XCOM SG Signup and Rule discussion?

[Sareln]

w00t rocket launcher duty!

[uberfish]

The flare camp on the east side of the UFO caught a floater trying to sneak out from behind the wrecked building and it was shot down. On the west side, Sullla and F&I were really bored.

On our turn Ug moved forward again and spotted a floater hovering above what used to be the ceiling of the building but now wasn't providing any cover since it was destroyed. Regoararr fired off three rounds of long range laser rifle autofire and killed it.

A third floater was hiding on the east side of the building.



Since the second floor had been destroyed, Dave had a good angle to throw an alien grenade over from the flare camp and kill it without provoking reaction fire. Sevenspirits then set the ground floor on fire for good measure, to provide more light to the south and east.



Finishing the clockwise sweep, a floater took a long range pot shot at Ug from the south side of the UFO. More incendiary rounds lit up the area and Man behind the Mask shot it down.



With the outside cleared, Sareln and Sevenspirits swapped out their rocket launcher and autocannon (which would just make a mess inside the UFO) for looted alien plasma weapons.

Pocketbeetle volunteered to take point in the UFO assault. He got lucky:



Only two aliens, with their back turned. PB took the first one down, then ducked back out in case he missed his second round of fire and ended up stuck in place. Pling got the second kill.

The rest of the floor was empty and we heard the noises of aliens panicking upstairs. We shot one down from below the grav-lift and decided to break out the stun rods which Meiz and PB were carrying in case there were easy captures available. PB stunned a second alien next to the lift.



We then cut a hole through the bridge wall with heavy plasma fire, but it was empty. The last floater was hiding at the back behind the bridge door and Meiz knocked it unconscious without incident.



The squad couldn't believe it. XCOM had miraculously managed to not get anyone killed on a mission for a change. Perhaps this was a turning point in the war.

[uberfish]

KIA: Kylearan (vaporized by cyberdiscs on an impossible mission)

Research is set to stun launcher in case we need a little extra to capture a sectoid leader (this should be the #1 priority now, it's worth losing most of our squad to get it) and manufacturing to power suits.

We have a good quantity of loot to sell from the recovered UFO.

[fire&ice]

So did I die or just get wounded.

It seems like I am up for spooter duty again.

[haphazard1]

Outstanding mission, uberfish!

No deaths (although poor Kylearan died on the ice mission earlier), a double-dose of Elerium, and a couple captured aliens. Need to check our research projects to see if they were of interesting ranks -- a leader would be a big break for us.

Assuming ASM is still to be skipped until the weekend, I guess this means I am up again. I am very unlikely to be able to play today, although sometime Friday would be a good possibility. If dazedroyalty wants to grab the save, go ahead.

[uberfish]

So did I die or just get wounded.

It seems like I am up for spooter duty again.

You spent the entire mission camping the west side of the UFO together with Sulla and got very bored when nothing showed up.

I was hoping to do the "capture the first psionic" mission actually, which probably WOULD have gotten most of the team killed Unfortunately the ice mission configuration I got would have been completely suicidal to take on without save&reload. However, being able to show off some different weapons in the night mission was fun.

We did get a Floater Leader and Navigator but they don't unlock anything critical.

[dazedroyalty]

Great mission! No deaths is always encouraging.

Assuming ASM is still to be skipped until the weekend, I guess this means I am up again. I am very unlikely to be able to play today, although sometime Friday would be a good possibility. If dazedroyalty wants to grab the save, go ahead.

I don't think I'll get to it. We're playing turns really fast which is great, but playing a turn set a day is a bit much atm.

The question was asked earlier about psionic ability improving. It's important to explain that there are actually two different psionic ratings: skill and strength. Skill increases with practice but strength is static. Low strength is what makes soldiers susceptible to panic attacks and mind control which unfortunately means they will always be in danger. I've heard it suggested that high Bravery ratings is the best indication of Psi Strength before putting a soldier through Psionic training. Not sure if that is true. Once we have surplus funds, firing weak Psi soldiers is a good move. For now, though, it's best to be aware of those that seem to be susceptible and keep them out of sight.

One of the most annoying aspects of Psionic control is how the game determines the alien's ability to control soldiers. Human players can only mind control aliens that a soldier has line of sight/visibility on. However, whether because of game bugs or strange rules of alien sight, there are times when they can continue to mind control the same solider over and again even when s/he is in a room by themselves (i.e. no one could "see").

[haphazard1]

We did get a Floater Leader and Navigator but they don't unlock anything critical.

Actually, the leader is quite valuable, and will unlock the second tech along the path to Cydonia. So this is a major capture.

Do NOT research the leader yet. We have to complete the "Alien Origins" research topic first, then we can interrogate the leader (any leader will do) to unlock "The Martian Solution" topic. Once that is completed, we will then have to capture an alien commander to unlock the final "Cydonia or Bust" topic which will allow us to make the final assault on the alien HQ.

Not that we are anywhere near ready to make the final assault. But getting these requirements out of the way will be very helpful later.

I don't think I'll get to it. We're playing turns really fast which is great, but playing a turn set a day is a bit much atm.

OK, I guess I am up then. Probably I will play tomorrow, then hand off to ASM for the weekend. Unless his definition of the weekend includes Friday, in which case ASM should just grab the save and play.

The question was asked earlier about psionic ability improving. It's important to explain that there are actually two different psionic ratings: skill and strength. Skill increases with practice but strength is static. Low strength is what makes soldiers susceptible to panic attacks and mind control which unfortunately means they will always be in danger. I've heard it suggested that high Bravery ratings is the best indication of Psi Strength before putting a soldier through Psionic training. Not sure if that is true. Once we have surplus funds, firing weak Psi soldiers is a good move. For now, though, it's best to be aware of those that seem to be susceptible and keep them out of sight.

I was intending to put together a little background article on Psi, now that we have encountered it in game. Need to throw in a formal briefing on Cyberdisks as well now that we have encountered them, maybe cover Snakemen and Chryssalids as well since they should be showing up any time now.

One of the most annoying aspects of Psionic control is how the game determines the alien's ability to control soldiers. Human players can only mind control aliens that a soldier has line of sight/visibility on. However, whether because of game bugs or strange rules of alien sight, there are times when they can continue to mind control the same solider over and again even when s/he is in a room by themselves (i.e. no one could "see").

This is due to how the aliens handle line-of-sight. If any alien can see any member of the XCOM team (including an HWP), then all aliens can make Psi attacks against any member of the XCOM team. It is bizarre, but that is the way it works.

[Mardoc]

I was intending to put together a little background article on Psi, now that we have encountered it in game. Need to throw in a formal briefing on Cyberdisks as well now that we have encountered them, maybe cover Snakemen and Chryssalids as well since they should be showing up any time now.

I look forward to it - your background articles are quite enlightening, and tempt me to find Xcom for myself

[antisocialmunky]

Label the ones you don't want me to kill.