Just when you thought it was safe to... TFTD, the soldier genocide simulator.

[Saphroneth]

Very Small. Not worth the bother. Blast it.

Also
More
Recruits
Arrived.

Oh no, not good.

Field recording:



"So, this is what a typical mission is like for you guys, huh?"
"No, rookie. This is a terror mission. We have two possibilities. Either it's the kind of terror mission where we all eat hearty on Reaperburgers, or we will all most likely die."
"So, uh, how do we find out which?"
"We ask the Dalek. Hey, Dalek, what's the lowdown?"


DEATH!
"Crap."

"Holy... Did she just - "

"Yes, the Cap just jumped out of the 'ranger and killed an alien at point blank range. Be very thankful that you are not at that level yet."


"Now hurry up and get out there, the LZ's clear for squishy people without armour."
"Hey, it's not my fault I got hired late! Why couldn't I have one of the others' unused suits?"
"Because they are specially fitted to reduce encumbrance. Nobody else looks the same as you."

"Hey, guys, I feel kinda funny."
"Cap? You okay?"
"Voice in my head... Trying to make me give up."

SOURCE DETECTED! EXTER-
"No, don't! We might need it for research. Cap, how you doing?"

"I can suddenly concentrate a lot better."
"What the hell is that thing? Captain, I don't think it's seen you yet. Get into the building."

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

"Crap! Grenade!"
*explosion*
"Rookie, you OK?"
"Rookie? Uta, check on him!"

"Not even ashes... He is gone."
EXTERMINATING FOR VENGEANCE!
"OK, guys, I'm going to try and cattle prod that bastard alien. Give me cover."
"Godspeed, Grigory."

[Saphroneth]

"Ha HAH! Take that, you bastard!"

"Everyone feeling better?"
"Much. Thanks."


"Night night, guys, see you later."
*explosion*
"You know, guys, if Akira's helmet cam didn't show a stun launcher just before that blast I'd be a lot more worried..."



"Confirmed. It's one of their leaders. Hope he enjoyed the cattle prod, because he's going to get it until he can't think back at base."

*repeated plasma fire. Around 7 or 8 shots, all hitting the same substance.*
"I think that was the tank front armour plate. Hey, Dalek! You OK?"

RETALIATE!
"Good to know."

"Captain? Those disk things."

"They have suicide charges. Stay the hell away from them."

*at this point the video feed cuts out. Testimony from soldiers indicates that the other aliens and the remaining cyberdisk were taken out with sniper fire, but not before recruit Likhachev took a heavy plasma bolt to the head, necessitating a dash across much of the battlefield by Uta to stem the bleeding as he had passed out. He is in traction for the forseeable future.*

Looks like they didn't notice poor Leon.
At least we now have proof positive of para-psychic powers in aliens. Plan is to electrocute the beezjus out of it until we find out what part of it makes the psychic effects, and then try and replicate that in humans. Perhaps we can use this to our advantage...

[Saphroneth]

Note: After a quick test, I have found there's no way I can fit in all the psionic research in time to have the lab ready to test before the next month end (Psi lab is 24 days construction, so ideally needs to be started before the 6th of the month) , so that takes a back seat for a bit. Rest assured, beatings (of aliens) WILL continue until morale improves. In the mean time, hyperwaves, plasma weapons, and navigation equipment.

If anyone knows how the research time formula works (and how many lab hours each tech is), I would be grateful to find out.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

It's not set in stone. Basically, each item of research has a number of man-days assigned as a baseline. When you actually start to research it, the game rolls up somewhere between 50-150% of that number of man-days for the actual research time. You can find the baselines here

[Saphroneth]

The base at Beijing has finally become a true XCOM base in more than name - they've got actual fighting capability.

Because everyone knows Tanks do the real work.

In addition to that, we can now listen in to Hyperwave transmissions... well, once these are built. One is ordered for CERN, and another for Beijing.
And more troops arrive for both bases.
Don't Get Attached To Them.
And the batch for Beijing.

Looks a lot better than last month, when it was basically a lift.

The crew of the Sky Ranger "Yo ho, me hearties!"

Yes. Well. They're going to try raiding the supply ships when they come into the Australia alien base once the Decoder's up. In the meantime, we're researching how to fly an Alien ship.

Back to the daily frag.

For this one, the Captain didn't go. She was commanding the mission from the big screen in mission control - not only was the UFO barely fifty miles away, but she'd been on active since the start and much of the first team were enjoying a well deserved respite from being on call.

"OK, how's things?"
"Alright, really. Our Dalek is on scouting as usual, everyone else is ready to go."

CONTACT!

"First Grey neutralized. Moving out."
"Sergeant, the power source seems to be intact, so the interior of that ship is a deathtrap. Recommend ambush techniques - start pumping in CO monoxide, and they'll have to come out eventually."


COMING UNDER FIRE! ENEMY UNDETECTABLE!

"Sergeant, what was that clunk noise?"

"...We lost signal from the Dalek chassis. The jar is still reading, but faint."
"You complete Batard!"

"The same one got Emille as well! Frag it, quick!"

"Found the Grey. Eat this, alien scum!"

"Drakh, but that was satisfying."

[Saphroneth]

"Captain, the Greys have started vacating the ship. We should be okay as long as -"

"Gunter? Damnit, we lost three. Everyone ready to get the last one, because that DAMN well better not happen again!"
"Stun bomb!"

"I think that's the last of them. Clottin' hell, way to mess up by the numbers."
"At least we got the Elerium."

After that mission, many of the troops, both in and out of rotation, thought that they didn't deserve promotions - planned due to the increased size of the soldier corps.
The UN disagreed.

We're rebuilding the Dalek's casing for him, but he's not happy with what happened. Nor are we. We need better armour.
Both tank and human.

Oh good. A bigger one.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Interesting, you're not segregating your hangars from the rest of your base? I always thought the caution was probably unnecessary, but it didn't hurt all *that* much.

[Saphroneth]

As the Beijing base is, there is one place that acts as a choke point - the lift - and the living quarters internal to that prevent the enemy from the west hanger from linking up easily. They also identify any terror weapons while on high TUs and reactions.
Then the troops from the rest of the base can sort it out.


As was becoming usual, the UFO we'd seen vanished off the radar coverage before a fighter could reach it.
By this time next month, however, we would be the ones laughing...

Better late than never.
The crew were soon loaded into the new ranger, along with an awful lot of ammunition and some laser rifles from CERN
Light up the Night.
and were sent to patrol around Australia until they noticed something.

The choice of Australia for the first alien base on terran soil was inspired, I had to admit. It meant that the potential for discovery was massively lower than anywhere else on Earth, and that it would take a great deal of searching, round the clock, before-
Oh, there it is.
The land of Abel. No, Abel Tasman, not an as yet unwritten character from a barely started webcomic. That has no relevance anyway.
While the skyranger hovered over the Nullarbor in hopes of spotting an alien supply ship, back in Europe things were happening.
Not much, mind, just another medium scout UFO being splashed over the Austrian Alps.
Wonder what they were looking for.
Well, this means that the crew will have to be extra careful because we have no-
REINCARNATE!
Oh good, the Dalek's back. why are people interrupting me so much today.


EXTERMINATE ALL ALIENS! EXTERMINATE!

ANNIHILATE!

YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS.
...I FEEL INADEQUATE.


ADDITIONAL XENOS DETECTED. EMPLOY EXPLOSIVE AMMUNITION!

ENGAGE RELAX-O-VISION!

NICE WORK MATE.



ALL ALIENS EXTERMINATED.


"So, why did you let the Dalek write the report on this one?"
"Well, we thought that as it was his big comeback..."
"Fair enough. Here, the UN promoted people again. You're on the list."

Jacks is a commander? What does that make me?
"So if I am still in charge, and you're a commander, then that means..."
"Just no. Please no."
"I am the very model-"
*bzzzrp*
"Sorry sir, it was for your own good. The others wouldn't have only used the cattle prod."

[Saphroneth]

Additional: Alien Ships.


Small scout.
Crew of 1. Tiny. Essentially impossible to merely shoot down, at least in our experience.

Medium Scout.
Crew of up to 6, mainly grunts and navigators. If the UFO has been shot down and the power source breached, crew will be less.
Plasma Beams can destroy Medium scouts straight from flight capable.

Large Scout.
Tricky to assault due to having a series of doors, we found the best thing to do is clear out the outside and then have everyone rush through the door at once. Move slowly inside. Crew of up to ten - depends on individual UFO.

Terror Ship
The ships that drop the terrorist units and their handlers. We've never seen one, but they're big in order to carry the terror mission crew.
DANGER! If a Sectoid Terror ship is shot down it WILL have a psionic aboard, unless the crash killed it! Snakeman ones are worse - Chryssalids.
*note from chief scientist: don't the aliens realize that their power sources are megaton scale warheads? Why drop off a dozen or so troops and a few mad science creations - or walking burgers - when they could instead just set a medium scout as an RKV and flatten a major metropolitan area before anyone could react?
*note from XCOM Actual: Luckily aliens are idiots.
Update: Terror ships are essentially a flying cargo bay containing the terror units in separate areas on the top floor, from where they are dropped through the hole in the floor to facilitate the attack. They are possessed of an entertainment deck - certainly a useful diversion when transporting gigantic, terrifying monsters. Their top floors are also made of external bulkhead, presumably another safety measure. Their doors admit HWPs.

Battleship.
We only know of this thing from one of the Zelinsky time jumps. Apparently it shredded the interceptor that spotted it from outside even Avalanche range, in one shot.
Presumed to be VERY large and VERY deadly. As of yet, avoid!
Update: Battleships are huge, carry a complement of Terror weapons in addition to the regular loadout and have at least one Alien Commander on board. They are, in the case of Sectoids at least, directly linked to their entire retinues and use them as psi amplifiers. They also know the Alien purpose on Earth and presumably the location of the main Alien base.

Harvester.
Sectoid Harvesters carry psykers. The ship is much easier to navigate with flying suits and, preferably, the bottom floor being blown up.
Presumably designed for Floaters.

Abductor.
Eight pointed star in form. Suggested tactics involve melting the internal walls down to access the command deck. Beware: Psykers confirmed to exist on Sectoid harvesters.

Supply Ship
Hypothesis only. Likely to carry both alien foodstuffs, if such exist, and Elerium fuel. Elerium does not exist on Earth (though the Yucatan peninsula and Sudbury impact crater are being surveyed) and as such it seems clear that alien bases would be supplied.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

A better question is, since the explosions of the power source can totally wreck the ships, which are impervious to pretty much anything you've got short of a blaster launcher, and resistant even to that, if the core goes, how come there are *any* aliens left?


(Also, you can shoot down without slagging a small scout with a cannon, but it's not really worth the bother, unless you *really* want a mind probe. Small scout guys always seem to have one.) It's worth more points to just fry them than it is to shoot down and recover.

[techmaster-glitch]

I wasn't interested at first, but I actually sat and read everything, and I must say, I am interested and amused

[Saphroneth]

Oh good god.

I'm currently playing the next update, and, well...
Terror mission.
With the new crew at Beijing base.
Also, it turns out that Snakemen have turned up.
Yes, I'm doing a frigging snakemen (and hence CHRYSSALID) terror mission with newbies, only seven of them even armoured.

(For those unfamiliar with chryssalids, they are Xenomorphs with the added bonus of carrying the zombie plague. And if you kill the zombie, a new chryssalid pops out. For those of you unfamiliar with Terror missions, there are civilians running around. This is not a good combination.)





Edit after mission:
...I can hardly believe it.
I didn't know I was this good.
ZERO. CASUALTIES.
There were a total of SEVEN chryssalids, and I got them all with no casualties.
Update to follow. Probably in several bits - I took a lot of pictures.

[Saphroneth]

At last, the boffins down in the lab have worked out how to avoid Metroid copyright issues, with this new spiffy type of armour.
I've Got My Jetpack.

Work was begun on hitting the Sectoid leader in lots of different ways.
It's both kinds of brute force attack at once!
And the engineers started making enough flight suits for the active team.

Wow, that was quick.
With the secrets of the mind itself open to us, we began research into how to test for the talent in our own soldiers. Presumably some were better than others.

Large contact over Siberia.
The skyrangers from both bases were launched to intercept, but unfortunately contact was lost over Indonesia. Based on the suspicion that the UFO was vectoring towards Australia and the base there, the 'rangers diverted to patrol.
It was a good decision.

Terror in New Zealand.
As the night began to draw in, the Commander on board the European skyranger called off her own aircraft and gave the go ahead to the Beijing garrison, citing that they had more chance of reaching the target while it was light enough to see.

Nobody likes to fight at night. Even with spiffy new armour.


Based off field recordings.
"Okay, we're down. Now, what kind of aliens is it? Sectoids? Floaters?"
"Worse. Much worse."

"Oh dear lord, is that a Xenomorph?"
"Looks like. Everyone stay the heck away from it."

"I've got a bead on its' snaky friend, firing!"
*Rocket explosion*
"You couldn't have used that on the insect? It's absorbed at least three las hits already."
"Damn it, there's only one thing that'll work. Hey, Yoko, pass me a primed HE!"
"Got it."

"Boom."

"Well, they aren't quite invulnerable. That ups our chances."
"What, from zero?"


"Goddamn but there are a lot of snakes around."


"Er, guys?"
"Holy christ that was close. Blast it!"
*massed laser fire*

"Man, we got a civilian as well. I feel rotten."

"Third one over to the northeast!"
"Everyone fire! Fire! Fire!"

"That's what, four or five laser blasts each on average?"
"At least. What are they made of?"


"I heard a roar over to the south. I think one got a civilian or two."
"Damn. Okay, people, keep moving."

[Saphroneth]

Two hostiles identified.
"Thanks, Leela, we can - what the hell is that thing?"
"Oh god, I think it's a zombie. What the hell."
"Blast the Xenomorph first, we can handle that thing later."

"Right, now we can put fire on the Zed. Yoko?"
"On it- Oh, god."
"What is that!"
"Oh man, I don't feel well..."


"Seriously. What. The. Drakh."
"I think that civvie we killed got off lightly."
"Oh crap, that looks like the worst-"
"Lost tracking on the Xeno that... burst out. Another zombie!"
"No, wait! Don't-"

"It's OK, we got the thing itself as well that time."


I believe I have identified the missing Xenomorph.
Firing. Request support fire.

"Got them both for you, Leela. Nice spotter work."
My pleasure.

Now I have achieved a kill myself.

"Pretty sure this is the last building, there can't be many more-"
"Jungo?"
"Jungo, you OK?"
"Yeah, I'm OK. It passed by without seeing me."

"Must have been the smokescreen. But I'm dead if it doesn't die right sharpish."
"OK, I have a plan. You throw me the rocket, Louis, then I'll pass Jungo the loaded launcher."
"Got it. Fire in the hole!"

*Huge explosion*

[Saphroneth]

"Jungo, you still there?"

*cough*"Yeah. But so is the bugstard. It absorbed the rocket, but it's injured. I think that's a hole in the carapace."
"That it is. Drawing a bead."

"Nothing like a good old laspistol for tight situations."
Final enemy located. Neutralizing.

"And we're done."

"Let's see what the big brass made of that."
Recording ends.
"Commander Dagallie?"
"Yes, sir?"
"...That was the coolest thing I've ever seen."

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Your last link is to 01 instead of 31. Just to let you know...

[Saphroneth]

Ok, thanks.
Fixed.
Now, the main problem left is what to do about Mutons...
I haven't had the time to get plasma weapons done.


Edit: OH CRAP again.
Sectoid base attack.
Worse, the Skyranger was out trying to intercept that same battleship.
Eight men with seven lasers versus sectoids and cyberdisks.

[Saphroneth]

I don't know what to say. I used up all the jokes.
The entire first team at CERN has flying suits now, which means that we can now manage Death From Above. Sadly no chainswords yet, or we'd be Assault Marines. Which would be nice.

The secrets of the mind are ours to command.
We ARE working on Librarians, though.

Looks like a battleship.
The plan was quickly hatched to shadow the assumed BB from beyond firing range, and get our new team of super humans with power armour to ambush the ship on the ground.

And so the pieces moved.

CENSORED.

CERN Actual private audio log.
So the base I'm in is under attack. The Aliens found us. I mean, oh god, I'm probably going to die.
I could have evacuated, but I won't leave the remaining defense troops. It's my mistake that leads to them facing down the horrors of alien battleship crew in a last ditch defense with fewer usable weapons than troops and most of the body armour over in Beijing.
If I'd put plasma research first rather than Psionics we MIGHT have been able to use these Heavy Plasma guns. As it is... We have two lasrifles, five laspistols, one heavy las, twelve grenades, three medkits and a veritable alien arsenal. And ten people.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.


Security camera footage.
"Right, lads, let's make a good go of it, who's with me?"
"We'll do the best we can, but that probably isn't going to be much."
"Contact-"

"Where was that? I didn't see!"
"North hangers! They smashed their BB through the north hanger route!"


"There's a hell of a lot of them!"
"One of them's got a giant ****-off cannon!"
"I think I have a vantage point on the NE hanger!"


"Well, I hit something. Lost sight of the suspected heavy weapon."
"Good work, keep it up!"
"Will d-!"
"Damn, we lost the heavy laser. Anyone in the eastern section of the base, grab that ASAP, cyberdisks are suspected."

"East of the lift secure for now, sound off!"
...
"Damn, we lost, what, four already? Okay, move to try to secure central northern hanger."

[Saphroneth]

"More tangos on approach from North Eastern hanger area! I can't stop them all!"
"I've seen one of the big cannon things, the operator's aiming-!"
*Cameras blank for several seconds, base shakes, collateral data from LIGO indicates weak pulse of implosion gravity, conjectured to be CTD imploder.*
*cough* "What the HELL was that?"

"Guys?"
"...Damnit, we lost the north hanger team. Lucky the Grey that used the thing seems to have caught themselves in the fringe of the blast. That's what they get for firing on a charging target."

"Crap! I've got more trouble over here!"


"Okay, we're alright for now, looks like his plas rifle overheated. But there's more of them... everywhere... they'll get us eventually!"

"Get a hold of yourself, Dwight! Damnit, it's another psionic."


"Okay, connecting corridors clear. They can't have many left after that blast."

"Hey ugly, lightning strikes twice!"
IT WILL NOT AGAIN.

[Saphroneth]

"The hell was that? Was that the Grey BB commander? Arg, inside my head..."
YOU WILL FALL. NONE OF THE OTHERS REMAIN ABLE TO FIGHT. WE HAVE FREED YOUR CAPTIVE.

ENTER INTO THE LIGHT OF THE JJARO AND PERISH. WE HAVE ALL THE SAMPLES WE NEED.

YOUR WORLD IS NOT THE FIRST TO RESIST. IT WILL FALL. LIKE ALL THE REST. EVEN IF WE MUST TURN IT INTO A BREEDING GROUND FOR CHRYSSALIDS. WE WILL RECOVER WHAT WE LOST IN THE W'RKNCACNTER. T'LETH AND THE SLEEPING ONE WILL BE OURS.

Cameras destroyed.
Telemetry lost.
Engaging experimental PSI shielding.

CERN Actual bunker.

"Well, that was interesting before the base autocommand pulled the plug on the Sectoid commander's link to me.
So they're after something. W'rkncacnter... Ancient city with Leth in it... Sleeping one...

Oh, you have got to be kidding me.
Yucatan Peninsula. R'yleh. Cthulhu. They're after the dinosaur killer meteorite, which is also the container of H.P. Lovecraft's source of inspiration. Hence all the psionics, the fact that they even USE things like Chryssalids - they're terror weapons, sure, but also doomsday ones. Drop them and the civilization dies, but leaves the world still there.
Also explains why they don't just flatten the place with bolides - they don't know where the thing they want is! It could have been under Berne for all they knew. And so long as they don't mention the W'rkncacnter or T'leth, none of the random people they grab are going to make the connection for them.
Well, they've made a BIG mistake. I'm fairly sure that for all their advanced technology, they never had anyone quite like Gregor Zelinsky."
Temporal jump activation initiation start.
Transport when ready.

"...Damn, I should have used a DeLorean-!"

[Saphroneth]

Whoo time travel. Now that is a rush.
I can see why Zelinsky was so out of it all the time... and why the Doctor is weird...

Where was I? Ah, yes.
Three days back in time, so there's more than enough to make some changes.
Best to contact the base AI first.

Greetings Brigadier. Shall We Play-
No, Erwin, no. Several reasons. One, you're Canadian, the film AI was American. Two, you told me that joke two days from now. Three, there's more serious business afoot. Uploading gestalt designated 25041999.
Well, isn't that interesting. It appears the future me was quite inventive.
I have some plans all made up...


Well, the last few days were bizarre. I met the future version of myself, whose only message was "don't send out the Sky ranger when the BB comes".
The base AI ordered three more tanks from the workshops and recalled all the lasrifles and armour from the Beijing base, and sent our excess Plasguns there, along with future me.
Oh, and there's a giant spiky anvil with salt on the spikes suspended above the Sectoid leader in custody.
And now, as if that and the Chryssalids weren't enough weird stuff for one week, now the retaliation mission battleship is overhead and dropping fast.

Defensive mode established.
Alien commander detected.
Engaging countermeasures code named "Wile E. Coyote.".
*whang* AAAAAAARRGH!
Anvil dropped.
Pain feedback conjectured to disable psionics... now in effect.
Tanks online. Power armour online. Laser capacitors online. Cameras online.
Weapons free and good hunting.


"Time for some broken causality PAYBACK!"
CABAL here. Multiple contacts, NE hanger.

"Got it, time for some countersniping."

"You countersnipe with a rocket launcher?"
"Hey, don't knock it."

"It works."
Impressive use of overkill.
"I'll do the mopping up."




"Cyberdisks, central hanger!"



"Trouble over here as well, looks like one of those CTD imploder things from the briefing!"
Take that alien out FIRST! No antimatter in MY base.

Bloop dip Ping.
"Is that what one of those is?"
Correct. As R2 said, Contra Terrene Device is a shorthand for antimatter bomb.
"Not like we can understand the ex Star Wars bot."

Hello, Alien robot in the central hanger? Are you still there? Come out or you get no cake.

Congratulations... was it worth it?
"Damn, we lost GLaDOS. Get fire on that thing sharpish!"

"Okay, everyone, hit the deck!"
*Fwackoom*

[Saphroneth]

This was a triumph, I'm making...Damn it, get out of my speaker system!...Huge success! Hard to...Sorry, everyone, I'm abandoning the speakers  to GLaDOS for a bit...Not even angry! I'm being so sincere right now.
"That's going to get old fast."

Even though you-
*zap*
-heart, and killed me. And tore me-
"Did... did one of the aliens just shoot itself?"
"Damn my power armour for not giving me the same option!"
"I dunno, she's got a good singing voice."


As they burned, it hurt because, I was so happy for you!

Now these points of data make a beautiful line, and we're out of beta, we're releasing on time.


The Path is clear, but the Way is obscured.
"Not any more."

Victory in the name of Kane!
But look at me, still talking, when there's science to do!
Dwah Dwah bzzrt bleep!
"Is it me, or is the Dalek the sane one?"
DON'T SOUND SO INCREDULOUS.


Unbeliever!

"And that's the last of them."


Still Alive.

In addition to the vast haul of alien kit from the invaders, we also managed to loot the Battleship before removing it, to the tune of 200 Elerium units, 100 units of alloy, 4 power sources, 4 nav units and the best home entertainment system in  history. We also shifted the entire CERN base halfway round the LEP ring. Now we're under Lake Geneva. That'll show them.


(note: the last bit about looting the battleship is based on the Elerium duplication bug. I got a net profit of 294 elerium from it, and decided that looting the crashed BB made more sense. So I reduced the Elerium windfall to 200 and added some standard BB loot.)

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

There were only 9 aliens on a base defense mission? That seems a little light, doesn't it?  



EDIT, do you have any idea for that alien you mention "shooting himself", as to how many of his buddies he got? It occurred to me that a misfired blaster launcher has enough power to vaporize the bodies, meaning that it might appear as if there were fewer aliens than there actually were.

[Saphroneth]

Not sure on that count, but I think that one Cyberdisk and one Large Rocket between them provide adequate potential for gigantic alien destroying explosions. That and rather than clear out the top of the lift normally, I just chucked two HEs up there and called it cleared.
(And being honest, the plasma blast was ACTUALLY Alien autoshot killing another of their number. It was just too good to pass up.)

Okay, I checked and it really WAS only 9 aliens and a cyberdisk, from the mid battle save. I'm not complaining.
I assume that the dreaded DOS XCOM bug has made it so I'm ACTUALLY playing on beginner (only one Leader, four soldiers and one of everything else is the Beginner column on a BB alright. I thought that the Steam version fixed that...). Be honest, you couldn't tell from the results, right? XCOM is not the world's most forgiving game.


Oh well, the NEXT mission was every bit as painful as most BB assaults are.
(Sectoid Harvester with neither power source blowing - so full complement. They're like giant flying boxes of troops with a nonsensical internal layout. 14 Sectiods!)

[Saphroneth]

As the three day party at Beijing base finally began to wind down, the Brigadier dropped into the general storeroom to catch his breath. Man, but the second base crew could party well!
He assumed it was a side effect of their first mission involving mass alien death for no casualties in return - and of killing the nastiest things XCOM had yet encountered - but the celebrations had continued from when he turned up in the transport Skyranger right up until the big screen set up in the North hanger had shown the successful base defense of CERN.
A few minutes after sitting down, he became aware of heavy breathing.
Looking to the right slowly and carefully, he saw a chryssalid standing in the door to the second part of the storeroom, looking askance at him.
Okay, they only sense movement, we worked that one out. So it can't see me. And it's badly injured from the laser burns on the carapace. How do I get out of this one?
There was a box of alien stun grenades on the floor. It was part of the bulk evacuation from the CERN base.
Well, after they're fired it's just a hard thwack that triggers them, right?
"EVA", he called the base AI quietly, trying not to move his lips, "Get the garrison in here as soon as you hear the bang."
And jumped for the box on the floor, hurling them at the chryssalid as it screamed and charged.

He came to six hours later in the infirmary, more glad than ever that he had moved to the quiet base.
Meanwhile, the chryssalid in the Alien containment unit was devouring its' third cow.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

My usual method for dealing with the insanity of Harvester assaults was to use Heavy plasmas to punch new holes in the interior walls; but I've noticed you've ignored that line of research, focusing instead on armor and the laser line. Any particular reason you didn't jump straight to heavy plas? (Personal challenge praps?)

[Toric]

I'm enjoying this LP so far. I've never seen tanks given various AI personalities. I dare say they're more entertaining than the meatbags that make up the majority of the force.

One thing of note: Did you just not have any incendiary ammo for this mission to take out the zombies? Everyone knows you kill   with fire, to conserve both resources and the sanity of all involved.

[Saphroneth]

Current state of research: HPs about two or three days from completion, next after that on the list is Plasma cannons and then UFO construction. With Psi Amps afterwards.

I went for the armour line first for the reasons seen in the next update, where two Sectoid leaders nearly wipe out my force with MC. And that is: Laser weapons on a MC-ed unit can rarely penetrate Flying Suits. The armour is just too high.
Laser Rifles are fairly good weapons right up until Snakes and Muties appear, when they have too many shots needed per dead Muton - but they're still OK against snakes and even Chryssies, because Chryssies can't RF back at you.
And in a couple of months, Psi will make things a lot easier as I can use Mutons against Mutons and Las against everything else.

The lack of incendiary fire on zombies... well, the only zombies I saw were the other half of the map to my incendiary equipped troops (who were currently on HE mode anyway), and you DON'T want to leave Zombies around to charge your troops. Because then they move forward, your troops Reaction Fire the zombie to bits and a brand new Chryssie with FULL Time Units comes out, sprints towards your no reaction fire left troops and eats your face. And a chryssie attacking troops in coveralls can zombify on a  single hit, while they often keep going on a suited trooper until their TUs run out. Sure, anybody even attacked once by a chryssie is a zombie, but the suits keep the collateral damage down.
Oh yeah, and the chryssies can't fly.
Also, I have a slight aversion to Incendiaries because they give no EXP. At all. Though they DO kill the chryssalid inside as well.
That said, they may see a resurgence with flying suits, as the only starting weapons that can harm flying suits in the anything are explosive rockets, so I may Funky Fire things like Mutons to death.

[Saphroneth]

Oh. My. word.

Heavy plasma does HOW MUCH damage a shot?

While we were working out how to use the weapons themselves, a call came in from the Beijing base.
Apparently my future self had been stunned in an altercation with a chryssalid thought dead on the initial mission. Further searching revealed that a Snakeman grunt had also been awake in its' body bag for the last two days.
Oops.
They were dumped in the Alien Containment facility and the Snakemen and Chryssalid corpses sold on to restaurants. Apparently they went down really well with enough butter.


Contact over Iwo Jima.
Clearly taking the VERY long route to Germany.
Anyway, we shot the thing down (It looks like a space pickup.) and sent in the team.

Field recording composite.

"Finally, a chance to use these things outside!"
"Careful, these are the Greys. And the suits are nothing against the CTD imploders code named "Blaster bombs".

"Calm down, Commander, enjoy yourself! We're flying! That is awesome!"
I FEEL LEFT OUT.

"Man, it's easier to see the bastards when you're in mid air."

"Agreed. And it is even harder to miss the ground with a rocket launcher than it is to miss a wall."


"I'm getting something on the HUD to the north, it looks like-!"

"Leo? LEO!"
"Damn, but HP packs a punch. That was the front Glacis as well."
"Astra, take out that sniper! Everyone else, secure a perimeter!"

"Hello. I'm a bitch. So is payback."


"GRENADE!"
"Don't worry, the Alien explosives are powerful, but they're planar."
A minor oversight.

[Saphroneth]

PSIONICS DETECTED! RECOMMEND IMMEDIATE EXTERMINATION OF LOCAL PSIONIC LEADERS! THEY ARE ON THE TOP FLOOR OF THE SHIP!

"die"
*zap. Zap. Zap. Zapzapzapzapzapzap-"
"Damn, but this armour is good. Six hits and no penetration. Oh, and Isao? I know you're in there. Drop the gun as soon as you can."


DOOR LOCATED!
"Flanking troops, be ready to fire on that Grey if it didn't make it into the ship. On the bounce, people."
"You've waited months to say that, right?"
"...yes."

"AAAH! Get out of my HEAD!"

"Okay, should we use the Thirty Second bombs next?"
"Sorry, okay? We're not Starship Troopers."


"Run and hide!"
"Rob, you're in a suit of powered armour, you're actually safer than the tank - wait, did he just-"
"Yes. He dropped the rocket launcher and now it is hovering there."

"That he dropped it, I am now very grateful of."

"Whose idea was this? This ship makes no sense."
"Wherever the psionic individuals are, they're not letting up."


"I have found the second entrance. Now we know where all the cattle go."


"Second floor, entered! Up here, guys."
"AAAAGH!"
"AAAAGH!"
"AAAAGH!"

"Uta here, I'm under attack too. They're trying to make me panic."


"Too bad killing Aliens is a mood stabilizer."
Damn it, die!