Let's Play X-Com: UFO Defense! (ironman, superhuman, starting tech & council funding only)

GONG-00

IIRC, Alien Battleships are a potential source of Commanders so we might see the interior of one eventually.

Rend

Fanda wrote: »

Rend, your 45 firing accuracy is head and shoulders above Heffling's meager 41. Clearly you were the man for this job all along. I believe you can succeed where he failed.
...

Holy shit, you actually hit it.

Commander, I've been making the long shots since day one. I'm basically if robin hood had a quiver of guided missiles.

Elvenshae

Takel wrote: »

Elvenshae wrote: »

El Skid wrote: »

Kipling wrote: »

You've been lucky that all the aliens leave the ship. I loved the ship design in the old XCOM. The hideous choke points and blind corners made breaching something that you didn't want to do. And that made sense to me.

The rebooted aliens designed an open concept UFO with four entry points in the new version, and why would anyone design a ship like that?

Feng shui?

Space OSHA mandating sufficient points of egress in the case of an emergency.

Emergency being evacuation in the aftermath of a crash landing due to an external hostile force firing thermonuclear warhead tipped missiles or gatling fusion plasma cannons at you, I presume?

Or a water landing.

Six-of-one, half-a-dozen of the other ...

Heffling

Fanda wrote: »

AND STILL IT LIVES

Get it, Heffling! Reaction fire! Go go go!

I point the end that looks like an open can of pringles at it, right?

see317

Heffling wrote: »

Fanda wrote: »

AND STILL IT LIVES

Get it, Heffling! Reaction fire! Go go go!

I point the end that looks like an open can of pringles at it, right?

Okay, who gave Heffling my pringles?
And where'd you stash his actual weapon?

Farangu

Rend wrote: »

Fanda wrote: »

Rend, your 45 firing accuracy is head and shoulders above Heffling's meager 41. Clearly you were the man for this job all along. I believe you can succeed where he failed.
...

Holy shit, you actually hit it.

Commander, I've been making the long shots since day one. I'm basically if robin hood had a quiver of guided missiles.

Wait a minute, he's not supposed to shoot things

crucialityfactor

Durinia wrote: »

crucialityfactor wrote: »

Phaserlight wrote: »

Congrats, sergeant crucialityfactor

I guess I need to start laying on the muscle butter and calling people ninnies. As well as work on my sergeant snarl.

This provides quite a counterpoint to your avatar.

Gotta be at least a little bit bipolar to rise through the ranks of XCom.

Iolo

Durinia wrote: »

crucialityfactor wrote: »

Phaserlight wrote: »

Congrats, sergeant crucialityfactor

I guess I need to start laying on the muscle butter and calling people ninnies. As well as work on my sergeant snarl.

This provides quite a counterpoint to your avatar.

"This machine kills barns."

Elvenshae

Iolo wrote: »

Durinia wrote: »

crucialityfactor wrote: »

Phaserlight wrote: »

Congrats, sergeant crucialityfactor

I guess I need to start laying on the muscle butter and calling people ninnies. As well as work on my sergeant snarl.

This provides quite a counterpoint to your avatar.

"This machine kills barns."

Fanda

I'll be honest, Vahlen. This isn't quite what I was expecting when I asked for a transport vessel.


The most important scientific breakthroughs often come unexpectedly, Commander.





But it can only seat one person!


And two weapon systems. This craft will afford us ample opportunities to test the effects of extreme acceleration on both humans and machine components. Weeks of fruitful research lie ahead of us!


I'm sure it's a terrific design. When this is all over, we'll build one, and you can conduct test flights to your heart's content. But this isn't what I asked for.


No, it isn't.


It's not the first time this has happened, either. Why do you keep second-guessing my decisions?


Because the course you have set is completely inadvisable! We can't go on like this, starved for funds and research opportunities. Something has to change.


** Fanda, please report to Mission Control. Fanda to Mission Control. **


Vahlen, that's not your call to make. And I think I've guided the war effort pretty well, so far.


Oh yes, it's been a real triumph. Slaughtering hapless Sectoids and Floaters at small UFO crash sites. Well done. Meanwhile, you've run away from every serious fight you've been confronted with.


I don't think I like your tone, Doctor.


Tell me, does your opposition to the Firestorm design arise from an ingrained hostility to scientific progress? Or are you afraid that we might finally shoot down something larger than a Scout ship?


Now, listen here -


** Fanda, please report to Mission Control. Fanda to Mission Control. **


It sounds like you're needed elsewhere, Commander. You should attend to that. I can carry on just fine without you.


All right, just give me a transport this time. Something with a range measured in AU. No space wasted on weaponry.


Not to worry, Commander. I am amenable to compromise.

manwiththemachinegun

I hate it when mommy and daddy fight.

Fanda

Fanda, please report to Mission Control. Fanda to -


All right, Baske, I'm here. What's going on?


Check the monitor, sir. Elvenshae's patrol of South Africa turned up something.





It's only a Scout ship, Baske. Don't get me wrong, I always appreciate being rescued from a conversation with Dr. Vahlen, but you really didn't have to call me up here for this. Send out EvmaAlsar, he'll make short work of it.


Yes sir, he's already in the air. You're looking at the recorded feed from 90 minutes ago. The Major picked up additional contacts on his flight south.





Another Scout. I assume you dispatched timspork's ghost?


For the first one, yes sir.





We weren't sure what to do about the second.





A large! Very low altitude ... could be on a terror mission.


Should I recall Elvenshae for strike team duty?


The Skyranger will never get back and refuel in time. Leave him on site to shadow that ship in case it lands, and get a team from Neo-ChongQing in the air.


Aye aye. Colonel an_alt has been notified.


I'm closing with UFO-38 now, Haus von Trapp. It's a Large Scout.





Correction, it was a Large Scout. Now it's salvage.


Good work, Evma!


UFO-39 and UFO-40 are both landing.


I've still got a large airborne blip on my radar, Haus von Trapp. Check again.





...

This isn't a terror mission.





This is something else.


The Scout ship saw me, it's taking off again!





Scratch one Medium Scout. Just need to kill a Large Scout now to complete the set. Returning to base.


Hang on, timspork. Do a flyby of that new large UFO and give us an image of it. Standoff distance only. Don't take any risks.


Understood, Haus von Trapp.


Sir, the Battleship is touching down.





Skyranger-2, that's your target!


Coordinates received. We're over the Indian Ocean now. Let's hope it stays on the ground until we get there.


Issue a stun rod to everyone who can carry one, an_alt. We may not get another chance like this.


I'm coming into visual range of one of the large UFOs now. We haven't seen this model before.





Thank you, Lieutenant. Now get out of there. Your Avalanches won't make a dent in that thing.


Copy that, heading home.


The Battleship is taking off again ... along with one of the large UFOs ... they're moving to high altitude.







They've left the atmosphere, sir. We lost them.


God damn it. At least there's still a large UFO left on the board. That's your target now, Skyranger-2. It's bound to hold some upper-echelon aliens.




We're coming down into the jungle now. Combat stations, everyone! Electro-flares at the ready!


Haus von Trapp, this is Skyranger-1, northbound over Zaire. I've got something here for you.


I'm afraid we're fresh out of Interceptors, Elvenshae.


No sir, it's not a UFO. This is ... something else.





It looks like a hole in the jungle.

Phoenix-D

And now the fun really starts.

Elvenshae

"Hole in the Jungle" is my Guns'n'Roses cover band.

Iolo

Holy crap.

Librarian's ghost

Break out the paint, drinks are on me!

Molybdenum

Woooow, lots of activity. Good thing too - we were starting to run low on Grey Goo for the milkshake machine.

GONG-00

I wonder which Skyranger team will get the honor of filling in that hole.

TeeMan

This is what we've trained for ladies and gentlemen. This will be our final finest hour

Heffling

TeeMan wrote: »

This is what we've trained for ladies and gentlemen. This will be our final finest hour

Rhan9

What could possibly go wrong?

Phaserlight

So I hear our eyes in the sky found something strange in the cradle of humanity.

OOC: this is like a page-turning novel

JusticeforPluto

I see the death pool I'm running will make many a payouts.

I mean, there is no death pool. >.>

NotoriusBEN

Yea boy! No ramps to stop my rampage THIS time!

Morninglord

Rampage of death!

Yᴏᴜ ʀᴀɴɢ?

Velmeran

Oh snap, Neo-Chongching is in play, I could be on my first mission in months.

Durinia

Fanda wrote: »

Issue a stun rod to everyone who can carry one, an_alt. We may not get another chance like this.

Finally, a weapon I can actually use

Librarian's ghost

FYI, we will be watching the feeds live for entertainment, er.... studious mission viewing, in the pilot's lounge as usual. Off duty team members are also welcome but asked to keep their feet off the velvet furniture. They are also asked to bring their own drinks. Popcorn will be provided.

TeeMan

Cog

JusticeforPluto wrote: »

I see the death pool I'm running will make many a payouts.

I mean, there is no death pool. >.>

What this thread needs is a tontine.

General_Armchair

Wait, we're using stun batons? I've only been halfway monitoring this thread and have only noticed aliens getting knocked out by chance.

When a slot opens up in the meat grinder, I'd like to !Signup for service. I'd like a stun baton, a smoke grenade or two, a handful of proximity grenades, and then as many high explosive packs as I can carry! (make that slightly more high explosive packs than I can carry)

Phoenix-D

General_Armchair wrote: »

Wait, we're using stun batons? I've only been halfway monitoring this thread and have only noticed aliens getting knocked out by chance.

When a slot opens up in the meat grinder, I'd like to !Signup for service. I'd like a stun baton, a smoke grenade or two, a handful of proximity grenades, and then as many high explosive packs as I can carry! (make that slightly more high explosive packs than I can carry)

The targets this time may have commanders in them. We need to capture one of those.

General_Armchair

Well if I can't have a stun baton on regular missions, then I guess I'll just have more high explosives. That or spare rocket launcher ammo to toss to people like an explosive football.

Gabriel_Pitt

Just out of curiosity, when undertaking a high stakes 'stun the alien commander' mission, what about carrying a primed HE pack, so if the stun fails AND the operative gets riddled with plasma the next turn, they get one last punch back?

General_Armchair

That would likely kill the commander by setting off a horrible chain reaction of explosions in the command room, which would make it very hard for the next rookie to charge in and make a live capture attempt.

Sometimes the commanders suicide by firing a blaster launcher which sets off the chain reaction.


I'm talking about bases. I don't think battleship bridges are as volatile, although they can be just as deadly if blaster bombs start flying in that enclosed space.

JusticeforPluto

Whoever stuns the alien gets an early Christmas bonus!

see317

JusticeforPluto wrote: »

Whoever stuns the alien gets an early Christmas bonus!

I'd like to suggest that when you receive your early Christmas bonus you keep it in this clearly labeled Christmas Bonus Envelope.
After that you can safely store the envelope in any convenient pocket if I happen to be assigned to a mission with you, or your foot locker should I be left on base for your next outing in defense of our planet.

Kadoken

I would like to !signup.

As a medic with a rifleman load out

(Please don't make me breach entrances)

Gabriel_Pitt

JusticeforPluto wrote: »

Whoever stuns the alien gets an early Christmas Chrysalid bonus!

General_Armchair

Gabriel_Pitt wrote: »

JusticeforPluto wrote: »

Whoever stuns the alien gets an early Christmas Chrysalid bonus!

The gift that keeps on giving.