03-16-2018, 07:41 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-16-2018, 07:54 AM by Groo The Wanderer.)
Month end, and I got a little carried away with my spending.
I upgraded the machine gun and the grenade launcher, bought another mimic beacon, recruited another soldier and purchased two squad upgrades in the Guerrilla Tactics School. I upgraded my power generator, but neglected to save enough during my rabid spending spree to make sure I could upgrade my resistance comms as well. Foolish, foolish Groo. Without that second room upgrade, the world map is essentially frozen - I cannot contact new regions to advance to game or reach Alien Facility missions.
Way to keep my eye on the prize! D'oh!
Luckily (famous last words?), a supply raid mission popped up, so that's where I'm heading now. 11 aliens present, with another Unknown type, but the listed aliens are non-mechanical. This is important because once the Sectopod's and other advanced robotics start spawning, it's imperative to equip an EMP grenade or something similar to counter them. In the meantime, I will continue to try and level up the Specialist I've got travelling down the Hacker tree. I'm thinking I'm going to continue doubling-up on my Sharpshooters: they're just too useful to my style of game-play. And again, I'll try to load up on as many lower-ranked soldiers as I can. They need to cut their teeth sometime, and these missions don't seem as important as the Alien Facility raids.
Okay, moving on to squad selection.
Once more, Tombstone the sharpshooter is my foundation, with the second sniper Corporal O'Sullivan backing her up. Black Widow is tapped for medical support; "Shifter" Price is my lower-ranked medic, but he's in recovery from the last battle for two more days. My last 'named' soldier is Sergeant "Zero" Cole, the Canadian Specialist that I'm building up as my primary hacker. I specifically selected her - a Canadian - because this class always found new and inventive ways to end up dead, so maybe by slapping a Maple Leaf on her back, I might be more inclined to keep her alive. We'll see. Rounding out the bottom of the squad is Scott, a novice Grenadier (no missions, no kills), and our old friend Corporal Marshall the Ranger (if he makes Sergeant and earns a nickname, I might edit it to 'Prodigal', depending on what the game generates for me). I found it helpful to quickly scan each soldier for bonus abilities, like last battle, so I'll do that now... nothing beyond Tombstone's superior overwatch abilities, although it's worth noting that Marshall has the stealth build started for the Ranger. Depending on time constraints for this upcoming mission, it might we worth trying to position my snipers well and have Marshall sight the bad guys for them. I've read about that tactic, but never really used it effectively.
Equipment selection will be focused on "organic damage", so I'll be loading up with the Incendiary Grenade, Flash-bangs, and (something new!) Dragon Ammo that came in from the Proving Ground. I might skip the Battle Scanner, or I might not, depending on how quickly my gear slots fill up... I'm two days away from researching mid-level armour and an extra gear slot, but then I still have to pay for it *shakes fist back in time*. The Mimic Beacon will always find a home in my squad though. I just love that little device! In fact, I think I'll bring two.
Ready to go now.
...
Out of the gate, no high ground but I'm surrounded by five hostiles in two groups: two officers, two troopers and a lancer. That lancer will be the focus of my wrath. I also really want to keep Marshall concealed during this opening gambit to attempt the sneaky-sneaky sniper bash I had planned, but I don't want to be so married to that idea that I sacrifice mission effectiveness. My first order of business is to deploy the troops and drop an incendiary grenade on the lancer. Man, do I loathe lancers.
The mission is NOT timed though, so slow and steady.
MAJOR GLITCH!!! After firing my incendiary grenade, the big rock that the Grenadier and the Medic were using for full cover DISAPPEARED! Left out in the open, they were both cut down by critical shots! ARG! The lancer was wounded but is still up, and Marshall is still undetected, but I have no medic or heavy weapon support for this mission. That, my friends, is what you'd call an f-in bummer. I take out the lancer, but my return fire against the surviving trooper and officer is not effective. I've re-positioned the team and I think now would be the time to use the first Mimic Beacon... I'm glad I packed two!
There was a bit of a firefight, but I take out the two aliens. I regroup and reload, but before I can consolidate the squad I see two Vipers and and Archon (first appearance), and they spot me! Marshall is still hidden, so this might be the time for him to make his presence known.
...
This is another failed mission. I deployed my second Mimic Beacon, but that only triggered the last enemy squad: a second Archon and two more troopers. Marshall breaks cover, taking out a Viper, but not before it spits venom on my snipers, sending one into a panic. The second Viper grabs the good sniper, and all the badness is converging on my position. I've got to bug out... one panicked sniper, one captured sniper, the rest of the squad dead... it looks like the only one I can get out clean is the Canadian specialist. I hate losing, but that's hubris for you.
Terrible.
Tombstone. Black Widow. Marshall. All dead. What a disaster. No one survived for future rescue. Not to mention all that wonderful gear.
Just... ugh... terrible.
I upgraded the machine gun and the grenade launcher, bought another mimic beacon, recruited another soldier and purchased two squad upgrades in the Guerrilla Tactics School. I upgraded my power generator, but neglected to save enough during my rabid spending spree to make sure I could upgrade my resistance comms as well. Foolish, foolish Groo. Without that second room upgrade, the world map is essentially frozen - I cannot contact new regions to advance to game or reach Alien Facility missions.
Way to keep my eye on the prize! D'oh!
Luckily (famous last words?), a supply raid mission popped up, so that's where I'm heading now. 11 aliens present, with another Unknown type, but the listed aliens are non-mechanical. This is important because once the Sectopod's and other advanced robotics start spawning, it's imperative to equip an EMP grenade or something similar to counter them. In the meantime, I will continue to try and level up the Specialist I've got travelling down the Hacker tree. I'm thinking I'm going to continue doubling-up on my Sharpshooters: they're just too useful to my style of game-play. And again, I'll try to load up on as many lower-ranked soldiers as I can. They need to cut their teeth sometime, and these missions don't seem as important as the Alien Facility raids.
Okay, moving on to squad selection.
Once more, Tombstone the sharpshooter is my foundation, with the second sniper Corporal O'Sullivan backing her up. Black Widow is tapped for medical support; "Shifter" Price is my lower-ranked medic, but he's in recovery from the last battle for two more days. My last 'named' soldier is Sergeant "Zero" Cole, the Canadian Specialist that I'm building up as my primary hacker. I specifically selected her - a Canadian - because this class always found new and inventive ways to end up dead, so maybe by slapping a Maple Leaf on her back, I might be more inclined to keep her alive. We'll see. Rounding out the bottom of the squad is Scott, a novice Grenadier (no missions, no kills), and our old friend Corporal Marshall the Ranger (if he makes Sergeant and earns a nickname, I might edit it to 'Prodigal', depending on what the game generates for me). I found it helpful to quickly scan each soldier for bonus abilities, like last battle, so I'll do that now... nothing beyond Tombstone's superior overwatch abilities, although it's worth noting that Marshall has the stealth build started for the Ranger. Depending on time constraints for this upcoming mission, it might we worth trying to position my snipers well and have Marshall sight the bad guys for them. I've read about that tactic, but never really used it effectively.
Equipment selection will be focused on "organic damage", so I'll be loading up with the Incendiary Grenade, Flash-bangs, and (something new!) Dragon Ammo that came in from the Proving Ground. I might skip the Battle Scanner, or I might not, depending on how quickly my gear slots fill up... I'm two days away from researching mid-level armour and an extra gear slot, but then I still have to pay for it *shakes fist back in time*. The Mimic Beacon will always find a home in my squad though. I just love that little device! In fact, I think I'll bring two.
Ready to go now.
...
Out of the gate, no high ground but I'm surrounded by five hostiles in two groups: two officers, two troopers and a lancer. That lancer will be the focus of my wrath. I also really want to keep Marshall concealed during this opening gambit to attempt the sneaky-sneaky sniper bash I had planned, but I don't want to be so married to that idea that I sacrifice mission effectiveness. My first order of business is to deploy the troops and drop an incendiary grenade on the lancer. Man, do I loathe lancers.
The mission is NOT timed though, so slow and steady.
MAJOR GLITCH!!! After firing my incendiary grenade, the big rock that the Grenadier and the Medic were using for full cover DISAPPEARED! Left out in the open, they were both cut down by critical shots! ARG! The lancer was wounded but is still up, and Marshall is still undetected, but I have no medic or heavy weapon support for this mission. That, my friends, is what you'd call an f-in bummer. I take out the lancer, but my return fire against the surviving trooper and officer is not effective. I've re-positioned the team and I think now would be the time to use the first Mimic Beacon... I'm glad I packed two!
There was a bit of a firefight, but I take out the two aliens. I regroup and reload, but before I can consolidate the squad I see two Vipers and and Archon (first appearance), and they spot me! Marshall is still hidden, so this might be the time for him to make his presence known.
...
This is another failed mission. I deployed my second Mimic Beacon, but that only triggered the last enemy squad: a second Archon and two more troopers. Marshall breaks cover, taking out a Viper, but not before it spits venom on my snipers, sending one into a panic. The second Viper grabs the good sniper, and all the badness is converging on my position. I've got to bug out... one panicked sniper, one captured sniper, the rest of the squad dead... it looks like the only one I can get out clean is the Canadian specialist. I hate losing, but that's hubris for you.
Terrible.
Tombstone. Black Widow. Marshall. All dead. What a disaster. No one survived for future rescue. Not to mention all that wonderful gear.
Just... ugh... terrible.
They say Hitler loved dogs; that doesn't mean I want to travel back in time and discuss the merits of the Border Collie with the guy. He's still an a-hole.