Starcraft 2 The Great Train Robbery Brutal Guide

Starcraft 2 Campaign Walkthrough --> The Great Train Robbery Brutal Guide (you are here)

With this The Great Train Robbery Brutal guide, you have no problems beating this mission on Brutal Difficulty.

Unlike my traditional bullet-point approach, I have outlined this mission on a train-by-train basis.

This way, you have exact objectives to accomplish between each train so you know exactly where you need to be.

If you fall behind at any point, you cannot complete this mission, so keeping pace is important.

Our general strategy will be to build up a large army consisting of Diamondbacks, Marines, and Medics, as well as making extensive use of the free Diamondbacks and resource pellets that litter the map.

Step-by-Step The Great Train Robbery Brutal Guide

Train 1:

Before the first train comes, you need to pick up your free Diamondbacks. Here are the locations:

You can get Diamondbacks 1-4 without fighting any units, while Diamondbacks 5 and 6 have small guards. Before the first train comes, pick up Diamondback #1 with your Marines, and then use that Diamondback to pick up Diamondbacks 2, 3, and 4.

Pick up all the resource pellets you see while you are out as well.

Train a few SCVs at your base as well. You only need about 12 total is fine as resources deplete quickly at this map.

Additionally, make plenty of supply depots and throw a Reactor down on your Barracks. Train Marines and Medics.

Kill the first train with just your Diamondbacks. This will not be a problem.

Train 2:

Before train 2 comes, use your Diamondbacks to pick up #5 and #6 and all the free resource pellets. Start training Diamondbacks at your Factory (free resource pellets should make this easy.

Additionally, keep training Marines and Medics at your Barracks. When the second train comes, use Stim on your Marines and Medics to meet the train out of the tunnel. Use your Marines and Medics to kill off the guards and then have your Diamondbacks clear out the train.

Build an Engineering Bay and keep training more units.

Train 3:

Get +1 Weapons/Armor for Marines and Medics. Keep training units. Pick up your mercenaries if you have not already.

When you see the 3rd train announcement, Stim your Marines and use them to rush to the train. They will kill off the escort. Keep your Diamondbacks in the back and let them pick off the train with ease.

Train 4 & 5:

Keep repeating the process used in step 3. Continuously add Diamondbacks and Marines and Medics to your arsenal. The key is to use stim as soon as you hear the train announced and head right to that ramp.

Let your Diamondbacks hang out in back and pick off the train once it comes through.

Train 6:

Train 6 is "boosted" and moves extra fast. You should have around 16 Diamondbacks at this point if you have been training them continuously, so stopping this train should not be a problem.

You will run out of minerals at your main base at this point. This is okay as you should have a large enough army to last the entire time now. Additionally, killing trains does lead to some extra income for more units.

Train 7:

Before Train 7 comes, I like to take out the northern field of patrolling Marauders. Send in your Marines first, and let your Diamondbacks back them up. You should lose very few units if your army is big (~150 supplies).

They get in the way of killing Train 7, so I like to kill them ahead of time.

Train 8:

When Train 8 is announced, once again stim your Marines to head to the tunnel. However, this time, keep your Diamondbacks a good distance back from the Marines.

Your Marine forces will actually lose to the Terran, simply because the Terran's southern Marauder Patrol hits the same time as the Escort does. However, this is not very important.

Your Marine forces will take forever to die, and long before they die you can use your Diamondback to kill the last train. The last train will outrun the escort, making this thing quite easy!

The Great Train Robbery Diamondback Locations + Research Locations

The numbered map below indicates where the Diamondbacks spawn. The Zerg icons indicate locations of the Zerg research.

Brutal The Great Train Robbery Video Walkthrough

Here is a video guide demonstrating how to beat this mission on brutal mode while unlocking all the achievements. This video uses Bunkers to help you defeat the Marauder squads as they can be tough otherwise on brutal.

The Great Train Robbery Achievements

There are two achievements associated with this mission: Bully the Bullies and Silver Streak.

To complete Bully the Bullies, you simply kill the Marauder kill squads in normal mode. Follow the strategy mentioned above and kill both Marauder squads with your Marines in between the 6th and 8th trains.

To complete Silver Streak, you cannot let any trains pass while completing the mission on Hard mode (or higher). To complete this, follow the guide above. I wrote the guide as I played through on Brutal Mode and had no problem stopping all 8 trains.

The Great Train Robbery Brutal Guide Conclusion

By following the mass marine, medic, and diamondback strategy, beating The Great Train Robbery on Brutal is very easy. Make sure you save before each train so you can re-load the game if you make a mistake!