Ahh, the siege. It is truly a beautiful thing. Marines, having lost the element of surprise, or facing a well defended hive, will try a more brute force approach. In a typical pub siege, marines must battle leaping skulks, bile bomb, fades, spores, enfuriating hitboxes, and extraordinary amounts of mic-spam, negativity, yelling, and general chaos.

Let's analyze why many sieges fail.

First off: marines may not have any sense of security while they build (or dont build!!) your cannons. Marines MUST TRUST that they can lower their gun and build, or you will lose precious time. One thing you can do to ease their troubled mind (after they powerbuild that TF, stress this, PWERBUILD THE TF) if is drop 2 turrets. The mere sight of a turret will raise morale.

Second: when the aliens (skulks, lerks, and fades) first begin to pour it on, many marines are scattered and confused by who is building and who is guarding. This problem is exaggerated when the zones are hazy. In the picture below you will see clearly how 3 people can very effectively guard while the other 4 people get the sieges up in a remarkably efficient manner. The sieges are AGAINST THE WALL. Please think about friendly fire and how much harder it would be for aliens if they have only 1 object to hide behind (the front siege) which is being covered by a turret.

Third: When the bile bomb starts, marines are often not in a position to neutralize. 1 gorge bile bombing while you beacon will probably cost you your entire siege. If you decide to pick it back up, chances are the third hive will be pumping before you manage to kill the second one, and your resource towers are surely in tatters.

Fourth: Not sufficiently consistant damage. Build a second obs if you have to. Build a third. Whatever it takes. Build a fourth or fifth siege, just GET THAT PUPPY DEAD FAST. Time is the most valuable resource in every RTS.

Things I suggest doing to counter these points:

First: CALL BY NAME WHO IS TO BUILD AND WHO IS TO SHOOT. Also, drop 2 turrets while the siege upgrades. Believe me, 20 res is worth the added security and 'ease-of-mind'. Ease of mind = built structures. Drop one pack of mines.


******** ATTENTION ALL MARINES **********
CHECK YOUR FOURTH AND FIFTH WEAPON SLOT OFTEN DURING SIEGES. THOSE MINES OR THAT WELDER (WHICH YOU MAY HAVE INADVERTANTLY PICKED UP) COULD MAKE THE DIFFERENCE, EASILY.

Secondly: Keep a good supply of ammunition going. Your marines trust you to give them ammo to the point where many of them wont even look at their clips until it is too late. Try to predict. Order your marines to STAY ALIVE! This sounds silly, but it really is not. Many marines, myself included, often do not know if their role is better served suiciding on a gorge healing or hiding around the corner waiting for that fade or for sieges to do their job.

Third: Be ready for the bile bomb, and be ruthless. Remember that the alien team consists of no more than 8 players on TG. Remember that if a gorge dies it will take him a considerable amount of time to respawn and safely gestate, get upgrades, and start biling/healing again. If you see a gorge bile bombing, and notice a marine get some good hits on him before he retreats, don't hesitate. Cover that marine! Kill those skulks that try to save the gorgie! KILL THE GORGIE!! Every dead gorgie brings you much closer to a dead hive, in a siege.

Fourth: And I admit I picked this up from Wyz, After you've seen 10-15 siege blasts hit the hive, make sure your team outnumbers their skulks, and move in. Tell the marines to shoot skulks and then the hive. After the hive goes down, kill off the fade and chambers.



In the above picture, please note that the siege turrets hug the east wall completely. This is for three reasons. First, marines (shown as light blue circles) should have a relatively clear shot of any skulks biting on the sieges without having to get too near. Secondly, gorges must actually enter the room to bile bomb (bile bomb trajectory is illustrated with green lines). This allows you to more easily take out the little buggers, and also forces them to inadvertantly block fades (the typical path of a fade is in RED. Last, but NOT least, marines can walk around freely. There's nothing worse than trying to fight with sieges and skulks over walking space.

Another picture illustrates the gorges perspective on the battle, with the hidden sieges marked as red Xs.



The single sentry turret in the above example provides excellent cover for reloading marines, and the ones by the PG (not illustrated) for the inevitable beacon. If one marine with a shotgun stands at the location marked (first pic), it will certainly force the aliens to eliminate this marine before they can expect to bile bomb, or safely fade.

One final thought: The phase gate is in severe danger of both sporing and bile bomb, so consider moving it if 2 hives are active, or if your marines are spending a lot of time getting spored, and phasing. The good thing about the location, when considering spores, is that the marines should not have to stand where they can be badly spored, as long as they can move away from the PG.

Main point of this thread is: DON'T JUST PUT DOWN BUILDINGS ARBITRARILY. Every structure's placement has an effect, and the more gunfire near the building, the more this is true. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of limiting movement carefully.

And now I have to go. I will submit more pics and analysis should people find this helpful.

-aes0p r0ck