XCOM 2 - Till The Last Man Standing

[Jowy]

Mission 6: Operation War Valley

We rolled out with all four classes represented. I gave the flash bang to Mardoc because our sniper shouldn't ever be in frag grenade range. Flash bangs can be thrown further than frags.



We found our first pod immediately. I set us up for an engage next turn. I'd have the sniper on the left and others would climb up and attack with an elevation bonus.



They walked away from us, AND bumped into another pod.

Okay, we don't have a turn timer, let's just wait for them to separate. 

So we waited. And waited. And waited. Until one turn..



They found us. 



At least we were all in overwatch. David and Jabbz killed one of them. Dp didn't shoot because she has the Phantom perk.



Mardoc missed her reaction shot. Oh, btw, the other pod aggro'd too. After all that waiting we still had to fight both of them at once.



I started off by moving Dp behind the tree where she could flank and hopefully crit the enemy. Except I didn't get a turn with her.
The Phantom perk meant that she was still concealed, and when she moved there, she got spotted and didn't get a second turn like she otherwise would have. 
Jabbz and David then killed the enemy. But now I had wasted 3 attacks on an enemy that should have been killed with 1.



Mardoc flash banged the other pod. We also have good cover, so we aren't in any huge danger this turn. Would have been nice to have killed more of them though.
One of them targeted Dp and missed of course. One overwatched, and the snake climbed on top of the hill. Did I mention they have SNAKES now!! Who are actually Thin Men.



This is the situation now. I screwed up the pathing with David when I climbed on the hill with him (should have taken the other vines) so the overwatched soldier took a shot at him, which thankfully missed.



David took a close range shot at the snake. He hit it, but didn't crit and rolled low on the damage.



Next it was Jabbz' turn to try. The snake DODGED THE SHOT. It did graze it for 2 damage.



Mardoc you're up. Third time's the charm.




God dammit. We've now wasted 3 attacks on it and we couldn't kill it.

Dp could not reach the snake. A frag grenade would do the trick, but I would have to blow up a teammate with it. Instead Dp took a shot at the stun lancer and missed.



The snake trapped Jabbz. Could have been worse, it could have just shot her dead.



RIP Dp. That one's on me, I should have stayed back with her. Unless the stun lancer could have reached the other units too, in which case I was fucked either way. Maybe an overwatch would have scared it off?

Okay let's kill the snake and free Jabbz. Mardoc takes another pistol shot. SHE MISSES.



David is OUT OF AMMO. He can't kill the snake. I chose to frag the trooper or it would flank us and kill someone next turn. Rolled high on the damage and it died.



The snake did another 2 damage to Jabbz, who was now down to 1 health point.
The stun lancer attacked David and disoriented him.



Guess what happened next?





We killed it. Finally.



The freed Jabbz took a shot at the stun lancer and landed the crit. Oh, but it rolled lowest possible damage, so it lived with 1 HP.



David took a shot and he missed. It was a 69% shot even through disorientation.



The stun lancer knocked Mardoc unconscious. 

David then killed it with a 88% shot. Whew.

We survived the encounter. Well, some of us survived the encounter.



I called in evac and tried to get Mardoc out of there. But I couldn't evac her alone.

I almost did the smart thing and evacuated the mission. Then I got greedy.



I went to hunt down what I thought would be the last group. David and Jabbz found the aliens.



Like so often happens, the enemies were just 1 tile off from being hit by the same grenade. Anyway my plan was to hit the Sectoid and destroy his cover so Jabbz can kill him.



Jabbz took the shot and landed it! That's the biggest threat gone.



Then the last two enemies killed David and Jabbz. 
I thought we were doing fine. Huge misjudgment. My spatial awareness seems to be non-existent.

We failed the mission. Dp, Mardoc, Jabbz and David are all dead. EDIT: Well, Mardoc was captured by aliens. Not sure if that's any better.
Our roster is down to 3 soldiers. RefSteel (grenadier), Pindicator (Ranger), and a rookie.
Live and learn. Or, in this case, just the last part.

[Jowy]

What this game needs is a Fire Emblem style grid where you can check how far enemies can move.

[Mardoc]

Dang! Thought I might last more than a single mission, and hit at least a majority of my shots.

So...what have you learned to apply to the next run?

[picklepikkl]

Getting captured is somewhat better than getting killed, because occasionally the Council will give you missions to rescue a VIP. That's generally staff (engineer or scientist), but if you have any captured soldiers, sometimes you'll be given the opportunity to rescue them instead.

[Jowy]

Dang!   Thought I might last more than a single mission, and hit at least a majority of my shots.

So...what have you learned to apply to the next run?

Evac when you're down to two. Getting out with 3 soldiers alive would have been highly preferable.
Attack a pod as soon as you get a chance. Getting a good engagement is better than waiting for a perfect one and ending up with a bad one.
Pay more attention to actual distance by tiles. Stay further back even if your shots aren't super accurate, it's better than being bum rushed once it's enemy turn.
EDIT: Oh yeah, and never pick Phantom. Okay, maybe pick Phantom if you know what you're doing with it.

Getting captured is somewhat better than getting killed, because occasionally the Council will give you missions to rescue a VIP. That's generally staff (engineer or scientist), but if you have any captured soldiers, sometimes you'll be given the opportunity to rescue them instead.

This would be amazing. He wasn't an amazing unit (no offense Mardoc :P) but for "story" reasons it would be a great mission.

[Mardoc]

This would be amazing. He wasn't an amazing unit (no offense Mardoc :P) but for "story" reasons it would be a great mission.

None taken. I think I'd have to live more than a week under XCOM orders before becoming amazing.

[Jowy]

Base Management: Clearing Debris

We got 40 supplies from clearing the debris, then started building a Guerrilla Tactics School (sorry for calling it Officer Training School, the name has changed).
There we can unlock bonuses to our soldiers, like increasing the squad size. Those bonuses will have their own cost.

We unlocked an Alien Facility mission all the way in Africa. We have to destroy it to slow down the Avatar Project. Wouldn't count on us ever making it to Africa 

Two more rooms were cleared from debris. Then we got a mission:



Aww, it's a VIP rescue mission but not for Mardoc.



I built a Nanoscale Vest for RefSteel. Also I built our third flash bang and gave it to one of the rookies. Let's see if the flash bang curse strikes again.

[Jowy]

Mission 7: Operation Little Sword

We head out with Pindicator, RefSteel and two rookies. I recruited two new rookies before the mission.



We were dropped off on the streets in the middle of two large buildings. We have the VIP, now we just need to get out of here.



I wanted to take the roof. From there we can see almost to the extraction point and we'll have an advantage against any enemies we might spot.



The first move onto the roof is a scary one. Nobody there this time.



We heard an enemy pod moving. We also saw another one who moved on top of the extraction point.



After a careful turn we heard enemies again. They came into sight on their patrol move.



We missed 2 overwatch shots and landed 1 on the viper.
Pindicator threw a nade at it for a guaranteed kill and a promotion.



One rookie missed but blew up the enemy cover. This gave the other rookie a clear shot and a kill.



I moved up slowly, reloading our guns and overwatching.



We made contact through the building when we took cover next to a window.



RefSteel launched a grenade inside. It rolled low on one enemy, and we lost vision of the other even though we took down the wall. About as bad as it could have gone.



Pindicator landed a low% shot for the kill. Oh yeah, the guy still had cover from the sofa on his side. Probably should have blown that up instead of the wall.



The officer marked RefSteel and overwatched. The trooper who I thought might have died when the wall came down was very much alive and shot at RefSteel.



I was very worried that the flash bang wouldn't connect even though the game told us that it would. Well it did and we broke his overwatch. Now we can move RefSteel away from the window so he won't die.



A rookie threw a grenade at the trooper. We rolled low again, but at least took down ALL of the cover this time.



Pindicator missed this shot   Now the enemy can flee and/or fire at us.



We got lucky and he overwatched. Pindicator didn't miss a second time. That first miss though.. Let's just say that it's going to have grave consequences.



The officer retreated out of sight, but I saw where he went. Through this window I could get two flanked shots at him.



The rookie shot first and landed a crit, but it only dealt 5 damage. RefSteel landed a crit of his own for the kill.



A new pod activated inside the building. A viper and two stun lancers. We don't have time to deal with them, we have to run for it and hope for the best.



I set up Pindicator and the two rookies on the rooftop with overwatches active. RefSteel and the VIP are in a safer place. There's a pipe in the corner that they can climb up to the evac zone.



Oh no. The vipers can poison you. I did not know this. Maybe I should have suspected it, they are Thin Men after all.

Wanna know a fun fact about poison? It slows you down.



We had three overwatches against this Stun Lancer who bum rushed us. We missed 2/3.

He melee attacked the rookie but he missed. Maybe there is some justice in this world?



We evacuated the VIP, RefSteel and the rookie.



Sorry guys. Because of the poison gas, Pindicator and the rookie couldn't reach the evac zone. 



They took down one last alien on their way out. 



We were so close to a perfect mission! Damn you snek.

Both survivors were promoted. RefSteel was given the Blast Padding perk (extra armor and blast resistance). The rookie became a Specialist.



We at least got the rewards for our troubles. We gained more than we lost. Though it always stings to lose named characters.
Now we have enough Intel to buy the armor tech from the Black Market. Should I do it or is it better spent elsewhere?

[BRickAstley]

When the grenade is just right.

[WarriorKnight]

EDIT: Oh yeah, and never pick Phantom. Okay, maybe pick Phantom if you know what you're doing with it.

Phantom is amazing for scouting pods without triggering them. You do need to break concealment if you want it to participate in firefights, but if you can kill a pod without that soldier it helps with recon a lot. (plus the alternative, +2 sword damage, get worse as the game goes on)

The first move onto the roof is a scary one. Nobody there this time.

The ADVENT trooper autospy lets you build battle scanners. These are a throwable item that let's you scan the area safely. If you had one in this case you could throw it on the roof first to scout if there are any units up there without risking unit lives. I think they might prove useful in your case.

Also rushing research at the black market doesn't give you the full tech, it only halves the cost. For plated armor though, it is still probably worth it.