Interest call for new idea/recruit list

[Saphroneth]

So, I had a crazy idea a few weeks ago, based on the Lets Play of the XCOM series by Chiasaur11 on the GiantITP forums. In this, forumites sign up for positions as cannon fodder recruits, as well as any other possible position, and then the person running the game plays through with the renamed soldiers and reports on what happened, in character.
Death toll will be high. But the Earth will probably survive.

Edit: It's been suggested I link an example here.
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116489
There. Now I need to come up with new jokes...

So:
Interested?
Name
Preferred occupation/weapon loadout*
Base location and name recommendation
Preference on save frequency and difficulty (I've only played once, on easy, but how hard can it be?)

Starting weapons include the pistol, rifle, heavy cannon, autocannon, rocket launcher, three different types of explosive (grenade, demo charge and smoke) and cattle prod.
Open period will be essentially constant, with names being used as I need hires.
If hires run out, Jayhawk Cybernetics will be subcontracted for robotic death machines controlled by tortured souls.


Oh, and if it matters, my role in character is the central computer. The pesky first law prevents my defeating the aliens singlehandedly, so I need humans to do it for me.


*Caution: cannot guarantee satisfaction. Signing up for XCOM indicates that you agree to die in the defence of Earth, in random horrible ways to test new weapons, or just because of boredom on the part of the person with the rocket launcher.

[Arcalane]

I think a better example is in order. Therefore:
The SomethingAwful Let's Play of X-COM: UFO Defense, by GuavaMoment

Base locations:


These two spots give excellent coverage of large portions of Russia, Europe, Australia, Africa and China. The western base could probably stand to be moved towards the east a little if need be. With Large Radars or Hyperwave Decoders, you can lock down the area(s), the latter allowing you to prioritize targets based on mission. Ignore the alien base and terror site, the former of which I am definitely not exploiting for fat stacks of elerium.

[Saphroneth]

Statement: Interesting input. (Though the GitP Lets play does include more in the way of RP still available to view)
Query: What about the western hemisphere?
Addendum: Of course there will not remain one base for long. Already viral marketing campaigns are beginning extolling the virtues of laser cannons on one's pickup.
Engineers and scientists will take note that work hours are constant and maximised. I require no downtime, so neither should "superior" organics.

Somewhat embarrassed question: Does the screenshot function work in Steam XCOM? It doesn't seem to, though it does on TFTD from the same install batch.

[Arcalane]

Query: What about the western hemisphere?

It's all about reading the graphs when it comes to placing your second base. I've been monitoring alien activity in the Americas and there's been practically none in my game. Blackbox was placed in Australia to keep an eye on very sharply rising alien activity levels there, and also monitors an alien base in that area. Which it doesn't abuse for incredibly-low-risk elerium by virtue of the base having been built by Floaters.

Blackbox Ops Team says Supply Ship Piracy is fun and profitable!*

It ultimately depends on how the aliens behave for you, which varies from game to game. You might need to place it further north (covering China/Japan), west (covering south/north africa) or near the Americas. Just check the graphs every couple of weeks and monitor relations with the funding nations. If activity is spiking and approval is dropping, install a monitoring/interception base. A couple of Interceptors with Avalanches will make short work of the smaller vessels, easily compensating for the alien's infiltration and terror efforts.

*Observe the recoloured suits (courtesy of Bomb Bloke's Toolkit) which I am running in conjunction with the beta of XComUtil 9.7. 100% compatible with the Steam version of X-COM.

~~

Somewhat embarrassed question: Does the screenshot function work in Steam XCOM? It doesn't seem to, though it does on TFTD from the same install batch.

I've been alt-printscreen'ing for the screenshots I take, hence the border there. If you started up DOSBox without launching X-COM (totally possible, just tweak the .conf file after backing up it's autorun part) you could navigate around and find the key config, and use that to set a screenshot key.

[Saphroneth]

Good points all, though don't assume I'm a complete newb. I did make it to Cydonia...

Also, just to clarify, are you signing up (and if so, as what) or just commenting?

I may put bases around #4 on the poles to catch atmospheric insertions. All pilots assigned to these bases are advised to take lots of reading material, and preferably warm clothes.

[Saphroneth]

After a bit of thought I think I might move this to the general forum for now. I'll leave this up in case the idea of a RP version gets off the ground, but if I do do one in the near future it'll be in Castle Keep.