"On March 1, 2015, Earth was forever changed by the arrival of true extra-terrestrial life. In the following months and years, a small group of dedicated individuals, working in absolute secrecy, would respond, defend, and ultimately repel the alien incursion on our fragile blue planet. Many brave soldiers would make the ultimate sacrifice, and many more would have to become something inhuman to stop the alien menace. What follows is the most detailed account to date of the First Interplanetary War as those who know of it are now calling it. The Council's Office of Inspector General, Archives of the XCOM Research and Development Division, Training and Doctrine Directorate, and Council Archives have all submitted vast quantities of archival material for what will ultimately become the official account of mankind's first contact with alien life. More importantly, the history will take you to the front lines (and back alleys) through the oral histories of the soldiers, scientists, and engineers who were there. We will explore the back-room deals and bitter political fights between Council nations, their relationship with the operational arms of XCOM and how it impacted both those fighting and the billions of humans being fought for. Most importantly, we will delve into the decision-making process of the mysterious Commander of XCOM forces in the field. Through exclusive access to mission logs, audio recordings, and Council sessions, we will paint an accurate picture of the war as the Commander saw it, and hopefully come to a complete understanding of how Earth fought The Long War."
-- Mr. C.G. Spender
Editor-in-Chief, The Long War Project
Hey Everyone! I'm going to try another round of an XCOM war log. I tried one a few months ago, but unfortunately had to abandon it as my computer had some issues and work got in the way. I hope to make this a little more than a straight play-by-play of the missions being fought as I progress through the campaign, although I will of course give you the broad strokes of each mission. Most of you who frequent the video game boards here on Dakka will have heard of XCOM: Enemy Within or XCOM: Enemy Unknown. XCOM: Long War is a mod of XCOM: Enemy Within that significantly changes how the game is played by making the game much longer, the aliens much more numerous, and by totally revamping the economy system, research, foundry, and the class system for soldiers. The changes are too many to mention here but if you love XCOM but haven't played or heard of Long War then you owe it to yourself to check out the Long War Mod.
This isn't a let's play, and success isn't guaranteed. I'm not exactly the best XCOM player in the world, but I'll be forging ahead regardless of cost. Hope you guys enjoy!
I'll be playing the first couple of missions ahead, but I need the Dakka Corps to man the ranks! Give me your preferred name for your trooper (either a real name, fictitious name, or simple your screen name and you will have your own XCOM soldier to follow as he or she makes it (or doesn't make it) through the war. Certain soldiers will be given the spotlight in certain missions as the mission will be told from their point of view. I'll also track your kill by number, type, as well as consult you on your skill advancements and general look of your character. For the first month, I need to focus on getting rookies (called PFCs in Long War) leveled up to Specialists. The first group of Dakkanauts who are coerc.... volunteer to be part of XCOM will get their choice of class! So hit that reply button and JOIN NOW! XCOM, BE ALL YOU CAN BE... FOR HUMANITY!
LONG WAR: PRELUDE
"In the early days, it was chaos. No one knew who or what these things were, and the first UFOs almost sparked an international war when they penetrated the Canadian NORAD region. I remember council agents spent the first days of the conflict primarily intercepting UN communiques to keep the world from finding out what was going on. It wasn't until Strike 1 established contact on March 1st that we really knew what we were dealing with. I had been yanked out of Cheyenne (NORAD HQ - ed.) just a few days prior, sealed orders were put in my hand, and a chauffeur ferried me to the airport. Next thing I knew, I was in an underground bunker in God-knows-where with a bunch of other people who looked just as confused as I did. I remember meeting a German lady who seemed to be the only one excited by all of it..."
-- COL. Bradford (ret.)
Chief of Staff, XCOM HQ
Tensions immediately flared on the night of the 21st of February when unidentified signals were detected coming into Canadian airspace from the north over Baffin Island. Altitudes suggested Russian bombers, but the airspeeds, flight paths, and erratic speed changes made absolutely no sense. Canadian CF-18s attempted to intercept but were unable to close the distance - the UFOs were simply too fast. The subsequent emergency meetings, accusations, and counter-accusations by various member nations of the UN almost led to outright war. By February 27th, almost every nation that would take part in the Council had experienced violations of their airspace.
As the Security Council descended into recrimination and threats of war, a small gathering of influential diplomats, industrialists, bankers, politicians, and heads of state convened an emergency session in Davos, Switzerland. There they formed the Council of Nations - 16 nations (with 20 associate members) who would look to defusing this potentially world-ending crisis. It was a fateful meeting that would ultimately shape the future of the planet.
When the bombing raids started, and the kidnappings began, every nation (at least publicly) disavowed all knowledge. The responses ranged from elaborate cover ups in the EU and North America, to false flag operations in Russia, and China which sparked a brief but intense border clash between the two countries. African countries down-played it as acts of terrorism. Meanwhile the council almost broke apart in those first days as every country lobbied to have the response centered in their own territories. Eventually, power blocs formed with competing claims. It would not be until almost August that the political in fighting had died down, but eventually a compromise agreement was reached in which the Africans would host XCOM HQ - if only to stop a shooting war from breaking out between the Russians and Americans. Every continent offered something. Asia offered rapid industrialization while North America, believing that the war would be won or lost in the air, offered it's substantial aerospace industry. Europe offered it's significant scientific expertise and Africa offered it's raw resources.
Asia First Offered Future Combat
North America Countered with Air and Space
Europe offers up it's scientific expertise
Africa proposes throwing resources at the problem
I chose Africa for a couple of reasons. I thought it would make a cool "compromise" choice in my head-canon of the council being largely competitive and not cooperative. The continent bonus is the only one that carried over from XCOM vanilla - 30% more funding for the XCOM project. This is good for a couple of reasons. First off, Long War makes everything significantly more expensive. Therefore, having more money means being able to buy more stuff. Secondly, the gray market doesn't pay out as much as it used to for things like sectoid corpses and such - therefore country funding becomes even more important.
OPERATION FADING GOD: Mankind Makes First Contact.
"They don't fight like we do. It's almost like they don't care about living and they relentlessly attack no matter how outnumbered. I admit that I almost panicked. When I saw [redacted] hit, I thought maybe we were done, but somehow she survived. She came around that car and shot that creepy gray *$%# right in the face. I think that's when I knew we could beat them."
-- Unidentified XCOM Soldier recounting First Contact.
Sign up for the XCOM Infantry NOW! See your local shadowy government types for (no) details!
"The ink on XCOM's charter was barely dry before we were thrown into the fire. A hastily assembled strike force was assembled to respond to a possible attack in a town called Bloemfontein, South Africa. No one knew why anyone would choose a city with so little apparent strategic value although some speculated that the forces (now known to be aliens) centered their initial attacks as far as possible on the fringes of human civilization so as to face exposure to as few human forces as possible."
--COL Bradford (ret.)
"Records are pretty sparse from that first mission. A circling Seeker 200 of the South African Air Force was quietly transferred to our command in order to coordinate the ground action. Throughout the war reliable real time imagery would continue to be a problem as UA systems would frequently black out, stop recording, or simply no be available. It was a mystery that was never satisfactorily explained."
--IMINT Officer Okonkwo
XCOM G-2.
"We landed in a warehouse district, and I think we all immediately knew things were... strange. There were these people on the ground wrapped up in this green, I guess you'd call it slime. Some of them were still moving. There were six of us on that first mission. I didn't know anyone else although I knew there were two Brits and two Japanese soldiers. I couldn't place the woman although I think she was from the Middle East. We could hear some movement in the warehouse so we hastily decided to breach from the top and from the load dock."
-- Unnamed XCOM operative
Operation Fading God
One of the few images captured during those first tumultuous hours of the war, XCOM personnel breach a small warehouse in response to reports of weapons fire.
"PFC [redacted] really showed the initiative. Things almost immediately went to hell. We had taken cover on top of the warehouse after it was found empty when she opened a door and spooked 3 sectoids. Of course, we didn't know what the hell they were at the time. I almost dropped my rifle when I saw them. Everything was confused. Do we shoot them? Do we subdue them? Do we try to communicate? Of course, all that was answered as soon as they saw us. I've never seen a gun shoot green plasma before, but I know when I'm being shot at. PFC [redacted] was closest of course, and I saw here hit almost immediately. She shook it off surprisingly easily and almost casually weaved through the debris and shot that alien right in the face. The rest of the fight was a haze of flashbangs, frags, and breaches. We suffered no more casualties except for the first and accounted for 10 of the little fethers. We thought we'd just won the whole war. We were fools.
AAR report shows a largely successful missioin
The real fight began after we got back to base. We were able to track the UFO leaving South African airspace, but we had no ability to intercept. More importantly, we had bodies, fragments, and this orange substance that the aliens seemed to place with some care and deliberation. The council almost fell to bickering again. Everyone was greedy - they especially wanted the weapons fragments.
"The soldiers OPCONed to us were getting calls [from their home governments] to secure the salvage and return to their home countries by any means necessary. XCOM almost fell apart right then and there. If it wasn't for the Commander, I don't think we would have gotten off the ground. The man - or was she a woman? - just sort of appeared. It was like he just belonged. I remember Bradford showing him/her around and everyone just sort of... accepted it. He quickly put an end to the infighting and in a single night had every man and woman in XCOM firmly in his control. I'm still not sure what happened there. Of all the disturbing events of the war, that one keeps me up at night. Commanding that sort of instant loyalty and respect... it's unnatural."
--Dr. Shen.
XCOM Chief, Directorate of Facilities and Engineering
XCOM had real issues in the early days. A fractious Council demanded resources, protection, and information that XCOM couldn't provide. Our headquarters was a few offices, a hangar, and a large hole in the ground. The tasks were monumental. Thankfully, the Council largely agreed to take care of keeping the truth from the general public while we focused on the actual fight against the alien. The council was insisting on full global satellite coverage, but the Commander was devote as many resources to that as conventional wisdom deemed appropriate.
In Long War, panic for countries doesn't rise as rapidly because you'll always have the option of responding to abduction missions (they happen one at a time). The trade off is your soldiers are fatigued after each mission and must spend 4-6 days recovering - even if they aren't injured. This necessitates a much larger pool of soldiers for the war. In addition, you'll have more UFO interceptions to deal with as well. It will be critical in the early months to build a large pool of fairly experienced soldiers. Unlike vanilla XCOM, you simply can not rely on a small pool of extremely veteran soldiers. One of our first priorities will be building a pool of 36-42 soldiers with some experience. Every part of the game is dragged out in XCOM: Long War. Your soldiers will spend a longer time leveling up, they will spend more time in sick bay, and because you can have up to 8 on regular missions, they will generally be less capable than their vanilla counterparts.
Science takes longer so it's more important to be focused in your research. We basically have two options gentlemen. We can opt for a more defense approach and focus our initial efforts towards keeping our soldiers alive. On the other hand, the best defense is a good offense and we could focus on acquiring advanced weaponry. Long war aliens are generally harder to kill than their vanilla counterparts. You will see 5 HP sectoids in the first month and ballistic weapons will quickly not cut it.
Dr. Vahlen examines our research options with the Commander
On the engineering front, options are limited.. We will need more satelite uplinks soon as Long War Uplinks only support one satelite - not two. Satellites are not AS important in Long War as all council nations contribute some money regardless of satellite coverage. Satellites will double the monetary contribution. The trade off is that the aliens are much more aggressive in shooting down your satellites and the air war is BRUTAL in Long War. We'll need to focus on improving our interceptors quickly.
Here is our initial assessment of the available space in our base. Unfortunately, our steam vents are significantly deeper than we had initially hoped. It will necessitate a steep investment to secure enough energy to power our base.
Most desperately we need YOU! Soldiers are needed to defend the homeland! Dakkanauts assemble. As you represent the council of nations, I WILL listen to ideas for which OTS projects to persue, ans so on and so forth. DO YOUR PART! JOIN NOW!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Trondheim wrote: Trooper Trondheim reporting for duty! Death to the Xenos!
Welcome Trondheim! I took the liberty of assigning you a bunk and moving your stuff into the barracks. Your initial photo is ready (for body identification). Your family has been notified of your untimely death and the agreed upon amount has been provided to them in compensation. First formation is at 0700 and you are assigned to second squad, first platoon. As of now, your squad is the QRF (quick reaction force). Get some chow, and draw your gear from the armory.
In the meantime, feel free to get to know your fellow XCOM operatives. They are your family now.
motyak wrote: Trooper motyak reporting in, I want to earn my citizenship.
Son, the XCOM infantry made me the man I am today.
Er... moving on. Grab your bunk and fall in with Trooper Trondheim. Welcome to XCOM Motyak. Admin section reminds you to set up your 401k a soon as possible. MEDCOM reminds you that you are under order to report all contact with alien lifeforms - consensual or otherwise. You are assigned to second squad, first platoon. You are on deck with the QRF. Grab some chow.
Trondheim has proven in his pre-recruitment try-outs to be an oustanding shot, with a natural cautiousness that makes him hard to hit on the defense. This is compromised somewhat by a tendency to lose his cool in intense situations and a lower than average speed in the timed trials. In contrast, PFC Motyak displayed only average aim and low tactical awareness among the initial recruits. This was tempered with a cool demeanor and a certain violence of action rarely found within the recruits. Recon showed interest in PFC Motyak early on while the sniper corps practically tossed hookers through Trooper Trondheim's window in order to convince him to join.
Almost immediately, XCOM was called back to South Africa to respond to another attempt at abductions. Squad 2 was quickly supplemented with some members of 1st squad who (while still fatigued) were deemed experienced enough to be vital to the success of future operations. Squad 2 assembled in the bay - their destination, Soweto.
Many have tried this Scruffy - all have failed. Good luck though and sign me up! I don't care what class I am as long as I go the Maple Leaf on my back.
Thank you all for the support. Without further ado.
OPERATION MORBID SCEPTER (Alien Abduction, Soweto, South Africa)
SPEC Mrs. Scruffy, and SPEC Dead Meat were still on rest and relaxation when they were called in to the Commander's office. "It's been determined that we are seriously lacking in experience in the platoons. Your leave is canceled and you will fall in with 2nd squad immediately. Grab your stuff and go." They saluted smartly and quickly joined second squad along with PFC Trondheim and PFC Motyak. Just as they were climbing in to the Skyranger, PFC Chaos0xomega joined them, orders still in hand.
The aliens had strafed a roadway crossing a damn on the outskirts of town and then set down and started abducting people. The Skyranger, fearing surface to air fire, set us down at the southern end of the damn.
"We initially planned to advance our main party of Deadmeat (our rocketeer), Trondheim, Chaos, and the other [redacted] rookie up the center in the median while PFC Motyak (wielding an SMG) and SPEC Scruffy (our shotgun assault) would flank up the left and right respectively. As with all things XCOM, it didn't exactly work out that way.
Our newest member (we didn't even know her name) almost immediately stumbles on a pack of sectoids. Perhaps Operation Fading God has taught them some caution because they do not rush us like the last sectoids did, but instead fall back into cover. As it stand, we have little chance of killing all three of them right now so we must do our best to distract, divert, and disorient.
PFC Motyak flashbangs an unfortunate sectoid moments before PFC Trondheim makes a wonderful shot to take him out.
SPEC Deadmeat takes down a Sectoid during Morbid Scepter
The last sectoid still manged to hit our newest rookie. This induced panic in both our wounded rookie and in PFC Motyak. Not an auspicious start. We recovered though. PFC Chaos healed our wounded rookie while Trondheim flashbanged the sectoid. SPEC Scruffy, taking advantage of the blinded Sectoid promptly outflanked it and introduced it to Mr. Remington.
Motyak secured the Meld and the group took a moment to regroup and reload. As the squad advanced, Motyak showed all the promise of a good recon soldier. He quickly spotted another group of three sectoids - this time before they spotted us. A base of fire was set up with Chaos, Deadmeat, and Trondheim while Scruffy and Motyak flanked on the alien's right. Although the aliens did get some shots off, our team was in heavy cover and the aliens quickly found themselves in trouble.
XCOM Operative Identified as a PFC Motyak moments before killing a meld-merging sectoid. He would be joined by SPEC Scruffy in finishing off the merged sectoid while PFC Chaos would claim the kill on the XCOM right flank.
In XCOM Long War, Sectoids no longer die if you kill the mind merging sectoid. Instead, they will take a small health hit. The old 2 for 1 kill in vanilla XCOM no longer works.
"We were feeling pretty confident. So far only a minor injury and several of the aliens were down. We could see the other end of the dam and there seemed to be no more Sectoids. Suddenly our point man, Motyak spotted some sort of small autonomous flying UAV. We weren't sure what it was until the thing saw us and advanced on us with two more in tow. Seeing dead and wounded civilians near it gave us all the information we needed and we opened fire. Trondheim once again showed us his marksmanship by claiming the final kill while Motyak claimed another. The final is disputed but most accounts claim the kill for Chaos0xomega.
PFC Motyak scores another kill. This time it is against aliens robots that would come to be known as drones.
With that, Morbid Scepter was complete. Trondheim, Motyak, and Chaos0xomega all were promoted on the spot to Specialist, while Scruffy and Deadmeat came one step closer to Lance Corporal (I know... you start out as an E3... make it to E4, then are demoted to E3... weird). We hauled in quite a load of alien bodies, drone wrecks, meld (in Long War, meld is somewhat randomized - I only got 9 meld even though I got all three canisters - the higher the meld you get the more ahead the alien's research is compared to yours). Upon return to base, promotion ceremonies were held and each trooper fell into their new roles.
SPEC MOTYAK: Founding Member of XCOM Recon Squad (assigned 2nd Squad) Pictured before promotion
SPEC Trondheim: First XCOM infantry Soldier (assigned 2nd Squad)
SPEC Silver Mk2 (1st Squad's new squad leader and first XCOM agent to make alien contact)
SPEC Carlos 13th (1st Squad Sniper, participated in Operation Fading God)
PFC Cthuluspy (2nd Squad new recruit)
SPEC Docta Deth (1st Squad Medic, participated in Operation Fading God)
So welcome everyone! Thank you for taking an interest, and I hope that I can continue to entertain you for a while yet! If anyone wants me to tweak your armor, race, hair, helmet or name let me know. If anyone has any questions about Long War feel free to ask. The only thing I can't really change is nationality and gender. Hope you enjoyed. I will tend to bounce around in style - some posts will be more play-by-play while others will be more of an interview or some such.
Until Next Time
Mr. C.G. Spender
-- Editor-in-Chief, The Long War Project
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh, one more thing
If you could switch me to a white dude with brown hair and beard and short hair that would be great mate, don't mind if I am wearing a cap, helmet or just have hair. That way it will be close enough to the real me be that it will be hilarious when I eventually get killed.
I am tempted to start a new game of xcom sometime with a trooper called Carlos. Every time he dies I raise another trooper called carlos 2nd and so on. See if I can get through the game without getting to 13th.
carlos13th wrote: If you could switch me to a white dude with brown hair and beard and short hair that would be great mate, don't mind if I am wearing a cap, helmet or just have hair. That way it will be close enough to the real me be that it will be hilarious when I eventually get killed.
I am tempted to start a new game of xcom sometime with a trooper called Carlos. Every time he dies I raise another trooper called carlos 2nd and so on. See if I can get through the game without getting to 13th.
No problem. I just grabbed the first Brit I had in the roster. Next time I log in I'll give him the 'ol Michael Jackson treatment
But hell yeah, got a kill, got promoted, and Im a demo specialist. Woot!
I struggled with whether to make you a chick or not, but I figured that there are a lot of women in XCOM, and someone was going to have be one so I decided to promote you ASAP as compensation. You actually got pretty unlucky last mission as you hit quite a bit but Long War makes Drones damage resistant so they just tank some damage almost everytime. You also got unlucky doing only 3 damage to a Sectoid Squad Leader when 4 would have killed him.
Wonder how long until forum members start dropping.
Based on my experience and lack of expertise, I would say mid to late April unless I get unlucky with an early large UFO or something. There are... gaps... where your technology can't keep up with the numbers of aliens and their strength. Fighting Floaters, Seekers, Thin Men, and the occasional Muton with balistic rifles is tough.
Doctadeth wrote:*laugh* been awhile since I saw something like this up....so lets have some fun!
I'm hoping to. I fixed your image. You are XCOM's first and only medic... and a girl.
CthuluIsSpy wrote:Heh, I'm a girl.
Join the club. XCOM doesn't discriminate.
chaos0xomega wrote:So what you're saying is I should have had even more kills? lol
Well, I set out to get rookies one kill at least in their first mission, but you were being pretty stubborn about it.
Wonder how long until forum members start dropping.
Based on my experience and lack of expertise, I would say mid to late April unless I get unlucky with an early large UFO or something. There are... gaps... where your technology can't keep up with the numbers of aliens and their strength. Fighting Floaters, Seekers, Thin Men, and the occasional Muton with balistic rifles is tough.
Doctadeth wrote:*laugh* been awhile since I saw something like this up....so lets have some fun!
I'm hoping to. I fixed your image. You are XCOM's first and only medic... and a girl.
CthuluIsSpy wrote:Heh, I'm a girl.
Join the club. XCOM doesn't discriminate.
chaos0xomega wrote:So what you're saying is I should have had even more kills? lol
Well, I set out to get rookies one kill at least in their first mission, but you were being pretty stubborn about it.
Hey man, Im a Russian woman, Ill be as stubborn as I want.
"ON YOUR FEET!" Bradford thundered as the Commander walked into the room. Soldiers snapped to attention, some only barely managing to get to their feet - bandages and weariness weighing them down like an anchor.
"Carry on." spoken so softly as to be barely audible yet everyone heard it. The Commander was like that. He (she?) rarely spoke, but was always heard.
"Gentlemen. Ladies. Good job. I could not be prouder of XCOM as I am right now. We've defended Africa, and we've downed our first UFO. Even now Doctor Vahlen and her team are examining the wreckage we retrieved. Our engineers are searching for any possible clues to help us in our fight against the aliens. Our fighter pilots are on constant alert around the clock. Everyone is doing their part. However, it would all be useless without you - the men on the ground. 1st Squad, you guys did an outstanding job today in Nigeria. You should be proud. Enjoy the next few days.
However, the fight is just beginning. Even now, hours after downing one of their ships, we detect UFOs at the edges of our sensor ranges. Reports are flooding in the Mexico City has been bombed. The aliens aren't going away and while their out there we need to respond. The world needs XCOM, and XCOM needs soldiers like you.
ChtuluSpy, StreamDragon, and Kamikaze.. good job. Consider yourselves promoted. See Bradford for details. SilverMK2 and Elemental - keep up the good work, you'll make Corporal in no time. 1st Squad, go get some rest. 3rd Squad, QRF duty starts now."
With that, The Commander left the room. Bradford stepped up to the podium. "1st Squad - debrief in 8 hours. Get some rack time. Dismissed."
Automatically Appended Next Post: INTERLUDE: Air War Over Africa (Part 1)
Almost from the start of hostilities, XCOM pilots found themselves at the very tip of the spear. Ultimately, the ground war would be meaningless if the UFOs could not be brought down. No one quite knows where the Council procured the XFS-105 Raven Pulsejet Fighters. Most speculate that they were the source of decade's-worth of wild UFO conspiracy theories originating out of Dreamland, otherwise know as Area 51.Some think that XCOM had procured alien technology as far back as the 60s with which to produce the Raven, although most knowledgeable officials disavow this theory. Regardless of the source, they made early 21st century 5th generation jet fighters looks like model airplanes. Faster, deadlier, stealthier (no conventional military ever detected a Raven in flight), and infinitely more robust. Major Brian "Puke" Shaw of XCOM's Africa Wing explains.
"I flew Ravens in the early days of the war. Good ship. Could take a pounding harder than my wingman's mother back in my USAF days. If I'd one of these back in Desert Storm there wouldn't have been a Desert Storm. Of course, from the first engagement we knew we were screwed if the aliens ever came in force. I emptied every missile and cannon round in my arsenal into that ship and it made a controlled decent and landing. I was frankly stunned, but a kills and kill and I do believe I am the first human to ever paint a flying saucer on the side of his bird. Of course, Bradford would never let me actually tell anyone about how I splashed the first bogey of the war. That dude had a stick up his fourth point of contact harder than...."
At 2006 on the 9th of March, the air war for Earth began in earnest when XCOM Recsats picked up a scout UFO coming in fast over the Med. First Officer William Shaw was scrambled in Raven-1. He eventually intercepted over Cote d'Ivoire and the vicious air war was on.
Dean "Rascal" Tompkins remember Shaw returning from the first mission. "Oh God, he was insufferable. Kept talking about how he took down a UFO without so much as scratching the paint on his baby. Of course, his crew chief later told me that the flight data recorder showed 27 different violations of aircraft limits in the approximately 9.5 seconds he was in contact. The automatic targeting computer did most of his work because Puke (F.O. Shaw -ed.) was on the verge of black out for 2/3rds of the encounter. Feth though... a kills and kill and that bastard got it. That donkey-cave always did have all the luck - even when he was my wingman back in Desert Storm.
Archival footage of Dean Tompkins - Early March reacting to Shaw's first confirmed kill. Note the look of intense envy in and around the eyes.
Even as William "Puke" Shaw was making his historic run against the alien UFO. Doctor Shen was running around the armory like a mad-man sawing the barrels off shotguns. Most soldiers wondered why some of the most advanced engineers on the planet's only contribution was a bunch of back alley chop jobs on their shotguns. Dr. Shen told them to thank him later.
Dr. Vahlen complains bitterly about lack of funding, lack of staffing, lack of live specimens... the list goes on and on Her small team of scientists seem to be tinkering with some sort of coherent light emitter. Strange.
Meanwhile, members of first squad are called in to bring some new soldiers along on their first mission. XCOM SOP is developed stating that at least one soldier of SPECIALIST rank will accompany PFCs on their first mission.
First Squad Assembles for Operation Blind Pipe. Note that the sixth squad member was later assigned to a different squad (far right).
The squad advanced in good order and surprised two sectoids at the edge of the clearing they set down in. The firefight was short and our guest PFC took a nasty shot to the shoulder. She would recover, but spend 3 weeks in sick bay. The rookies got off to a shaky start and Specialist Elemental had to pull them out of the fire by flanking both aliens and gunning down one of them. The second Sectoid broke and ran only for Spec Silver MK 2 to claim their fourth kill in 2 missions.
Unidentified XCOM operative is wounded by light plasma fire in the remote forests of Nigeria.
Specialist Elemental uses his uncanny speed to dodge enemy fire as he crosses open ground. He would cross open ground twice more under fire to advance on the enemy in this mission.
The team advances on the UFO. Note the early war "conga line" formation as soldier travel through no-man's land by means of bounding overwatch.
The team finds the perimeter guard at the south eastern entrance to the UFO. Smoke is deployed in an attempt to obscure the approach.
A common tactic early in the war. Soldiers would lay down a base of fire while a designated marksman took his time to make an aimed shot. As soldiers gained experience, this practice would slowly fall out of favor.
Kamikaze grenades a Sectoid as she works around the left flank of the alien defense. Her positioning would pay dividends at the end of the mission.
Silver MK2 claims another kill - the first XCOM operative to 5 kills as she takes down the left side security Sectoids.
The Outsider finally makes his presence known, but it is too late. A barrage of flash bangs, bullets, and shotgun shells forced him right into the arms of Kamikaze Canuck who quickly outflanked him and ended the crystal entity's life/existence.
This was the first recorded instance of the Outsider "regeneration" ability. XCOM TTPs immediately were updated to prioritize immediate termination of Outsider threat.
With only 7 enemies on the map and managing to largely take one pod at a time meant that our team did fairly well. The early encounter was actually the roughest as none of my rookies could hit the broadside of a barn.
It's been great fun so far, but I need MOAR Dakkanauts. Please sign up so I can immortalize your actions in defense of Earth.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
chaos0xomega wrote: Sir, requesting permission for transfer to the Air Wing.
Automatically Appended Next Post: (I dont know if thats possible, I've never played XCOM, didnt even know there was air combat)
I *could* transfer you to the airwing, but unfortunately your can't customize the names - it's a randomized list that you can cycle through. If you wished to take on a fictional name then by all means!
Heck yeah, survived two missions so far. Guessing from the screen shot of me up, you're using randomized skill trees? I haven't tried the Long War mod yet, might have to kill my current game in progress and restart with that...
streamdragon wrote: Heck yeah, survived two missions so far. Guessing from the screen shot of me up, you're using randomized skill trees? I haven't tried the Long War mod yet, might have to kill my current game in progress and restart with that...
Long War incoporates a total overhaul of the soldier sill tree system. There are "classes" each comprising their own two subclasses which all have unique skill trees. As an assault, you are basically the premier close combat soldier of the tactical class. Over the course of the game, assumung you survive, you will get skills like close encounters, close combat specialist, sprinter, and gunslinger.The other tactical class, infantry, specializes in mid range combat and buffs to overwatch. They will get things like opportunist, rapid reaction, steadfast, and light 'em up. You should check out the long war wiki for complete info on the mod
Oh, for the love of.... Any idea how often I played this game?
Okay PLEASE sign me up.
Talizvar: White male, no facial hair, sandy-blond hair, pasty white skin Scottish ancestry.
Fine with whatever role the game assigns to me, I am pretty happy with all of them (Except big stomping cyborg dude: I am not the Robocop type).
Order of preference: Assault, Support, Heavy, Sniper.
Drinks Scotch after an engagement and is more scared before the drop than when in it (worst case thinker, but rarely surprised unpleasantly!).
Has a real aversion to grenades, likes non-consumable supporting hardware BUT medkits can be a big friend.
Why do I feel an overwhelming need to "copy-cat" this just to see how various members of Dakka do in the game?
Trondheim wrote:Looking good, nice to see that the figure that represent me is a steady shot. As I am too
I ended up putting you in the infantry because volume of fire is so important in Long War. Infantry can shoot twice if they don't move as a base skill - so far I believe you have the highest aim of any of the Dakka Corps.
Talizvar wrote:Oh, for the love of.... Any idea how often I played this game?
Okay PLEASE sign me up.
Talizvar: White male, no facial hair, sandy-blond hair, pasty white skin Scottish ancestry.
Fine with whatever role the game assigns to me, I am pretty happy with all of them (Except big stomping cyborg dude: I am not the Robocop type).
Order of preference: Assault, Support, Heavy, Sniper.
Drinks Scotch after an engagement and is more scared before the drop than when in it (worst case thinker, but rarely surprised unpleasantly!).
Has a real aversion to grenades, likes non-consumable supporting hardware BUT medkits can be a big friend.
Why do I feel an overwhelming need to "copy-cat" this just to see how various members of Dakka do in the game?
Welcome PFC Talizvar. I will try to meet your exact specs, but if I have no Scottish or Canadian men, you're going to be a random white dude.
malfred wrote:Wait, the long war changes the skill trees???
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also, panic abated. I haven't updated to enemy within on the laptop.
My salary is safe.
Don't lose your job, Malfred! Long war changes everything. I'll take some screenshots as a kind of Soldier Career Management update.
Killionaire wrote:Good luck LPing Long War. I've had over 150 tactical missions in it... and I'm only ~60 percent of the way through!
I don't intend to do an in-depth mission for EVERY tactical mission - some will focus on more personal stories. Since everything is SO new the first month we'll go over it with a fine toothed comb.
Bullockist wrote:PFC Bullockist reporting for duty!
Definitely sign me up. I'm seriously thinking of installing long war, if only i could figure out how
It's surprisingly easy (I am not very computer savvy). http://www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/88/? Make an account with nexusmods and this will automatically install the mod - assuming you have steam. WARNING: you will not be able to play Vanilla unless you uninstall the mod which is the mod readme tell you how to do. You will also not be able to play multiplayer.
3rd Squad, to the ready room! 3rd Squad to the ready room!"
"That's us boys and girls! StreamDragon burst in, already in full gear (most of 3rd squad thought he never took it off). "We're going to kick some skinny gray butt!"
Archivists capture 3rd Squad, 1st Platoon receiving last minute details for Operation Brutal Stallion Note: PFC Talizvar is carrying the X-12C SMG - in common use during the early phases of the First Interplanetary War. It's reduced damage was compensated for by increased utility in close quarters and reduced recoil. SPEC Canuck is seen here carrying both a sawed off shotgun and a set of grisly trophies she had procured from a fallen alien. Veteran soldiers would frequently loot the war dead. Their grisly trophies reportedly improved morale among the younger troops.
NO CANADA.. .NOOOOOOOO!
OPERATION BRUTAL STALLION: Tijuana Mexico 0030, 15 March, 2015
"We'd all heard about Canada just as we were departing - Kamikaze took it especially hard. No one knew how or why it happened. Actually, I don't think we found out for several months. To be frank, I was nervous too. This was my first mission out as squad leader. I mean, everyone was new in XCOM at this point, but it's different when you are just following orders and shooting Allen (by this time, soldiers were trying out several different nicknames for aliens... Allen was a popular early one). When you've got 5 other soldiers relying on you, the pressure amps up.
I remember landing out behind a gas station and quikee-mart in Tijuana. I'd actually been to this part of town when I was in the SEALs back before all this blew up and I couldn't get this image out of my head of some Sectoid cruising Tijuana for coke and a donkey show. Seemed as good an explanation as any for why they were here. Anyway, We snuck in the back of the quikee-mart and found two of the creepy grey guys poring over what looked like my mom's Subaru. We caught them so off guard they never got a chance to shoot.
SPEC StreamDragon, SPEC Canuck, and PFC Talizvar surprise two Sectoids in an auto repair shop
"I was feeling pretty good. I sent Malf, Bullock, and Canuck up and around the roof to clear that out, but it turned out empty. Killionaire, Talizvar, and I all advanced. Things went pear shaped damn quick after that. Killionaire ran up behind a tow truck and ran into six of the little grey dudes. Did you know those dudes could shoot you with their minds? Because next thing I know I see these cuts appearing all over Killionaire and he's panicking. Of course I would too if the enemy could hurt you without even shooting you.
All of a sudden, Malf comes out of no where and lays downs the sectoid that had been pinning us down. This is the turning point. Killionaire recovers his nerve while Bullockist, Talizvar, Killionaire, and myself lead the assault. Malfred keeps the aliens heads down with overwatch and flashbangs while Canuck secures our right flank.
PFC Malfred displays his patented Blue Steel look moments before ending a Sectoid's life.
Members of 3rd Squad trap the last two sectoids between parked trucks in the closing stages of Brutal Stallion. Kamikaze Canuck is instrumental in pinning the aliens long enough for Killionaire, Stream Dragon, and Bullockist to complete the encirclement.
"Man, I couldn't be prouder of my soldiers. Killionaire took a mild grazing and the Doc insisted I get 6 days bed rest due to combat fatigue or some such. 3rd Squad was really coming together."
-- SPEC StreamDragon.
Squad Leader, 3rd Squad.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: CANADA NOOOOOO!!!!!!
God Damnit....It's all up to Nigeria now I guess..
I've noticed the ranks are very different in Long War. How do they go?
Well, Long War does things a bit differently rank wise. You rank up through the enlisted ranks.
Private First Class
Specialist
Lance Corporal
Corporal
Sergeant
Tech Sergeant
Gunnery Sergeant
Master Sergeant
These soldiers, although their ranks are different, follow roughly the same progression as the vanilla XCOM. The big difference is officers. Think of officers like a separate class like MEC Troopers. Officers (as far as I know) stop ranking up in their class and start ranking up as officers. They provide buff to the entire squad and act more as leader than doers. Their buffs are things like improved XP gain, improved will, and improved defense for the entire squad.
One country randomly withdraws during the first month in every XCOM game. We won't find out why for some time yet.
I just want you guys to know that I am by no means an expert. I have only ever played a game of Long War until June. A lot of what I'm saying in regards to the overall game could be way off the mark.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: CANADA NOOOOOO!!!!!!
God Damnit....It's all up to Nigeria now I guess..
I've noticed the ranks are very different in Long War. How do they go?
Well, Long War does things a bit differently rank wise. You rank up through the enlisted ranks.
Private First Class
Specialist
Lance Corporal
Corporal
Sergeant
Tech Sergeant
Gunnery Sergeant
Master Sergeant
These soldiers, although their ranks are different, follow roughly the same progression as the vanilla XCOM. The big difference is officers. Think of officers like a separate class like MEC Troopers. Officers (as far as I know) stop ranking up in their class and start ranking up as officers. They provide buff to the entire squad and act more as leader than doers. Their buffs are things like improved XP gain, improved will, and improved defense for the entire squad.
One country randomly withdraws during the first month in every XCOM game. We won't find out why for some time yet.
I just want you guys to know that I am by no means an expert. I have only ever played a game of Long War until June. A lot of what I'm saying in regards to the overall game could be way off the mark.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: CANADA NOOOOOO!!!!!!
God Damnit....It's all up to Nigeria now I guess..
I've noticed the ranks are very different in Long War. How do they go?
Well, Long War does things a bit differently rank wise. You rank up through the enlisted ranks.
Private First Class
Specialist
Lance Corporal
Corporal
Sergeant
Tech Sergeant
Gunnery Sergeant
Master Sergeant
These soldiers, although their ranks are different, follow roughly the same progression as the vanilla XCOM. The big difference is officers. Think of officers like a separate class like MEC Troopers. Officers (as far as I know) stop ranking up in their class and start ranking up as officers. They provide buff to the entire squad and act more as leader than doers. Their buffs are things like improved XP gain, improved will, and improved defense for the entire squad.
One country randomly withdraws during the first month in every XCOM game. We won't find out why for some time yet.
I just want you guys to know that I am by no means an expert. I have only ever played a game of Long War until June. A lot of what I'm saying in regards to the overall game could be way off the mark.
I hate you so much right now.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Interlude: Air War over Africa Part 2
William 'Puke' Shaw let out a string of expletives as he frantically hit the master caution again and again. Every time he hit it a new caution popped up. Fire, #2 Engine. Automatic Flight Control System - Offline. #1 Fuel Pressure light, Primary Flight Management System - Degraded - the news was bad and he was 300 miles from home. Of course, in the XF-105, 300 miles was about 10 minutes away. At 60,000 feet, he could probably glide the 300 miles if he had too. At first he'd been confident. He'd survived the first encounter with a UFO with not even a paint scratch. He hadn't bought a beer at the cantina for the last two weeks and by now, the UFO he'd shot down was 300 yards long. He and his Raven were the perfect melding of man and machine - at least according to the legend. Now, he and his machine were a plasma fused lump of metal hurtling through the sky at mach 5 with most of their systems on fire.
"XCOM Central, Raven-1. Declaring an emergency. Broke contact with Bogey 02. RTB at this time. Roll the fire response."
"Roger Raven-1." It was Bradford. "Hang in there. Raven 2 will escort you home."
"Negative Central, tell Rascal to go get the plasma shooting sunavawhore."
"Puke, this is Rascal." Tompkins was already up. You sure man? I mean, Candyman can go get him if you need someone to fly your wing."
"Rascal, go kill that sunovabitch! I softened him up for you so even you should be able to handle it.. let me get with the business of landing this fat cow."
"Ok, this is Raven-02, CM."
"What an ass." Tompkins thought as he engaged the afterburner and watched the airspeed climb. These new high-g suits made it feel like he was gently accelerating at sub-sonic speeds. Radar showed Bogey 02 340 miles at his 12 and fleeing westward out over the Atlantic. Tompkins accelerated and pursued.... and pursued. They were off the coast of Venezuela by the time Tompkins caught up with him, or more precisely, by the time the UFO turned and opened fire.
Radar Recreation of Dean "Rascal" Tompkin's encounter with UFO -02. Air Wing would be considerably less cocky in the coming weeks.
"Damn, but these guys were nasty, they really seemed to want us to fight them, because they would always get away as soon as they wanted to. It always felt like any kill we got was almost... a test. They were seeing how much they could take. They were seeing how quickly we could kill them. I wonder how man of those kills were honest - because UFO 02 just strolled through us and waltzed away as soon as he got tired of dancing." --Major Dean "Rascal" Tompkins
-- Raven 02
So, the air war is BRUTAL in Long War. You will be bombarded with UFOs. They will be tough. Your planes will spend an inordinate amount of time in maintenance. Sometimes, you just won't have any aircraft ready to intercept. So - you've got to prioritize. UFOs detected at NOE (nape of the earth) are super low and likely are inbound for an abduction. UFOs that are low are likely on a bombing mission or simply recon. You can safely ignore most of the time if you are hurting for interceptors. UFOs marked high are going after your satellites and absolutely a priority. I once damaged all my interceptors trying to shoot down a medium UFO and watched helplessly as my satellites in the United States and Mexico were nuked by puny little scouts.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Can't believe Long War just automatically drops one country. That is brutal. There goes that potential continent bonus...
Oh no... I am afraid you are... quite mistaken... YOU GET TO TAKE THE COUNTRY BACK! FETH YEAH! That's right. You can regain control of countries that leave the council through base assaults. Yes... that' s plural on the base assaults
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Can't believe Long War just automatically drops one country. That is brutal. There goes that potential continent bonus...
Oh no... I am afraid you are... quite mistaken... YOU GET TO TAKE THE COUNTRY BACK! FETH YEAH! That's right. You can regain control of countries that leave the council through base assaults. Yes... that' s plural on the base assaults
PS - somehow managed to skip a council mission right at the end of march. Could have really used the experience. Panic in Asia shot up considerably, but nothing I can't recover from. The council screen popped up. I took a screen shot. I believe the dog then demanded to be walked. If my German Shepard accidentally costs us the planet I'm sorry guys. I'm a couple missions ahead and the squads are really starting to come together. Here is the current Order of Battle (current as of April 1st, 2015.
2nd Platoon
1st Squad (First in Your Hearts)
SPEC KAMIKAZE CANUCK (INFANTRY) Kills: 1 Sectoids, 1 Outsider. Missions: 2 (Blind Pipe and Brutal Stallion) Skills: Light ‘Em Up.
SPEC KILLIONAIRE (ASSAULT) Kills: 1 Sectoid Missions: 1 (Brutal Stallion) Skills: Run and Gun
VACANT (PFC)
VACANT (PFC)
VACANT (PFC)
VACANT (PFC)
As we being the second month, our training goals will be to fill advance at least one soldier to Corporal (most likely Silver MK2) so that we can begin the Officer Training School. Our absolute main priority is to have at least all five squads filled with Specialists, Lance Corporals, and Corporals. I want AT LEAST 35 Specialists and above by the time May rolls around. We've got alot of work. It's not as bad as it seems. There are quite a few regular troopers who have made it to Specialist who are not currently enrolled in the Dakka Corps. If we don't get much more interest I'm going to start naming them after famous Dakkanauts.
As an aside, I do apologize for not giving every Dakkanaut equal field experience. Long War really necessitates power leveling at least one soldier up to corporal so you can start accessing OTS. I really should have picked one guy or girl to lead almost every mission. As it stands, I'm somewhat slowing myself down by trying to build a squad structure.
Got a request. Can i get the crazy Guile Flattop and a goatee. brown hair of course and as a White guy? Can't wait to go out again and kick some Alien Ass.
oh! installation used to be incredibly complex and i gave up trying.
Dammit, i need to finish my mount and blade game! Stop making me want to play xcom again. Well whilst i am off bashing the d'shar at least i know my avatar is killing aliens (and probably dead soon).
Btw if you can change my avatar to being bald with a brown beard and glasses I would appreciate it.
Me and trondheim are off to bitch about the other specialists and how they look down on us grunts
OPERATION ROTTING SERPENT: Leeds, United Kingdom. Alien Abduction
4th Squad (Motto: Go Fourth, and Multiply) Got the call for this mission. It would be SPEC MOTYAK and SPEC TRONDHEIM leading a pack of new recruits into Leeds.
The pre-mission photograph was quickly becoming a tradition with XCOM squads.
XCOM SOP was rapidly crystallizing by the end of that first month. Every squad needed a mobile soldier to quickly flank enemies and develop the situation. SPEC MOTYAK filled that roll. These flankers would be given ligther or shorter ranged weapons like the XCOM shotgun or the X-12C SMG. They would be given the lightest armor available, but would also be provided with the light weight ceramic plating. Their preferred grenade would be a flashbang. Every squad additionally needed a steady core of fire support. Generally the most accurate soldier in the squad would get the job of pulling the entire squad out of the fire if things got tough. SPEC Trondheim was allowed to take the alien trophies since it seemed to steady him in tense moments (alien trophies grant the Steadfast ability). His job would be to travel at the center of the line and lay down both accurate fire and provide overwatch for the rookie as they advanced. XCOM rookies were usually fielded as makeshift field medics and hauled the explosives on the early missions. Utilizing both the kit and the grenades was similar enough to whatever their equivalent military had done that it provided a good point of reference in the heat of combat. As the alien menace grew, the call for experienced soldiers grew more intense. The Commander knew that the days of sending green troops into battle were quickly drawing to a close - he needed to get as many of them trained as possible.
ROTTING SERPENT actually turned out to be a fairly quick mission. One of the rookies was injured quite badly, but she managed to patch herself up. Here you see 4th squad make first contact with 2 sectoids early in the mission. Note MOTYAKs SMG and sawed-off shotgun equipped in the bottom right.
Disaster almost strikes as a rookie takes a fearful hit early on in the encounter.
Moments after Trondheim finishes off the second Sectoid, 3 drones emerge from the dark to engage. Advancing on Trondheim is... unwise.
Note the 1 with the little shield icon in the above picture. Drones have built in damage resistance which makes them a pain in the butt to kill in Long War. Usually, they also fly which grants them half cover (half cover is greatly improved in long war and now provides 30 defense. Flanking, steadying your shots, and holo-targetting are all much more important.)
2 More sectoids would make an appearance, but they would largely walk right into a wall of fire and were quickly dispatched.
Another day, another successful mission as Bradford so often said.
Trondheim and Motyak were quite proud of themselves. All their rookies were now specialists and both of them were on the cusp of making Lance Corporal. The Commander briefly considered giving Trondheim his own squad but decided to keep at least two of the Dakka Corp together for all missions. April was coming and they would need all the help they could get.
Back at HQ, Dr. Vahlen was furious that her science team was not being given the support she felt they deserved. They had studied the alien weaponry all month and made several improvements to XCOM weapon accuracy.
The Commander saw hee problem and decided to build a new laboratory. The issue would be getting scientists to man it (Labs no longer supply scientists in Long War. You usually get them through continent bonuses, countries being supplied with satellites, and by fulfilling requests). Our bigger issue was the lack of alien weapons fragments. Our scientists were quite sure they could outfit us with laser weaponry within a month if we only could get them a few more materials. The Commander considered this his top priority.
Engineering had better news, our first two satellites were operational. Although tempting to cede to the demands of the larger council nations, The Commander knew (especially after UFO -02) that he could not defend satellites on other continents. South Africa and Egypt both received satellites. Egypt was incredibly grateful and sent two engineers as a reward.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Interlude: Air War over Africa, part 3 "The Candyman Comes"
Morale was low in the XCOM airwing. Puke and Rascal were both out of commission for the time being. Puke actually had plasma burns on his left leg and Rascal's ship was shot all to hell. Tarzan and ... wait what? I have two Candymans in my air wing. UNACCEPTABLE. Stingray missile Candyman was told to go get a new nickname while avalanche Candyman was given the vector to intercept another small UFO labeled UFO 03.
Luis "Candyman" De Caxias recounts his mission. "When I got airborne, the UFO was over coming in hot over Morocco. Our intercept vector went all to hell as the UFO kept changing course. Finally, I intercepted him right over Lagos. his first shot hit my left side wing and punched a hole right through it. I knew I would lose him quick so I locked on and just unleashed every missile I had at once. Most flew off course but one must have hit something pretty important because the thing nosed over and plunged into the city. Not bad for my first time out.
I was so freaking relieved that Candyman managed to do this relatively easily. The stingray equipped ravens are great for punching through armor but they kind of suck at taking down lightly armored scouts and I didn't want to cripple my airwing. Additionally, shot down UFOs are THE best training missions. The enemy pods are usually smaller than normal, and you know that your biggest threat (the outsider) will be in the UFO so you can save him for last if you choose. Also, this mission should give me the experience I need to get Silver MK2 and Elemental up to Lance Corporal before April rolls around. I thought I wasn't going to get another mission in March, but by the time De Caxias was landing, I was singing the Candyman's song.
OPERATION BLOODY WHISPER: Lagos, Nigeria 30 March 2015
Throughout the early part of the war. 1st squad, 1st platoon set the example. Under the sure hand of Silver MK2 and her second Elemental, ever mission was an unqualified success. Some squads thought they got high profile missions where resistance was light, and thus, their detractors named them the Glory Squad. Operation Bloody Whisper was the genesis of that reputation. It was an undeserved reputation. 1st Squad faced outsiders, drones, and sectoids - just like the other squad in those first months - they simply did better. The Commander, eager to get all of his troops experienced, stripped 1st Squad of all but it's squad leader and assistant for the operation.
SPEC Elemental recalls the approach to the downed scout craft. "It was methodical. We kept expecting the aliens to have set up a perimeter around the UFO like they had on the first shoot down. As it turned out, we were right at their front door before they showed their face. If they'd come from two directions we might have been in trouble, but SilverMK2 kept the rookies aimed at the right targets. Even the engagement was methodical. I never felt like the situation was out of control."
A closer look at what the Outsider is capable of.
First you flashbang 'em.
Then you kill them
Three drones and three sectoids decided came to reinforce (in Long War, as soon as you engage the Outsider all aliens in the map start homing in on you). The engagement was so short and one sided I only got one photo.
It was XCOMs first flawless mission and provided a huge boost in confidence for all in attendance. Silver MK2 and Elemental were the first soldiers to make Lance Corporal.
Almost immdeiately the month ended and the Council convened. Overall, they were pleased although the back room furor over XCOM's failure to respond to the first direct request from the Council almost resulted in the Asian nations withdrawing entirely. The ramifications of that failure would play out over the coming months.
So, as I've said before, I don't know how I missed that council mission. It spiked the Asian panic levels to a point that I can't afford. I had hoped to cover North America in satellites next, but with Canada gone and Asia panicking I had to change priorities. April is an interesting month in Long War. You'll get introduced to Thin men and seekers and generally you find yourself behind in the research game. Hopefully by month's end we can be churning out laser weapons. Only time will tell. I think my overall grade for the month is either a B-/C+. I've shot down a fair number of UFOs but I've also let a couple escape. I've leveled up a fair number of soldiers but I still have a lot of rookies. The good news is everyone is alive. The bad news is that they are unlikely to stay that way for long unless I can get some serious research going.
Glad to see Glory Squad showing how things should be done.
You laugh, but in Long War the Officer Training School is for just that -training officers. You can make it all the way to Field Commander - one step above Colonel which is (at least in the US military) a general.You've got a ways to go though - we don't even have any NCOs yet.
I don't know if you'll need anybody else at the moment, but you can always put PFC Wombat on the "stand-by" list.
I've never played the new XCOM so I don't know the unit creator works, but if this is all possible I'd like: White guy, shorter brown hair (not quite buzz cut, but I'd go shorter than longer), mutton chops (if that's an option, otherwise a mustache works), sunglasses of some kind. Just do your best
Class, I am not all that picky. Whatever you need. They all look cool, although I'd rather be a support or weapons guy.
P.S. Oh, If there's armor color and you don't have some scheme worked out already just give me something that doesn't scream "look over here, target!"
dementedwombat wrote: I don't know if you'll need anybody else at the moment, but you can always put PFC Wombat on the "stand-by" list.
I've never played the new XCOM so I don't know the unit creator works, but if this is all possible I'd like: White guy, shorter brown hair (not quite buzz cut, but I'd go shorter than longer), mutton chops (if that's an option, otherwise a mustache works), sunglasses of some kind. Just do your best
Class, I am not all that picky. Whatever you need. They all look cool, although I'd rather be a support or weapons guy.
P.S. Oh, If there's armor color and you don't have some scheme worked out already just give me something that doesn't scream "look over here, target!"
Welcome Aboard PFC Wombat! I certainly need more people! Unlike vanilla XCOM, Long war requires between 40-60 troopers. Vanilla XCOM *can* be done wit probably as few as 10. I'll work something out for you later tonight.
1. All XCOM personnel are required to pose for an official portrait for their Enlisted Promotion Boards. Those who do not submit their official portrait along with their packet will be docked 10 points on the EPS board.
2. Submissions will be considered no later than 0700 on the day of the EPS board. Please upload your photo no later than 0700 the preceeding day to allow time for administration to properly route your photo to your Individual Permanent Record.
Carlos 13th - A Long Overdue Re-Portrait. Also, sorry that you haven't been getting alot of airtime, but April will be a busy month for you.
Dead Meat - Complete with Guile Flattop. I did the best I could with the rest.
Marine_With_Heart - Welcome to the team. I decided to promote you right off the bat instead of starting you off at PFC. The Reputation of the Dakka Corps being such that you merit an immediate promotion. You are now a medic/support.
Demented Wombat - Welcome. You also have been promoted to Specialist, this time as an engineer. You'll specialize in using both offensive and support grenades. If it goes BOOM, you love it.
Bullockist - your re-portrait is complete. I hope this is more satisfactory?
Marine_With_Heart, report to third squad. You're their new medic. Try not to feth up as Third Squad is in the chute for QRF after the pounding 2nd Squad took at Cryptic Mountain.
Demented Wombat, You'll be joining Motyak and Trondheim is fourth squad - they need some explosive support. Grab some rack time - range training starts at 0700 tomorrow.
Look for Operation Cryptic Mountain later tonight. I've been putting it off a little because ... well frankly that one sucked.
Sweet, a medic! And I'll be damned if I'm getting shot in the head because of my helmet. Safety first gentlemen, makes it easier for me to patch you all up
OPERATION Cryptic Mountain: Ogbomosha, Nigeria. 4 April, 2015 "Bloody Saturday"
" I was there, when we lost our first. Oh, no one knew him - he was a new guy, but it still stung. Especially after pulling our asses out of the fire. How can you live with yourself knowing you were the one to kill the kid? I know what the shrinks say, 'It wasn't your fault, the kid ran out to save Chaos and got hit in the cross fire. You didn't pull the trigger.' It's all bull-gak. The words don't make it any easier.
"Why don't you tell me about it."
"What the hell do you think I'm doing? I don't even know why I'm here."
"You've been at the range all day for the last 6 days. Your team-mates are worried about you. This isn't healthy."
"My team mates are in medically induced comas in the infirmary .... except for Docta-Deth - He put you up to this didn't he?"
"No one 'put me up to this.' This is my job. Everyone is worried about you, including Docta Deth. The Commander is worried too."
"The Commander? Really?"
"She asked about you by name. Wants a full debrief."
"She? I thought The Commander was a guy... nevermind. What's he .. I mean she want to know?"
"Everything."
--Transcript, Post Mission Psychological Evaluation
-- Subject, Specialist Dead Meat
-- 10 April, 2015
Of course 2nd squad, my squad, would get the hard op that goes tits up. Makes us look bad, especially compared to those glory hounds in 1st always gettin the easy missions.
Not too sure how often Swedish soliders pop up in Long War, but once one does, I'm calling dibs! Eusebius Walrus, sniper, make him look like whatever you want.
OPERATION CRYPTIC MOUNTAIN: 4 April, 2015 Ogbosmosha, Nigeria
The war in Africa had burned hotter than most areas, although in the early days it was unclear if that was simply because XCOM had the ability to detect and respond to alien threats in Africa most reliably or because the Aliens were testing XCOM - perhaps hoping to divine our headquarters for a strike. Whatever the reason Africa led the way in the early days. The skies over Nigeria had been a particularly fierce battle-ground with the like of Luis "Candyman" De Caxaios and William "Puke" Shaw making names for themselves in downing UFOs .
As April dawned, the aliens stepped up their attacks. Apparently, the aliens had been conducting research of their own as even sectoids were appearing in more formidable numbers - with more formidable powers. 2nd Squad was walking into a carefully laid trap in Nigeria.
2nd Squad (Motto: All Night Long) during final pre-mission briefing for Cryptic Mountain
I'm going to go into a quick explanation of the different loadouts here for those who may be familiar with vanilla XCOM but not with Long War. Specialist dead meat is our rocketeer. The class revolves around utlizing the rocket launcher. Unlike vanilla, rockets are way more innacurate so things like steadying weapons improves accuracy. Also unlike vanilla, you can shoot your rocket after you move at a much reduced range and increased scatter. Truly a desperation move. The Rocketeer's skill tree follows three main themes. The first is more and better rockets with skills like HEAT warheads (anti-robot), shredder ammo, shock and awe and javelins. These skills give you more rockets (that don't take up inventory slot), and let you fire them further for more damage. The second theme is improvements made to your primary weapon handling. These include skills like supression, opportunist, or mayhem. Choose these if you want your rocketeer to be more of an infantry guy who happens to fire rockets as well. The last theme is survivability. Skills like tactical sense, extra conditioning, sprinter, and will to survive can make your rocketeer quite the tank. That being said, I prefer to focus on the unique abilities of each class. An assault will always be a better tank, and an infantry/gunner will always be better at overwatch and suppression. I can't get highly damaging rockets from anyone except rocketeers so the more and better rockets theme will be the default theme for Dead Meat. In His current loadout, he is sporting the assault carbine ( a more accurate, but less deadly version of the assault rifle which will help improve his base aim). Rocketeers do not carry sidearms, but he has the rocket launcher instead. The rocket launcher comes preloaded with one standard missile. In Long War, rocketeers have access to additional missiles in exchange for item slots (Long War gives you the Tactical Rigging Foundry Project by deafult - which is why all my guys have two items instead of one right from the outset. I've given him an additional rocket as rockets are one of the few ways to reliably destroy heavy cover. Unlike vanilla, walls, cars, and various boxes are more robust. A single volley of alien plasma pistol fire will not reduce that warehouse wall you hiding behind to rubble. Lastly, I gave Dead Meat a laser sight to further improve his base aim.
Chaos 0xomega is an engineer. They basically love consumables. They specialize in using all types of grenades. Their grenades to more damage, they carry more of them, and they throw them further. Their supplementary skills provide a range of buffs to the squad (dense smoke, smoke grenade, battle scanner, holo-targetting) or additional damage through the ranger skill, heat ammo or mayhem. Chaos will be primarily a grenadier so I'll be focusing on making her as awesome a grenade thrower as possible. Here she is loaded down with offensive grenades. Because of her grenadier perk, she get 2 of each type of offensive grenade she takes, so in reality, she has 2 HE grenades and 2 AP grenades here. I stuck her in the light armor TAC vest in order to improve her mobility (mobility is kind in XCOM). Since she'll need to get fairly close to utilize her grenades, I gave her a shotgun as well. She'll back up my Assault in CQB.
Mrs. Scruffy is an assault and probably my favorite class. They are the closest equivalent to a tank among the XCOM operatives. They're tough, they love getting up close and personal with a shotgun, and they have what may be the best skill in the game in Run & Gun. There are really only two ways to build an assault in my mind. There are more, but I feel it makes the assault just a mediocre infantryman. You can make him a very survivable tank with tactical sense and extra conditioning who does great damage, or you can make him/her an allright tank who does RIDICULOUS damage with close combat specialist, close encounters, sprinter, and vital point targeting. I prefer that my assaults stay alive, so I'll be making them tanks, but really this class is the class I tend to upgrade as the mood strikes me. It's very hard to go wrong in the assault class.
Both the Legion (I've taken to naming all troops not associated with a Dakka member Legion with a number designation are PFCs and thus have no class yet. PFCs will usually get some form of offensive grenade to help ensure they get a kill and some form of buff/heal like smoke grenade (on legion 11) and a medkit (in case Docta Deth goes down).
Speaking of Docta Deth, she's a medic. Medics in Long War have three very distinct skill trees to choose from. The first and signature ability is the three medkit uses. Medics always take the field with 3 medkits. The first path a medic can take is a sort of light infantry/fire support trooper who also heals people. Medics on this path are good at overwatch, suppression, and basically utilizing their primary weapon. The second path is sort of a support character who operates a little like a grenadier but utilizes buffing grenades like dense smoke, combat drugs, and such. The last is the pure medical tree which slowly but surely makes you into a healing machine able to pull troopers back from the brink and send them back into the fight at almost full health. I'll be utilizing the last tree mainly.
The team advances on the warehouse at the hub of alien activity. In the post-mission AAR, it would be established that the team had intended to work it's way up the outside right side of the warehouse before breaching the building from multiple points.
Things quickly go wrong as first contact is made at the extreme edge of engagement ranges. The resulting shift back to the left (and away from heavy cover means that the three sectoids are not easily suppressed while the team moves. Smoke is deployed in an effort to conceal the team
A key point in the battle and one that had a disproportionate impact. Dead Meat's rocket flies wide of the target and sets the south-western end of the warehouse on fire. 2nd Squad would be forced to spend an inordinate amount of time digging the sectoids out of their heavily fortified positions.
A grenade injures, but does not kill a sectoid in the opening exchanges of Cryptic Mountain. These sectoids would prove extraordinarily tough for XCOM to dislodge.
heavy fire suppresses members of 2nd Squad
XCOM operative codename Legion 11 crucially fails to kill a sectoid while flanking his position.
After heavily suppressing the three sectoids, 2nd Squad leader Scruffy believed that things were well in hand. Docta Deth and Dead Meat would maintain the base of fire while Chaos and Scruffy would begin a double-envelopment to roll up the alien flanks. Things quickly turned sour.
Sectoid reinforcements join the fight
Spec Scruffy finally manages to make a kill on the left flank sectoid. Scruffy would take a serious wound in the ensuing exchange of fire although she would continue to fight.[i]
Chaos 0xomega kills the 2nd of the three original sectoids with a well placed grenade. This sectoid had finally succumbed after being shot at 5 times with rifles (all 45%+ shots), once with a rocket (it missed), and once with a grenade (for two damage). Moments after this kill, Scruffy would make the kill on the sectoid threatening Chaos's flank. Note the fire still burning out of control on the warehouse.
In the confused chaose of battle, some images have been lost. Here we see the immediate aftermath of the sectoid counter attack. The fire in the warehouse burned caused a partial collapse that deprived Chaos of cover. The sectoid in the far upper left hand corner of the photo took advantage and shot Chaos - inflicting a chest wound and inducing a collapsed lung. The Sectoid in the left hand side of the photo, who simply WILL NOT DIE opens fire on Scruffy and almost puts her out of the fight. Legion 11 (top right quadrant of photo) has been continually mind frayed and is half dead and continually panicking. Legion 12 has just recovered from panicking earlier under a psi panic attack. Dead meat has just used his last rocket to seriously wound the sectoid in the lower left for Docta Deth to finish off. Docta Deth misses a 91% shot and Scruffy is forced to finish off the sectoid with her pistol.[/i]
XCOM operative fall back to reload and devise a plan of attack in order to secure Chaos for MEDEVAC. Just out of picture on the top right three more sectoids close in on the XCOM positions.
SPEC Scruffy decides the the right flank sectoids are the bigger (and more aggressive threat and buttonhooks the entire squad around to the right. Legion 12 and Docta Deth advance into the warehouse to engage sectoids in CQB while Dead Meat supresses the 2 remaining sectoids on the left. Spec Scruffy takes matters into her own hands.
Legion 12 kills one of the few remaining sectoids with a well placed grenade. Chaos 0xomega is bleeding out right behind him.
Specialist Scruffy describes the moment. "We were low on ammo. Our grenades were gone. The cover had been blown away around Chaos and she was just writhing on the ground out in the open. We'd killed all the sectoids near by but Chaos was right in the middle of the killing ground under fire from two directions. Docta Deth and I were on the right flank and we needed maybe five more minutes to clear it. Legion 11 and Dead Meat were on the left and were in a similar situation. Legion 12 was just in front of Chaos under heavy fire. I could hear him telling Docta Deth that Chaos was fading fast. I told him to keep up the fire - we'd get her after the sectoids were dead. He said something I'll remember forever.
"I don't think she's gonna make it that long. I'll go get her."
"and just like that he stepped out of cover, ran over to her, and relieved the pressure on her collapsed lung with the needle decompression kit. He stopped the bleeding and then got in the prone between her and the sectoids. The sectoids immediately opened fire, and Legion 12 just kept shooting back. He just kept shooting and when he couldn't shoot anymore, he rolled over on to Chaos and shielded her with his body. He died right there. On a stinking fish warehouse floor in god-knows-where Nigeria."
The fight seemed to go out of the aliens at that point. Docta_Deth here shoots one of the last three aliens with her sawed-off shotgun.
[/i]Dead Meat surveys the destroyed landscape of the docks district. In the coming weeks, Dead Meat would blame himself for Leion 12's death and Chaos's injury.[i]
It was a somber ride back to XCOM HQ and an even more somber debrief. The mission was deemed a success but at what cost?
2nd Squad would be out of commission for a month as they rebuilt and recovered
Holy crap these aliens just would not die. I was constantly missing high percentage shots - at one point I missed 4 65%+ shots in a row. When I did hit, it just wouldn't do enough damage to kill them. Their psychic attacks did a number on Legion 11 and kept Leigon 12 pinned for a turn. I even had a sectoid hit scruffy while under the effects of a flashbang - basically I got hit by Stevie Wonder from fifty yards away. My luck just gave out on this mission. I suppose I could have done a better job positioning my troops but I was worried about activating more pods (I thought there might be thin men or floaters around) and i didn't want to get in a crossfire. It ended up happening anyway, but that's XCOM for you. On the bright side, we only lost a PFC so I didn't lose someone whom I've invested a ton of training into.
Next update we're going to slow it down a little and focus on base development and the air war. We might even get into Stream Dragon and his third squad's mission, Operation Driving Line.
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chaos0xomega wrote: Of course 2nd squad, my squad, would get the hard op that goes tits up. Makes us look bad, especially compared to those glory hounds in 1st always gettin the easy missions.
Docta Deth and Dead Meat have been rotating guard duty outside your hospital room to fend off Shen and Vahlen. They keep excitedly talking about "cybernetic augmentation" and "gene resequencing" or something along those lines. No idea what they're talking about.
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AlmightyWalrus wrote: Not too sure how often Swedish soliders pop up in Long War, but once one does, I'm calling dibs! Eusebius Walrus, sniper, make him look like whatever you want.
Don't currently have a Swedish solider in XCOM, but if one pops up (and they do occasionally) you do indeed have dibs. I couldn't interest you in low mileage German or Australian sniper could I?
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: Don't currently have a Swedish solider in XCOM, but if one pops up (and they do occasionally) you do indeed have dibs. I couldn't interest you in low mileage German or Australian sniper could I?
Meh, might as well go for the Aussie. If there's callsigns in Long War and he's still kicking around at that point, make him "Vulture".
chaos0xomega wrote: Gene sequencing? Cybernetic Augmentation? I volunteer as tribute! If it gets the squad back innaction faster, do what ya gotta do.
And its all my fault ;_; Legion 12 died trying to save me, I have a redshirts blood on my hands.
It's all very theoretical at this point. No one knows if cybernetic augmentation is even possible. Time will tell. The squad will be back in action soon enough.
31 days is too long damnit, I cant be sitting around in a hospital bed when there are alien scumbags to kill. We need to get back in the fight ASAP, and the sooner the better. Cant let 1st squad have all the fun. Besides that, I want -no- I NEED more kills.
I present Specialist Esubius Walrus, Sniper. Congratulations Walrus, you'll be assigned to 1st squad as they are currently on stand-by. Grab some rack time and hit the range when ready. You'll get your nickname once you've earned one (no one has made corporal yet). Specialist Carlos 13th has been moved to third squad in order to participate in Driving Line.
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chaos0xomega wrote: 31 days is too long damnit, I cant be sitting around in a hospital bed when there are alien scumbags to kill. We need to get back in the fight ASAP, and the sooner the better. Cant let 1st squad have all the fun. Besides that, I want -no- I NEED more kills.
Your ... enthusiasm for augmentation is noted... and appreciated.
Are snipers any good in Long War? I've always gound them lacking in vanilla.
Really? They were godly in Vanilla if you speced 'em out right. My Snipers almost always competed with my run and gun assaults for the most kills. Snipers have been actually nerfed a little in Long War although they aren't dead-weight in the early ranks like they were in vanilla. I would say that snipers are overall less powerful, but have a better power curve than in vanilla. They will never reach the peaks of god-hood that they did in late war vanilla, but they will not be the 200 pound dead weight that they were in early war vanilla either. Esubius has already proven quite handy, but that'll have to wait for the next time Glory Squad goes out.
Are snipers any good in Long War? I've always gound them lacking in vanilla.
Really? They were godly in Vanilla if you speced 'em out right. My Snipers almost always competed with my run and gun assaults for the most kills. Snipers have been actually nerfed a little in Long War although they aren't dead-weight in the early ranks like they were in vanilla. I would say that snipers are overall less powerful, but have a better power curve than in vanilla. They will never reach the peaks of god-hood that they did in late war vanilla, but they will not be the 200 pound dead weight that they were in early war vanilla either. Esubius has already proven quite handy, but that'll have to wait for the next time Glory Squad goes out.
I guess I just never got anyone ranked up enough as a sniper in order to see the other side to snipers
Once snipers get Double Tap in vanilla, and once you get some weapon upgrades on them, they tend to murderize the living hell out of things, at least in my (admittedly limited) experience.
OPERATION DRIVING LINE: Beunos Aires, Argentina. Date: 10 April, 2015
XCOM command was concerned about the efficacy of the 6 man squad in on-going operations. Bradford was vocal in advocating for platoon level deployments in the future. SPEC Bullockist correctly pointed out that XCOM lacked the personnel for that sort of operation and the Commander immediately shot it down on the grounds that a small squad was less likely to draw attention. The Commander did allow Bradford's request that more experienced squads be mandated and that rookies would be limited to one or perhaps two soldiers on the mission. Strong emphasis would be placed on soldiers unlikely to panic in the face of overwhelming alien firepower. R&D was mandated to close the technology gap as soon as possible. Vahlen felt we would be better served by studying and capturing live aliens, but the Commander wanted more firepower and he wanted it yesterday. Beam Lasers were put on top priority. Research quickly bore fruit and an order for a test run of laser rifles, autolasers, and other weapons was placed.
Dr. Shen Initiates the first run of laser weapons. Unlike vanilla, things take time to build in the workshops. The laser rifles will take two weeks to prepare. SCOPES take 8 days I believe. Nothing is instant in Long War.
At about the same time, we had a small scout UFO sniffing after our satellites over Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa.
LT. William "Puke" Shaw was given the task of bringing the scout down. Ultimately, it was an inconclusive bout as Shaw severely damaged the UFO in exchange for heavy damage on his own interceptor. F.O. Helen "Giggles" Mitchell was given the next intercept and successfully brought the UFO down off the coast of western Africa. There were no alien survivors although Brazil sponsored a deep water excavation team to recover wreckage.
"Giggles" joined Candyman and Shaw as the three XCOM pilots with a kill.
In Long War, pilots rank up too. The more kills they have, the better accuracy and evasion they get. It isn't a huge spike (something like 3-4% per kill, but it does make it worth stacking kills if possible.
As mid-April approached, The Engineers came up with the first in what would be a long line of semi-autonomous combat drones built for XCOM - otherwise known as the SHIV. The commander immediately saw the benefit of a semi-expendable combat asset and ordered that one be built along with an autoloader and weapon gyro to keep the minigun supplied with ammo and improve it's aim.
As it was now conclusive that the UFOs were targetting our satellites, top priority was given towards having a spare satellite on hand in case one was shot down.
The deep excavation to reach steam vents continued. It was determined to be more advantageous to spend the money reaching steam now than to make due with outdated fission generators until the natural expansion of the base brought us to our steam vents. It was a sacrifice that would set back XCOM base development substantially.
The morning of April 10th dawned bright and brisk in Beunos Aires. It promised to be a beautiful day - until the aliens attacked the train yards in the city center. 3rd Squad (Motto: Go Third or Go Home), led by Stream Dragon and supplemented by the newly transferred Carlos 13th from 1st Squad would ingress from the north and assault southward through the waiting rail cars.
3rd Squad would be bolstered by the addition of XCOMs newest gadget, the SCOPE. The significant improvements to aim reported in testing had convinced the commander to allow field trials. Stream Dragon's squad would be noted throughout the war as being Dr. Shen's guinea pigs in fielding new equipment.
Carlos13th and Bullockist form the rock of the squad - laying down a fearsome base of accurate fire from mostly static positions. SPEC Heart provide supplementary fire and medic support while SPEC Stream Dragon and Talizvar are the assault element. The relationship between scout and assault troopers was one of intense cooperation and mutual respect across all squads An intense rivalry over kill counts would develop between among the various scout/assault duos in XCOM. 3rd Squad chose to forego the use of mass explosives as the scientists were bitterly complaining about the lack of retrievable evidence from the likes of 1st squad and 4th squad. Spec Malfred was disappointed to learn of his transfer to 4th squad only minutes before the mission was to go.
The north side of the train yard where 3rd squad landed was fairly clear and Stream Dragon immediately devised a plan of action to assault the upper levels of the south side. Stream Dragon's squad made it to the top level without incident, but they could hear the aliens moving on just the other side of the train car they sheltered behind. Stream Dragon passed the plan down to his squad.
Carlos and Bullockist would lay down fire from the train car (green box), while Talizvar would take Marine with Heart with him around the left hand side (yellow arrow). Legion would stick with Stream Dragon and assault over the cargo car and flank the enemy from the right (blue arrow).
This is what happened on the alien turn.
What the camera's didn't capture was two more floaters activating and another seeker (I believe) going into stealth mode.
3rd Squad all of a sudden found itself facing two new kinds of aliens - the heavy flying cyborgs aptly named floaters and the flying metal spaghetti monsters named seekers. 3rd Squad, to it's credit, got on with the killing.
Talizvar claims the first Seeker kill in XCOM history.
Stream Dragon bags his first thin man.
Legion 22 flashbang both floaters in the hopes of stopping them flanking 3rd squad.
Marine_With_Heart piles on the damage - neither floater is dead quite yet.
The violence of 3rd squads assault stuns most of aliens. Their return fire is ineffective, and most of them just hunker down in overwatch. No casualties sustained by 3rd.
Disoriented aliens try to assault 3rd's position. The line is breached, but innefectively.
A high-caliber bullet from Carlos 13th's sniper rifle exits the back of the Floaters skull
Talizvar contemplates just how much more this will hurt the thin man than it will hurt him.
The answer is 10x more.
More grenades make for a bad day for Floaters
Stream Dragon completes the double envelopment. The remaining floater is screwed.
Everyone believed the battle was almost over, but the there were still cloaked seekers around. third squad almost pays the price.
Bullockist and Marine_with_Heart are attacked by Seekers.
After a furious dash to destroy the two remaining robot aliens, Marine with Heart deals the final blow. He would collapse with a partially crushed windpipe shortly after this photo was taken.
XCOM promotions are slow in coming for third squad - although they have fewer missions than either Glory Squad or 2nd Squad.
This last photo has nothing to do with Driving Line, but it does give you an idea of how much busier Long War is compared to Vanilla - keep in mind this is early April which is still considered early game even in vanilla XCOM.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Dang, looks like we ran into some kind "super-sectoid" or at least a very lucky one.
Aliens in long war have ranks. you can run into "squad leader" variants that have improved health and some skills. Supression, psi panic, mind fray, and low profile are all skills that some sectoids possess. Vanilla sectoids possess none of these skills AFAIK.
Trondheim wrote:What no action for my squad? Oh well all good things comes to those whom waits I suppose
Not to worry. Operation Dying Mist is a special two squad special with 4th Squad (Motto: Go Fourth, and Multiply) of 1st Platoon and 1st Squad (Motto: First in Your Hearts) of 2nd Platoon in a comic-book style crossover special. There's blood, there's heroism, there's heroic blood! Wait, that doesn't sound right....
Anyway, 1st, 3rd, and 4th will be seeing increased action after what happened to 2nd...
SilverMK2 wrote:Really enjoying the after action reports and insights into the game
I'm just happy to have you along. You've accounted for your fair share of aliens. You're well on your way to citizenship!
chaos0xomega wrote: Yeah im still waiting for my augmentations and implants *pouts*
Maybe I shouldn't be telling you this, but more of 2nd squad just ended up in the hospital next to you (including my avatar). We're quickly developing a repuatation as the "cursed" squad.
feth. We gettin another AAR? Funny too because right after I posted I was thinking to myself "Hope the next mission goes well or this squad will earn itself a reputation as being cursed".
Well, as they say, steer into the skid. Give us the toughest and most dangerous missions and we will carry them out with grim resolve, even if we spend a lot of time in medical afterwards. We might need a new nickname after this lol.
chaos0xomega wrote: feth. We gettin another AAR? Funny too because right after I posted I was thinking to myself "Hope the next mission goes well or this squad will earn itself a reputation as being cursed".
Well, as they say, steer into the skid. Give us the toughest and most dangerous missions and we will carry them out with grim resolve, even if we spend a lot of time in medical afterwards. We might need a new nickname after this lol.
2nd Squad are a bunch of tough SOBs - that's for sure. We've got none of the glory of first squad. We've got none of the tech of 3rd squad. We don't even have the stacked experience like 4th squad. All we have is each other and a bloody determination to not die. It is enough - mostly.
"The council can be demanding. It is my job to handle the council. You may disagree with my decisions regarding the council countries, but the council listens to me - not the other way around."
--The Commander to Central Officer Bradford
-- Closed Door Meeting in the aftermath of the bombing of Shanghai, March 2015
an official document released for publication details the mission briefing of Operation Dying Mist.
2 scientists and 2 engineers? This is crucial. I'm seriously behind in the research game and my engineers are lagging as well. I NEED this mission to go well or I could find myself even further behind the aliens. Right now I'm barely keeping up with them - any further behind and I run the very real risk of losing.
The Commander thought it prudent to ensure success for the coming mission so 4/1 squad (that's 4th squad, 1st platoon) and 1/2 (1st squad, 2nd platoon) got the call.
[/i]Kamikaze Canuck and Killionaire join 4th squad over the protestations of Trondheim and Motyak. The resulting falling out would result in a bitter rivalry between the two squads for the remainder of the war.[/i]
Overlay of the area surrounding the Caserne Lamoriciere
Trondheim wasted no time. This mission didn't have the urgency of a full-on abduction mission, but evidence could be walking away right now.
"Motyak, take Malfred and Demented Wombat and take that roof. I want the high ground for this fight. Killionaire, Kamikaze, you both are with me. We're taking the loading docks. Go, go, go.
A solitary Thin Man almost immediately makes it's presence known - and makes the last mistake of it's life in charging Killionaire, Trondheim, and Kamikaze.
[/i]Killionaire flanks the thin man and delivers a shotgun blast to the fragile torso of the thin man. 2nd platoon racks up the first kill of Dying Mist.[/i]
Motyak and company uncover a pod of Sectoids lurking in the alley behind the small warehouse.
Demented Wombat claims a sectoid with a grenade in the early stages of Dying Light. Note Kamikaze Canuck spotting for his grenade throw from below.
Malfred resists the psychic assault of the sectoids, but pays the price physically.
Motyak teaches the sectoids just how much of a mistake it was messing with 4th squad.
After dealing with sectoids, 4th squad moves onto the roof of the second building (In Long War, elevation provides a substantial bonus on to hit rolls. - making it a vital tactical advantage). As they approach the west end of the battle area, they spook a pod of 3 more sectoids. Luckily, they are well positioned to take them on.
Malfred moments before firing a missile into the heart of the pod.
Malfred claims a kill and wounds two other sectoids with his missile.
Two more sectoids would take cover in the coffee shop below fourth squad and Killionaire would take a frightful hit that almost kills him. The Honeywll RQ-16 T-Hawk deployed to cover the mission suffered a momentary glitch and did not cover the approach to the obejctive.
Stock photo of the T-Hawk- regularly deployed to monitor squad level actions in the long war.
Motyak recovers the asset - a mysterious aggressor responsible for the attack on the French convoy. The rest of the squad covers his approach.
Aliens rain down on 4/1 and 1/2 as they try to escort a very sick and very uncooperative objective back to the skyranger.
Motyak closes on a Thin Man in the open This thin man is caught in a vicious crossfire and reduced to a chunks of acid-filled meat in seconds. Motyak closes on another thin man who had temporarily taken cover. 4/1 and 1/2 racked up kills so fast that the orbiting T-hawk had trouble capturing it all.[i]
[i]Kamikaze Canuck perforates a hapless sectoid as he attempts to silence the witness. Motyak and Trondheim both get more kills Demented Wombat gets in on the action and claims a Thin man
A mostly dead Killionaire successfully escorts the objective back to the skyranger. His intel under... questioning.. would prove most useful.
Trondheim personally finishes the last of the thin men with his personal sawed-off.
4/1 and 1/2 together rack up the largest kill count of the war - with no fatalities. Killioaire would spend a month in the hospital though.
Trondheim, Motyak, Demented Wombat, and Kamikaze would all be granted promotions.
Demented Wombat would gain the sapper perk, making his grenades ever more deadly. Trondheim developed a taste for finishing off wounded aliens with his executioner perk. [i]Motyak, meanwhile, developed a skill allowing him to walk his team mate's fire into the target (holo-targeting)
Overall, a great mission. I felt that the sectoid got a lucky shot on killionaire, but what are you gonna do. That's XCOM. Overall, I'm happy with how things are going. 1st Sqaud, 1st Platoon is next in the shoot.
I need more Dakkanauts to join in the glorious adventures of the XCOM Dakka Corps! Forget your families and forget your lives. Save the planet, make my game more enjoyable! Fight to the laughter of uncaring gods! JOIN DAKKA CORPS today!
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Really trying hard to not start another Xcom playthrough. What class am I?
You are an infantry soldier - basically the best class for utilizing the rifle. Throughout this palythrough you'll become progressively better (and by better, I mean deadly) at using your primary weapon to deal more damage in both offense and overwatch. You'll deal more damage and you do it more accurately. You will tend to be one of the slower, sturdier clasees. Infantry is the queen of battle. You may not have fancy lightning reflexes or big explosions, but the ground isn't truly captured until you have infantry standing on it.
Stream Dragon's squad would be noted throughout the war as being Dr. Shen's guinea pigs in fielding new equipment.
If "new equipment" ever includes robot body replacement, Lance Corporal (?) Stream Dragon volunteers to be the first under the knife.
What does my skill tree look like so far? Not really sure what my class even is. Shotgun Assaulter?
Edit: Can I pick someone's brain on how to get the mod working? I installed according to the instructions, but when I try to launch I get the pop up that has "Enemy Within" and "Enemy Unknown" that I would normally get. Clicking "Enemy Within" just goes to "installing", then back to the original pop up. Clicking "Enemy Unknown" takes me to a completely unmodded version of the game. Tried looking through the readme and the nexus forums, but no luck.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Really trying hard to not start another Xcom playthrough. What class am I?
Yeah me too. I get the feeling one forum i go to wants to see me do an impossible ironman run for them since the forum is mostly multiplayer vets and they have few if any singleplayer campaign vets.
Stream Dragon's squad would be noted throughout the war as being Dr. Shen's guinea pigs in fielding new equipment.
If "new equipment" ever includes robot body replacement, Lance Corporal (?) Stream Dragon volunteers to be the first under the knife.
What does my skill tree look like so far? Not really sure what my class even is. Shotgun Assaulter?
XCOM is a cutting edge organization, but like the many military forces it drew it's forces from, old traditions died hard. Infantry and heavy assualt troops were assumed to put the most on the line and were consequently given the lion's share of the leadership roles. It was probably an unjust decision as engineers, snipers, and medics alike displayed great courage under fire.
By April of 2015, Stream Dragon was on the cusp of gaining his corporal. He specialized as an assault - a door kicker in every sense of the word. His initial skill run and gun let him take a shot after running for two actions. Aliens would be pin a member of Stream Dragon's squad only for the last thing they felt to be the cold steel of a shotgun against their temple. Stream Dragon was the XCOM equivalent of a bar room brawler - anyone who got within 20 feet of him took a shotgun round to the head (he has the close combat specialist perk). Lately, Stream Dragon has been spending a lot of time at the pistol range. He is a formidable opponent at close range, but once the engagement moves further out he often finds himself with little to do. His additional training will allow him to make use of the upcoming heater laser personal defense weapon or the machine pistol with no range penalties and increased damage.
Stream Dragon's squad would be noted throughout the war as being Dr. Shen's guinea pigs in fielding new equipment.
If "new equipment" ever includes robot body replacement, Lance Corporal (?) Stream Dragon volunteers to be the first under the knife.
What does my skill tree look like so far? Not really sure what my class even is. Shotgun Assaulter?
Edit: Can I pick someone's brain on how to get the mod working? I installed according to the instructions, but when I try to launch I get the pop up that has "Enemy Within" and "Enemy Unknown" that I would normally get. Clicking "Enemy Within" just goes to "installing", then back to the original pop up. Clicking "Enemy Unknown" takes me to a completely unmodded version of the game. Tried looking through the readme and the nexus forums, but no luck.
Long war doesn't necessarily play well with other mods. You might have to verify back to pure vanilla by right-clicking your game in the steam library > properties > local files > verify integrity of game cache.
Also it is a know problem that the first time you start long war on your computer the game may crash... subsequent starts *should* work as planned. the game has to "make nice" with the mod files.
Oh.. you were press-ganged into service by Motyak, Trondheim, and Stream Dragon some time ago... .I mean, WELCOME Specialist Malfred! Glad you could make it.
Oh.. you were press-ganged into service by Motyak, Trondheim, and Stream Dragon some time ago... .I mean, WELCOME Specialist Malfred! Glad you could make it.
do you care about things like gender or nationality?
I'm curious. I mean i dunno how i'd feel about being a woman but being a black woman would be a rather strange identity thing for me. I suppose i can accept a woman or a man of different nationality but not both. That would just get way too weird. Then again maybe it'd be hilarious to be a black woman. As long as you let me talk lots of smack to the enemy it might be hilarious actually. "Uh uh baby! You ain't goin nowhere."
OPERATION UNCEASING DIRGE: Nigeria (again). 16 April, 2015.
"What is in Nigeria? I don't understand what draws the aliens there. The largest UFO we've yet seen waltzes into our airspace and sets down and waits for us to come kill them. None of this makes sense. They are testing us, I know it."
-- COL Bradford (ret.)
-- XCOM battle captain
I'm well aware that the picture shows the UFO well away from Nigeria...
1st Squad, 1st Platoon would be granted the inaugural SHIV, codename DAKKA-DAKKA 1 on this mission. It would not help their reputation as the Council favorites.
Oh.. you were press-ganged into service by Motyak, Trondheim, and Stream Dragon some time ago... .I mean, WELCOME Specialist Malfred! Glad you could make it.
Fethin fethers in 1st squad gettin all the good action again. Bet ya they dont end up in a fethin hospital bed in a coma for 31 days. Man, this gak sucks. Im part of the cursed squad, only 2 kills in 2 missions, some gakker in 3rd squad will probably get augmentations before me, and I probably wont even have a chance at officer school until every tool in 4th makes colonel. AND IM STILL STUCK IN GODDAMNED MEDICAL.
Oh.. you were press-ganged into service by Motyak, Trondheim, and Stream Dragon some time ago... .I mean, WELCOME Specialist Malfred! Glad you could make it.
do you care about things like gender or nationality?
Automatically Appended Next Post:
motyak wrote: Yeah killed some guys! Love it. Reporting for more death and destruction
A better than 2 kill per mission ratio puts you in the elite of the elite of XCOM, Motyak.
Guess I better go back and read.
Automatically Appended Next Post: No wonder I missed it. 4th squad indeed!
You are an integral member of 3rd... er... 4th squad... er... the whole squad structure is rather "fluid" these days - mostly because half the platoon is in sick bay or psychological leave at any given time.
chaos0xomega wrote:Fethin fethers in 1st squad gettin all the good action again. Bet ya they dont end up in a fethin hospital bed in a coma for 31 days. Man, this gak sucks. Im part of the cursed squad, only 2 kills in 2 missions, some gakker in 3rd squad will probably get augmentations before me, and I probably wont even have a chance at officer school until every tool in 4th makes colonel. AND IM STILL STUCK IN GODDAMNED MEDICAL.
If we're stuck in medical they can can stick us in gene mods. If you're on QRF you can't spend a week getting you pancreas removed and some gills shoved in, now can you?
Hordini wrote:I'll offer my services, if you're looking for more operatives.
Always looking for more operatives! You have your pick of either gender or class, you can't necessarily have both so choose wisely.
"I'm eagerly awaiting to get back into the action sir, Fatigue won't keep me OOA! Sir, can i ask a favour? Unlike the rest of these guys, I want to keep the quacks knife as far away from me as possible! I got enough things trying to cut me up, like them vanishing aliens, they give me the creeps. "
I tried to install long war unfortunately i get an error. Apparently if you install to a different drive than default you get problems. One day, long war...one day.
Man that was a brutal Mission we went on. Sorry chaos on what happened to you. Looks like I need to get some Gene Mods for My eyes to hit better with my Rockets. Ill put in the request forms for the Gene therapy.
I'll also head up to the CO to see if we can get some Tech Support from the engineers.
Wow, miss a couple days and feel behind.
Excellent write-ups, surprised you can keep track of any of it.
So I am a Scout, with the 3rd squad which may become fluid due to alien carnage.
I like the class, I tend to like to fight mid to close range (gives me less time to think too long: analysis paralysis... gotta work to our strengths!).
Nice to see a few kills to the record, I was hoping he would pull his weight and not get blasted as soon as he moved forward (I hate that...).
If it is all going bad for one of the guys, feel free to send me into the fire to help... I am motivated that way.
This is oddly, FUN, like watching episodes of UFO all over again:
Bradford is no "Lieutenant Gay Ellis" (woman at moon base with purple wig above) but it will do. Who knew we would all get another set of avatars at Dakka?
Anyway, yes, when there is time I to will upgrade to Long War... this is too interesting a challenge to pass-up.
I think I am really good at X-com but this I suspect is harder than it looks.
Keep it going, looks like I have another reason to check on Dakka daily.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: You're already doing so much Scruffy but I wouldn't mind seeing an update of our whole roster. I'm like 3rd platoon or something?
It's coming. Let me get one or two more missions up and a complete OOB will be posted.
Automatically Appended Next Post: OPERATION UNCEASING DIRGE (Medium UFO landing) Nigeria, 16 April, 2015.
XCOM Air/Space Defense radar picked up an unusually large signature inbound from the middle east. XCOM air wing Africa was still pretty shot up from it's near continuous sorties against scout/fighter class UFOs. Based on tracjectory, altitude, and airspeed, The Commander made the decision not to engage the UFO and hope it would continue on it's way. Instead, it chose to set down in a remote region of Nigeria.
It was too good an opportunity to pass up. XCOM's 1st Squad would clear the site of all alien activity and secure the UFO for Vahlen's science team. Capturing live aliens was not a priority - much to the chagrin of Dr. Vahlen.
1st Squad would not be going alone. Dr. Shen's brand new DakkaDakka Class SHIV would take part in it's inaugural mission. Equipped with heavy armor, a 7.62 minigun, improved weapon stabilization gyros, and a large ammo hopper, it was a formidable system. The Commander made it clear to all involved in it's deployment that it was NOT a replacement for a soldier, and they should not hesitate to send it to certain destruction if completion of the mission resulted.
XCOM approaches from the south-east on approach to the UFO landing area. A remote area of Nigeria along the Benin border is the combat zone. XCOM personnel set up LP/OPs north and west of the landing site to prevent any potential raiding party from escaping the attack.
Silver MK2 and her squad advance on the UFO.[
DAKKA DAKKA -1 proves it's worth by speeding off to collect meld while the 5 human members of the squad set up firing positions on the UFO.
As Dakka-Dakka 1 returns with it's specimen container full of meld, 3 sectoids patrol into 1st Squads firing line.
The three sectoids do not last long. Pinned by Cthulu Spy and Walrus and already partially flanked by Silver, Elemental, and the SHIV meant that the Sectoids never stood a chance. The Squad prepares to knock on the front door - XCOM style.
XCOM's breach and clear SOP for clearing UFOs pays off as all soldiers are in position when 1st Squad reveals two pods - one of thin men and one of floaters.
"I don't think they knew we were there until the first flashbangs came rolling in right in front of DAKKA DAKKA 1" Most of 'em didn't get a shot off and by the time we cleared the first room we were wading through alien corpses."
As the first room is cleared, The thin men begin to recover from their shock and attempt to mount of resistance. It goes about as well as the rebel resistance at the beginning of Star Wars: A New Hope.
CthuluSpy claims another kill as she guns down a thinman. She had previously downed a sectoid and a floater.
SHIV designated DAKKADAKKA 1 guns down the first of two outsiders before the alien fully finishes forming.
The last outsider puts up a desperate defense.
Elemental swiftly flanks, then shoots the alien in the back
I swear to God that I'm not doing this on purpose. 1st squad breezes through what should have been a hard slog. 16 aliens - including 8 at once at close range - usually means a lengthy stay at the hospital for someone, but aside from minor damage to DAKKA 1 no one was scratched. They simply waded through pod after pod with brutal efficiency. DAKKA was shot at twice. I believe the aliens got a TOTAL of 5 or 6 shots off - and only one or two of those were not under the influence of a flashbang or supression. 1st Squad cut through those aliens like BUTTAH.
The Officer Training School is now available.
... Because we have our first Non-Commissioned Officer by the names of Silver MK2 and Elemental.
malfred wrote: How often do you suggest steadying your weapon?
Well, if you know you're about to start an engagement, I would suggest your sniper and rocketeer steady weapon. Let your normal guys go into overwatch for that potential first strike. Steady Weapon also works with rockets.
There are other times when steady weapon is great. Namely, setting up a stack when entering an unknown building while not currently engaged.
Here you see the guys on the left and right side of the doors both in the center and upper right hand side have steadied weapons. Since opening a door doesn't break the steady weapoin it makes perfect sense. If there's a pod there, you now have +20% chance to hit with all four of those rifles. The shotguns are placed one tile back (so as to not block overwatch shots if you choose that - sometimes I'll go 1 guy steady and 1 overwatch if I'm sure I'll get contact). The shotgunner is first in.
Sniper (after he's moved) and rocketeer (after he's moved) are the majority of the times I use steady weapon. I sometimes use it if I've stuck fighting it out at long range over no man's land with few options to advance. If the best I'm getting is 20-30% chance to hit then I might steady one guy while the other guys overwatch/shoot. 9 times out of 10 though there's a better way. Either fall back to more favorable terrain or flank around to land some high percentage shots.
Automatically Appended Next Post: "So you're saying the rejection of the Council mission in March was intentional?" Bradford obviously didn't believe it. To be honest, I didn't believe it either. The thought that The Commander would let all those people in Shanghai die for some political game both terrified and infuriated me. It must be some mistake - some sort of back room political fight between the West and East of the Council nations. Ever since Canada had gone dark the eastern hemisphere had become increasingly suspicious of anyone west of the Atlantic.
"Yes, I think he intentionally let Shanghai burn to frighten the Chinese and everyone else on the Pacific Rim. What do you think will happen when the people riot in the streets and the Chinese air force goes down in flames under a relentless UFO assault? They'll come begging for XCOM assistance and they'll offer the world in exchange for a few XF-105s and a couple of satellites. It's the perfect ploy. You're given the keys to the family jewels even as you seize control." The archivist settled back and lit another cigarette.
"You won't smoke in my conference room," snapped Bradford. "This isn't one of your little games in America where you have FBI agents dancing to your tune. You will drop the theatrics."
Mr. Spender stubbed out his cigarette and prepared to leave the room. "Remember, the Commander was willing to let Shanghai burn in order to bring the Chinese in line. Is that the man you want running this operation? Think about it." With that, he was gone.
"For God's sake, the Commander is a woman." muttered Bradford as he returned to his unending reports.
-- Dr. Shen's Journal
April 26, 2015
Don't worry Chaos, I will be bringing the party to the hospital wing too. Speaking of wings, I could probably get you some hotwing flavoured IV fluid if you were interested
*Silvermk2 goes to spend some time with the guys in hospital*
Visits the hospital and tries to pick out a comfortable bed.
Reviews his will... yep seems ok.
Talks to Dr. Vahlen about some "volunteer opportunities" and cannot help feeling like some petri-dish for her to experiment in.
Talks to Dr. Shen about some "volunteer opportunities" and asks me "How much do you like tech.? How much of it is a part of you... er... part of your life?"
Decided to run on the treadmill... bad choice listening to "Fear of the Dark".
Was on the gunnery range, some enterprising fellow rolled a dud grenade between my feet... I hate grenades... shotguns make an excellent club.
Checked my kit, I want to get out there.
Those aliens will not die by themselves and I have some fears to exercise.
First mission went well. Took a few days to rest and recover. It was just as intense as I thought it would be. Glad that I performed under pressure.
Review the tapes from the latest mission, smile thinking about how much good a few grenades could do inside an alien spacecraft...
Head over to the shooting range to keep my eye in, roll a few dummy grenades around to mess with people. You could get in trouble for that in a real military outfit, but working for the private sector has some perks.
Spend some time cooking up something to boost troop morale. Haven't used this software for a long time. Hope it gets a good laugh.
(shameless plug, if anybody wants to see what the original xcom game looked like you can check out the playlist on my youtube channel)
OPERATION PATIENT SUMMER: Perth, Australia. 19 April, 2015
"I don't want to put 2nd squad in the field again so soon. Spec Chaos is still in the infirmary and I'm not sure the squad is ready to go back out." Bradford was always the tireless advocate for "his" troops.
"If we leave them out of this, it will destroy their confidence. Besides, the other squads have suffered casualties are just as exhausted. It's been almost a month. We will not alter the rotation."
"But Sir.."
"2nd Squad is going."
"Understood, Sir. Can I augment 2nd with Spec Kamikaze Canuck and that Spec Scruffy?"
"Granted. Now get them on that Skyranger. Perth needs them."
--Exchange between the Commander and Bradford
-- 18 April, 2015
You'll see two Scruffy throughout the exploits of 2nd squad. The squad leader is an avatar for my wife while the Sgt_Scruffy is my avatar. I took the most sad sack specialist I could find. 2 missions and she still didn't have a kill and had spent more time in the hospital than even Chaos (sorry, man).
Resistance is expected to be heavy as the team heads for Australia. In Long War, aliens often make concentrated efforts to take a country. In another play through I did, the aliens launched attack after attack on China with UFOs, terror missions, satellite shootd-owns, and council missions. I inflicted devastating casualties on them, but after two months of constant warfare, China is about to withdraw from the council.
The major weakness of the squad as it is currently composed is speed. 2nd and Third Squad both take the toughness and firepower route while 1st and 4th tend to have more speed. If I were playing XCOM as optimally as I could, I would not be using the squad system at all - but where's the fun in that?
The team lands in a construction yard I really don't like this map. It's easy to accidentally activate new pods in very awkward positions. Trying to flank a pod without activating another one is almost impossible. This map tends to turn into a slugfest for me. Just what second squad neeeded.
2nd Squad comes in immediate contact with 3 sectoids at extreme range
As the squad moves into position, Dead Meat's obsessive time at the range pays off. The sectoids take a rocket to the face. It doesn't kill any of them, but certainly softens them up. The excavator is a great position since there's so much cover. I'm going to send the majority of my guys around the right of the truck while a smaller (and slower) contingent works it's way around the left. Hopefully I can activate one pod at a time from advantageous positions.
The aliens reinforce with 3 Floaters as 2nd Squad becomes heavily engaged. PFC Legion 8 attempts an early knockout blow against the approaching aliens but comes up just short. SPEC Scruffy, Canuck, and Docta Deth contiue to clean up the remaining Sectoids.
The Floaters charge XCOM positions while the Sectoids cover them. The wounded floater attempts to flank. A Floater squad leader misses a flank shot on LCPL Mrs. Scruffy. XCOM is in danger of being enveloped.
Spec Sgt_Scruffy earns her first kill in the intense firefight around the excavator. This eases the supression fire enough for LCPL Scruffy to make the dash to reinforce the right flank. Kamikaze Canuck flashbangs two floaters in heavy cover Docta Deth dispatches the flanking floater with a fatal dose of lead poisoning.
The two remaining Floaters, blinded and under intense fire, decide to alternate hunker down and try to get away. Dead Meat rockets one while the other is brought down by a hail of gunfire and grenades.
Phew, two pods down and so far no casualties. I was worried because I *barely* activated that floater pod as I was halfway through my move. Scruffy was caught in a flank position. Luckily, two of the floaters didn't have LOS to her and the third had a long shot that missed. I ended up having to use a ton of consumables in that fight though since the floaters were mostly staying at long range along with the sectoids. I hope this doesn't bite me in the butt.
"We were doing well. 6 Aliens down with no casualties. The excavation site was clear, and we were moving into the materials yard when we ran across 4 more sectoids. Cover was good, but these guys had a good spot picked out. The truck on one side and the bust on the other side gave some good spots to attempt the flank, but it would take a while to get around."
"How did LCPL Scruffy approach the problem?"
"Well, She sent SPEC Scruffy and Legion 8 to flank from our right around the 18-wheeler. Kamikaze, LCPL Scruffy, Dead Meat, and Myself were going to pin them in place and look for openings. The fight turned into a close range affair pretty quickly. The Sectoids just didn't want to give up that ground."
-- Docta Deth describes the fight at the material yard.
-- Post-mission AAR.
The battle does not start off well.
SPEC Scruffy takes a serious shoulder wound in the opening exchanges.
LCPL Mrs. Scruffy's plan
A sectoid scores a lucky overwatch hit as LCPL Mrs. Scruffy advances to heavy cover. Luckily, Docta Deth would immediately heal the wounded squad leader
"Things were going.. okay. Both Scruffys had taken hits, but we were in position. Canuck had our left flank locked down with Dead Meat, and LCPL Scruffy, the new kid Legion 8, and myself were ready to put the remaining sectoids down. SPEC Scruffy was peaked around the corner of the 18-wheeler and almost got his face shot off by a bunch of fething thin men. I hate thin men."
--Docta Deth recounts Operation Patient Summer
I hate fair fights. What had been a 3 sectoids versus 6 humans fight is now a 7 mixed aliens versus 6 humans fight. Thin men are stupidly accurate with their light plasma rifles and the worst thing is their acid spit. They don't have poison anymore so if your troop doesn't do anything they won't take damage for as long as the acid lasts (usually 2-5 turns). However, if they are under acid and they move, shoot, reload, overwatch... basically anythinge except hunker down, they take a point of damage and also take a panic test. The panic test is the worst part. because theres nothing worse than an XCOM agent who won' listen to you.
Legion 8 exterminates one of the sectoids just as the thin men enter the fray SPEC Scruffy wounds but can't quite down one of the thin men. LCPL Scruffy finally downs the sectoid responsible for wounding her husband.
As the sectoids died, the thin men took their place. Things were bad. 2nd Squad was low on ammo, their grenades were mostly gone and SPEC Scruffy was severely wounded. We knew these three were the last. One had tried to charge LCPL Scruffy and taken a shotgun round in the face for it's trouble (thank you close combat specialist perk).
Docta Deth, LCPL Scruffy and Kamikaze Canuck come under a rain of acid as the thin men advance. Legion 8 completes the right flank envelopment although he is dangerously exposed. Docta Deth's medical skills are put to good use neutralizing acid. She would work tirelessly in the most dangerous conditions bringing aid to her fellow team mates. (Having a med-kit confers immunity to acid so Docta Deth didn't take the health hits. She did still take the reduced aim and will penalties.
SPEC Sgt_Scruffy succumbs to shock after taking another wound from the thin men.
LCPL Scruffy and Legion 8 finally down the last thin man with weapons rapidly dissolving in the now acid-flooded construction site.
The bad news as 2nd squad is air-evaced back to base. We didn't lose anyone, but they will be out of commission for a month. Command considers disbanding the squad and folding it into other squads, but ultimately decides against it. Docta Deth and Dead Meat once again escape injury. Dead Meat makes Lance Corporal. Anti-robotics warfare is added to his list of specialties
Docat Deth makes Lance Corporal as well. A recommendation for the Medal of Terra is placed in her file. Being 2nd squads medic, she wisely decides to improve her medical skills.
Those thin men just wouldn't miss. I'm not even sure how Kamikaze Canuck got hurt so badly. I know she took a little acid damage, but I don't remember her getting hit with plasma fire. Those thin men were BRUTAL though. I've never had a pack of thin men just go full bore acid attack. Anyway. 2nd squad keeps its reputation for doggedly getting the job done despite setbacks. The Commander is considering making them the guinea pigs for modification since at this rate they will be behind in career development compared to other squads. Feth those thin-men though.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Hey Guys, thank you for reading and commenting. It really is the impetus to keep doing this! I swear I'll get to a "state of XCOM" post later on this week. I just don't want to give anything away until I get caught up. I play a couple missions/weeks ahead so I can craft the narrative properly. I'm not manipulating anything, but it is interesting to see trends emerge like 1st squad having a lot of relative cake-walks while 2nd squad goes through hell every time they go out. 3rd squad just sort of accidentally gets a mission everytime a new piece of tech is introduced and so on.
Anyway, thanks for read and commenting! Hordini, Bromsy, Flamingkillamajig, you all have avatars now, but they just haven't appeared yet in the XCOM timeline. I think I have to clear one or two more missions and we'll be all caught up and you can get in on the action!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Here's a preview of the new member of 1st squad, 2nd platoon.
Jesus, I'm stuck in medbay, the squad goes through hell and back AGAIN, AND I MISSED OUT ON THE MISSION TO AUSTRALIA!???!? UGH!
Damned well better become the modifications/augmentation guinea pigs, and if command tries to break up this squad I'll show them what hell is! They'll have my shotgun shoved so far up their asses that they'll be coughing buckshot and gaking spent shells.
Ugh, so I guess we completed the mission but got torn up pretty good. We won and everyone loved that's the main thing.
Can I request that helmet that's a glass dome and a red and black colour scheme. I had time to think about my look after spending a month in a hospital bed.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Ugh, so I guess we completed the mission but got torn up pretty good. We won and everyone loved that's the main thing.
Can I request that helmet that's a glass dome and a red and black colour scheme. I had time to think about my look after spending a month in a hospital bed.
So again we are thrown into the meat grinder. Glad we all came back though. Hope command does give us the go ahead on the "enhancements". Hey looks like my request for more tech paid off with the new optics on our rifles.
chaos0xomega wrote:Jesus, I'm stuck in medbay, the squad goes through hell and back AGAIN, AND I MISSED OUT ON THE MISSION TO AUSTRALIA!???!? UGH!
Damned well better become the modifications/augmentation guinea pigs, and if command tries to break up this squad I'll show them what hell is! They'll have my shotgun shoved so far up their asses that they'll be coughing buckshot and gaking spent shells.
Dont worry Chaos, you are always apart of 2nd. Ain't no one going to take you out of the squad or break us up.
Doctadeth wrote:Whoa, six kills in 3 missions, plus....at least 3 heals? Wow, I'm quite the expert.
Doc I'm just glad you are part of the squad., and a killer in your own right.
Trondheim wrote:Great AAR as always, and well done by 2th squad as always. When will myself see action again?
Third Squad (Stream Dragon,Talizvar, Bullockist and Co.) has its shot at glory then 4th squad will take down a UFO. Look for both AARs later today.
Doctadeth wrote:Whoa, six kills in 3 missions, plus....at least 3 heals? Wow, I'm quite the expert.
You were certainly the lynch-pin in that mission. You used all three heals, and saved the day with some key kills.
flamingkillamajig wrote:Not gonna lie. My suit actually made me smile in delight. Normally it's me doing other people in my game though i suppose i could see how i do.
I really want to play another game of 'enemy within' campaign as soon as possible.
deadmeat85 wrote:So again we are thrown into the meat grinder. Glad we all came back though. Hope command does give us the go ahead on the "enhancements". Hey looks like my request for more tech paid off with the new optics on our rifles.
chaos0xomega wrote:Jesus, I'm stuck in medbay, the squad goes through hell and back AGAIN, AND I MISSED OUT ON THE MISSION TO AUSTRALIA!???!? UGH!
Damned well better become the modifications/augmentation guinea pigs, and if command tries to break up this squad I'll show them what hell is! They'll have my shotgun shoved so far up their asses that they'll be coughing buckshot and gaking spent shells.
Dont worry Chaos, you are always a part of 2nd. Ain't no one going to take you out of the squad or break us up.
Doctadeth wrote:Whoa, six kills in 3 missions, plus....at least 3 heals? Wow, I'm quite the expert.
Doc I'm just glad you are part of the squad., and a killer in your own right.
2nd Squad will not be broken up, but it may be a while before they are back to full strength.
SilverMK2 wrote:Poor second squad
As soon as I wake up from my coma I'm coming over and showing you who the poor squad is.
OPERATION LOST FLAME: Nantes, France (again) 23 April, 2015
No one is quite sure what the aliens were after in Nantes, and extensive investigation after the war only turns up more questions than answers. Regardless, after XCOMs success in Nantes in early April, the aliens were back and looking to wreak as much havoc as possible. 3rd Squad would be given the mission.
The squad assembles before launch. XCOM HQ had placed renewed emphasis on training up the less experienced rookies in light of 2nd squad's difficulties. Stream Dragon would be given the job.
By the time XCOM arrived, the attack was largely complete. A French military base on the outskirts of the city was already in flames. Of all the attacks so far, this one made the most sense - a military target directly degraded a country's ability to fight.3rd Squad picked it's way through the wreckage.
Third Squad prepares to breach the maintenance warehouse at the center of the tank yard. No contact as yet. Stream Dragon was starting to think the aliens had already fled. He approached the building like any other time with a slow, methodical, and thorough manner that was fast becoming 3rd squad's MO.
The building is dark and silent, as 3rd Squad moves through it.
[imghttp://i1151.photobucket.com/albums/o624/Sgt_Scruffy/Dying%20Mist%20Council%20Mission%20Portent/Unceasing%20Dirge/Patient%20Summer/Lost%20Flame/2015-02-16_00169_zpsd9g9yu37.jpg[/img]
CONTACT! Bullockist spots 3 Floaters coming in through the walls
He quickly snaps out of it when he realizes he has his good friend mr. grenade to help the bad aliens go away.
"Say Hello to my Little Friend!" --Bullockist, probably
Demented Wombat joins in on the grenading action to finish off the clustered Floaters
I wouldn't have usually wasted the weapon fragments and bodies of 3 floaters so early in the mission with only one pod active, but Bullockist triggered the pod near the end of the turn so I had to act fast. Besides, I had my eye on the meld above all as I had been neglecting it for some time
The Squad advances into the tank yard in the now classic XCOM huddle.
... And we manage to activate two pods. 3 Floaters 1 Thin Man, and 1 (2?) seekers
The aliens are largely pinned by overwatch and grenades from the main force while Stream Dragon explores the left flank for opportunities and threats.
Demented Wombat inures more Floaters with his arsenal of grenades
Talizvar dashes right, bravely exposing himself to overwatch fire as he attempts to exploit the flank.
With the thin man distracted by shooting at Talizvar, Stream Dragon closes in from the opposite side and neutralizes the threat.
The Seeker decloaks and attacks a rookie. He is quickly shot off and killed.
Talizvar, having killed the last seeker, takes a moment to catch his breath.
Talizvar and Bullockist both make Lance Corporal.
Sorry this one is a little short, but there just wasn't a whole lot of "story" in this mission. The squad didn't take a scratch, the fights were over pretty quickly, and the aliens never stood a chance. It was as close to a "routine" mission as XCOM has had so far. Third Squad may not get the air time First Squad does, but they're racking up their own quite impressive win-streak here. I'd watch my back if I were you 1st squad. Third Squad is gunning for top spot.
Immediately upon returning, Dr. Vahlen confronts Shen, Bradford, and the Commander - demanding that a live specimen be captured.
The commander reluctantly agrees, but stipulates that the current effort to produce better weapons should be seen through to the end first. Vahlen accepts the compromise.
Advanced Beam Lasers will take a while, but I need them - before I need arc throwers.
So, in Long War, labs and workshops don't give you more scientists and engineers. The only two ways to get both is through continent bonuses and through nation requests. I did xenobiology because it lets me sell bodies for scientists. Hopefully, we can address our woefully understaffed science team here soon.
"Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result." - Winston Churchill - Steam, you keep sneaking up on them buddy and I will keep them busy: shooting or shot at.
"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend." - US Marine Corps - The aliens learned something I have always known: when someone throws a grenade they tend to say "dodge this!".
Good mission, does not seem right to be looking for more of a fight when there are those still getting patched up...
Talizvar wrote: "Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result." - Winston Churchill - Steam, you keep sneaking up on them buddy and I will keep them busy: shooting or shot at.
"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend." - US Marine Corps - The aliens learned something I have always known: when someone throws a grenade they tend to say "dodge this!".
Good mission, does not seem right to be looking for more of a fight when there are those still getting patched up...
It's funny - this mission marks the start of a bit of a hot streak for XCOM in the coming couple of weeks. The troops are coming along nicely and the cannon fodder no named troops are largely being leveled up nicely. XCOM is really coming into it's own. It is not all wine and roses, but overall April is a far, far better month than March.
XCOM Order of Battle: 24 April, 2015 1st Squad (Official Motto: 1st in, Last Out. Unofficial Nickname: The Glory Squad)
As the Month of April was drawing to a close, XCOM settled into a routine - if saving the world could ever be called routine. The squad rotations were more or less set, and barring any major catastrophes, most squads had the tools to deal with whatever the aliens threw at them.
1st Platoon was the de facto only platoon in XCOM's direct action command. Although significant gains had been made towards solidifying the platoon into a cohesive, experienced, and well-rounded fight force, substantial gaps still remained. Legion troops would fill in the gaps, but the expertise displayed by the fast emerging Dakka Corps would be sorely missed in the coming months.
1st Squad was quickly gaining a reputation as the best - many would say luckiest - squad in the XCOM. Led at the moment by Corporal Silver MK2 from the Assault Branch, they had so far suffered zero casualties through multiple missions. Silver MK2 also had the distinction of being the first human to make definitive contact with an alien life form.
Silver is turning into quite the close combat machine. Good mobility and good health are only slightly let down by an average aim. Since Silver does most of her killing up close with a shotgun, this doesn't matter. Silver has been putting a lot of time in at the pistol range so as to be of more use in longer range encounters... and perhaps in situations where only pistols are available.
Lance Corporal CthuluSpy is turning into XCOM's foremost gunner. The French native began her career with a bang (literally) by playing an instrumental role in XCOM's first capture of an intanct alien UFO. Her machine gun skills are second to none and supression has saved Silver and Elemental more than once.
Lance Corporal Esubius Walrus has taken to calling himself "Vulture" and the other squad members are starting to catch on to why. His dead-eye aim and cold blooded predatory instincts mark him as one of the deadliest snipers in Earth's alien defense force. The man can hit a flying Floater from 500 yards while seemingly disappearing into the barest of cover.
Not to be outdone by anyone in 1st squad, Corporal Elemental is perhaps the unrecognized lynch-pin of 1st squad. His lightning reflexes draws so much fire (12 overwatches at last count) without getting a scratch that it is highly doubtful 1st squad would enjoy the success it has without him. His recon skills, and his targeting skills make Cthulu, Walrus, and Silver that much deadlier. Although not the fastest scout in the force, his superior will, and good aim make him a a strong candidate for the Officer Selection Course.
1st Squad has so far enjoyed a bit of a charmed existence at XCOM and The Commander was seriously considering splitting the squad up to spread the experience gained by 1st around to the rest of the force. Bradford convinced him that team cohesion would be more valuable in the long run.
Next Post we'll examine the darkly fated 2nd Squad (Official Motto: To The Last Man. Unofficial Nickname: Patchwork Heroes.)
XCOM Order of Battle: 24 April, 2015 2nd Squad (Official Motto: To The Last Man. Unofficial Nickname: Patchwork Heroes.)
Where 1st squad has enjoyed the acclaim and glory of success after success, 2nd squad has faced trial and tribulation at every turn. In addition to suffering the first losses of the war, 2nd squad has spent more time in sick bay than the rest of XCOM combined. Nevertheless, 2nd squad has always completed its missions. Whether storming through a hail of plasma fire, tending to wounded in the open, or fighting thin men in a cloud of acid, 2nd squad grits its teeth and gets the job done.
Leading the squad is LCPL Scruffy (That's Mrs. Scruffy to you). Mrs. Scruffy has one of the most impressive kill steaks in XCOM's operational forces and a lot of scars to show for it. She is 2nd squad's mama bear and she has pulled them out the fire with liberal application of shotgun shells time and time again. It was her actions at Cryptic Mountain that saved Chaos 0xomega's life and her quick thinking that saved her wife SPEC Scruffy at Patient Summer. She's tough on her squad but she blames herself for each cruel wound inflicted on her soldiers.
Mrs. Scruffy is fast and tough, but suffers from lower than average will.
Specialist Chaos0comega is 2nd Squad's grenadier. She has only been on one mission where she was caught in an unfortunate crossfire and almost killed. Her future health remains in doubt all though Dr. Vahlen does confirm that she will be a strong candidate for gene modification once the technology is stable enough for live trials. Chaos has been laid low, but she is improving and will be back with 2nd squad soon.
Docta Deth is 2nd squad's medic and as such is an extremely busy person. Her quick thinking saved the lives of perhaps the entire squad at Patient Summer. Despite her intense devotion towards improving her medical skills, Docta Deth earns the second part of her name by being the first human with a confirmed kill against the alien in Operation Fading God. Almost inhumanly quick, she is also a good shot, but is somewhat more fragile than the average 2nd squad member. Docta Deth along with Dead Meat are the only two members of 2nd squad to not receive a wound in combat.
Specialist Sgt_Scruffy is 2nd squads newest member and a bit of a sad-sack. Her service record with XCOM is uninspriing. As a PFC, she consistently botched her assignments on missions and it would not be until Patient summer that she would earn her first kill. Scruffy has decent aim and good mobility but is prone to panic as a result of the multiple injuries she has sustained over her short career. Dr. Shen does not believe Scruffy would make a good candidate for modification.
Last but certainly not least is 2nd squad's rocketeer, Dead Meat. Dead Meat is a steady sort of person. He has struggled with survivor's guilt since Cryptic Mountain, but that has not kept him from being a valuable member of the team. Although physically there is little that sets him apart from his fellow soldiers in terms of speed, toughness, or aim, he possesses a strong will and along with Docta Deth forms the true heart of 2nd squad.
2nd squad still has a lot to prove to themselves. They risk falling behind the other squads in terms of progression. The Commander is willing to keep them together for now, but performance must improve or the squad will be broken up.
Next Post is for 3rd Squad (Official Motto: Go 3rd or Go Home. Unofficial Nickname: The Boys with the Toys)
Automatically Appended Next Post: XCOM Order of Battle: 3rd Squad (Official Motto: Go 3rd or Go Home, Unofficial Nickname: The Boys with the Toys)
There are one word people often use when describing third squad. That word is solid. Third squad gets the job done and they don't make a big deal out of it. It's all in a day's work. Other squads have noted that 3rd squad often enjoys the benefits of new equipment being fielded to them first, but third squad counters saying that they have the first confirmed kills on Seekers, Thin Men, and Floaters so experiencing new things is a tradition with them. A friendly rivalry is fast developing with 4th squad as the two squad leaders compete in everything from how many panacakes they can eat on Sunday mornings to how many kills they get in an average mission.
3rd Squad's leader is the inimitable Stream Dragon. Solid applies to 3rd squad and it especially applies to Stream Dragon. He takes care of his men and prefers to let them get on with the killing while he maneuvers to nab that one critical kill in the mission. No one thing stands out about Stream Dragon - all of his stats are good.
3rd Squad has only recently gotten its hands on a scout and the improvement in combat performance was remarkable after LCPL Talizvar joined them in Operation Driving Line. Talizvar is quick, a dead-eye shot, and possesses nerves of steel. His only weakness is a glass jaw - something that Dr. Vahlen is ... a little too eager to fix.
(Ignore the weapon Bullockist is holding - he won't get that for a little while yet)
Ahh, Bullockist. The quintessential infantry soldier. If there is a lynch-pin to 3rd squad it is the constant, precise fire that Bullockist supplies. Superb aim and good will are only let down by a somewhat ... lumbering gait. Don't let his kill count fool you, Bullockist has spilled more alien blood than almost anyone on 3rd squad. He just likes to let the rest of the guys finish 'em off (it's no challenge shooting a crawling sectoid when he can be going after that flying Floater).
Carlos 13th was originally part of 1st squad, but was transferred to 3rd to spread out the experience. He has taken it as a rejection and developed an intense rivalry with Esubius Walrus. Carlos and Esubius are more a like than either would care to admit. Deadly at long range and able to blend into cover. They both are somewhat aloof from the rest of their squad and tend to let their sniper rifles do the talking for them. Outstanding aim and good will mark Carlos as a leading candidate for.... augmentation.
The newest addition to 3rd squad, Marine_with_Heart almost didn't survive his first mission. He won the respect of his squad when he saved them from an approaching Floater ambush with a well placed grenade in operation Driving Line. His medic skills have so far not been needed in mission, and Stream Dragon is allocating a lot of time at the range for Marine_With_Heart.
Third Squad is probably the most "complete" squad XCOM fields. They have only one glaring shortage and that is in the heavy weapons department. So far, they haven't needed it, but only time will tell.
Next Post: 4th Squad (Official Motto: Go Fourth, and Multiply, Unofficial Nickname: The MOD Squad)
Automatically Appended Next Post: XCOM Order of Battle: 4th Squad (Official Motto: Go Fourth, and Multiply. Unofficial Nickname: The MOD Squad)
Fourth squad is the squad the Commander calls when he absolutely, positively HAS to kill every last alien on the mission. Subtlety is not fourth squad's strong point. Under the steady leadership (and steadier aim) of LCPL Trondheim, 4th squad has carved a bloody path through thin men, sectoids, and floaters alike. LCPL Trondheim is one of the most experienced and longest serving XCOM operatives and many at XCOM HQ have him pegged for eventual command of 2nd platoon.
Trondheim has possibly the best kill-to-mission ratio in all of XCOM. His aim is legendary and he regularly bests Carlos 13th, Esubius Walrus, and Bullockist at the assault rifle range. Marked for command since his earliest days as a PFC, Trondheim has gone from strength to strength. In contrast to Bullockist, Trondheim often finishes off weakened aliens after the rest of his squad plies their particularly explosive talents on the unfortunate E.T.s.
LCPL Motyak would be a squad leader in any other outfit if not for Trondheim's groudn breaking performances early in the war. Motyak and Trondheim have been together on every mission and they are the closest thing to a buddy-duo XCOM currently has (outside the spouse team of Scruffy and Scruffy). Motyak is fast, and Motyak is deadly. He spots targets for the slower members of his squad and often draws fire. No one has succeeded in hitting Motyak yet. SUperb speed and good will are only slightly let down by average resilience. Motyak inisists that he doesn't have to be tough - they'll never touch him. So far, he's been proven right.
LCPL Malfred may not have the most kills or the most missions under his belt, but LCPL Malfred is reliable. He doesn't panic, he doesn't miss, and he doesn't mess up. He provides 4th squad with a shower of high explosive rockets and Trondheim can credit his kill-count with Malfred leaving them weak and dying for his gun.
LCPL Demented Wombat is the exception to every rule. He has been in 1st squad, 3rd squad, and now 4th (which is his permanent home). With Chaos out of the picture for now, there's great demand for explosives experts and Wombat fills the bill. From the very beginning, he has professed his love for all things that go boom. The aliens are quickly learning not to cluster up when Wombat is on the field because the last thing they hear is the beep of a grenade and the manic laughter of a very satisfied Ukrainian.
4th Squad will soon feature in another vignette as they assault a downed UFO. Will 4th squad's streak of utter invincibility continue? Stay Tuned.
Next Post : 2nd Platoon gets it's start. 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon (Official Motto: 1st in Your Hearts. Unofficial Nickname: the loaner squad)
Automatically Appended Next Post: XCOM Order of Battle: 2nd Platoon, 1st Squad (Official Motto: 1st in Your Hearts, Unofficial Nickanme: The Loaner Squad)
2nd platoon really only exists on paper. XCOM does not have the personnel or the resources right now for a fully equipped 2nd platoon. However, The Commander has mandated that each platoon will be comprised of 4 squads. A fifth squad therefore necessitates a 2nd platoon. 1st squad sees this as an opportunity to develop a unique identity separate from the other squads. That is, they would if they could stop getting loaned out to 1st platoon to fill holes in their rosters.
LCPL Kamikaze Canuck is 1st squad leader - when she's not helping out 2nd squad, 1st platoon. A solid infantry soldier with a no-nonsense attitude, she's currently recovering in sickbay after being part of 2nd squad's historic streak of bad luck. The quintessential cold-blooded killer, word on the street is she was given her own squad in 2nd platoon because everyone in 1st platoon was pretty sure she was unstable. She seems to be quite good at releasing pent up aggression against the alien menace.
SPEC Killionaire might be the unluckiest single soldier in XCOM. 2nd squad may have instiutional bad luck, but plasma bolts seem to be drawn to Killionaire. Nothing has killed him yet though and if he ever gets out of sickbay, he'll make the aliens pay.
2nd Squad has three new recruits who have not yet gone on missions with 2nd squad. You'll know them as SPEC Hordini, SPEC flamingkillamajig, and SPEC Bromsy. Although they have not yet gone on a real mission, 2nd squad is shaping up to be a powerful force on the battlefied -especially with 2 assault troopers and a rare gunner. Stay tuned for more 2nd platoon exploits.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Ugh, so I guess we completed the mission but got torn up pretty good. We won and everyone loved that's the main thing.
Can I request that helmet that's a glass dome and a red and black colour scheme. I had time to think about my look after spending a month in a hospital bed.
How's this?
Very cool. The helmut I'm looking for is the one in the bottom right of this image.
Maybe it's not in Long War or something. If not, don't worry about it. I'm probably jinxing myself anyway. Will Probably get shot in the head as soon as I get out there.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Thanks for the roster breakdown! Go 2nd Platoon! We don't need no fancy "multi-squad" platoon stuff. That's for wusses.
Dr. Vahlen has been eyeing me again, not in the way most guys would like anyway.
She had mentioned something to me of a promising application of gene "therapy" that can enhance bone and muscle density.
I said that I did not do steroids.
She smirked and said "My steroids are on steroids so to speak." and walked away.
I think I need to get out in the field soon... getting shot-at is safer than being near a lab.
My reaction times are getting better.
That "enterprising individual" tried the grenade trick again at the range.
Rolling it back to him with a shotgun accelerant: very exciting.
I like this new-fangled holo-targeting thingie.
It is better than hosing the enemy down with neon paintball rounds!
I wonder if any of the "2nd" in med noticed the flowers I sent were actual poppies?
I figure they can use all the backup pain management they can get (I have no idea if those local blooms are the real drug deal).
Running on treadmill again, had music on shuffle... I considered it a good omen when "Can't touch this" fired up.
Got a lot of strange looks as I was bobbing around, one called the Doc thinking I was having some combat flashback.
Hit the bunk and hope I don't hear Bradford's voice for a while.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Ugh, so I guess we completed the mission but got torn up pretty good. We won and everyone loved that's the main thing.
Can I request that helmet that's a glass dome and a red and black colour scheme. I had time to think about my look after spending a month in a hospital bed.
How's this?
Very cool. The helmut I'm looking for is the one in the bottom right of this image.
Maybe it's not in Long War or something. If not, don't worry about it. I'm probably jinxing myself anyway. Will Probably get shot in the head as soon as I get out there.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Thanks for the roster breakdown! Go 2nd Platoon! We don't need no fancy "multi-squad" platoon stuff. That's for wusses.
I *think* the helmet designs change as you get new armors - that one is so far not available.
Automatically Appended Next Post: OPERATION BLIND SERPENT: April 23, 2015 Namibia
"Haha got another one. Splash one UFO!" crowed Puke as he banked the XF-105 around in a hard turn and boosted for home. "Wait until Rascal hears about how I got ANOTHER kill and he still doesn't have one! It'll drive him mad and I love it."
Bradford couldn't help but smile. The big Texan everyone called Puke had a ego a mile wide, but he could fly jets like no one's business.
"Okay people, we've got a downed UFO and some aliens are having a bad day! Let's make it a little worse - send the MOD squad after 'em. Alert 4th squad and tell them to gear up."
A small UFO crash is the perfect mission to train new recruits on. 4th squad wasn't happy about it, but two new cherries were assigned to the veteran bunch for this operation. Soldiers were beginning to wonder if the war would just amount to an unending series of UFO raids and abduction missions. Would XCOM ever go on the offense?
Dr. Vahlen especially was growing especially frustrated. "I made it clear to the Commandant that the only way we would win the war would be through capturing a live alien. The Commandant seemed to believe that we would be fighting a long war, whereas I believed this whole ordeal could be over in 6 months. Perhap the Commander knew something I did not, but her dedication to getting the troops the best equipment was.... understandable."
4th Squad moves into position. XCOM would move in clusters then spread out into cover when encountering aliens - much like the very E.T.s they were fighting.
Trondheim spots the familiar yellow glow of Meld to the east of the UFO and directs 4th squad across the open ground to secure it - only to find a Floater squad lurking near the substance.
And they blunder right into Carlos 13th's overwatch!
Motyak stuns the Floater squad leader as the rest of the squad crosses the no-man's land.
3 Drones move in to reinforce the beleaguered Floater.
Motyak takes the opportunity (after dealing a fatal blow to the remaining Floater) to grab the Meld.
With the meld secured, the rest of 4th squad opens fire on the surrounded drones.
Trondheim pounces on a grounded drone.
With the perimeter patrols taken care of, Trondheim pivots his squad on the objective.
The Outsider is triggered early.
4th Squad unleashes a hail of fire to down the outsider, including this slightly enthusiastic rocket from Malfred that singes our panic-prone rookie.
Our less panic-prone rookie finishes off the Outsider. Mission Complete. Well Done 4th Squad.
4th Squad brings in quite the haul including some much needed Meld.
A flawless mission means promotions for Carlos and Malfred. Carlos will improve his camoflage with low profile and Malfred will learn anti-robot techniques with HEAT warheads.
Usually, late April and early May is a little bit of a rough spot for me, but I think I finally un-learned all the lessons vanilla XCOM had pounded into my head. Long War is really a totally different experience.
Sgt_Scruffy wrote:
Sorry this one is a little short, but there just wasn't a whole lot of "story" in this mission. The squad didn't take a scratch, the fights were over pretty quickly, and the aliens never stood a chance. It was as close to a "routine" mission as XCOM has had so far. Third Squad may not get the air time First Squad does, but they're racking up their own quite impressive win-streak here. I'd watch my back if I were you 1st squad. Third Squad is gunning for top spot.
100% alien casualties with nary a scratch? I'll take that as routine. Proud of you third squad.
Talizvar wrote:"Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result." - Winston Churchill - Steam, you keep sneaking up on them buddy and I will keep them busy: shooting or shot at.
That's StReam to you soldier! But yeah, loving how well the team works.
Sgt_Scruffy wrote:
XCOM Order of Battle: 3rd Squad (Official Motto: Go 3rd or Go Home, Unofficial Nickname: The Boys with the Toys)
There are one word people often use when describing third squad. That word is solid. Third squad gets the job done and they don't make a big deal out of it. It's all in a day's work. Other squads have noted that 3rd squad often enjoys the benefits of new equipment being fielded to them first, but third squad counters saying that they have the first confirmed kills on Seekers, Thin Men, and Floaters so experiencing new things is a tradition with them. A friendly rivalry is fast developing with 4th squad as the two squad leaders compete in everything from how many panacakes they can eat on Sunday mornings to how many kills they get in an average mission.
3rd Squad's leader is the inimitable Stream Dragon. Solid applies to 3rd squad and it especially applies to Stream Dragon. He takes care of his men and prefers to let them get on with the killing while he maneuvers to nab that one critical kill in the mission. No one thing stands out about Stream Dragon - all of his stats are good.
>image snipped<
Leader's only as good as his team. Keep making me proud 3rd squad.
Trondheim wrote: I think we really, really should capture an Alien. Better the devil you know and what not
We'll start working on it probably come summer time. Long War is LONG - studying aliens will bring a host of benefits, but right now I feel like I'm ahead of the power curve. Nations also panic slower in Long War so I can afford to put off the alien base assault.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
carlos13th wrote: I seem to just get loaned out to whatever squad needs a sniper at the time. I'm ok with that though as long as the rookies don't get me killed.
In the early months, I've been critically short on sniper who I like to level up right after I get some reliable assaults and infatnry to protect them from Seekers. You've been handed around a little, but part of that was a clerical error on my part. Your true home is 3rd squad.
Trondheim wrote: I think we really, really should capture an Alien. Better the devil you know and what not
We'll start working on it probably come summer time. Long War is LONG - studying aliens will bring a host of benefits, but right now I feel like I'm ahead of the power curve. Nations also panic slower in Long War so I can afford to put off the alien base assault.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
carlos13th wrote: I seem to just get loaned out to whatever squad needs a sniper at the time. I'm ok with that though as long as the rookies don't get me killed.
In the early months, I've been critically short on sniper who I like to level up right after I get some reliable assaults and infantry to protect them from Seekers. You've been handed around a little, but part of that was a clerical error on my part. Your true home is 3rd squad.
Here's a quick run down on where we stand as April wraps up.
As you can see, our first round of prototype laser weapons is about to come on line. The OTS is just about complete and another SHIV is on the way. I never played much with SHIVs in any of my Vanilla XCOM play throughs, but they seem like a lot of fun and I think it will provide a nice narrative angle.
I actually was just expecting April to end with a whimper, but the aliens had other ideas
OPERATION SWIFT SMOKE: Alien Terror Raid, Samara 24 April, 2015
"The Alien Blitz in later April took everyone by surprise. There was no point trying to keep the aliens a secret anymore - they were here and they just announced themselves. Multiple cities suffered bombing raids, but Samara, Russia seemed to be suffering a particularly brutal assault. No one knew why the aliens chose the mid-sized city along the Volga, but XCOM responded just the same.
As XCOM medical and most of 3rd squad restrained Chaos 0xomega from hobbling onto the Skyranger (she would be out for 1 more week before returning to duty), 1st squad geared up. The Commander personally intervened and mandated additonal troops be brought in from 2nd in the form of Dead Meat the Rocketeer and from 4th in Demented Wombat the Engineer. The Commander seemed convinced that copious explosives would be required. He was rarely wrong.
1st Squad is augmented with members of 2nd and 4th.
Here you can see that the squad has loaded up on explosives on the recommendation of the Commander.
The plan had been to slowly advance and take the top of the construction at the top right of this picture. Instead, we take contact while still being stuck in the open. I hate fething floaters.
Silver decides that the best defense is a good offense. Legion 8 takes this to heart. Although he is stranded in the open, he begins the relentless (some would say cold-hearted) assault on the alien position. The Floaters had been using civilians as shields, and Silver made the tough choice to open fire anyway.
While Esubius stands in the LZ and pins the rear Floater, CthuluSpy has been engaging the front Floater. Silver Mk2 flashbangs the third Floater - unintentionally hitting his human shield.
Dead Meat claims the last wounded Floater and the squad takes up positions around the newly blood and shrapnel spattered cars. XCOM moves out to rescue civilians even as they listen to a strange... skittering sound.
OH GOD
The lids rush me and the squad leader Chryssalid (the one with the most health) tanks my overwatch because he has lightning reflexes (-90% to hit on first Overwatch, -70% to hit on subsequent). HOWEVER, they activate to just the right spot. They basically surround themselves and they don't spread out. I knew there was a reason I took so many grenades and shotguns.
"It all happened so fast. We rounded the corner of the construction site and this.... I can only describe it as a ball of claws, slime, and teeth came running at us. They were fast ... Jesus they were fast. They were in and around us before we could even so much as line up a shot. I thought for sure we were dead when I heard Wombat yell "Frag Out!" Everyone dove for cover and the explosive seemed to momentarily stun them. Esubius Walrus's also primed a grenade and sent it rolling towards the now confused monsters. Maybe we wouldn't die this time."
--Dead Meat recounting first contact with Chryssalids
AP grenades don't penetrate cover - which makes them perfect vs. 'Lids since Lids don't use cover. Wombat takes cover.
And lands a good grenade hit.
Esubius lands another grenade hit
Cthulu Spy claims a Lid kill.
Everyone contributes to taking down the 'Lids, but Silver claims the squad leader personally.
Chryssalids, when they activate on their own are usually pretty easy in Long War. You have enough soliders and enough equipment to take them down (especially since everyone can carry AP/Flashbang grenades. Later on when you have 'Lids mixed in with Seekers, Floaters, Mutons etc they become a nightmare. The AI is good at exploiting the lightning reflexes of the leader Lids. With the chryssalids taken care of, I move off to take care of the remaining floaters who have been happily slaughtering civilians while their buddies were murdered.
Esubius Walrus spots three more floaters
Esubius carefully aims and claims a Floater kill.
Dead Meat sends a shredder rocket down range.
CthuluSpy suppresses a Floater.
The Floaters just decided to shoot civilians the entire time. This is good because it means my guys don't get hit. This is bad because the civilians have pretty much zero defense. The floaters always hit. The more civilians They proved zero challenge because they never really engaged me.
Operation Swift Smoke was once again an unparalleled success for 1st Squad. Between Floaters refusing to fight and Chryssalids lining up for the slaughter 1st squad didn't take a scratch. Demented Wombat would be granted 14 days convalescence leave to recover from back to back missions. A SPEC Legion 8 would be renamed Hordini in the coming days.
Demented Wombat is now officially the deadliest XCOM operative on a kill per mission ratio.
So here's the bad news. Terror missions ALWAYS raise panic in long war. Depending on how many civilians you save depends on how much that panic raises. Panic up by 10 isn't too bad actually, but it's not great. Next time we'll shoot for saving 14 civiies - not 10.
Global Situation at the end of April. Asia is worse off although Russia took a big jump with that terror mission. South America and Africa seem to be leading the global repsonse.
Xenobiology being completed gives me the option of giving away corpses for scientists. Yes Please, Vahlen had been HOUNDING me all month about scientists. We NEED them badly.
Oh baby, baby. The first batch of laser rifles finish up. Just in time for third squad to be first up in rotation.
Good mission! Good mission. With 2nd squad still definitely out of action, they get skipped in the rotation. Look out for Stream Dragon and his third squad next time on XCOM Long War: The Dakka Diaries.
I don't mind just point me in the right direction and I'll shoot anything non human that comes into view no matter what the squad (as long as I'm on over watch.)
Neard walrus got another kill on the field. We will have to start keeping score of our kills. Lowest score gets the beers in once the aliens are dead.
I have to admit that when those 'lids appeared I thought that even with one of 2nd squad on mission we might have carried enough of their curse to really get mauled. Thankfully they all decided to cluster and we had enough grenades to blast those scythe limbed freaks to so much mush. I am particularly pleased with the shot from my bodycam showing the last seconds of the alpha creature before I filled it full of lead. Well fought all round - we really pulled together as a team.
Also - shivs are awesome. I took three for the final mission in vanilla and held them in reserve for the end, kept the humans out of the way from the mind control guys and drove one in, shot the head guy without triggering the rest of the aliens then overwatched him with a second drone and finished the game in 2 shots
I may have to recant my stance on grenades: if there is a "Chryst" around (I call them that since I tend to call out God's son when I see them )
I think Wombat did not even expect to be as deadly in combat as an Engineer.
"Now let me see, allow for velocity with some roll, cement, so less friction... yep, right about there... GRENADE!!! (This is so much more fun than design!)"
So StReam leading us fearlessly into the breach... or more like I run into it and he shoots whatever pops up oddly, I kinda like it that way.
" <running> Whoa! <zap!> haha.. can't touch this! Say helloooo to my little frien... <boom!> Darn! vulturing Stream..."
<Breaking 4th wall> Notice in the pictures of the people in the line-up the clothing between their legs are AWEFULLY dark... I am just saying these encounters may be more scary than Scruffy is letting on.
carlos13th wrote:I don't mind just point me in the right direction and I'll shoot anything non human that comes into view no matter what the squad (as long as I'm on over watch.)
Neard walrus got another kill on the field. We will have to start keeping score of our kills. Lowest score gets the beers in once the aliens are dead.
The snipers are starting to come into their own. I've got special plans for you and 3rd squad though.
Trondheim wrote:Well done, well done indeed. Too bad we could not save more of the defenceles civilans.
But by Odin the scum will pay for this cowardly act
Considering that their "war" so far had killed 1 XCOM operative and 8 civilians I'm going to call our defense pretty succesfful.
chaos0xomega wrote:This is bs, I should have been on that mission, injured or not *pouts*
6 days and counting and you'll be out of the hospital and back in action.
SilverMK2 wrote:I have to admit that when those 'lids appeared I thought that even with one of 2nd squad on mission we might have carried enough of their curse to really get mauled. Thankfully they all decided to cluster and we had enough grenades to blast those scythe limbed freaks to so much mush. I am particularly pleased with the shot from my bodycam showing the last seconds of the alpha creature before I filled it full of lead. Well fought all round - we really pulled together as a team.
Also - shivs are awesome. I took three for the final mission in vanilla and held them in reserve for the end, kept the humans out of the way from the mind control guys and drove one in, shot the head guy without triggering the rest of the aliens then overwatched him with a second drone and finished the game in 2 shots
Yeah, SHIVs are really cool. The issue is I don't want to become too reliant on them. Right now I'm using them in missions where I might need a suicide flanker or to keep from hitting the dreaded fatigue spiral. As the alien response ramps up, XCOM will get worn down. In one play through, I had to send a squad with only 5 men on it because the other 35 were either fatigued or in sick bay.
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: Yeah, SHIVs are really cool. The issue is I don't want to become too reliant on them. Right now I'm using them in missions where I might need a suicide flanker or to keep from hitting the dreaded fatigue spiral. As the alien response ramps up, XCOM will get worn down. In one play through, I had to send a squad with only 5 men on it because the other 35 were either fatigued or in sick bay.
Wow, fatigue / wounded is no joke (Definitely NOT joking about chaos0xomega ).
Hard choice to either: add one to each squad to beef up the number of squads or keep throwing "Legions" into the newbie grind.
The mid-game will probably be scary as you add more down time for soldiers undergoing mods of any kind.
SilverMK2 wrote:I have to admit that when those 'lids appeared I thought that even with one of 2nd squad on mission we might have carried enough of their curse to really get mauled.
SilverMK2 wrote:I have to admit that when those 'lids appeared I thought that even with one of 2nd squad on mission we might have carried enough of their curse to really get mauled.
chaos0xomega wrote: Also, Wombat and I are fighting, Ill be damned if I let a Ukrainian out-engineer me.
Heh, I like a challenge! Let's do this. May the best man win.
Talizvar wrote: I think Wombat did not even expect to be as deadly in combat as an Engineer. "Now let me see, allow for velocity with some roll, cement, so less friction... yep, right about there... GRENADE!!! (This is so much more fun than design!)"
Sounds about right. When I heard XCOM had a post open as an engineer I thought I might get to field test some new weapons or something vaguely more interesting than sitting in an office cubicle all day, turns out I got way more than I bargained for, but I'm beginning to like it.
Whew...that last mission was scary. Getting shot at is one thing (even if they are shooting crazy plasma weapons I've never seen before), I can handle that, well, kinda. But giant balls of claws that run straight at you...these aliens mean business. Just glad I packed extra grenades and those monstrosities were dumb enough to give me the perfect target. Next time we might not be so lucky...(makes a note to practice against rapidly approaching targets the next time I'm at the range).
Looks like I have some time off before the next mission. I think I'm going to take advantage of it. Wonder if the base scientists and engineers (the non blowing-stuff-up kind) will mind someone peeking over their shoulder? I probably can't offer anything too insightful, but I don't want this college degree to go completely to waste, and if they plan to do anything involving air or spacecraft then I might even be a bit useful. Besides, it will give me the opportunity to put the word in about researching some grenades that give a bit more "oomph". I'm sure those aliens have some technology that can accomplish that kind of thing.
Hmmm...so the grenade rolling didn't go over too well. I guess you know, this means war. What next? Roll a grenade in the shower? Nah, that's pushing it a bit even for me. I know! how about something a little...different. Let's see, those aliens have got some pictures leaked to the news by now. I'm sure something like this has to be out there somewhere. It is the internet after-all. Ah hah! I knew it. Now it's just a matter of printing it out nice and big, bribing the cleaning staff to look the other way when I want to slip into 3rd squad's barracks for a couple minutes, and hoping I don't get referred to the psychs for looking this stuff up. Just got to tape this above a certain someone's bunk (*cough*Talizvar*cough*), and I'm good to go.
The more I read this thread, the more I feel like 'collaborative storytelling action game' should be a genre. It would be cool if there was a game that could support this sort of thing within it.
OPERATION DARK HYDRA: 30 April, 2015. Porto Alegre, Brazil. Alien Abduction Mission.
"We were all feeling pretty good about our performance in Russia. Although many civilians were lost, the aliens were driven away, we had specimens of their newest terror for Dr. Vahlen's science team, and the fallout of the attack seemed to be minimal. Everyone thought the aliens would retreat for a while to regroup for their next attack. Some even thought the aliens were almost beaten. Of course, the aliens felt differently."
--Dr. Shen's Diary. April 30, 2015
Third Squad lines up before embarking on the Skyranger
Only 3 laser rifles were available at the time of the mission so sacrifices had to be made. Talizvar would join Stream Dragon in bringing along a shotgun while Carlos 13th would continue to use the sniper rifle for some time yet. Third squad needs an engineer or rocketeer soon though - it is the one glaring weakness of the squad that will become a major liability if more advanced robotic aliens arrive.
We inserted in the commercial center of the city. Luckily it was the dead of night in Porto Alegre and not many people were about. The aliens had taken people from a near by bar, but were now rooting around in businesses normally closed at this time of night. The alien's lack of familiarity with human sleep cycles and culture would be our saving grace on these abduction missions. 3rd Squad prepares to breach the electronics store in search of Tangos.
Class XCOM breaching technique on display. Assaults and Scouts up front supported by riflemen. Snipers and Infantry cover the flanks but close enough to support if things go badly.
As XCOM breaches the store, they are confronted with Seekers.
Talizvar and Stream Dragon confront cloaking Seekers - a methodical method and insistence on strict fire lanes lets 3rd squad get the jump on the elusive aliens.
Bounding overwatch pays off as 3rd Squad advance on the Seekers.
Stream Dragon finishes off the damaged Seeker at close range while Bullockist bounds forward Bullockist claims the first laser rifle kill in XCOM history.
The site goes strangely quiet after dealing with the Seekers. The electronics store is found to be devoid of life and Stream Dragon orders his men back into the alley. Initial plans call for a breach and clear of the Laundromat, but Sounds of alien activity emanate from the diner. Marine with Heart and Carlos13th are sent to collecti meld on the roof and provide overwatch.
Meld Secured.
Bullockist, the rookie,and Stream Dragon prepare to stack on the door while Talizvar covers the left flank.
"Contact front! 3 Sectoids! Frag Out!" Bullockist bellows, simultaneously heaving a frag grenade into the cafe.
The rookie earns his wings with a well placed shot.
Stream Dragon is too experienced a soldier to get stuck in the fatal funnel of the doorway and moves left into the room. Here he is seen applying shotgun lead to his alien problem.
The last alien apparently took correspondence courses at the John McClane School of Dying Hard. Although he does no damage, Stream Dragon, Talizvar, Bullockist, and the Legion all fire at him for an entire turn without effect.
Stream Dragon eventually flashbangs the alien - he'll be dammed if one wounded Sectoid is going to screw this up.
Bullockist finishes the alien off as the blinded, deafened alien stumbles out of cover in shock.
Two pods down, an unknown number still remaining. Stream Dragon's breaching element pauses to reload while Marine_With_Heart and Carlos 13th reposition.
The Squad prepares to assault out of the cafe as sounds of multiple aliens closing are heard from the alley. Fleeting glimpses of thin men and sectoids give Marine with Heart all he needs to open fire.
3rd Squad has lost the initiative though. The aliens are behind them and only Marine with Heart and the rookie are in proper position to respond. Stream Dragon is worried about his left flank (now right) as he turns his squad around to confront the threat to the rear. His squad had heard alien sounds coming from there earlier. Was there another pod out there or was this it?
As the squad advances on the new contacts, The Legion comes under fire from a Sectoid waiting in ambush. Note the smoke deployed by Stream Dragon to cover his outnumbered soldiers while the squad re-positions to deal with the thin men.
The next 30 seconds are maelstrom of shooting, shouting, smoke, and fire as 3rd Squad engages in almost hand-to-hand combat with thin men. It's difficult to construct a proper narrative out of it, but the rookie takes down a thin man and Marine with Heart clubs the Sectoid to death with his laser rifle.
As the two aliens slump to the ground, a seeker materializes out of thin air and opens fire on Marine with Heart. The shot is severe, but the Marine displays true heart and doesn't panic. He aims his rifle and fires back.
Operation Dark Hydra is a success - although Marine with Heart would spend some time in sickbay - the start of a new trend with 3rd squad?
Congratulation to Stream Dragon as he is elevated into the ranks of the NCO. Marine with Heart is cited for his heroic actions while engaging the alien in close combat and is promoted to Lance Corporal
Marine_with_Heart is sent to advanced marksmanship school to improve his fire support role. Although not a traditional role for medics, Stream Dragon insists every member of his squad be a rifleman first, specialty second. (In reality, Marine with Heart has outstanding aim for a medic and I wanted to explore a sort of "combat rifleman EMT" class).
StreamDragon spends time at the pistol qualification course and becomes quite the expert on sidearms. This will allow him to contribute more in long range fire fights as well as possible covert actions.
As 3rd Squad turned in their gear and headed for the bar/rack/sick bay, The council contacted The Commander. They were most pleased with XCOM performance. Although Asia was under constant attack and Russia had recently become quite nervous, the world as a whole was doing okay.
With our newly acquired cash, we will begin a Thermo generator to get our power under control. The Commander had allocated considerable resources in March and early April towards excavating out the steam vent. In addition, She ordered an additional satellite uplink constructed for an eventual push into Asia - perhaps in the June time frame.
The Officer Training School begins a series of lectures and studies on leadership in extra-terrestrial combat. All NCOs are mandated to attend.
Three Legion members are promoted to the Dakka Corps. They take the names Bromsy, Hordini, and Flamingkillamajig
All are assigned to Kamikaze Canuck's 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon. 2nd Platoon is officially operational (if still small) and placed in the rotation.
I'm pretty happy with my performance in April. Sure, we took our first KIA (poor Legion 12), but we made great strides. XCOM is certainly ahead of the game in terms of killing power (almost have advanced lasers researched, but we are behind in several other efforts. Our interceptors are still struggling to bring down even small UFOs and our armor technology is still distinctly Earthly. We have A LOT of work to do in May and the aliens aren't going to wait around for us to do it. Well done team, you haven't let me down.
Great wotk by 3th, good to see them stick it to the aliens.
And I hope when may rolles around that we can see about leveling the armour field, perhaps some fiber mesh vests would be a good investment?
SilverMK2 wrote: Good work 3rd squad - excellent command of the field for the most part.
And it will be good to get some more power to the base and some of those caves filled with exciting new units.
April was a prep month. We sacrificed early access to somethings in exchange for foundation building. The commander is still concerned about the lack of science support. She remains adamant that the core of XCOM remains the direct action platoons and that the majority of support must go to them. Captain Shaw is heavily advocating for better equipment for the Air Wing and council nations are clamoring for satellites and interceptors.
I feel our priorities for May are:
1: advanced laser weapons including laser cannons for our interceptors.
2: better armor.
3: utilize the OTS to start training platoon and company level officers
4: begin work on xenoneurology if time permits
5: begin constructing more interceptors for Asia as funds become available
6: get a Foundry up and running.
May is going to be a busy month - will the narratives continue? Will 2nd squad's return to action be as disastrous as their debut? Will 1st squad continue to dominate? How will 2nd platoon do? Its not to late to join! Service guarantees citizenship!
carlos13th wrote: Would love a laser rifle or some gene mods soon. I like my sniper rilfe and its had my back for so far but it lacks the punch of a laser weapon.
laser sniper rifles, scatter lasers, laser cannons, and heavy laser guns will be ready soon.
Talizvar post-op notes:
-That grey pin-up really threw me off, couldn't seem to shoot any of those suckers <shudder>.
-Thought I would return the entertainment with a gift of music:
Spoiler:
Make sure you pull the earphone jack when done: it blows the batteries. Listen carefully, I put Bruno Mars on it...
- Shotgun is getting to be a wee bit short on range for flank duty, had to give a double-take when the boys unloaded with LAZERS (!!) I want a blaster, make it so.
- Dr. Shen will be my new best friend if I could understand him.
OPERATION Dark Hydra 2: The Darker Re-Hydraing? (XCOM Long War sometimes has a bug where it will dump you in the same mission/map again and again. Hit ALT+F10 once to rectify).
3rd Squad hadn't even finished their post-victory beer when the alert klaxon sounded for 4th squad to mount up. The Aliens apparently weren't done with Porto Alegre in Brazil. Some good-natured ribbing of a slightly inebriated third squad ensued as 4th squad mounted up.
Apparently, alien response times to requests for reinforcements are quite slow. 4th Squad goes in to clear out the second wave of aliens.
The Squad assembles with Spec Bromsy from 2nd squad taking the place of Wombat who is on 2 weeks R&R leave. Notably, XCOM command makes another push for rookie training.
The mission starts at the same electronics store. This time Trondheim decides a frontal assault will be the best route - never approach the same situation the same way twice.
A Seeker pod patrols into us - out of overwatch range they stealth. 4th Squad didn't bring any battle scanners (bad Supply Officer, BAD) so 4th's advance is slowed to a crawl as they constantly wait for Seeker ambushes.
Sensing that Trondheim is the leader, the Seekers focus their ambushes on him. Luckily he is well covered by the rest of the squad and the seeker pod goes down with no injuries. Here a rookie earns her wings by taking down a Seeker.
With the electronics store mostly cleared (1 seeker still lurks), Trondheim moves towards the alley. Just as they are about to exit the building a small alien pod of 1 sectoid, 1 seeker, and 1 thin man burst into the room - obviously drawn to the sound of gun fire beforehand.
The Seeker squad leader, sensing that this is his moment, tries to strike at one of the Legion - Bromsy is there to show him the error of his ways.
Trondheim downs the sole sectoid of the pod.
Bromsy, making his mark early, gives the thin man a bite-sized chunk of what to expect from 2nd platoon. The thin man does not complain. The thin man does not do anything really, because the thin man dissolves into a cloud of acid.
The battle carries on into the cafe as the rookie stumbles on another sectoid pod.
Trondheim takes down a sectoid again while Bromsy and the other rookie work the parking lot outside.
Bromsy lays down suppressing fire for the Legion rookie to claim the kill.
And just like that, OPERATION DARKER HYDRA 2 is complete. No one takes a scratch. The aliens didn't put up much of a fight and promotions are handed around. 4th squad gets its first official NCO in CPL "Wolverine" Trondheim.
So 4th squad gets it done once again - with 2 rookies in tow. XCOM Command is still concerned about our manpower shortage and is considering making one of the squads a certified training squad. We'll see who they choose, but 4th squad just made a strong case for itself.
Well done squad, well done indeed. I am proud of you 4th. And yes, I agree with command that we need more recruits, so no comlaints about having one or two in tow on each mission.
OPERATION SEVERED SCEPTER: 2nd Platoon Goes Into Action: Mendoza, Argentina.
"Are you sure about this Commander? 2nd Platoon is barely formed and it's two most experienced are still in the hospital. LCPL Bromsy is still recovering from the trial run with 4th squad. Maybe if we sent 1st squ..."
"No. 2nd Platoon has to get it's start sometime. I will not relegate them to being de facto Legion Corps. They aren't replacements, they're a squad. Send them."
"Yes, Sir."
--Exchange between Bradford and The Commander
--9 May, 2015
With Kamikaze Canuck in sick bay along with Killionaire, 2nd Platoon's debut would be put in the hands of 3 of the Dakka Corp's newest members. LCPL Hordini, acting squad leader would take Bromsy and Flamingkillamajig along with 3 members of the Legion to Mendoza.
2nd Platoon would fight with a chip on its shoulder. They felt they had much to prove
Although the official mission logs would claim Mendoza was the site of the operation, it would actually take place at the Observatorio Astronomico El Leoncito outside San Juan well north of Mendoza.
2nd Platoon will infiltrate from the west. First objective will be to secure the high ground of the obervatory itself before moving on the adminstrative buildings.
Flamingkillamajig spooks a pod of Floaters immediately after setting down. Combat drops into hot LZs are some of the toughest operations. 2nd Platoon may be off to a rocky start.
"Sporadic plasma fire started zipping by before we'd even cleared the Skyranger's ramp. It's origin wasn't entirely clear as the dusk had set in and our eyes were adjusting to the dark. Bad time to be doing an operation (too dark for eyesight, too light for NVGs), but the alien waits for no man. Killamajig and Bromsy had been ordered forward to take the high ground, but we found a squad of Floaters sneaking up on our left flank. An immediate firefight broke out."
--LCPL Hordini recounts the opening moments of Operation Severed Scepter.
Legion 23 opens fire from 2nd platoon's cover position. Most of 2nd platoon would take cover behind the coolant tanks while Hordini and Killamajig shelter in the observatory. Smoke is deployed to supplement the meager cover./i]
"With the rest of the squad covering me, I charged the squad of floaters. My shotgun would be useless at range and we needed to cut down their numbers. The closest Floater was certainly the biggest threat. He had the mobility to flank anyone in my squad. A slid into cover behind the door, luckily Flaming Killamajig had already cleared the room. The floater landed just opposite the door behind a shipping container. Perfect."
--LCPL Hordini describes his first Floater kill.
One floater covers his team mate who jumps to the other side of the map and out of sight. Bromsy suppresses the remaining Floater for Killamajig and Co. to finish him off.
Flaming Killamajig inflicts a dreadful wound on the Floater. It would be up to the Legion to finish him off.
Things were going well. We seemed to have killed 2 floaters and the third one is MIA. OH GOD HE"S BEHIND ME!
Luckily Legion 5's lucky stars were out in force today as the Floater misses (I had started repositioning for a roof assault and TOTALLY forgot about this guy).
Legion 3 removes the Floaters cover for an easy kill.
The squad takes the roof of the observatory and now has a commanding view of the battlefield. They immediately spot a new pod of sectoids.
Mr. Sneaky Floater gets hot photons bored through his brain bucket.
"So Legion 20 accidentally alerts this Sectoid pod to our presence and we are all kinds of out of position to handle it. I order Bromsy and Legion to take the roof while Killamajig and I will hold the ground floor. Legion 3 and Legion 5 (engineer and sniper) will held our right flank after dealing with that fething Floater."
--Severed Scepter Debrief of LCPL Hordini
[i]Legion 20 tries to suppress the Sectoid pod she activated to no avail.
To make matters worse, a thin man and a seeker are drawn to the sounds of conflict and intervene. Legion 3 misses her chance to be the hero.
The sectoids try to silence my rocketeer - they miss thank god.
Legion 3 is suppressed by Sectoids.
Legion 20 redeems herself by removing the source of the suppression and earning a sectoid kill in the process.
"I had finished clearing the roof and knew that Legion 3 and 5 were both in danger of being flanked by that thin man so I dropped in and said hello."
--LCPL Hordini compares war stories with Killionaire at XCOM medical.
Fire pours into the remaining two sectoids as one of the two seekers is taken down by LCPL Bromsy.
The 2 sectoids, clearly on the defensive now, attempt a fighting withdrawl. Hordini orders the advance.
Bromsy claims another kill on one of the two remainging Sectoids.
This last sectoid will not die. He's already tanked an HE grenade - here he is doing his best Alamo impression.
Finally, someone (I believe it might be Killamajig but I could be wrong) takes him down. Only one (cloaked) seeker left.
LCPL Hordini, moments after shooting a seeker trying to strangle killamajig.
So there you have it. 2nd Platoon's inaugural performance goes off without a hitch. Through a little luck (espeically Legion 5) and a lot of skill. 2nd Platoon performs a flawless mission. Bromsy will spend 11 days on rest and relaxation leave as he's done two missions back to back. That's why he's listed as wounded in the post mission debrief.
Unfortunately, no one makes a promotion, but it does bring in enough cash to complete our series of lectures on tactical officers. XCOM command also manages to find enough weight saving on the Skyranger for a 7th operative to join missions.
"2nd Platoon is off to a strong start." Bradford was always in a good mood after a perfectly executed mission.
"Indeed. I am intrigued that the Commander chose 2 assault troops for that squad. A sign of things to come?"
"Maybe, I think the Commander plans for that squad to be his personal shock troopers. I hear he's already ordered another SHIV be assigned to them."
"That means they'll be getting some tough missions."
"That means the Commander has confidence in them."
--Bradford and Dr. Shen
--Dr. Shen's personal journal
2nd just needed a few tough missions to be able to take-on all comers: well done.
Keeping those redshirts alive is no joke, they are the future after we ALL meet in club-med(ical).
Side note: Installed long war, training wheels are off, whole new appreciation of this nasty mod. I hate "hero" aliens and the floater fly on top of you and plasma point-blank tactic (nasty!).
Talizvar wrote: 2nd just needed a few tough missions to be able to take-on all comers: well done.
Keeping those redshirts alive is no joke, they are the future after we ALL meet in club-med(ical).
Side note: Installed long war, training wheels are off, whole new appreciation of this nasty mod. I hate "hero" aliens and the floater fly on top of you and plasma point-blank tactic (nasty!).
Yeah, it's rough. I've started and abandoned so many play throughs after I get a partial or complete squad wipe. Wait until June/July. Gak be crazy.
You are doing just great Docta Deth - one of the few members of 2nd squad to have not sustained an injury means you've been on more missions than the average second squad member. Either Dead Meat or You may get surpass Mrs. Scruffy as squad leader soon.
OPERATION BROKEN PIPE: Outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. 5 May 2015 (I was a little confused on dates for 2nd Platoon's debut. They went out on 3 May 2015.)
INTERLUDE: Air War In Africa Part 3.
In early May, the aliens stepped up their air war in Egypt. The XCOM air and space wing, now reliably in the hands of the reliable and ever cocky William "Puke" Shaw would rise to the challenge. May would be a trying month for them. The aliens were deploying ever more deadly ships while XCOM R&D had yet to deliver on the promise of laser cannon technology.
Lt. Shaw wants the kill as the small scout comes in hot over the Caspian Sea.
"At this point, I felt we had these Scout types pretty figured out. If you could get a left or right quartering rear shot on them they couldn't really adequately respond. The trick was getting to the spot for the missile shot. This guy put up a fight, but I managed to take him down.
William "Puke" Shaw would score his third kill this day although his interceptor would be out for a week.
It's important to stack kills on your interceptors. They rank up and get more defense and accuracy as they accumulate kills. I'll even go so far as to send in the rookies first on tougher missions to soften up the UFO before I send in my big hitters. If the rookies get kills - Great! If not, the vets won't take too much damage.
William "Puke" Shaw's 1st XCOM Air Wing with his second, Luis "Candyman" De Caxais.
While Puke and his UFO hunters were splashing the scout, an impromptu ceremony was in the works at XCOM HQ. XCOM command had determined - through intense study at the OTS - that on the field leadership was needed. Although most NCOs thought the officers should stay back at HQ while the NCOs got on with the actual work, they were over-ruled by the commander. This strangely not only ended the debate, but also ended any grumbling in the ranks.
Not that 1st squad was grumbling. CPL Silver MK2 had been there at the start and had been one of the most reliable soldiers in XCOM over the last couple of months. She was a natural choice for 1st Platoon Leader. Everyone welcome 2nd Lieutenant Silver MK2.
With her promotion to Lieutenant, Silver Mk2 gains the Stay Frosty and Lead By Example perks. Stay Frosty will reduce fatigue times post mission for any mission she leads (She has to command the mission). Lead By Example lets lower will soldiers use the officer's will as long as she or he is nearby. Both of these will be amazing for a squad who likely will lead the way in training newer soldiers.
There would be time for celebration later, but for now, 2LT Silver Mk2 and her squad would be heading to Egypt. Now that XCOM can bring 7 soliders on a mission each squad portrait was split into two parts.
First Squad's experienced core provides the perfect training platform for new rookies. The things 1st squad lacks (grenade carriers and riflemen) are provided by the rookies. The rookies will benefit from precise sniper support, strong will, and supression, and Elemental and Silver's abilities to quickly neutralize threats the rookies are overwhelmed by.
Looks like the UFO went down behind a convenience store. 1st Squad decides to play this aggressively by landing nearer to the UFO and bypassing the store.
"We were fairly close to the UFO by the time we fast-roped down. Farily open terrain on the approach. It was a good infiltration. I would set up a perch while Silver led the cherries around to the right. She was going to make straight for the UFO, neutralize the crystal entity, then let the rest of the inevitable patrols come to her. That's where I would provide overwatch."
--LCPL Esubius Walrus
Silver, Elemental and the Legion prepare for a frontal assault to collect the meld and secure the craft. Note Esubius Walrus and CthuluSpy in overwatch on the left.[i]
"The walking rhinestone must have sensed our arrival because it started firing out of a window. I didn't need to wait for Silver's say so and opened fire. I hit, but a rock is tough and he would take more... killing, I guess?"
--LCPL Esubius on the durability of Outsiders.
"Silver really took to her role as training officer. Instead of running in a blasting the entity, she took the opportunity to evaluate her new recruits. Our squad light UAV captured a shot of her flashbanging the alien to allow the red-shirts to get in position. The sooner they can do it for themselves, the sooner we can stop babysitting them."
--Esubius Walrus, 5 May 2015
A member of the Legion further wounds the Outsider. With the Outsider weathering all fire so far, our newest Legionaire decides (correctly) to end the standoff with explosives.
As the rookies secured the craft, Elemental collected up the Meld specimen found inside. Legion 15 surprises an unfortunate sectoid patrol as they return to the UFO.
Elemental would take down the remaining sectoid. 3 more Sectoids emerge from the shadows to challenge us on what is now our left flank.
[i] Legion 15, who seems to be an overwatch master takes another kill.
"Suffer not the alien to live..."
--Esubius Walrus "Vulture"
Cthulu Spy flushes out the last remaining sectoid - wounding him in the process.
The ever accomodating Elemental flashbangs the alien so the rookies can earn the kill. Unfortunately, the rookies manage to miss completely and 2LT Silver is forced to take matters into her own hands.
So, another relatively easy mission for 1st squad. Small UFO crashes are the perfect place to train rookies so I'm glad we didn't run into any Mutons or what-not.
1st Squad sends out three rookies into the world to do great things. Additonally, ChtuluSpy and Esubius Walrus are made Corporals. One of the rookies tries to nickname Walrus the "Claymore." He is given 3 days KP and told to speak only when spoken to. Most XCOM agents don't choose their nickname, but Esubius is the exception. He is Vulture.
CthuluSpy becomes even better at using her weapon (taking the Ranger perk here was probably a mistake - but not a major one. I should have taken shredder or HEAT)
Esubius Walrus is becoming insanely accurate - and is increasingly becoming familiar with alien physiology. His shots are hitting them right where they hurt.
The Skyranger was almost engaged on the way home by another UFO! The very next day XCOM's 1st Air Wing leaps into action!
Next time on the Dakka Diaries: The return of 2nd Squad and Chaos0xomega. Will the curse continue?
"War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over." - William Tecumseh Sherman It looks like my old friend the grenade is the most effective means to kill these aliens, you just can't seem to be able to shoot fast enough to get rid of them.
Every low trick in the book will be needed to fend them off, I am getting tired of feeling outnumbered.
"There will one day spring from the brain of science a machine or force so fearful in its potentialities, so absolutely terrifying, that even man, the fighter, who will dare torture and death in order to inflict torture and death, will be appalled, and so abandon war forever." - Thomas A. Edison" The aliens do not seem to have a limit of what they will do to modify themselves (or is it other races?).
My fear is that our resident mad scientists will look on their work as a template.
If it's natural to kill, how come men have to go into training to learn how?" - Joan Baez Beginning to see the officers getting sent off for more training, they're certainly doing weird things in the field that work.
"We don't even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward. In times of tragedy, of war, of necessity, people do amazing things. The human capacity for survival and renewal is awesome." - Isabel Allende Everyone is stepping up and getting better, support staff, pilots, engineering, research and us grunts.
Every mission we prove the aliens can not only be stopped but more importantly, killed.
It makes them not as scary to face when you can see the corpses after a mission and a reassuring multitude of holes in them.
The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on." - Ulysses S. Grant If we succeed well enough we will be at the point of finding out where the aliens are coming from, I am not looking forward to THAT mission.
Where I come from, being a hard man is being able to take a good beating and then get back up again and carry on fighting." - Mickey Rourke For those in medical, see you soon one way or another.
"Look at my shiny uniform!" Silvermk2 on graduating from officer training school
Excellent work Glory Squad. Shame there were not a few more aliens to cut the teeth of the nuggets on and keep the reflexes of the old hands sharp! But a great show none the less; and I was very happy with the cover and spotting provided by "Vulture" - helped keep the team safe and aware of contacts as always!
SilverMK2 wrote:"Look at my shiny uniform!" Silvermk2 on graduating from officer training school
Excellent work Glory Squad. Shame there were not a few more aliens to cut the teeth of the nuggets on and keep the reflexes of the old hands sharp! But a great show none the less; and I was very happy with the cover and spotting provided by "Vulture" - helped keep the team safe and aware of contacts as always!
You'll soon be joined by other Officers. XCOM is moving away from a platoon force structure to a operational detachment force structure - each team led by an officer and each team will have it's own unique area of expertise.
chaos0xomega wrote:Grrr first squad.....Cabt wait to see what happens to 2nd squad next!
Well, most of second squad is going on a mission. Both Scruffys are still in sick bay.
So, its only like half of second squqd? :( If Deth and Meat are the heart and soul of 2nd squad then the Scruffys are the left and right hands... and me? Im the russian accented foulmouth voice.
chaos0xomega wrote: So, its only like half of second squqd? :( If Deth and Meat are the heart and soul of 2nd squad then the Scruffys are the left and right hands... and me? Im the russian accented foulmouth voice.
Half of 2nd squad is a lot of better than what we've been averaging. Sgt_Scruffy is the appendix of second squad. Mrs. Scruffy is the balls.
chaos0xomega wrote: So, its only like half of second squqd? :( If Deth and Meat are the heart and soul of 2nd squad then the Scruffys are the left and right hands... and me? Im the russian accented foulmouth voice.
Half of 2nd squad is a lot of better than what we've been averaging. Sgt_Scruffy is the appendix of second squad. Mrs. Scruffy is the balls.
That's gotta make for some rather weird private moments ;P.
OPERATION MORBID HEAT: Binban Qibli, Egypt. 6 May 2015.
"Okay people, I know things are different than they usually are, but don't expect the sky to come crashing down. I've been with you guys every step of the way and I don't intend to change things much. Mrs. Scruffy left me a fine squad and I'm going to see to it that I continue that trend." Dead Meat was being diplomatic. 2nd squad's history was a disaster.
"Can you do a better job of keeping us out of the hospital?" Chaos, as usual, with the mouth. Even the Legion guys were laughing.
"I'll try." Dead Meat still found it hard to joke about Chaos's... disfigurement.
The squad, just before it embarks on the skyranger. A rookie would be brought along for this mission, but only one as it was decided 2nd Squad wasn't quite ready for a multi-rookie training mission. Dakka Dakka 2, XCOM's newest SHIV would also accompany the squad on it's maiden voyage.
XCOM briefs 2nd squad on last minute details. Bradford would pace around operations all night waiting for word.
"I was, how you say, nervous before the mission, da? Being in hospital for a month, it felt strange to wear armor. I only left the hospital early that day so things felt strange. Meat ordered me to look in the big farm, and as I rang I felt everything feeling stiff..."
--Chaos 0xomega on returning to mission status.
With the barn cleared, Dead Meat makes the tactical choice to rush the UFO. Hopefully, he can engage the Outsider before the other pods activate. He's confident he has a sectoid pod to his right, but they seem to be a ways off. Other pods, if there are any, are some ways off.
The unit creeps up on the UFO. Dead Meat secures the loft of the barn which is a perfect spot for his rocket launcher - or so he hopes.
An unlucky activation of the Outsider forces Dead Meat's hand. Unfortunately, he is just a little far for optimum range and the alien craft's bulkheads absorb the majority of the blast.
Legion 16 suppresses the Outsider to give 2nd squad valuable time to maneuver. Tense moments ensue as the outsider returns fire.
"I think that other aliens may be coming, da? So I know we must kill Outsider quickly."
--Chaos 0xomega
The SHIV maneuvers and puts punishing fire on the Outsider.
Chaos tries to take the resilient alien out with a grenade - to no avail.
Finally, Dead Meat orders Legion 20 into the breach to finish the outsider off. Legion 20 finishes off the Outsider with a pistol round to the 'forehead area'
Meanwhile, back at HQ, Bradford had to be talked down from ordering an evac. "They've only faced one alien and already expended half their ordinance. They squad's not going to make it! They aren't going to .... " Dr. Vahlen gave the good officer a sedative. Bradford would spend the next 24 hours on bed rest.
Now that the UFO was secured, Dead Meat ordered his unit back to the barn in preparation for an ambush. He could see sectoids in the distance. They were closing.
2 Sectoids close on XCOM's fortified barn. Dead Meat shoots the lead sectoid. Unfortunately, he is still in the fight. With the rest of the squad still closing on the sectoid position, Dead meat utilizes a delaying tactic to keep the aliens pinned.
BOOM! Chaos0xomega earns her fist kill since coming out of sickbay.
The smoke was still clearing from the sectoid ambush when a new pod wandered into view and HOLY HELL WTF IS THAT!?
XCOM encounters a Muton for the first time
The battle will take place in the debris field left by the crashed UFO. Dead Meat's squad is out of position. They will have to brave the fire of 2 floaters and this new, unknown alien if they wish to succeed.
The legion suppresses the new threat. At least we learn that this monster can be suppressed. Dakka Dakka 2 turns the flank and eliminates a Floater with machine efficiency. a heavy firefight is developing in the debris field as both sides trade blows. Finally, 2nd squad arrives in force and the monster is seriously wounded. In response, the 'Muton,' as 2nd squad christens the beast, roars so loudly and angrily that Legion 20 panics in place - despite having shot him point blank.
Dead Meat had a back-up plan for this. Constant sorrow in 2nd squad has made the new squad leader cautious. He will utilize overwhelming force as his guiding principle. He gives the order
Chaos0xomega, 2nd squad engineer, becomes the first XCOM operative to kill a Muton in close combat.
At that point is a matter of hunting down the last floater. Here Dakka 2 draws it's fire while Docta Deth sets up the kill shot.
Docta Deth surveys her handiwork as the last floater bleeds out.
2nd Squad's run of bad luck is broken -for now. Although Dead Meat and co. got off to a rough start, things went well. 2nd squad always seems to have to work harder for their kills. Their high percentage shots seem to miss more and they seem to get shot more often even when taking the best cover available. Still, they get a much-needed boost in confidence and the XCOM critical care staff get a much needed rest.
Chaos0xomega, as XCOM's newest LCPL engineer, goes to combat demolition school and comes back a better grenade thrower. Although none of Chaos's stats are particularly impressive, she is turning into an all around solid troop.
Dead Meat finally makes Corporal. he becomes particularly adept at quickly preparing, aiming, and shooting his rocket even while on the move.
Interlude: Bitter News for Mrs. Scruffy
"LCPL Mrs. Scruffy, I hope you understand why I had to make this decision. We can't have rank inversion in the squads and Dead Meat has been around longer than almost any one of us."
"I understand" Scruffy wasn't happy, but she was still in traction. There was no way she could go on this mission. She also knew that denying her squad experience at this stage of the war would ultimately doom 2nd squad to irrelevance and ultimately lead to the squad being disbanded and folded in to either the Legion or other squads.
"I, LCPL Mrs. Scruffy, do hereby transfer command of 2nd squad, 1st platoon to CPL Dead Meat - effective immediately. We'll take care of the paperwork later. I.... take care of 'em Corporal. Don't get 'em killed."
"I won't, and as soon as you are back on your feet you'll be back home in 2nd squad, Mrs. Scruffy."
With that, Bradford and Dead Meat left the medical wing and headed for operations.
So, the torch is officially passed. Dead Meat is 2nd squad's new squad leader. It's appropriate really since Dead Meat is the most experienced in the group and has been there since the beginning. I'm so glad 2nd squad made it through unscathed. I would have hated to have lost another soldier on 2nd's return to action. I've... I've developed a bit of soft spot for my special squad *pinches cheeks*
As the first week of May drew to a close, this is what XCOM HQ actually looked like. Another satellite uplink is in the works and the thermo generator is half-way done - almost.
In a last bit of news, the OTS accepts CPL Trondheim's final thesis on the use of light machine guns in extra-terrestrial squad-level combat and he graduates from the OTS. Welcome 2LT Trondheim - officially second in command of 1st Platoon.
Hope you enjoy! Remember, I still need more recruits for the Dakka Corps.
SilverMK2 wrote: Welcome to the officers mess Trondheim! And congratulations 2nd squad! Are we sure you weren't all horribly killed and replaced by thin men?
I have a grenade with your name on it... Sir.
Chaos0xomega, as XCOM's newest LCPL engineer, goes to combat demolition school and comes back a better grenade thrower. Although none of Chaos's stats are particularly impressive, she is turning into an all around solid troop.
SilverMK2 wrote:Welcome to the officers mess Trondheim! And congratulations 2nd squad! Are we sure you weren't all horribly killed and replaced by thin men?
Considering there's only one man in 2nd squad, I doubt it.
Doctadeth wrote:Yeah! engagement of a new alien, and me killing something again....hehe
For a doctor, you're proving to be one of the more reliable shots in the unit.
chaos0xomega wrote:Oh yeah, forgot to celebrate, WOOO I KILLED A NEW ALIEN!!!
You killed two aliens - yes, one of them was new, but really, isn't every alien we meet a new one? Each alien is a special flower - even BleetBlorf, sectoid private and sanitation specialist on a rusty scout UFO.
I prefer to errr dehumanize my enemies by not acknowledging them as individuals, and yes, two kills is nice, but not enough. I went to murder them by the dozens.
Ugh thanks to you i just got back to the glory and hate of xcom: enemy within. I was playing the campaign on impossible ironman and after many tries got a stable run. Finally i was thrown up against the freaking operation progeny or whatever it was called (psychic girl first mission) and my whole squad got wiped out. Sure it was 5 rookies and one super vet (captain level) but it was month 2 and i was just not in the mood. Gotta love when they throw missions at you when your guys are in med-bay. Not a fun combo let me assure you.
SilverMK2 wrote: Welcome to the officers mess Trondheim! And congratulations 2nd squad! Are we sure you weren't all horribly killed and replaced by thin men?
No I suppose you are not sure about that...... Would be a shame if someone "accidentaly" did something to you in the shower SilverMK2 As you know, love hurts
SilverMK2 wrote: Welcome to the officers mess Trondheim! And congratulations 2nd squad! Are we sure you weren't all horribly killed and replaced by thin men?
No I suppose you are not sure about that...... Would be a shame if someone "accidentaly" did something to you in the shower SilverMK2 As you know, love hurts
SilverMK2 wrote: Welcome to the officers mess Trondheim! And congratulations 2nd squad! Are we sure you weren't all horribly killed and replaced by thin men?
No I suppose you are not sure about that...... Would be a shame if someone "accidentaly" did something to you in the shower SilverMK2 As you know, love hurts
Hey, leave my shower time out of this
Time will tell eh
In other news, I am impressed by the squad. Steallar work once more
"Ready… target left!!" The members of the Legion snapped to the left in unison and fired. The alien silhouettes snapped back down - most with laser burns bored through them.
"Cease fire, Cease fire. Okay, people, check your airspace. Some aliens can fly and no one shot the Floater that popped down on top of you. That floater was your biggest threat - not those 3 sections and that thin man way in the back. 360 degree security now applies in all axes of the battle-space. Additonally, these are coherent light weapons, there is no recoil and there is no bullet arc. Aim where you intend to hit - your 'ammo' is traveling at close to the sped of light…."
--CPL Stream Dragon drill new members of XCOM direct action platoon
The Commander turned away from the view screen as XCOM continued their CQB drills. "I'm impressed Major Bradford. The force is coming along nicely, but I need your men to wound those aliens so stop having them shoot them all in the head."
"Sir?"
"Soon enough we'll have to capture these aliens, and Dr. Vahlen says that these new 'arc throwers' will never be reliable. I need your direct action platoon to get me options. The science team says a wounded alien is more likely to succumb to the electrical field. I'll be counting on your soldiers to provide me with live aliens in the coming weeks."
"Sir, we're barely surviving out there as it is. The new lasers are a god-send, but we're still way out-matched!"
"We're working on it Bradford. I need those aliens alive."
"You're going to get men killed, sir."
"I know. You have your orders."
"…..Yes, Sir."
The exploits of XCOM will return later today as 3rd Squad takes the field!
OPERATION PATIENT GAZE: Fortaleza, Brazil 9 May 2015.
May's accelerated pace of missions keeps up - this time third squad heads into battle to stop a light abduction mission in Brazil.
I've decided to try a few things here. First off, I'm testing the marksman rifle for Carlos13th, my sniper. The marksman rifle is a medium ranged sniper rifle. It will mean Carlos will have to move with the squad as the sniper rifle does not have the infinite squadsight range of a true sniper rifle. However, he can move and shoot - perfect for the urban conflict to come.
In addition, you'll note that Talizvar is taking a ballistic shotgun as his primary weapon. This is mostly due to a shortage of the (expensive) laser rifles. He does take XCOM's sole heater - a small laser personal defense weapon in ordor to augment the squad's firepower somewhat at greater than shotgun ranges.
The squad as a whole.
As you can see, Stream Dragon will be bringing a rookie along with a rocketeer from the legion to assist his core squad. If there is one thing 3rd squad lacks, it is explosive support.
It is a beautiful day in the shopping district. Stream Dragon's squad advances slowly in order to not walk into ambushes - Meld has been detecting by the orbiting skyranger to the North (our left).
A pod of Sectoids blunders into 3rd squad. Bullockist makes them pay immediately.
"I just feel most comfortable on point for the squad so it's only natural that I lead an attack. I know StreamDragon is right behind me, so we make a great team. It helps that I can run a sub-5 second 40 yard dash and that aliens can't shoot for $*^*."
-- LCPL Talizvar on why he draws so much enemy fire.
It's tough making out the small aliens behind all the book cases and displays so Stream Dragon lays down a base of fire and prepares to flank.
More Sectoids are activated.
Carlos13th surveys the developing firefight.
Bullockist continues to land blows although the squad leader sectoids are tougher than your average grey.
Stream Dragon decides to limit the fire of the sectoids as his team moves into position and flashbangs all three sectoids.
After the Legion proves singularly incapable of hitting anything, Stream Dragon faces a psychic assault from the entrenched sectoids. Although the wounds hurt, Stream Dragon doesn't panic.
The flashbangs do limit the sectoid's movement options. Marine_With_Heart takes advantage of this fact and spears a sectoid.
Talizvar uses his Heater to good effect and kills a sectoid who had mindmerged with a particularly injured sectoid - scoring a rare two for one kill.
Carlos13th lines up a shot on the one of the last two sectoids.
The Legion finally contributes in the closing stages of the firefight.
With the office supply store finally secured, XCOM moves in. Surveillance indicated Floaters moving around the periphery of the business district, but precise coordinates were not received.
The squad prepares to exit the store and secure meld.
The Floaters stumble into 3rd Squads ambush.
Stream Dragon claims a kill as the Floaters realize they are actually in a fight.
Bullockist wounds another Floater as he passes through the ambush.
Carlos 13th takes down one of the wounded floaters
The rookie is allowed to kill the all-but-crippled Floater to end the mission.
3rd Squad proves solid again. They captured some meld, and -more importantly - escaped without any sick time.
Marine_with_Heart makes LCPL.
Countries are asking for sectoid corpses - this is good because they are offering scientists in return. The more weapons, materials, and corpses you supply the more resistant countries become to panic spikes from alien missions. You'll see this in a slowly filling shield icon on the situation room screen next to each country name. This is France's first request from me.
Our scientists have finally perfected advanced beam lasers and the first production run is ordered. XCOM will be getting some scatter lasers for their assaults, a laser sniper rifle, and a laser cannon for the air force.
Speaking of the air wing, it's a shambles - UFOs rule the skies and will until at least late May.
This is what happens when you don't have an air force.
Luckily, XCOM foresaw the need and a replacement satellite was launched as soon as the air wing was back in action.
So there you have it. Another day, another successful mission means 4th squad is next in the chute. 3rd Squad may not have anyone who 'stands' out, but I like their all around toughness (3rd squad has some of the highest HP soldiers in the force. They also consistently close with and destroy the enemy at extremely close range - perhaps we have our capture and subdue squad in the making?
Haha... another chance at the enemy and hopefully not just perform guard duty.
Let us hope the Arc throwers are not ready or you-know-who will be elected to jump into the breach.
I certain leader I will have to depend on to flash-bang the heck out of them.
The softening them up however will be tricky, sure I could not try with a shotgun at close range first?
I promise a groin region shot, nothing vital. Looks like we will need more warm bodies on-line so it is time to fire up the elevator:
Spoiler:
<edit> Was writing this and left it a while before I submitted and the battle-report came down.
Hazzah! All working like a well oiled machine and the red shirts did alright!
Stream was holding it together as always and I was able to draw some fire so others didn't.
That heater is a fine toy, I will not grumble so much about the LAZERS!! others get to use as a primary weapon, the shotgun up close is still impressive to behold.
I kept worrying about us grunts on the ground but the flyboys are taking a pounding, hope they sort-out their issues soon, the new tech may be just what the doctor ordered.
Yay team, hope the other squads have similar luck and not face anything uglier than normal.
After the Legion proves singularly incapable of hitting anything, Stream Dragon faces a psychic assault from the entrenched sectoids. Although the wounds hurt, Stream Dragon doesn't panic.
Pft. Panic? That sectoid probably saw something far worse when he looked into my mind, than whatever he did to me.
So there you have it. Another day, another successful mission means 4th squad is next in the chute. 3rd Squad may not have anyone who 'stands' out, but I like their all around toughness (3rd squad has some of the highest HP soldiers in the force. They also consistently close with and destroy the enemy at extremely close range - perhaps we have our capture and subdue squad in the making?
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: So there you have it. Another day, another successful mission means 4th squad is next in the chute. 3rd Squad may not have anyone who 'stands' out, but I like their all around toughness (3rd squad has some of the highest HP soldiers in the force. They also consistently close with and destroy the enemy at extremely close range - perhaps we have our capture and subdue squad in the making?
We volunteer commander!
<squeak> We do???? <ahem> Oh yeah! They will not know what hit em! (More body armor... more obstacle course training... hoooboy!) Respectfully request we carry TWO bug zappers Sir (for when the first guy is bleeding-out)! I excel at guard duty and can give the cover fire you need...
Welcome SPEC Adept Sister and SPEC Eddie Azrael to the ranks, people. They'll be going through XCOM training and doctrine orientation then deploying with the squad sometime after May 25th. That is all.
Eddie Azrael - 1st Squad's new (permanent) rocketeer.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the crazy new "Muton" thing yet from a couple missions back. I'd rather not run into one of those guys up close. And now I want some Lamb Chops... mmmm, Mutton.
dementedwombat wrote: I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the crazy new "Muton" thing yet from a couple missions back. I'd rather not run into one of those guys up close. And now I want some Lamb Chops... mmmm, Mutton.
We are hoping by not drawing attention they will go away.
Works for me.
Guess who is most likely to get close and possibly be asked to apply electrodes to it...
"Scott, did you get the memo? We're doing a cover sheet for the TPS reports now, and Mr. Felton mentioned it in the morning meeting about how...."
"Darlene, I'm sorry, I know - I forgot. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Okay, it's just that we decided..."
Scott Rasmussen hated his job. He hated his dead-end job and his plain wife and he was disappointed in his pot-head son. Nothing ever exciting happened in his life. Maybe he would go home and stick that gun he had right in his... or maybe he'd go home and grab his G36 and come back here....
The phone rang almost as accussingly. Scott, startled out of his downward spiral, almost didn't answer - but something made him pick up the phone.
"Scott Rasmussen, Global Solutions Inc. How may I help you?"
"May wisdom shine down on you. May you be exalted among men."
Scott's heart almost leaped out of his chest. Was it real? After all these years? What would he tell Jolene... wait... feth Jolene. Almost too late, Scott remembered his response - buried years prior in the deep subconscious.
"May all men exalt us, brother."
*click.* The phone went dead.
Finally. Finally after all these year he would be part of something. Something important. Something that would make Darlene and Phil-fething-Felton and his condescending wife respect and fear him. He would have power and he would be something more than all of them....
Oh hell no! We did not need those bags of crazies too! Well at least we know the name of one of those guys, time to prepare for a new foe it seems then
AlmightyWalrus wrote: "Claymore"? What sort of silly name is that for a sniper? I circle patiently, you can't exactly do that with a bleedin' sword.
I always thought it referred to the mine.
Turns out a directed explosive is a good deterrent against people trying to sneak up on you when you are lining up your shot.
Not sure if bodies are still needed, but count me in.
"My family, my whole family lived in Samara, sir. You give me a chance and I'll burn every last one of these bastards."
(Class doesn't really matter, gunner would be nice but whatever you need. Barring that, a white guy would be an ideal avatar.)
(Edit: read the whole thing, start to finish and am completely drawn in. This is awesome.)
"My family, my whole family lived in Samara, sir. You give me a chance and I'll burn every last one of these bastards."
(Class doesn't really matter, gunner would be nice but whatever you need. Barring that, a white guy would be an ideal avatar.)
(Edit: read the whole thing, start to finish and am completely drawn in. This is awesome.)
LCPL Frankenberry made quite a name for himself in the Legion before being elevated to the Dakka Corps. Welcome to 2nd Squad, 1st Platoon. We've taken the liberty of forwarding your blood type to the ICU and making arrangements for organ donation in the event of your demise. I would suggest updating your will and living will as well as buying most of the medical command a few beers.
Formosa wrote: where is this mod, the only place I can find it is a pay site that wont let me DL unless I pay to join the site
That is the only place to download, and its like a pound something in a fee for joining the site. Well worth it
----------------------
Down at the firing range in the bowls of the Xcom headquarter.
"When you are engaging E.T with your bog standard LMG, you need to keep one thing in mind. That is the limitied stopping power of a conventional round, no matter the caliber. However when you are laying down cover fire or engaging a enemy with the new weapons, keep in mind that your round will travel at the speed of ligth and will not stop for a loooong time. So short sharp bursts and make sure to keep a eye out for chances to use enfelading fire!" Throndheim said to the assembled recruits from Legion.
The man whom commanded 4th squad gazed at these selected few that had sworn to forgo their old lives. He felt pride swell up in his chest but also a grim resolve to see this horrid war to the end.
"Now then! Lets move on to fire drills!" he barked and once more lost himself in the swirl of daily duty outside the deployments that seemed to be comming ever more often.
Frankenberry wrote:Not sure if bodies are still needed, but count me in.
"My family, my whole family lived in Samara, sir. You give me a chance and I'll burn every last one of these bastards."
(Class doesn't really matter, gunner would be nice but whatever you need. Barring that, a white guy would be an ideal avatar.)
(Edit: read the whole thing, start to finish and am completely drawn in. This is awesome.)
"My family, my whole family lived in Samara, sir. You give me a chance and I'll burn every last one of these bastards."
(Class doesn't really matter, gunner would be nice but whatever you need. Barring that, a white guy would be an ideal avatar.)
(Edit: read the whole thing, start to finish and am completely drawn in. This is awesome.)
LCPL Frankenberry made quite a name for himself in the Legion before being elevated to the Dakka Corps. Welcome to 2nd Squad, 1st Platoon. We've taken the liberty of forwarding your blood type to the ICU and making arrangements for organ donation in the event of your demise. I would suggest updating your will and living will as well as buying most of the medical command a few beers.
chaos0xomega wrote:ROFLMAO, welcome to 2nd squad Frankenberry, thr name is going to be quite fitting soon enough ;P
Frankenberry, I have only one rule. Everybody fights, no one quits. If you don't do your job, I'll kill you myself! Welcome to the Patchworks!
deadmeat85 wrote: Frankenberry, I have only one rule. Everybody fights, no one quits. If you don't do your job, I'll kill you myself! Welcome to the Patchworks!
Frankenberry wrote:Not sure if bodies are still needed, but count me in.
"My family, my whole family lived in Samara, sir. You give me a chance and I'll burn every last one of these bastards."
(Class doesn't really matter, gunner would be nice but whatever you need. Barring that, a white guy would be an ideal avatar.)
(Edit: read the whole thing, start to finish and am completely drawn in. This is awesome.)
"My family, my whole family lived in Samara, sir. You give me a chance and I'll burn every last one of these bastards."
(Class doesn't really matter, gunner would be nice but whatever you need. Barring that, a white guy would be an ideal avatar.)
(Edit: read the whole thing, start to finish and am completely drawn in. This is awesome.)
LCPL Frankenberry made quite a name for himself in the Legion before being elevated to the Dakka Corps. Welcome to 2nd Squad, 1st Platoon. We've taken the liberty of forwarding your blood type to the ICU and making arrangements for organ donation in the event of your demise. I would suggest updating your will and living will as well as buying most of the medical command a few beers.
chaos0xomega wrote:ROFLMAO, welcome to 2nd squad Frankenberry, thr name is going to be quite fitting soon enough ;P
Frankenberry, I have only one rule. Everybody fights, no one quits. If you don't do your job, I'll kill you myself! Welcome to the Patchworks!
Sir! Thank you sir!
Eager to drop and show these extraterrestrials what it means to have an 'out of body experience' courtesy of 'external forces enacting strenuous trauma on their physical forms'.
OPERATION FADING SUMMER: 14 May, 2015. Vladivostok, Russia.
Long War Beta 15 is about to drop and it TOTALLY changes Long War to be even more in depth, more crazy, and more awesome. However, I'm committed at this point to Beta 14 and I don't want to have to re-learn the game as I'm still basically learning Long War.
No one knows why they singled out Russia in the early months of the war. Perhaps they wanted to knock out a powerful council nation. Of course, no one really knew if the aliens were even aware of the council at this point. Maybe they just chose cities that they felt were near the center of the planet's largest land mass. Maybe they were targeting the Russia's Pacific Fleet. Regardless, Russia was subjected to constant alien attack throughout the month of May. Vladivostok was quite a ways from XCOM HQ so even travelling by Skyranger it took 4th Squad quite a while to make it to the stricken city. When they arrived, the terror attack, as XCOM was calling them, was already in full swing.
LT Trondheim and his squad shortly before boarding the Skyranger.
2nd Platoon's 1st Squad would be accompanying 4th Squad as they were currently under-strength with three of their members in sick-bay. 2nd Platoon was already forming a reputation as front line shock troops and would be welcomed in the coming fight.
The squad is inserted behind a paper supply company in a suspiciously American looking section of Vladivostok. Official XCOM press releases in the coming decades would spark a wave of "false flag" conspiracy theorists.
4th Squad stack on the door to the warehouse and freezes, gun raised as the sounds of chryssalids skittering down the halls reaches them.
"Chryssalids aren't so bad - if you're ready for them. They invariably charge right at you so good fire discipline is key. They come at you fast, and they take a lot of killing, but if just make sure you place your shots and you'll be all right.
-- LCPL Motyak coaching new operatives on the training ranges.
Motyak and the rest of the squad are true to their word and almost kill the two smaller 'lids as they charge XCOM.
The Lids charged through a storm of fire. As they closed, LCPL Hordini opened fire on the doomed Lids. The Alpha Lid continued to drag itself to towards the squad until Motyak put a bullet in it's head.
Demented Wombat saves the first civilians of Fading Summer.
The paper company's warehouse was being used by civilians as shelter from the alien terror raid. It had been a safe place until the 'lids found it. Now the shell-shocked survivors were stumbling aorund the blood-soaked rows of paper products. 4th Squad makes it's way through the slaughterhouse.
"As we moved through the warehouse, we could hear the screams of civilians further ahead. I know I wanted to run on ahead and kill the aliens for what they were doing, but Trondheim restrained us. 'We will do no good if we get ourselves killed. That's plasma fire ahead and you can hear the floater packs.... We need to stick together.' Remembering to clear your corners to the sounds of women and children dying is a skill I regretfully learned that day."
-- LCPL Motyak on Operation Fading Summer.
More 'Lids charge 4th Squad just as they hit the administrative offices.
"It's the strangest thing. You wouldn't know it, but Chryssalids smell like After Eights - you know the chocolate mints? Yeah, they smell like chocolate thin mints. It's the small things that save your life. Those 'lids could have caught us out, but luckily that first pack died right in front of us so we all got a big whiff of them. For all their horror, they smell rather nice don't they? Way better than Floaters anyway.
--LCPL Motyak describes Chryssalids for the XCOM historians
Flaming Killamajig flashbangs the 'lids as they close on XCOM positions.
"The next five minutes will stick with me only because I can't quite recall them. The things that stick with me are the smell of cordite, semtex, thin mints and the ozone smell of plasma burns. Floaters, seekers, those infected humans the troops are calling zombies, and 'lids just charged us. we kept trying to get to the civilians but it.... (several moments pass as Motyak composes himself)... it's like they were thorwing themselves at us just to give the seekers more time to murder those poor people. I reloaded three times just trying to cross the cubicle farm in the offices. Blood was everywhere. These creatures may be technologically advanced, they may travel the stars on ships we can't even begin to understand, but they are barbarians. Make no mistake. There are barbarians at the gates and we are all that stands on the walls. I won't stop until those beasts are dead. Not after Vladivotok."
-- LCPL Motyak transcript of post mission debrief with XCOM psychiatric evaluation committee
Wombat earns his stripes sometime during Fading Summer Motyak engages a seeker Malfred destroys a Seeker as the office complex is torn apart in the most intense firefight of the war to date
"One of the keys to fighting Seekers in close quarters is to look for the little things. Their repulsors... their jets... whatever it is they use to hover don't make a sound but they do flatten the grass or ruffle papers in a notebook. They can't teleport although it does look like it. You see a door come flying open with nothing on the other end means you've got a seeker coming for you. In Fading Summer we used AP grenades to flush them out of their cloak. If you've separated out a LP/OP or part of your squad is covering a vulnerable flank -keep an eye on 'em. Seekers are hyenas - they prey on the isolated and weak.
LCPL Motyak flushes out a Seeker as it disturbs office furniture in it's cloaked state.
Legion 10 calls in local ambulance and MEDEVAC crews as XCOM mops up the aliens. 4th Squad would spend the next 6 hours applying first aid to wounded civilians.
Promotions abound as 4th squad returns from what would become known as the Massacre at Vladivostok. 4th Squad along with 2nd squad would develop an intense hatred for aliens although for different reasons.
Phew, seriously this mission was intense. After I hit that first wave of 'lids, there wasn't a single turn I wasn't in heavy contact. I think I took over an hour to play this one mission.It was classic XCOM. The story just sort of created it self. 4th squad did me proud. In Long War, Aliens seem to be focused on killing civilians - sometimes at the expense of getting themselves killed. It was a bloody mission. For a good 3-4 turns I would have half the squad firing with the other half reloading. 15 enemies isn't too too much for long war, but most of them were either the ever hardy 'lids or the very damage resistant Seekers. Still, we did well and moved at a good pace. I had a Floater pack and a zombie that just didn't want to engage - they kept going after civilians.
Next Time: 1st Squad settles into it's role as the training squad. Can they bring the rookies through their cherry missions?
It would appear so, and what a good way to start the weekend I dare say. Dead aliens all around, well done squad, Im proud to be your leader in these dark days
chaos0xomega wrote:You sent that damned Ukrainian back to my Russia??!?
Da, we are all in this together, no? Don't worry, you'll get a heaping helping of 2nd squad in action soon along with a little bit of schadenfreude.
Trondheim wrote:It would appear so, and what a good way to start the weekend I dare say. Dead aliens all around, well done squad, Im proud to be your leader in these dark days
Dark days indeed, lieutenant. Steel yourselves because there is worse to come.
chaos0xomega wrote:You sent that damned Ukrainian back to my Russia??!?
Da, we are all in this together, no? Don't worry, you'll get a heaping helping of 2nd squad in action soon along with a little bit of schadenfreude.
Trondheim wrote:It would appear so, and what a good way to start the weekend I dare say. Dead aliens all around, well done squad, Im proud to be your leader in these dark days
Dark days indeed, lieutenant. Steel yourselves because there is worse to come.
Agreed there can be no mistake, we stand as one or we all fall. I hope we will prevail, no matter how dark it may seem, and remeber. Its always darkest before dawn boys & girls
Promotion, eh? "Santa..." well I guess I will be giving the aliens lots of presents in the form of little bundles of joy (in AP and fragmentation varieties).
Why does it always have to be Chryssalids? I saw those bastards the last time I was out too. Good thing I decided to practice my grenade skills. And those civilians back in the offices...I just wish there was more I could have done. Trondheim was right though. There's no use running out and getting myself killed (and maybe the rest of my squad too). Why does that not make me feel any better? This makes it even more clear that we have to use any means necessary to find out why these aliens are here; and make sure they can never do this to anybody else ever again. There's just so much we don't know about them. Take the Chryssalids for instance. I don't even know if they're intelligent or just some kind of domesticated war animal. For that matter why are all these aliens not attacking each other? Something has to be behind all this. Maybe once we get one of these aliens alive we will have some answers. I'm guessing the subject will not survive interrogation.
OPERATION BANISHED CHANT: Lagos, NIgeria 14 May 2015
As the war dragged on, a certain pattern developed in the alien abductions. They seemed to be diversionary tactics specifically meant to test XCOM - at least, that was the prevailing theory around the cantina while the direct action platoons blew off steam. No one could fathom why the aliens were so interested in getting otherwise ordinary people. Most abduction encounters took place in auto repair shops, gas stations, restaurants, and office supply companies. Perhaps they chose the areas they did merely to cause panic - to let everyone know they could be a target. Maybe they did it to demonstrate to the various world governments that even the most powerful nations could do nothing to stop them. One... interesting theory was that they only were after left handed people. Whatever it was, XCOM continued to respond. --Excerpt fro XCOM: The Long War
--Edited by C.G. Spender
This map isn't my favorite. Although there are a lot of way to flank and cover is pretty good, I've had some janky activations in the past. 2 Floaters will activate and the third floater will be somewhere else and I won't even know he's there until he comes busting through the door at my back... that sort of thing.
1st Squad would be bring many recruits with them on this mission. Hopefully, it would not prove to be a mistake.
The general plan here is for 1st squad to "set up" the kills for the rookies and the specialist infantry. XCOM as a whole is SERIOUSLY short on infantry soldiers who will become crucial in the mid and late game. We need to rank up the ones we do have and we need to hopefully get more. If the rookies get in trouble, 'Vulture' Walrus will pick off the threats while CthuluSpy suppresses. Should be a piece of cake.
First Squad encounters a pod of sectoids immediately after setting down.
I hate getting contact immediately after set down. You always have to waste half your turn getting into cover and usually you don't have any good shots because you haven't gotten your flanking elements set up. Luckily, it's only sectoids and not Mutons or Floaters. The plan will be to flank from our left with Elemental who will guide a rookie around to hopefully get an easy kill. Silver will lead the other rookie to the right. Vulture, Spy, and the infantry will set up the base of fire.
The rookie cracks under a psychic assault. He would spend the rest of this engagement sucking his thumb
CPL Elemental, now freed from trying to get the rookie a kill, holo-targets the mind merging sectoid for our infantry specialist' The aftermath of Legion's attack
The rookie gets caught in an unexpected overwatch ambush as he manuvers This was a mistake on my part. I thought the third sectoid had bugged out to an area where he couldn't shoot. I almost paid for it but luckily it was a somewhat long shot and sectoids are crap shots.
As the rookie comes under fire, Silver MK2 maneuvers into position (see bottom right of image The alien pauses to reload as he continues his assault on the rookie only to find MK2 there.
The last sectoid is cleaned up by rookie grenade. This isn't IDEAL, but at this point I would rather have my rookies get the kill than have one more sectoid corpse. The encounter didn't go too too bad (as they have a potential to do when you get immediate contact on the LZ). I feel lucky that it was only sectoids because we had a hard time hitting them behind that full cover. I hear from Floaters on the other side of the shop though so we'll probably have a real challenge soon. My men move into position.
XCOM barely catches their breath before being confronted with a much more powerful threat- a muton and a floater. 3 More floaters join the fight.
Well, this sucks - the Muton is bad enough but he brought 3 Floaters with him. It wouldn't have been so so bad if I could have breached the door and gotten the drop on him, but he obviously heard the grenade explosion and now I'm stuck in a long range firefight with floaters and a muton.
One Floater from the Muton pack tries to flank around to 1st Squad's right... Right into the path of Silver MK2. Silver lines up the shot...
The battle now splits into two parts unfortunately. Legion 19 and Elemental are stuck outside the auto-shop being pinned by three hard to see overwatching Floaters. Vulture Walrus is in a good position to squadsight snipe them, but three floaters is a lot of firepower. The Muton is in heavy cover and will be engaged by Cthulu Spy, Legion 7, Silver, and Legion 22. We need to keep that Muton flashbanged or pinned so he can't grenade us.
Elemental struggles to get a bead on the high-flying Floaters [i]Legion 19 is caught in scant cover. He would move to the left to take cover behind an alien pod./i]
[i]Plasma fire converges on Legion 19 as the Floaters fully open up on him.[i]
"There was a momentary silence on the comms channel as Elemental reported the KIA. There was no point trying to save him.... he was burned beyond recognition and dead before he hit the ground. I was proud of my squad - no one panicked. We just dug our heels in and kept going."
--LT Silver MK2 on Operation Banished Chant.
The firefight starts up again as The trapped Elemental makes the Floaters bleed in turn.
The rest of the squad meanwhile had successfully closed the gap on the Muton. Here Cthulu Spy suppresses the beast while XCOM maneuvers
Legion 7 gravely wounds the hulking shock-trooper with a well placed shot.
Legion 22 finishes off the Muton at point blank range.
'Vulture' Walrus plies his deadly trade from the back of the battlefield.
... and again as the remaining two Floaters panic.
Legion 22 completes the Legion's revenge for their brother as he guns down the alien responsible. In this photo, he is shown spitting on the newly deceased alien.
It was a somber ride back to base on the skyranger. The seeming invincibility of first squad had been shattered. Everyone knew intellectually that no one was invincible. Everyone knew that anyone could die on any mission, but there was a feeling that 1st squad was always going to be all right. Not anymore. This was war.
Lieutenant Slilver MK2 reluctantly accept a promotion.
For all the heart-ache, the mission is deemed a success. Especially as 1st squad brings home 29 meld!
As 1st squad arrives back, Dr Vahlen's science team announces new armor technologies for the SHIV and exciting new possibilities for advanced armor for XCOM.
The Science team continues to expand.
Officer Bradford reluctantly places a call out for 2 new recruits for XCOM.
The aliens are strangely quiet over the next few days as 1st squad debriefs and grieves for Legion 19. Thing are almost back to normal at the barracks when The Commander arrives personally.
"I was running on the treadmill when the Commander walked by. She looked angry. Really angry. Everyone just sort of stopped what they were doing and waited to see what the commander would say. She has that effect on people, you know? She walked right up to Lieutenant Silver MK2 and just sort of bluntly stated, 'LT Silver MK2, you are relieved of command.' She turned to me. 'CPL Elemental, you are in charge. Follow me Lieutenant.' With that, she was gone. The LT was gone. Everyone was shocked. What happened?"
--CPL Elemental recounts the aftermath of Banished Chant.
XCOM takes its second casualty of the war. I consider the mission a success because we did it fast and got all the Meld. I would have been royally pissed off if I had lost a guy and gotten feth-all for resources. As it stands, the LT is no longer in charge. That leaves Trondheim as Platoon leader until the paperwork goes through. What the hell just happened?
Poor Legion, sorry 1st squad, but its about time you guys know a little bit of failure. Curious what happens with Silver... wouldnt be surprised if its an assignment to a "special" team...
"Legion 19 will be sadly missed, but as with all casualties in this war for the survival of humanity his sacrifice will spur us on to final victory over the cruel invaders. We will not just survive, we will prevail, we will overcome!" - SilverMK2 at Legion 19s memorial.
"I of course accept responsibility for my squads actions, both in success and failure. Legion 19 acted under my orders and unfortunately paid the price as the enemy took advantage of the weakness in our positioning to score a fatal hit" - SilverMK2 in post mission debrief.
"The death of a comrade in arms is always a painful thing to experience. But instead of sucumbing to the grief and hate we will live on! And remember his actions and his fine person! May he rest at Odins side!" Lt Trondheim at the memorial held for Legion 19
Oh man, stuff gone F.U.B.A.R.
Apparently if you install to a different drive than default you get problems. One day, long war...one day.
