Eyes on FF Plays XCOM: Enemy Within!

[Pheesh]

All right, let's do this!

I'll go with suppression, and as for the genetic enhancements:
+5 aim and crit eyes
Ignore elevation legs
mimetic skin
And secondary heart when we get it

[Loony BoB]

All this talk of "oh but there were doors" and "couldn't get a clean shot" - create clean shots by using rockets. I have two per mission, I think, by now... destroy their walls, their cover, their lives and then let the rest of the group pick off what remains. I used to go into battles with 3x Heavy (all max rank), 2x Sniper, 1x Support. That's nine rockets. Nothing stood in my way at all and whatever the Heavies didn't kill, the Snipers picked off. Was great fun.

Also, yay for Heat Ammo. I now pronounce myself a machine killing machine.

[Skyblade]

All this talk of "oh but there were doors" and "couldn't get a clean shot" - create clean shots by using rockets. I have two per mission, I think, by now... destroy their walls, their cover, their lives and then let the rest of the group pick off what remains. I used to go into battles with 3x Heavy (all max rank), 2x Sniper, 1x Support. That's nine rockets. Nothing stood in my way at all and whatever the Heavies didn't kill, the Snipers picked off. Was great fun.

Also, yay for Heat Ammo. I now pronounce myself a machine killing machine.

The main thing is, since I'm so used to not using explosives, I'm having to get my mind around how to position them to use on the next turn. Grenades and the Flamethrower have the advantage of being able to move, then attack. But with rockets, you have to be in place to evade walls on the first turn. Using them as a cover destroying tool is handy, but the situation needs to fit it. Don't worry, I'll try to get you more Rocket use later on. I just need to rethink my tactics.

Fortunately, the mission we just got is the one which unlocks the special battleship assault mission from Slingshot, which gives us early access to Blaster Launchers. Then I can just go back to my usual strategy and ignore the placement rules.

[Loony BoB]

To be fair, it's not until you have 2-3 rockets that it becomes a good choice. If you have 2-3 Heavies with 2-3 rockets each, you can do insane damage without much need for entering a UFO. One heavy and one or two rockets? Different story altogether. So I completely understand any reluctance to waste such a thing. xD I'm just being silly.

[Skyblade]

-Operation Cryptic Rain-
-Confounding Light-
Beijing, China
10:51 PM

Our mission was the board a Chinese train and plant transponders designed to divert an enemy battleship that we had been alerted to by Zhang, the defector from the Triad.

Our troops advanced on the rails, spotting a number of Thin Men in the surrounding area.

The first kill went to Ronnie, who seemed to not care that we needed the train at least operable, as his rail gun shot tore down one side of one of the cars entirely.

Not to be outdone on the property damage front, Iceglow's new Laser Sniper Rifle carved a hole out of both sides of another car while eliminating the second Thin Man.

Already in cover beside one side of a car, Christmas satisfied herself with shattering a window and blowing out the other side to down a Thin Man hiding on the next track.

Daley, disappointed at having no remaining opportunities for property damage, merely set the transponder and shot down the last visible Thin Man.

A Muton dropped from the sky, allowing Iceglow another good shot before he could get into cover. This one tore straight through the car's windows, but left the walls intact.

As our troops advanced into position, another Muton dropped behind enemy lines. Vivi, who had repositioned to get a view on any forward foes, had no line of sight on the Muton, so Iceglow secured another kill (seriously, why are they dropping so many foes that far behind the rest of my troops? Iceglow is just going to kill them).

As he ran forward, Ronnie spotted another Thin Man. Wanting to add to his already high demolitions total, he blew another hole clean through the train before drilling the Thin Man who thought that the small ledge beside the track would protect him (53% accuracy FTW!).

Christmas hit another transponder, then needlessly jumped through a window on her way to the third (really, it's a clear isle, just run along it), apparently just to break as much of the train as possible along the way.

Vivi's reaction shot caught the last Thin Man as it tried to reposition on Daley, then he took a second shot to clear the Muton who dropped atop the train.

Daley placed the final transponder, then started the train's engine. Despite it's protests, the train started to move on the intercept course that would allow it to interfere with the Battleship's navigational systems. Mission Accomplished.

MVP: Iceglow, for covering the team's back.

Wounds: None

Promotions:
Daley Thompson is promoted to Corporal.

Yeah, the specialty missions can be kind of easy. To help make things more interesting, our troops decided to see just how much of the train they could destroy with their standard shots. Mercifully, Ronnie decided to withhold using his grenades to add to the carnage.

Daley can now choose between Tactical Sense (+Defense for each foe in squad's sight) or Aggression (+Crit Chance for each foe in squad's sight).

Fortunately, it's not too long before another mission pops up. This is the mission to board and capture the foe's Battleship. Fun fun fun!

-Operation Blind Dirge-
-Gangplank-
Shanghai, China
11:00 PM

So our forces set down on the enemy Battleship, immediately taking up positions around the veritable flying fortress. Our mission became to disable the power conduits distributing power throughout the ship, allowing us to take it down without destroying the valuable technology onboard.

Two Thin Men were loitering around the first conduit. Christmas ran up and sniped the first one with a clean shot from her Light Plasma Rifle (more weapons need +10 Aim). Ronnie's Railgun obliterated the second.

As Vivi got into position at the conduit, several Sectoids and a Thin Man dropped down from the roof, taking Overwatch positions before our forces.

Iceglow took out one on a high ledge across the room, while Christmas eliminated a second that had dropped onto the floor near Vivi.

As our forces moved forward, more Sectoids dropped into view. Vivi nailed one that was too close to a power conduit, blowing the conduit as well as killing the Sectoid. Ronnie tried a long range shot on another, but missed. Iceglow ran forward and capped the Sectoid with his pistol, eliminating it.

One Sectoid encroached on BoB's territory, splashing some plasma on him before BoB returned fire, roasting him with his heavy lasers.

Christmas ran forward and got another in view, getting a flanking shot. Only to be flanked herself by the remaining Thin Man, who got in a good shot on our brave Assault, but didn't pierce her armor. BoB immediately closed to point-blank range and wasted the alien, intent on eliminating any foes who dare to harm our beloved forum members.

A Chryssalid dropped into sight as our next foe. Not wanting to risk the deadly insect running rampant, Ronnie rushed forward and blasted it down with a hypervelocity slug from his Railgun.

While trying to get into position for an enemy he could sense on the other side of a wall, BoB was surprised by a new foe floating into the midst of our forces. A white disc came through the nearby door, right on top of the team on the left flank. Our forces quickly shot it down, but it then exploded, dealing heavy damage to BoB, Vivi, and Christmas.

On the right flank, meanwhile, Iceglow shot down another Thin Man, while Ronnie got into a point position to take on any new foes who might enter the area, spotting a third conduit, but ignoring it for the time being.

Despite her wounds, Christmas manages to shoot down the next Sectoid that drops onto the field. The rest of our forces regroup, while waiting for the poison clouds from the dead Thin Men to dissipate. Vivi took down the lone Sectoid who dropped in to disrupt our regrouping.

As we were finally ready to move on, a Thin Man dropped down, trying to flank Vivi, but BoB's laser fire caught it before it could get a shot off. BoB then opened the door, revealing a Muton that caught a full body blast from Vivi's Sniper Rifle.

On the other side of the ship, Iceglow opened the door to a lone Sectoid, then promptly fried it with a laser beam.

As we approached the final two conduits, a Thin Man made the mistake of dropping down right next to Ronnie. Not letting the man in the suit ruffle him, Ronnie smashed the conduit, before turning and showing everyone just how big a hole a massive slug can put in an alien body.

BoB deactivated the final conduit, closing off the ship's power flow.

Mercifully, it didn't crash and burn with all of our troops on board.

MVP: BoB, for being the unstoppable juggernaut who destroys the aliens that threaten XCOM forces.

Wounds: Christmas is out for 3 days, getting shrapnel from the Cyberdisc removed from her gut.

Promotions:
Vivi is promoted to Major
Iceglow is promoted to Captain
Ronnie is promoted to Captain
BoB is promoted to Captain
Christmas is promoted to Captain

Promotions all around!

Finally, we get Squad Size II, allowing us to carry 6 soldiers with us, and New Guy, which auto promotes all incoming troops. No more need for Rookies without a specialization!

Vivi gets Low Profile, allowing him to treat half cover as full cover, even for purposes of Mimetic Skin (which is an utterly broken combination).

Iceglow gets to choose between Executioner (increased Aim on low health enemies) and Opportunist (no Aim loss on Overwatch)

Ronnie gets Repair Servos (2 health regen per turn, up to 6 HP total per mission) or Expanded Storage (increases the number of times Grenade Launcher, Proximity Mine, and Restorative Mist can be used by 1 time per mission, and increases main weapon ammo by 50%, making it a 6 shot gun).

Loony BoB has already chosen Danger Zone, increasing the AOE of his rockets.

Christmas gets to choose between Close Combat Specialist, which takes an automatic reaction shot to any enemy that gets within 4 tiles (perfect for killing Chryssalids) and Bring 'Em On, which increases Crit DAMAGE by 1 per foe in squad sight, up to +5.

[Pheesh]

Go team!



Also, tell me to shove it if you don't want to do this but I was wondering if before the main mission text, underneath the summary, can you start listing off the people who are in the mission?

[Iceglow]

If I remember X-Com well, then frankly low health don't mean a thing when a sniper rifle is utterly broken and deals damage like a kick from a god damn mother smurfing horse! As such, I'll go even more broken with the skill of aiming by taking Opportunist. From how I think you've been playing me I seem to in open areas be the sit back and cover everyone sniper.

Also for my soldiers meld abilities can I have:

For Eyes, +5 Aim and Crit chance when on higher ground.

For Legs, the ability to ignore elevation.

For Skin, we have Mimetic Skin, which lets you become invisible when in high cover sniper class is broken, broken and glorious!

For Heart, Secondary Heart, immortal broken sniper of doom! I like it

[Loony BoB]

Woohoo! I did done kill stuff.

[Christmas]

Close Combat Specialist! I like to get up close and personal.

Poor me! I hope I recover soon! I hope the rank of Captain comes with much needed medical benefits!

PS: I love the whole setup. It's like I'm playing the game but need not put in the effort to actually play it!

[DK]

Expanded storage yo. the health regen thing sounds nice but also rather unnecessary. give Ronnie more explody things!

[Skyblade]

Before we leave on this next Abduction mission, we get attacked by EXALT. Our first encounter with this rogue unit drains some of our cash reserves, but it also alerts us to a cell they have operating in Germany. We send Vivi to disrupt the cell, then go on some Abduction missions.

2014-07-21_00001.jpg
Operative Vivi. Notice the 22 Kills.

2014-07-21_00003.jpg
The Team. With Plasma weapons and Particle Cannons in tow.

2014-07-21_00004.jpg
Our Abduction mission. Apparently all three are in Europe, about five minutes flight time for the Skyranger. Why are we restricted to just doing one?

-Operation Twisted Scepter-
Berlin, Germany
4:24 PM
Christmas, BoB, Ronnie, Psy, Pringle, and Daley.

Our first mission with a full squad.

We started near a warehouse in Berlin. Our forces moved into cover, unhindered, until Pringle spotted a trio of Thin Men. Fortunately, he had moved into full cover, activating his Mimetic Skin, making him invisible. So they didn't notice him.

Unfortunate for them.



Moving into the warehouse offices, two Floaters came into view. Ronnie caught one with Overwatch, and Psy lobbed a grenade in to make a new main door and eliminate the second.

On his way to the first Meld canister, BoB spotted a trio of more Floaters. Christmas caught one with her Light Plasma Rifle. BoB missed with his shot, but Ronnie managed to finish off the one right next to the Meld canister.

Meanwhile, having made it through the offices, Daley grabbed the second Meld canister behind the building, while being backed up by the invisible Pringle.

BoB burned down the final Floater, while two Mutons trudged around towards Daley. Daley was too startled to get a clear shot, but his reaction fire did drive the Mutons back around the building, toward the rest of the squad. Pringle then flanked one of them and got a clean kill, leaving just one Muton remaining, which BoB expertly mowed down.

MVP: Pringle, for a solid kill and setting up that glorious grenade shot, which created the largest poison cloud I have seen in the game to date.

Wounds: None. Someone hit BoB, but I forgot who exactly.

Promotions: Daley is now promoted to Sergeant

Daley now has two promotions of upgrades to choose between.
Tactical Sense (+Def per enemy seen) or Aggression (+Crit chance per enemy seen)
Lightning Reflexes (first Overwatch shot per turn always misses) or Close and Personal (free shot within 4 tiles, doesn't work with Run and Gun)


Anyway, we nearly finish researching Titan Armor, when we get informed that Vivi is ready for extraction. Our first covert extraction mission! Woohoo!

-Operation Forgotten Stallion-
Germany
1:55 PM
Christmas, BoB, Ronnie, Psy, Pringle, Daley, and Vivi (acting as Covert Operative)


Our forces touch down outside a primary bank building in Germany. Vivi has already been busy inside, setting up a transmitter to relay information back to base, and an encoder to protect it from enemy hacking attempts.

Not wasting any time, Vivi sprints to the first EXALT transmitter, getting ready to use the codes he acquired to disable it. Disrupting their communication prevents EXALT from using their weapons to full effect.

As Vivi comes into range, the rest of our squad moves out to cover him, and to block the encoder to prevent EXALT forces from hacking it and discovering the location of the transmitter.

Stepping up to the front door, Psy immediately spots three EXALT agents, who have apparently engaged in some genetic modification of their own. They fall back, but not before Daley rips one of them apart.

Christmas, dashing up to a defensive position near the encoder, manages a beautiful shot right in between some warehouse shelves, eliminating a second EXALT agent.

Three more EXALT agents run onto the field of battle, taking cover among some cars. Some cars that are fully fueled. And sitting within range of Loony BoB. Who has missiles.



I have no idea how that happened.

The final EXALT agent on the field gets his cover blown away by Ronnie, before Psy decides to move in and torch him.

Christmas and Pringle manage to catch three more agents out the back. Pringle misses, but Christmas brings home another corpse, as the foes scramble to evade our vastly superior fire (at this point, they only have conventional weapons. We have full Plasma).

Four more EXALT operatives drop in. Daley immediately frags one, and BoB catches another. Christmas's reaction shot catches one of the ones who ran, and her follow up fire burns him dead.

Ronnie runs around to punch one of the remaining two operatives, who fails to survive for some reason. Vivi fires a few rounds from his pistol at another, dramatically weakening him. Sensing a good opportunity, Daley moves into range and stuns the foe. To his surprise, however, the operative resists the stun long enough to jam a needle in his own neck. Thus deprived of a captive, Daley takes some pride in being the first soldier to secure a kill with the Arc Thrower.

The final foe remaining, the last one that had fled from Christmas, utterly failed to notice the invisible Pringle walking up behind him and putting a plasma barrel to his head.

Mission Accomplished

MVP: Daley. For a few good shots, and that awesome stun-kill.

Wounds: None.

Promotions: Christmas is now a Major, earning herself the Extra Conditioning Ability

Completing this mission returned Vivi to base, and earned us some intel. EXALT's base is not within one of the world's five most populous countries.


We then complete research on Titan Armor, allowing us to create the magnificent MEC-3, the Paladin.

This allows our MEC troops to choose between two additional abilities. Proximity Mines, which are fairly self explanatory, and the Electro-pulse, a short range AOE weapon that disables machines temporarily and shocks organic foes.

The Paladin MEC suit also looks awesome, so don't delay in upgrading.


We get another council meeting, telling us how awesome we're doing, in case anyone wasn't paying attention, and we get our monthly funding.

[Pheesh]

Lol, BoB's rocket shot was so satisfying to watch.

[Loony BoB]

Boom.

I can't wait to get my third rocket!

[Christmas]

Holy, if only I get promoted that fast in real life!

[DK]

mines for more exploding fun. also god damn that rail gun is awesome, I want one.