03-15-2018, 10:27 AM
Right, the wife is home and I was able to sweet-talk myself into some more XCOM time... I'm ready for the Rescue (the) Ranger mission. As I said before, I'm building this team around Lights Out, armed with the extra-capacity sniper rifle. With his "Kill Zone" ability, I don't want him to run out of bullets before he runs out of targets. I've also included Big Time, my senior Grenadier. He's got Holo-Targeting, which gives everyone in the squad a bonus, as well as the extra perk "Death From Above". That one means if he kills someone at a lower elevation, he gets a free action. I think this can chain as well, meaning he can keep going and going. Note to self: once the mission starts, Big Time should go for high ground too, like the sniper.
The rest of the squad are pretty green: a corporal Specialist (Medic build) and two squaddies: a Ranger and a second Specialist (that's why I opted to upgrade the Gremlins before this mission). Everyone is geared up and ready to rock, so let's get this party started!
...
I've got 12 rounds to rescue the VIP and bug out at a pre-determined location. The Skyranger dropped the squad in the middle of a parking lot, with no immediate high ground available. I must remember: every time I've played these "fixed bug out location" missions, there's always a reserve squad parked near the dust-off site, so I won't be surprised this time. In the meantime, I'll deploy my Battle Scanner and see what's in between me and the objective.
Spotted: one Viper and one Lancer (as well as a smattering of civilians which can spot me just as well as the aliens)... I'm going to bet there's a third target just outside of my view (again, game experience tells me there's hardly ever "just two" in a patrol). I'll try to carefully deploy so we can smoke these guys quickly. Too soon to bust out my flash-bang? Maybe not... but I won't be ambushing this patrol right now, so let's just see what I can see.
...
Well, this game loves to make me a liar... there are only two aliens in this patrol. I won't waste the flash-bang, but now I only have 11 rounds to get the VIP and get out. I make quick work of the two, but I'm a little more spread out than I'd like and now only have 10 rounds. A trick of the light / residual benefits meant that I saw what looked like an ADVENT trooper and a Lancer on the rooftop where the VIP was being held. I decided to double-more the junior special over, but did not count on THE ENTIRE SECOND LEVELS BEING WINDOWED!!! So they see my little specialist, who is out of moves. Oh, and there's a MEC there too. The good news is that I've got the rest of the squad to move and shoot still. I may deploy my Mimic Beacon now to save the poor specialist, but I need to think before I move this time.
...
I deployed the Mimic Beacon, and once again that little device has saved the day... that, and a HUGE bit of luck: my Medic had a clean shot at the MEC and hit! AND, because I'd equipped his rifle with a Repeater, there was a 5% chance of an instant kill... WHICH I GOT! So the MEC is down, the exposed Specialist was ignored, and the enemy trooper and Lancer are in great spots for me to finish them off. Nine rounds to go (and here I'll remind myself again: there's probably another squad between the VIP (whom I haven't even rescued yet) and the evacuation point). First order of business: take out these two enemies, then get that VIP secure!
I took out the two enemies easily, but I'm really getting worried about that turn counter (8 rounds before mission fail), so I'm taking a risk by doing a blind sprint towards the VIP. It's a gamble, for sure, but its better than a mission fail... Aaaand I rushed the junior specialist towards the VIP only trigger two Vipers and a Muton. The Muton waltzes up and melee-kills the Specialist. One Viper tongue-grabs my Ranger, the second spits venom at the sniper. Ugh, things go wrong so quickly in this game!
Anyway, I was able to tag the first Viper with a rifle shot, releasing the Ranger who then finishes him off with the sword. The rest of the team plays catch-up, but then the remaining Viper just walks over to the ranger and he's bound again (one health remaining now). The Muton, whom I lost sight of, comes over and attempts another smash, this time on my (poisoned) sniper, but misses.
And now the wife is calling time-out, so I'll have to figure my way out of this problem another time (hopefully later tonight).
The rest of the squad are pretty green: a corporal Specialist (Medic build) and two squaddies: a Ranger and a second Specialist (that's why I opted to upgrade the Gremlins before this mission). Everyone is geared up and ready to rock, so let's get this party started!
...
I've got 12 rounds to rescue the VIP and bug out at a pre-determined location. The Skyranger dropped the squad in the middle of a parking lot, with no immediate high ground available. I must remember: every time I've played these "fixed bug out location" missions, there's always a reserve squad parked near the dust-off site, so I won't be surprised this time. In the meantime, I'll deploy my Battle Scanner and see what's in between me and the objective.
Spotted: one Viper and one Lancer (as well as a smattering of civilians which can spot me just as well as the aliens)... I'm going to bet there's a third target just outside of my view (again, game experience tells me there's hardly ever "just two" in a patrol). I'll try to carefully deploy so we can smoke these guys quickly. Too soon to bust out my flash-bang? Maybe not... but I won't be ambushing this patrol right now, so let's just see what I can see.
...
Well, this game loves to make me a liar... there are only two aliens in this patrol. I won't waste the flash-bang, but now I only have 11 rounds to get the VIP and get out. I make quick work of the two, but I'm a little more spread out than I'd like and now only have 10 rounds. A trick of the light / residual benefits meant that I saw what looked like an ADVENT trooper and a Lancer on the rooftop where the VIP was being held. I decided to double-more the junior special over, but did not count on THE ENTIRE SECOND LEVELS BEING WINDOWED!!! So they see my little specialist, who is out of moves. Oh, and there's a MEC there too. The good news is that I've got the rest of the squad to move and shoot still. I may deploy my Mimic Beacon now to save the poor specialist, but I need to think before I move this time.
...
I deployed the Mimic Beacon, and once again that little device has saved the day... that, and a HUGE bit of luck: my Medic had a clean shot at the MEC and hit! AND, because I'd equipped his rifle with a Repeater, there was a 5% chance of an instant kill... WHICH I GOT! So the MEC is down, the exposed Specialist was ignored, and the enemy trooper and Lancer are in great spots for me to finish them off. Nine rounds to go (and here I'll remind myself again: there's probably another squad between the VIP (whom I haven't even rescued yet) and the evacuation point). First order of business: take out these two enemies, then get that VIP secure!
I took out the two enemies easily, but I'm really getting worried about that turn counter (8 rounds before mission fail), so I'm taking a risk by doing a blind sprint towards the VIP. It's a gamble, for sure, but its better than a mission fail... Aaaand I rushed the junior specialist towards the VIP only trigger two Vipers and a Muton. The Muton waltzes up and melee-kills the Specialist. One Viper tongue-grabs my Ranger, the second spits venom at the sniper. Ugh, things go wrong so quickly in this game!
Anyway, I was able to tag the first Viper with a rifle shot, releasing the Ranger who then finishes him off with the sword. The rest of the team plays catch-up, but then the remaining Viper just walks over to the ranger and he's bound again (one health remaining now). The Muton, whom I lost sight of, comes over and attempts another smash, this time on my (poisoned) sniper, but misses.
And now the wife is calling time-out, so I'll have to figure my way out of this problem another time (hopefully later tonight).
They say Hitler loved dogs; that doesn't mean I want to travel back in time and discuss the merits of the Border Collie with the guy. He's still an a-hole.