The longest war - Take 2

[silencer_pl]

Ok, with beta 11 out I can start a new campaign without any problems I hope. It would be sad I I had to restart it again. So without any further babbling. Everything will be the same as previously: same difficulty (Impossible), same starting location (USA).

 

 

So let's start.

 

 

Our first "training" mission will be in Mexico and it looks like a map from council mission. The mission that I hate in mid-late game.

 

We are starting in one end of a broken bridge.

 

 

I didn't expect aliens to be on this side, but at least there are full cover a plenty.

 

 

Full cover a plenty my ass. It's just frustrating that aliens hit you in full cover from lower ground. Stupid Murphies law of XCOM.

 

 

Thankfully the disease which is called mass panic didn't spread and rookies started eliminating aliens one by one (otherwise I wouldn't be here).

 

 

Thats' two kills for Private Moreau. Private Panagoks throws a grenade on alien who suppresses Private young. She almost killed the alien - stupid RNG.

 

 

But on the next turn she kills him. With the first group cleared, the team moves forward (and reloads the guns). After reaching the destroyed part they spot remaining groups of aliens.

 

 

Since it's better to be higher the soldiers stay up and use the only cover they have.

 

The aliens are in bad position and they know it, however nobody expects them to expose themselves.

 

 

The last alien almost managed to score a kill. Almost.

 

 

But thankfully he didn't had the opportunity to inflict more damage.

 

 

This start looks more promising. No deaths in the first mission.

 

Let's promote our brave rookies:

 

Private Watanabe is awesome and that is why she is promoted to Assault.

Private Janet Young and Molly O'Carroll are also awesome and are promoted to Infantry.

Private Moreau will be Rocketeer

Private William Young will be a Sniper.

 

 

After some brief introduction by our second in command officer Bradford, scientists got their research orders and engineers got their production orders.

 

 

 

[silencer_pl]

 

So, the XCOM project is now officially opened. So let's see what the aliens will come up with next. After few days it's another abudction site.

 

 

Not a moment we've landed and the alien were just around the corner.

 

 

3 Soldiers move inside the building and will perform flanking manouvers, the rest stays outside and will try to survive alien attacks. The aliens took the bait and positioned themselves just as I wanted them to. When initiating operation "Charge Those Bastards", another group was spotted at the end of the alley.

 

 

But that didn't stop us from finishing the last alien from the first group.

 

 

One of the aliens moved close enough to be flanked too. So Spec. Moreau moved towards the alien pod avoiding incoming fire and neutralized that alien.

 

 

The other aliens then went closer, but luck was on our side and no one got hit. Continuing aggressive formation, the second group of aliens was also eliminated.

 

 

The third group of aliens who admired the city from the roof was more tricky to get (and more lucky).

 

 

This little bastard of an alien, managed to hit one of the soldiers. That hit send her panicking, but thankfully it didn't spread.

 

 

The aliens thought they could be sneaky, but I was even more devious.

 

 

But I had more important issue to worry about. I don't have anything to protect paniced soldier. Well I thought a rocket to the face would be nice. But I guess we have magic rockets that fly through walls.

 

 

But it definitely scared the alien. The drone was predetermined to get Spec. Watanabe so just in case I've sent Private Fuji to help her.

 

 

But when it came to conclusion, she missed a 89% shot....

 

 

I was prepared for the worse, but the drone suddenly run away. But on the next turn Spec. Watanabe corrected her error.

The last group of aliens was just on the corner when we fought the 3rd group.

 

 

Spec. Moreau after that incident with rocket, showed that he can do better.

 

 

The last alien was cornered in some fast food restaurant. Though I've made a mistake by moving Private Fuji like that, but there was someone who liked him more than the alien.

 

 

For display of skill in the battle:

 

Private Panagakos and Fuji was promoted to Infantry.

 

 

[silencer_pl]

 

Eh Russia. Once again you're too drunk to fight aliens. Or Mr. P thinks he will rule the world with aliens.

 

 

There is nothing we can do about it, but there are more urgent things to attend to. Also I've gathered enough money for first new satelite. Though it was few hours to late and it will be ready few hours after council report

 

 

Let's hope the rookies will handle it.

 

On arrival the aliens were closer then I've expected and Private Murphy will be in great danger.

 

 

The good trick is, to damage at least 2 drones.

 

 

The first one although flanked PFC. Murphy has missed (even if she would be hit, she would live (probably)). The second one instead of focusing on her, repaired the first one. And the third just moved closer.

 

 

Now it's time for rookies to shine. And they didn't fail one bit. All of the drones were destroyed in one go.

 

 

When moving forward, we've spot another group of aliens, but they weren't alerted. Not until Private Murphy and Walker moved on the roof of the building were another group of aliens was lurking.

 

 

The second group jump down upon spotting and has left the first group defenseless (well it was their fault to move closer).

While slaughtering the group on the left, Private Munoz somewhat destroyed the canister with MELD.

 

 

The second group was caught hiding in the corner. Spec. Moreau, had a HE grenade for that situation. It didn't kill the aliens but it surely destroyed the cover.

 

 

The AI went nuts and only 1 alien moved. This allowed for free alien slaughter.

 

 

The last group of aliens was inside the freeze house (sp?).

 

 

They had a lot of cover, so Spec. Moreau used his rocket to clear the room.

 

 

The remaining aliens were easy pickings.

 

 

Promotions:

 

Specialist Moreau was promoted to Lance Corporal.

Private Wright was promoted to Engineer.

Private Murphy was promoted to Sniper.

Private Walker and Berry were promoted to Assault.

Private Munoz was promoted to Gunner

 

[silencer_pl]

 

After the abduction we have again enough money for second satellite. Few hours later Bogey Zero-Zero-One is reported by the satellite. It's up to Voodoo Three-Seven to take it down.

 

 

The UFO has survived the crash, so a team is selected for the mission.

 

 

Upon arrival, the first group of aliens was just north from our position.

 

 

One of them positioned himself very nicely. So nicely that Spec. Watanabe could run & gun.

 

 

But when she leaned to take a shot, another group was in sight. Fighting 7 sectoids at once will be a tough job.

 

 

Specially when the aliens don't want to miss when they should.

 

 

So many targets... but Spec. Young just can't shoot straight today.

 

 

And rookies put him to shame.

 

 

Unless we are talking mind meddling with panic attack. Thankfully it didn't spread.

 

 

On next turn one alien positioned himself, so Spec. Young had him flagged as flanked... but still misses...

 

 

But at least the rookies are doing their job quite nicely.

 

 

Once we've decimated the group to 3 aliens it suddenly got very easy.

 

 

However the last alien managed to run away back to the UFO. So the team moved slowly and had the entrances surrounded.

 

 

The outsider however didn't want to move forward. He received the flashbang to the face. And the soldiers on the sides moved closer.

I knew the sectoid will be there, but had a noise notification on the other side of the UFO. I was quite surprised seeing him popping out of nowhere. But his dirty trick failed at killing anyone.

 

 

With the soldiers at the right position, the outsider and the sectoid were eliminated.

Another day, successful operation.

 

 

For outstanding performance (except Spec. Young but he also received promotion):

 

Specialist Watanabe and Young are promoted to Lance Corporal.

Private Park is promoted to Gunner.

Private Roux is promoted to Infantry.

Private Lewis is promoted to Rocketeer.

Private Berg is promoted to Scout.

 

[Space Voyager]

Ah, so it is possible to add new art etc. My mouth watered when I saw the possibility to get sawed-off shotgun, carried instead of the pistol. Actually, I see a multitude of new stuff... Was all that in previous version, too (I do tend to be blind to detail sometimes)?! And again, what does an alien trophy do? Is that some kind of will increasing item?

 

Oh, BTW, nicely played!

[silencer_pl]

New stuff came with Beta 10. The alien trophy gives a steadfast perk. It is used to negate mass panic - except from Psi Panic attack. Most classes (if not all) have steadfast perk in LCPL. upgrade. But once your soldiers will have Will above 50 this will be useless. So I don't use this perk, just an item before something better will be for equipment. At first months any item production is expensive. Not to mention that most buildings cost 200 credits.

 

The sawed-off shogtgun is the replacement of a pistol - but it's range is 1 tile, so I don't think it's that very nice. There is also submachine gun. But it gets 20 AIM penalty upon drawing and also it's range is quite low. To boot both SMG and Sawed-Off reduce mobility by 1.

[silencer_pl]

 

It's more abduction time. This time in Argentina.

 

 

The mission is on some kind of skyscraper under construction. So watch your step. The first group of aliens is just right to our starting position.

 

 

It will be hard to flank them, so some sort of aggressive stance must be made. The drone send us a warning. But I laugh at the warnings.

 

 

Spec. Berry moved closer and tagged the drone. Spec. Walker also jumped in to the fight.

 

 

But she also revealed second group.

 

 

It will take few turns for them to close in, and they will probably bunker somewhere. The first group of aliens was in bad situation. A situation that soon ended in their deaths. Now to wait and see what the other aliens will do. Maybe they just come and would like us to slaughter them? Like this guy for example.

 

 

But it is also nice to see some luck on our side too.

 

 

The last 2 aliens positioned themselves so nicely, that I could flank them easily. There also was a third and fourth group of aliens.

 

 

Some aliens were positioned nicely for Run & Gun move. Spec. Berry avoided counter attack but she missed a high chance shot.

 

 

This made me sad and angry, and I've moved Spec. Walker into a bad situation.

 

 

But luck was with us on this mission.

 

 

Yeah it was hell of a lucky mission.

 

 

Promotions:

 

Private Morrison and Robinson were promoted to Medic

Private Stewart was assigned to Sniper.

 

[silencer_pl]

Our next mission is provided by council. We are to extract a certain scientist.

 

 

Since it is a conucil mission, the number of aliens isn't that overwhelming and their positioning is more spread out. In general the mission went quite smooth, with some minor hickups and 1 situation of losing a soldier.

 

 

After the council mission, the team was sent to abduction site.

 

 

The main battle took place in this construction site. The aliens hunkered quite well there. And if it wasn't for that one panic situation I could get more meld from the containers. But at least everyone survived.

 

 

The aliens are relentless and we again have to shoot down a UFO.

 

 

This mission did not go as smoothly as expected. 2 soldiers were critically wounded, including our medic that received a critical hit while being in full cover. Total bullshit. Lesson learned, medic is not first line soldier.

 

 

After that UFO, we spot a big one. This one landed just to tease me....

 

 

But I am crazy enough to break the economy. I had to take soldiers who had longest fatigue. I expect heavy fighting with aliens we should not meet that early. However if danger will be too high I will pull out.

 

 

The Skyranger has landed in front of the UFO. To be honest I don't know which side is the front of Supply Ship. But we certainly landed in front of command room. I excpect plenty of outsiders. We also hear sounds made by Chrysalids....

 

The team will have to stick together and act fast. The first encountered enemy is a group of floaters.

 

 

The team performance was satisfactory and the floaters didn't pose any threat.

 

 

Then they came. I was hoping to user rocket against Outsiders, but you can't never waste a rocket on a group of Chrysalids.

 

 

This team almost works like swiss clocks. Ok so we downed two groups from the right side of the UFO. There might be aliens coming from the other side, so let's surprise them.

 

 

The sectoids were swatted like a flies. Ok so this side was cleared and there are no movements. I've noticed some outsider movement right behind the command room. I want to take care of them as last, because I will have more room to flank. So the team moved so close to the UFO that it passed them undetected.

 

The aliens however knew where I was and they've send 2!! more groups of Chryssalids. So yeah total 12 Chryssalids.... well good thing I've packed that second rocket.

 

 

The last group of aliens before fighting Outsider were Thin Man.

 

 

And as Thin Man go, they are very annoying with their spit.

 

 

When they were dead. We had all the time to prepare for the Outsiders. 4 Outsiders and 1 super outsider..... hell yeah. Good thing they were stationary and the game secretly told me where they were.

 

 

The big one was targeted first. And since they were attacked from both sides, they didn't have chance to win this.

 

 

It was very exhausting mission.

 

But the aliens have scheduled another mission in just few hours.

 

 

I was bleeding dry from fresh soldiers, and it were few days before new batch would arrive. All I had was 3 rookies and I had to pull some fatigued soldiers.

 

 

The mission was doing OK, the rookies were doing good job, but then aliens had to cheat once again. The bastards.

 

 

Thankfully after that mission, aliens gave us a break. New troops arrived and we were prepared for next month.

 

 

Dr. Vahlen has also finished studying the aliens. The next thing will be Experimental Warfare.

 

 

It also didn't took ages for next mission, and new batch of rookies was sent to battle.

 

 

The operation went quite smoothly and the rookies proved themselves.

 

 

[silencer_pl]

After the last mission, we've got a heavy UFO over USA. It was of course abductor that proceeded to with it's mission.

 

 

The mission went quite easily. The map was well known. Although I hate it when it is the council mission. Specially in mid-late part of the game.

 

 

After that mission we've got another UFO. Our Interceptors shot it down and soldiers moved to secure the crash site as usual. The mission wasn't all that hard and everything went smoothly.

 

 

Next came another batch of abductions.

 

 

The first enemies were sectoids. With the assaults they just died without any serious threat.

 

 

The next batch of aliens were in next building. Another group of sectoids was also backed up by floaters. Sectoids as the previous group weren't hard to kill, but the floaters didn't want to charge forward. But with careful movement we've managed to get to them.

 

 

Our next abduction mission takes place in South Africa.

 

 

This mission was all lucky lucky and once again lucky. We've first spotted aliens just forward of the LZ. But as soon we've moved to secured position, another drop pod was activated. And near that one was another one too.

 

 

However the aliens didn't used that to their advantage. Also our sniper did superb job in killing many aliens.

Once the most dangerous part was avoided. We've taken the offensive. Without mercy we've blown every bit of the building just to make their lives miserable.

 

 

After that two failed abductions aliens send another UFO over USA.

 

 

This mission started easy. Two sectoids near LZ. Then clear way to the UFO. But once the battle over the remains started another big luck kicked in.

 

 

One of the floaters feeling cocky charge in. Specialist Ilyushin hit him for 4 damage. But everyone else missed. I was prepared to lose one soldier maybe two. But the aliens didn't used that opportunity. Thankfully all of the soldiers return to base.

 

 

After that mission. Dr Vahlen finishes the Exeprimental War project. We can now build the forge.

 

 

We also get a priority mission. Operation Progeny has been initiated.

 

The mission takes place in familiar map. The first part of this mission is to kill all the thin man, who block our path. Their acid spit may slow us down. But it is just temporary setback.

 

 

We aggressively move forward and we reach our destination. Now it's our job to return VIP back to the Skyranger. There will be Thin Man dropping from the sky, but our troops cover whole map and once they drop, they are killed on the spot. Escorting VIP wasn't that easy in a while.

 

 

Right after that mission, the council has announced another mission. Operation Slingshot has been initiated.

 

 

On arrival the team meets with a fellow named Zhang. He has something very important and we must help him evacuate it. The aliens are on site and they are pushing hard. It takes several turns before we've managed to take offensive.

 

 

Once we've started the push, the aliens unleashed a Chrysalid against us. But we've dealt with a group of those so one was just killed on the spot.

 

Mr Zhang was then evacuated and was eager to join our organisation.

 

 

The last two missions gave us enough money to build another satelite uplink. We will be able to cover whole Europe.

 

 

The aliens changed tactic and are starting to send UFOs that seek out our satellites. The problem with those UFOs is that they have strong armour. We will have to use aircraft armed with Stingrays as they can pierce armour.

 

 

The UFO however doesn't differ when it comes to layout on the ground. The crew number is also minimal, so the team has not much problem of securing the crash site.

 

[silencer_pl]

Alright new month. But as new month goes aliens also improve their strength. The escaped UFO was in fact the one that was one of the abduction missions that we didn't say aliens "Hello" when it was airborne. So nothing to worry.

 

 

We also have this new McGuffin device, but it is expensive to build right now. 100 credits per unit and we have more urgent expenses.

 

 

Meanwhile, back to Geoscape. Swarming attack on Delhi.

 

 

The mission at first was quite easy. Sectoids here, floaters there.

 

 

But then came the seekers. Annoying bastards. They can cloack and be hidden for as long as they want. I could carry scanners to counter them, but:

 

1. There are better items.

2. I don't know how many pods will be there.

 

 

Unfortunately 2 of those buggers didn't cloak on reveal. And together with their cloaked ones made a bad day for the troops.

 

 

We didn't lose anyone but the most of the team was heavily wounded.

 

 

Next on our agenda was another abduction site.

 

 

And it was also a bloody one. Explosions everywhere.

 

 

If you spot those seekers you can be assured that if you see the non-cloaked one, there must be cloaked ones. That's 3 kills with one rocket. But the 4th one remains unseen. In general when the group is reduced to 1 alien, it will try to escape. So we will see it later.

 

The last group that was holding the ground were sectoids. I've lost all my big guns when fighting thin man and seekers, so the Sectoids put a little effort in saving their lives.

 

 

But ultimately they had to die.

 

 

Another mission was Fighter UFO. In Geosacape it means armoured scout UFO, in Ground Combat it's just scout UFO.

 

 

And of course there must be seekers.

 

 

It's too bad that even this mod doesn't change the overwatch and everyone shoots at the same time.

This mission was also quite unlucky. It's the first time I saw Outsider outside the UFO, so 2 of my soldiers where found in a wrong place at a wrong time. Even though I've used smoke, this wasn't enough, but at least Spec. Bauer didn't die. Even though our medic panicked for a turn.

 

 

If that wasn't enough, here is another Fighter UFO. They are sure determined to get those satellites over Europe.

 

 

Also in the meantime Australia is under attack.

 

 

It was a dock type mission. With our old friends the drones for starters.

 

 

There were also floaters. But we had missiles.

 

 

And for thin man we had grenades, that are like mini nukes when handled by proper soldier.

 

 

And of course we can't forget about those Seekers.

 

 

Overall mission went without any problems.

 

 

Now it's time for the UFO. And can you believe it? I was struggling to kill some Sectoids.

 

 

What is more frustrating, that she missed 98% shoot !!!!!!! A prize for a person who will record a 1% chance to hit that connects.

 

 

After finally killing that group, there was another, but fortunately this one wasn't all that lucky.

 

 

Another mission in a short brake was an Abductor, but this one didn't proceed to "terrorize" the people. We have a landed UFO.

 

 

It's time to get the best troops I can offer.

 

Our first enemies were of course Chryssalids. I can deal with that. A rocket to the face and the rest just cleans up.

 

 

The next group was a bunch of sectoids with drones.

 

 

It should be easy, but just next to them was another group. And ladies and gentleman - we have a Muton on board too. And I don't have lasers equipped.

 

 

Fortunately they couldn't fire at us from the ground, so we could kill those sectoids and wait for the floaters to charge in. The lone muton then didn't have a chance. Specially if it received flash bang.

 

We then proceeded to the command room, but the Outsiders weren't there. It so happens that it is either mod bug, or vanilla bug, because they phased through the wall. The mod disables alien teleporting, so I don't know how they could move it there without me noticing it. It happened to me on the next mission too. I was guarding the entrnace when suddenly I hear noise right behind me.

 

 

But anyways. The mission is done. Wasn't that hard as I thought.

 

[Space Voyager]

Exceptional! How many solders have you lost since the beginning? Are you sure you're playing on impossible? https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/Smiley/suspicious.gif

 

[silencer_pl]

I think 1 soldier died maybe 2. Yeah I am playing on impossible.

[Space Voyager]

Bah, aliens don't stand a chance! Go Commander Silencer! https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/Smiley/xtreme.gif

[silencer_pl]

Failure is not an option

[silencer_pl]

Continuing the story, the aliens decided to scare us even more.

 

 

Terror Mission in Germany. What is different here is that Terror Mission will always leave a mark. In vanilla the better you did, the more panic was reduced. But here every civilian that gets killed increases the panic meter. So our job is to minimize that growth. Which will be hard. While in vanilla I've always had excellent / good rating for civilian casualties. Here I will be struggling somewhere in the middle.

 

As start the game provides us with the bug of spawning. A single floater here.

 

 

But his other buddies over there where sun doesn't shine.

 

 

We were fighting like lions, even Chryssalids where there.

 

 

I've thrown everything I've got at them. Including kitchen sinks.

 

 

They were so many. It all looked hopeless.

 

 

But eventually we have survived.

 

 

Another mission was abduction site in China.

 

 

It's rather tradition to meet the Seekers.

 

 

The next group was drones. I can deal with drones.

 

 

Unless my soldiers can't hit the barn.

 

 

The next group we found, was of course - The seekers.

 

 

And can you guess what was the last group? I give you a hint. It was seekers once again.

 

 

So even IF I brought battle scanner. I wouldn't be able to detect every group. So that is why I don't bring them, because it's a waste of slot in my opinion.

 

 

And if the matters can't be worse, we've got a mission in Newfoundland. And for those who played the game know what this mission is.

 

 

It's that kind of mission, where you only fight Chryssalids and zombies. Pretty nasty mission. And to increase the challenge, some Chryssalids have Lighting Reflexes perks. Lightning Reflexes have been changed, they trigger all the time, but from what I have been told the first shot is like 90% chance to avoid damage, the next ones are 70% so overwatch will not save me.

 

 

Instead I will have to move very slowly and kill every group one by one.

 

 

And if you are smart as me or smarter, you will use terrain to your advantage.

 

 

In following scenario I have blocked any possible path for Chryssalids to use their jumping skill. That way they could only move the longest route, which gave me 2 more turns for shooting without any fear. And in some cases the AI went bonkers and just stood under our feet.

 

Once the main area was cleared, we have reached this big cargo ship.

 

 

It was Chryssalids breeding hive. Corporal Nitro had to dash over to the bridge and activate homing device.

 

 

Then everyone run as fast as they could before the bombers will blow up this place to kingdom come.

 

 

After that mission I need to hire more soldiers, because the last mission I had to use fatigued ones.

 

 

Also in the mean time. We are given information about a new threat: Exalt.

 

 

And those buggers started in Argentina, rising panic to the maximum. Thankfully it was panic and not cash grab or research sabotage.

 

 

We also had several UFOs over Europe. 3 small UFOs which all were destroyed (thankfully) and a medium size UFO.

 

 

And as crazy I am, I've sent all rookie squad to get that medium UFO.

 

 

Our first enemies were drones. Which were dealt with small amount of trouble.

 

 

However one of them tried to escape and we have caught him in the UFO itself.

 

 

The aliens were giving away hints about their whereabouts so I wasn't concerned I encounter them while chasing the drone.

In fact it gave me opportunity to prepare the attack - sort of. When we have entered the UFO, I first targeted floaters. I hoped they would be more aggressive and bust into a trap.

 

 

But once their muton buddies joined the fray I had to do a tactical retreat.

 

 

One of the muton charged blindly.

 

 

But also another group had to ruin the party. So it looks like I am fighting on every possible front.

 

 

With a bit of luck, I somehow managed to contain the aliens in the room.

 

 

But they just kept coming.

 

 

With all the positive Karma I have used, it was time to chase down the remaining aliens.

 

 

Good thing, the outsiders didn't want to join. Otherwise we would have 6 dead rookies.

 

 

 

[silencer_pl]

Back in the base I've decided to build a Workshop. I was hoping to wait for the bonus of reduced construction and maintenance. But I could wait for it 2 months just to liberate Russia.

 

 

We've received information from our Covert Operative, that all is set. However we can only bring 4 people on this mission. And I don't like it. I will have to send the best I can offer.

 

 

Fortunately the operative is close to the objectives, and the objectives are also close to each other.

 

 

So I've immediately rushed towards both, while the rescue team moved closer. The Exalt troops were everywhere but hacking those relays disables their guns for a turn (they still can throw grenades). Only explosives will be the bane for my troops.

 

 

Once the operative was safely evacuated the team has slowly pulled back, killing few Exalt soldiers on the way.

 

 

Although I've killed only 5 soldiers, a success is a success.

We finally get advanced lasers. Which means Laser Cannons for Interceptors on more pew pews for our guys.

And another successful month.

 

 

We can now order Arc Thrower. Which is expensive. They've also nerfed it to oblivion. It only has 1 charge. And the basic one have only 55% chance of stunning alien. Because of stupid response: "ECONOMY BALANCE". I call it bullshit. Capturing aliens is not easy task.

 

 

Our next mission will be abduction site in Germany. Maybe if I will have 3 interceptors with laser cannons I would be able to take down those UFOs.

 

 

The first group of aliens we have encountered were of course seekers.

 

 

The second group were sectoids.

 

 

And the last group was a Muton with floters. And only Muton proved more difficult, because nobody could hit him even when he was out of cover.

 

 

Right after the first Exalt mission I've used intel scan to detect another cell. This one located in USA, and we will have full complement of soldiers.

 

 

The Exalt was already located in the encoder location.

 

 

When fighting Exalt, you must watch out no to get your soldiers too close to each other. Otherwise they will use nasty things.

 

 

Most of the Exalt relay comms were very close and our operative could hack them every turn. This granted us lots of free shots.

You have to also watch out for miss clicks. And of course even if you have 90% chance to crit, you will not crit. Because Murphy rule.

 

 

The amount of Exalt forces was too much for us, and we weren't able to save the encoder. However we've managed to kill them before their reinforcements arrived.

 

 

The fight continued but we've pushed forward and each turn Exalt forces were dwindling.

 

 

They even somehow managed to almost blow themselves up.

 

 

Eventually we have won, but 2 soldiers almost paid the full price.

 

 

Snapshot + cover and still hit. Bloody 20% lucker.

 

 

Another mission we've got was another abduction site. This time we have our first Arc Thrower. But capturing aliens will not be that easy.

 

 

Right from the start we had to fight 2 groups.

 

 

It was manageable, but a bit hard. We've managed to make those aliens retreat.

 

 

And finally kill last of them.

 

 

Next on our agenda is another small UFO (fighter).

 

 

A rather quick and fast mission. I was hoping to capture Outsider but first he moved in wrong position and I had to take him down.

 

 

After that mission, we get second part of Operation Slingshot.

 

 

And another UFO over Europe. They strangely like to visit Europe :>

 

 

I've went with 4 assaults, a sniper and a rocketeer just in case I need to blow some cover. To be honest this was pretty effective. The aliens didn't have anything to say.

 

 

Even the poor Mutons were shotgunend to death upon teleporting.

 

 

Eventually we have placed every transponders and started the train.

 

 

Next we went to that UFO, where we managed to get a Thin Man.

 

 

But before we can interrogate him, we must first learn about their insides.

 

 

Next mission was also quite easy. And there we get a live Floater.

 

 

Soon after, we get the final mission from Operation Slingshot. How on earth can you land on a flying battleship without being shot down? I don't know.

 

 

The aliens didn't throw a welcoming party. The first area was totally empty except from those pesky Thin Man who like to jump in from the sky.

 

 

The real party was at the end, where all sorts of aliens where there. Thin mans, Sectoid, Seekers, Floaters, Chryssalid, Muton and even a Cyberdisc.

 

 

This ending sapped every energy I had, and I almost screamed monitor to death, because of those stupid 85%+ misses.

But the reward for that mission is worth it.

 

[silencer_pl]

Ok folks, OpenXcom is officially over, but Long War is far from being over. In fact it will take long time, before I will finish it. So I will have to compress that time a bit. Most of the missions are either small or medium UFOs with occasionally abduction mission. So unless something spectacular happens let's imagine that every mission is your standard mission I've done in the past.

 

We've finished the Operation Slingshot in last update and what I notice is that in general the loot was pretty low for a Battleship. Anyways, next on the radar was small Fighter, but it was blown to bits.

 

 

After that I've made a Intel Scan.

 

 

While we were waiting for the Operative, the Council has sent us to rescue Peter Van Dorn. Since council missions have a set of map, you should remember this mission. I've yet to find a playthrough where I didn't have this mission.

 

 

After mission, we've finished Thin Man autopsy, and began to Interrogate the live one.

 

 

It's time to extract the Operative and oh boy this mission was hard.

 

 

The operative was on the other side of the damned map and in the way there was like 10-12 Exalt soldiers. This is the only part of the force. The 4 man operation can be suicidal on few maps.

 

 

Anyways, I've managed to complete the mission by killing every Exalt troop there was. The funny part was, that when they were dropping reinforcements, the drops were almost literally on my head.

 

The next mission was another UFO.

 

 

And after that was a terror mission.

 

 

A terror mission where Zombie decides to make a cameo. Darn you Zombie. You had to poke your nose in OpenXcom and now here?

 

 

The Thin Man interrogation will fasten our future Laser Technology research. And yes there are more laser techs than what we have now.

 

 

And as for next few projects, we will examine those UFOs we have secured. It will lead to improved damage dealt to UFOs.

 

 

Our next mission was another small UFO.

 

 

It looks like Cyberdiscs will be now present in some missions. I've also captured Outsider - finally.

 

 

Another month evaluation.

 

 

After those few UFO projects, we now proceed with Outsider shard.

 

 

And head over to China.

 

 

Deal with UFO.

 

 

Spy on the Exalt. You can make 1 mission at a time unfortunately.

 

 

While the Operative was doing his job, we had to deal with another abduction and few UFOs.

 

 

This Exalt mission was a bit easier than the previous one, but still I had to move fast with the agent and retreat when the job is done. Exalt simply outnumbers you.

 

 

Now to make the skeleton key, but we don't have spare resources (read cash). Nor we have squad size upgrade too.

 

 

Next mission, another UFO.

 

 

And we've got the money for first upgrades in OTC. But for now I'll wait with promotions, except with 1 soldier, though I should have gave it to O'Carroll.

 

 

Hey it's everyone's favorite bomb disposal mission. It was fun.

 

 

After the Outsider, I've went for Xenogenetics. So now everyone is excited about that Meld thing. But not yet. Because psionics and Genetic modifications don't work together, so I guess it's better to check who can have PSI and who can't. Though with operation Progeny I will get 4 soldiers PSI capable.

 

 

Next thing, we need better armour. The aliens are packing more punch now.

 

 

We've got another series of UFOs to deal, and Exalt activated in Japan.

 

[silencer_pl]

It's another one of those missions, that I need to finish quickly.

 

 

After that, let's check again.

 

 

And we also have to help Aussies.

 

 

I've finally got enough money and upgraded the squad size to 8 people. So let's liberate Russia, though they don't deserve it.

 

 

I had to start slowly, there were enemies everywhere and I didn't want to stir the hornet nest, although I was inside one. The first enemies were just sectoids. I've camped in good spot trying to snipe them.

 

 

After that we've met a group of sectoids with commander and 2 mechatoids....

 

 

But soon the Thin Man decided to join the party and a Cyberdisc with drones....

 

 

An excellent time to use rocket right? Somehow we've managed to get out without any damage. The mechatoids started to run away, but we've caught them eventually. We've also met few Chryssalids on the way and Seekrs group.

 

 

In the middle of the map, there was this group of Mutons and floaters waiting for us. But we've hunkered down and waited for them to come to us.

 

 

The last part of the base, was again few sectoids, mechatoid and few floaters. It was almost perfect run. At this last part only 1 soldier was injured. Was hoping for a dodge with my assault, but oh well. Armour saves your bacon.

 

 

Alien bases are valued for the amount of meld you can get. With Beta 14, the Skeleton key will be used upon assaulting the base, so for now it is good to milk those bases for Meld, but I won't do that on purpose. All you have to do is accuse a country for financing Exalt. They quit, aliens build base, you go there, get the meld, and again. All because of the end game items require ludicrous amounts of meld. Even Firestorms needs Meld. I think that the mod devs over abused the meld in this case.

 

 

We've also finished the Biocybernetics.

 

 

Another Exalt mission, this time it was I who had fun. 8 men team is so nice.

 

 

And another UFO. Why they only try to milk in Europe. The beta 14 is suppose to make Aliens move to other countries to raid for resources... There will be this time, where I won't keep up with repairs.

 

 

This UFO should have land, but it didn't - bastards. (NOE) in location says It will land - so they say.

 

 

After those genetics and cyebernetics I could now perform autopsy and interrogation on flaoters.

 

[silencer_pl]

Our next targets were some UFOs. Some of them were destroyed some of them crash landed.

 

 

After that, another scan for Exalt was made. Always choose the country with highest panic.

 

 

And another pair of UFOs and abduction site. Actually I couldn't intercept those UFOs because all my aircraft's where in repairs. Well this is sort of good, because aliens could improve themselves and in theory I could get more Meld from the canisters. But of course due to Murphy's laws only the first part is true.

 

 

After that more UFOs, but now I had some fighters.

 

 

With live Sectoid interrogated, we have now access to psionics.

 

 

Meanwhile we have another Exalt mission to perform.

 

 

Next the aliens have thrown a little terror. Well Japan will be lost. In no way I can rescue all civilians. The funny part about this mission, it was all Zombies and Chryssalids. It was like Zombie has decided to throw his family too. Not that I know how big his family is, but still, there was like 10 zombies or so.

 

 

With Psionics done, I've built the lab, and that is all for now with buildings, without Elerium Generator I will not be able to build another building for now.

 

 

I've also decided to go for that UFO to increase damage, then I'll go for Elerium to get that generator.

 

 

There is also a supply barge mission Mexico. I wonder is there some kind of an island?

 

 

The mission was pretty dangerous on the start, since if I would go left, there would be Muton patrol - including berserker. While if I would go right, there would be 2 Mechatoids, 2 sectoids and a drone. Obviously I've chosen the left path, then I could take care of the other enemies. I've also managed to capture Berserker. It's funny, that I've captured him faster than standard Mutons.

 

So like I said.

 

 

That is a second terror mission this month. I guess those 2 UFOs that I couldn't get brought enough supplies for 2 terror missions. Well Germany will be out, unless I get some Council mission.

 

 

This mission was a little pain. Because of the Bersekers frequent Uga buga buga ability (read Intimidate).

 

 

I also don't get it, how is it possible, that this soldier on almost last rank, has only 39 Will.... She has low Accuracy, appalling will, but she has 15 mobility.

 

[silencer_pl]

Ok, time for another update. This mod is hell of a lot long. Anyways, we are currently in the first week of November, we had lots of stuff researched.

 

 

And we currently upgrading our Laser Technology to be even more deadly.

 

 

All those shiny techs that we could get will cost a lot of time to do. But the base has been finally upgraded to have Elerium Generator in synergy with Thermal Generator, so I could finally afford to build additional Laboratory which should help speed things up. We are having something near 100 scientists and look how much time still you need to research all those cool stuff.

 

In foundry department we have all this cool stuff:

 

 

And could get more cooler stuff. But the problem is - they've made it ludicrously overpriced. Like for example I had to pay 500 or 600 credits just for Ammo Conservation project. And there are few more upgrades that cost 300+ credits. I know it is from keeping player in constant need of cash but, this artificial hardening is removing the fun stuff.

 

 

In the soldier department we are upgrading them with both PSI and Gene mods. Though fully upgrading with gene mods cost ~50 Meld, and we have 63 soldiers so yeah. To add more salt to the wound. The final armour costs 100 MELD and 100 Elerium. This overpriced stuff makes the player want to milk those alien bases for 60 Meld, because acquiring the natural way yields little result. Ok they are saying you can't do every mission. Fine I can't shoot down transporters just yet, but if they land, why can't I go there and zap those aliens if I am good. The problem here is. If you are good, you will receive little meld and aliens will upgrade slowly. If you do average. You can get higher amount of meld, but the aliens will be tougher and you have harder time to get to them plus you will not have that many good soldiers. When you do bad, well you will get stomped so no need to play further if you play bad.

 

Oh and Firestorms also cost MELD. They took a wrong turn with the meld department. So currently my thoughts about this mod is like this: Mission - ok challenging I like that - you can't feel too powerful, other metagame stuff - pretty out of place - too much artificial hardening - takes away fun and makes playing the game more like a choir. Currently in Beta 13 you don't use Skeleton key after base attack, but the upcoming beta 14 will change that. Considering that capturing aliens in vanilla was hard, here is ludicrously hard and you need 2-3 times more luck for that perfect situation.

 

Ok but let's continue with the showcase. Our team has gained new officers. Lieutenant O'Carroll and Fujii got promoted to Captain. With upgrade that increases defense. It's always about the defense. High defense means aliens will have trouble hitting you. They are also in the process of acquiring all those nasty gene mods, which will make them killing machines. And if we have Commander rank (need 3 more upgrades which are also costly) one of them will be Commander - probably O'Carroll.

 

 

Infantry are my personal best for the role of the officer. I must always have 2 of them, they are second best after Assault class. But they are in the middle of the team so they can provide officer bonuses to the whole team. The only thing is that Officers can't undergo psi training. Probably would make them too powerful.

 

Janet Young was also recently promoted to Lieutenant.

 

 

About our global standing.

 

 

The Exalt is slowly being destroyed. Not having the knowledge about Germany not funding Exalt makes a perfect situation to milk them for the Meld from alien bases. Just accuse them, they will quit, aliens built a base there, go there, Germany returns. Repeat until you have 5000 meld . Of course every time you must build a satellite, because when they abandon you, they shoot down the satellite. Bastards.

It's like in original X-COM - milk that base for Elerium. But here is more time consuming.

 

Now about the missions. Where there were a lot of them - mostly small UFOs or few abduction sites. However I've had few hairy ones. Like for example those two Bomb Disposal missions. Running on the edge of the timer, or being shot from extremely far away.

 

 

Of course don't forget to liberate the Japan.

 

 

The only thing that may discourage yours average player from milking alien bases is the amount of aliens. Although if someone is persistent to save scum... but still I don't see any normal player doing 50 alien base raids.

 

We had many missions, where we had to stamped over Exalt. Some missions almost cost some lives. But you know - high risk, high rewards.

 

 

Having fast covert op, right map and close proximity of Exalt comm relays and you can agro that many of them. Just be careful. They can throw grenades.

 

 

Also question, how many Mutons can you pack in one place?

 

 

The answer add few more to the result from above. This is Germany liberation, which I abused to milk some Meld. Though I'm not a fan of those moves, but the game forces upon you this.

 

I've also had few transports where major part was battle bunker on the command room roof.

 

 

And sometimes Exalt happens too. (I also had them in alien base in Germany).

 

There is also one mission when I had to run for cover - or find the higher ground. All because of the damned berserker. He is tough and once I had him make panic 6 out of 8 soldiers. It was something like this. Soldier A fires at Berseker -> Intimidate -> Panic fail 80% -> Soldier B panics because Soldier A panic, then C, E, F.... and it was all 70-80 chance of success rolls. And they said they reduced the chain panic. For this I even hate Jake Solomon. The stupidest mechanic ever.

 

 

Oh and talking about panicking and stuff. XCOM soldiers will generally in average reach Will of 60-70 - some occasions they have below 50 on last upgrade and some may have ~100. But what I have learned is that simple sectoids when aliens reach high tech levels - they have 125 Will. Which means their Psi Attacks will get even stronger. Talking about uber bullshit.

 

Anyways that's enough of my rant for this update. Stay tuned for more. Of course more detailed mission information are on my YT channel, which attracted a lot of people, even though it is not a Let's Play.

[silencer_pl]

An in-game month has passed since the last update. Plenty of missions were done, mostly were small UFOs. In research department we've made OK progress, gaining Pulse Laser Technology and it's Advanced part and also Gauss Weaponry.

 

 

Now what's the difference between all 3 weapon types we can get.

 

1. Basic Lasers - quite better damage than basic weapons - special bonus: small bonus to aim

2. Pulse Lasers - increased damage than basic lasers - special bonus: increased critical chance.

3. Gauss Guns - more damage than lasers, but less than pulse (I think) - special bonus: bypasses small amount of damage resistance.

 

We could get plasma weapons but it would take too much time when I was researching pulse lasers. Additional research, was autopsy of Sectoid Commander and interrogation of live one. Also I've researched the info about Abductor and Transport UFO, which will increase the damage we dill to it.

 

In Foundry projects it was mostly stuff that aided our interceptors.

 

On Exalt progress, we've kicked their ass so hard, that we now know where theirs HQ is. It's in Argentina. But I'm not attacking it yet. Not until B14 will be released, since it gives few supposed cool items in Exalts HQ.

 

 

You might have noticed that we've lost Brasil. Yes there were some UFOs that caused havoc, but the satellite to counter that is manufactured.

 

What else it is to say, we are fighting the good fight. Our best soldiers are gaining psi modifications, more officers have been promoted, and our captains are gaining experience to become Majors.

[silencer_pl]

Hey, it's time for another update from the front. We are still fighting the good fight. It is now April 2016, which means we are fighting more than 1 year with the aliens. The end is slowly nearing, but there is a lot of fights to do. Beta 14 has been released few weeks ago. And that means I have finally destroyed Exalt with one big operation. 10 soldiers bursted inside their HQ in Argentina. At this point Exalt was collaborating with the aliens as we have found few sectoids including commander and muton elite there.

 

In our research department we are almost done. We have the knowledge of Plasma Guns, Firestorm and heavy power armours, except the flying suits. However we are lacking main resource - Elerium and Meld is also depleted from our stores. This mod increased so much economy that every time I see a price, I just lower my face and cry. They even want you to pay with meld for Firestorm and plasma guns. They are insane. Luckily I can remove that obstacle from config file. They even forced you to capture aliens so you can build plasma guns. That is right - you can't use alien weapons. You must make your own from theirs. And the cost for Firestorm in secondary equipement like alien navigation is plain ludicrous. I think they have overdid with the economy.

 

 

Oh and the EMP Cannon so I could get more stuff from UFOs - it requires friging Sectopod corpse. And I had ONLY 3 sectopods during entire campaign and you need 3 corpses to make autopsy.

 

 

The economy in this mod is very frustrating. The ground battles are tough and if 1 alien pods will get Navigator or god forbid Leader unit (specially the powerful alien) you are royally screwed. And also your offensive psi skills like mind fray or psi panic? Useless. Having 70 Will, which is standard high and only Annette Durand and the Furies can have higher, is worthless, because when sectoids will start to have 100+ Will, you will have like few % chance of success, while they will have 100%. Someone must convince them, that this is not going in the right direction. Early game is tough but manageable and enjoyable. Mid is also ok, but late game? No totally screwed.

 

 

Enough of my rant. So how are things. We have coverage of entire world and 3 Firestroms were manufactured.

 

 

Our base is almost complete. Missing the obvious Gollop Chamber and maybe I will replace 1 workshop with cybernetics foundry.

 

 

Our rooster consist of something ~70 soldiers. I've done a few cleanups of soldiers that were completely useless to me.

 

We have currently 3 soldiers that have 100+ kills and are top best soldiers:

 

 

The position of the commander is open and I believe that Colonel O'Carroll will be promoted. The rank of Commander is also nice because you can choose perk that will permanently increase aim and will of soldier that participated in battle without casualties. It caps at +10.

 

As for casualties - they are extremely low.

 

 

Private Dufour died while defending XCOM base. It was my mistake. I moved him to a position I was at first not comfortable with. And I feel terrible for it, because he was very promising soldier. In Long War, after defending base (which may occur more than once) - remaining "blue shirts" (as they are called because their cammo is blue) are made officially XCOM soldiers (there are 6 rookies at your disposal during base defense IF you have casualties).

 

 

Oh and one more thing - I've encountered Etherals - we are boned.

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

Ethereals are so pathetic. So frail and have mind control. Wanna know a secret? Ok....Shush...shush, it's only between you and me. Ok....it's a secret!

lol, nah I'm just bullshiting, use explosives and make them a non-threat. Set them on fire, rip them in half!

 

Azeral Strife would be insulted by your lack of empathy towards Brazil. Oh well. As long as you leave the cocaine industry alone everything is A Oh Ya Yo.

 

=)

[silencer_pl]

The only thing that makes me mad at Etherals is their bloody reflect damage skill (but that's minor issue) and the frigging PSI Lance, that devastates your soldiers. It's like: "Hi, you are dead".

[Space Voyager]

Someone must convince them, that this is not going in the right direction.

 

Whom? The Sectoids or mod developers?