XCOM: Enemy Unknown aka the one where Haphazard dies repeatedly

[Brackard]

Outside of Uber's warning of caution, my first thoguht that things were going bad was when I was looking at equipment loadout. I get the arc thrower.

Yeah. Up close and personal. At least it was quick.

And I wasn't zombiefied. That was never fun, being killed twice.

[Ug the Barbarian]

Ug somehow didn't manage to hit a single shot the entire mission

I obviously wasn't feeling good that day - maybe the canteen food...?

What priority should we put on plasma weapons? Experiemental Warfare and the Foundry will give us some useful options, but it is more construction cost + power and then project costs. Maybe leave that until next month and see if we can complete coverage of Asia for the Future Warfare bonus?

I can probably play tonight, if we can decide on our research choices and planning. With mutons appearing we are probably due to see cyberdisks as well....

I think Foundry will have to wait - probably until we can lock down the Future Combat bonus. Next Month after Satellite related builds ? I agree Cyberdisks are due now - so need to take a Heavy with HEAT on each mission (which means Uberfish I guess)

We could actually finish SA for the bonus with one of our satellites and research/autopsy everything we capture then for free - so maybe going Muton - LPR now makes sense.

Given the panic situation we might also need to look at doing the alien base this month if we want to save all countries.

The South America bonus is pretty weak but you're right in that it could work pretty well for us in this case. If we go that route, its probably worth saving the Muton autopsy research until we've got it.

We should be fine for Alien base if we go with most experienced squad - Mutons, Cyberdisks, Floaters and Thinmen would probably be the opposition.

[Ug the Barbarian]

You'll also want to name the new sniper - I think Kagami and Catwalk were the next two volunteers up.

Also might be worth researching Precision lasers now we have two experienced snipers if we can fit it in

Uberfish (just played)
Haphazard (UP)
Dazedroyalty (on deck)
Ug
Xenin (out due to DLC incompatability)
Sareln

[uberfish]

I think cyberdisks are next month. We should probably level up our other heavy at some point. We definitely want precision laser at some point because plasma snipers are a long way up the tree. Main question is whether to wait for a Sectoid to be captured first.

[haphazard1]

If we want to have the option of hitting the alien base this month, then capture of an Outsider becomes a major priority. Any UFO mission, we must do whatever it takes to get the Outsider alive.

I also like the idea of delaying Experiemental Warfare and the Foundry for another month -- I don't think we will have the resources this month to build it and pay for projects anyway. So we can shift research, and Precision Lasers is a good option to get the scatter laser and laser sniper.

Grabbing the SA bonus could be quite useful now, as we have 2 interrogations and 5 autopsies waiting to be done. Individually the savings are modest, but getting all seven of those instantly would be a pretty nice boost.

Personnel...I like heavies, so I will probably add the squaddie heavy and try to get some XP for a promotion. Having two HEAT heavies once we start seeing cyberdisks would be very nice. Any thoughts on the promotions for the new sniper? I like the Gunslinger path, but others have other ideas as Ug has already shown. What does the team think?

We just had an abducion mission and a missed UFO, so probably I will get a council mission or a terror site. Hopefully it will be somewhere with high panic and we can get a reduction, maybe even a continent-wide reduction.

[Sareln]

If we want to have the option of hitting the alien base this month, then capture of an Outsider becomes a major priority. Any UFO mission, we must do whatever it takes to get the Outsider alive.

I also like the idea of delaying Experiemental Warfare and the Foundry for another month -- I don't think we will have the resources this month to build it and pay for projects anyway. So we can shift research, and Precision Lasers is a good option to get the scatter laser and laser sniper.

Grabbing the SA bonus could be quite useful now, as we have 2 interrogations and 5 autopsies waiting to be done. Individually the savings are modest, but getting all seven of those instantly would be a pretty nice boost.

Personnel...I like heavies, so I will probably add the squaddie heavy and try to get some XP for a promotion. Having two HEAT heavies once we start seeing cyberdisks would be very nice. Any thoughts on the promotions for the new sniper? I like the Gunslinger path, but others have other ideas as Ug has already shown. What does the team think?

We just had an abducion mission and a missed UFO, so probably I will get a council mission or a terror site. Hopefully it will be somewhere with high panic and we can get a reduction, maybe even a continent-wide reduction.

Since we missed a UFO, it might also be prudent to build a backup satellite in case they come back to shoot down our satellite over the USA.

[Ug the Barbarian]

If we want to have the option of hitting the alien base this month, then capture of an Outsider becomes a major priority. Any UFO mission, we must do whatever it takes to get the Outsider alive.

Agreed - we have plenty of volunteer 'cannon fodder' to carry the arc throwers

Personnel...I like heavies, so I will probably add the squaddie heavy and try to get some XP for a promotion. Having two HEAT heavies once we start seeing cyberdisks would be very nice. Any thoughts on the promotions for the new sniper? I like the Gunslinger path, but others have other ideas as Ug has already shown. What does the team think?

Go a different route with the Sniper just to show the options - Gunslinger etc. Would still suggest Squad Sight unless you want to make them like a support soldier.

[uberfish]

Get the scanner on the new sniper dude. The other heavy could also take a divergent path, perhaps heading for area suppression?

[Sareln]

I should take the close-reaction fire promotion. Bonus crits are nice, free hits are better IMO.

[haphazard1]

OK, turnset played. Sorry for the delay, life and work have been busy.

I start by assigning promotions as discussed for Sareln. I name the new sniper for Catwalk, and promote him as a squad sight, gunslinger style shooter. I take a look around and do not see much to change. Our cash is limited, and we have the next round of sats + critical sat infra already in progress. Experimental Warfare only has 2 days to go so I let it continue.

I also take a moment to remember our first fallen soldier:

Brackard was brave, a veteran alien killer, but sadly unlucky. He will be missed.

On the positive side, if we had to lose someone at least it was a support. We have lots of them. Wait, what am I saying? My avatar is a support. Supports are precious, we don't want to lose any supports!

A couple days pass with no action, and Experimental Warfare research competes unlocking the Foundry and Phoenix Cannon. Of course we already have laser cannon. We have quite a few choices available:

I go with Precision Lasers, with the hope that we can put a sat over Argentina to get the 'We Have Ways' bonus and grab all the interrogations and autopsies for free later. I consider building the Foundry, but it would take all our cash plus a bit of corpse selling just to build it leaving us no money to actually buy projects. Also, we do not currently have a good spot to put it -- we are going to have to expand to the third level soon if we don't want to mess up our adjacency layouts.

A bit more time passes, and we get a nice offer from council member Brazil:

Scopes are currently 12 credits each, so this is a great deal compared to a workshop. I happily build 2 scopes and dispatch them ASAP, bringing us to 24 engineers on staff.

Time passes...and passes...and passes. I hate it when this happens, we need action. Preferably non-abduction action. Instead, we get another abduction. Our choices:

Much as I would like the engineers, there is no way we can take Africa. I would love to grab the scientists from the easier mission in Canada, but decide I have to take the China option despite the lame support reward.

Given the 'very difficult' mission rating I go with a mostly vet squad:

I do include our squaddie heavy Mardoc to try to get him some XP. The extra rocket may come in very useful as well. One potential problem is that we only have 1 heavy laser and lack the alloys for another, so Mardoc will have to manage with the basic LMG. I did build an additional medkit -- having only one on my avatar is just asking to have him killed leaving the squad without medical support. Dazedroyalty gets the extra kit, with Mardoc and Sareln getting arc throwers.

So what map draw did we get?

Meh. I don't like the top of skyscraper construction area map. It has some nice elevated areas, but there are too many things to block LOS for good sniping. Hopefully I can find a good spot for Ug.

My avatar begins things by advancing and immediately triggering two thin men to our northeast. They scatter out of sight, so I move up the rest of the squad and set everyone to overwatch. Both thin men try to move, and both are killed by reaction fire. My avatar gets one of the kills, earning a promotion. We are off to a good start.

Nothing else happens for a couple turns as we slowly advance into the site, although we do hear some noises -- floaters, maybe? Here is the squad on turn 3:

It is three more turns later when thing heat up again, with Sareln triggering a trio of mutons in the western portion of the map.

Sareln and my avatar are up on the big structure, with Mardoc a bit below them. Ug is on a container further back, with Uberfish and dazed down low among the shipping containers. Two mutons are in sight, the third has disappeared behind the big structure.

Dazed missed a reaction shot as the mutons moved to full cover. Uberfish decides to do something about that cover:

Success, but one of the wounded mutons uses its intimidate ability and Uberfish panics. He shoots wildly at one of the mutons and misses. (Interesting that he effectively got an extra action due to panic.) Sareln takes the opportunity to finish off the muton left in the open:

Rapid Fire is a great ability. The muton is killed. Ug and Mardoc have no LOS and move up to get into the fight next round.

IBT two floaters appear and move up to join the battle. The wounded muton shoots dazed (who is in full cover) for 5 damage.

Uberfish remains panicked, but fortunately just hunkers down instead of doing something stupid/crazy. Dazed is in view of all three aliens, so he pulls back out of sight and uses the medkit he is carrying (how convenient!) to heal up. Mardoc shoots one of the floaters for 3 damage (the LMG instead of a heavy laser hurt badly here), while Ug takes out the other at 98% odds. Hap and Sareln go to overwatch, not having LOS or good positions to move to and hoping to catch the aliens when they move.

The floater moves and Sareln misses a reaction shot. The muton moves up and misses Ug. Here is the situation as the new round starts:

Ug tries for the muton and misses, so Uberfish uses his shredder rocket to finish it off. Dazed kills the wounded floater. Things appear to be back under control.

On the alien turn, 3 thin men appear and move forward into cover. And the missing muton (which I had lost track of) climbed the big structure and appears right next to my avatar! Haphazard reaction fires and blasts it for 8 damage, but that is not enough. It aims, point blank...

...and hits for only 4 damage. Didn't kill me, ha ha ha!

Unfortunately, haphazard freaks out completely and starts crying for his mommy, leaving him helpless right next to the very pissed off muton. At least Uberfish tried to shoot back when he panicked.

Fortunately Sareln is nearby and rushes the muton. Since it is badly injured and Sareln happens to be carrying an arc thrower, we go for the stun -- and succeed! Hap is saved (for now) and we get some more alien weaponry to play with later.

Dazed is the only one with a shot at the thin men behind the structure, and that is only 38%. He hunkers down behind his full cover instead, while the rest of the squad goes on overwatch.

Thin Man #1 moves -- Uberfish misses a reaction shot but Ug does not. Scratch one thin man.
Thin Man #2 shoots at Uberfish but misses.
Thin Man #3 moves up and spits poison at Mardoc. Ack, blech, cough cough.

Here is the start of the next round -- you can just see the lightning bolt for the stunned muton at the top.

Mardoc moves up to the corner and tries for a stun on the thin man, as the arc thrower (49%) actually has better odds than a shot (42%). I guess it must be the poison effect, maybe it does not affect stun chance? The stun fails.

Ug and dazed both take shots at the thin man Mardoc failed to stun but miss. Things are not looking good, but Sareln uses Run'n'Gun to drop down behind the structure and take out the distant thin man. He ran through the poison cloud on top of the structure, then gets poisoned again as the thin man dies. Ack, blech, cough cough cough.

Hap moves up to the edge of the upper area (ignoring the poison cloud since he has a medkit, one of the nice benefits of being a field medic support) and flanks the last thin man:

Flanking bonus makes the shot a gimme:

And the mission ends:

Hap and dazed both earn promotions to Captain. Dazed is wounded for 13 days (from a shot that did 5 damage while wearing carapace armor for 4 points ). Hap gets a choice of Dense Smoke or Combat Drugs...don't really have a preference on this one. Dazed gets the same choice Sareln had last time, the perk for automatic reaction shots at close range or bonus damage on critical hits.

We got a second plasma rifle and second alien grenade, so we can now use one alien grenade if we want to. Make sure to keep the other for the Foundry project to upgrade our grenades, though.

Here is the panic situation after the mission:

Three countries in the red, but two are Egypt and South Africa and we don't really have to care about them if we end up needing this month's sats elsewhere. North America is looking iffy, and Russia and Argentina are at orange, but otherwise we are not doing too badly. China dropped by 3, and along with Australia is now at minimum panic; Asia overall is looking pretty good.

It is the 18th of May, so we still have a fair bit of the month to go. Precision Lasers is still 5 days away. Hopefully we will get another UFO mission soon as we could really use some more alloys for a second heavy laser plus some laser snipers and maybe scatter lasers.

The Save May 18th

Uberfish
Haphazard (just played)
Dazedroyalty (UP)
Ug (on deck)
Xenin (out due to DLC incompatability)
Sareln