X-Com Challenge - OpenXcom

[silencer_pl]

Hello all.

 

I've been waiting with this for a quite a while, but I guess the time has come. Today I'll start this great challenge. In the left corner we have our beloved X-Com developed by Gollop Brothers in 1994. In the other corners we have XCOM: Enemy Unknown + Enemy Within add-on made by Firaxis in 2012-2013 and Xenonauts made by Goldhawk Interactive - soon to be officially released.

 

But what chance can have such an old game against his fresh opponents? Well the boys from OpenXcom project have been working very hard to allow X-Com shine once more. They've made a tremendous job in enhancing our grandpa, that may give an edge in this combat. Though currently version 0.9 is an official version, every day comes an update from the nightly builds which adds few fixes every day and the nightly builds I will be using. Furthermore I've also "modded" the soundtrack and will be using all the new shiny tracks from another project long abandoned though it was looking promising. Some of you might have heard of it - UFO: Cydonia's Fall.

 

So without any further delay:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25DUMqZjv-M

 

Additionally I'll be using following modifications:

 

 

I'll be also providing a video for the sessions for those who want to something more than plain old text and pictures.

 

So here we go.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e_Z9lSDvxg

 

First we start with base location - since we now know what radar range will be after full upgrade, the best place will be somewhere here:

 

 

Next part is the formation of our fist base, with my custom design.

 

 

Let's not forget about research - Laser Weapons obvious starting choice.

 

 

Also before we even have those - we must do small shopping in the local super market:

- 2 fresh recruits

- 10 Scientists

- 10 Engineers

- 1 Cannon-Tank HWP + 50 bullets

- 1 Additional Auto Cannon + 6 HE belts

- Some large rockets to our rocket launcher

- Some smoke grenades

- Some electroflares.

 

Unneeded junk like pistols, some rifles, heavy cannon and grenades are sold.

 

So now we are prepared, we can now only wait for some UFOs.

The first we discover is a very small one.

 

 

Interceptor-1 has no trouble caching up and destroys it.

 

 

Soon after a little bigger one appears on the radar.

 

 

With haste we assemble the team and hurry in Skyranger to the first crash site.

 

 

Looks like we have plenty of women on board.

Upon stepping down from the ramp, Helena Zielinski (finally some Polish accent in X-Com ) spots an alien.

 

 

However the killing blow was left to Noor Willems. She uses the rocket launcher and delivers the payload, strangely only stunning the alien.

 

 

Rest of the team fan out from the Skyranger and hides behind the sand dune. While waiting for the aliens we spot one alien coming out from the UFO. We haven't noticed any smoke, so this means the UFO might be intact (OpenXcom reduced the probability of total destruction and if Power Source is blown it doesn't destroy whole interior)

 

 

On our turn Mark Magyar takes a step to spot the alien and with Kelly Mitchell stuns it, even though she scores a headshot. The team moves on and Olesya Ivanova spots another one. She also manages to hit it, but to no effect.

 

 

More aliens show their ugly heads from the UFO.

 

 

We can't waste the opportunity of clamped aliens, so a rocket was delivered.

 

 

And Olesya, finishes what she has started.

 

 

However there are even more aliens. Question - how many floaters can you put inside small scout

 

 

While aliens were still pouring out of UFO, a rookie named Lena Anderson like Chuck Norris with swift reaction guns down incoming alien.

 

 

Unfortunately on next turn Elhanan Berhanu moves closer with her Auto Cannon, spots an alien - when her shot connects the alien turns and scores a critical hit. A first casualty of the invasion.

 

 

The team doesn't give up, and guns down any visible alien.

 

 

However that is not the end, so Mark and Helena goes inside the UFO, but it was empty.

 

 

I've noticed that the first alien we gunned down wasn't in it's place.

Sneaky little bugger thought he could run away. Instead he got a second rocket

 

 

And so does end the first mission.

 

 

Our current storage capacity is at the maximum so we must now make the decision what to sell.

 

 

And don't forget to promote the valiant soldier.

 

[silencer_pl]

 

First mission, first victory and only 1 casualty. It looks good, so we wait for another UFO. Meanwhile ordered stuff arrive, buildings are completed, research done.

 

 

Before the next UFO is detected, laser pistols are researched and 10 were manufactured. Next research will be of course laser rifle.

 

 

On 17th January we finally get another UFO and manage to shot it down.

 

 

The team gets equipped with laser pistols and the old junk is sold (except the rocket launcher)

Upon arrival there is an alien already spotted in front of our soldiers.

 

 

The tank moves out and is already peppered with shots from behind and right side.

 

 

Having scouted the vicinity of landing site, it's time for the soldiers to move out. Squaddie Zielinska moves out an shoots at the the alien north of the Skyranger but fails to kill it. Squaddie Willems however scores 2 kills.

 

 

Next was squaddie Anderson who fires the rocket, but misses this close. If aliens could shit their pants I guess he would shit his pants. But there were others who made an attempt and squaddie Mitchell finishes him off.

 

 

There are more aliens however and they slowly decide to exit the UFO. Leana Anderson reloads the launcher and fires again, blowing the alien to kingdom come.

 

 

More aliens move out and sergeant Ivanova gets critically wounded and passes out.

 

 

Squaddie Jan de Boer rushes in and guns down two aliens, but also gets a critical hit during the process.

 

 

Clock is ticking now, we have 5 turns till sqd. de Boer bleeds out and we don't know the status of sgt. Ivanova.

One of the aliens was spotted behind the eastern side of the UFO.

 

 

And there was one further to the north.

 

 

Those were the last ones and we managed to save lives of 2 operatives.

 

 

And we have another promotion.

 

[silencer_pl]

 

Soon after the mission our scientists finish Laser Rifle project and start examining Alien Alloys, while we order 10 pieces of fresh rifles in the workshop.

 

 

Before even one was manufactured another small UFO is caught on radar. Interceptor quickly sent but the UFO lands. The team is quickly assembled.

 

 

But before the Skyranger arrives the UFO lifts off just to be shot down.

When the team arrives 2 floaters are already pointing at them.

 

 

The tank drives forward forcing the aliens to waste time. The improved armour is quite nice and the tank is not even scratched.

 

 

Helena Zielinski and Noor Willems move out but they hit everything except the aliens. So Lena Anderson must change that and blast one of them sky high. The second one is gunned down by Zorha Chopra.

 

 

Rest of the team moves out and watches any incoming movement. Speaking of which there were plenty of movement inside UFO and outside. And one of them was spotted just south-east of the landing craft, which Noor Willems guns down.

 

 

The tank scouts further ahead and spots another one.

 

 

The team divides into two groups. One will rush towards the spotted alien and the second will move from the back of the UFO as it seems there is nothing coming from the west.

 

The soldiers that follow the tank fail to gun down that single floater, so the tank itself must finish the job. Just a precaution if the bugger would like to throw a grenade.

 

 

On the way to the UFO, another one was spotted, guarding the enterance. Mark Magyar however nails him.

 

 

There was nothing else on the way, so the team gathers to assault the UFO. With so many people it should go easy.

 

 

Upon entering an alien was spotted on the left side, but it didn't want to shoot back, so Helena Zielinska blasts him.

 

 

The team takes defensive positions and spot another alien moving through same corridor. Without any retaliation, it also is gunned down.

 

 

Soldiers move along and as they enter the main room it appears that there is no one in the UFO.

 

 

Strangely no one was shooting from behind, so the tank scouted ahead and revealed the missing alien. So Lena Anderson who didn't enter UFO took aim and delivered heavy payload of explosives right into aliens face.

 

 

Another mission done, but this time no Elerium.

 

[silencer_pl]

 

The aliens decided not to show up for a while. From the last missions I've hired scientists and engineers to match number 50. Additionally new Workshop was placed for construction.

 

We've managed to research Alien Alloys and Personal Armour and 10 units were ordered.

 

 

Also we came to the end of month and we got a very positive score.

 

 

To celebrate, a new base was ordered somewhere in Canada. We don't have enough money to queue every important building but it will come in time.

 

 

Not a few hours later we have a UFO on the radar. At the beginning it run away from the interceptor, but it stopped above Madagascar.

 

 

The team armed with fresh laser rifles, heads to the crash site.

 

 

The tank spots one alien on the upper floor of the barn, but nothing else while it closed to the UFO.

 

 

Because the soldiers aren't snipers, I've ordered Lean Anderson to blast the wall (and alien behind it).

 

 

But there was another one, who shot Sgt. Anderson twice in the chest. I don't know what she wore that day, but it definitely saved her hide.

 

 

Without med-kits she doesn't have much time. The team moves out from the Skyranger. Helena Zielinska spots an alien to left in the barn and blasts him straight away and Kelly Mitchell disposes the one that shot Lena Anderson.

 

 

The aliens started to pour from the UFO.

 

 

The tank moved a bit and shot twice at the alien with heavy plasma but missed, and hid behind the wall of the barn. Not risking, soldiers removed the corner wall of the barn with laser fire and Mark Magyar planted 2 headshots of the alien. After that Noor Willems moved forward and killed the alien with heavy plasma. Being exposed, a smoke grenade was thrown to protect her from any other alien that would like to come out.

 

 

Meanwhile Helena Zielinska and Zahra Chopra moved towards the other barn just to make sure if there wasn't any more aliens.

Speaking of which they remained silent for the next turn, so team moved forward trying to hide behind the piece of wall that remained. The aliens then moved out and the tank sustained light damage.

 

 

The last two aliens were killed then by Yuriy Egorov.

 

[silencer_pl]

 

 

So OpenXcom has reached official 1.0 version. And to celebrate I've added few more options to the game.

 

 

The major impact on the gameplay should have Extender accuracy and Sneaky AI. Also Flying Suits shouldn't now be immune to grenades and blaster bombs, except when flying very high.

 

Anyways, back to the game. I was quite surprised that there wasn't any terror mission back in January, but that doesn't mean there won't be now, or will it? But first Medi-Kit research is complete and work on Heavy Laser has begun.

 

 

But suddenly on 6th of February a Large UFO was detected. Could it be? Yes it is. A terror ship. 1 Interceptor with Avalanches won't manage, but 2 will.

 

 

Take that you aliens, no terror for you. Downing the terror ship so early in the game is almost impossible. But there you go. Some soldiers are given their personal armour and now they look badass. Let's hope those power sources are intact. 200 Elerium would be nice gift.

 

After arrival we've learned that it is a floater piloted ship. So it should mean easy victory.

 

 

And frankly, this mission was so easy, that writing this episode is no fun at all. With the Extender accuracy modification, it's more of a snipe hunt. The tank is excellent scout. Auto shot is only useful now in close range (no more than half screen).

 

 

The sneaky AI also probably doesn't help as aliens are trying to be more invisible. I don't really know how it works, maybe the open terrain like this desert map doesn't help that much? It doesn't work for Reapers though. Also the explosives now can make holes in the sand dunes.

 

 

This is what I am talking about the sneaky AI. I've moved Noor Willems to the door, without knowing there will be Reaper there. Another soldier moved inside, spot him and moved out. I couldn't kill him with rest of the squad so I thought that she will die in gruesome death. The Reaper only closed in.

 

 

Having killed so many Reapers that I've lost count the aliens went into massive panic mode. Having cleared everything I could see outside, the soldiers moved inside the UFO. Unfortunately all the elerium vaporized.

 

 

The aliens running inside of the UFO have dropped their guns. Which probably I'll add "aliens can pickup weapons" option.

What surprised me that I've cleared everything in the UFO but there was still an alien somewhere.

 

 

It turns out that another reaper was caught in the hole I've made.

 

 

Although it looked funny, I had to kill him.

 

 

Let's hope other missions will be harder, or I will disable either Sneaky AI or the Extenders accuracy. The tank will be obsolete once aliens will field more heavy plasma. As this is the only weapon that could quickly kill it.

[silencer_pl]

 

Hurray, no terror mission for you alien bastards. This will earn us big points in the council. But it is yet no time to relax. But there is still lots to be done. We earned quite the cash from that mission. With that money more buildings are placed in queue at Firaxis base and a second lab in our HQ.

 

 

But there is no time for rest. Another UFO is marked on the radars. The Interceptor shoots it down north of Lagos.

 

 

The procedure as always. The tank leaves the Skyranger but no aliens outside. Which gets me worried. But at least almost all soldiers are cladded in Personal Armour. Since no aliens are gone the soldiers move out and hide behind the building, when suddenly 2 shots come out from the window.

 

 

Jan de Boer opens the door and shoots back at the sectoid. The tank moves further down the farm and spots another alien.

 

 

Mark Magyar steps in and with careful aim, shoots the bugger. The team slowly closes towards the UFO, when suddenly an alien comes out of the UFO and hits Helena in the chest. The armour does it's job and all the damaged is deflected. She returns the favor, but sectoids don't have any armour that can stop her Laser Rifle.

 

 

The team continues to close in and some soldiers move slower to be able to shoot down any more aliens coming out. And in fact another pops out, shoots at Jan de Boer. His armour saves him but he will have some scars. Seeing this Mark Magyar retaliate and kills the alien in the spot.

 

 

The team finally enters UFO, only to be greeted by the last alien. With no problem Yuriy kills him.

 

 

No Elerium again. Oh well....

 

 

 

P.S.

 

Can someone refresh my memory? Aimed shots don't contribute to accuracy points after mission?

[Space Voyager]

If there is a chance for humanity, you are it, Silencer! Keep it up!

 

I don't recall ever hearing about aimed shots having a contribution to accuracy of the soldiers...

[silencer_pl]

I'm doing my best, though I make mistakes sometimes or risk too much.

 

 

Our budget increases and more buildings are planned in base Firaxis. With more soldiers wounded I've recruited 2 more soldiers in HQ (total 12 will reside for now).

 

2 days later a very small UFO was reported. As usual it was destroyed after a chase.

 

 

Before next encounter Heavy Laser project was finished. Next will be Laser Cannon to get improved tank.

 

 

After a week of waiting another UFO was reported. Before that all Personal Armours, Medi-Kits and most of the Heavy Lasers were manufactured, so now the ground team can kill almost any alien in 1 good shot.

 

 

Being small UFO again and on desert map, this mission will also be quite short. The tank after moving out of UFO scouts few aliens on the way and the UFO crash site.

 

 

The map is quite flat so soldiers can fire from long distances. Lean Anderson for example instead of aiming for the Alien, she decides it's better to hit a bigger target. The blast radius did consume the alien.

 

 

Moving further there were 3 more aliens on the way. 2 on the open field and 1 hiding behind the UFO. Noor Willems got +2 to kill count and the last one was for Zahra Chopra.

 

 

We didn't have a look inside the UFO, but I can see already that it was a wreck.

 

[silencer_pl]

 

After few days the mission, Scientists finish the work on Laser Cannon. We can now manufacture Tank with Laser Gun. Though I wish the Engineers could come up with some accuracy boost.

 

 

It has been quiet for a week, when suddenly at the 28th of February a Large UFO was spotted. Well it can only mean one thing. The Interceptors immediately were launched, but the UFO had it's target in sight.

 

 

This time we weren't that lucky and will have to move fast. The downside is - it will be night mission.

Before the Skyranger arrived at the site, we received a message from the council.

 

 

The team arrives and prepares for heavy battle:

 

Turn 1 (X-COM)

 

The tank moves out. It is immediately fired upon. 5 sources of incoming fire detected. Further scouting revels 3 Sectoids in the vicinity of Skyranger. Helena Zielinska steps out and throws a flare at possible 4th location revealing the alien and kills one of them.

 

 

The team slowly exists and shots at the remaining one. Leana Andreson tries to shoot at the 4th one but she fails to take proper aim, she shots at the ground below Skyrnager, destroying a wooden wall in the southern region. This revealed fifth alien who reaction fires. One of the shots connect, but the armour mitigates the damage.

 

 

The rest of the team moves out but fails to kill the two alien on the south. A smoke grenade is deployed for some cover and the tank moves out to provide distraction if possible.

 

Turn 1 (Aliens)

 

The two aliens fire at the tank, but plasma pistols don't have enough power to bypass the armour. Not a lot of shooting is heard, but 1 civilian screamed.

 

 

Turn 2: (X-COM)

 

Alien number 4 and 5, gets killed.

 

 

The tank moves forward the warehouse and spots a floating disc shape mechanical thing.

 

 

The team slowly spreads. Lean Anderson prepares to make some room in the warehouse.

 

 

Turn 2: (Aliens)

 

The tank is being shot at somewhere from south. More civilians die.

 

 

Turn 3: (X-Com)

 

The tank moves ahead and spots an alien and Helena Zielinska snipes him. It moves further and discovers a second one.

 

The cyberdisc in the warehouse moved a bit closer. Lena Anderson fails to destroy the boxes blocking better access to it, but Zahra Chopra and Noor Willems manage to kill it.

 

 

The rest of the team moves farther in to the city.

 

Turn 3: (Aliens)

 

A sneaky alien fires from behind and stuns Kelly Mitchel. Something fires at the tank and another cyberdisc spotted in the warehouse. More civilians die.

 

 

Turn 4: (X-Com)

 

The tanks moves in the position where he saw the alien and will provide distraction for X-Com soldiers to move in and kill any aliens in the area. Olesya Ivanova turns back and spots the alien who stunned Kelly Mitchels.

 

 

It had a small character shield because it took few shots to down him. Meanwhile Lean Anderson reloads the rocket launcher and tries to shot at possible location of the cyberdisc. The launcher must have slipped from her shoulder because the rocket hit the wall of the warehouse and the blast severely wounded Helena.

 

 

Turn 4: (Aliens)

 

The aliens at the market district ignored the tank and threw a grenade in close proximity of Zahra Chopra. The grenade explosion killed the civilian but Zahra was critically wounded.

 

 

Turn 5: (X-Com)

 

Mark Magyar doing flanking maneuvers spots an alien at the edge of the map. He aims at him but misses. He should have hide instead.

 

 

The tank is so inaccurate that it fails to hit anything (except some walls). Zahra withstanding the wound kills her attacker. Yuriy Egorov with Helena moves inside the warehouse.

 

Turn 5: (Aliens)

 

The alien moves in and kills Mark. The armour didn't save him from Heavy Plasma fire, though he survived 1 shot. More civilians die.

 

 

Turn 6: (X-Com).

 

Zahra and Noor, move towards the market district and will help the tank. Helena spots the cyberdisc in the building. Lena Anderson with proper aim, delivers the rocket blasting the target.

 

 

Turn 6: (Aliens)

 

The aliens in the market district are finally focusing on the tank.

 

Turn 7: (X-Com)

 

Zahra and Noor move in. 1 Alien down. Investigating further in the warehouse, two more aliens are discovered. But no one can get a lock on them.

 

 

Turn 7: (Aliens)

 

The aliens in the market district retreat to the corner. Another civilian dies.

 

 

Turn 8: (X-Com)

 

All aliens in the market die and Mark is avenged.

 

 

One of the aliens in the rear of the warehouse.

 

Turn 8: (Aliens)

 

No visible signs of activity.

 

Turn 9: (X-Com)

 

The last of the aliens in the back of warehouse dies. The hunt for the last ones begin.

 

 

Turn 9: (Aliens)

 

Alien Leader goes berserk.

 

Turn 10: (X-Com)

 

Alien leader dies.

 

[silencer_pl]

 

Allright, we have our first terror mission. It wasn't that bad but could be better. The second base is almost ready for operations over North America. It only requires a radar and an Interceptor.

 

But in the meantime it's another UFO time.

 

 

As usual the tank leads the way, but no aliens in the vicinity. However massive movements are seen on (and in) the barn located south-west of landing site.

 

 

Some of the soldiers take a reaction fire and hit one of the aliens.

 

 

The aliens also shoot back and Jan de Boer is heavily wounded.

 

 

Since there was an alien hidden on the ground floor and tank moving ahead spots him, Lena Anderson fires a rocket to blow up the wall of the barn. Then the soldiers make target practice. The tank also spotted another alien in further barn. But the team first destroyed the blocking wall, then sniped the alien.

 

 

It looked like a flawless victory again, but a sneaky alien snipes Yuriy Egorov.

 

 

I found this strange that he saw him from the smoke left by rocket explosion. Bug or the smoke left by explosions has different density than the one from grenade.

 

The alien was quickly blasted.

 

 

At this rate, we will lose all of the veterans.

 

[silencer_pl]

 

More money, more stuff, more research... give me MOAR !!! Laser Defense technology is finished, but it is useless to us. Now our laser tech tree has been exhausted, let's focus on the alien technology. Heavy Plasma should be ideal starting project.

 

 

Meanwhile our scanners detect another small UFO. However this one escapes our radars. Both Interceptors were tasked to scout possible location, but they couldn't locate the UFO. Either it vanished into space or relocated somewhere else.

 

 

But soon there was another UFO, how can radars spot something on the ground I don't know, but we can't be picky. If the Skyranger manages to get to it in time it will be night mission.

 

 

However the Interceptor that was ordered to patrol the landing site, as soon as he reached the destination, had to fight the UFO. The Skyranger was ordered to return and wait for sun to come out.

 

One the ground the team was greeted with some plasma fireworks.

 

 

The tank however laughs at those puny rifles. Once the troopers left the transport, the aliens were either blasted or pew-pewed to death. The rest of the path to the UFO was clear, but one alien decided to poke his head out. So we poke him with more pew-pews.

 

 

Upon entering the UFO, there was another alien waiting to be zapped.

 

 

The team has prepared to storm the command room of the UFO, when suddenly.... a Sectoid comes in and kills Olesya Ivanova. Then the soldiers on the rears fired at the alien killing him, but unfortunately our new Rookie Annie Vermeulen also was shot by friendly fire.

 

 

I need much better armour..... All what was left is one little Alien on the other side.

 

 

It always hurts when a veteran dies But such is the life of X-Com soldier.

 

[silencer_pl]

 

Aliens are still taking easy. I might check the graphs but I think it is too early. The NA base has radar, so our coverage is now extended.

 

 

A very small UFO is spotted but as those UFO go, they blow up. However large scouts don't blow up. And it will be another desert map, which means a lot of sniping and tank scouting. Should be easy.

 

 

As tradition goes, the tank spots 2 aliens somewhere in the desert.

 

 

Lena Anderson manages to hit a bullseye with the rocket.

 

 

Also Martin Halak is a sniper wannabe.

 

 

Upon approaching the UFO, there were 2-3 aliens hidden on the edges of map. But open map is not problem for our soldiers. Inside the UFO. There were 2 more aliens. One is killed by Noor Willems.

 

 

The second was more sneaky. He was too fast for Utku Batu - a rookie on his first mission. And also managed to kill Kelly Mitchell when she tried to avenge Utku.

 

 

A easy mission ended in a loss of a quite a veteran.

 

[Space Voyager]

Well, poor Utku.

 

I guess this is a unique opportunity to ask, since you're playing three versions of X-COM at once. Which do you find the most enjoyable?

[silencer_pl]

The most excitement I get in XCOM, but you can't get ultimate fun on impossible. Classic is way to go (both Vanilla and Long War).

X-COM is never boring, though sometimes the amount of small UFO missions gets to you. I kind of get a feeling that improved tanks are way to improved, but the vanilla ones were too useless. The only thing that saves them from being OP is their low accuracy. Though when sometimes you get out and have like 3 aliens shot at you, well I'm glad they are that tough.

Xenonauts are fun only in later stages. Personally I can't call Xenonanuts a spiritual successor. But also I won't call it X-COM clone like UFO:ET.

[silencer_pl]

 

After 4 days of waiting, a large UFO is spotted above North America. The base over there doesn't have an interceptor so 2 from the HQ are lifted.

 

 

The UFO flies fast over the North Pole, and vanishes somewhere over Russia. A sweeping scan is made by the interceptors and the UFO is found again.

 

 

It was a terror ship and luckily both of the crafts caught up with the UFO as it was choosing witch city to attack.

When soldiers arrive, it was already clear that we are fighting Floaters.

 

 

First the tank, forced the alien to reaction fire and did not find any other aliens. Then came out Helena Zielinska and killed the reaper. Then Noor Willem blasted the floater and spotted another Reaper inside the barn (or whatever this building type is named as I don't remember). Next came Lena Anderson, she fired rocket launcher at the frontal doors. It so happened that there was another Reaper behind the wall.

 

 

And the further reaper died too to some other soldiers.

 

The team split into two groups. One lead by Helena and went for the left UFO entrance. The other lead by Noor Willems. Both of the teams found on their way a few reapers. Good thing as the more reapers die early, the faster the aliens will start panicking.

 

 

Moving further ahead, a floater was spotted hovering above the entrance. Helena being a very accomplished veteran, without any sweat snipes him.

 

 

On the other side, Noor Willems was right behind the tank and hid on the corner of the UFO, when suddenly an alien moved out, threw a grenade under the tank, and happily wanted to escape. But Noor was there to stop him. The grenade didn't do any damage to both the Tank and Noor.

 

 

Meanwhile Helenas group spots another Reapers. They should be called target dummies.

 

 

Suddenly a floater emerges and hits a rookie Oudry Mukala. It must have been a pistol shot, because the armour absorbed all the damage.

 

 

While Helenas team was occupied with those reapers and floater. Noor Willems enters the UFO, but didn't spot any alien. However there was one sneaky git, who shot twice in her back. Because of the armour and her high health, she survives that sneak attack.

 

 

Also once Noor team was securing the right side, the tank moved to the left entrance assisting the other team.

 

 

The aliens mostly were panicking by now. Unfortunately again all the power sources are destroyed.

 

 

The team moves to the upper deck and proceeds with cleaning procedure.

 

 

This was quite a successful mission, without any deaths. And no terror mission in March.

 

 

[silencer_pl]

 

We have gathered again enough money to have a third base. This one will be in Japan, and will cover rest of the Asia and Russia. So most of the Earth will covered. Except Australia. This base will not have any soldiers and will just act as a forward radar base and will house 2 interceptors.

 

 

The scientists have also finished Heavy Plasma. Now only the clip is needed.

 

 

At the end of month we have another small UFO to deal with.

 

 

The team on the ground have found multiple aliens hiding in the nearest barns.

 

 

We have trained enough soldiers to deal with this situation and with big swoop all of them lie dead - no casualties.

 

While approaching the UFO an alien moves out. Though I could force fire through all the walls of the barn, instead I've ordered Lena Anderson to destroy one of the walls, and the rookies did the rest.

 

 

There was no more aliens outside, so the team safely towards the UFO. Once they are position. The enter.

 

 

There was an alien waiting for them. Martin Halak engaged in a shoot out and won. He was wounded in the process, but the medi-kit healed all the damage, so he will not spend any time in the hospital.

 

 

Staying safe the team waited and on the next turn there was a last alien who was shot without any fuss.

 

[silencer_pl]

 

Ok new month finally. Though with current situation we aren't in that great need of cash, but before that.

 

 

Now our Interceptors will be more independent.

 

So how did the month go? Most excellent.

 

 

But what is this? A Base in USA? Not under my watch.

 

 

 

A little head warning. I had to redo this mission twice, because once I was winning at the first try, the sneaky AI froze at one point and I didn't save in the middle of mission and the outcome of the second try was tiny less as good as the first try.

Since I knew where the first few aliens were I used that to my advantage - sort of, because on the first try I wasn't all that surprised. I also disabled Sneaky AI just for this mission. But let's go.

 

Strangely all of the team but one person starts in the same point. Nobody is on the ground floor too. There are a lot of dark rooms in the start area, so the tank moves first.

 

 

Of course that floater died fast. The team then spreads out and move to forward positions.

 

On second turn Dudry Mukala scouts his entrance spot and sees a floater. He misses and moves back.

 

 

On the other side, two reapers emerged from the shadows. Lean hit between both of them but only one died from the blast. The second was killed by Helena.

 

 

When I was relocating soldiers further inside the base, I've accidentally moved Jan de Boer one tile. The result on next alien turn was a grenade under his feet. He didn't survive.

 

 

The tank scouts ahead and we know where the command room is. Also this floater was laser stabbed.

 

 

On the right edge of the map, Lena and 2 rookies move forward, when suddenly a floater is spotted. I thought that the range will be sufficient enough to fire a rocket without the risk of injury. Guess I was wrong.

 

 

This later proved fatal to Lena. When she was crossing between corridors, she spotted a Reaper. A rocket to the face killed him. I've moved her further to be on the better side on next turn. Though a red warning siren was blinking above my head. As it happens there was an alien guarding the pass and he was accurate enough and killed Lena 1 step before salvation.

 

 

Some of the soldiers were able to connect with Dudry - killing 2 floaters and few Reapers on the way. The aliens started to panic. There was a big explosion. Probably in command room or not. Because when Martin Halak moved to some doors - there was some gaps and aliens ready to be shot.

 

 

At this point it was all cleaning house and the last alien died.

 

 

Shame about the casualties.

 

[Space Voyager]

Ouch... Yet, so X-COM.

[silencer_pl]

I've kind of can't wait when they Open TFTD. I miss shipping routes Yes I know that they can take 1 hour of your life, but they are kind of satisfactorily challenging.

[silencer_pl]

 

Looks like we've pissed the aliens for real. That's 2 small UFOs, 2 Large and 1 Very Large. So it means that they want a base in Africe. Well I can't stop the Bettleship for now, but thank god for plasma cannons.

 

 

Good thing we have 2 skyrangers too. So let's head out to the first UFO. Since we will be using second team, let's start from the small UFOs. It's also a shame that still even in OpenXcom you can't send Skyranger after 1 mission to another without returning to base. I've issued a feature like that. Hope it will be put into consideration.

 

Alright - team 2.... well this is looking a bit awkward. But they have laser rifles, tank laser and personal armours. It shouldn't be hard. Right?

 

 

Ok so the first UFO from the wave. And it's snakemen. So I'm guessing next terror will be Chrysalids....

 

 

There was another snake in the orchard. This team although rookies strangely acts very good. Too good for rookies.

 

 

Once I've deployed smoke, the aliens inside the UFO acted very strange - there 4 of them and every turn 1 of them came out just to be shot.

 

 

It was hell of a easy mission. And we even got the elerium for base 2.

 

[silencer_pl]

 

It will be short battle. The Skyranger from HQ has returned and without any delay has launched for the downed small UFO.

 

Upon landing the UFO was extremely damaged. The aliens were just around the corner.

 

 

But don't feel disappointed. There are 2 supply ships awaiting in next episodes.

 

[silencer_pl]

 

It's time for the big ships, though I've sent the team from second base to the small UFO.

 

There were 2 aliens right outside the UFO. At first they had a high character shields as nobody could hit them. Funny enough, when rookies started to exit the Skyranger they finally passed through it.

 

 

On the way to the UFO, there were few more aliens. They didn't pose any threat and were taken care of without any problem.

 

 

However the UFO is the one I'm more worried about. At the first glance the UFO looked intact.

 

 

But upon entering the engine room I was very sad.

 

 

Since there was no one there. I've moved some soldiers inside to protect them from any aliens that could popup from the corridor where the lifts are. It's been so long that I've fought inside crashed Supply UFO that I've forgotten to check if the ceiling had holes in it. A sneaky alien from the storage floor, jumped down the hole and murdered Oudry Mukala and Zahra Chopra.

 

 

When the other group that was preparing for ascending to the storage room, a strange blast was heard from above. A sectoid medic tried to shot down the elevator. Thankfully he missed and stunned himself.

 

 

On the storage floor, there were 2 more aliens. One of them almost tagged Ha-eun Maeng (don't brake your tongue reading it ).

 

 

But almost is not enough. Back to the team who was going for the top deck. They found an alien on the top floor standing on the lift tile. Also do not forget the longer path to the command room. Aliens could be everywhere.

 

 

Upon closing to the command room. A sneaky alien moved with a primed grenade and thrown under Wendimu Amare feet. It must have had it primed for few turns, because I've checked the corridor before he moved in. The blast killed poor Wendimu, but Martin Halak survived the blast.

 

 

Martin waited for more backup. When Ha-eun arrived the last alien charged. He hit her, but the armour absorbed most of the damage. It was a powerful hit and she will have to heal the wounds.

 

 

Well this mission didn't go quite well. 3 Dead and 2 wounded. Currently we have 2 able soldiers in HQ to continue the fight. Looks like a change of plans for the rookies from the second base.

 

[silencer_pl]

 

So right change of plans. The Skyranger from second base will now head to the other large UFO. In HQ we have 2 able soldiers to fight - more are in transit, but the UFO won't wait that long, so they are dispatched to the small one.

 

It's a farm map so it will be more dangerous outside. And since we have inexperienced soldiers I'll be super cautious. Like for example when spotting this here guy. Lot's of sniper snap shots. But eventually it came to rockets. The rocket blew up another sectoid in the barn.

 

 

They do love to spawn in those barns in masses.

I've completely demolished that barn. There were 3 more aliens in that area.

 

 

Having cleared the nearest alien nest. The team splits in two groups and goes towards the UFO. On the left side an alien was spotted near the entrance door. We first have blown some holes in the hedge that was blocking the view.

 

 

The alien didn't notice the group and they have moved closer to kill it. On the other side an alien walks out of UFO. Unaware of the surrounding he was also killed brutally.

 

 

Unfortunately this UFO also has been busted good.

 

 

Both teams simultaneously went to their designated floors. The team that was chosen to go for the top floor, has encountered 2 aliens on their way.

 

 

On the first floor there was 1 alien near the elevator. And like I said remember to check this back room.

 

 

Upon reaching the command room, another alien has emerged from the shadows. But with quick reflex shot he was killed.

 

 

However there were still more aliens. They weren't in the command room. Metin Karaman found one right around the corner. He had enough time to take 1 snap shot or hide in the room. If I've known what would happen I would take the snapshot. The alien followed Metin and despite having only pistol he murdered Metin with lots of shots to the back.

 

 

This operation went quite smoothly compared to the other one.

 

[silencer_pl]

A message about incoming change of scheduled program. I've been doing 1 post per 1 mission. It might work for X-COM, since the number of missions is not that staggering. I'm almost 50% done. However Long War in Xenonauts mission count will be much much greater. Si from now one, I'll be highlighting most of the mission I've done during the week. If anything more interesting happens, like terror mission, base defense, base attack, etc. I'll put more detailed information.

 

This applies to all the AARs, since in XCOM most missions will be Abductions and for now, small UFOs, and in Xenonanuts it will be mostly same mission after mission with bigger UFOs coming much later.

[Bomb Bloke]

Some of you might have heard of it - UFO: Cydonia's Fall.

 

I remember it well enough to know there's no apostrophe. They never did explain if that was intentional or not...

 

Actually, the music they made for that is excellent. It's been on most of my playlists since I spotted it. It's superb for my concentration.

 

With haste we assemble the team and hurry in Skyranger to the first crash site.

 

Fun fact that may help you in later playthroughs - the second UFO to appear in the world is all but guaranteed to land within SkyRanger-range of your base (whereas the first UFO is typically a very small craft which you either won't catch or will probably destroy).

 

If you want it intact, all you gotta do is skip the aerial combat.

 

Can someone refresh my memory? Aimed shots don't contribute to accuracy points after mission?

 

At least in the original, you have the potential to gain stats according to the number of hits you land. It doesn't matter what type of hits they are - an aimed shot is the same as a snap shot for such purposes. All that matters is quantity, so spamming close-range auto-shots with weak weapons is the way to go if you're seriously into training.

 

Speaking of altering accuracy, KNEEL. It shrinks your 3D hitbox while increasing your chance to hit. Win-win. It can and will save you from point-blank attacks.

 

It had a small character shield because it took few shots to down him.

 

What are these "character shields" of which you speak?

 

I found this strange that he saw him from the smoke left by rocket explosion. Bug or the smoke left by explosions has different density than the one from grenade.

 

Yes, the density is very different. Basically when smoke spawns, it gets a density "value", and this goes down by one per turn - the smoke grenades give something like 10 on average, rockets give something like 2 or 3 (though it does depend somewhat on what you blow up). You shouldn't count on rocket smoke to affect vision at all.

 

I documented some more about the effects here.

 

Laser Defense technology is finished, but it is useless to us.

 

... so why did you bother completing the tree?

 

I kind of get a feeling that improved tanks are way to improved, but the vanilla ones were too useless.

 

I've never used tank modifications of any kind, and have always considered the basic rocket tank to be an immense aid in combat. Granted, it can't take a lot of damage and it costs a mint, but... well... explosions...

 

But what is this? A Base in USA? Not under my watch.

 

Oh, remember that your aerial craft have their own field of vision! If you've got nothing better to do, check out the alien activity graphs and have your ships patrol in suspect regions. You'll locate alien bases far faster this way.

 

There was a big explosion. Probably in command room or not. Because when Martin Halak moved to some doors - there was some gaps and aliens ready to be shot.

 

I guess OpenXcom hasn't quite fixed the alien's ability to account for Blaster Launcher drift yet.