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malfred wrote:

Sgt_Scruffy wrote:

 malfred wrote:
Felix Malfred reporting for duty.

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.


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 flamingkillamajig wrote:
If you do my character i suppose a sniper would be good.

do you care about things like gender or nationality?


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 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.


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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'd like to join the fight!

If there is a machinegunnist or some such available, that'd be boss.

Failing that, just make me a guy.

Now this made my day, more dead aliens and new recruits joins the fold! Welcomme one and all

My new avatar is awesome

"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.

Sgt_Scruffy wrote:

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.

Male, whatever class you need.

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.

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?

 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.


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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.


Well done 1st Squad!

How often do you suggest steadying your weapon?

 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.


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"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

Nice work Glory Squad! Good to see dakkadakka take to the field after seeing it munch through the bases kill house in its evaluation trial too.

Hopefully next time out we can try taking a few of the aliens captive - to kill the bug we must understand the bug!

Now, I think it is Glory's round at the bar - who's in?

Im in! Mead for one and all on SilverMK2 bill! That and a whole roasted ox!

...what the feth 1st squad. What the actual feth.

Looks like that was pretty much a pitched battle. There's so many more enemires per mission in Long War.

chaos0xomega wrote:
...what the feth 1st squad. What the actual feth.

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*

 KamikazeCanuck wrote:
Looks like that was pretty much a pitched battle. There's so many more enemires per mission in Long War.

What can I say, we're just that much better than everyone else.

When I get out of this hospital bed....

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:

 KamikazeCanuck wrote:
Looks like that was pretty much a pitched battle. There's so many more enemires per mission in Long War.

What can I say, we're just that much better than everyone else.

You get more screen time
My squad must be up next!

Talizvar plays Ping-Pong.

Drinks Scotch... on occasion.

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.


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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!


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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.

How's this?

Great AAR as always, and well done by 2th squad as always. When will myself see action again?

Whoa, six kills in 3 missions, plus....at least 3 heals? Wow, I'm quite the expert.

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.

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.

Poor second squad