, harassment and all-in’s
Cons
- has limited options in delaying a fast third in some match-ups
- sacrifices early army and delays technology, making it risky early game
- requires good scouting and judgement early game as it has difficulty in holding certain all-in
- is the flimsiest against Terran (e.g. early Siege Tank-Marine timing push can negate bunkers)
Hope this guide has been illuminating and helpful, any suggestions, comments and feedback is most appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this. GL HF fellow gamers!
By Darkedge on SCV Rush