The Two-Player Expanded Ship Base (TM)

Recently I have been experimenting with a new type of base, one that affords you a large area, massive healing, and plenty of passive income! NOTE: I have yet to win with this setup due to lack of partners and inability to find buildings. But it has massive potential.

For the short and sweet setup and general idea, just read Day Five. For the whole thing laid out, read away:

The Expanded Ship Base, for two players, step by step:
Day One - Before leaving the base, take a second to set the ship to auto-cast Restore. Then, continue to :find stuff!!! Get gas pods, supply, buildings, mineral shards, whatever! But pay attention to minerals. Between you and your ally, you need to get enough to buy three Auto-turrets. Grab all the supplies you see! Consider this a blanket order for all the following days: find supply!

Night One (Speedlings) - Get three Auto-turrets up. With that number, they can chew through their attackers without draining the ships battery fast enough to deplete it. Mine the minerals around the base, and build more Barricades, so that there is only one entrance in each wall that is the size of a Barricade.

Day Two - Get some gas! You will need at least 80, and the more the better. 160 minerals as well. Explore if you have time. Supply.

Night Two (Infestors) - Put up a Peridition Turret in each entrance, they alone will keep your enemies away.

Day Three - Mine minerals and gas! If forture has smiled on you, get a Mule or two. Supply.

Night Three (Infested Terrans) - Salvage your Auto-turrets and get Tesla Coils. Build them in the corners. Start with one in each corner, then two, etc. The goal is four in each corner, but you likely won't be able to afford that yet. But keep in mind, with the huge number of Zerg being thrown at you, you are actually making some money during the night. Money just appearing in your pocket. If you think it is cool now, just wait!

Day Four - Mine some more! Gas and minerals! Supply.

Night Four (Banelings) - Here they come. Make sure to have four Teslas in each corner. Your base might take minor damage, but nothing should die, thanks to the ship. Sit tight and watch your money rise, because you're going to need it.

Day Five - This day is going to be intense, and timed down to the second, so be ready for it. This is the breakout. Salvage everything you have. While it is salvaging, each of you take two entrances and build a defensive wall at each. My personal setup: Three Bunkers, unweaponized (costly), across the entrance, two Peridition Turrets, one for each side, because there is enough space for Zerg to squeeze past, and five Tesla Coils right behind the Bunkers. To the same to your other entrance ASAP. My setup is timed so that your final Tesla in the pattern will finish right around when the wave starts.

Night Five (Queens) - Don't stop! Keep adding on! Keep adding on to your row of Teslas, going back and forth like a madman, until your money is spent or you have nine behind each row of Bunkers. This night depends on how much money you were able to gather early on. You will know when you have nine because it will span the same length as your Bunkers. If you were really good and have nine at each, now look around your roomy new base. If you were not so fortunate and fell short of nine at each, remember, the Zerg will be filling your coffers as we speak! Watch your money climb, and build more Teslas!

Day Six - This day is often spent mining to refill your coffers. But do whatever needs doing!

Night Six (Hydralisks) - Your defenses should serve you well. Make sure you have nine Teslas at each entrance, and wait it out.

Day Seven - Now the search begins in earnest. At this point you could be loaded or penniless. But the big issue is buildings. Do you have them or not? A Factory and Fusion Core are crucial, and a Science Facility is always welcome. Spend the day primarily looking for them.

Night Seven (Mutalisks) - Airborne Zerg! Throw up a pair of Missile Turrets up at each corner, but not at the edge. The ship doesn't quite reach the corners. To check the range, select the ship and hit the Restore ability icon. A ring will appear on the map indicating its cast range. After those, if you have a factory, build Siege Tanks right behind the Missile Turrets in the corners. This is more subjective. If fewer Zerg are coming from a particular corner, feel free to build none. In one game, we had sooo many Zerg coming from one direction we piled on 5-7 Siege Tanks and some still made it through to the entrances. Money should be skyrocketing.

Day Eight - At this point, you are increasingly on your own. If you have a Core and gas, get Big Berthas! If you have no Core but a Factory and minerals, get Rescue Beacons! If you have neither a Core or Factory, find them! If you are short on resources, mine some! Without a Core, your only shot is to get Rescued before Brood/Bane Lords. Sometimes you can squeeze part the Brood Lords. If you are so fortunate as to have a Core (I have yet to get lucky) AND money, you can either get Beacons, a ship, or Big Berthas. I would opt for Big Berthas, but it may be better to never see the Brood/Bane Lords. You probably won't have to mine too much during the day, as the Zerg provide significant income, although if you are short on minerals or gas feel free.

Night Eight (Roaches) - Tough little suckers. Add more Siege Tanks if you are without Big Berthas. If you are without a Factory, start a second line of Tesla Coils. Maybe 5 more? Perhaps add a third Missile Turret at each corner.

Day Nine - This is where things start looking really dire if you are without a Core. Look frantically!

Night Nine (Ultralisks) - A full battery of Siege Tanks behind several Missile Turrets at each corner. A second row of 5 Teslas, and a full row if you are without Siege Tanks. Maybe more. Ultras are hella tough, and they can easily break your back if you aren't ready. Although I didn't list it during the day, you may want to take 30 seconds of the day to start build defenses at your base if the amount of stuff to put up is big - remember Teslas take a long time. If you have Big Berthas, the game will likely be as good as over. Choose whatever victory option you may!

I will...... stop here. That took awhile. I realize some of the detail may be unnecessary, but it helps get the flow of things, and was as much to help me organize my thoughts was it was to explain it to all of you.

Starke wrote:...we piled on 5-7 Siege Tanks and some still made it through to the entrances... A full battery of Siege Tanks behind several Missile Turrets at each corner...

Actually, you must avoid using Siege Tanks if you are building Saving Beacons: they will fire at Hidravlisks spawning from Hidra bombardments inside of your perimeter, and shoot of your Saving Beacons very easily, and the other nearby defence as well.

Tesla Coils Should be placed not nicely and in one line, but interminently. You need to give your mules access to the Buncers so they could repair them without getting out.

You don't need to worry aboute defencive perimeter to be completely sealed: Zergs under rulling of Artificial Intellect attack the closest target, not the most importent in the center.

I often just build a few cheap, fast and longliving baites (Buncers) outside to stop Zergs on a safe distance for destroying them, while being attacked by my Tesla Coils or Big Berthas. (But not by Tanks! They'll just kill my Buncers sooner than Zergs nearby.)

It is much easier to survive the waves of even Bane Lords if their approach is slowed down with those baits, giving Big Berthas or Tesla Coils more time. What is the most important with Big Berthas: Buncers in a distance give not only the extra time for attack, but also a long vision without burraging Ravens!

That point about Siege Tanks would normally be true; however, in this base there is so much extra room the pods will rarely land right next to the Beacons, and if they do, the ship has both its passive healing field and a nearly infinite supply of Restores. You are immune to anything but overwhelming damage.

Again with the Mules repair, the ship renders anything else obsolete. The passive heal is constantly working on all your buildings, and the ship will automatically Restore anything that get too low on health, including the Bunkers.

Also, the Zerg try to run around the Bunkers to get to the Tesla Coils, but they just get flamed by the Peridition Turrets. I leave the Bunkers unweaponized both because of the price and I just want them as barriers.

I get what you are saying with the Bunker bait, but if they are shooting at a Bunker, then my Tesla Coils cannot reach them... and if I had a Big Bertha, I could easily manually control it too take out the Brood/Bane Lords easily.

Starke wrote:in this base there is so much extra room the pods will rarely land right next to the Beacons

I usually make base as compact as it possible, so the impact of a few Big Berthas would be deducted and they can hit dangerous targets together. I do it to avoid fights one-to-one with Matherships so on.

I wanted to say: -With Ultralisks and Bane Lords, but it has been for a while since I am not letting them to attack my Big Berthas directly (I have less valuable targets for this, bunkers intentionaly built far away in a field.)

Starke wrote:...Also, the Zerg try to run around the Bunkers to get to the Tesla Coils, but they just get flamed by the Peridition Turrets...

Yea... well...

At least it works with Broodlords, Banelords, and, I believe, with Ultralisks. If I have a Big Bertha.

Do you base on low ground? All my permanent bases are on high ground, with all the entrances sealed off with Bunkers and Peridition Turrets. My Big Berthas are never in the line of fire. I use the the eastern ring, the western mesa, the northern arc, and now the ship as well. I have heard of people basing in the top left and bottom left corners of the map on low ground, but never tried it myself.

Starke wrote:Do you base on low ground?...I have heard of people basing in the top left and bottom left corners of the map on low ground, but never tried it myself.

It depends. If I found Fusion Core or Protoss Tech building in the corner, I would base there.

If I found Fusion Core early in the game and got a fleet of 10 Ravens, I would clear the territory near the walls or (and) in corners in my search for Probe.

If I found some Mineral Fields and Geysers in the corner: I go there, set a base and safely do the mining.

If Geysers or Tech Building is near the wall (not even at the corner), what would stop me from basing there if corners are already cleared with Ravens and I don't have to expect Zergs coming from corners?

If the high ground is empty and not even the defence is started being built by someone, I would definitely prefer basing in the corner (or at another high ground)))