In this replay, a quickmatch game vs the no. 50, I counter his Dwarven rush, and show how to turtle up. When I get a fellbeast things go different and the battle goes into late game. Have a look at this replay! Its definately worth it.
Bendak (Mordor) vs IstArI|GrindeX (Dwarves)(EA RNK :103)
Played on Ettenmoors
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Player : Bendak
BO: Slaughter House,Orcpit(x2),Orc Archers,Orc Warriors
Positives
[+]Nice Defense at the beginning of the match. You successfully defended your base from the Guardian rush using your Archers. Your good beginning possibly gave you the victory.
[+]Good position of the Orc Pits.You kept a big distance between them. You didn't give your opponent the chance to destroy your military buildings in a single attack.
[+]Nice use of Tainted Land in the beginning. Also it was a very good choice to select this power. Most players are selecting the Eye of Sauron. But Tainted Land is more useful when you're playing against Dwarves or when your game is defensive.
[+]Catapults just in time ! You were able to repel your opponent's second attack using (mainly) your 2 catapults.
[+]Excellent Fell-Beast micromanaging. You destroyed 3 tunnels and 1 Forge Works building. Also you chose the best time to use the screech ability. I admit I would have used it earlier!
[+]In the end you’ve managed the 2 battle fronts(defense and attack) very well. You repelled your enemy's last attack and the same time you destroyed his base using your attack trolls and your fell-beast.
[=] You, eventually lost your Fell-Beast but it was too late for your enemy. It definitely gave you time to make your defense invincible.
[=] You had problems with placing your slaughter houses. You were afraid the dwarves. That cause you some problems with your economy in the beginning.
[=]Nice "Turtling" . .
Negatives
[-]You didn't find your opponent's forward mine. I saw you searched but you chose different side.
[-]You lost your first Great Siege Works mainly because you didn't choose the right location to built it. However your second GSW's location was perfect !
[-]After your opponent's first attack you should be more offensive , dude. His buildings were scattered in the whole map. You could have destroyed many of them without using your Fell-Beast.
Player Summary :
It was really good game from your part. Indeed ,you' re show some hints for a mordor player how to successfully counter a Guardian rush .(Which is by the way the strategy used by the EA's ladder no 1 (tke|turtle) to quickly crush any opponent.)
Maybe someone could "accuse" you for turtling but this is not correct. Don't forget that sometimes turtling is the only way to counter the guardian rush. Also I saw excellent use of mordor catapults .The only thing that surprised me a bit was the fact that you failed to found the forward mine. Other than that great.
Rating : 4/5
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Player : IstArI|GrindeX
BO:Mine (x2),Hall of Warriors, Mine (forward),Guardians (x2)
Positives
[+]You hided your forward mine very good .It took your opponent much hour to find it.
[+]Quick Battlewagon. That could give you the victory .Also I liked the place where you built your Forge Works.
[+]Quick research of Forged Blades .That was very quick indeed ! I didn't even spotted when/where you built a blacksmith !
[=]You destroyed your opponent's Great Siege Works but it seems it was too late. Your enemy has already 2 catapults , more than enough to (easily) destroy your Axe Throwers/Men of Dale.
[=]As I said you may create your battlewagon quite early but you didn't use it well.No good micro at all. Plus you didn't try to do any harassment to your opponent.
Negatives
[-]Apparently you failed to crush your opponent in the beginning. Not too good Guardian Rush.
[-] Your second attack was too late.He had already made catapults. Catapults were the main reason of your failure to break his defense.
[-]You didn’t capture the inns ! That was something I didn't expected from you ! You second attack should be Guardians combined with Men of Dale (created from the inn).That would not allow your opponent to make catapults and plus you would have wiped out his Orc Archers.I repeat that was a big mistake.
[-]In the middle of the game and then you stopped to use stances ! It's true. Check the replay !
[-]You 've made 4 attacks. All of them (except the last one) came from the same side of the map. That made you predictable. In your last attack (in which you used King Dain) you had to face a fully upgraded fortress and 4 well placed catapults.
[-]You left your base without any protection ! 2 Attack Trolls destroyed all of your buildings without any resistance. Maybe you were busy with attacking your opponent but don't forget he also attacked and the same time he was defending.
[-]Did you forget that Dwarves have also Siege units ?
Player Summary :
You didn't played bad but you didn't played very good too. Bendak's defense with catapults was invincible. You had one and only chance to win this. And that's how : I understand that the Guardian rush many times cannot be successful , especially when you're facing a skilled opponent. Since your first attack failed You should have made your second attack much earlier, before he gets catas.The map had 2 inns givin' you the opportunity to have cheap and quick Men of Dale. Believe it or not but 2 Guardian bats with 2 Men of Dale squads with good micro would be enough to break your opponent.(before he gets catapults I repeat).If that fails too you should have tried to make some siege units.
~Rating : 2.5/5~
~~~~Match Rating : 3.5/5~~~~
I recommend you to see this replay , especially if you are a Mordor player. You can learn many hints about how can you counter the guardian rush and perform a good Mordor turtling with catapults.