After playing a lot of StarCraft 2 ladder,

I became curious to the game in the arcade mode. One of my first and favorite games was Colonial Line Wars.

What is Colonial Line Wars?

It is basically a 3 versus 3 Rock Paper scissors tug of war game. The aim is to advance your units forward until it destroys the base of the opponent at the opposite side.

The type and the number of units you build is key to gain more ground and move closer to the opponents base. Once you get close enough to the opponents side, you will be able to destroy important defense structures until eventually destroying the opponents structures that spawn units and soon the main base.

How it is played

Building Units

You will be able to build structures that spawn units. At first you can build Marines and Zerglings. You will need to spend money to build other units and research to build higher tier units. There are tier 1, tier 2, tier 3 and tier 4 units.

(from left to right)
Tier 1 - Marine, Zergling Reaper, Hydralisk, Zealot
Ranged: Reaper, Marine Hydralisk
Melee: Zergling, Zealot

Tier 2 - Roach, Fire bats, Medics, Marauders, Stalkers, Mutalisk, Sentry, High Templar, Dark Templar, Spectre
Ranged: Roach, Marauders, Stalkers, Mutalisk, Sentry, High templar, Spectre
Melee: Firebats, Dark Templar

Tier 3 - Vikings, Siege Tanks, Ghost, Ultralisk, Banshee, Ultralisk, Scout, Banelings, Goliaths, Void Ray
Ranged: Siege Tanks, Ghost, Goliath
Melee: Ultralisk, Banelings
Flying: Scout, Banshee, Void Ray, Vikings

Tier 4 - Thor, Infestors, Collosus, Battlecruiser, Archon, Carrier
Ranged: Collosus, Thor, Archon Infestor
Melee: N/A
Flying: Carrier, Battlecruiser

Getting Income

Once the game start, you will be given a starting money of 310 minerals and every 15 seconds, you will receive a certain amount of money. To increase your money influx, you will need to control as much beacon as possible. Each lane has 3 beacons.

The number beacons you and your team controls, determines the amount of income given every 15 seconds. You control beacons once your units is able to pass or gain ground of the beacon. Another way is to invest by spending 150 minerals.

So the next time you receive your money, it will increase a certain amount based on the number of beacons controlled. If you want to be able to maximize your investments, it is recommended to control at least 2 beacons.

Look of one of the beacons ingame

Tips and Tricks

1. Build units in rows according to range. That way they wont block each other from shooting

2. Use mixed armies. High health units and melee in the front, ranged units in the back.
   That way your ranged units can live and shoot longer and your army will be more cost efficient.

3. Try to push your lane to the middle at least and keep it at that state.

4. Invest only if you’re confident that you can control at least 2 beacons
   Never ever build in front of your bunkers. Your bunkers Regen health every second, your buildings do NOT. And you need those buildings to spawn units to win. Those defences keeps the opponents units from destroying your structures.

5. If you notice that your opponent isn't building any additional units, there is a chance, especially if the player isn't new, that the player is researching higher tier units or preparing to switch into a large mass of a unit like void rays. So watch out for that.
   
   

Colonial Line Wars can be played in the Arcade Mode of StarCraft 2.