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2015/02/11 22:04:37
Subject: XCOM: The Dakka Diaries: 2nd Squad and the last piece of the puzzle...
"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!
This message was edited 41 times. Last update was at 2015/04/17 17:10:44
2015/02/11 22:20:57
Subject: XCOM: The Long War. "We were XCOM Once.... and Young."
"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.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/02/15 03:08:36
2015/02/12 03:49:43
Subject: XCOM: The Long War. "We were XCOM Once.... and Young."
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.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/02/12 04:28:44
2015/02/12 06:12:24
Subject: XCOM: The Long War. "We were XCOM Once.... and Young."
After seeing the recruitment video, I'm all fired up and ready to defend the Earth! Sign me up!
"The 75mm gun is firing. The 37mm gun is firing, but is traversed round the wrong way. The Browning is jammed. I am saying "Driver, advance." and the driver, who can't hear me, is reversing. And as I look over the top of the turret and see twelve enemy tanks fifty yards away, someone hands me a cheese sandwich."
2015/02/12 20:36:27
Subject: XCOM: The Long War. "We were XCOM Once.... and Young."
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.
2015/02/12 22:21:51
Subject: Re:XCOM: The Long War. "We were XCOM Once.... and Young."
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
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2015/02/15 03:18:26
2015/02/12 22:44:42
Subject: XCOM: The Long War. "We were XCOM Once.... and Young."
Wales: Where the Men are Men and the sheep are Scared.
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.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/02/12 22:46:17
2015/02/12 22:47:42
Subject: XCOM: The Long War. "We were XCOM Once.... and Young."
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.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/02/12 22:52:04
2015/02/12 23:04:42
Subject: XCOM: The Long War. "We were XCOM Once.... and Young."
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.
2015/02/12 23:43:01
Subject: XCOM: The Long War. "We were XCOM Once.... and Young."
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.
CoALabaer wrote: Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
2015/02/13 00:43:07
Subject: Re:XCOM: The Long War. "We were XCOM Once.... and Young."
"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.
This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2015/02/15 03:21:34
2015/02/13 03:13:28
Subject: XCOM: The Long War. "We were XCOM Once.... and Young."
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!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/02/13 03:35:26
2015/02/13 04:15:53
Subject: XCOM: The Long War. "We were XCOM Once.... and Young."
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DIY 3450pts 
