Starcraft 2 questions from a total n00b.

Hey, so I seem to be having some real trouble with this game in multiplayer, to put it plainly, im getting DEMOLISHED. Ive been playing as the terran as they are the only race that interests me. Ive watched videos on youtube about strategies and crazy tactics. I have a few questions.

1. Terrans *seem* to be at an early game dissadvantage, the Marines are ranged units but they are rather expensive for the beggining. They have low health, no shielding, and lack the numbers the zerglings have. Can someone give tell me a good advantage that marines have over other races? because it seems to me at this part of the game (and I finsd, the most crucial), i am at a dissadvantage.

2. What is the point of making another "town centre" structure before your home bases minerals have been exhausted? It sems a waste of money when I can simply build more miners at the home base.

3. What are good units to use against protoss? Zerg?

4. I already know about the bottlenecking strategy for base defense, by using a supply depot os a "doorway", are there any other practical terran strategies?

Thanks.

Your best bet would be to keep playing and than just watching replays.

I have played SC II for a few games, but I would assume marines are ranged vs melee of Zerg and Protos, so you really gotta micro the marines to keep them alive.

Only way to get good at SC II is to keep on playing. after around 100 games you will start to understand it. After 500 games you will get better. To be good, i would say u need to play 1000 games.

Marines are actually good starting units because of their range alone. Also, there're two reasons for expansions: To increase resource intake and as a safety net for when your resources at your main diminish. As for good units against Protoss and Zerg, it really depends on what they're building. Marauders are great against roaches and stalkers. Vikings decimate colossi. Hellions incinerate zerglings. Scout for info and take advantage of it.

Like Creative said. Study your replays, play a ton of games, try different strategies and see what works.

1. You need to wall in as Terrans versus other races until you can get some other stuff out other than marines. Well, you can also use bunkers, but most players seem to prefer the wall in. Terrans are hard to early game push with (or against, assuming they have walled in), but they have some harass units that can be really obnoxious with good micro, namely hellions and reapers. Don't forget that supply depots can be lowered so you can walk over them. Very handy.

2. The point of making another "town centre" is to increase your income, of course. Expansions do tend to be more vulnerable to attacks, and the more you have, the harder it is to defend everything. That is part of the dynamic of the game. Generally, if your opponent has an expansion with a bunch of miners at it, you should go after that rather than their main, as the main will run out of money sooner. Of course, there might be other strategic reasons to go after the main. ALWAYS go after workers if you can get to them easily. They are very vulnerable and killing them slows down everything else. Of course there are exceptions, but you'll probably know them when you see them. ;)

3. Just depends on the situation. Knowing what your opponent is up to is always important. Similary, denying your opponent knowledge of what you are doing is also useful. If they think you are doing one thing, it's often best to switch to something else. (For example, if you send in a bunch of air units, expect them to have a lot of anti-air later, unless they are going to soon make a big push on your base.)

4. That's usually the best thing to do. It's that or bunkers. The thing about bunkers is that you spend money on them that you aren't spending on units, and that not walling off gives your opponent a chance to more easily see what you are makng, which is bad in general. Marines alone will get torn up by a cost equivalent number of zerglings or zealots. Marauders are pretty beefy though.

Thanks for all the posts and ideas, I appreciate it, but I have one more question...

What is a good build order for terrans in general? Nothing specialized for certain maps, but a good rule of thumb?