Groo Tries To Grow As A Gamer

[Kersus]

be methodical!

I thought you were Anglican, not Methodist.

into engage... like chess, I need to think a couple moves in advance, so I'll probably grapple Lucky onto the next structure and use his Kill Zone ability to take a shot on all three, but beyond that I'll just have to wing it.

I haven't picked up armour I can grapple with yet, but I do have one suit of that teleporting armour. I'm not sure I use it effectively yet.

Kill Zone is quite a feat when placed properly and you have the ammo.

Pretty good, but not perfect... once the initial rocket landed, the Codex cloned and used teleport... although quickly gunned down by Lucky.

Those bloody Codexes. Usually I have no problem with them but one mission they cloned multiple times in the same turn and it was a lot of enemies.

The enemies advance, triggering Junior's attack... she wings the Archon but no kill... He promptly uses Blazing Pinions against the squad, essentially wasting his attack (if everyone moves).

If you end up getting the DLC, this changes for the Rulers. Once he does Blazing Pinions, you at best can move one soldier away before the rest get hit. Probably the Ruler I have the most trouble with.

Cheers,

[Groo The Wanderer]

Back in the fight... Pretty worn out (rampaging toddler can sap your drive pretty quick), but I somehow managed to find budget money for beer, and the wife has stepped up and gave me some free time... I know this goes against my current ethos of playing well-rested and, y'know, *sober*, but it's Saturday night and I just want to game for a bit.

I sloppily re-engage where I left you last, managing to finish off the Codex and Archon. Claymore takes another point of poison damage, but sucks it up and is no longer afflicted (saving me a heal from the medic). My immediate plan is to regroup, reload, and relax. By my count, there are still five targets to take out, only two of which I have ID'd.

Noisemaker broke cover to assist in the last firefight, so my second order of business is to stealth her back up. Everyone is more or less reloaded and close enough for mutual support... I would've liked to move Lucky over to the second cottage structure (it was slightly closer to the Alien Facility I want to eventually blow up, and had better angles), but the building is currently on fire, so I'm going to wait a turn or two... insert clever frying pan / fire metaphor that a more well-rested Groo would surely come up with.

***

Still no sign of my Muton / Viper patrol, but Noisemaker detected movement ahead. The cottage is still on fire, but it appears to be dying down... again, once it's safe, Lucky will grapple over to use that as the next sniping position (why grapple? because it cost's no movement... I can zip around the battlefield - with a small recharge time - and still have full movement, aka all my actions to shoot and stuff, after I arrive... nice piece of kit, the Spider suit). Anyway, everyone else is staying well back so they don't accidentally aggro anyone, and Noisemaker continues to hop from cover to cover until I can spot these jerks...

***

Noisemaker discovers a turret... not sure if that is included in my total bad-guy count, but I'm just going to sit back and let Lucky (via Sqaud Sight) hammer away over a couple of turns until it's out of commission... really miss that second sniper now, but slow and steady will win the race. First round: good hit, second round: missed, but punched a hole in the building that the turret apparently fell through... a kill by any other name is just as sweet! The fire's out on the cottage, but it's been a couple rounds, so I think I'll shift Paladin over to scout the area... I don't want to grapple Lucky to the roof only to aggro the missing patrol with no immediate support.

***

Just as I have the 4 of my 5 soldiers shifted to the right flank, the Viper and Muton come ambling in on the left, with only Noisemaker around. She wasn't spotted, and technically the squad hadn't aggro'd yet, so I quickly shift everyone back to the left flank. So good uses of a grenade to destroy cover and a Run and Gun (combined with a Stock upgrade for guaranteed damage) I take out the Viper and bring the Muton down to one health... Noisemaker is still hidden. I could've easily taken out the Muton, but I can only put Noisemaker back into concealment once. She's my ace in the hole. The severely wounded Muton backs off, and I hear the distinctive clanking of a MEC unit, so I think I'll deploy another Battle Scanner and see if any new information comes up.

***

Once again, when things go wrong... boy do they go wrong... I inched Noisemaker up in cover, no problem, but then Claymore moved too far and spotted / was spotted by the last squad... TWO MEC's, a Lancer and the wounded Muton. They do that "we're spotted, deploy" trick, but catch Noisemaker out in the open. I'm able to take the Lancer out pretty quickly, and Noisemaker even one-shots a MEC, but the freakin' Muton moves in to melee range and takes out my trusty stealth specialist. Rats. Also, the second MEC unleashes a grenade volley on Shifter, so he's wounded now... rats. I'm going to mop up these two targets, but losing Noisemaker really sucks. She was such an important element in this mission.

***

I take them out, but reinforcements are coming in. I'm going to try to position myself around the red flare and swat as many as I can once they land.

***

A basic trooper, an advanced MEC and a Lancer land. The Lancer (thank God) is taken out, but the MEC and trooper are basically untouched and Lucky and Paladin are both out of ammo... I reload Lucky, and deploy my Mimic Beacon to buy some time. The plan works well... all targets are down and no further damage to my team. My final act is to make sure I collect the bodies of Noisemaker and the deceased sniper so I don't lose their gear after I plant the explosives, but with all enemies dead I can do this at my leisure.

Still stings about losing Noisemaker, but she went down in a blaze of glory!

[Groo The Wanderer]

Back to the map... only four soldiers able to take the field, and four wounded. I fly my Avenger around, seeing if I can scrape up some credits at the Black Market but there's nothing I want to sell. Nothing good to scan on the map, so I decide to make contact with another region. I've got a few days before the next supply drop, so might as well max it out.

And then a Council mission comes up. Lots of supplies and Intel if I succeed, but it's Very Difficult, a pant-load of enemies, and it's one of those "capture the enemy VIP for interrogation". Those missions are timed, and really, really difficult. It's a pretty easy decision to skip this one, but I lose contact with the region. Boo-urns.

I scan around a little more and get my supply drop... I quickly recruit four soldiers and get one training as a Sharpshooter. I also buy a laboratory (that'll take some time to finish) and start researching power armour.

I get the sharpshooter trained, and I'm getting a back-up ranger trained too when the Guerrilla mission pops up. I can get a Scientist (V. Difficult), Supplies, (Difficult) or a Captain Ranger (Difficult). I can field a full squad at least, but it's getting late and I don't want to make any snap decisions tonight.

Still smarting over Noisemaker's loss.

[Groo The Wanderer]

Three weeks have passed with no updates, so I'm going to try to dive back in where I left off... that's not to say I've been idle: I was able to scrape up some cash to purchase the DLC that Kersus was talking about a play through a couple games with the new missions, but I still want to keep my eye on the prize: beating a game on Ironman! So I've spent a little time re-reading old posts to get a feel for where I left off, and now I'm loading the old game to see what's what. NOTE: I was given the option of enabling the DLC, but chose not to at this time. I might get the option again at a later date, but I'll actually put that decision in the hands of the forum: should I go-ahead with the extra (MUCH harder) missions, or keep it pure? Anyway, onward!

***

I was slightly off with the last update, in that the Supply mission was the Very Difficult one... I'm opting to get another scientist!

I want to dive right in (will I be paying for that later?) so without getting too detailed, I'm fielding mostly senior staff: Lucky, Big Money (who's shaken) and Paladin are my offence, Shifter my medic, Zero my hacker, and finally the minty-fresh sharpshooter, Johnson. Gear is pretty evenly spread out, but I'm equipping two remote sensors (totalling four uses) so there should be no... er... fewer surprises...

And away we go! (the mission is a "destroy the relay" type, and will be timed)

***

Starting to spread the troops out, I see an ADVENT tower and check out the hack bonus... it's an Intel reward, which I desperately need, and I've got a 91% success for the smaller bonus... I'm going for it (risking reinforcements) but will wait until I've seen more of the battlefield... I just don't want to forget! Actually... things could go bad later on, so I'm hacking it now! Success!

I advance the team in two squads, and locate two enemy patrols: an advanced MEC, Lancer and Sheildbearer (on a rooftop); and two (count 'em, TWO) Codex enemies with and Archon... I think I can take out the "regulars" with a grenade salvo / overwatch shots / falling damage, but that'll break cover on the tougher squad. Also: I now only have 5 rounds to take out the alien relay. Think...

So rather than think, I acted, and now everyone is dead.

Rage. Quit.

[Groo The Wanderer]

I don't know if I even want to try to keep playing.

So f'in frustrated right now.

Maybe I can't play on Ironman.

[Groo The Wanderer]

So I've calmed down now... still mad, but it's a calm mad...

The entire squad got wiped out. Worst. Mission. Ever.

Basically, I'd split the troops into two fire teams [screw up number one: don't split the squad]. Team one spotted the MEC, Lancer and Shieldbearer and had good position. Team two spotted two Codex'es and an Archon and had terrible position. I (mistakenly) opted to break concealment by engaging with team one before I had team two in good position [screw up number two: the second enemy patrol was the real threat, but my focus was on the MEC/Lancer/Sheildbearer]. And finally, I was tired and couldn't see this mission driving off a cliff, and by the time I decided to pull the plug it was already too late. [screw up number three: playing while tired... why, oh why does that one keep coming back to bite me in the ass?].

So I engaged the first guys with a rocket attack, shredding armour and destroying the building the patrol was on... instantly killed the Lancer and Sheildbearer, but the MEC just went into overwatch... the remaining two troopers I had on that ambush just sat there doing nothing. And because the other fire team had lousy position, the Codex's and Archon mopped the floor with them... The Archon is too mobile / tough... I cannot rely on a single solider's reaction fire to take it out, and the damned Codex's just kept using that "jam weapon" ability to render half the squad inert. I definitely chose the wrong patrol for my first target... so I continued to keep my myopic focus on the Alien artefact I needed to destroy, but all that did was aggro the third squad and then things really went to poop. Again, by the time I even attempted to bug-out, the survivors were all wounded, panicking and without good cover. The last-ditch effort to get the sole survivor to the dust-off point ended with him in a hail of overwatch fire. At least it was quick... (read: I was on tilt and just reacting to my enemy without any cohesive plan).

The bus went home empty that day.

[Groo The Wanderer]

Oy vey...

I have basically zero gear (including Medkits) and in my infinite wisdom spend ALL my cash last night recruiting new troops, so I can't even buy new stuff. Fantastic.

Okay, roll call has me at 13 soldiers total. Surviving veterans are my Sgt Grenadier (Claymore) and a Cpl Specialist with the beginnings of a Hacker build. I also have a Squaddie Specialist - who I guess is my Medikit-less Medic now - and in 5 days I'll have a Squaddie Ranger. The rest are pure, unassigned rookies.

The ship is understaffed and under-powered, but in 5 days I'll have a room clear of debris (with supplies to add to the pool) an my Laboratory with be online in 8 days... not sure what good that does, as there's no money in the bank to buy any upgrades. Currently researching Power Armour, for what it's worth.

I think that's it for now, I may update later tonight (NO MISSIONS!) with what happened on the map after the latest disaster... I may just be farming Intel until the supplies drop in 11 days.

[Groo The Wanderer]

I've got some free time, so I'm checking in on the game again... (and for the first time, I've noticed that this is the 13th campaign I've played... Superstition much?).

As stated earlier, my options are limited... I've decided to check in with the Black Market to get some quick cash and maybe start resupplying my inventory... after shedding some corpses and surplus alloys and crystals, I now have built a replacement Battle Scanner, an EMP grenade, a Flashbang grenade and a Nanomedikit. Better than nothing. With nothing else to do, I'm going to farm intel at XCOM HQ until I can make contact with another region...

The Ranger gets trained up, so I tag the next trainee for a replacement Sharpshooter...

Still farming away on Intel, and I get a fresh Alien Facility pop up on the map. It located in unexplored territory (typical!) but now I have an objective to focus on... in the meantime, the Proving Ground has unlocked Plasma Grenades, so I've got that going for me, which is nice... I've got a few options for the next project, and I've decided on and EXO suit for the senior Grenadier, partly because I need some offensive punch with my new plucky roster of noobs, and partly because the project is cheap and fast. Also, I've cleared the machinery area on the mothership, giving me some more alloys and supplies... the free engineer is now going to the Proving Ground to cut the project time down. Still no contacts on the world map, lets see how that lasts... (JINX!!!) EXO suit has been knocked down to four days, too... fingers crossed!

The Aliens haven't been idle, though, and have completed the Viper Rounds Dark Event... meaning there's a good chance that my troops will be poisoned during the next, inevitable firefight should they get hit by weapons fire.

Then, finally, a mission: a Supply Raid. I need the money and can't stay all gun-shy forever, so I'm off to see what we've got: the Shadow Chamber says there are 11 Targets with a healthy variation... Troopers, Shieldbearers, Sectoids, MECs, Officers, Lancers and one big fat UNKNOWN. No choice though, I've got to engage.

And away we go!

[Groo The Wanderer]

I've loaded up all three of my veterans, with the rest being rooks. The medic gets my Medikit and the Ranger gets the Flashbang. One rookie has a Battle Scanner and the other has the Frost Bomb that I got from the expansion packs I bought (however, last time I reloaded, I did NOT have the option to play with the DLC. Looks like that was a one-time only chance). The mission is tagged as "Very Difficult", so I have my suspicions as to who the unknown Alien is... *cough* Sectopod *cough* we'll see if I'm right or not... with that thought, I'm adding the EMP grenade to my Cpl Hacker's kit.

No snipers are trained, so there's nothing left to do but click LAUNCH MISSION... (hold me!)

*click*

[Groo The Wanderer]

Another fine mess...

So I deployed easily enough, but over-extended the squad (again) and aggro'd three patrols... Claymore bought it early, my junior medic got taken out, and everyone is panicking again. I'm just going to bug-out and try to save people, but hopes aren't high.

One soldier. One solider survived.

I think I need to take a break and learn how to play this game again.

And, apologies to the mods for the language, but FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.