Let's Play UFO2:Extraterrestrials

[Thorondor]

NKF is turning out to be quite the show-off, who knew...

And, FA, what's up? Listen, you've gotta clean that helmet visor once in a while, maaaan! That really doesn't count as camouflage and you know it.

Yeah, well, leave it to the rest of the squad to pick up the slack every once in a while, right? Wiseguy.

Suddenly we're all blinking our eyes repeatedly as it almost seemed TV had turned into something otherworldly and back again. Damned alien mind games!

Let's wrap things up before things get any nastier. Watch your corners and stay sharp you lot!!

@Commander Z: potential Final Destination special mission parameters understood. Foreseeing every endgame scenario falls very much under your direct purview, Sir. Say when and we shall deliver victory unto thee!

[Space Voyager]

Oh no no no, Z, you NEED to come, too. Not because I like you, I just want insurance that it's not a suicide mission. Just kidding, just kidding, it is for the story-telling purposes! We need to go into the fray together.

[Zombie]

Battlecruiser Part 3

After that Rar encounter, I reloaded from an earlier save and went at it again. FA opened the door and took an auto shot at a Hardened Bonesetter with heavy ammo in his photon beamer. First blast was absorbed. The Bonesetter shot back at him but it's damage was absorbed too. FA's second blast did 13 while his last missed. The Bonesetter should be relatively safe as it's low on APs so Knan will shoot at it at close range:

He took two auto shots: the first did 29 total damage while the first bullet of his second did an identical 29 which killed it:

On our next turn, Knan comes out of hiding to spot that pesky Rar. He doesn't have a lot of APs to spare so he'll throw an incendiary grenade at it (it's not in his hand anymore as he just threw it - you can probably see the fire has started):

It only did 12 fire damage. So that seals it, he must shoot at it now:

His first two bullets do 67 & 50 damage which kills it:

Four turns later and we just spotted one of the alien cannons on top of the UFO so TV will mortar it:

The blast does a very healthy 155 damage which takes it out:

A couple turns later we spot the other cannon on the closest side to us. Same deal as before, TV will mortar it:

This blast did a decent 138 damage which destroys it:

Four turns later and we spot part of the cannon on the far side of the UFO so TV will mortar that too:

The blast hits for a very healthy 153 damage which destroys it:

On the next turn we spot the last cannon. TV to the rescue again:

This time the blast did 127 damage but that was enough to take it out:

Now we can relax a little bit as there aren't any cannons left to impede our progress searching the rest of the map. Thirteen turns go by and we've mostly searched out some of the last areas of darkness. Nothing has been found except for this Hardened Bonesetter where that last cannon was. TV will mortar it:

This blast does 147 damage which kills it:

Impressive damage rolls make the mission go fast. Wow. Silencer goes up a lift in the building to the right of the UFO only to spot a Hardened Bonesetter at the far side of the room - so he'll shoot at it:

His first bullet hits for 73 which kills it:

Surgical guys. On the next turn, the team on the west side of the map finds a Hardened Bonesetter which must have come out of the UFO door. Loonie is in some great cover so he'll throw an incendiary grenade on it:

It only did 7 fire damage. Ok, let's see how it handles a chem grenade then:

That did 57 damage which takes it out:

During the alien's turn another Hardened Bonesetter comes out of the UFO only to end up standing in the gas/fire cloud. It takes 41 damage from the chem but absorbs the fire:

DragonHawk will toss a cryo grenade on it now:

It does 43 freeze damage which kills it:

During the alien's turn, another Hardened Bonesetter comes out of the UFO and ends up in that soup too:

This one absorbed both the chem and fire. In a very rare instance, The Veteran will drop his mortar in order to toss an incendiary grenade on it:

It did 25 fire damage which wasn't bad. Loonie tossed a normal grenade on it, but the damage was absorbed. So now Loonie will toss a cryo grenade on it:

That did enough damage to kill it and end the mission. Join me next time as we allocate points for some soldiers who were promoted. Then I show what our stores look like in terms of the new positronic tech. We deal with some manufacturing and researching too and end it all off by shooting down another battlecruiser UFO.

Update on shooting UFOs down: Right now I'm at 10,623 so I'm way ahead for the month. My hope is to get to 10,800 this weekend. I had a UFO I wasn't able to shoot down the other day and it created a terror site in the Indian Ocean. I didn't bother running that mission but it's just surprising the game programmed this in. Granted, it seems like a rare occurrence, but they still happen every once and a while. Swarms have been few and far between happening maybe every 3rd month or so. But I'd get a couple mini swarms sometimes with tons (like 5-6) of small UFOs popping up just after we start shooting down a biggie. If these little ones are near a base, I've been leaving them go as our defenses are more than capable of shooing them down on their own. Of course, I bombard the crash site to keep the "states" happy with me.

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

Going toe to toe is how we like to roll - our way come what may!

The aliens have the number, but we've also got numbers working for us, like Knan and TV made sure they see. No lull dulls us either.

It's our skin in the game so we toss it all in after losing the pin; we're cooking without gas to claim the fame, no stress, they're ever dafter - we win!

@Commander Z: it's their error to try and seed terror. Know that in you strong is our belief. Keep turning and burning, chief!

[Zombie]

So here is the End of Mission Report:

We recovered a lot of good alien weapons and have 3 promotions. Kinda no surprise who as they were all main players in the mission. Let's do Loonie first:

Basic strategy, put 3 points in Strength to max that out at a nice even 100 and the last 2 went in shooting to max that out at 99. Pretty incredible so far and we haven't even touched the other stats much. Next up is DragonHawk:

Same basic strategy: max out strength at 100 with 2 points, max out shooting at 100 with 2 points and the last point went in throwing to get him to 83. I think his max potential for that stat will be right around 99 or 100 depending on how the game handles that last point. And last, let's do the new Nook:

Exactly the same as DragonHawk: 2 point went in strength to max it out at 101, 1 in shooting to max that out at 101 and the last 3 into throwing to get him to 82. What beasts! Really glad I spent the time hiring them and bringing them up the ranks. Back at base, it's time to check out our Positronic stockpile of weapons:

We now have 25 Positronic Beamers and 19 clips. Still not enough to start equipping them on a regular basis, but if we know a mission might be tough, we can supplement our normal rifles. Oh, almost forgot about the Positronic Grenades:

Yeah, only 5 isn't going to cut it. Luckily the aliens haven't been using them on us which I think is because I set the sight range for the aliens the same as us. If they can't see us until we can see them, there's really no point in tossing a grenade for them. Back on the Geoscape and our manufacturing bases have completed the first round of Positronic Cannons for our interceptors:

That's some great news. I'm going to put these on the upgraded "golden" Thunderstorms first because then I know at a glance what interceptors can handle tougher fights. I'll show you one in North America:

This couldn't have come at a better time as we've been seeing a lot of Battlecruisers and Massive Patrol Vessels lately. Needless to say, I started manufacturing a second batch. One day later and our research into the Hardened Bonesetter completed:

Ah, ha! A new fighter shield! That comes at a great time, though it means we'll have to balance what to produce. Anyhow, time to check out the Hardened Bonesetter description:

This kinda mirrors my experiences with them so far: mechanical is iffy, fire and freeze do decent and chem is the weakest link. Just for comparison purposes, let's look at the normal bonesetter again:

The picture is that of a commander, not the normal grunts, but the stats are from the usual ones. And yeah, the normal ones seem like pushovers when compared to the hardened variety. Time for researching, I think everyone is going on the the new fighter shield:

A couple days later and we spot another Battlecruiser near South America. I send out my interceptors to get spotted and then withdraw them so my base can help take it out:

I sent out some other incerceptors from Antarctica and Europe but soon realized they wouldn't arrive in time to help. Well, since I had the birds in the air already, I had them go there just in case another UFO shows up around the area. The fight actually didn't take too long (probably because one of the interceptors had a new cannon on it) but one unupgraded thunderstorm took some damage. Huge explosion ensues:

It's going to take a while for the crash site to be in daylight so we have to wait a little before leaving. So join me next time when we tackle yet another Battlecruiser crash site.

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

You there, promotees - ever heard of "the bee's knees"? That's what we're drinking tonight. Your treat!

The remainder of the personnel shall be keeping their heads nice and level as we need to keep that Positronic stuff well at hand in stores and slowly bringing it into rotation when and where needed.

Other help comes from the unlikeliest sources, such as our lab rats confided: fighter shields coming courtesy of those Hardened Bonesetter knuckleheads? Don't mind if we do come to profit in increased air force survivability, thank you.

Which brings us to the next order of business: a downed bruiser of a Battlecruiser. Enjoy yourselves now, gents - we're getting down to it at the crack of dawn!

[Zombie]

I'll post a part one on that next battlecruiser mission tomorrow. Just wanted to mention I now have 11005 UFOs shot down and it's only the 19th. The goal is to try to crank out some more tomorrow and hopefully get 232 more by the end of the month. That would be ideal. I need to shoot down 1232 more UFOs by the end of the year to be #1. That's only ~17/day which is a cakewalk.

- Zombie

[Space Voyager]

Assume the throne! You sure earned it!

[Thorondor]

I would say, presume nothing at this stage - Number One may but seem oblivious to a certain fast ascending pretender to the crown...

[Zombie]

Battlecruiser Part 1

This time we're on an airport map. We deploy as usual but don't spot anything until the aliens first turn. Two Rars show up just west of the transport. MTR will shoot at one of them to start us off:

His first bullet hits a very weak spot for an unbelievable 146 damage which kills it:

Unreal, that's more than the mortar can do sometimes! Nobody can really get a good shot on the second Rar, so CG will stand up from his hiding spot to shoot at it:

His first bullet does 39 while his second does 49 which kills it:

When we peek out of the hedge that faces the hangar to the northeast Nook spots another Rar which he'll shoot at:

His first bullet is a weak spot kill doing 112 damage:

Nothing much happens during the alien's turn, but when it's ours again a cannon on the roof of the UFO must've spotted CG somehow when he moved and shot at him doing no damage. Thought he was far enough away to be safe, but that's a big no. Since the cannon is visible, TV will mortar it:

The first blast only did 80, so he fired another one. This one did even less damage at 59, but it was enough to destroy it:

During the alien's next turn, another Rar shows up where the last two were before. Loonie is ready for it and immediately starts shooting at it with the first bullet hitting for 51 with the second on the way:

That hits for 43 which kills it:

Quite impressive. When it's our turn, CG takes a peek around the corner to spot a Rider standing next to a light pole. He books it back into hiding to let MTR toss a grenade next to it:

Why not directly on it? Well, I want to keep as much of that hedge intact as I can for cover. Anyhow, the blast does 45 damage which kills the thing and makes a one-square hole in the hedge:

When Sorby peeks out of the hedge he spots two more aliens. The first is a Rar by the corner of the hangar. He'll toss an incendiary grenade at it to start things off:

It only does 13 damage so he tossed a sludge grenade next which did 52 but didn't kill it:

That's rather unfortunate. But now you can see that the other alien is a Rider by the other corner of the hangar. Well, Mouse gets into position to throw a cryo grenade at this tough Rar:

It only does 33 damage, but that's enough to take it out:

As for that Rider, it's going to have to wait as nobody is in a good position to toss a grenade on it. Sure, TV could have mortared it, but why waste a bomb on a weakling Rider? NKF is itching to shoot at it but can't either:

On our next turn, Loonie spots a Rar between the hangar and the UFO which he'll shoot at:

His first bullet hits for 89 and kills it:

When he fires, he had to turn a bit and spotted a Rider to his left. Well, he may as well shoot at it too:

The first bullet does 33 damage which kills it:

This was kinda a mistake on my part as he couldn't get back into full cover anymore. During the alien's turn, a Rider shows up by CG:

NKF reaction fires at it hitting with the first bullet which does 28 damage and kills it:

He's a monster who cannot be stopped. This allowed Loonie to get back into cover again the next round. On our next round, TV will mortar the control tower since we just spotted it:

It damages a hidden Rider (try to figure this one out) but for only 22. Again, try to figure that out. 22 damage for a mortar against a weakling Rider. Unbelievable:

At least it's visible now and there's nothing in the way of Mouse shooting at it:

The first bullet does 33 and kills it:

So join me for part two when we deal with the rest of the alien cannons and a whole raft of Riders. Should be able to get that in one part because after that will be a lot of Geoscape stuff too. That'll be a post on it's own as there's a lot to cover.

Edit: Right now I'm sitting at 11,324 UFOs shot down with 4 days left in the month. Which means I need to shoot down at least 14 UFOs each day till the end of the year to get to #1. Obviously, I'm going to keep up my pace while the going is good. I'm aiming for getting to 12237 (#1) by the end of November which will give me the whole month of December to pad the stats a little bit. If I have the time, the goal for December is 1000 more.

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

MTR sure took a page off the "When you want to pick a fight" manual. Outright slaughtering a foe works just fine!

Nobody else on the squad seems to have had a problem following up on it either adding more salt to the matter, so one can't much complain when the reply comes by way of anemic UFO cannon discharge.

Don't mind if we play with some explosive ordnance and assorted pineapples, do you?

Well, apparently air traffic control authorities do seem to mind but we can't let an alien stay on your tower forever - we'll make sure they vacate the premises, don't worry. Said facilities may need some refurbishing later though...

I'm sensing we've hit a nerve here and a knee-jerk reaction by them critters is most likely to ensue. Lock and load, people!

@Commander Z: if you're gonna aim for something, aim high - isn't that what they say? By all means gain that traction. We'll be cheering you on every step of the way, Sir!

[Zombie]

Battlecruiser Part 2

Three turns later now and a Rider comes out of the door by the hangar and shoots at Loonie doing 5 damage. CG is going to patch him up ASAP:

When he's all healed up, he's going to shoot at that pesky Rider:

His first two bullets do 12 & 43 which kill it:

Eight turns later and we got most of the terminal cleared, except for that mechanical room. As soon as Kret steps inside the door he is blasted by a Rider doing 11 damage. Since he's basically face-to-face with the thing, he'll just shoot it:

His first two bullets do 22 & 15 which kills it:

The next turn we spot another UFO cannon so TV will mortar it:

It does a decent 140 damage which destroys the thing:

Six turns later and we can barely make the outline of another UFO cannon out so TV will mortar it:

Granted, the pic really doesn't show the outline at all, but we know it's there. Right? Right! The blast only does 74 damage though:

TV mortars it again with the blast doing an equally-unimpressive 65, but that was enough to destroy it:

Now MTR peeks inside the hangar and is shot by a Rider next to a helicopter of sorts, luckily for no damage. He may as well shoot at it:

His first bullet does 26 which kills it:

A couple turns later we spot a Rider trying to sneak out of the UFO during it's turn:

It doesn't go far either so when it's our turn Knan will toss a normal grenade on it:

It does a very respectable 61 damage which kills it:

Seven turns later we spot the last alien cannon on the far side of the UFO. I originally was going to leave it be, but since TV was in range he'll mortar it:

The blast did a pitiful 49 damage but his next did 103 which destroyed it:

A couple turns later we notice one of the doors to the UFO is open. No, TV isn't going to mortar the area:

Sorby gets into a position to spot a Rider which he'll shoot at:

His first bullet was absorbed, but the second did 25 which just barely killed it:

A couple turns later and I'm pretty confident that there isn't anything outside anymore. We just spotted a Rider inside so Mouse will throw a normal grenade near it:

The blast does 26 which just barely kills it:

Six turns later we spot a couple Riders milling about the power sources on the other side of the UFO:

Sorby steps out of hiding and is shot at by one of them for no damage, so he'll shoot back:

He hits for 7, 9 & 25 which kills it:

Sorby doesn't have a clear shot at the other one, but he can shoot at the power source:

The resulting explosion was powerful enough to kill the thing and end the mission. Next time we'll go over the EOM report and deal with a lot of things on the Geoscape like manufacturing, a little bit of selling, upgrading interceptors, researching, more production, more upgrading of interceptors, End of Month Report, more manufacturing, and finally shooting down a UFO swarm. Action packed!

Edit: Still #2 on the Steam global leaderboards for UFOs shot down. I didn't have it in me to get to 11,500 yesterday, but I got that done today. Current level is 11,514. That means only 723 more UFOs to get to #1. The plan is to get there before the end of the month and hopefully before Thanksgiving which is the 28th. Anything after that is just the frosting on the cake so to speak. Pretty stoked about getting there as it's been a long 10 month project so far.

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

We can take the little stings in life only to then deliver death-dealing wallops of our own.

I mean, are you listening, TV? I swear he must be under-juicing those mortars on purpose just to have the team holding in wait for longer, watching his all-important action. *tut, tut*

It's time to get into the nest and clamp down on these self-replicating alien clowns. What's a few extra zaps? It kind of gets your circulation going. In return we bleed 'em dry and blow them sky-high. We've got plenty of power sources anyway!

@Commander Z: the extended build-up to reaching that top spot will only make it sweeter. Your colours will fly proud at that peak and our rejoicing shall be loud!