3. Desperate Alliance
You must simply survive for 30 minutes to succeed at this mission. You will only lose this mission if your every last structure is eliminated before the countdown expires. Quickly set up your base. Try and have two SCVs per one mineral patch, and make sure and keep an eye on your supply count and build plenty of Supply Depots to support your forces. Build an additional Barracks, and set up three to four Bunkers at each of the two choke points. Fill those with Marines and the occasional Firebat. Position Missile Turrets near your bunkers to help fend off the airborne Mutalisks.
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Three Marines and a Firebat in a Bunker makes for a powerful defense against the Zerg onslaught |
This is also your chance to set up a Factory with Machine Shop attachment. Research Spider Mines and send out some Vultures to mine the area outside your base. Bring the Vultures back and position them at your front line to help against the intermittent Zerg assaults. Keep an SCV or two near to each choke point to repair your Bunkers and Missile Turrets if they take damage.
Expect a huge wave of Zerglings, Hydralisks, and Mutalisks to come your way with around two minutes remaining on the clock. If you fortified your defenses properly, you'll stop them cold. Even if they break through into your base, though, it's unlikely that they can destroy it before the mission timer runs out. Try and work quickly during this mission - you won't have it quite so easy later on.
4. The Jacobs Installation
Your strike force here consists of exactly a dozen men - seven Marines, four Firebats, and Jimmy Raynor. These troops are fully upgraded and have the option to use Stim Packs if they must. Select the lot of them and designate them to a hotkey with Ctrl-#. You won't need to break them up into smaller groups. Proceed west down the corridor and watch as your men easily dispatch any opposition they meet, including a Terran Goliath mobile suit and concealed wall defenses. Try and keep Jimmy toward the front of your force; he is very powerful. Once you reach the end of the hall, proceed north then west until you find a beacon that unlocks the nearby doors. Enter the room to your west to encounter a fateful surprise.
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Jimmy's tough enough to reach the destination all by himself |
Return to the hallway leading north and work your way further north then west past a group of enemy Vulture Hoverbikes. You will find a teleporter in the northwest corner of the map, transferring you to the northeast corner. Now proceed south until you find yourself in a large room. The Marines and Firebats there should pose little threat, and the data you require is located toward the bottom of the room. Once you reach this beacon, you win the mission.
The enemy presence in the Jacobs Installation should pose little problem for your force, and Jim Raynor can even complete the mission alone if you want to give him a challenge. Just remember to move your forces forward with the Attack function, by pressing A and then left-clicking to the new area. That way, your forces will automatically shoot at anything hostile that they see.
Next: 5. Revolution 
