It’s pretty good, before I had to copy + paste into google to do this. The impressive thing is Facebook isn’t doing this for all foreigner’s posts, it only appears on the ones not written in English.

Opening gambit
The map to select is Agria valley, you want as small a map as possible for this but with some well placed cliffs to make the strategy work. I started by setting all Probes to mine and began production of a Probe. The first Probe to return with minerals is sent to the cliffs by the enemy base nearest the gold minerals. While the Probe is on the way, construct another. When your builder arrives, you should create your first pylon as on the right. While the pylon is building, do not construct any more Probes.

Place the forge
As the pylon finishes construction you should have approximately 150 minerals, time to place that forge. If all goes well it doesn’t matter where you place it however there’s no disadvantage to placing it like so. I’ve left space for a cannon just above it, if the enemy sends Probes or Zelots against the cannon they’ll have to run around the forge first and only a couple can attack it at a time. While the forge is constructing you should be able to build another two probes, applying a chrono boost will always help here.

Your first Cannon
Once the forge is up it’s time for the first cannon. It’s going in the spot just above the forge. Cannons take 40 seconds to build so you need to plan ahead when working to our timeframe. You should be able to build another two probes while the cannon is constructing, again, throw on a chrono boost. When the cannon is nearly complete run your Probe into the enemy base, if you do this too early you’ll lose the Probe, do it just right and your Cannon will obliterate their Probes. At this point you shouldn’t be building any more probes, you need everything for the cannons.

Expanding your reach
Place your next Pylon here and then carefully dodge their probes with yours, if you lose the probe you can still win though doing so within the 5 minute mark will be very tricky if not impossible. While writing this post I have wondered if it would work better to place the first pylon where the forge is and then replace the 2nd pylon with a cannon, getting another cannon up sooner rather than later is good. I suspect however the enemy Probes would destroy the still-building cannon too quickly.

Now add another cannon
At this stage it’s now time for a 2nd cannon. Make sure it’s within range of your first so it doesn’t get chewed up by any remaining Probes or the Zelots your enemy is building. This cannon will not be in range of the Nexus but it will allow you to place several which are.

If in doubt, add yet more cannons
While the 2nd cannon is still constructing you should be able to start building a few more cannons. As your 2nd cannon is not functioning yet I suggest trying to build several cannons at once rather than one at a time as soon as you get the minerals. If the enemy does go all in with his probes you’ve got nothing covering your cannons and need to buy time. You can’t buy time if your cannons die off before they’re finished.

Win, like a boss
As your cannons finish, order them to attack the Nexus. They’ll automatically attack gateways first but we don’t care about them, you want to take down the nexus as fast as possible to force a surrender within the 5 minutes.
 
 
 

Hopefully this will help you improve your game and demonstrate just how important it is to not get cannon rushed. The replay is located here for your viewing pleasure.

But this new game I am working on, I’ve gotten a lot of the basic data-storage sorted along with admin facilities so I can manage said data. I’ve got some testing scripts in place too and unlike with WoA they will be able to cover database calls too so I can in theory get 100% test coverage! I’m currently working on the battle simulator, unlike WoA this won’t be focused on war and the wars or battles that do take place will be small enough scale that the simulator will work.

The information about the game I can give out is that it’ll still be turn based but much faster (24 hours is the current plan), much more of it will be automated but much more of it will be focused on diplomacy and interaction with players. Despite being automated the battles will probably have more depth as travel time will play a larger role, at the same time the faster turns will allow for shorter in-game time-jumps so you will have a chance to react to enemy movements.

It’s still a fair way from completion but it’s really starting to come together.

Dancing continues to go well; so well that I will probably buy some actual shoes to dance in! On thursdays I stay for the advanced class and I’m good enough that I can remember the moves from it a week later. What I need to improve on though is my rhythm and timing, two things I knew I’d find hard before I even turned up for my first class. Dancing has it seems given me confidence at work too, my stats are up and I’m doing better than I think I’ve ever done before, if it keeps up then I could be buying a slightly more manly car.

WoA took up a huge amount of time in my week and normally I’d expect to be wondering what to fill this with. The good news is that a few weeks ago I took up salsa dancing and so I’m not worried about that. I’m really enjoying salsa, lots of fun and good exercise along with meeting new people.

There is however another change as a result. Any programming I did was almost all for WoA and now that’s not going to be around in the determinable future I’m now somewhat open to ideas. Thus if you have something small you want written/made then let me know and I’ll have a crack at it. I’m fluent in PHP, Python, HTML, CSS, Javascript, SQL and know some Java and C. I’m willing and able to learn other stuff too as needed.

The heavens opened up and down flowed the white powder of misery and despair otherwise called snow. This magical crystalline powder has the ability to cause disruption and destruction on a scale even I can barely comprehend. With warnings of carnage, bedlam and panic ringing in my ears I began my journey. I made my treacherous journey in my KA Sport, I figured that if the worst came to the worst and the car were to roll it would probably right itself anyway.

The road near my place of residence was perilous; at points I went even went sideways. When attempting to climb the gargantuan mountain at the end of it I feared all was lost as the wheels started to spin but my manly and courageous demeanour saw me through. I made it safely into work and realised then that I had not brought with me only my incredible physique but also a bouquet of germs for I was still ill. That’s right dear readers, I was miles from home in the terrifying Welsh snow and my life potentially hanging by a thread.

The illness was severe, I will not lie, I worried that I may succumb to it’s horrifying power. Realising that these hours could be my last I braved the blizzard conditions of Swansea and hunted for myself a McDonnalds breakfast meal. I devoured it as a fog-horn devours the silence. It was at this point that my hunter-gatherer instinct kicked in and I scoured the commercial outlets of the area for a secret-santa gift. I began the hike back to work.

Upon my triumphant return to the Admiral I rested, the march had sapped much of my precious and valuable energy, the plague was growing stronger and my every move taxed me. Heckles of “No shorts today then?” and “Where are your doughnuts mr Jordan?” rung in my ears but I endured. The day turned into a psychedelic haze of quality boards and arts and craft.

I was snapped violently from my semi-conscious state as I grasped the glitter pen and it spewed forth sparkling particles of wonder! My mind cleared and I could see clearly again. The euphoria was short lived and my task masters instructed me to return home lest I infect them with my vile contagion too.

—-

I went to work in the snow (and went sideways down my road for a bit), I was ill but still walked through Swansea. In then end they sent me home early because I was so ill. I think the dramatic re-telling is the more interesting version myself.

I had the interview for the SCR position but haven’t had feedback yet (bad timing of holidays for all involved), I didn’t get the job but I’m looking on the bright side in that as long as I am a CCR I can make more money, more money means I can get that new car I’m saving up for, that or expensive christmas presents for my Mum. The team grew to a super team with a new intake but they’ve now all moved to another team and we’re a “normal” team again, though with me on it it is doubtful that anybody considers us normal in any way. I’m undecided if I prefer the larger or smaller team.

I visited a friend from Uni (Andrew) and in the process got a tour of Pinewood. It was huge, awesome and well worth getting up at 4:30 in the morning and driving down to the M25. As for the weddings, four of my other friends from uni have gotten married and I managed to attend both weddings (despite one being a five and a half hour drive away), it was really nice meeting up with a load of my other friends from uni again.

Today I got locked in the car of a young lady. She walked away and locked the car while I was in it, she didn’t even crack open a window so I’m not sure what to make of this.

Not much else has happened recently but I figured knowing that I won another bottle of wine would be informative.

Generally things are going pretty good, I was part of the Guardian Angel stuff and Gary/Jade had me doing some extended GA stuff with some of our newer members. I was listening in to them and giving feedback on how they could improve, the stats of any that I gave feedback to have gone up massively which is always a good sign, it’s all good practice for when I apply for an SCR (assistant manager).

I’ve additionally transported my pint mug into work which I then use for cups of tea and hot chocolate, nobody was too surprised to see me with it.