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[Let's Play] Jagged Alliance 2 - ("Oh my God! I'm a dead man!")
Nocren
Lt Futz, Back in ActionNorth CarolinaRegistered User regular
Lt Futz, Back in ActionNorth CarolinaRegistered User regular
Ok, seeing as how there was some intrest in the original JA2 thread and Lord Yod's having some problems, I've decided to once again try to do a LP and finish this game. So in order to make this better and more interesting, I'm borrowing a lot from the Fallout Tactics LP thread in format style as well as bits of execution. Last time I did this, I was told that my writing was a little dry. Everything boiled down to "we engaged the enemy, we won". So I'm taking more pictures and slowing things down a bit and writing things out more.
Also, I'm using the 1.13 mod and have a starting balance of 200K. This is also on Novice, but I changed the ini file so that it's not as easy (but still not normal).
First off some game information.
Released in 1998/1999, Jagged Alliance 2 is the fully realized sequel to the popular turn based strategy games, Jagged Alliance and Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games. Taking place in the fictional country of Arulco, your mission is the liberate the country from it's oppressive dictator. Originally contacted for the job by the dictator's ex-husband, Enrico Chivadori (whom she framed for his father's murder and tried to kill, thus assuming control of the throne) you arrive in the country 10 years after Enrico has left.
Arulco is a small country with rich mineral deposits such as silver and gold. This is important as this is going to be a long campaign and you're going to be getting new equipment and new personnel. Help free the miners from the Queen's rule and they'll help you out by giving you the proceeds from that city's mine.
Along the way you'll encounter some other colorful characters. Some want to help you, some want you to help them, most want to kill you.
Now, on with the show.
Also, I'm using the 1.13 mod and have a starting balance of 200K. This is also on Novice, but I changed the ini file so that it's not as easy (but still not normal).
First off some game information.
Released in 1998/1999, Jagged Alliance 2 is the fully realized sequel to the popular turn based strategy games, Jagged Alliance and Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games. Taking place in the fictional country of Arulco, your mission is the liberate the country from it's oppressive dictator. Originally contacted for the job by the dictator's ex-husband, Enrico Chivadori (whom she framed for his father's murder and tried to kill, thus assuming control of the throne) you arrive in the country 10 years after Enrico has left.
Arulco is a small country with rich mineral deposits such as silver and gold. This is important as this is going to be a long campaign and you're going to be getting new equipment and new personnel. Help free the miners from the Queen's rule and they'll help you out by giving you the proceeds from that city's mine.
Along the way you'll encounter some other colorful characters. Some want to help you, some want you to help them, most want to kill you.
Now, on with the show.
Nocren on
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((Now that the introduction's done, let's start this off right and hopefully finish this. I'm taking a complete team of 5 IMP mercs to start and we'll see what goes from there))
From the journal of John Turner, former SeAL now current AIM commander.
JA2 Game intro video
I was contacted by a man named Enrico Chivadori. He said he was a disposed ruler of a small country called Alruco. Apparently his wife had killed his father, framed him for the murder and outested him from the country. Sounds like my kind of bitch. He wanted me to take back his country and kill his ex-wife. Sounds simple enough. He ponied up $180K during the meeting and I had a couple grand left in the bank as well.
I called up my usual contacts at AIM and was granted permission to use an unregistered team for this operation, with an option to hire later if needed. On the flight to a neighboring country I reviewed my options.
Yep, that's me. I'm called Sparky because during my time in the Navy I was an electrician's mate. Before I retired I was an instructor at Great Lakes passing on life's lessions to the next generation.
Jackson's a good buddy of mine. I met him after my time in the service. He wanted to sign up but since he was the sole provider for a 2 year old at the time the military wouldn't let him. So now that she's grown up he works freelance with me. Got real good at hitting the bullseye at the bar as well as hanging out with me all night.
Rosirita is a tough as nails chica from down in latin america. She was a crack shot with a few of the rebel groups down in the Yucatan. She was feared because she preffered to kill the opposing officers with an "Angel's Kiss" at night. During one of my ops, she was our liason between the team and the rebels.
Roselyn Gibson. A lot of people are put off by her nick name of Bertha. While she's a big girl, she's not hefty. Think of one of those American Gladiators from way back when. She's built like a brick shit house. She also know her way around a LAW and M60e and can handle both with minimal effort.
Stitch was the medic. Met her when I was on board the Mercy. She's a civie but she's damn good at what she does. Once got to see her in action when one of my squadmates was gut-shot. She was amazing with a scalpel in one hand and forceps in the other.
With the team assembled, I took one last look at map before boarding the chopper and heading for Omerta.
The Queen had a welcoming party all ready for us.
Angel and Thanatos moved along the outer edge of the building to take care of initial contact while Stitch and myself took care of a newcomer along the east.
Then the shit hit the fan. Some wannabe that was hiding in the building and got the jump on me, I took a couple to the chest. Luckly the flak jacket absorbed most of it, while Bertha took care of the pain at its source.
With Stitch and Bertha providing cover fire, I proceeded to flank the guy. Angel and Than told me that they had solved the original problem and were continuing to sweep and clear.
I heard a quick doubletap from an MP5 that told me that Angel had taken care of another problem while my flanking manuevor had sort of worked. The red shirt had focused on me, allowing Stitch to move in and finish the guy off.
If there's one thing I learned from the service is that when you're doing ops in a forgein country, it's best to be friendly with the locals. Besides, this was a non-com and I really wanted to know how she was able to survive in this hell hole.
She mentioned that Chivadori was dead, but I provided proof otherwise. She had us to follow her to a warehouse on the edge of town.
IT'S A TRAP!!!
/akbar
Oh, wait, they want to talk.
The rebel leader was a fairly pleasent fellow. According to the RSI report, he was running against Enrico during the last free elections and lost by a very narrow margin. During the campaign, the two men became rivals and eventually friends. Both had wanted to do what was right for the people. Something our current leaders should learn to do. I asked for his assitance but he said that he would only spare Ira, a girl that from the sound of her accent was from Manhatten. As we established ourselves in the towns and proved ourselves to the people, he would lend more support from his rebels.
This wasn't good. I didn't sign on for a long term campaign of guerilla warfare. I signed on for a simple wetwork job. However, if I breeched the contract, I would be ousted from AIM. Plus,I'm a man of my word. I said I would take on this contract and I'll see it through to the end. Miguel mentioned that they were short on food and medical supplies but that a drunk preacher named John Walker in Drassen could help.
Looking at the map, Drassen also had an airport. If we were in this for the long haul, we were going to need supplies too. We made our way through the thick flora and prepared to secure the airfield.
Things I've noticed (this applies to v1.13 mod):
High Marksmen skill (as noted by IMP, so high 80s/90s) usually start with an MP5k
The above mentioned morter shells
Autoweapons skill starters with a 200rd box of 5.56x45mm ammo.
Rooftop Snipers start with a sniper scope (redundant as most Sniper weapons come with said scope)
Ambi characters start with two pistols
Throwing weapon characters start with throwing knives.
Night operatives get Gen 1 NVGs.
the modded one looks much better. Does the 1.13 mod work with the GameTap edition?
Put a Med Kit/First Aid Kit in the doctor's hand and right click to bring up the targeting icon, should look like a medical cross.
the 1.13 patch is pretty neat as well, offering higer screen resolutions and weapon additions. its pretty win win (win) for new players / those looking to resurect an old game.
Electronics and Teaching? You're a braver man than I. If it's not too much trouble I'd love to be the psycho guy with the BAR/RPD/M60.
I don't know if Nocren plans to use any non IMP mercenaries in his active combat squads, but there simply MUST be at least one combat where a psychotic with a select fire weapon is used. It's a brilliant decision to have that hidden trait be both a penalty and a bonus.
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Episode 102: Taking back Drassen
Ahh the airfield. The plan was simple, approach from the north and retake the landing strip. We encountered no resistance till we hit the guard shack at the entrance. At which point all hell broke loose.
We split into two teams, Alpha and Nyx. Nyx was going to take the east side and approach south along the garage while Alpha would go west along the perimeter fenceline and barracks.
The shit hit the fan when Nyx engaged OpFor at the gate.
Alpha attempted to draw fire then retreat into one of the buildings while Nyx engaged from the wooded area.
After taking down several soliders, the remaining wannabe bugged out. After retaking the landing strip it was imparative that we take care of two direct orders of business.
First was to secure a means to ship our equipment. After talking with the local "customs agent" (and providing some incentive to keep him honest), I placed an order on Bobby Ray's I ordered 6 full sets of armor and some better firepower for the road ahead.
"Where's this package going?"
"That package is going to WAR!"
Stitch patched up the wounded fully while Ira and myself played Yul Brynner and James Colburn with some of the locals and established a rag-tad group to help defend the airport. We even donated our old gear that we liberated from the military in Omerta as well as this recent skirmish.
Once Christmas came and we ditributed the presents to everyone, I talked to a couple of the locals. Found one that, while a little slow, was very helpful.
Once I learned about this draft dodger fellow, Ira told me that the troops were ready to go and we were able to press on with the task of retaking the rest of Drassen.
I tell ya, a merc's work is never done.
With this new area, I made the decision to call in support from the airfield. I figured that if I can show some of these raw recruits some real combat, that might help steel any survivors and give them some resolve for future engagements when we're not there.
We had just entered the zone when already the milita had gotten the drop on a soldier. They then proceeded to drop him. Things were already looking good.
Light resistance was encountered around this small residence. Stitch was hit pretty badly but luckily most of that new armor took the brunt of the damage. Ira provided covering fire while Stitch patched herself up. Meanwhile Angel moved into a better position to baptise her new baby while Than and Bertha moved into a flank.
Thanatos found a surprise and Angela got her batismal.
Two more quick taps from Ira and this sector was secured. Good thing I threw my old laser sight onto her MP5. That really seemed to help her aim.
Ira gave us the lowdown on this part of the town while we did our usual legwork, introducing ourselves as the future savors of Alruco and all that.
Thanatos went into what looked like a factory. I heard some shouting then two quick gunshots.
Jackson told me that it was a sweat shop and found a couple of goodies stashed inside.
With this sector cleared, I decided to press on to the mines.
Embolded by the victory in the "suburbs", the milita damn near took care of this fight all by themselves. I think my team only fired two rounds, and that was to drop the last guy. Though this wasn't looking good.
Granted, we had liberated Drassen, but that only ment we had gotten the queen's attention. If she's like any other petty dictator, she's going to send some pretty heavy hardware to squash this rebellion and that means that Drassen's going to end up looking like Omerta.
I decided to make contact with the locals again and try and rally some support. I also told Thanatos to reform his team and head towards the suburbs and start training more milita.
It's "Hearts and Minds" all over again.
After the meet and greet, Alpha headed back to airfield to replenish the ranks and order some more toys for the next adventure. Maybe I'll even hire some new talent to fill out Nyx Squad and kit them out for some night ops.
New episode will be up shortly. I keep forgetting to save my damn game so I go through a session, taking screencaps and notes, then I fuck up or somebody gets lucky and -boom-, 6 days (in-game) of work down the crapper.
Out of curiosity, how do the skills work? They appear to be single-shot items, like perks or feats, rather than percentage/number-based stats.
I'm guessing you mean the specialties and not the actual skills (marksmanship, explosives, medical, mechanical, leadership to some degree).
Basically every character can have up to two specialties. Some will have one specialty at expert level which doubles the effect. They all modify various skills and stat calculations in certain ways. Here's the official listing:
In addition to this, some mercs have non-normal personalities. We don't know much about what "optimistic" or the like really do, but we DO know what "psychotic" does. A psycho merc will occasionally use automatic fire when wielding a select fire weapon without you instructing them to do so. They cackle maniacally when they decide to do this. The upside is that they gain a +15% bonus to accuracy with automatic fire. So it can be a good thing for things like close quarters combat.
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My Little Game Blog - http://profundospielen.blogspot.com/
Knight Armament Company
Heckler and Koch
and a grant from the NRA.
Now, on to the show!
Episode 103: Loose Ends
While Thanatos and Ira talked to Father John, I placed another order at Bobby's and contacted a
couple of old friends from AIM.
Buzz was going to join Alpha and Stephen was going to join Nyx. Before we packed up and headed
out, I placed a final order to Bobby's to get Thanatos' team ready for night ops. Supressors,
black suits, and the like. However my piss-poor planning resulted in a lack of funds for NVGs.
I divied up the duties and had Nyx scout east while Alpha scouted west for this deserter
fellow.
Nyx encounted a SAM site while searching for this missing person. They called in a quick
strike from a local milita patrol, but the patrol was outmatched and quickly taken out.
Thantos radioed for advice and I told him to retake the site. Nyx waited till nightfall.
Meanwhile us in Alpha started looking through the woods and swamps. Encountering light
resistance from the army surrounding Drassen.
Back to Nyx...
Angel reminded us why she was so damn good. She dropped 4 guys on lookout on the roof.
Than, Stephen and Ira provided cover for anyone foolish enough to investigate.
A quick sweep and the SAM site was ours. I had Angel, Ira and Than start training a security
force to keep the site in our possession.
We rallied back at the mines since Alpha ran into a pack of Bloodcats and needed some patching up.
After this little pow-wow, I decided to keep Nyx together as my literal black-ops team. There
had to be more of these SAM sites around, and I charged them with taking them out. I also
decided that they were to be the ones to look for the missing pilot. I took Alpha up towards
the town of San Mona.
I recieved word from Thanatos that they had found an old friend of mine name Hamous. Hamous
was a simple man. Simple needs, simple wants. Man was simply a pack-mule for most of the AIM
guys and one day he finally retired. Said he was going to travel around and see the world.
Guess he's living his dream. Thanatos was able to convince him to join the cause and sent him
my way in his ice cream truck. Humorous or not, wheels is wheels and the more storage space is
gladly accepted.
While Hamous was enroute, I sifted through some of my intel on the laptop. Apparently San
Mona's mine had run dry long ago. But since this was one of the more prosperious towns, there
had to be another source of income. Gambling, booze, brothels all pointed to one likely
source. Organized crime. And that ment an arms dealer.
Not that I don't mind Bobby's selection, but sometimes I want a gun NOW. A few discreet
inquires pointed us towards the adult novelity store.
Great... as if I didn't run into enough of these types of women in the service.
I gave the girl a selection of my private reserves and she promptly left the poor guy alone.
I've heard that line before. And it's usually never turned out well.
WEEELLCOOOME!!!!
Got a selection of rare things on sale, stranger...
While I was outfiting Alpha, Nyx reported some good news. They found Skyrider, the pilot.
Skyrider informed Nyx of his capibilities as well as confirming my suspicions about more SAM
sites. Those were going to have to be dealt with eventually, but right now I set my sights on
Chitzena. One more town liberated, and a little more backing to fuel this private war.
Bobby Ray's Guns and Things.
"If it aint from Bobby's you probably killed a potential NRA member."
And by Malleus, Incus & Stapes: Affordable health insurance, no questions asked.
Episode 104: Ruination
Sparky-
We broke north and headed for Chitzena. On arrival were greated by small arms fire as we made for cover in the jungle brush.
Looks like the Queen was starting to get used to our tactics. She had a small force waiting for us.
Buzz downed one OpFor while Bertha got lucky after spraying about 20 rounds in a general direction and dropped another.
Things weren't getting any easier though, a couple of the redshirts had gotten the drop on Stitch, Hamous and myself. Stitch took to patching herself and Hamous up while I tried to lay down some covering fire.
Meanwhile Buzz and Bertha covered our flank rather effectively.
*Note: Buy Grenades!!!
With the pathway rather clear, we moved up towards the second clump of flora. I covered left by the forman's shack, Stitch went up the middle and Hamous went wide right.
Buzz had effectively removed our flanking problem.
However my joy turned quickly sour.
Fucking wannabe got lucky. Damn fucking lucky.
Poor Hamous. Took one right in the throat. There wasn't anything we could do for him.
Bertha reported that they were getting some more problems from the west, a single assailent. She moved close and switched to her SMG since her M60 was running low. Buzz provided cover while she moved into position.
After that guy was taken care of, and with my anger from watching Hamous die, I gave the call to counter attack. Stitch clipped the bastard and he ran for the Army's office. During the calm, I had Stitch patch all of us up as best she could and we stormed the facility.
Buzz was the lucky one that put one final 5.56mm piece of brass into the chump's eye.
With the mining area secured, I had Stitch administer treatment while I placed an order to Bobby's to make better use of my teams' abilities. LAM-200s for Nyx and a new AR with an underslung grenade launcher for Buzz. I also ordered some RPGs, medkits and ammo for everyone else as well. After Stitch ran out of supplies I started organizing a milita to help me retake the ruins. By the time Nyx delivered the goods, we were ready to assault.
Thanatos-
With some help from Chitzena's Militia, we stormed the south-eastern wall.
Meanwhile Sparks and the main force assaulted the primary entrance at the ruins.
During the attack Angel noticed some Non-Coms hiding in the rocks. These weren't locals, these were honest to god tourists. SHIT! I reported this back to Sparks and he told me that his attack was finished. We swept the area and after a quick double-tap, we reported the area secured.
I went to go talk to these people while John talked with what appeared to be the elder or something.
"Sparks, I got two Non-Coms from Cleveland here. Whatcha wanna do?"
"Say again?"
"I got two non-coms from Cleveland. They are requesting escort to the airport."
"You're shitting me Jack."
"I shit you negative John."
"Well, take them home then."
"What? I'm not going to babysit a couple of elderlies."
"Listen, we left the truck back in San Mona. Keys are in the ignition. Just get there and it's an easy drive back to Drassen."
"Rodger that, Nyx-lead out."
Sparky-
I swear, sometimes that Jackson...
Anyway, while Nyx was busy escorting their package, I talked to Yanni, the caretaker and spritual elder of the ruins.
He told me about a great treasure that the ruins contained but now was locked away in a museum. Personally, I thought that it was a safe place, however Yanni told me that this chalice brought fortune and luck to the people.
After I agreed to help Yanni, I decided to increase my revenue and gather some extra muscle. So I had discussion with the foreman.
Bertha summed up my feelings about him.
Now that Chitzena was secured, I had a choice to make. Skyrider told me that there was a hospital in Cambria. However Grumm was directly south of us. I could also head back to San Mona and find out who's running the place there.
Ok, so what now guys?
Also any recommendations on who I should put onto Bravo team and replace Hamous with? Remember that I have 1 IMP member left (max IMP mercs is 6, 3 males and 3 females, one with each voice) and full MERC and AIM hiring abilities (for now anyway).
(For the record, yes I know I still need to get Dimitri. Maybe have Nyx stop by and get him)
Optimistic gives you a bonus to morale or some such.
Speaking of which, I'm writing up the next episode now.
but I have a question about the game
Can I make a squad of me and my friends? Or is it recruitment of premade mercs?
God I hope me and my friends can tatically tear it up!
Also, ive always heard this game mentioned in the same vein as xcom with nearly, if not more, praise. Should I expect to have as much fun with it? Xcom is easily one of my top 5 games of all time.
Also I bought a game called Disciples II with it as well, cause, frankly it came in a package and why the hell not? Is this game any good?
With the mod, you're allowed 6 IMP mercs, 3 male and 3 females. If you are to somehow able to add more voice sets to the game, then it would be possible to have more IMP characters. (For some reason, mercs can share pictures but not voices).
Also, maybe we should roll any further JA2 discussion here for 2 reasons:
1)Ease of searching, and
2)A thread that I created will get bigger.
Oh, re: the LP. I plan on having Cambria as a two-parter "episode" but I'm going to be going on vacation on the 1st to the 6th. AND school's going to be starting back up. So that means that I'm going to try and get the Cambria done and you should expect updates even LESS frequent. But I'm not going to abandon this LP.
In addition to what Nocren said about needing 1.13 to allow more than one custom merc, I'll add that every premade merc has their own voice set, dialogue, and personality. There's a very different atmosphere compared to X-Com. Not being able to fill an entire army with custom named characters is the price we have to pay to hear lines like "I'm here. I ate every bug along the way. There were many."
This will vary a lot. People often underestimate how all the little bits of X-Com come together to build its atmosphere. Some parts of JA2 are deeper than X-Com (more weapons, stealth, more tactical options, quests, etc.) but others are inferior (much, much less variety in enemies, weapons aren't as diversified in effect, no research, etc.).
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To go back, yes each merc has a personality and some will develop friendships with each other and others just outright hate each other. For example Buzz and Lynx were good (and I mean "between the sheets" good) friends in JA1 and JA: DG. Now (JA2)? Buzz fucking HATES Lynx and blames him (and to a lesser extent all men) on the reason her book that she was writing failed. There's a husband and wife team that work well together, but there's another merc that starts to develop an intrest in the wife, this of course causes him to butt heads with the husband. Not to mention there's Larry Roachburn, a recovering drunk who's fairly decent (provided you babysit him and make sure he doesn't take any drugs or booze) and of course Biff. NO ONE likes Biff.
The trade-off with using IMP mercs is that you don't get much interpersonal reactions between your team members. Because of this, I'm having to do a lot of exposition and write a lot of things out from both Sparky's and Thanatos' perspectives. Ok, maybe not yet, but I'm starting to.
As for enemies there's a total of 3 types of hostile mercs (yellow-shirts with pistols, red-shirted regulars, black-shirted spec ops) and some various animals to deal with. So yeah, not a lot.
If you can, take out the forces surrounding the mine. That'll stem the flow. (BTW, the military base IS right below Drassen). To be honest, I did use the "Kill all" cheat in those sectors while looking for Skyrider. I've since turned it off (otherwise Hamous would still be alive).
Also, not sure if it's defaulted "On" in 1.13 but there's an option to allow re-enforcements to help out. This gives any sector in Drassen 40 militia to defend it. (And for towns like Cambria, up to 60 militia)
Anyone, we now come to a very special multi-part saga of Jagged Alliance 2. We present this series of episodes dealing with the liberation of Cambria.
And now, Part 1:
Episode 105: Night School
Hamous' death still weighed heavily on my mind and I'll admit that it influecned my next set of orders. I radioed Nyx and told them that after delievering thier package, to head for Cambria. We were going to retake that hospital in memory of our fallen combat buddy.
Thanatos-
After a successful escort, John Kulba thanked us and shook my hand before bording the plane. He said that he might be able to find some way to repay use once he got back to Ohio. With that taken care of I pulled up a map and got an open channel with Sparks.
"Alight so I wanna take Cambria next. That hospital is going to be a valuable reasorce to us."
"So you want us to meet you in San Mona and then head south, taking the hospital from the north while you come in from the west?"
"No, we're taking the hospital ourselves, I want you to come around the eastern side of town and close in on a pincher manuever."
"You want us to use the standard SOP of retaking one sector and getting local support for the rest of the town?"
"Don't think that's going to work in a town of this size. Too many people. If your team's up for it, see if you can take a couple of extra sectors while you're at it. However that is entirely up to you and your team. If you think that you guys have the ammo and time to take a second or even third area go for it. We'll move in at daybreak."
"Rodger that. Thanatos out."
"Before you head out Than, I got an incoming package for you. You can go ahead and move once you recieve it. Sparks out."
Boy was I surprised when I opened the package when it arrived. It was two pair of Gen IV NVGs and two Gen IIIs. I gave one of the gen IVs to Angel and kept the other for myself and passed the IIIs to Ira and Steve. When it arrived I had an idea to suggest getting a SCAR or some other rifle for Stephan but then thought better of it. The SMGs were a lot quieter then even Angela's MSG-1 loaded with cold packed ammo. Also, Ira had become attached to her MP-5n so I was tempted to ask for an MP-5SD4.
So the plan is for us the storm the north-eastern section of the town. Recon pegged the sector as a light residental/commerce area. With Alpha at the ready position, we got our gear ready and headed out at nightfall.
Hmm... looks like a bombed out school. Guess intel was wrong. Again.
I had Angel go topside and take out any snipers along the roof.
Luckily there was only two up there. Stephen and myself went along the southern edge of the campus until we encountered a set of doors. Army guys just kept pouring through the door and I for the first time I wished that I wasn't on Nyx. The armor we got is nice and all but it can't protect worth shit. After I exchanged fire with about 3 guys I started hurtin'. Bad.
Ira and Angel moved into a better position near our edge of the roof, but Ira's not used to the dark yet and took a full burst. Luckily it only hit her legs. The quiet muzzle flashes from the roof told me that Angel and Ira were covering our asses and that there were guys on the other side of the wall. I hugged dirt and unloaded 2 clips from my X-8.
After the last of the immediate threat was taken care of, Ira patched us up but then our luck ran out. Ira's kit ran out and I had to resume medical duties. Angel, not having taken any hits, stayed up on the roof. She radioed in that she had dropped the last guy in this zone.
After the body was cold, Ira filled us in on the sector's specifics and I rallied the rest of Nyx into the center of this town and radioed Sparks.
"Alpha, this is Nyx. Come in."
"Huh? What is it?"
"Oh, I'm sorry? Did I wake you?"
"What the fuck do you want Jack? It's fucking one in the morning."
"Sector F9 is secured."
"Good. So, you going to press on?"
"Fuck no. I've got three walking wounded."
"Christ. Can you hold together till sunrise?"
"We'll manage. Go back to your beauty sleep. You need it."
"You could sleep all day and still not look as good as me. Oooohh!"
"Heh heh, owwwe... fuck. You never told me how much it hurts to get shot."
"I kinda figured it was common knowledge. Sparks out."
"Thanatos out."
After reporting in, I told everyone to hide out till morning. If Alpha comes through on thier end, we could patch up at the hospital.
EDIT: Pics are now up.
Part 2:
Episode 106: Code Blue
We entered the sector from the western side, slightly to the north. Close to the storage facility. We engaged heavy forces outside the northwestern entrance of the hospital. I secretly prefered an open engagement like this. I really didn't want to do any CQB inside the medical facilities.
Bertha-
At about this point, Sparky blacked out and I assumed command. Buzz did two quick double taps and dropped two bad guys and I let a few rounds loose from Ricky (my M60e) to drop another guy and give Stitch some time to patch up the Alpha-Lead.
We had just gotten Sparks patched up when I heard something coming from the rear. I did a quick about-face and brought Ricky to sight. A quick 9 round burst took care of the problem.
Sparks was still in bad shape so I assumed tactical command between myself and Buzz. Stitch was going to stay behind with Sparks while we cleaned house.
John tossed me his back-up G36c since Ricky was a little to big to be using inside the hospital.
Buzz spied a couple of guys at the end of hall, near the reception area. The 36c was too short to reach and I didn't want Buzz to try and take them on by herself.
Luckily they took the bait and came to investigate.
I had Buzz move forward after dropping 3 more guys. I saw her body drop near an open doorway.
MOTHERFUCKER!!!
Stitch-
There are times I hate this job.
Like now. Rose filled me in on what happened while I patched her up.(Shit, though I had pictures of this event)
Apparently when getting near the doorway, the guy had gotten the drop on Buzz. Bertha tried to provide cover but she couldn't get there in time. Even with Buzz's warning, the guy still managed to get the drop on Rose as well. However Roselyn's was able to take it like trooper and return the favor before limping back to me.
With both John and Rose hurt, I decided to take the short straw and try and find the last remaining SOB.
Found the fucker. I've never been one for taking life, but I just held down the trigger until the body stopped moving.
Sparky-
Ugh... ow... Uh... Sitrep. Stitch is going to patch me and Rose up and we're going to wait. I'm calling in Nyx so we can retake the rest of town after we're all patched up.
Sparks out.
While lying in traction I considered my options. I'm considering a third team specificly for urban combat, or at the least pulling Nyx off night duty and rearming appropirately. Looking over the reports and our equipment, I decided to finally get Bertha her RPG launcher and give everybody on Alpha some tear gas grenades. That should help any further CQB encounters.
I also decided to upgrade anyone using an SMG to a P90.
Thanatos told me that the Kulba's package had arrived and had Stephen go check it out since he was the first one patched up. A simple "Holy Fuck!" got my attention.
"What was that about?"
"Kulba's gift? A couple of modified Automags."
"What's been modified?"
"It's been rechambered for a higher calibur."
".44 mag?"
"Bigger. Think rifle."
".223?"
"What's Angel's rifle chambered for?"
"No fucking way."
"Yeah. It's bigger. .50 cal Beowulf. I'm giving one to Angel as a sidearm, should anyone actually get close to her. Hey, Bertha and me are FFD (Fit for Full Duty) so we're heading back to the airport to help Stephen with that package. Need anything else?"
"Check in on Migual"
"Alright. Get better."
All this time laid up got me thinking about how can I improve our chances. Obviously more men isn't going to make a difference if I keep losing them. Yeah, I know that I wasn't technically in command when Buzz died and she didn't really care for me, but this is still my operation.
I made the decision to head south and retake the Cambrian mine once everyone got back.
Thanatos-
Once we loaded up the truck and headed for Omerta, we checked in on Miguel. Looks like he got the supplies and was greatful enough to give us Dimitri. John was going to be pleased about this.
Oh really? Well, I might have to start using my throwing arm instead of my trigger finger.
Sparky-
We rearmed and reloaded, including getting some ceramic plates for our vests and some knee pads for the leggings. Now we were ready to retake the town.
Heading for the town, I sent Nyx into the woods and we headed just off the road.
And we were promptly greeted by a patrol. Dimitri, well, it didn't panic but he decided that it would be better to use the "bigger bullet" as he calls it. Bastard took a 40mm grenade to the chest. I couldn't believe that he was still breathing.
With us making a distraction, Nyx moved through the woods, not encountering any resistance till then end of the treeline.
SHIT!!! I have the worst fucking luck. Lotta good that armor did us. Dimitri took a shotgun round to the head. Dropped quick.
Having lost her friend, Ira broke formation and rushed into the town. By my estimate, she had the last two troopers in her sights.
Myself and Stitch moved into a flanking position around the building when I heard Ira scream over the radio.
DAMMIT IRA! HANG IN THERE!
Stitch got a final head popping headshot and dropped the last guy. Thank God. I didn't want to lose another man. Now that this sector was clear, we hunkered down and patched up everyone that needed it.
With a weary eye, I looked towards the mine.
I gotta say, I'm absolutely loving that your mercs in this game have their own personalities and have text for when they get shot up and stuff.
Quick question: What happened to Ira? She gets shot, then she moves off your squad bar and you lose control of her: is this something that happens to near-death characters?
I had Buzz as my Alpha marksman too... I'm gonna need a new sniper.
And yeah, even the IMP mercs say stuff that's unique, however they don't interact with each other.
Ira's morale (green bar) took a nosedive when Dimitri died. I could have stuck with the formation and taken Nyx over towards Alpha and close a pincher, however with Dimitri and Ira's relationship, and her being a tough girl from Brooklyn, I figured she'd go off alone and avenge him.
Or die trying.
That makes sense: I prefer game mechanics like that, as opposed to "You get to 0, you die, bye bye." Some of my favorite XCom and FF Tactics games involved me rushing against the clock to finish the mission before my character bled to death from fatal wounds/crystallized.