XCOM 2 - War of the Chosen

[haphazard1]

Good work on getting through that mission with only one injury; mind control is always a potential disaster. Some very useful loot, too.

And I am doing some more covert secret super stuff.

[RefSteel]

So I guess the problem with having no idea what's going on at any time? I ... may have gotten slightly confused about whose side everybody was on. Like, I suddenly realized that Mox sure seems like a suspicious alienish kind of person, you know? And then I had this terrible urge to kill her, and I was like about to charge and reach for my sword, but I felt like something was wrong because the Commander was saying, "Don't do it, RefSteel" or something, so suddenly I remembered, "Oh, hey! I have a grenade!" So suddenly I wasn't reaching for my sword, I was reaching for the grenade, and I threw it, and this priest guy was cursing me right up until he got shot to death, and I was just nodding wisely the whole time, like, "Yup! Those flashbang grenades! They're super effective!"

I guess Mox doesn't like getting temporarily blinded and deafened though, judging from the nasty looks I've been getting. So like next time this happens I should go ahead and use the sword?

[Dreylin]

I guess Mox doesn't like getting temporarily blinded and deafened though, judging from the nasty looks I've been getting.  So like next time this happens I should go ahead and use the sword?

No need to worry, you went in with the sword on him the second turn.  Having been under Advent mind control himself though, he seems remarkably understanding. 

[Dreylin]

Long stretch here, so I'll clump into themes. I guess I'll starting with Research; basically following the Inspirations:




Elerium is the most important remaining tech, so that probably gets taken at the end of the chain.

We get the objective to build the Shadow Chamber, but that will have to wait:



Not enough Power to put in the Psi Chamber, so I have to jigger about with the Engineers until the Workshop completes:




I do need to set up the Power Relay over the Power Coil in the bottom right, but for that I'm going to use my next Covert Op:



Of course all my Lieutenants are out of action again so I can't keep chasing the bugger.

The map's pretty busy:


I complete the contact with New Brasil and then head off for the Engineer, but the End of the Month Supply Dump comes before that:


Oh, but before /that/, the Aliens make it clear they're not letting up:




I need to hit either that Facility or the Blacksite sooner rather than later, but I'd really like to get the Dark Tower event off the books before then. We'll see.

End of Month Montage:





Mostly self-explanatory; no point taking the instant contact card when I don't have any slots - next month though, I hope to be in position to do so. Rather concerned about the Assassin hunting the Avenger though ... might have to send a Covert Op to counter that if I can.

Oh, and before I get to the mission, the Proving Ground gives us Skullmining and an EXO suit:



I start on a new Heavy Weapon.

Council Mission:


I can get away with putting it off for the half-day it takes to finish the Supply Dump, then I build a Scanner and upgrade the Gremlins before heading out:


Kelly's back in action so she leads; Yuris & DP101 bring Bonded skills. AdrienIer brings the Skulljack, and Whosit joins the ranks as a new Grenadier to add some extra boom incase the Assassin shows up.

And writing this up now I've realised I forgot to equip anyone with the EXO suit!

[Dreylin]

All right, 12 turns to get across the map and evac everyone:


Kelly moves up to the corner of the truck and throws out a Scanner:


Nothing in sight so DP101 advances behind the tree on the left and ... oh dear, what is that?


Yuris advances into cover and passes his additional move off to DP101:



The grenade opens up a sight line for Whosit to get his first kill:


AdrienIer gives Aid to DP101 and we hold our breath:



I guess High Cover + Aid doesn't beat Grab.

Meanwhile the black-clad "thing" disolves into a cloud of particles and skitters up to Whosit:


Duplicates & disables him and then moves away again!?

Well I guess this means the "Difficult" rating doesn't necessarily mean the Chosen is coming in, which I guess will be a relief if the assumption holds.

I assume that as with Mind Control, if I kill the source, I can break the ... whatever is going on here:



Yuris comes through with the kill shot at medium odds on a high damage roll.   Ghost Whosit dissolves and the real Whosit does stand up!

I had AdrienIer ready to finish it off with Combat Protocol, but now she's free to release DP101:



The latter shot is the the "Combat Protocol underway" shot, which seems to have got stuck on the initiator either in WotC or the "Stop Wasting My Time" mod I'm using.

Once freed, DP101 wastes no time dealing with the snake:


With that pod down, we reload and the stragglers move up towards the evac point and overwatch:



IBT another pod patrol into view:



DP101 lands the Overwatch on the Officer and then follows up with the Acid grenade on the Trooper & Shieldbearer:


Kelly advances to flank the Shieldbearer:


Well that's not ideal; let's see if Yuris can do better on the Officer:


Nice.

Whosit deploys the Mimic and AdrienIer advances to try and get into Skulljack range for next turn.


Not quite close enough, unfortunately, so DP101 & Kelly take the kill shots:



Adrien advances to get the Objective in sight:



OK, one more pod to get through; Codex & 2 Vipers. Yuris opens up with a shot on the Viper who has popped out of the building into low cover:


It's a miss, but the Stock does tick a damage.

Adrien jumps on top of the building to get out of the way, but the VIP can't reach safety so Hunkers in the underpass.


Kelly heads in to take out the injured Viper:


DP101 puts the smoke grenade onto Kelly, but that does just as good a job as the Aid Protocol did earlier for him 


Codex teleports and lays down the Rift, but only catches the VIP & DP101.

Let's start by getting Kelly out of there:


Another nice shot by Yuris!

Adrien heads in to finish it off:


Whosit sends the Flashbang at the Codex to stop duplication and the freed Kelly Runs & Guns to take a Flank:



Scores the crit, but still 2HP remaining and it runs away into the underpass. Next turn Whosit finds and deals with it:



The VIP evacs and the rest of the squad move toward the evac zone. Adrien takes a slight detour to hit up a Security tower for some extra Intel:


She makes the 90% and the Mission's over:




No Promotions!?

Not even with the +20% XP card in!?

Not even Squaddie Whosit with 2kills on his first mission!?

Oh I'm never going to get a Major to go after the Chosen, am I.

[haphazard1]

Nice work on the mission. Only light injuries, and you got a scientist plus intel and an elerium core. Not sure what was up with the lack of promotions.

I got to do covert secret stuff, and got better at hacking.

[yuris125]

Looks like I'm killing it lately! And I couldn't even look in this thread for a week! I should be ashamed!

Nice going so far

From what I've seen promotions do feel slower in War of the Chosen. Once you get some captains, it could be worth looking for promotion rewards in covert ops to get them to major

[Dreylin]

From what I've seen promotions do feel slower in War of the Chosen. Once you get some captains, it could be worth looking for promotion rewards in covert ops to get them to major

It does feel slower which might be a good thing except for the added Fatigue mechanic that means you have to spread XP across more troopers as well. It would probably help if I didn't keep landing all my higher level units in the Med bay for extended periods though. 

Probably should be thinking about adding the Infirmary, but then I also need to get the Shadow Chamber up sooner rather than later and I need more Comms.  

I don't think I've seen a Covert Op that gives a Promotion; that would be very useful. Of course just getting a Captain would open up the full squad size, which will make a real difference on missions.

Next mission is likely to be hitting a Facility, either the Blacksite or the one in New Brasil. I'm leaning towards New Brasil since it currently has 3 pips stored and it would offset the New Facility timer as well; the Blacksite would get 2 Pips, but the vial can't advance the plot until the Shadow Chamber is built anyway.

Also, if one of the Chosen makes an appearance there might be less risk in an encounter with the Warlock since his research is less advanced than the Assassin (taking the baseline assumption that I can't rely on driving either of them off). I'd like to have Plasma Grenades before I meet her again as I think that would do a lot to contain a random encounter.

Another factor pushing in that direction may be soldier availability; Storm is definitely available (so you'll be on the next mission, hap!) and would counter the Warlock, but I think Dragunova is Tired and unavailable for the timeframe. I know Mardoc is due out of the Infirmary soon and would be able to lead and push for a Captaincy, but I'm not sure on his mental state. I might have to invest in a Mindshield.

[haphazard1]

A mission coming up for me and my awesome hat! Maybe even a big important mission! Should be fun, especially if I get to try out my improved hacking skills.

[Dreylin]

Alrighty, let's take a look at the roster:


Well it seems things aren't looking as bad as I'd thought on the personnel side, Mox & Mardoc are nearly healthy again and a look inside shows most are at or near max Will. (I really wish there was a Will indicator on this page! )

The Dark Tower Event looks to have already expired and there's a week left on the Facility construction, but the Retaliation is due too so I can't afford to send everyone.



So I'll plan to finish the 3t remaining on the Engineer POI and then head for the New Brasil facility.

So in the meantime the Data Cache completes and suddenly we're flush with Intel:



Muton Autopsy dialed up.

Then the Covert Op completes and it's time to install a new Power Relay:





A bunch of options for Covert Ops - I'll Spoiler them for those interested - but we're sending a squad after the Warlock:


Mardoc will head it up while Kelly is in the Infirmary (again) and Dreylin & Ref join him for XP & to work on their Bond.

Just about set and ...



Oh. Well I didn't know they could do /that/. Not sure it changes my plans, just my nerves.

The Engineer comes in and I slot him into the Resistance Ring:



I'm hoping that speeding up the Covert Op will get me a Counter Chosen Activity mission in time to stop the Avenger sabotage...

OK let's take another look at the roster:


With a Ruler onsite, I'm going to take a better team than I might have done otherwise. As promised, haphazard & Storm will go for Medic & Melee and I'll lead with Dragunova & Fenn for sneak and Kaboom. The last slot has to be for a Sharpshooter with the Dragon Rounds, and that has to be Yuris.

Time to spend dip into the communal AP and get geared up:




Yuris gets the free pistol shot and haphazard picks up Combat Protocol for guaranteed damage. Fenn remembers to bring the EXO Suit.


Fingers crossed....

[I've played the mission, but won't have time for the write-up until tomorrow. Sorry. ]