[OxygeN]

Hi everybody, I am back this time writing a weekly column on the ways to utilize every unit the terran army posses, and first up, is the hellions!

Okay, so to get the basics to one side, the prerequisites of a hellion is a factory, 2 food 100 minerals... it does 8+6(16) damage, movement speed of 3.75, attack speed of really damn slow, 90 hitpoints... yup! thats it.

Now, being Terran we are exposed to this very enticing concept called tech switch! tech labs and reactors, oh, one of the best things SC2 possess for the terran players! that means, you can plan ahead... way far ahead.

I will discuss hellions largely in the context of TvZ as they are mostly utilized there, if even utilized.

So a factory can attach either the tech lab, or reactor, which one would you choose, why and when? In my opinion, the only time you would attach a tech lab FIRST to your factory is when you are looking for a delayed harass/push! Because +10 damage is that much more deadly.

Pros : You get a delayed timing push.
Your initial display of 1 or 2 hellions may influence the opponent to build static defences / over commit on units while you can expo.(because 1 factory eats minerals too slowly, and you don't have gas for a starport)
You get better late game units.

Cons : If opponent sees through your scare tactic by sacrificing an overlord, mutalisks are going to come, and fast.
eats up alot of gas, so you can't really do much harass, eg. no cloaked banshees, no hellion drops early... the list goes on.

All in all, I would never suggest getting a tech lab first on your factory, either naked ones,(yes i love calling my buildings naked, makes them feel all the more sexy.) or get reactored ones.

Reactored ones.

Pros : Come out faster... a whole shit lot faster. kills zergs who brush off hellion harass like i been there 1000 times, it should be cake. come with 8 hellions, 4 in medivac drop and see him fluster!
ALOT of early harass, FORCES the opponent to invest in defences/units. scouts out every unit composition he is going.

Cons : Well, no expo anytime before 40ish 50 food, and that's about it.
oh yeah, and a roach push is VERY deadly against a reactor'd hellion build.

So other than the early game harass, which everyone already knows,(i can see you yawning behind the screen!) what other uses can it be in? Answer... MANY. yes, they are not part of the MMM push. Yes, they can't get healed by medivacs. Yes, they can't do much except harass... wait. no?

So what can hellions do other than harass? Mix in 4-5 hellions into a 100 food push against a toss who gets chargelots with HTs, and watch the magic of hellions behind MMMG. toss a few hellions into a random toss expo while pushing and witness game control after that. shove in some vs Z, to own zerglings(okay u knew that already :/), but who does that? Look at the recent bio pushes. Bio + tanks are the way to go so it seems, with no hellions.

Other than that I would like to point out something. Hellions does 8 damage in a line, is very massable. have you ever seen 20 hellions surround a group of anything?? even armored units. it roasts everything like marshmallows. Uses for this I still haven't played around much yet but I did try it in 4s, and it works like a charm.

Hope my mediocre article didn't bore the shit out of anyone! I write this entirely out of interest and fun, and am in no means a pro! peace out! and share your stories of hellions below! Whether u owned with em, or got owned! it's all pretty much the same!