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

[Saphroneth]

First Contact with Mutons.


"He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
    He is Wisdom to the mighty-"
"Oh thank god, we've finally landed."
Music program on hold. For Kane!

Target identified. Barely.
"What is that? Some kind of camouflaged gorilla?"

Death to Gorillas!
"Should I ask?"
"Nope."

"If these things are like gorillas, I should be able to get in there more easily!"

"No luck?"
"None."


"These things are damn hard to spot."

"Ready, guys? You show me where the guy is, and I get him with the Amp."

"It did not work, I take it?"
"Nope. I had to shoot it out of fear for my life."

First contact report over.
Well, that was easy. Another 50 Elerium in stores.
And that pending Sectoid Terror mission is still on the cards.

[Saphroneth]

Not much significant happened when we took the scout that was buzzing Casablanca. Mostly, Jacks cleaned out the outside from the top of the Ranger, and a fire team handled the inside by dumping a HE through the roof.

Though a long running battle took place inside the remaining separate room, wherein the Sectiod took about four HP bolts before finally dropping. We have no idea why.



The next morning, news came in that the Blaster Launcher was available for issue. And what a weapon. The most user friendly I have ever seen.
It practically fires itself. And yet over half the aliens that have used these have killed themselves with them.
The next step was clear. We needed to test the launcher.
That'll do.


Aperture Sc. XCom Device Testing Report.
"These things are really, really heavy."
"Calm down Grigoriy. I am doing fine."
"You're three times as strong as I am, Colonel."

"Looks like we have a target in the open. Request fire!"

"Not bad, not bad at all."
Ooh! There's a hole in the ceiling! You should make the top floor go boom.
"On it."


And now there's a party in the lower down room! Anyone got a Happy Fun Bomb left?
"Akira and I are reloading. Grigoriy?"
"arms... failing..."
"We'll get back to him later."


"Carl here. That extra bomb downstairs took out all three in the examination room

but the bridge of the ship is untouched. Looks like the wall blocked it."




"That's three. What is it about that house?"


Test subjects should not fire upon anything involved in administering the test. Especially when in a maddened rage. Are you in a maddened rage or do you know someone who is?



"Bit foolish if you ask me. Ah, well."
Test completed.
Well, I think that the only problem with THAT weapon is lack of ammunition.


Got the cash.
And Psi Training month 1 is complete. Results: good. Now to find some Aliens to test that on...

[Saphroneth]

Okay, I've got trouble. The Ethereals just showed up. Hard.
Scouts for both a Terror Mission and a Retaliation are buzzing Europe. And it's barely five hours into July. I thought the race you were beating up on was the one to do retaliations...

Anyway, as I have no Mind Shields yet they will almost certainly find CERN, and then it's a Base Defence with ten newb Psi troopers and a stack of puppets against Ethereals with all their toys. Like Sectopods.
Fun. And that's not even counting the Terror mission, which is, surprise, also Ethereals.


Great for storyline, but not so much for survival. Though if I don't stop the scouts I am almost guaranteed to have an Alien Commander in my base within the next month. Whether he's in charge by then is the question.

[techmaster-glitch]

That definitely does not sound good  

EDIT: Wait a sec. What about those three "demigods" you got? Don't they count for anything?

[Saphroneth]

Demigods, yes.
But psi skill barely in the twenties, after only one month of training. And XCOM calculations on attack strength are Skill*Strength.
After lots of attacking Aliens, they will do well. But... Put it this way. At the moment, Akira (My Psi 100 god, skill 20, Defense about 104) can still be mind controlled by an Ethereal Commander.
Granted, it takes point blank range (within about 7 tiles, 2% chance per tile closer than 7) and for the Ethereal to target him (not happening), but he can.

[Saphroneth]

Okay, that can not be good.
Ethereals, the transmissions said they were. And out for terrorizing some city in Europe.
If our intel from computers, interrogations and guessing is correct, Ethereals are a sort of psionic super race. All of them have at least Delta class offensive abilities, and can use them with great skill, while their commanders may be able to deliver orders telepathically across interplanetary distances.
Still, I suppose that they've stepped in themselves is good news. It means that we're really hurting them.
Worse!
Okay, that is bad news. They're after CERN.
We can only hope that we're good enough to psionically counterattack if they find us.
The Terror scout was downed successfully, at any rate. Let's see what the governing power behind the invasion looks like.

First Contact with Ethereals.

"The hell is that, a walking cloak?"
"It's an inch or so off the ground. I think it's a flying cloak - or whatever's inside it can fly, anyway."
Plasma Cannon ineffective.

"That thing just took two tank plasmas to the back and it returned fire? What are these things?"

"Mortal."

"All the same, I'm opening the Scout door. Akira, do your thing, I don't fancy a close in firefight."

"Got it. Waypoints in."

End first contact report.
The Blaster flew in the front of the UFO, and most of the UFO came out the back. Including a carbonized remnant of a cape.

Just after the smaller scout was violently evaporated over the Iberian peninsula, the new countermeasure to Alien retaliation came in.

Huge and costly... but worth it.

We knew it was coming. Try to head them off.
All three interceptors and the CERN ranger were deployed to try and stop the Terror ship before it hit its' projected target - Casablanca.
However, it appeared the scouts that we swatted earlier prevented the Terror ship from identifying its' target correctly. It wandered aimlessly for a bit, before shooting back into space.
But I watched the film three times! What a let down.
We conjecture that the Scout UFOs often leave beacons for other ships to home in on, and that the destruction of the scouts before they complete this task means that the other craft expect a beacon to materialize that does not.

They hide among the Silverbacks.
Also, apparently Mutons are infiltrating the southern part of Africa. Are they pretending to be Gorillas or something? or just using their suits?

Then, two Abductors were detected in the US.
This, but twice.
Both landed, and Interceptors were set to patrol them. We could reach one on the ground - the other would have to be swatted on takeoff.

Oh god, that means they're abducting right now!

[Saphroneth]

Operation report from Michigan.
"God, I hate night missions. It's been five minutes already, and nothing from the tank. Colonel, you got the Incendiaries loaded?"
"I have, yes. I will provide the fire when it is time."
"Hey, look! Out the window - one of the Grays wandered close enough!"
"Good, we drew in their sentry. Everyone, have a go with the Psi Amps. See if you can panic it."




"That did it. Okay, everyone, go!"


"Bit of an easy target. Hey, CABAL, you okay?"

Have both our weapons been exchanged with paintball guns? This is worse than that Firestorm shield.
"Er, CABAL, a Firestorm's a fighter."

"Akira, what are you doing?"

"I figure if we punch a hole in the roof and drop a Blaster in, we can take out the Alien leader before we get in enemy Psi range. Well, before everyone else does."


"Gah! Enemy on the roof!"

"I got one of them, but it looks like you took some fire first. You okay?"
"Not really, chestplate's a bit damaged. And I think that's blood."
"Get over to Uta, she's got a medkit and we don't need incendiaries at the moment."


"Damn it, missed the hole."

FINALLY!


"Damn it, missed again. Well screw it. Someone drop a HE through the hole, that'll work."
"I'll do it."


"Wow, nice secondaries. We're clear."
"Uta, hurry up."

"I am setting up for close quarters combat."
"Gotta love Flying Suits. HE round at point blank does nothing."


"Do not get smart with me, Gray."

"Okay, Akira, I'm going in. If I spot anything, try the Psi amp on it. You'll be a better choice."

"Got one. Wow, that's a weird feeling. Okay, commander, follow the puppet through the door."


"Not so nice now you're on the receiving end, is it?"
"Nice work, Akira. Let's hope we can use this again."
And... done!

Pity about all the wasted Blaster Bombs. Those things cost... well, Elerium.


Two for one deal on Abductors, second one slightly damaged.

[techmaster-glitch]

Aww, I liked when you actually wrote the thoughts of the aliens Would've been interesting to "hear" a mental battle between the humans and aliens...

[Saphroneth]

I'll probably do that when the psionic aliens aren't just killed unceremoniously by a bomb lofted through the roof.
And when it's not ten minutes before bed.


To be honest, I was shocked as hell when that mind control actually worked. It took being at actual zero range to do it (vertical range doesn't count), but at least I know it can be done to the grunts.
And that Mutons are now easy. The big gorillas have the worst Psi stat in the game that isn't civvies (bad targets, they actually become Alien if you MC them) and some of the Xcom troops.

[Saphroneth]

The ship was not badly damaged in the crash, but the engines at least were unfixable. I ordered the crew out to form a perimeter and defend the ship until an escape shuttle could be arranged.
The Human captives were released, with no memory of what had happened. I didn't want to handle them waking up in the middle of a firefight.

The navigator told me some of the news today.

Muton forces were familiarizing themselves with Humans. I understand the value of the hulking brutes, and what the Ethereals say goes, but a race that needs practice to tell what to shoot is not a useful trait.

And a sweep was being made to check the viability of the continent for a harvest mission. I tried to warn the pilot off, but he didn't heed the warning before a Human craft armed with the same Plasma weapons that shot down my craft smashed his ship into tiny pieces over the southwest peninsula.

They have arrived. The armoured nightmare. The guardians of this world. The ones that stormed our sister ship two days ago. I sent the pickets forward, but our masters have joined the fight too late.

The Humans have at least one individual capable of mind-war. This presence is clumsy, but holds enormous power, more than I have ever felt, disrupting my command over my troops despite their natural allegiance and my defense of them combined.

It is worse than I had thought. A second presence has joined the first. The forms of their troops float menacingly forward, their command leaders compelling my underlings forward as their scouts, killing any they deem useless.

Ordering my soldiers to kill one another to spare themselves the trouble.
I have tried to attack the minds of their commanders, but they are well trained and resist mental intrusion near effortlessly. I cannot even instill panic, and they strike in my distraction.

The entire lower floor is lost. They have made all my retinue throw down their weapons and give one another up. They are avoiding the traps placed on the lift by sending up one of mine first. The guard at the lift kills the traitor, but is then lost himself.
I no longer know what is happening to any other than my navigator and me. I will go to the door and stand guard outside, in the hope that the navigation officer can guide in a rescue party.

Foolish. They melted down the wall of the room with the lift guard, then killed him. Now I have lost the navigator as well.
And I feel them, over half a dozen, unskilled but vastly powerful, hammering at the edge of my skull.

The feeling is... strange. There is a... word for it, in our language, but it... escapes me.
The sense that... everything is far away... That the best thing to do... is Drop the gun and walk forwards

It seems like the best... thing to do. To go down... the lift. To walk... out the door. Every time the feeling recedes... a little it pushes back... in, making everything so easy. Just follow the suggestions. Stand here while one of... no... this is NOT what I want to-

"Looks like he's coming out of it. And the Commander and the rest are getting sick of putting him back under."
"No problem. Zap 'im."

[Toric]

That was very, very cool. It's interesting that the aliens now view X-Com as monsters. Bravo, sir.

[Saphroneth]

That is largely due to Colonel Keller.

After the last panicked seconds of a Harvester defence included footage of her bouncing plasma rifle fire off her armour and not slowing down, the Sectoids, at least, began rediscovering that their racial memories do in fact have predators in there.

And none of the Alien command seem to know what happened to the Terror mission to New Zealand, intended as a demonstration to the governments of Earth that entire landmasses can die...

[Saphroneth]

The days of the noble Cattleprod are over.
Only problem is that it'll take another day or two to work out how to load it. It looks like there's some sort of slots game to get the correct ball in the barrel of the launcher. Who designed this?
Ethereals want to find our base, do they? Well, there'll be a welcome in the hills if they do find us. Blaster Bombs behind every corner...
The UFO was splashed to the south of Budapest, but the Sky Ranger was still refuelling, so the decision was made to wait for first light.

Oh, lovely. Hang on, North East heading? We can still stop it if it's headed for Cairo!
Turned out it wasn't. Whether it was looking for a beacon call that hadn't been placed or was after a target near Iran, the Interceptor smashed it into the sands of the Empty Quarter.

But not before the reckless pilot got his plane damaged. That's a few days in the repair shop...

Oh, we can try these out! Apparently the ball goes in the front, and the game on the back is for entertainment.

The assault was another example of psi and standard hybrid tactics.

As the team moved in, the psi troopers floated behind the rest, controlling the Sectoids that were close enough.
One of the ship guards proved to have a stun launcher.

Neatly solving the problem of what to do with those two Aliens.  


On the north side, one of the team was unpleasantly reminded of the Sectoid Terror unit.

And the Cyberdisk was similarly made aware of the fact that XCOM now have plasma weaponry.

Similarly on the west flank.

And the next in the long line of expendable Sectoid scouts was killed in the upper half of the ship.



It was around now that Colonel Keller met the last remaining Terror unit that had been intended to be dropped... somewhere.
Audio clip.

"Hah, another of the Cyberdisks? Not a problem. You are weak to explosives."

"...SOMEONE forgot to get more HE rounds while I was invalided. If I find who that was, they will not be happy."

"At least you have fire support, right, Colonel?"
"I am not happy with this turn of events. Someone get me something to shoot."
"Hey, Colonel, Akira here. Mind controlled Sectoid do for you?"

"Thank you."

"...is that Alien hiding behind a door that wasn't there a second ago and that has no wall?"
"I don't even know."
Snippet ends.
After this, the final minutes of the mission went mostly fine.


Gerhard took a bit of plasma to the arm when entering the control room, but survived. And then the entire remaining crew of the ship were lined up and stunned.


Owing to a recent hiring surge that requires more officers, long overdue promotions took effect.

[Saphroneth]

After the mission, it was discovered that we had too much stuff.
Don't drop it.
We transferred several kilos of Elerium in their containment units to the US base as a stopgap, ordered more HE clips for the autocannon and, as soon as the Sky Ranger was fuelled up and the half dozen prisoners tossed into Alien Containment with the rest, it was off to Hungary.


BattleLog.

"Hey, we're pretty damn close here."

THERE IS A GUARD ON THE DOOR. REQUEST PERMISSION TO EXTERMINATE!

"Akira?"
"Ergh... This thing's mental defences are stronger than anything I've ever felt. The Sectoid leader was easier than this... this... common soldier. Go ahead, blast him. I've got no chance except at really close range."
COMPLIANCE!

Damnation! We were not warned of this!
Hold to your faith in the Overmind. We will prevail.
Take up position by the door - I want anyone coming through to have to get through you before they can aim at me.
What! So I am to be a sacrifice?
OBEDIENCE, THRALL!
...I obey.
Good. Do not forget that to me, you are as a mere Floater is to you. Chattel.
"Akira?"
"Getting a good read off them, but nothing more. I need pinpoint location to try. Grigoriy, you still have that stun launcher?"
"Yeah, but I forgot to reload it..."
"Doesn't matter. Open the door for me, dive for cover and I'll use your helmet cam feed to target. Then head back in to clean up. And don't forget to load this time!"
"Got it, oh Captain my Captain."

"I HOPE THIS WOOORKS!"
"Calm down."
feel the world around you distort feel it shift change your assumptions are wrong your allies are really your enemies follow my lead and i will help you you lie i am the only one who speaks truth you are alone on alien soil you can trust no one why not trust me you are merely human but we are superior clearly to you we have fought you to a standstill we will win but you personally will not so why not just let go it'll be easier stop this i will if you will just let me in let me in and all will be easier all will be simpler you can rest.

"Captain, you OK?"
"Ergh... yeah, it's different when they're trained to fight back."

"There's the last one, right at the back of the craft. Sneaky bugger."
kill him yes


die die die why won't you die if you die all my problems are over just hurry up and die

"Damn, lost the puppet. Locked and loaded, Grigoriy?"
"You got it. Going in."

"Okay, there he is. Captain, any orders?"
"Give me a minute, then stun him."
i am tired of asking i will blast your mind open like an eggshell you do not have the skill maybe but i do have the power even your precious w'rkncacnter lacks how do you know of this i will not tarry words with you
tell
me
all
you
know


"GOD that was hard. That rank isn't for show."
"Captain?"
"Stun him. NOW, before he fights back again."

"Got him."
*panting*"Good. Now, let's break up the UFO for transit and strap a cattle prod to this bastard's thigh. I want him dancing the electric boogaloo all the way back to base."
Record ends.

[techmaster-glitch]

Nice. Love the stuggles in the battles for these super-psi dudes. Also can't wait for the interrogations and XCOM's reactions to it...

[Saphroneth]

Psionics can be divided into two subsections: Strength (representing the relative susceptibility of a mind to outside influence - and hence the relative ease with which an enemy mind can be made to move to the command of an attacker) and Skill (representing the ability to externally manifest psionics by amplification of natural brain waves, or with natural brain waves alone in the case of the Alien psi warriors). Both are on a hundred-point scale, though it is conjectured that exceptional cases may induce a ranking above 100 in either area.

Defensive capability is determined mainly by Strength, though Skill may help at a 5 to 1 conversion to divert pressure from weak spots.
Offensive capability is determined by the product of strength and skill, making a psi 100 individual become effective twice as quickly as a psi 50 with identical training.
Psi attack chance drops with distance.
Psi attack is impossible on an unlocated target, though Aliens seem to be able to detect targets with psionics as well, especially once there are few Alien mind patterns left (two or less).
Instilling panic is much easier than full out control, but less effective - Aliens must be successfully attacked many times to panic, while a single successful control attempt allows for much more.
Tests on prisoners indicate that the easiest targets in containment are Reapers, followed by Snakemen, Sectoids, Chryssalids (though their mental processes are apparently a little traumatizing), ranking Sectoids and the Ethereal Leader, who is currently watched over by HWP R2 and a shock prod.
Conjectured defence strength of mechanical units is not infinite, as the quantum wave altering nature of Psionics can induce electrical impulses, but is around the defence afforded by natural Strength of 100.

The main area in which XCOM recruits are superior to civilians, apart from the minimal military training necessary, is that their Psi Strength scores are randomly spread across the entire spectrum, 0-100. Civilians are likely to have far lower psi strength.

Experiments have shown that almost all aliens of a given rank and race possess the same psionic capability, in terms of both training and natural strength. This supports the idea that they are cloned to fulfill roles in the Alien invasion of Earth, and perhaps in their entire as yet unknown polity.
This means that the Ethereal Commanders will be massively dangerous.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

I  haven't sliced into the code to confirm, but it *looks* like the rule is that if any alien sees anyone in your squad on their turn, they instantly know where everyone in the squad is, and can start throwing Psi attacks at anyone.

[Saphroneth]

From what I've read, that's an illusion caused by the combination of "the UFO and Skyranger have windows(the Ranger ones being two way)", "If there are only two Aliens left they can see you", "Turn twenty everyone's a target" and "They remember your soldiers for several turns" (" Int: Intelligence of the alien ranked from 2-8. This number corresponds to the number of turns the alien will remember the location of your troops. ") . That last is the crucial one - it's what the Intelligence score is for. Mutons have a low Int score and STILL manage four turns.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8444387&postcount=300

In the spoiler tag.

[Saphroneth]

Alright, Colonel, we have your explodingness supplement. So please, please, stop glaring at us.
Sheesh. Not like we had anywhere we could put anything until the new stores were finished.
Anyway, science marches on and all that. We now know how the Alien explosives work.
Less powerful than a good old HE. But perhaps still useful, as they're a LOT lighter.

Mutons still need to know how we look.
And the South African infiltration continues.

The research vessel was shadowed from just off Port Moresby, but since the UFOs would be unrecoverable if shot down over water (not to mention the possible effects if Alien matter contaminated the oceans) it was decided to wait until the UFO made landfall... before making it fall on the land.

We don't want a Terror From The Deep, after all.
Eventually patience paid off.
Watch out it doesn't hit Peter Jackson. I hear good things about him.
Meanwhile, in South Africa the infiltration ship was blasted similarly.
Mutons in jungle terrain. Break out the machetes. When we get round to it. If we get round to it.

Anyway, as the NZ crash was near the Ranger patrol point for the Beijing base, it was diverted there.
Mission Report.

Aliens detected. Classification: Muton. Exercise caution, combat abilities unknown.
"Understood. Man, it's been a while since we had a combat mission. Remember the Chryssalids?"
"I do, I do. You never tired of telling us about the rocket trick."
"Heh... Can you blame me, sis?"
"It's technically Captain in the field."

"Enemy neutralized. Someone check the UFO. Leela, come with me, flank the house."
Not a problem.

Enemy sighted. Looks like a plasma weapon to me. No blaster bomb or stun launcher.
"Eve, report on the UFO?"

"At least one Alien confirmed to have been knocked out by the crash. I'll keep watch over it unless you need me, this is a ready made prisoner."


"Another one over here - looks like the same one Leela saw before."
"Got it. Full fire on that target."

"How many hits?"
"...one. At most."
"Damn. Well, keep on it, there's not much else left to sh-*"
"YOKO!"

"AAAAAAARGH!"

"Die! Die, you evil bastard!"
Squad member Jungo, your plasma clip is depleted. I did not know that could happen.
"Sorry, Leela. It's just... She was my sister, you know? And, well, I always thought she'd outlive me. She was always the sensible one..."


"There's... no hope. Sorry."

"At least she's got a good honour guard going with her to Yomi.
I'll bury her at the old shrine. She'd... she'd have liked that."
End.

It is quite clear that Mutons are ridiculously durable. Not one, but two survived the crash.
For the moment, Beijing is without a Captain. Damien was more worthy of the rank vacancy. Regardless, more hires are on their way, and a new recruit will fill out the Sky Ranger at Beijing. Leela is given field command for now.

[Saphroneth]

Alien insertion over the Arctic.
But that's not the current issue. Oh, no. That can wait. Even if it's an Ethereal scout trying to find us. Because there's paperwork in them thar hills. Not many trees anymore, either, the size of this pile.

Put
Simply
This
Took
Three
Hours
Per
Person.
Psi
Tests
Took
Up
Another
Hour
Each.
Damnit. We forgot the Muton ship in Africa. Well, too late now, they've either starved or been nibbled to death by cobras. Plasma ammo is finite.
Interesting that we have a Psi Vacuum, though. He may be useful in the future, with his defensive score of zero point two.
He might actually intercept psi attacks aimed at other people. Give him a las pistol and flying suit, let him carry the blaster and stun bombs, and we're fine.
Unless we need blaster or stun bombs. Might need to rethink that.

Get a good look on the way down. Though blasting your ship into tiny pieces might interfere with that...


And Yoko's replacement arrived. His Psi is about 84 - not bad at all.

Xcom's scientific grasp expands. Now we know what Battleship guns are.

Big and powerful.
Once again, the accuracy count is for GROUND targets only. Air targets have an actual chance of dodging. That said, it's quite clear this thing could shred most Earth craft in a single shot - it seems to be a ship scale Blaster Launcher, so that explains that. Though the scientists think that, with enough research, the Elerium component might be able to be substituted with really densely condensed energy storage medium that can be charged from the mains, so this might have a future as base defences.
No good in flight, though. Plasma Beams outrange everything except the BB, and they're cheaper to run.

Another small scout entered atmo over Quebec - and was promptly sharded - while an Ethereal retaliation scout was shot down over Switzerland. Actually, it happened to fly over the former Matterhorn, and was introduced to the plasma weapon test beam, nicknamed the "Energyhorn".
Then the Interceptor stopped it getting away with only the inflicted damage.
More work for the CERN base, then.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

You've never emptied a heavy plasma clip before? Also, interesting that you got grenades so late, I like to research them really early, before armors even.


Now, I've never seen a laser or plasma tank empty its ammo banks.......... that would be something to see.

[Saphroneth]

I tend to focus more on getting to Lasers, then going down the entire armour chain as fast as possible. The reason is that Alien Grenades are weaker than HEs, and if your troops have lasted a few missions they have the strength to USE the HEs.
That and Laser Rifles are useful even against Mutons.
And of course, the armour has let people like Colonel Keller survive. She's a monster. 77TU, 54 Health, 80 Stamina, 47 Reactions, 66 Strength, 77 Firing Accuracy.
(For the record, the commander has 81-55-100-52-65-94. Wow.)

Besides, my score for Alien Artefacts must be a good couple hundred points higher from all those Alien Grenades. It's the same reason I never bother researching the other plasma weapons, as you only get points from the Artefacts not the things you can use.

And the HP clip wasn't actually emptied, that was poetic license. I actually feel that if you've emptied a HP clip on a mission, unless it's an Alien Base or something silly, you are doing something wrong - those clips are enormous!
That and ammo conservation early on is good training for the Avenger missions, where HP, one clip, a few heavy weapons or flares and Psi Amps can make up the entire equipment loadout you're allowed. Perhaps the only area in which TFTD improved matters was the Base Defence item limit being larger... But then, in that game the HP equivalent was relatively weaker, had a tiny clip of ten rounds and no autofire, not to mention weighing a ton and a half.

That said, if this were TFTD I'd already be using Sonic Pulsers in place of Magna Packs, as they're stronger than Magna Packs rather than weaker as Alien Grenades are to HEs.

[techmaster-glitch]

Hoooly crap, all those recruits have ONE psi?

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Just wait till you try a reasonably large mission against Mutons on Superhuman    An abductor will probably have about 15 or so Mutons, and I've seen a harvester with 21. They get even *more* hp and armor (Because that's just what they need), and it's enough that it will actually rework your tactics. (Battleships actually take less, there will be more guys, but the craft is so damn huge it winds up dominating the Battlespace, and there just isn't a lot of cover, so more shots back and forth will hit)

First time I played on Superhuman, and went up against the mutons, I had one of my boys sneak up to the square right behind a muton soldier, unleash autofire, and get three hits, right in the back. The muton casually spun around, and shot him twice with opportunity fire, killing my guy. Closing with them is death, so you spend a lot of time under cover, at long range, shooting when you can. It empties the ammo bins.


And while yes, researching everything lowers your score, most artifacts give somewhere between 1 and 3 points. On a mission with say, 10 aliens, if each has a grenade, you're out 10 points from that. But just grounding a large scout nets you 125, and more for the bigger craft. I've yet to see myself actually go down the money tube because I researched too many things, and the flexibility it offers on Base Defense is really helpful when you have multiple weapon types researched.

Researching alien grenades also lets you use theirs, on mission, which reduces your equipment needs dramatically. But usually, I didn't have a whole lot of trouble on equipment loadout, even on Avenger missions, while I have run low on clips, most aliens will have heavy plasmas in the late game (when you're using avengers) and a guy with a heavy plasma is going to have 2 clips you can recover on site. An Avenger has 26 space, but to be honest, unless you're hitting a base, cydonia, or a battleship, that's probably superfluous, and will be too densely packed to fight effectively. I rarely bring more than 15 people and a tank or two anyway.


Random strategy blahs!

But seriously, one thing I do love about this thread; I tend to play pretty much the same strategy every game, it's neat to see someone play a game method that is significantly different from my own. Keep it up.

[Saphroneth]

The one psi is the skill. I edited it in to mimic XCOMUtil automatic Psi testing, as the game only reveals Psi Strength if you have a non zero score. And I don't want to install the util in the middle of a campaign.

If I were to face Mutons on superhuman, assuming a lack of psi, I would probably NOT bring HPs at all unless I had someone with insane accuracy (like Jacks with her 110% acc while kneeling). Instead, I would use the fact that Aliens only react to those that they can see. Hence, as I do in the day missions, upon spotting an Alien, I would move the scout back one tile. I now know where the Muton is, and he cannot possibly RF me.
Then I laser the crap out of him with my kneeling troops. 9 shots on Autofire from full TUs guaranteed (or 6 auto and 1 snap for 1/3 of TU values), say 3 hits (not unreasonable with starting troops kneeling with one hand free). Average damage per shot to a Muton is 42, and they have 125 HP, so that's, on average, just enough to kill one. Laser Rifles are all you need.
And that does mean that a three round burst from the Laser Rifle at point blank can kill a Muton on average. But I'm not taking that chance.
And as far as ammo conservation goes, the Heavy Laser needs more love. It's got infinite ammo, can fire three shots a turn snap (at 58% soldier acc if kneeling) and can off a Muton in one good hit or two average ones.
That and it REALLY helps vs. Sectopods.


Basically, I love the entire Laser line. Laspistols are great sidearms and can potentially shoot twelve times for better damage than any starting non heavy weapon, the Laser Rifle is the second best all around weapon in the game, the Heavy Laser has massive punch for its' ammo cost (none at all), and Cannons fund your base.
That and they're entirely native tech.

[techmaster-glitch]

The one psi is the skill.

ooohh...geeze, I'm blind. I missed that >_<

And now that I see the difference between strength and skill...ooh, nice, you got another batch of over-90s.
...And a couple really low ones, including a 0. so that's the "psi vaccuum"...wonder the future log of him in a mission is going to be like.

[Saphroneth]

Yeah, Psi Vacuums are handy.
I was going to update today, but then TFTD's AI files invaded my XCOM game and I lost most of the team hunting down Ethereals in cupboards.
The aliens shoot first. At point blank range. With plasma. While mind controlling everyone without stellar Defence scores.
And there were only two of them, so they could psi at will. NOT FUN.
(And what's more, the rules for Reaction Fire say if they can see you and you can't see them, they get a free burst of autofire. Whee...)


Xcom is a harsh mistress.

[Saphroneth]

Okay, I'm now essentially certain of the LOS requirement for mind control. Everybody's psi Str 70+ apart from the psi sponge (Who I brought along), against Ethereals, and eventually I get psi attacked.
But not on the sponge (who was actually only about five squares away from the Ethereals, close enough that there would be a theoretical chance of mind control working with a no-psi attacker!)
So that seems conclusive.

[Saphroneth]

Being a test on theoretical maxima of psionic abilities and their utility.

"So, er, guess I'm the new guy. So why me specifically?"
"Most of the others need training to become useful. Your specialty is in an entirely different area to them."
"Oh, OK. Is that why I can hear weird voices at the moment?"
"...probably. What do they say?"
"Mostly stuff about hatred of this planet, though there's some stuff in there directed at the Commander specifically."

"I can't say I'm at all surprised."

"Hey, there's the tip of a cowl visible here! There's at least one still in the UFO!"

"I will fix that."


"Well?"
"Scan shows no casualties."

"The voices are pissed, though."
"Okay. Right, Akira, you're up."
obey YES
"Damnit, got to AVOID the rookie. Cripes, it's like aiming past the Goodyear blimp..."
vive la revolution what why are mindwarriors here on this mere primitive i see you like video games hail kojima
"Well, that worked. It gets easier every time."

"Though I have to wonder why all of them survived the frelling crash uninjured. I mean, come on! This thing makes a mockery of the outer wall, why does it not kill any of them?"
Crap, they noticed the puppet."

For the light of the Jjaro, all traitors must be destroyed!
"My sentiments exactly."
means you are next

"Someone grab the BB launcher, I want to take advantage of this bunched a target."
Stun fire incoming.

The enemy have no conception of ineffectual weapons!

"So, er, there are less voices now, by the way. Most of them went quiet at once when the blaster bomb went in."

"And why do I have to face the plasma fire with only a stun rod and a laser pistol?"
"Builds character."

take to the skies the skies are safe

"Thanks for the skeet to shoot, Akira."
"Pleasure, Commander."

stun the wall next to you it'll be fun

Do not presume to try to trick me!
"Fine then. Stun me. I'll even stand right in front of you to make it easier."
Justice!

"Damn it, CABAL, I was about to convince it to self stun."

"Hey, new guy. Anything?"
"Nope, they all went quiet."
"Good enough for me. Load up the Ranger."
It's goodbye from me.
For reasons I cannot fathom, promotions are contingent on having killed something. At least he finally got the nod.

I must admit to some curiosity about what kind of Terror unit the Ethereals might have. And for that matter the Mutons. Perhaps something intelligent?

[Saphroneth]

The scout was downed over the Norwegian Fjords. Luckily in the mountains rather than in the water.
Pining for the-Ow! Stop it! I'll be good...


"Another one bites the dust."


"I prefer ashes to ashes, myself, Commander."

"I don't get it."

"Why not?"
"I mean, there's already basically no Aliens left. The other scout had a crew over twice the size of this one."

"Well, there's one of them. Psi, please?"

"Happy to oblige."
"Damn, I didn't get a grip. Neil!"
"all hail the jjaro..."
"Code three-delta-X!"
*Bzzzrp!*
"...what just happened?"
"Neil's psi potential is absolutely nil. So he's really easy to mind control. Too easy, in fact. There's feedback when someone that psionically blank is controlled. So his stunrod has a phrase locked function that stuns him. Hard. Knocked out both the remaining Ethereals too, by synchronization."
"Nice."


Record ends.

"Okay, look. This is a human. Hu-Man. Say it. Now, they are shaped like this - oh, for goodness' sake, do I have to go over it all again?"

The Manus Celer Dei is ready for use. Now you know why all the techs were locked in the workshops for a month.
Now, we still need weapons, but that's relatively easy. Back in the workshop! What? Okay, fine, you can use the toilets first.
And the pilot of the Avenger is set up. Alpha-Synth Ai/Human fusion. Imagine the potential.
Flight Commander DeVries and Megaira are ready for flight combat, sir.

Target locked on.
Let's see, the UFO entered atmosphere over the Pacific, and Manus Celer Dei is based out of Europe. Any guesses where they meet?

Eastern Kazakhstan. That ship is faster than UFOs.
I am sure there is no need for me to record the battle outcome.