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Bravo Third Squad, keep it up, you got this! Cant wait to see Part 5.

 Talizvar wrote:
Oddly, living up to my country flag: I prefer the "Tanto".

I have enjoyed Kendo for many years so kiai/strike and zanshin just feels right, so I can appreciate but not envy the axe (looks like it throws nice though unless the handle is too light).
This has been an all-time favorite: don't leave the Skyranger without it:
Magnum Tanto XII

Spoiler:

Full guard, 1' blade X .2" thick, 5 5/8" handle CPM 3-V High-Carbon steel, only about 58-60 HrC but we don't want to be too brittle.
You have to get this stuff from outside because they figure if you get that close you should be using the zapper.

Kendo isnt very useful for learning to actually use a blade... actually its effectively useless (by design) for learning how to actually use a blade.

Oh dear allfather above! How many more of these devils can there be? And that many outsiders....That is just plain unfaire

http://schlockmercenary.wikia.com/wiki/The_Seventy_Maxims_of_Maximally_Effective_Mercenaries

Consulting my favourite tactical manual, I think the following passages may be relevant:

17. The longer everything goes according to plan, the bigger the impending disaster.

37. There is no 'overkill.' There is only 'open fire' and 'I need to reload.

and of course:

35. That which does not kill you has made a tactical error.

chaos0xomega wrote:
Kendo isnt very useful for learning to actually use a blade... actually its effectively useless (by design) for learning how to actually use a blade.

Huh? To what experience has this been determined? By design? Other than not actually using a sharp blade?
At the absolute minimum it instills not using a blade like an axe in a chopping motion: it is a great way to break a blade or get it stuck.
It is rather long the explanation hence the spoiler but it highly useful for the actual use of that type of blade a fencing foil or European sword I would agree would need different techniques.
The added fun is you learn to get into your enemies face as hard, fast and decisively as possible: with sword strikes winning or dead can hinge on one hit.

Oddly enough, my role of squad point-man or "bullet-sponge" is to behave exactly as kendo teaches: to unsettle your opponent by overwhelming force by motion and intent. With gun-fights, cover is a greater consideration but if you get in close, over-the-top aggression is your friend. The bug zapper is rather anticlimactic (if it works...).

OPERATION BRUTAL SERPENT PART Whatever: "Let's Kill these mofos and go home" --Bullockist.

Prior to opening the door, the remains of third squad surround the bridge.


"There's an art to breaching a room when the aliens know you're coming. It really helps if you have multiple enterances. The best way is to breach a door on the opposite side of where you really want to breach in most cases. This will cause the aliens to take cover towards their engaged side... that's when you roll in with your heavy hitters and kill them. Talizvar, bless him, makes a lot of noise and draws fire. He started the fake breach."
--StreamDragon

"There were so many targets in there you couldn't miss. It was a complete shooting gallery."
Talizvar and Comata finish off one of the junior outsiders


Carlos13th executes another wounded outsider.


Bullockist, after having wounded an outsider, uses his last flashbang to disorient two of the remaing four outsiders


BOOM! StreamDragon one-shots yet another Outsider


"The thing about the aliens is they've never shown the least amount of self-preservation when their backs are even slightly against the wall. We use it to our advantage every day, but we pay for it in blood and tears."
-- Lt. Morton


Talizvar and Comata combine once again to down an alien. This time Talizvar claims the kill.


Bullockist downs the last remaining regular outsider. only the large, super outsider remains.


"StreamDragon was hit, but he seemed to be okay. Shoulder shot from what I could tell, but his throwing arm worked fine. He used the last flashbang in the entire inventory to blind the outsider one more time. The mission was so close to done third squad could taste it.


"We were all just about out of ammo. I was down to using my pistol, but I kept firing anyway. This outsider was HUGE! I felt like I was shooting spitballs at it."
-Talizvar


"I was down to my last charge... gotta make this count."
-Comata


"My heart sank when StreamDragon's shotgun blast didn't finish off the alien. Surely this one, wounded alien would now retaliate and kill one of us. I cursed loudly and steadied my now reloaded weapon in the hopes of getting a shot. Just one shot is all I need.... Then I remembered that StreamDragon loves a brawl and I felt better."
-Carlos
StreamDragon's fast reflexes save the day as the outsider charges the third squad.


"Central, this is third squad. Terror ship secure. Prepare the medbay, we've got wounded inbound. Alert alien containment we have a floater captive for immediate processing and detainment. Break. Skyranger 1, This is Striker 3-4 (Gallia's official call sign - ed.) requesting immediate medevac. 9-line to follow."


"Striker 3-4, this is Skyranger, ready to copy. Send it"

"Roger, line 1 19T EZ 4582 9023
line 2 Striker 3-4 on frequency [redacted]
line 3 A-2, B-1, C-1
line 4 B
line 5 A -1, C- 3
Break."

Galia Comata looked around. He was the only one still on his feet. Bullockist was slumped against the alien power cell in the middle of the bridge - his energy utterly spent. StreamDragon was right next to him, still covering the door in case there were more aliens. Even Carlos looked like he was having a hard time focusing. The bruises on his neck were an angry purple color. Only Talizvar and himself were still up and around, and Talizvar looked like he'd run a marathon. Galia got back to calling in the nine-line

"line 6 -Bravo
line 7 - X-ray
line 8 - X-ray
line 9 - northern end of the UFO, SKED retrieval of Legion 9..."
-Galia Comata

"I remember it was like someone opened a relief valve and all the pent up pressure and anxiety in Central just bled away. There were a few back slaps, but mostly there was rubbing of necks and some half-hearted grins. The price had been high. Only the Commander seemed to be extremely happy. Captain Wu looked pretty pissed off about the big grin the Commander had on his face as he consulted with Illifan, but then Captain Wu was CO of the Legion so I could understand. The Commander was already calculating the strategic effects of capturing an alien capital ship, I'm sure."
--Lt,. Morton

The true cost of Brutal Serpent is finally known. 1 Legionnaire dead, 1 Legionnaire out for a month, and two members of third squad out for three weeks.



"The scientists and engineers spent weeks on site at the terror ship and I think they could have spent years. We stripped that thing of anything and everyhting of value. The skyranger was busy, so XCOM drafted in a whole company of CH-47 Chinooks. They hauled stuff day and night."
-Jihadin

Third Squad's exploits give XCOM a majjor economic shot in the arm






StreamDragon gains the close encounters perk.

Bullockist can now suppress aliens with his assault rifle

Carlos, ever brutal, is now particularly good at picking off the weak and wounded

Galia_Comata, through hard earned experience, is an expert at fighting robotic foes


"Ladies. Gentlemen. I know it has been a tough road these last couple of days. Third squad went to hell and back. Then they went to a different hell. and back," The Commander's mouth twitched upward in a smile, "but know that through your efforts we have prevailed. We have downed one of their major captial ships, and we have struck directly at their ability to wage war on this planet. You should all be proud. I believe third squad has turned the course of the war. Let Brutal Serpent be recorded as the turning point. We now hunt them, they do not hunt us. They can no longer cower in their ships thinking themselves invincible. No matter how diligently they fortify, we will dig them out of their holes. We will break them and their ships." The Commander got a thoughtful look on her face for a moment. "In fact, Third Squad has earned an official name. Let third squad now be known as "The Shipbreakers."

Brutal Serpent is finally over. This mission took me about 5 times as long to play as a normal mission, and it took me forever to do the write up. I really do think this could be the turning point of the war. The alloy, the elerium, and all the intact computers and power sources make for an incredible haul of material that will finance XCOM for possibly months to come. Third Squad did an outstanding job - even if it almost killed them all. I'm psyched.

Sgt_Scruffy wrote:
"My heart sank when StreamDragon's shotgun blast didn't finish off the alien. Surely this one, wounded alien would now retaliate and kill one of us. I cursed loudly and steadied my now reloaded weapon in the hopes of getting a shot. Just one shot is all I need.... Then I remembered that StreamDragon loves a brawl and I felt better."
-Carlos
StreamDragon's fast reflexes save the day as the outsider charges the third squad.

I'd like to think I yelled something appropriately bad-ass as he came at me.

Sgt_Scruffy wrote:
StreamDragon gains the close encounters perk.

Sgt_Scruffy wrote:
Let third squad now be known as "The Shipbreakers."

This is pretty bad ass.

Great job Third Squad! (at work, more in character write up later.)

Grats on clearing this mission! With any luck you can start churning out more weapons and armor with that haul of materiel you captured. And if I'n not mistaken, you should have 3 plasma weapons at this point. You'll have to research them before you can use them, but I'm sure they'll help partially offset any supply problems you have.

squidhills wrote:
Grats on clearing this mission! With any luck you can start churning out more weapons and armor with that haul of materiel you captured. And if I'n not mistaken, you should have 3 plasma weapons at this point. You'll have to research them before you can use them, but I'm sure they'll help partially offset any supply problems you have.

We're a long way from being able to use plasma weapons. I've still got to research guass weapons and pulse lasers...

*Passes out unofficial velcro patches*

A little preview for you guys. We've got to storm two more UFOs in the next 9 days.

Nice job third squad, great haul... but next time it wouldnt hurt to bring us back a couple more alien friends to put in the fish tank.

 Talizvar wrote:

chaos0xomega wrote:
Kendo isnt very useful for learning to actually use a blade... actually its effectively useless (by design) for learning how to actually use a blade.

Huh? To what experience has this been determined? By design? Other than not actually using a sharp blade?
At the absolute minimum it instills not using a blade like an axe in a chopping motion: it is a great way to break a blade or get it stuck.
It is rather long the explanation hence the spoiler but it highly useful for the actual use of that type of blade a fencing foil or European sword I would agree would need different techniques.

Spoiler:

It is "the way of the sword" derived from kenjutsu.
If there is a main limitation, is that it revolves around the downward vertical cut (mind you, one of the main strikes is a disemboweling one).
You accurately strike the location (not full force chop!) you aim for (using body memory from long practices the speed developed is noticeable) and you follow through with the slice.
The shinai is marked out with the "ideal" strike zone about 1/4 from tip, and a chord running the back of the spine to remind you the non-pointy side is facing the right way.
How to hold a sword, how to keep it between you and your enemy, how to read them and strike immediately to be decisive.
I agree the pumping footwork motion tends to be overlooked in a more tournament / combat situation and having the opportunity to use the two weapon style (nitōjutsu), it is awesome.
Accuracy, speed and deadly intent while wearing armor.
This system was completely designed to train Samurai so they could swordfight with no holding back without slicing off body parts by accident.
The ability to practice with a live opponent at full power and speed without one of you dying translates well to applicable conditions.
I had been lucky to have instructors that insisted on the kenjutsu training as well for the various katas using real sword strikes, I agree pairing the two rounds it out better.

The added fun is you learn to get into your enemies face as hard, fast and decisively as possible: with sword strikes winning or dead can hinge on one hit.

Oddly enough, my role of squad point-man or "bullet-sponge" is to behave exactly as kendo teaches: to unsettle your opponent by overwhelming force by motion and intent. With gun-fights, cover is a greater consideration but if you get in close, over-the-top aggression is your friend. The bug zapper is rather anticlimactic (if it works...).

Kendo was effectively invented in the late 19th century as a sport -not a martial art- in order to get all those grouchy old samurai off the streets and give them something to do to keep em busy so as to prevent (another) rebellion. The strikes in Kendo arent actually ones you would want to make with a real sword, by intent, because part of the point of Kendo was to limit the spread of proper swordfighting technique in order to help modernize Japanese society and its military system.

Kendo doesnt actually teach proper follow through with a bladed weapon, thats even evident by the use of the term "strike" whereas in actual swordfighting, practitioners "slice". Theres no concept of blade angle, which is extremely important in swordfighting (no havkng an indicator to mark which direction the blade ianfacing is not at all what I mean). Also worth noting is that the Kendo strikes are all aimed at striking what were traditionally the most heavily protected (armored) locations on a samurai (again by design, it makes it less lethal). Not an issue if your opponent is unarmored, but youre not going to disembowl much of anything if youre hitting someone who has armor designed specifically to prevent you from disembowling him.

Kendo is very similar to fencing in that way, its nice and flashy and teaches discipline and promotes fitness... but not at all what a real swordfight looks like. You'll often find practitioners of western and european martial arts scoff at those who practice fencing, similarly those who practice say koryu (or better yet, Toyama Ryu) feel the same towards those who practice kendo. I wont say practicing Kendo doesnt give you a basis for learning proper swordsmanship, but I know from experience that Kendo doesnt properly prepare one to actually use a blade in a more "real life" situation, and just as true I know others who went to a more "practical" art after studying Kendo and still had to spend a considerable amount of time practicing to be anything close to competent, but they picked it up much faster than those who hadnt already studied kendo or similar.

chaos0xomega wrote:
Nice job third squad, great haul... but next time it wouldnt hurt to bring us back a couple more alien friends to put in the fish tank.

I tired man, I did catch one. The other one failed to stun. In Long War you only get one charge on your arc thrower unless you have the repair skill through the engineer tree. Since you're an engineer, you'll be toting around an arc thrower for a long time as soon as you get your Sergeant rank.

Says a prayer for Legion 9. Then helps take the wounded to the medical bay.

He sat in the now silent and quiet messhall and ponderd the stunning yet very costly victory secured by 3rd. He had never doubted that motteld band of assorted charcthers, but this. This was far beyound he had expeceted to ever see. But it made him feel secure that there was still hope, and where there was hope there was the will to figth on.
But yet even now one brave warrior made way into the golden halls of Vallhalla, having fallen to the foul enemies of mankind.
" Another brother in arms to avenge, another saga to tell when this is all over."

Sgt_Scruffy wrote:
A little preview for you guys. We've got to storm two more UFOs in the next 9 days.

Two more UFOs? Put me in, Coach! I'm ready to play! ... and the bench is giving me splinters in an uncomfortable area...

squidhills wrote:

Sgt_Scruffy wrote:
A little preview for you guys. We've got to storm two more UFOs in the next 9 days.

Two more UFOs? Put me in, Coach! I'm ready to play! ... and the bench is giving me splinters in an uncomfortable area...

"It's a giant gak sandwich son, everyone's gonna take a bite."
--The Commander (probably)

Carlos drops his weapons off at the armoury before making a beeline for the squad bar. Saying nothing despite the protests from the staff he walks behind the bar and picks up a bottle of whiskey and a glass from the shelf before heading to his bunk.

 carlos13th wrote:
Carlos drops his weapons off at the armoury before making a beeline for the squad bar. Saying nothing despite the protests from the staff he walks behind the bar and picks up a bottle of whiskey and a glass from the shelf before heading to his bunk.

General Order #1
No Drinking
No Sex (Suspended)
No Porn (Suspended unless we go into a Muslim Country)


R&R Leave is now Non-Chargable. Only 10% of the unit can be on Leave. Mission Dictates though

*Somehow a mysteries poster appears on the Commander Bulletin Board

Question: Is it normal to be fighting Cyberdiscs in Long War before assaulting the Alien Base? Or has something gone awry?

 KamikazeCanuck wrote:
Question: Is it normal to be fighting Cyberdiscs in Long War before assaulting the Alien Base? Or has something gone awry?

The Enemy not going to play by our rules.
Do
Act
React

Insurgen....Aliens are not going to play by the rules or expectation.......

Why we trained to standards but once contact is made its a goat rope to get into the best positions

Always remember
He who laughs last wins

 KamikazeCanuck wrote:
Question: Is it normal to be fighting Cyberdiscs in Long War before assaulting the Alien Base? Or has something gone awry?

Well, large alien ships tend to be packed to the gills with terrifying stuff - so that's normal in long war. I've encountered cyberdiscs in July before in Long War so I assume it's normal. The Mechtoid was a first for me this early though. I'd say we're doing pretty good at this point. Third squad's capture of the terror ship catapulted us from "slightly behind" to "slightly ahead."

Sgt_Scruffy wrote:

 KamikazeCanuck wrote:
Question: Is it normal to be fighting Cyberdiscs in Long War before assaulting the Alien Base? Or has something gone awry?

Well, large alien ships tend to be packed to the gills with terrifying stuff - so that's normal in long war. I've encountered cyberdiscs in July before in Long War so I assume it's normal. The Mechtoid was a first for me this early though. I'd say we're doing pretty good at this point. Third squad's capture of the terror ship catapulted us from "slightly behind" to "slightly ahead."

Always something going to happen down the road to change the dynamic's on the battlefield. Do not be complacent!!!

 Jihadin wrote:

 carlos13th wrote:
Carlos drops his weapons off at the armoury before making a beeline for the squad bar. Saying nothing despite the protests from the staff he walks behind the bar and picks up a bottle of whiskey and a glass from the shelf before heading to his bunk.

General Order #1
No Drinking
No Sex (Suspended)
No Porn (Suspended unless we go into a Muslim Country)

Nice to see a list of things I can ignore.

Reply to chaosOxomega on sword styles in spoiler:We emptied the ship.
Took down every single one of them and bagged a live one.
I never thought I would see the last of them, kept feeling like I would run into another one when I turned a corner.
"Shipwreckers" I like the name.
Certainly says something about taking the battle to the enemy.
More training needed <sigh> I feel like I had not got any better after that, looking at our new mechanical friends I have to get better.
Hope all the new tech will find an oversized laser can-opener.
Time to see a companion into medical for a long stay, another into the ground and for our new "friend" to learn about hell on earth.

Cyberdisks that early? Sure, that's happened to me too. Mechtoids?! Well s** t.

Having just faced of some ten Mutons and a beserker Il take Cyberdisks any day of the week really. They at least dont go about howling like the hounds of hell

 Trondheim wrote:
Having just faced of some ten Mutons and a beserker Il take Cyberdisks any day of the week really. They at least dont go about howling like the hounds of hell

yeah, but you're further along aren't you?

Docta ran to the landing bay as the Skyranger landed, grabbing her emergency kit, she ran to help the medi-bay boys evacuate the wounded off the skyranger. One of the legionaires was lying still, and she shut his eyes, and left a gold coin in his pocket.

The others she fussed with, trying to make them as comfortable as possible. She knew they weren't second squad, but she knew that X-com was family.

Sgt_Scruffy wrote:

 Trondheim wrote:
Having just faced of some ten Mutons and a beserker Il take Cyberdisks any day of the week really. They at least dont go about howling like the hounds of hell

yeah, but you're further along aren't you?

No not really, I downloaded the last version of the mod. And lord almigthy......Its not really fun when ou pass month three

Watching the mission playback, then reading up on the AAR afterward, Eddie Azrael made copious notes - as 1st Squad Rocket Gunner these big mechs had jumped to the front of his target priority queue...maybe the techs could see about finding a way so he could carry more than one round....