War. War never changes. Since the dawn of human kind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything: from God to justice to simple, psychotic rage. In the year 2077, after millennia of armed conflict, the destructive nature of man could sustain itself no longer. The world was plunged into an abyss of nuclear fire and radiation. But it was not, as some had predicted, the end of the world. Instead, the apocalypse was simply the prologue to another bloody chapter of human history. For man had succeeded in destroying the world - but war, war never changes.
A handful of soldiers and their families found shelter from the ravages of atomic holocaust, at terrible cost, and they brought the old world with them. Forming the Brotherhood of Steel, they preserved nearly forgotten technology, forgotten weapons...
And forgotten prejudices. Safe in their bunkers, they abandoned the world above. It repaid them with monsters and abominations. Saved with the aid of a lone hero, some of the Brotherhood demanded that they reunite with the surface, save the world from itself and themselves from stasis. They were exiled as far east as Chicago. Many died in the first days. Vehicle crashes, disease, hostile tribes. Eventually, the survivors secured their hold. Trading advanced technology for food and aid, the Brotherhood prospered in alliance with the local tribals.
But peace always comes to an end. And War? War never changes.
In a few days, all going well, I'm starting a Fallout Tactics LP.
The OP will have the chapter list, cast, or anything else useful for reference.
Oh, and as a friendly warning, this is Fallout. Which means language, gore, cannibalism, incest, all the nastiness of a post apocalyptic wasteland comes around from time to time. If that's an issue, best to duck out now.
For the rest of you, I hope not to disappoint.
Episodes
In Which our hero is introduced, and things go very wrong for himAct One
IntermissionAct Two
Intermission 2Act 3
Intermission 3Act 4
Intermission 4Act 5
Intermission 5Finale
Epilogueprevious trailers:
" I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."
Diplomacy. Or, more accurately "Diplomacy".
A hellish descent into a world of science gone mad! Knight Commander Milo left the safety of a brotherhood bunker certain his elite squad could take on anything the wasteland could offer. But in the bombed out factories of Missouri, they encounter fresh terrors. Brotherhood steel meets mutant flesh in a calamitous confrontation for the fate of humanity!
Deathclaws. So. Many. Deathclaws
Follow the zany antics of our combat surgeons as he cuts and stitches his way along the front lines, operating as bombs and bullets burst around him; snatching laughs and love between amputations and penicillin. Follow Shaav, Shaav, Shaav, Shaav, Shaav, Shaav, Shaav, Shaav and Staff Sergeant Shaav as he puts our boys back together again.
Posts
I remember there was one years ago here that was awesome and never got finished. Hope this one gets to the end.
Are you planning an out-of-character pure tactical effort, a comedy, or something approaching a narrative?
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/43435/lets-playfallout-tactics-great-bend-part-1b-and-2-poor-rage-nsf56k/p1
And yes. Themocaw's unfinished LP is excellent.
Why I fear the ocean.
There was nothing quite like rolling around with like six dudes in power armor, storming buildings, or just blowing the living hell out of them when it suited your fancy.
Of course, most people did lame low equipment, one man servers. Which almost always sucked or favored bullshit tricks, like a sniper/drug setup.
Mostly because I remember this game to be pretty damn slow. Like 'oh no something is on the other side of the map which means I have to walk over' slow. And then that person gets killed in hilarious unpredictable fashion.
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
(@Themocow, it's not too late to finish what you started!)
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
As great as that would be for everyone, it would be incredibly awkward for me.
To put it in geek, it would be like when Barry Allen came back, and I'd be Wally.
If Barry was interesting, and made more jokes about murder, rape, and drug addiction, I mean.
Why I fear the ocean.
Well this sounds awesome
To Probationary Senior Initiate Farsight
Well, you mutated piece of inbred tribal puke, it seems, contrary to the better judgement of all involved, you are not going to be executed for your involvement in a recent incident. Barnaky's orders. Instead, you and probationary initiate Stitch are going to have a little fun.
There's a few raiders harassing a batch of tribals even more retardedly inbred than the green skinned hick who tried to teach you one end of a rifle from the other. You're going to show them exactly what the Brotherhood of Steel does to the worthless sacks of shit who try to reduce our potential recruiting pool.
You may be wondering what reinforcements your stupid ass will have. Unfortunately for you, only one other individual was imbecilic enough to commit a crime and get caught in the same period as you and your medic buddy managed to totally fuck up the most simple mission in the history of our glorious brotherhood.
You may recognize Initiate Milo from the motor pool, KP, or the quartermaster's office. Only it seems this particular degenerate offspring of an unusually ugly deathclaw and a chim-pan-fucking-zee was trying to run some business on the side.
Selling parts from bunker to bunker and holding all the profits for himself, setting up some of the local shithole towns with technology that is ours by divine mandate, running a private little syndicate, and other shitbag behavior that would make any true Paladin vomit.
I don't expect you to understand, maggot, but I do expect you to fulfill your duty, or die in the attempt, and ensure this piece of feces does likewise.
That is all.
Why I fear the ocean.
Is how I read this, so it amused me on two levels.
Bookmarking this shit.
What the hell did Stitch and I do to you?
First there's the KP, then when we finally get field work, you assign us babysitting with the bitch. She dies and that goes south, we get sent to the brig for months, and then when we're finally back in the air, you assign us Initiate Milo.
Stitch and I were assigned standard kit. Primary firearm, survival knife, sidearm, medical supplies, armor. All reasonable.
Initiate Asshole, I'm guessing, was assigned more or less the same. Only somehow, he winds up with a SMG that usually gets restricted to knights, 500 cash, contraband booze, and a lot of other crap that's a lot of good on the black market, but no use to us.
Stitch went with him to talk to the elder, make arrangements.
I checked for hostiles.
Found more than one.
A round between the eyes dropped the first without struggle. I tried to deal with the others before they could sound a general alarm.
Needless to say, it went to shit.
By the time the whole incident was done, I had more stimpak in my veins than blood, and two raiders were dead next to me. Couldn't move until Stitch arrived.
He'd had some delays. One raider, for about thirty seconds, and Johnny boy teaching the tribals about the Brahmin gods of capitalism, free trade, and high interest loans for the rest. They were practically worshiping him by the end of it.
Fuck if I'll ever understand tribals, but if they throw a parade or something next time, there's your answer.
Oh, and after checking one of the corpses? Milo mentioned something "funny". He recognized one of the pistols. Because he sold them the damn things. No shame. No guilt. Just an "Oh, so that's where it went".
I didn't shoot him. Figured you'd want to. And it gets better.
We try to sneak into a hostile bunker. No problem. We can get through without notice if we're careful.
Except Milo coughs. And backs out a little.
Stitch and I get the brunt of it. It seems we ran into someone else he had deals with.
It must have been awkward. I guess I should have apologized to the corpses. Or maybe you could have told us what all that piece of shit was pulling. I figured it was standard grift like everyone at the bottom.
At least it dealt with the guards. Intel said they were keeping slaves.
Standard practice, looked like. Kill the weak and infirm. Maybe have a little "fun" first.
The sort of thing that makes you aim for the dick first, so they suffer before they die.
You know how Stitch is normally? Soft touch, tries for a non-lethal solution?
He was shooting the stomach, just so the bastards would suffer. That isn't normal.
But Milo? Brief shock, sure.
But then he's explaining life insurance, hazard pay, whole bit. Meanwhile, Stitch is helping anyone caught in the crossfire. I take a breather outside.
And start getting shot again.
Remind me. Why was this a one medic, one sniper, one asshole assignment?
I'm thinking you were trying to get us all killed. Which, considering the end results, would make the Elders a little unhappy, right?
Why I fear the ocean.
The one man servers were awesome until the bullshit builds showed up. Playing the mp demo was a great time, CTF in fallout.
(Y)
(Deleting...)
To General Barnaky
Initial contact with the tribals went well. Initiate Milo, Initiate Stitch, and myself managed to deal with the first batch of raiders with no issue. Initiate Milo managed to neutralize one hostile successfully, which is... good, for a first time out. At any rate, after securing the surviving tribals, with Stitch stabilizing the wounded, we advanced to find the individual in charge of the raiders.
We encountered multiple hostiles, advancing using cover to prevent detection.
Using superior positioning and equipment, especially when Initiate Milo did not compromise our position at that time.
Moving ahead, I secured a sniper position, protecting Stitch as he advanced into the building complex below.
John guarded the rear position. No further hostiles were present, but security came first.
Stevens and I cleaned up the building, and I went ahead to scout for resistance before entering the leader's encampment.
The guards didn't see me coming.
Stitch and I approached by the main entrance while Initiate Milo... provided fire support and intel from the roof. An invaluable service.
I killed one of them with buckshot to the back of the head, and ran out.
Horus assumed I was alone and ripe for capture, and sent troops.
Right where Stitch was waiting with his shotgun. Ripper half of their forces apart easily.
Stitch and I downed the remainder fairly easily. The leader mentioned a superior, which might mean we made enemies.
Still.
Initiate Milo convinced the tribe the Brotherhood was the best option for their future. It was amazing. Half an hour from considering us the best option of a bad set to borderline worship.
All in all, a success, sir.
Initiate Nina "Farsight" Stills
(Stitch is a saint for telling me that little POS was sucking up to the Elders already. He's right, we can't afford any more enemies, and if that means painting the record less "Money grubbing dickweed" and more "Charismatic entrepreneur", well, I can take that until a transfer opens. Barnaky will believe that shit, right? Should edit this comment out.)
Message Sent
...Shit.
Why I fear the ocean.
Adds a further layer of incentive and a sense of accomplishment when a LP is wrapped up, I suppose. I think it'll be a long time before someone forgets Thermocaw's unfinished LP and won't be able to link it at request, anyway.
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
Truly, a wise concept for the ages.
Alright. I did some things wrong. Penalty detail, as miserable as it was, made sense.
And I'm grateful for second chances, little as anyone believes it. Elder Hu would have my head on a platter if not for, well, last mission.
But this whole thing feels off.
Correction. This whole thing feels entirely fucked up.
We come back, and suddenly, communal bunks are replaced with a room just for us. Temporary, apparently. They used to belong to Raven Squad. The signs say it still does. Only Raven Squad went West and never came back weeks ago.
And Initiate Milo, who killed one dog and nothing else on his first combat mission, is now Senior Initiate Milo, and all the disciplinary marks on his record are gone.
Oh, and he walked by accompanied by a couple of intiates carrying a squad's worth of armor. Walked back in an hour later with the largest wad of Brotherhood scrip I've ever seen.
No explanation, and I didn't bother asking.
Then he hands me a list of names.
"You've been in the field longer than I have. Recognize anyone?"
"Stitch is more of a people person."
"And busy in medical. I would prefer more to go on. Besides, he's a people person. He'd try to see the best in them. I need someone to be brutally honest."
I knew what to expect. A few idealistic new recruits and one or two fuckups trying to get some distance from a mistake on the last mission. Maybe, if we were incredibly lucky, one of the fuckups could aim a gun right.
The first few matched expectations. I only knew a few directly, but the rest wouldn't last long enough for it to matter if they actually went out in the field.
I said as much, and Milo nodded. Then he got another stack.
In that set, I started seeing names I recognized from time to time. There was no way they'd all made enough enemies to request a transfer on the same damn day. I gave what information I had (Asshole, a bit dim, pretty decent in a fight), and figured this was less "likely prospects" and more "pipe dreams".
Further down, I confirmed the hunch. Snipers, squad leaders, people with medals for valor.
Even Rage, for some reason.
"Wolcott? Really? He's an asshole by Brotherhood standards, and borderline psychotic. Heard he managed to break into the armory and held down the guards until they gave him a shotgun, then wiped the footage. And then there's the bit with the hookers..."
"Innovative and determined. Worth knowing, thank you."
I went back to the list.
The last entry was Ice. Who we were never working with.
Every single game of "Who'd you recruit" ends with Ice. Half the times there's a "Heard what happened out there? Should have been a disaster, but..." it's about Ice.
Half the time there's a "What a bitch" story, it's about Ice, but some of them are about me, which doesn't place me in the best place to judge.
I said something along the lines of "And maybe we can get the Vault Dweller too. Same odds."
"She's that skilled? I'll be sure to pass along the compliment."
Left not that long after.
I tried talking about it with Amanda after. Catching up for time lost.
All she wanted to do was beg for placement with Milo's unit.
The guy who had one mission, and a lot of black market deals.
I need to learn to play politics. There's something in it.
Oh, and the current squad:
Face of the party. Contacts everywhere. Able to talk his way out of almost anything, apparently.
And useless when the bullets start flying.
Farsight. Scout and sniper.
Professionally paranoid. Unpopular. Frequently shot at.
And Stitch, the squad medic.
Genuinely decent, compassionate, and an all around stand up guy. The bets are still coming in how long it will last.
Why I fear the ocean.
I have no idea how that happened. Will attempt to fix.
Edit: Should work now, I think.
Why I fear the ocean.
Xan looks genuienly usefull (looks alot like my build in Fallout 1 TBH) while RAEG is there for the hilarity factor and ID software producing a game allll about him.
Also check your PMs
Edit: On seccond look, Definetly RAGE. 99% Gun skill? *I* personally would go with Xan too, but definetly pick RAGE
Currently playing: GW2 and TSW
edit: Will we also see journals by others, too?
Yes in both cases.
Why I fear the ocean.
It's on GOG.com for US$5.99
Thanks for the heads up! I'm just lazy though. I'll probably tear the house apart looking for it when I've got some time off.
Talked with Farsight.
I'm pretty sure she hates me, which puts her on a very select list. It's too easy to forget you can have enemies around here.
Or at least, enemies who don't get out of the way when money comes in. Surprising how much the objections the Elders have to "Oh, I sold some of your sacred technology to the raiders" and "I may have broken some of the rifles" melt away when they become "The raiders used inferior equipment, which I am sure the Brotherhood can repair to full capacity" and "Profiteering" becomes "Industry and drive".
Managed to clear over a thousand in scrip, and somehow get an official unit of my own, a promotion, and enough leeway that no-one questioned the requisition forms for a Senior Initiate having a private room.
I love institutional corruption.
I don't love getting shot, which lead to the conversation with Farsight. I've just started to reap the benefits of not paying finder's fees or waiting for technology to go in the armory and disappear from a balance sheet, and I can't stop now.
As stopping would count as dereliction of duty, and then I would get shot. There's only so far a charming smile goes.
So, I needed some idea of who would be able to actually pull my weight on assignment.
Farsight could carry her own weight, apparently, same with Stitch. And now I know a bit about the composition of our forces.
The first thing was that, well, a lot of tribals are amazingly stupid. Stitch put it in more polite terms, Farsight in less, but there are people out there who still use their hands and sharp sticks. They tend to die when other people have guns.
We hire these people. And they accused me of sabotaging our progress just for making an honest buck on the side.
Narrowed it down to seven candidates in the end.
Ice is apparently a legend. Arranging a transfer may be difficult, however.
Rage, I've worked with. He is a bit... sociopathic, but he's an expert at acquisitions, and remarkably good at killing things.
Stitch and Farsight, well, the reasons are obvious.
Jo, Mandy, and Rebecca I knew from medical and the motor pool. Decent at doctor work or car repair, and Jo is still the only person I've found who can drive.
Everyone but Ice, I have enough material for blackmail, if the prestigious posting, job benefits, and "official" letters from the Elders don't work.
Still haven't filled out the paperwork, but it seems I'm stuck anyway. Here's to a new life. Same as before, but with more getting shot.
Why I fear the ocean.
Well, you asked me to keep an eye open. I haven't seen anything actually against regs yet.
I have seen things that should be. Like Rage getting a combat posting.
Don't know why Alicia vouched for him. I mean, I know why Milo asked for him, he's never been one for the traditions we've been given the honor of serving or the obligations of the oath, but Ice, we went through basic together. She knows better than that.
Going on a tangent, sorry. The important thing here is that Milo took the bait, and now we can keep an eye on him.
This is an honor, by the way, sir. I mean, everyone wanted this posting, for some reason. And I've wanted an opportunity to make up for the irregularities in the motor pool logs, so that's another reason to be here.
I tried to look surprised when Farsight passed along the briefing, as instructed. Rage didn't buy it. Ice didn't buy it. Stitch didn't buy it. Farsight didn't buy it.
At least they assumed it was inside information rather than, well, plant.
They seemed up for it. Well, Rage was Rage, complete with the single entendres, and Farsight was bitching about rescuing the same tribe twice in a row, but I've seen worse from both.
Much worse from Rage.
I'm hoping to do some good, sir. Thank you for the opportunity.
Why I fear the ocean.