XCOM 2 SG - It Continues?

[Dreylin]

Because we are running the special weapons, the ROI is low for each of the upgrades as they will generally affect only one unit each until we expand the squad size. Pistol & Blade are probably irrelevant at this stage, Shotgun & Railgun are only one unit, the only one that I see could be immediately worthwhile is the Rifle - if we also replace Lewwyn's Shotgun for a while.

I'd say that priority has to be getting the Power going so that we can get more contacts setup further down the line. Then I'd suggest making the decision on Supplies when the next Mission comes in: if it's Easy or Moderate, go with SS2 to get more warm bodies out there; if it's Difficult, we probably need the added quality firepower over quantity.

Note that we will have the option to upgrade the Hunter weapons as well, but I believe not until after releasing the Rulers by running the DLC mission.

[haphazard1]

Nice work on the supply raid.

No worries on naming. There will be plenty of chances to die contribute.

[Lewwyn]

I think we can definitely go with the mag rifles before any of the other guns. Also agree SS2 before weapons if Moderate or below mission.

Who is up? I am busy and can't play until Saturday.

[Dp101]

I will be able to play tomorrow, but right now will not work.

[WarriorKnight]

I can play in ~24h.

[WarriorKnight]

Got some free time now (finally...) so I'm claiming the save.

Will play and report this afternoon/evening.

[WarriorKnight]

Base Management:

Promotions were applied as I suggested earlier. Engineer in AWC reassigned to the power coil. Held onto our supplies for now until we know the mission.



5 days is a lot for the black market, but since it's essential let's get it over with.

While waiting for the black market, we finish a training a specialist. We have 1 rookie left to train so I assign him to be a ranger, although tbh I forgot to do it until just before the mission started.    Shouldn't be an issue though.

Next up the power coil finished so we start a power relay. The other 2 Engineers went to clear out another room:



I would suggest we build a workshop in the room highlighted above instead of in the center. That way we can assign gremlins to our power relay should we need it. We could also build resistance comms and proving ground nearby too, both of those could benefit from a permanent GREMLIN. I think it's slightly more worthwhile since the GTS can't use a engineer anyway, and we have more rooms cleared out on the left side as well.

Up next we get Resistance Radio tech. Started the Officer autopsy for the proving ground.

Black Market completes. I sell a few things, although aside from very interested items I leaned towards holding onto stuff for now.



The supply drop comes in. Wasn't able to start scanning before the mission popped up, although I'm getting ahead of myself.



New dark events:



None of the new events scare me. The armor event should be our target on the Guerrilla op (everything else being equal).

Also avatar project goes up by +1 and a facility is completed (2 separate events, so we're at 5/12 now).



Chile is pretty much on the other side of the world, we need to go through Indonesia and Australia first. Unless we get a facility lead it's going to be some time before we get there.

Finally the mission appears:



We have a easy difficulty mission so SS2 it is. Still had some supplies left over from selling at the black market so I looked around for what else we could do before the mission. I noticed we don't have Lightning Strike yet, extra mobility is very valuable on VIP missions with a forced evac zone. Eventually went with that instead of the mag weapons since the mission, supply drop and whatever we sell at black market will probably be enough supplies for whatever we want.



We've got everyone together at once. Time to kick some alien butt.  

Mission to be played/reported on later today.

[WarriorKnight]

VIP Assassination:

With 6 guys on easy difficulty, I'm not anticipating any issues. The only thing I can spot which might be difficult is a hard to reach VIP:



Anyway, we start out downtown.



The 1st pod is spotted on the 1st turn to the NW:



Not going to engage them this turn.

Between turns they move out of sight to the NE, gotta go find them again. I find them with a 2nd pod:



Darn, don't want to engage 2 at once. I'll get in position for now and see where they move between turns.

Thankfully the 2nd pod moves out of sight. The 1st pod moves straight towards us.



Yep, going to have to break concealment this turn. Jowy gives threat assessment to Jkaen and then I put Jowy, WK and Dreylin on overwatch. Lewwyn remains hidden while Dp101 tosses a grenade.



Jowy kills the Sectoid, WK damages the MEC.



Jkaen misses and Dreylin finishes the MEC. 1 pod down.



Jkaen gets put on overwatch, Lewwyn tries to find the 2nd pod but doesn't get anywhere. That turns out to be unnecessary after they walk straight back towards us and get triggered. Jkaen almost kills the officer with his overwatch shot:



Jowy kills the officer with a combat protocol. I waste a lightning hands with Dp101 before realizing I should blow up cover first. Then Dp101 finishes the job:



The lancer drops some loot which Lewwyn quickly recovers:



2 pods down, there should be 1 to go along with some reinforcements.

Got to figure out how to get to the VIP. It's in the building right next to us, but on the floor above us. Trying to find the stairs is a not a good solution, it only wastes time we don't have. The easiest place to start is on the roof but who knows what's up there. I cautiously send Lewwyn up there to scout and good thing too:



Ugh, worst positioning ever. At least I didn't trigger the lancer/viper. I don't think it's moved since the beginning so I place the squad in a Leeroy formation (don't try this at home):



CHARGE!



Lewwyn and Jkaen take 100% sword swings, neither gets a kill but both are down to 1 health. The lancer dies to a combat protocol, the viper dies to a ingenious solution to the VIP inaccessibility problem:



And suddenly the rest of the mission is child's play. With over 6 turns left and no more pods we had plenty of time to find the VIP, punch him out and carry him off to extraction without incident. The only potential issue was reinforcements:



However the aliens need to learn that running into a full squad on overwatch is not a winning strategy. Even though I miss 2 shots I kill 2 guys leaving only a single enemy left. WK blows up a car for fun:



And the last enemy dies without incident, and everyone evacs safely.





Very easy mission, even without magnetic weapons. 6 guys this early is OP, plus I think the DLC stuff is pretty OP too.

After that we are rolling in supplies and intel (and still have a supply drop to collect). Todo for next turnset:

1. Supply drop
2. Start Resistance Comms/Proving Ground
3. Mag weaponry?
4. Anything else? (GTS tactics perhaps?) - may need to sell some stuff

Promotions - Dreylin should get Lightning hands and Jkaen probably Shadowstep. Lewwyn though.... Conceal? Run and Gun is awesome but since Lewwyn has Phantom and we do want 1 guy with Conceal it should probably go on Lewwyn. Not going to complain if we get Run & Gun though.

[Jowy]

Yeah the DLC stuff is way overpowered and trivializes early game combat. I'm glad I banned them in my solo campaign. Legendary with DLC has been easier than my Commander campaign

[WarriorKnight]

If we get some mag weapons should we go for blacksite? Everyone's at full health and mag weapons + SS2 should be plenty to take it on. I'll leave it up to the next player (and if they want to report on a significantly longer mission than normal).