Let's Play UFO2:Extraterrestrials

[Zombie]

This is another one of those new map types (from here on out I'm calling this a military base unless someone knows what it's called). I move Jman off the transport off to the side and spot a Rider hiding behind a wall in back of the transport. Might as well auto shoot at it:

First shot hits for 27 killing it:

We continue to spread out and someone spots a new alien on top of a roof north west of us. Mostly everyone has been deployed already and those that are in the transport can't get a shot off. I think this calls for Bomb Bloke's services:

The blast only does 56 damage but it was enough to kill this new alien called an "Ice Creep":

Well, seeing as it fell with only 55 damage it means this alien is kind of a pushover in terms of health. But I wonder if it has an "X-factor" to balance that (like maybe a strong weapon)? I guess we'll find out eventually but for now I'm playing it safe. During the alien's turn an Ice Creep appears at the front of the transport which Slaughter starts reaction firing at. He already hit for 3 but two more are on the way:

His next deals 6 and the last did 36 which kills it:

Good boy! That narrows it's health down to 45. There's two more aliens which we see moving around. When it's our turn again there's a Rider on a roof to the southwest of us. Nobody really has a shot at it due to the pipes circling the roof but The Veteran can toss a grenade up there and get it close:

It only does 19 damage so he prepares to toss another one up there:

This does even less at 14 but that was still enough to kill it. The other alien is a rider on a catwalk to the northwest of us which Thorondor is going to take a snap shot at:

He hits for only 8 which causes it to shoot back but the damage was absorbed. Time for another snap shot:

He hits for 21 damage which kills it:

I have a snaking suspicion that there's an Ice Creep to the right of this Rider in a building as I saw it moving around during our turn. I don't want to chance it so BB, you're up again:

It deals 71 which kills it:

During the alien's next turn another Ice Creep show up in the same area. When it's our turn I have Thorondor take a snap shot at it to test the waters so to speak:

He deals 32 and then his next hits for 8 killing it:

That means the Ice Creep has a health of 40 or less. We're slowly narrowing it down. The next round Space Voyager spots another Ice Creep in a "debreafing room" of some sorts. He doesn't have the APs to shoot at it but Blade is there too so he gets right up in it's face for an auto shot:

The first was absorbed, but the second killed it dealing 35:

Still narrowing it's health down. 32 wasn't enough to kill it and 35 was so it's between those two. We keep spreading out slowly and eventually Jman spots another Ice Creep near to him but in cover. Let's try a grenade on it then:

That kills it which ends the mission:

No promotions again but I'm just glad we survived without getting injured. Back in the Geoscape and the transport just started to head home and our interceptors have engaged the alien cruiser in SE Asia:

We somehow take it down but one of the interceptors only has a sliver of health left:

Got lucky there, that's for sure. But wait! There's more! We just shot down another heavy cruiser over Africa too with much the same results:

Here's what the globe looks like right now:

We'll be going after that heavy cruiser in SE Asia next so stay tuned for that!

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

But I'm a creep,
I'm a weirdo,
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here. - Radiohead, 1992

No worries, mate. Keep your cool. We'll soon do something about all that.

Let's get something straight right off the bat, lads - I don't wanna hear anyoone call out an IC.

- "You see what?"
- "IC!"
- "Dammit, talk sense!!"

See what I mean? So, Creep it is.

Right, you know what to do with those sorts. They're on thin ice with us, they are.

Go big or go home. Somebody was listening: heavy cruisers! Let's go say hello.

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 1

We land in a desert landscape this time and it's all quiet initially. We start spreading out and eventually spot a cannon on the closest corner of the UFO. Okay, Bomb Bloke you're up:

The explosion did a piss poor 58 damage so it's time to waste another mortar on it again:

This time it did 91 damage, destroying it. It's so nice knowing there's a clean bubble of the landscape that is free from aliens and cannon shots coming out of nowhere. We spread out some more and the next round there's a Rider on the north west side which Z-man is going to auto shoot at:

He takes it out easily and three turns later a Boneesetter shows up in the same spot. This time Accounting Troll will shoot at it:

Kinda crap damage with the first few shots but the last hit for a nice 54 damage:

There is another Bonesetter visible next to the side of the UFO. Jman tries to get into a position to shoot at it but instead finds a Rider there too. I think we'll have Slaughter shoot at the Bonesetter first:

It took two auto shots but he was able to kill it. Since Jman is close to the Rider, he's going to toss a grenade on it:

And kills it even though the blast only did 25 damage. Weaklings!

On our next turn Jman spots a cannon on the SW side of the UFO and as usual Bomb Bloke readies the mortar:

It hits for 84 damage which wasn't enough to destroy it, but it also hits a hidden unit (no damage but 10 xp). There's only one alien I know of right now that gives 10 xp per hit and that's a bonesetter commander. Time for another mortar then:

He damages the commander for 29 damage and takes out the cannon when the blast did 93 to it:

I was almost temped to continue bombarding the same area the next round to maybe get some more xp for BB, but hey, mortar bombs are expensive. It's about 8 turns later and Zombie takes out a Rider when it peeked around the corner of the UFO:

We can see the cannon above where Zombie is so Thorondor is going to try tossing a grenade up there:

It damages for 30 and when he tosses a normal grenade up there, it does 41. Go figure. Well, since grenades can damage it, let's have Slaughter throw a grenade at the cannon on the other side:

The photon grenade did 22 damage, but the damage was absorbed from the DG1 grenade he threw next. Fine, Tammy throws a DG1 up there for 19, then Space Voyager tosses another dealing 38 and finally The Veteran tosses one up there which does 45 destroying it:

Back on the other side, Jman is going to toss a DG1 grenade at the cannon:

The damage was absorbed so Accounting Troll gets in on the action by throwing another and this time it does 34 damage. Not enough to destroy it unfortunately:

There aren't many people left that can toss a grenade on it except for Zombie. I've been saving him because I figured he could take some reaction shots if some aliens come poking around, but you only live once so he's going to toss a photon grenade up there:

It does 39 damage which destroys it:

Since he probably will not have initiative for reaction fire now I move up Blade from the west to check and sure enough there's a Rider quietly camped out there. Time for an auto shot:

H hits for 10 and then 30 which kills it:

Join me next time as we try to tackle the inside of the UFO including that pesky pre-damaged commander!

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

- It's a big one. So big, in fact, that you can hardly come out of transport without bumping right into...
- Get outta here!
- We had to walk all the way around to get to all the sweet spots. Now, I'm not saying she's fat, but her high school picture was most assuredly an aerial photograph.

Some things you can't do without making a lot of noise; and this was one of those times. We even gave that alien commander some sass almost right off the bat, so we're not afraid to step on some appendages on our way in.

They're foul mouths too in return, don't you know?

The thing is, perhaps matching its craft's size, the thing's ego is writing checks its body can't cash and we're just about to prove it. Prepare to breach!

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 2

We've just cleared the outside of the UFO so I'm confident all the aliens are inside. We get to the doors and prepare to open them when it's our turn again. The aliens are having none of that and do it themselves. A bonesetter shoots at The Veteran but the damage was absorbed, he starts shooting back with the first dealing 35 damage:

 

His second dealt 18. The bonesetter interjected and shot back for no damage and then TV hit for 3. That ain't gonna do it man. Luckily that was it for the alien turn. When it's our turn TV shoots at the bonesetter point blank and kills it:

See that other bonesetter in the room to the right? Well, it wasn't really there, it was right in front of us and it has heavy ammo. Not good. Thankfully everyone was able to shrug off the damage and Slaughter even shot back twice dealing 3 and 10 killing it:

But wait, there's more! It looks like another bonesetter is in the room to the right and now we spot a rider:

Someone reaction fired at it and killed it which was nice. We open the door and see nothing so we hunker down again. When it's the alien's turn again a bonesetter opens the door and shoots at Blade damaging him for 3. Slaughter is going to shoot at it when it's our turn again:

It fires back during his auto shot damaging Slaughter for 1 and then he hits for 2. I switch to Space Voyager as maybe he can do some damage. He hits for 37 killing it:

We gotta check out the left door now. Accounting Troll enters and is shot by a bonesetter for no damage so he's going to throw an incendiary grenade on it:

It only deals 31 so Tammy gets to shoot back at it:

Took a couple auto shots but she was eventually able to kill it:

A few turns later Tammy peeks into the room on the left and is shot at with heavy ammo from a bonesetter. It doesn't hurt anyone but itself. A couple turns later and the door to the room is open so AT is going to toss an inferno grenade on it this time:

It only does 19. So he tossed a normal grenade on it too which did absolutely nothing. Time for Tammy to mop up this mess by shooting at it:

She hit for 20 and then 18 killing it:

During the alien's turn a bonesetter appears at the central inner door. It forgets to close it so in a very rare case our friend Bomb Bloke picks up a photon beamer with heavy ammo off a dead body and prepares to shoot at it:

It hits for 19 and 59 killing it:

Nothing much happens during the aliens turn but we do see and hear doors opening. A bonesetter commander suddenly appears in the room to the right where Jman and Zombie are camped out in. Zombie gets a little trigger happy and hits Jman with some shots dealing minor damage. Adding insult to injury, the bonesetter uses some sort of freeze weapon on him dealing 7. He takes it all in stride though because he has a pale blue crystal. Jman shoots back at it for very minor damage. When it's our turn Thorondor is going to shoot at it a little bit to exploit some xp out of it:

After he finished, Tammy tried to do the same but only hit Jman. Enough of this mess, Jman is going to get this over with now by stunning it:

And that was it for the mission. Jman is injured for 3 days so he'll have to sit out the next mission. And we have two promotions: Thorondor and BB:

Let's do Thorondor first:

Two points in agility and vitality seemed like the obvious choice. As for the last point I dumped it in perception. And now Bomb Bloke:

Two went into throwing to get him to 88. Then 2 went into agility and the last into vitality to round things out. So join me next time when we go after that other heavy cruiser. In place of Jman, Hobbes is assuming his duties.

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

I keep warning but I guess they don't listen - we don't just dress to impress!

Our eyes glisten, ire in us dawning. This here is our place and, after a good beating, we'll send you right back to space, bleating.

Now, some people can get somewhat carried away. It's true what they say. It happens. Just a little blue on blue, and no real harm done at the end of the day. Right, guys?

Lieutenant BB, come over here!! I know you shoot no dang pellets. Time for some shots all around. As always, we do what we do best - get 'em down!

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 1

Time for that heavy cruiser mission in SE Asia. We spread out and during the alien's turn Space Voyager kills a Rider with reaction fire and a bonesetter hits Hobbes but the damage was absorbed:

There's actually 3 bonesetters we see and The Veteran is going to shoot at the closest one since he's in a prime location:

And he kills it with only 2 bullets dealing 20 and a massive 63:

Hobbes is going to shoot at the other bonesetter on the ground:

He shoots, and shoots, and shoots, and shoots but almost all the damage was absorbed. Well, not everything. The first few shots did do some. Space Voyager can toss an incendiary grenade on it so let's try that:

It deals 19 killing it:

Atta boy! That other bonesetter is way up on a rooftop but it's kinda protected by some pipes circling the edge. Zombie and Tammy have been shooting at the pipes to make a hole wide enough for someone to target it but it's taking way too long. Thorondor is going to use his heavy photon AOE ammo to maybe widen the hole and hopefully damage the bonesetter:

He hits the pipe all three times and actually makes a pretty good sized hole but that caused the bonesetter to reaction fire back but the shot hit Tammy instead (for no damage thankfully). Since Mr T has the heavy ammo out we may as well utilize it again:

The first bullet was absorbed but the second dealt 24 which killed it:

The UFO is close to where Space Voyager tossed that incendiary grenade earlier so when we spread out a little more a turret became visible. Not a positive ID on it but we know it's there so BB is going to send a mortar on it:

It's a weak spot kill dealing a massive 182 damage:

Awesome stuff, too bad the blast didn't take any aliens out. It did reveal an airborne bonesetter nearby though. Accounting Troll has a clear shot (albeit at a longer range) so he'll shoot first:

And he was eventually able to take it out killing it on his last shot:

For the next three turns it's very quiet. We spread out some more and eventually spot the other UFO turret on our side so I think we need to take that out. You know by who and what:

The first did a decent 111 damage which somehow was not enough to kill it so he ended up sending another mortar on it, this time killing it with another unbelievable weak spot hit dealing 213 damage:

For the next 5 rounds Space Voyager has been exploring the upper areas to the north of the transport. He didn't find anything up there but does see a bonesetter on the ground outside the wall. Hobbes is nearby so he huffs it over there to toss a normal grenade on it:

It does a massive 71 damage on a non-critical explosion killing it:

I don't think I've ever seen damage this high from a normal grenade on a tougher alien like this before. We've been hearing another boneseetter nearby and it shoots at SV with heavy photon ammo in a tower with a lift in it. The damage was absorbed on SV's side, but it suffers 34. SV tries to get away but doesn't have enough APs and during the alien's turn the bonesetter comes after him and does the same thing. Damage is absorbed by SV and the bonesetter hits himself for 38 which kills it:

SV got lucky here, no doubt. The reason why SV is up in the tower is to catch a glimpse of the UFO turret on the far side. He does and BombBloke has made his way closer to fire off a mortar:

And he destroys it with the first bomb dealing 142:

Hobbes starts to help with clearing the upper levels and finds a bonesetter at the top floor of a tower with only a chair in it. Odd. He'll auto shoot at it:

He deals 27, 5 and 20. Not bad at all. Time for another shot then:

The first bullet does 26 which kills it:

Very nice! A couple turns later and we finally spot the last UFO turret so BB is going to mortar it:

One shot, one kill as it deals 133 damage:

With that gone we are free to approach the UFO and start covering the two doors. It takes a couple turns to get everyone over there and when we open one of the doors there is a bonesetter right in front of us. Accounting Troll is going to to toss an incendiary grenade on it:

It does 33 damage not killing it. It fires back, misses AT but hits Hobbes instead for 4 damage. Fortunate as Hobbes has a pale blue crystal. He may as well shoot at the bonesetter:

The first bullet does 41, killing it:

So join me next time when we begin to clear the other side of the UFO. There's a lot of aliens in this spot and we need to eliminate them to get to the lifts going up.

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

Talk about gall - leaving a butchered human as a welcome mat for us to see upon arrival. A fitting reckoning there will be!

In the methodical delivery of justice that follows we find all manner of reaction, including repeated self-harm in a puzzling display of attempted murder-suicide. A close call for Colonel SV, but fortunately no real harm came to our operatives.

Exemplary action by BB here, having defanged the enemy craft, we can now proceed.

Time to bring the pain into their own abode - prepare to move in!

[Space Voyager]

PHEW, that was close, man! Luck does appear to be my forte, but I wouldn't want to push it too far...

This seems to be quite a battle, dammit. Show'em hell!

BTW, are we nearing the end of the game?

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 2

During the aliens turn the left UFO exterior door opens and there's a bonesetter right there. The Veteran starts reaction firing with the first bullet dealing 10:

His second hit for 19 while the last did 38 killing it:

Awesome stuff! You can probably see there's a rider by the room on the left. It shoots back but does no damage. And then the flood gates open and aliens start pouring out of the middle area - 2 more riders and a bonesetter. TV is going to toss a photon grenade between the two riders closest to us first:

It deals 17 to one and 12 to the other. Not very impressive damage so it's time to pull out the golden pineapple:

It does only 7 damage to the bonesetter but at least it wasn't absorbed. The rider by the far door was critically hit for 88 damage killing it. The blast also hit the closest rider but dealt only 11, but it did 27 to the middle rider which killed it:

Oh, and the Bonesetter tried reaction firing back at TV with it's heavy photon beamer ammo but missed and hit the alien "thing" on it's right which hurt himself for 38. Dummy. TV has 17 APs left. I was hoping he'd have enough for an auto shot but no... but he does have enough for a snap shot so he'll go after that last rider:

He kills it when the shot does an incredible 61 damage:

As for that bonesetter, Zombie is going to toss an incendiary grenade near it (can't get it exactly to the thing but close is good enough):

It does 41 fire damage killing it:

Wow, lots of aliens inside. Normally those riders would have exited long ago but I'm glad they came out en masse so we could grenade them. Oh, and while I was scrolling through the soldiers I noticed Space Voyager has exactly 3000 xp:

I thought that was a cool milestone. Anyway, there wasn't anything alive on the ground floor of the UFO so we went up the lifts and prepared to deal with that pesky commander. It shows up on the left which is Hobbes' side. Now, normally I'd try to farm some xp off the commander by shooting at it first with some soldiers but I was beat that day and just wanted to rest so Hobbes is just going to poke the thing with the stun rod:

And that was the end of the mission. EOM report was "meh"... I mean excellent:

Back in the Geoscape (and before the transport could make it back to base) our research into "Live Aliens" finished:

So let's check out the description on that:

Now what to research? I think I want to try looking at that Ice Creep as it might provide something useful:

A little while later and another heavy cruiser shows up over the Indian Ocean heading our way in Europe. That's not very smart as I patiently wait till the base defenses in Russia and the aircraft carrier start firing, then send out the interceptors from Europe to greet it:

When the UFO starts firing at one of the interceptors I send out the rest of the fleet:

It's in for a world of hurt now as everything is firing at once. Soon enough we down it:

I withdraw all the interceptors manually just to make sure none of them accidentally start nuking the crashed UFO with the bunker buster bombs. Lots of cannon rounds and missiles are still en route though:

So next time we are doing yet another heavy cruiser. We'll wait a little bit till the crash site is in daylight, then head out. In the meantime, I have the engineers producing some AK ammo for the troops to make sure we have enough.

@Space Voyager I missed your reply as I was typing this up, but as far as I can see there's still quite a ways to go till the end of the game. It's hard to say how much as I'm now 2 months ahead in missions with no end in sight. Progress is being made but slowly.

- Zombie

 

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 1

So let me start out with a pre-mission mission? If that makes any sense. We start out on one of the normal maps we've been having with heavy cruisers lately. No big deal. Zombie exits the transport to take a peek and spots a Bonesetter which he'll shoot at:

That's all we see so Zombie gets back into the transport for cover. During the alien's turn a Rider wielding a photon beamer with heavy aoe ammo somehow shoots into the transport but the damage was absorbed by most everyone. And then somehow Thorondor reaction fires back at it, killing it. This is where the rider was:

I restarted the mission again just to see if it was a glitch with the game or a problem with the transport's LOF templates. Yup, nearly the same outcome this time:

So apparently the front of the transport is pretty much a gaping hole. This is just a heads-up to anyone who reads this as you darn well better make sure the "front" of your transport is free of aliens as the mission can go pear shaped quick. Okay, now that I know it's a LOF glitch I'll reload the mission and start again. As before, Zombie exits and shoots at the Bonesetter dealing 43 total damage, the Bonesetter shoots back but the damage was absorbed, and now Zombie is going to shoot again:

He kills it with the first bullet dealing 44:

Now I take Hobbes off the transport to get eyes on that pesky Rider. He spots it and prepares to auto shoot:

And he kills it with the first bullet doing 38:

I cross my fingers and hope we are somewhat safe now. During the alien's turn an airborne Bonesetter shows up to the left which Hobbes is going to shoot at when it's our turn again:

He actually had to take 2 auto shots since the first one was a single point short of killing the thing. But he killed it in the end and that's what counts:

The next round Hobbes peeks around the big wall and spots a Rider which Zombie is going to throw a DG1 grenade on:

And he kills it with a stupendously gigantic critical hit of 99 friggin' damage:

Just to reiterate, with a normal DG1 grenade. Unreal. Is it just me or does Zombie look a little mischievous? Anyway, Hobbes takes one step more and spots one of the UFO's cannons which Bomb Bloke is going to mortar:

It deals 168 damage which destroys it:

Time to let out a big sigh of relief as we now have a little wiggle room to spread out. During the alien's turn three more Riders show up. One shoots at Tammy for no damage. When it's our turn, Space Voyager is going to shoot at the closest one to the back of the transport:

And he kills it dealing 9 and 42 damage:

The other two Riders are nearly right next to each other and because there are some "trees" in the way Tammy is going to toss a photon grenade between them:

It does 7 damage to one and 12 to the other. Jeez. Time for Thorondor to come out and toss a golden pineapple between them:

This blast kills both dealing 35 to one and 15 to the other:

When Hobbes sneaks forward a little more in subsequent rounds he spots the outline of another UFO cannon which Bomb Bloke is more than happy to mortar:

It's another weak spot kill doing 180 damage:

Awesome! We can't get complacent as there are still two cannons left. On turn #8 we spot the cannon on the left which BB is going to nuke again:

It deals 133 damage, destroying it:

Easy XP for BB. All he has to do is advance a little bit to stay in mortar range of the cannons. I bring a team up along the east side of the UFO hoping to catch a glimpse of the cannon. We eventually see it but instead of having BB nuke it I'm going to try grenading it. The Veteran needs some XP so he'll start by tossing a normal DG1 grenade on it:

He does 27 damage to the cannon and also hits something else for no damage. Must be a normal Bonesetter as it only gives 1 XP for the hit. The next round he tosses another DG1 grenade up there hitting the cannon for 19 and that hidden Bonesetter for 14:

More grenading happens with 2 more DG1's and 2 photon grenades. Most of it was absorbed but he was able to hit something for 10 and the other for 39:

When it's our turn again, The Veteran is going to toss another DG1 grenade up there after replenishing his supply of grenades from his buddies:

This time it deals 35 destroying the thing:

So it's obviously not very fast to do it this way, but if you want to get some free xp safely and time isn't an issue and you have a slug of grenades handy... it's an option, that's all I'm saying, okay?  So join me next time as I take care of the inside of the UFO. I try to "outsmart" the Bonesetters on the lower level and then just go for it with the commander upstairs. Should be interesting!

- Zombie

 

[Space Voyager]

6 hours ago, Zombie said:

but if you want to get some free xp safely and time isn't an issue and you have a slug of grenades handy... it's an option, that's all I'm saying, okay?

Why would anybody object to such an option?!  

[Thorondor]

Quote

And then the flood gates open and aliens start pouring out of the middle area - 2 more riders and a bonesetter.

Rush tactics against a well positioned firing squad? The poor fools!

SV 3000 xp: that's yet another hallmark of excellence right there, Commander Zombie - fostering growth and survivability of those who serve Earth at the tip of the spear is one of your own badges of honor.

Them aliens can't quite comprehend what they're up against, so they keep coming back for more.

And more is what they get when they least expect, what with the occasional, innocent-looking standard issue grenade - someone decided to juice up in some homebrew fashion - delivering one heck of a wallop...

Another can of worms lies in wait? Consider us lured!

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 2

With the outside of the UFO cleared of threats, it's time to focus on the inside. Our right side breach team finally gets into position and is first to open the outer door to check things out. The door to the right room is open so something has been through there the last round. Hobbes is going to toss an incendiary grenade by the door to "feel" things out:

Nothing. It created a nice explosion from the alien equipment inside too but not even a token "the damage was absorbed" message. Next round we can see there's a Bonesetter in there so The Veteran is going to toss another incendiary grenade next to it:

It's a weak spot kill for 78 fire damage:

The next round Thorondor opens the left room's door and spots a Bonesetter inside. He is able to withdraw back out of the UFO and now Accounting Troll is going to throw an incendiary grenade just inside the door:

The grenade didn't actually damage the Bonesetter - it was the "alien equipment" exploding which damaged it for 48.

I'm starting to the better strategy (for Bonesetters on this UFO type) is to toss a normal grenade in there first to set off the alien equipment, then toss something else in there which will do the actual damage. Anyhow, Blade is now going to throw an inferno grenade in the room:

It's another weak spot kill for 55 damage:

With the main room cleared out it's time to let the fires fizzle out and then bring everyone in there to start working on the next areas. That takes about 5 rounds. Hobbes checks out the far right room and spots a Bonesetter in there amongst alien furniture. We can't really throw a grenade on the Bonesetter due to all that junk in the way so Blade is going to toss a normal grenade in there:

The damage was absorbed by the Bonesetter, but it did remove all that junk out of the way. That gave the Bonesetter a free shot at Blade but the damage was absorbed. Glitchiness at it's finest right here folks as the Bonesetter magically shifted to a different location. That's right scumbags, keep it up. I'm keeping tabs on this and will take a reload if things get out of hand. At least this gives Slaughter a chance to throw an incendiary grenade on it:

It hits for a non-critical 55 damage but does not kill. During the alien's turn the fire on the ground does an undisclosed amount of damage and kills the thing. The kill is unreported in the combat log too. Whatever, I'm just glad the thing is gone. When it's our turn again, Thorondor is going to toss a grenade in the room to the far left as it has a Bonesetter too (I changed the camera angle a little bit so you can see the alien better):

No damage to the thing but it gets rid of the junk so Accounting Troll can throw an inferno grenade on it:

I bunch of wonkiness happened again with the fire damage not getting applied - I guess the barrel "exploded" for a meaningless 4 damage. In retaliation Tammy throws an incendiary grenade on it doing 44 damage:

We can't do much else this turn so we end the turn and the thing dies in the fire which again is unreported. I'm constantly thinking of what I can do better in regards to these rooms as they are a big hassle. Instead of tossing "weakish" grenades in there to destroy the junk, maybe I need to bring along a rocket launcher with HE rockets.... perhaps the damage will be enough to clear out the room completely? Just thinking out loud here. Something to check in the future.

Time to head upstairs now. Our right side breach team is stacked with both Zombie and Hobbes who are packing the stun rods. During the alien's turn a Bonesetter shoots at Hobbes damaging him for 1 point of damage (which is negated by the pale blue crystal). When it's our turn Zombie is going to shoot at it:

He blows thorough all his APs shooting at the thing but never manages to get above 5 damage. Unreal. Time for Hobbes to shoot then:

And he kills it easily:

The next turn Tammy comes up the lift on the other side and (surprise, surprise) there's a Bonesetter in the lift room. May as well shoot at it:

And she manages to kill it with her last bullet hitting for a whopping 53 damage:

A couple turns later and the commander shows up. It hits TV for 5 freeze damage which we patch up. Then the thing goes after Zombie with a cryo grenade hitting him for 22 damage. We patch him up and then he gets the honors of stunning it:

And that was the end of the mission thankfully:

We recovered 6 clips of heavy photon beamer ammo which was nice along with 2 cryo grenades. Can't complain about that at all. Oh, and look who joins the 3000 hit (urm, kill) club - it's Thorondor:

What a beast. 113 missions under his belt with 98 kills is amazing considering he's mainly now a medic and last resort shooter aka "rear commander". You can't stop him when it comes to reaction firing though. Back in the Geoscape we just sot down another heavy cruiser near our EU base:

It's almost daylight there so we'll wait a few hours then send out the battle weary soldiers to deal with this mess yet another time. So stay tuned for that!

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

At times there is something to be said of the visual spectacle of multicolored particle effects as seen early on. Of course, it's even prettier when a good kill is involved.

There's no telling what those combustion vapors might do but it seems it can make us question if the enemy is really here or more over there. If so, no biggie - when in doubt just go ahead and shout "Grenade!". Should sort it.

Past that you have the other option which is reach out and 'touch it'. You know the way, generally to stunning effect.

Just listen to the voice of experience; I know what I'm talkin' about by now.

And I heard that too, you runt. Old geezer? It's Colonel Geezer to you!

Alright. Get your act together. We're headin' out again and patching up your behinds isn't my idea of fun - so watch yerselves!!

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 1

Yup, another heavy cruiser UFO. It seems like that's the only UFO type we've seen in a long time. I guess it's fine as it gives me a little more practice (and the soldiers too)! Don't mind the alien bounty either. The biggest drawback is that we have to constantly produce mortar bombs which leaves little time to manufacture much of anything else. I'm seriously considering looking at the base to see if there is something we can temporarily cut in favor of another workshop. Anyway, on to the mission.

First alien turn and Blade starts reaction firing with his photon beamer on a rider who was spotted running around the catwalks above the buildings. First shot hit for 17 and there''s another on the way:

It hits for 14 killing it:

Gotta love reaction fire! Farther up from the lift is a rooftop and another Rider is up there too. There are "pipes" encircling the top so Blade makes an educated guess on where to fire to create a hole big enough to shoot through. He destroys a section of the pipe and the last shot connects with the Rider for 38 damage killing it:

Excellent! But wait, there's more! Thorondor has exited the transport and spots a Bonesetter kinda in the same area so Slaughter is going to shoot at it:

He hits for 19 and 44 killing it:

Unreal. I don't want to push my luck so we withdraw a little. During the alien's turn a Bonesetter appears from the lift where the first Rider was. Blade reaction fires at it hitting for only 4 damage on his first shot. More is on the way:

His next does 12 and his last is absorbed. Darnit! But Thorondor is very trigger happy and reaction fires too hitting for 3 and 28 with the last missing. Still not dead, the thing shoots back with it's heavy ammo which hits Space Voyager for 1 damage and is absorbed by Blade. When it's our turn Tammy is going to shoot at it:

Her first bullet did 32 killing it, and her last kinda missed and hit Blade but only for 3:

When it's our turn again Hobbes shoots and kills a Rider on a roof with pipes but the pipes didn't block the shot for some reason. The first bullet did 39, killing it:

It's the next turn and now there's two Bonesetters in the same area. The Veteran is going to auto shoot at one of them with his insane 90% accuracy:

He uses up all his APs auto shooting at it and finally kills it with his last bullet:

Cutting it close there TV, aren't you? I suppose he wanted the XP. As for the other Bonesetter, it's blocked ten ways till Sunday. We certainly can't shoot at it and nobody is close enough to throw a grenade on it either. Suppose Bomb Bloke could have mortared it, but why waste a bomb on a blocked Bonesetter? The thing likes to pace back and forth during it's turn and eventually The Veteran is able to reaction fire on it hitting for 13 one time:

Four turns later and he again reaction fires back at it hitting for 3 but there are more shots on the way:

His next deals 38 killing it:

Glad that thing is gone, and I'm especially glad it didn't relay our position to the UFO turrets either. A couple turns later and we spot another Bonesetter on a different roof a bit Southwest from the previous action. The pipes aren't blocking anything so Hobbes is going to shoot at it with an "okay" 77% accurate auto shot:

Quite a few bullets missed but he was eventually able to take it down on his 3rd auto shot:

Directly South of us is a Bonesetter on a roof. We shoot away a lot of the pipes to hopefully target it, but no dice. Enough is enough, Bomb Bloke is going to mortar it:

It's a non-weak spot kill for a massive 124 damage:

Nothing much happens after this so we slowly and carefully spread out more. Eventually we spot the closest UFO turret which Bomb Bloke is more than willing to mortar:

It does 119 damage but does not take it out. It can't have much health left so Zombie is just going to shoot at it instead:

Yup, his first bullet hits for 17 destroying it:

Always a good feeling to finally have a little buffer zone to spread out more. Three turns later and The Veteran is going to throw a DG1 grenade on a Rider on the ground where that "pacing" Bonesetter was earlier:

It only did 15 damage so he had to throw another and this one dealt 55 killing it:

Three turns later and we spot yet another Rider on the ground and TV is still in a good position so he'll toss another DG1 grenade on it:

The blast does 43 damage, killing it:

Join me next time for part two where we mess up another turret, take down more Bonesetters and Riders and deal with a surprise (and frightening) outdoor sighting of the Bonesetter Commander. Back in the Geoscape and we'll check out base facility construction, start a new research project and welcome two new soldiers to the squad. Should be action packed!

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

The best way to come in is slicing through. Well done, Blade!

As much as the aliens like high places, what we go about doing is putting them in their rightful place: sending them right back to the void at the earliest possible convenience.

Well, we love a good warmup. Now let's get down to some more business and see to the higher-ups too. Keep spreading the love!

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 2

We're still in the same round from my last post. Blade comes up a lift and the UFO cannon on the far side reaction fires on him but the damage is thankfully absorbed. There's also a Bonesetter on the ground, but our first priority is to mortar that cannon:

It's a weak spot kill for a massive 194 damage:

Blade has a clear shot at the Bonesetter so he'll try a 58% accurate auto shot with his photon beamer:

Every shot connected with the first dealing 40, the second was absorbed and the third did a massive 62 damage, killing it:

Blade also spotted another Bonesetter on the ground along the other visible side of the UFO near some buildings. I think the best bet is to nuke it with the mortar:

The blast did a solid 107 damage killing it:

During the alien's turn a Rider ventures out of the UFO door where the cannon and Bonesetter was and since Blade is the closest guy he'll take a snap shot at it:

It deals a healthy 58 damage killing it:

Gotta love it. I think I got the alien's attention now as I hear panic shooting during their turn and then a Bonesetter shows up in the same spot as the first. Thorondor reaction fired at it but only managed to hit it once and for no damage. Zombie is going to auto shoot at it:

He needed another auto shot as the first bullet was absorbed, but in the end he took it out:

Six turns later and we can see that the closest UFO door is open. That means an alien is near, and I'm guessing it's a Bonesetter. Space Voyager is going to toss an incendiary grenade over there to feel things out:

He hit something but the damage was absorbed:

That settles it, it must be a Bonesetter as a Rider wouldn't shrug off fire damage like that. And then during the aliens next turn the Bonesetter Commander shows up airborne outside the UFO. Hobbes is going to start off the shooting spree first:

Most everything is getting absorbed so we go through Hobbes, Zombie and Accounting Troll. Slaughter even gets in on the action:

After depleting all his APs shooting at the thing he managed to only damage it twice for 5 and 8. Not a whole lot. I think it's time to stop pussyfooting around so I get Thorondor out with his heavy beamer ammo and he'll take a snap shot at it:

And he kills it when the shot does 33 damage:

We must've damaged it enough with all those auto shots previously. But the surprising thing is that the mission didn't end yet. There must be an alien alive somewhere. Blade finds a Bonesetter in the lower lift room he's in, but Space Voyager is there too so he'll shoot:

He kills it and that's finally the end of the mission:

Yeah, nobody was promoted and we didn't capture that pesky commander but there was no way we could get anywhere near it to try. Maybe if I brought along that jet pack thingy we could have done it, but hey, there will be more commanders. Back in the Geoscape the photon defense module finished construction in North America finally:

About time! And here's what the base looks like:

Those other photon defenses in the other bases finished within minutes too so now we have some pretty good defenses. Not much later and our research into the Ice Creep finished:

Let's see what we learned about this alien:

Chem and fire, got it! Though at least our mechanical damaging bullets work a little yet. I think we are going to research that cryo grenade as it sounds interesting:

Well, time for a change in our squad. We've had a lot of promotions in the past but not much recently so I take off The Veteran and Accounting Troll - they  can take a break for a while. Who will take their place? Introducing Gimli and Crazy Gringo:

Let's check these two out as their stats are awesome:

CG's strength is on the lower end of 50 so he can't carry much, but he has great shooting and throwing. On the flip side is Gimli who has great strength but lower shooting. Thankfully his throwing is pretty good too. I think these two compliment each other nicely. And just in time too, because we are shooting down yet another heavy cruiser UFO over Africa:

So join me next time when we tackle that.

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

Curious mix of vehicles present in the area. Three, in close proximity and all different, in apparent function and even locomotion, with one being tracked.

Even if we haven't seen the aliens using explosives much we should probably be mindful of how prone to blowing up those might be.

I mean, I like playing with my heavy ammo every once in a while. Just ask that Bonesetter Commander about it.

Offing alien brass always brightens my day. Especially when you see research reports evidencing - again - just how their lower ranks are treated. So, when I say 'Freeze' they better listen!

Speaking of keeping your ears open and your eyes peeled, you two better be paying attention; Gimli and Crazy Gringo. Welcome to the party.

And, your know what they say: the show must go on!

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 1

Another Heavy Cruiser and it's still on the same map type. Granted, I don't mind it that much, but where's the variety? As a plus, at least it has a lot of places to use as cover and as a minus it makes it difficult to shoot long distances. A couple turns in and we have spread out when Hobbes reaction fires at a Rider from a fairly long distance away and kills it with the first bullet dealing 28:

Easy peasy, right? Blade is at the front of the transport and when he takes one step forward he sees a Bonesetter amongst some "trees" and stuff. Nobody can shoot at it due to all that cover so Slaughter is going to toss an incendiary grenade on it instead:

It does a nice 62 fire damage, killing it:

It's always nice roasting Bonesetters "in their shell" so to speak. During the alien's turn, Crazy Gringo reaction fires at an airborne Bonesetter hitting it for 14 damage and his next shot was way off and hits Hobbes for the same damage (luckily he has that pale blue crystal). His last missed:

Zombie hits it for 23 damage too:

More shots are on the way and the next does 4 damage while the last was absorbed. That was the end of the turn. You can probably see there's a Rider on a catwalk to the right:

Not sure why nobody reaction fired at that but whatever. Crazy takes a couple aimed shots at the Rider dealing 11 and 25 damage, killing it:

Gimli is now going to shoot at the Bonesetter with some aimed shots as well. Both shots hit and did damage with the last hitting for 14. It's still alive so Zombie takes a few auto shots at it. Everything was absorbed except for the last bullet which dealt 15 damage killing it:

A couple turns later and Blade reaction fires on a Bonesetter with the first dealing 20 damage. More shots are on the way:

Both miss. Hobbes even gets in on it but he missed once and the other two were absorbed. Crazy Gringo is going to take an aimed shot at it now:

His first hit for 46 damage killing it:

There's another Bonesetter above that area but nobody can really shoot shoot at it so we let it be. During the alien's turn the Bonesetter comes down a little and Blade somehow has a shot at it. Granted, it's not going to be very accurate but he'll take that risk:

He hits for 32 and 50, killing it:

Very nice shooting! Three turns later and we now see a Bonesetter on a high rooftop above where that first Bonesetter and Rider were. Nobody will have a chance to shoot at it so Bomb Bloke is going to mortar it:

And he kills it when the blast did 108 damage:

Awesome stuff. We've been keeping the area clean of aliens creating a "bubble" around us. If you keep that free of threats it allows you to slowly start to advance. Four turns later and there's a Rider on the ground along the left side of the map. Slaughter can toss a normal grenade at it:

And he kills it when the blast does 32 damage:

A couple turns later and we finally spot one of the cannons on the UFO. Luckily Bomb Bloke has advanced enough to fire off a mortar on it:

It only does 84 damage so he fires off another which is a critical hit for a massive 210 damage:

During the alien's turn a "hidden unit" hits Blade who is along the left side of the map but the damage was absorbed both times. When he advances during our turn a Rider shoots at him but the damage was absorbed again. Slaughter is going to toss a grenade on it:

It does 41 damage, killing it and creating a big hole in the wall of the building too:

A couple turns later and a Rider comes close to Slaughter. He comes out of cover to shoot at it point blank:

Obviously an easy kill. Three turns later and Zombie is in a tower next to the UFO when he spots another cannon. Bomb Bloke is ready to mortar it:

It does 141 damage which destroys it:

Not bad at all. On our next turn Zombie peeks out the hole in the corner of the tower and notices the closest door of the UFO is open. He suspects it's a Bonesetter in there so he prepares an incendiary grenade:

He can actually throw it just inside the door too:

It hits for 57 damage but does not kill it. Then the Bonesetter shoots back and hits Zombie but for no damage:

This thing needs to die now so Hobbes is somehow able to toss an inferno grenade in front of the door:

And kills it when the fire does 47 damage:

In part two we'll kill off a couple more normal Bonesetters, then have a run-in with the Commander outside again where we take an ingenious approach to stun it. After the mission we'll allocate some points for the two rookies who got promoted and then look at research and manufacturing where I think I found a bug in our favor this time. Then we shoot down a few more UFOs. Stay tuned for that.

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

I agree that we should indulge in some culinary delights when given the chance. You never know when you're going to find the new lobster, right? All in the interest of good science.

Though I don't think Crazy Gringo has any sort of food intoxication he appears to be a bit challenged in the general understanding of what "Shoot straight!" means on occasion, as Hobbes came to find out.

Fortunately we're mostly firing on all cylinders here and the opposition is dropping like flies.

We're approaching the final part of the barbeque - but don't let your guard down now - because we're turning up the heat and you never know what's about to land on your plate!

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 2

It's the next round and Zombie spots a airborne Bonesetter through the hole in the wall of the watchtower he's in. Kinda a dumb move there, so he'll auto shoot it:

And he easily kills it when everything hits for 23, 8 and 57 damage:

A couple turns after that and an airborne Bonesetter shows up along the other side of the watchtower. While smarter than getting close to Zombie, it is visible to half my squad and that's downright stupid. Crazy Gringo needs some XP so he'll take a couple aimed shots at it:

He hits both times for 31 and 36 damage killing it:

Fantastic! Three turns later and Zombie can see the UFO door farther away is open so Bomb Bloke is going to mortar the ground to maybe catch something:

Nope, nothing. In hindsight, I should have maybe had Zombie look around more for the alien, but whatever. Turns out, it was the Bonesetter Commander that eluded the mortar as we now see it where the last Bonesetter was: along the side of the watchtower. Gimli, Crazy Gringo and Slaughter have all fired on it and now it's time for Tammy to do the same:

I wanted to stun the thing but the wall was in the way so I had Blade open up one panel so Zombie could stick the rod through and give it a little poke:

And that was the end of the mission. EOM:

Yup, kinda figured CG and Gimli would get promoted. Let's do CG first (its a quadruple promotion meaning we have 20 points to allocate):

6 points went into Shooting and Strength. I figured 4 points in throwing to get him to 71 would be sufficient and then 2 into bravery and one point into agility and vitality. As for Gimli, he was only triple promoted so we only have 15 points to allocate for him:

Kinda the same strategy here: 5 points in shooting and strength, 3 into throwing, one into bravery and the last in agility. He's progressing nicely so far but needs more xp to catch up. Back in the Geoscape and our research into the Cryo grenade finished:

Let's check out it's description:

Looks to be worthwhile to carry but we don't have a lot of them right now so we'll wait a little bit. In the meantime we need to research something else and only have 3 topics to pick from: Spitfire alien (which doesn't really open up any new topics for us), the Live Aliens topic (which I'm leery to start right now and probably doesn't yield any new weapons or shields) and finally the Heavy Cruiser. Let's go with that, I know it leads somewhere:

I had a production run of Incendiary grenades going because we were getting a little low on them. It just finished so I go to the manufacturing screen to start work on something else, like the Tundra Walker armor which is paused. Imagine my surprise when I see the Cryo grenade listed there:

If you read the last line of the description it clearly states we can't replicate these. I assumed it was like the photon grenade or the inferno grenade: you can't make them, you can only use what you pick up along the way from missions. Well, let's see if it'll crash the game if we start production on them or if it'll even let us try:

Certainly yes! That's a good bug in our favor so I immediately start making 11 of them to start. That way we can give each soldier one in case we meet fire aliens again. We are shooting down another heavy cruiser near our main base right now:

Ooop, there's a recon vessel too:

It's right near the main base and all the interceptors are still in the air so we go after it too:

When it's daylight again we'll visit that heavy cruiser first since it's so close to base so stay tuned for that next time.

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

We'll never decline enemy assistance. By all means, put yourselves out in the open while your Commander attempts a suicidal run towards our well established lines.

Suicide denied, buster! Expect some fun times back at our place.

We won't bother you in "therapy" as we have other celebratory amusements to see to - Corporals Tweedledee and Tweedledum here are buying us some drinks on account of their newfound position. Further getting in the good graces of their supervisors and all that.

I'll be writing a report about this nonsense Cryo Grenade later. The labcoats are trying to get humorous with us, or have been enjoying the produce of their own distillery again - all attempts to replicate the thing failed and yet they rate its production difficulty Easy? All this likely means is our engineers are getting a leg up on our scientists and I'm a practical man myself.

Mosey on along now. We have a queue out there waiting. I assume it's not for our autographs...

[Zombie]

Heavy Cruiser Part 1

This time it's an arctic base landscape so it's a good change of pace for once. We spread out as usual but don't spot anything during our first turn. When it's the aliens turn a door opens up nearby from a Bonesetter but Space Voyager reaction fires at it:

He hits all three times dealing 15, 41 and 15, killing it. Good boy! Now the aliens start to crawl out of the woodwork as there's a couple Riders and another Bonesetter. SV starts shooting at a Rider too, hitting it for 11 but more shots are on the way:

The next bullet is a weak spot kill for 69 damage:

That's amazing! Crazy Gringo now reaction fires on the Rider in the building hitting for 5 and 46 killing it (the Rider manages to fire off a shot as it's dying but it does no damage). Another Rider comes down the lift.

And then the Bonesetter shoots at CG but the damage was absorbed:

It fires at him again this time hitting for 5 damage. Then it's our turn. There's a Rider and a Bonesetter next to each other in the building so CG is going to toss an inferno grenade at the Bonesetter:

It does 64 damage to the Bonesetter, killing it and does an incredible 95 critical damage to the Rider, killing it too:

There's another Rider outside and CG still has APs left so he's going to toss a normal grenade at it:

It only does 18 damage so SV is going to finish it off with an auto shot:

He kills it easily, then 4 turns later another Rider shows up in nearly the same spot, shoots at Thorondor for no damage. CG comes around the corner and is going to shoot at the thing:

The first bullet does 47 damage killing it:

We gotta be putting a dent in the alien numbers now. The next turn Hobbes spots a Bonesetter upstairs so he'll throw an incendiary grenade on it:

It does 36 damage but is not a kill. Hobbes is forced to retreat but the Bonesetter shoots back at him but for no damage. Tammy is his backup so she's going with an inferno grenade:

It does 52 damage, killing it and also making the hole in the wall bigger:

This might be an issue as the UFO still has all it's cannons active. It sounds like there's a Bonesetter downstairs but Hobbes and Tammy aren't too enthused about going down there to check it out so one of our guys shoots at an explosive barrel, opening up the side. There's a Bonesetter there alright so Tammy goes down there to shoot (there's also a Rider outside... we'll be getting to that shortly):

It was a back and forth type of exchange with Tammy doing 36 damage to it and it doing 7 to her. She's going to auto shoot at it again obviously:

This time she does an extra 39 damage killing it:

As for that Rider outside, Zombie is stationed along the side of the building so he'll step out from behind one of the struts to shoot at it:

He deals 19 and 23 killing it:

We can finally see one of the UFO's cannons so Bomb Bloke gets ready to mortar it (this is just temporary to show what mortaring looks like):

Here's where he is just as the mortar left:

And here's what the explosion looks like going off:

Just figured I show you what the sequence looks like as it's normally a before-after thing for me. Okay, now let's do this for real:

The blast does 118 damage, destroying it:

A couple turns later and we catch a glimpse of the other turret on the close side so BB is going to mortar it:

It does 101 damage but does not destroy it. I'm not going to waste another mortar bomb on it so a couple rounds later Slaughter gets close enough to toss a golden pineapple grenade on it:

It does a whole 12 damage:

So Slaughter is forced to throw a photon grenade which does 24, destroying it:

Join me next time as we take out some more Bonesetters including a wonky encounter with the commander which forced me to reload in disgust. Then we have 3 promotions to deal with and an injury sidelines one of our best which causes an overhaul of the squad.

- Zombie

[Space Voyager]

Wow, it seems like I did some nice shooting there! I don't mind and I'm kinda proud, you know, but I'm more of a "throw grenades from behind the cover" kinda guy. I could handle the mortar next time or something. 

 

Just kidding, just kidding, great to see my performance get some praise. You know, to break the habit of... not.