They thought we were trolling. Then the Air Spam happened. Halo Wars 2
Andy runs Shipmaster with Gus and Hosti on Ashes against Colony, Yap Yap, and Anders. What starts as a meme-y early push and plasma-bolt deletes snowballs into mass air from the other team—but Team Respawn still closes the lobby out.
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What we built
- Shipmaster leans on early hero pressure and Plasma Bolt upgrades rather than a clean macro opener.
- Opponents include a Condor timing and a player who stalls on grunts and turrets before finally committing to air.
- Team Respawn coordinates siege follow-ups once bases are cracked open by leader powers.
Attack & defense
- Plasma Bolt tier 3 is used to wipe enemy structures in one shot once vision is shared.
- Early Arbiter pathing issues on the enemy side buy time, but the real fight becomes answering air and condor pressure.
- Siege is called in to finish exposed bases after leader-power nukes soften them up.
- When the opponent finally masses air, the team trades units to keep pressure while cleaning up remaining bases.
Turning points
- A stuck enemy hero and turret wall almost ends the game before it starts, but baiting sacrifices stabilizes the lane.
- Plasma Bolt deletes a main after the team spots the real base—momentum swings hard.
- The opponent's long stall (grunt max, turrets, late T2) backfires once Team Respawn commits to base deletes.
- Late mass air looks scary, but the lobby collapses once multiple players are eliminated and the last base is nuked.
Opponent notes
- Colony / Yap Yap / Anders spread is awkward to hit; Yap on a corner is the early focus target.
- One opponent plays almost entirely turrets and grunts, bleeding time without a real army.
- The air spike arrives late—after bases are already compromised—so it never stabilizes the game.
Takeaways
- Plasma Bolt vision into a coordinated delete is still one of Shipmaster's cleanest team-game closers.
- Don't read a troll opener as a throw—if the other team macro stalls, leader-power timing can end it first.
- Mass air needs pads and time; answering base damage matters more than panic-teching every unit.
- See our air-spam counter guide if you're on the defending side of a similar late air wave.