Favorite HoTS Arcs

[ragnarok]

One of my main problems with Char was the complete moronic way they portrayed Warfield.

I'll now put what I wrote on him from the battlenet forums here:

If you recall when the Zerg invasion started in WoL, Warfield was chosen by Mengsk to deal with the invasion. Due to Dominion propaganda, Raynor was portrayed as nothing more than an idiotic scumbag hellbent on chaos in the sector.

But Warfield should have at least gained respect for Raynor's fighting abilities, if not his character. Remember, in the Media Blitz mission, when Mengsk discovered what Raynor was up to, he ordered Warfield to stop him. Warfield had more troops and more resources, but Raynor won anyway.

Now, Warfield might have interpreted this as HIS victory, because he drove the Raiders off Korhal, but that wasn't Raynor's intent, and Warfield HAD to have seen the broadcast in the aftermath of that mission.

Yet right before the Char invasion began, Warfield told Raynor that while he led 5 separate invasions against the swarm, Raynor just hid under a rock.

Did he COMPLETELY forget what happened on Korhal? What gave him the right to call Raynor a coward when Raynor ALREADY BEAT HIM on Korhal?

Furthermore, assuming Warfield was telling the truth about the 5 offensive operations against the swarm, then why the hell didn't the UNN new broadcasts (which is supposed to be pro-Dominion) say anything about it?

The only explanation is quite simple: More than likely, all of Warfield's offensives ended in failure, and the swarm invasion continued unhindered.

This brings us to the Char invasion itself: Raynor warned Warfield not to attack head on, but Warfield did it anyway, feeling that Raynor was too stupid to know anything about war, and look where THAT got him. Raynor and Tychus had to rescue Warfield or he would have been killed by the Zerg.

Only right before the LAST WoL began did Warfield begin to show respect for Raynor, saying that Mengsk was probably wrong about him, as he risked his life for Dominion troops who would have been hunting him down, and praised Raynor for what he did. In that briefing, I had honestly thought Warfield had finally learned.

.

But in HotS, it was revealed Warfield had learned absolutely NOTHING. Sending Gorgon Battlecruisers against Kerrigan only ONE at a time, from a lore perspective, is nothing short of ludicrous.

Kerrigan said because the Gorgon was so huge, it'd why Warfield couldn't fit more than one in the trench at one time. THAT part is acceptable, there's nothing wrong there.

But if that's true, then why the hell didn't Warfield order the Gorgons to fly ABOVE the trench? You can't use the excuse of "too high altitude means inaccuracy", just look at how accurate the satellite targeting systems are TODAY.

The same was true in the "Old Soldiers" mission, when Kerrigan was assaulting his operations center. Warfield continuously claimed he didn't need the artifact in order to beat her, and look where that got him. This was the EXACT same attitude he had in WoL right before the Char invasion, thinking he knew everything, and that got him nowhere.

When you combine these points together, then in the cutscene where he demanded Kerrigan let the shuttles of wounded go, you could actually say Kerrigan had the more justifiable hand here if she DIDN'T let them go. After all, she told Warfield MANY times on Char to leave the planet (this was before she even knew Raynor was alive), and Warfield didn't listen. So in that respect, HE was the one who got his soldiers killed for his inability to swallow his own foolish pride.

[Turalyon]

At least Zerus had no Overmind left to retcon, and we already knew what to expect when we got there.

It's just as bad since it just continues the Overmind retcon but adds another layer of compost by saying that all the Zerg we have known so far are "corrupt" and not supposed to be the real Zerg (which the Primal Zerg ostensibly are). Then again, I guess it only hurts the first time...

One of my main problems with Char was the complete moronic way they portrayed Warfield.

I guess Warfield is supposed to be Duke 2.0 but just a more boring version.

[FanaticTemplar]

But Warfield should have at least gained respect for Raynor's fighting abilities, if not his character. Remember, in the Media Blitz mission, when Mengsk discovered what Raynor was up to, he ordered Warfield to stop him. Warfield had more troops and more resources, but Raynor won anyway.

Now, Warfield might have interpreted this as HIS victory, because he drove the Raiders off Korhal, but that wasn't Raynor's intent, and Warfield HAD to have seen the broadcast in the aftermath of that mission.

Doesn't really matter, it was a sneak attack where the Raiders hit and ran before Warfield could fully get his forces to bear. Might be impressive as a guerilla strike, but it means nothing about his skills as a tactical commander.

Furthermore, assuming Warfield was telling the truth about the 5 offensive operations against the swarm, then why the hell didn't the UNN new broadcasts (which is supposed to be pro-Dominion) say anything about it?

I'm pretty sure they did:

"General Warfield begins 'Operation Burnout' to clear Sara system"
"1st fleet engage zerg in Sara system"
"Major battle in Dylar system"
"Zerg raiders stopped at Lakius"
"Zerg advance slows +++ General Warfield credited with successful zerg strategy"

Now, those are probably not all about Warfield, but at least two are, and the last one is presumably the most relevant here. If you're asking why it's never brought up in the main cast, that's because those are always designed around what the player just did.

I guess Warfield is supposed to be Duke 2.0 but just a more boring version.

Duke just keeps growing on me. The man is a comedic gold mine. While Warfield may fill his narrative role, the more interesting parts of his character mostly went to Tychus, I think.

[ragnarok]

Doesn't really matter, it was a sneak attack where the Raiders hit and ran before Warfield could fully get his forces to bear. Might be impressive as a guerilla strike, but it means nothing about his skills as a tactical commander.

Well sure we know the Raiders had to abandon the Odin on Korhal, but still. You think Warfield's troops didn't ALL arrive by the time the transmissions were uploaded?

[Telenil]

The real problem with Media Blitz is not that Raynor had the time to broadcast his transmission, but that the Raiders could leave the planet after that. I was about to mention the giant planetary cannons seen in HotS, but I'm beginning to suspect an addition to a Blizzard universe is not necessarily retroactive. That is, no matter when these cannons were built in-universe, you are not supposed to assume they existed during events written before the writers thought of putting cannons on the planet.

In any case, the Raiders only pulled it off thanks to the so-called "off-screen manoeuver", which consists in cutting directly to the point the character succeeded. They probably learned the move from Zeratul, who boarded the Hyperion in a very similar way.

Yes, I am in fact a little embittered.

[ragnarok]

The real problem with Media Blitz is not that Raynor had the time to broadcast his transmission, but that the Raiders could leave the planet after that. I was about to mention the giant planetary cannons seen in HotS, but I'm beginning to suspect an addition to a Blizzard universe is not necessarily retroactive. That is, no matter when these cannons were built in-universe, you are not supposed to assume they existed during events written before the writers thought of putting cannons on the planet.

In any case, the Raiders only pulled it off thanks to the so-called "off-screen manoeuver", which consists in cutting directly to the point the character succeeded. They probably learned the move from Zeratul, who boarded the Hyperion in a very similar way.

Yes, I am in fact a little embittered.

I'm more embittered by the fact that Mengsk turned it around so easily. Sure, Mengsk claimed it was faked, and that's certainly possible, but the problem is his actions would tend to match those words in the broadcast.

After all, Raynor at least did what he could to save innocent lives during the Zerg invasion, such as Dr. Hanson's people. Mengsk didn't even try, he just left the fringe worlds to their fate. From the Dominion civilians' POV, this would match his personality if the broadcast was real.

For the planetary cannons, you have to remember that the Dominion didn't know the Raiders were in control of the Odin, but even then they were very stupid to have not seen the Hyperion and everything.

Again, to me this deal with Mengsk's propaganda and Dominion arrogance: that the military though no one would be foolish enough to even TRY to attack Korhal.

[FanaticTemplar]

The real problem with Media Blitz is not that Raynor had the time to broadcast his transmission, but that the Raiders could leave the planet after that. I was about to mention the giant planetary cannons seen in HotS, but I'm beginning to suspect an addition to a Blizzard universe is not necessarily retroactive. That is, no matter when these cannons were built in-universe, you are not supposed to assume they existed during events written before the writers thought of putting cannons on the planet.

I'm pretty sure Terrans have had these massive defensive cannons since the Ion Cannon from StarCraft.

[Turalyon]

I'm more embittered by the fact that Mengsk turned it around so easily.

That's easy for the master of absurd comebacks.

For the planetary cannons, you have to remember that the Dominion didn't know the Raiders were in control of the Odin, but even then they were very stupid to have not seen the Hyperion and everything.

They had time to scramble an army to try and stop Raynor on three separate occasions while he was at those towers, surely they could have also activated some orbital cannons and trained their sights at his position in that time, too.

Also, as FT points out, they've had things like Ion Cannons since Sc1 where the whole mission was to destroy it before they could even contemplate escaping. Somehow, they are apparently absent on Korhal or on any orbiting platforms around it.

Hm, it must be that Mengsk didn't actually want to kill Raynor what with the fear of making him a martyr and all. It's probably also the reason he doesn't do it for real in HotS even though he blabs to everyone on the news that he did.

[Telenil]

I'm pretty sure Terrans have had these massive defensive cannons since the Ion Cannon from StarCraft.

Right. I guess off-screen manoeuvre trumps ion cannons, too.

It's probably also the reason he doesn't do it for real in HotS even though he blabs to everyone on the news that he did.

Well, Arcturus needs an hostage in case Kerrigan attacks his troops Dominion planets crucial facilities Korhal!
... yeah. That Space arc is even worse if you do it after Skygeirr.

[ragnarok]

That's easy for the master of absurd comebacks.

Which, to me, is utter BS. Blizzard took the shortcut instead of actually TRYING. No politician could manipulate the people THAT easily.

Also, as FT points out, they've had things like Ion Cannons since Sc1 where the whole mission was to destroy it before they could even contemplate escaping. Somehow, they are apparently absent on Korhal or on any orbiting platforms around it.

I know about the Ion Cannon, but you don't know if there's more. Raynor destroyed that one, and we don't know if Mengsk found a way to reverse engineer it or not.