Banelings deal some terrible terrible damage to groups of Terran infantry. With the proper micro it is possible to get some excellent mileage out of your Terran bio even when facing a charge of Banelings.The Banelings are coming! The Banelings are coming! The Banelings are coming!
In this image you see our valiant Terran player caught with a handful of infantry against an advancing B-ling, Zergling army.
The first step of our micro process is to thin out the Zergling force that leads the attack. To do this, stim up your infantry and attack move into the Zerg army. (To attack move: select your units, click 'a' on your keyboard, and click past the advancing Zerg)
Once your units have all fired on the enemy, perform a very short move command away from the Zerg army. The best way to practice this will be found in my future post on Dancing.
Rationale: Units in Starcraft 2 have a short cooldown after each attack. By moving your units a short distance your infantry will spend this cooldown time moving away from the approaching threat instead of just standing around.
With a little practice, dancing your army will allow your ranged units to deal full damage even while retreating.
Observe, A few short blasts from the Terran infantry during the retreat has managed to thin the Zerg forces. This has also cleared out all of the Zerglings. Having the Zerg army with no Zerglings makes Maurader feeding easier and safer to perform.Dancing is key to managing all types of ranged units in Starcraft 2. So be sure to incorporate this manuever into as many of your Starcraft 2 games as possible.
With the Zerglings destroyed, the Terran player is now free to run his forces away from the advancing Banelings. At this time it is critical that only the move command is used. (not the attack move command)
Normally Banelings splash against Terran infantry units taking out large swaths of infantry in one fell swoop. But here the Terran player has selected individual Mauraders from thier retreating forces and moved them back toward the Baneling army.Rationale: By feeding the zerg army one Maurader (recommended) or one Marine at a time you eliminate the splash damage done to the rest of your infantry. On top of this, the sacrificial Maurader(s) will cause the rest of the advancing Banelings to slow down and group together. This allows the rest of your infantry to put some distance between themselves and the advancing zerg.
Remember, the Zerg player has spent a total of 50 minerals and 25 gas per Baneling. In my experience a zerg player who simply attack moves their Banelings should expect to spend 2-4 Banelings per Maurader. This is a great resource trade in favor of the Terran player especially considering that Banelings are one of the Zergs strongest early game counters to Terran Bio
The extra distance granted by the sacrificial Mauraders allows the remaining Terran forces to mop up the remaining Banelings from afar. In this battle, the Zerg army was of greater mineral and gas value than the defending Terran army. On top of this the Zerg player was using units that were a strong counter to the Terran. However, with superior micromanagent, the much cheaper Terran army was able to defeat the advancing Zerg army.This victory was critical. The Terran player is now able to heal up its remaining forces and push into the Zerg base while they are still rebuilding their shattered forces.
Next time you are playing as Terran practice selecting individual Marauders from your Bioball. Getting this practice in will certainly make you a more effective Terran player.
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