Fenn Vs X-COM

[RefSteel]

Dear Diary,

We saved a whole city from the aliens today! It was great! The one survivor was so grateful too! At least, I assume that was gratitude. My Spanish isn't so good. "Por favor no me mates tambien" is like "Thanks for the favor, guys, you're so good," right? And "Por que destruiste mi casa"? That's totally "Won't you please accept my eternal thanks," or something. Pretty sure.

I learned some really useful lessons too! I made a list:

1) When a squadmate takes multiple fatal wounds and I patch 'em up with a field kit, I should probably give them some pointers along with the meds. Like, "Even though you're sort of stabilized, this maybe isn't the best time to go running through choking smoke with a primed grenade."

2) When I run out and spot an alien, pointing and screaming in abject terror is a great way to bring my squadmates' attention to the threat! As if in abject terror. Screaming as if in abject terror, I mean.

3) From total suprise at point-blank range, even I can kill a Floater!

Yours as always,
RefSteel, XCom Rookie
(Yeah, they still call me Rookie.)
(On the other hand: I'm still alive.)
(Plus I didn't have any family in Lima, so believe me, I'm not complaining!)

[Lewwyn]

That's right Lady, you better run next time! I see you sittin' next to dem aliens. CAHOOTS I tell ye! Good riddance.

[AdrienIer]

So I get hit by our tank before dying when my own grenade explodes. My life is such a train wreck.

[Fenn]

Look on the bright side - life is cheap. X-COM is already spinning up the cloning vats to replace you.

[haphazard1]

Loving the screenshots, Fenn! In true traditional XCOM fashion, causing far more damage than the aliens to the local area.

Too bad my new incarnation has a desk jockey strength stat. Maybe he can do some good with a pistol later? Still, staying at base means staying alive, so there is a bright side.

[Fenn]

You know, I haven't really pointed it out but this explosives-heavy style does tend to leave the battlefield a smoking crater by the time we're done with it. It's a good thing the council of funding nations don't care about egregious property damage or I'd have to rethink my tactics completely.

Part 7 - UFO Recovery

Losing Bobchillingworth was a blow, but life must go on. Soon after the squad returned, an important research finished:

Alien Alloys is the foundation to all sorts of interesting tech. The most immediate of these is Personal Armor, with which our agents can take a hit and possibly not die.


Twenty scientists get on that right away. Our laboratory is at full capacity now, so construction begins on a second. I should have done this earlier since building a lab takes almost a month, but we'll manage.
In other news, Adrien's and Bob's clones are ready for action:

Adrien III has very good stats all around, but his strength needs some work. He'll make a fine scout or sniper.


About the best thing I can say about Bob III is that he's not weak or slow. He can't shoot or throw for beans, and 30 reactions means any old alien will get the jump on him.

He does have good TUs and Stamina at least. Very handy for running around and drawing fire, or carting around spare rockets.


The council of funding nations is quite impressed with our recent record, like getting below a 90% casualty rate.


Just a few hours later, Laser Rifle technology is perfected. Like the Laser Pistol it does twice as much damage as its normal counterpart, but this gun is much quicker to fire and marginally more accurate than the Rifle, too. This will be the mainstay of our forces for quite some time to come. That finished, the scientists turn to the Sectoid Navigator, hoping to pry some secrets out of his mind.

A few days into March, Canada Base's technicians report a UFO landing in central Iceland. X-COM is at a loss to explain the alien's apparent interest in the small island nation, but clearly they were up to no good. The RB-Team settles in for another long transatlantic flight.


Here we are again. A flare and smoke grenade go out, but nothing can be seen; X-COM passes the first turn to let the grenade do its work.


Turn 2: Dp101 and the tank poke around, but there's nobody to be seen.


Encouraged, the rest of the squad piles out and begins lighting up the area. Still no aliens to be seen, they must all be to the east. There's zero cover in this flat terrain and aliens can see perfectly well in the dark, so if we want to avoid them seeing us first smoke grenades are a must.


Turn 3: During the alien phase a plasma bolt slams into the tank's front. Now where did that come from?


Hiding above a pond, are we?


El Grillo is on point once again, but the Floater weathers the bullet.


He doesn't stand up half as well to Quagma Blast's rocket, however.


Turn 4: Under cover of smoke, our tank almost runs into this Floater before noticing it.


He's not as resilient as his buddy was; El Grillo claims another kill.


Squaddie RefSteel is rather exposed to this Floater...


But with Quagma Blast on the job, he has nothing to fear. Well, except the possibility of getting hit in the back by a rocket. But of course that would never happen.


While rounding the corner, another shot comes in from over the lake. A flare from DaveV reveals the shooter, and AdrienIer, Dp101, and haphazard all have a go at him.


In the end it's Molach who claims the kill, with two laser shots to the chest.


Meanwhile Dreylin finds this Floater standing over the dead body of his comrade. Nothing some buckshot can't sort out.


The squad cautiously approaches the UFO. DaveV's motion scanner indicates two Floaters still in the craft, but the entrances at least are clear and so everyone moves for the doors.


Shotgunners RefSteel and Dreylin advance up the corridor while everyone else crowds around behind them. Soon enough a Floater wanders into the breakroom to stare at one of the screens.


Dreylin takes advantage of his carelessness. Remember kids, too much TV will rot your brain.


A couple turns later, the last Floater charges out of the center room, fires at Dp101 at point-blank range, and misses completely. Wrong move.


Adrien jabs him with a Stun Rod, and that's all she wrote.

After the mission, DaveV makes Colonel for his efforts....doing...something.    He operated that Motion Scanner like a champ, I will admit.


The team has scarecely made it back to base when another UFO is detected over Eastern Europe.


But I'll wait to act on that until morning arrives and some Laser Rifles have been made.

[RefSteel]

I think I'll start calling myself, "Squaddie RefSteel: Expert Spotter!"

The commander said he could hear me from clear across the North Atlantic, screaming that a floater was going to kill me!

[Molach]

I think biggest change in this version compared to the reboot is that "everyone has squadsight". Line up soldiers on one map-edge, civil-war style, and let scouts find the aliens. If scouts fire the aliens get reaction, but the guys in the back can freely shoot.

I remember that I hardly ever used smoke on my missions, preferring overwhelming firepower, but I do remember some near-squad-wipes when exiting the craft, so I think I shouldhave used smoke to cover my exit and set up the firing squad line.

And Molach scores a kill! Looking good.

[Fenn]

I've sometimes indulged in that firing line tactic, but after some unpleasant experiences with Chryssalids and Blaster Bombs I tend to shy away from that.

Part 8 - Medium UFO Recovery

The Skyranger heads for the UFO after a full day of waiting for a Laser Rifle to be made, but I delayed too long - the UFO is either scuttled by its occupants or reclaimed by local forces.


Instead, $2million is spent setting up a new radar/interception outpost in China. Like Canada, this place will eventually add living quarters and a garrison in case of alien attack.


Not too long after, technicians report a new, larger type of UFO on radar.


It flies over the Atlantic for a little while before making a U-turn towards Budapest. Not knowing how dangerous this craft is, both Interceptors are sent after it at the same time.


They catch up with it over the Balkans, and pummel it from both sides. The UFO badly damages Interceptor 1 before it goes down, but it's no match for the combined firepower of both planes.


Mission accomplished, the Interceptors return home while the RB team, now carrying fancy Laser Rifles, prepares to set off.


Naturally, the Skyranger sets down next to a smoking hole in the UFO hull. Quagma Blast throws a smoke and the rest of the team waits.


Turn 2: The tank peeks into the exposed interior. Nobody, but there's the real entrance just to the side.


DaveV consults his Motion Scanner. Looks like there's one to the northwest of the tank, near the UFO door, but nobody else nearby (the other blobs are X-COM agents). The squad hangs back, waiting for the aliens to make the first move.


Sure enough, a Floater is seen exiting the UFO from the south, followed by at least two more.


Turn 3: By the blast hole, the tank has taken fire from inside the ship. Lots of aliens to deal with!


Quagma Blast aims at the ground near the further Floater, hoping to catch them all in the explosion.


He's right on target - all three Floaters are blown up in one fell swoop.


Bobchillingworth III sees not one but two Floaters in the open corridor. He tries for an auto-shot against the nearest Floater with his shiny new Laser Rifle.


The Floater somehow lives through two shots and fires back, tragically burning a hole through Molach's chest. Farewell Molach.


The tank puts an end to both of them with a rocket, which really is what I should have tried first.


Trying to edge around the outside of the UFO, a shot from the northeast flies wide of RefSteel.




Haphazard spots the shooter near a barn; he, AdrienIer and El Grillo take turns missing wildly, firing six shots between them and managing only to put holes in the wall.


Lewwyn shows them how it's done. He even manages to destroy more of the barn than they could!


Turn 4: RefSteel's come under fire again from the north. Along with those two jokers is a third behind the west side of the UFO. RefSteel tries to throw a grenade, but it lands short of the stone wall. Time for some help.


Haphazard snipes one, and Lewwyn's rocket proves a handy way to deal with the other hiding behind the hedge.


DaveV detects one Floater a ways to the north-northeast; that must be the one RefSteel saw earlier.


The tank once again fails to notice a Floater before they're close enough to touch. El Grillo (armed with a Laser Rifle for the occasion) manages to take it down.


RefSteel takes a plasma bolt in the back. Looks like the north isn't clear yet!


Turn 5: El Grillo gets sight on the killer; neither he nor Lewwyn can connect any shots, but Adrien drops the Floater with a single laser burst to the chest.


That threat resolved, Dreylin and the tank begin exploring the ship.


Turn 7: Nothing happens on the alien turns, so everyone enters the UFO except DaveV, who starts sweeping the outside just in case.


Heading on up. Looks like there's just one path around



El Grillo follows closely behind Lewwyn; the scanner definitely shows someone in the central chamber.


Several turns pass as the squad approaches, but the Floater inside remains in his room. This sounds like a job for Adrien and his Stun Rod.


Bob opens the door, and it turns out the Floater inside is facing our way. Maybe he's out of TUs?


Nope. Adrien doesn't even make it through the doorway before being shot. At least he didn't die, so Bob should be able to pick up the Stun Rod and finish this, right?


Oh, that's too bad. Bob's cripplingly low Reactions stat came back to bite him, as the Floater guns him down on the same spot as Adrien's unconscious self.


Fortunately, El Grillo at least knows how to shoot straight, and brings this little mishap to a close.


Or...not. Where could those other aliens be?


First things first, we need to save Adrien before he joins Bobchillingworth in death. Luckily one of them had a Medikit, and El Grillo is able to bring Adrien around.


DaveV consults the Motion Scanner and finds this laggard sitting around outside. Where have you been all this time?


After waiting behind a corner for a turn, the last Floater is right where DaveV wants him - one burst of pistol fire does for him.


All in all, a very successful mission except for the untimely demises.


AdrienIer will be in the medbay for a month, but surviving that shot was worth a promotion!


Meanwhile Bobchillingworth becomes the first RB agent to reach three deaths. Better luck next time.


After the Skyranger makes it back to base, another Medium UFO is detected and brough down in Europe. I'm quite sure it's the same layout of UFO with Floaters again, and I'd rather not report on the same mission twice in a row, so it can lie there and rot.

[haphazard1]

The good work (and fun reporting) continues! Thanks, Fenn!

My avatar actually managed to shoot an alien! Maybe he isn't useless after all, despite the low strength.

Yes, any time XCOM is called out is a bad, bad day for property insurance companies. In some of your earlier reports, I was tempted to mention you had missed a tile here and there.

On tactics, I like to use two lines of agents, alternating movement. So one line is always available with all its TUs for shooting/throwing grenades, while the other advances and reveals new territory. Works fairly well in the open, but often does not concentrate enough firepower for entering the UFO or buildings. So sometimes you have to pause for a turn while you move up additional agents. For smoke grenades, I have learned to love them for getting the squad out of the Skyranger alive but I rarely use them otherwise. I have had a few too many agents succumb to smoke inhalation to want to blanket the entire battlefield, although later armor developments can eliminate that problem.