Terran Strategy, Lesson 3: Retreating and Hit-and-Run Attacks
by mrxak

To save a vastly out-numbered or out-equipted force is no dishonor. Learning how and when to retreat is an important. Why sacrifice a force when it can be joined with others later (and cheaper) to seriously hurt your opponent down the road. This is a simple concept few players use. Don't blindly charge with your forces into a trap so they can be slaughtered. It weakens you, and gives your opponent the upper hand. After destroying one significant part of your total force, without taking many casualties because of greater strength and numbers, it can easily move into your main base and win the game.

Instead, when the enemy seems to have the upper hand in a battle, retreat into an area you have set up to trap your opponent, or have them run away until you reach a well-fortified or defended base (assuming he already knows where it is). Having set up traps of tanks, bunkers, and missile turrets at several points for you to retreat to, you can destroy any force that follows you. You can then repair and heal, or counter-attack immediately with all you have nearby to destroy a base, expansion, or other position. Since your opponent suffered more losses than you due to a well-thought-out retreat on your part, saving most of your force, you should have an easy time. If the enemy does not follow you, continuing to your base, or you lead it to your base, bring what forces you can to help defend it. If you think you have a chance to attack with huge gains while his force is away from his bases, attack with what you can spare while leaving enough to defend yourself.

If you attack a base and find more forces there than you can handle with what you sent to do the job, retreat immediately. Bring up more forces to meet your retreating force and attack again if the defenders do not follow you. If they do follow, lead them into a trap or far from both your bases and theirs. Bring the rest of your forces that you can spare (and if you want to gamble, then send everything), and crush the base. Most likely the enemies following your first attack will turn around and try to defend their base as soon as they realize the trick. Immediately send your retreating force back to the base and hopefully you can crush the would-be defenders between two forces. After doing this, you can destroy the base completely at your leisure with a small force, and bring the rest back to defend your own bases from the counter-attack that is often sure to come. If instead the enemy tries to defend with forces from other bases, move immediately to attack those bases as well if you're able. If you're lucky enough, the base you hit can be destroyed before the enemy gets there, in which case you can engage the enemy again or retreat back to your own bases, leaving the rest of your forces to cause massive damage to the remaining enemy bases, and possibly ending the game right then and there. If the game is not ended at that point, and your forces are driven back or destroyed, you might want to take advantage of the situation further by building a new expansion. Rebuilding, healing, and repairing your forces is also very important.

That was but one situation. Many things could be different. You might not have enough forces to attack as much as you did. You might need to do a full retreat and let the weakened enemy die at your bunkers and turrets. Neither side may gain any great advantage. With some luck though, a small retreat can cause a major victory somewhere down the road.

A hit-and-run attack is very similar to a retreat. The difference is merely that you plan to retreat quickly after doing damage, instead of having to retreat because of unknown factors. Hitting and running is great for vultures. Imagine a small force of vultures flying past the outer defenses of an enemy base, dropping spidermines and attacking a couple of turrets before dropships fly in past the destroyed turrets, pick up some of the vultures (flying them to safety), and the rest of the vultures go out the way they came. Some may be destroyed, but most of the force escaped relatively unscathed. The bewildered enemy now has to rebuild their air defenses, and try to destroy the mines without them going off. This will cost them in time and resources, and distract them from making an attack against you. If you plan well enough, you can bring in some air to attack the base further, since its air-defense system was severely damaged. You might also want to stage another attack at another base right before your vultures go in to draw defenders, or help cover the vultures' escape with a small attack to keep the bunkers and tanks busy.

Another such hit-and-run attack could be accomplished using air as the main force. Fly your wraiths in quickly, or even under cloak, straight to the enemy's command center. Destroy the SCVs in the area, and maybe kill the attached comsat or nuke silo. Fly them out quickly before the enemy has time to react. You'll slow their economy, and destroy an important support structure.

For the most part, you'll only get one such hit-and-run attack in a game. The enemy will have more defenses within his base next time, not just at the edge, so you'll have to be more careful. You can still do more shallow hit-and-runs, like against a bunker, tank, cannon, or spore colony at the edge of his base, but the gain will be less, and you may take heavier loses. Just remember to use heavy support, like EMP and even a nuke or two to knock out key defenses before going in. The hit-and-run is good because it preserves most of your attacking force, and causes strategic loses on your enemy.