Sunday, 7th December, 2004

Game Stats

The first encounter between both squads on November 15th, 2003, resulted in a victory for the Black Shadow. There was nothing but appreciation from both sides for the great match that had occurred. This game was no different.

Eleven pilots played for each side during most of the encounter. Black Shadow used the Dreghklar Empire, commanded by Lee_Mazilli, whereas the System ¤ used the Iron Coalition, commanded by Grey_Slayer. The map was HiHigher, with plentiful resources.

Early in the match, System ¤ already had planned to rush an outpost forward, a traditional strategy with IC, and this was carried out without problems. Black Shadow sent their outpost middle high, locking the area from the middle with mines and drones. They then sent another outpost middle low. Having taken the middle and blocked it with mines and drones, Black Shadow successfully blocked the System ¤ from using their early TAC effectively, with only a few miners lost. Black Shadow was also able to kill a few miners using nothing more than scouts and interceptor rushes.

Black Shadow's bomber rushes were quite successful, taking out a few IC bases which had been sent forward. This success was amplified when BS built their Supremacy Center, which yielded bombing technology, and they were slowly gaining territory, limiting damage to their miners from IC's TAC using a lot of mines and drones in alephs. In fact, BS' inclination towards bombing was demonstrated by the fact that they never used fighters, rather using Dreg's starting ship, the light interceptor, and getting an Expansion Complex later. System ¤ reacted by building an Expansion Complex, using Interceptors for more effective defense. However, BS' bomber attacks were still too damaging and threatening, almost taking out System ¤'s Tactical Lab, and even taking out an outpost defended by 9 System ¤ interceptors. Let it be noted that certain sectors lacked probes and this often lead to defense problems on System ¤'s side. However, certain players performed exemplary probing, fitting up to fifty probes in a single sector which pulsed in concert, and eliminating the lack of sight problem.

The tide turned when System ¤ upgraded their Expansion Complex, immediately gaining access to Heavy Interceptors. From there onward, no bases were lost for IC, and soon, HTT's would be ready. As BS was still strong on miner defense, coupled SF-Hvy Int attacks were necessary to take out all but one miner. The interceptors also allowed System ¤ to prevent BS from expanding further. However, Dreg was still strong and possessed the middle of the map, with an Expansion Complex of their own in the middle sector. System ¤ produced an assault using a bomber run on BS' Supremacy Center and a stealth HTT run on an outpost, both of which were successful, further limiting BS' chances at bombing. One HTT capture attempt of particular length occurred in a disputed sector where both teams had an outpost. A System ¤ stealth HTT run with four Nans was sent and almost managed to capture the BS outpost, but the HTT got rammed first by the enemy, then by one of its own Nans, and finally was destroyed after at least 30 seconds by the enemy doors. Sector swarming was then practiced by System ¤ in an attempt to find the miner and possibly intercept some constructors, with limited success, but keeping BS on the defensive. Along with those swarms, an HTT and bomber were sent in the BS home and captured the Dreg Garrison just in time for the interceptors to dock and launch in their own home to save the expansion complex.

Quickly, IC bombers launched from the captured Dreg Garrison and cleaned out the multiple teleport receivers, He3 refineries and refineries. Slightly more muscled assaults were then produced to destroy everything else except the three middle sectors. Quickly, however, more assaults along with interceptor swarms lead to the destruction of BS' Outposts in the extremities of the middle. BS was now locked in one sector with their Expansion Complex which they never managed to upgrade, IC mines and drones by the alephs, and eventually were destroyed.

The record between the System ¤ and Black Shadow is now 1-1. Again, both teams highly enjoyed the match and look forward to a rematch, possibly in one month.