Ok I'm admittedly still a bit of a noob at this game, but I'm fairly experienced in RTS games in general, and feel that I have a decent grasp of early game strategy in SC2. However, I can't seem to beat one friend of mine (I play Terran). Here's usually what happens:
I'll start a couple racks pretty early, and get a group of maybe 8-10 marines & marauders. I'll try to hit him early, but what usually happens is he is protected by a couple well placed photon cannons, which will do a decent amount of damage before I can get in his base. At that point, the couple of units he does have will usually finish me off. I'll try to keep pushing, but it's usually never enough (even more turrets now), and then eventually he'll get Carriers. At that point I usually just stop playing because even if I built up a bunch of Vikings, they are never enough for all the Carriers.
Any good strategies for taking him out early? I realized I could probably expand a bunch and eventually beat him in the resource wars, but that frankly just seems boring and a waste of time.
Best Answer
Remember: if your opponent is turtling, you should expand fast. If you're getting more resources, you can put together a 200 supply army before he can.
Siege Tanks
Siege Tanks have longer range than Photon Cannons. Build some Siege Tanks, set them up in siege mode just out of range of his Photon Cannons, and then use a flying unit (ideally a Raven, for detection) to ensure your Siege Tanks can see his Photon Cannons. A couple shots later the Photon Cannon should be toast.
Widow Mines
Set up a bunch of Widow Mines outside his base. If his Carriers aren't in combat, they won't have any interceptors out, so the mines will hit the Carriers rather than interceptors. When he tries to bring his Carriers to come get you, they'll fly right over a minefield. That should soften them up enough to be easy targets for Vikings.
Battlecruisers
If you think he's rushing to Carriers, go to Battlecruisers. You won't need a huge fleet of them; their Yamato Cannon ability will let you take out the Photon Cannons from a safe distance, so you can make a hole to get in and engage. This is probably the worst solution, though, since rushing to Battlecruisers isn't much faster than rushing to Carriers.