I've done a couple, trying to get more Rookies promoted up to classes, as well as cycle through all the wounded guys.

-Operation Blind Fear-

The Council asked us to extract a "friend" of theirs who was holed up in Egypt and under attack. Our powerhouse Heavy, Psi Chotic, sat the mission out. Our forces consisted of Jiro Stark, Ronnie Coleman, Vivi 22, and the newly resurrected Connor MacLeod (he was a Rookie, and became a Support, and MacLeod is the only Support on the roster thus far, soo... You just can't keep an Immortal down).

Our forces moved in, looking to secure the target. We encountered a new foe. It seems the Sectoids are not the only enemy assaulting Earth. The new alien seems to be an infiltrator of some type, as it is clearly intended to bear a resemblance to humans.

The "Thin Man", as Ronnie took to calling him, promptly spit a cloud of toxic gas at Ronnie, poisoning him. While Ronnie was busy puking his guts out, Connor MacLeod fired off a few quick rounds that quickly ended the new threat.

Jiro, meanwhile, scouted out a good sniping nest on the nearby bridge. Unfortunately, he alerted a Sectoid to his presence, and was unable to get a decent shot on the small creature, who had quickly run to cover (seriously, 18% chance. Not a fan of Snap Shot so far). The Sectoid decided to sling some plasma around, and managed to land a hit on our illustrious Sniper. Not willing to let some alien punk get the best of him, Jiro steadied his rifle and drilled it one between its eyes.

Ronnie and Connor, meanwhile, were exploring the edge overlooking the road where our target lay. They located the poor man quickly enough, but also found two more Sectoids. Ronnie was in a horrible position, as his shotgun fire was too inaccurate to reach all the way across the road to the alien's high position. Connor had a bit more luck, and managed to wound one of the creatures, though he didn't kill it. The other managed to get a shot in on Connor during Connor's assault however, catching him in the hip.

Mr. Stark came to the rescue, attacking and killing the other Sectoid, not noticing that the wounded one had a bead on him. Sustaining yet more Plasma fire, Jiro was now resorting to limping around the battlefield (1HP left. Lucky, lucky man, Jiro), and Connor finished off the enemy he had left alive before.

Jiro, being in the worst condition, and in the most need of some solid cover, limped towards our target, and told him to get a move on. Ronnie and Connor set in to prepare to fight their way out.

As our target began moving back up toward the Skyranger, more Thin Men leaped out of the darkness and took up positions. One landed above the ledge near Jiro. Sick of aliens shooting at him, he promptly shot it, and resumed cowering behind the truck.

Another Thin Man dropped directly in front of Ronnie, who finally got to show just what a Shotgun was for. Unleashing a hail of lead directly into the body of the frail alien, blowing it into a poison cloud.
End mission results: Some very nice rewards from the Council. 4 Engineers, which let me immediately get to work on the Satellite Uplink needed for more coverage, even before the Workshop was finished, and some more money, which I promptly put to use making sure I'd have Satellites for it. As well as building one S.C.O.P.E.

Jiro got a promotion up to Sergeant.
Ronnie got promoted to Corporal.
And Connor MacLeod got promoted back to Support.

MVP: Oddly enough, Jiro. Despite nearly getting himself killed, he did kill 3 enemies, more than any other.

Sorry that you didn't do much, Vivi. You did get to take a shot, but only a pistol shot, and it didn't kill an enemy. But I'm glad to have another Sniper on the team.

Our next mission: Port Said, Egypt.

-Mission Synopsis- (I didn't grab the name, sorry)

With the results of our last mission, half of our team was down for repairs. Our beloved Jiro Stark, being gravely wounded, was taken out of action for a full 20 days.

So we had to assemble a "B" Squad. Although, their performance was perfection.

Our troops consisted of the brand new Loony BoB, Vivi 22 (while he didn't do much last mission, he was also the only one to come out unscathed), our veteran Psy Chotic, and a Rookie female soldier (I ran out of guys without realizing it, no time to hire more before the mission. Will do so, hopefully we'll get some more male blood in).

This mission took us back. The loading dock we visited was the same one from our second mission. Apparently the Sectoids had not had enough punishment there. And this time, our team knew the terrain, and their own capabilities.

We opened up with a step up to the boxes and set up in cover. We reorganized while staying back for a while, making sure we were properly covering each other. Two Sectoids popped up near the shack to the east. After three Overwatch shots missed, our lovely female Rookie friend finally managed to down the first alien of the mission. Not wanting to tangle with the sheer mass of firepower facing him, the other promptly scuttled out of sight.

Not wanting to rush a clearly spooked and uncomfortable alien, our soldiers reloaded and started playing some Sabaac, until finally the timid little guy got the nerve to poke his head back out, and promptly got it removed from his shoulders by Loony BoB (who did get the kill, but didn't notice Vivi taking a peek at his cards while he was doing so).

Hearing some more scuttling up north, our soldiers all reloaded and started to move forward. It was our veteran Psy who finally spotted the enemies. Two groups of two Sectoids. Four of the nasty little buggers, all spotted at once.

Psy was not impressed. Before the enemy could even think of attacking, he unloaded with his LMG and eliminated the first target. Not to be outdone, our female friend ran up behind a few barrels and eliminated another one.

With their numbers thus reduced, and no nearby cover, Loony BoB decided to be enterprising. Rushing up the loading ramp, he stopped under cover and waited. The two remaining Sectoids Mind Merged (one Sectoid can use his turn to buff another, giving it increased Crit, Will, and Health for the rest of the turn. If the unit performing the Merge dies, both units die), and the one performing the merge was, unfortunately, well back out of line of sight, while the merged Sectoid rushed forward and took a shot that missed wildly, hitting the side of the loading ramp and doing nothing.

Not one to miss a target of opportunity, however, Vivi 22 took a shot, and hit, but didn't kill the target, thanks to its buffed Health. Psy, however, was more than willing to steal a kill from his friend (especially since he did notice Vivi peeking at BoB's cards earlier), and finished the foe off. The last, lonely Sectoid moved forward behind some crates beside the wall of the loading dock, and faced off against our team. Both our lady friend and Psy took shots on the enemy, but both missed. It was then, however, that Loony BoB decided to play "Peek a Boo", poking his head over the edge and firing a stream of bullets straight down into the utterly unsuspecting Sectoid.

The mission completed, our team finished up their game, which Psy won, and headed back to base.

Mission Results: More engineers (I would have preferred money at this point, but panic suppression takes precedence). No wounded or dead soldiers.

And promotions all around! Psy is now our first Sergeant, and has two promotions waiting.

Vivi 22 is now a Corporal, and with his new promotion, can hopefully end his bad luck of 4 missions with no kills.

Loony BoB is now an Assault Soldier with Run and Gun. I will be equipping him back with a rifle shortly, as I don't want too many shotguns, and he's going survival spec.

And our lady friend is also an Assault Soldier. I'll be speccing her if no one picks her up.



MVP: Loony BoB. His final rush up the ramp to put a bullet in the alien's head from above was such a perfect end to the mission. Though, with 3 soldiers who each got 2 kills, it was really, really close.





Eyes on XCOM Team thus far:

Sergeant Jiro "The Wish" Stark
Sergeant Psy "Psychotic" Chotic
Corporal Ronnie Coleman
Corporal Vivi 22
Squaddie Loony BoB
Squaddie Connor MacLeod


Promotions to be doled out:

Psy: You get to pick Heavy promotions for both Corporal and Sergeant level.
Jiro: You get to pick a Sniper Sergeant level promotion.
DK (Ronnie): You get to pick Assault Corporal level promotions.
Vivi: You get to pick Sniper Corporal level promotions.

MILF, I'm sorry I haven't gotten to you yet, but I haven't had another Heavy come up. As soon as I do, you'll be in, promise.

Perk trees (click to show for your class):
Heavy
Squaddie (no choice):
- Rocket Launcher: You get the ability to fire a rocket that does 8 damage to all enemies within its range. Can be later replaced by the more powerful Blaster Launcher. Only one use per mission.

Corporal:
- Bullet Swarm: You get to fire as your first action without ending your turn, letting you fire and move, or fire twice without moving.
- Holo Targeting: Your shots and Suppression put a debuff on the target (even if the shot misses) that increases the chance of all other squaddies hitting that target this turn by 10%.

Sergeant:
- Shredder Rocket: You get a second rocket. This one does less damage, but debuffs all enemies it hits to take 33% extra damage for the next 4 turns. Only one Shredder Rocket per mission.
- Suppression: You gain the ability to suppress a target, reducing their accuracy by 30% during their turn, and getting a free shot on them if they move.

Lieutenant
- HEAT Ammo: You do double damage against robotic units, such as Cyberdiscs and Sectopods.
- Rapid Reaction: You can shoot twice while on Overwatch, as long as your first shot hits.

Captain:
- Grenadier: You can now carry 2 Grenades instead of just one.
- Danger Zone: All of your AOE attacks (rockets and grenades) get their radius increased by 2 tiles. Also makes Suppression a 2 tile AOE attack, if you picked it up earlier.

Major (no choice):
- Will to Survive: All damage taken (except fire and poison) is reduced by 2 as long as you are in cover and not flanked.

Colonel:
- Rocketeer: You get a second normal rocket (doesn't apply to Shredder Rockets, you only get a normal rocket).
- Mayhem: Applies extra damage to Suppression and all AOE powers dependent on the strength of your currently equipped weapon. Base weapons add +1, Lasers add +2, and Plasma/Blaster Bombs add +3. This lets Suppression deal damage even if the enemy doesn't move, and since Suppression itself doesn't miss (even if "Missed" shows up, the suppression and Mayhem damage always apply, even if the reaction shot it grants misses later), it is guaranteed damage on the enemy.
Assault
Squaddie (no choice):
Run & Gun: You can Dash (move twice as far) and still fire your weapon in the same turn. You cannot Dash and use items though. 2 turn cooldown.

Corporal:
- Tactical Sense: You gain +5 Defense (dodge chance) for every enemy you can see, up to a max of +20.
- Aggression: You gain +10% Crit chance for every enemy you can see, up to a max of +30%.

Sergeant:
- Lightning Reflexes: The first reaction shot (enemy Overwatch shot) made against you each turn automatically misses.
- Close and Personal: You gain +30% Crit chance against adjacent enemies, chance boost goes down the further you get from your target.

Lieutenant:
- Flush: A shot with a high chance to hit that forces enemies to move, flushing them out of cover (and, frequently, back out of line of sight). No cooldown, but does half damage.
- Rapid Fire: Take two shots at a single target. Each shot has a 15% penalty to accuracy. 2 turn cooldown.

Captain:
- Close Combat Specialist: Shoot at anything that moves within 4 tiles of you. You don't have to be in Overwatch (Overwatch will just get you an extra shot), and can shoot once at everything that moves that close to you per turn, as long as your weapon has ammo.
- Bring 'Em On: +1 damage to critical hits for every enemy your squad can see, up to a maximum of +5 critical damage.

Major (no choice):
- Extra Conditioning: You get extra health for wearing armor. The heavier the armor, the more health. +1 health for basic armor, +2 for light armors, +4 for heavy armors.

Colonel:
- Resilience: Passive immunity to critical hits.
- Killer Instinct: On a turn you activate Run & Gun, you also get +50% damage on critical hits.
Sniper
Squaddie (no choice):
- Headshot: +30% critical chance, increased critical damage depending on Sniper's level (base +2, +3 for Lieutenants and up, and +4 for Colonels).

Corporal:
- Snap Shot: You can move and shoot in the same turn, but you lose 20% accuracy when you do so.
- Squad Sight: You can shoot at anything your team can see, as long as you have unobstructed line of sight (can't shoot through walls).

Sergeant:
- Gunslinger: You do +2 damage with pistols.
- Damn Good Ground: You get +10 Aim and +10 Defense (dodge chance) to all enemies lower than you, in addition to regular height bonuses.

Lieutenant:
- Disabling Shot: Fires a shot which disables the target's weapon, forcing them to take a turn to reload to fix it. This shot cannot critical, has a -10% chance to hit, and has a 2 turn cooldown.
- Battle Scanner: Throw a scanning device that grants visibility of an area for 2 turns. Can allow the use of Squad Sight shots, does not alert enemies. 2 Battle Scanners per mission.

Captain:
- Executioner: +10 Aim to all targets with less than half health.
- Opportunist: Removes the Aim penalty on Overwatch shots, and your Overwatch shots can now be critical hits.

Major (no choice):
- Low Profile: Half cover becomes full cover for you.

Colonel:
- In the Zone: Killing an enemy that either you are flanking, or that is not in cover, does not take a move, allowing you to continue to fire as long as you can keep this up.
- Double tap: Every other turn you can fire twice, as long as you don't move first.
Support
Squaddie (no choice):
- Smoke Grenade: Throw a smoke grenade, granting +20 evasion to all units in the smoke. Only 1 per mission.

Corporal:
- Sprinter: Move 3 extra tiles each move.
- Covering Fire: Overwatch shots will now be taken at enemies who take shots, instead of just enemies who move.

Sergeant:
- Field Medic: You can use Medkits 3 times a mission, instead of just once.
- Smoke and Mirrors: You can carry an extra Smoke Grenade.

Lieutenant:
- Revive: You can bring back a critically wounded soldier with 33% of max health with a medkit, rather than just stabilizing them until the end of the mission (I've tried to avoid this, but I have to say: do not pick this, pick Rifle Suppression, it is waaaay more useful).
- Rifle Suppression: You suppress an enemy, reducing their accuracy by 30% for the rest of the turn, and getting a free shot on them if they move.

Captain:
- Dense Smoke: Smoke Grenades now provide +40 Defense, rather than +20.
- Combat Drugs: Smoke Grenades now add +20 Will and +10 Crit chance, in addition to the original +20 Defense.

Major (no choice):
- Deep Pockets: You can carry two items into battle, instead of just one.

Colonel:
- Savior: Medkits heal for 4 extra health.
- Sentinel: You get 2 Overwatch shots, instead of just one.

Feel free to post your entire spec, if you want. I think I'll try to keep up multiple missions per update, as long as the squad can keep trained, by switching guys out. At least until I can get a 6 man squad. Sorry it took so long!