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erik_t wrote:This is an interesting philosophy.

Actually, the aliens gain +1000 points on THEIR tab if they get a successful terror mission (from the offiical XCOM strat guide). So a -44 is actually GOOD.

phred wrote:

Samuel wrote:Where is that image from?

Looks like Independence Day.

I dunno about the gas station.

Got it off 4chan's /tg/ board, from one of their apocalyptic image threads. Don't know the actual source.

Actually, the aliens gain +1000 points on THEIR tab if they get a successful terror mission (from the offiical XCOM strat guide). So a -44 is actually GOOD.

Much better than what they'd get if I'd completely ignored the terror mission. That score alone is reason enough to intervene, even if you have to abort and withdraw. You'll lose a few hundred points, but its much better than what you'd lose if you ignored it completely.

This mission turned out better than the last because I didn't lose half my experienced troops in one go. Of course, the last terror mission turned out so well points-wise because for every civilian killed by a chryssalid, I got a chryssalid to kill, which was worth more than the civilian lost.

I'm pretty sure you can abort a terror mission on the first turn and still get a better score than if you ignored it entirely.

RedImperator wrote:I'm pretty sure you can abort a terror mission on the first turn and still get a better score than if you ignored it entirely.

I've managed to lose the craft somehow doing that, though. I had everybody on board, too!

Friggin' huge update today. With this update we clear out almost all of June.







The end of May reports confirmed our suspicions: the aliens had stepped back their operations dramatically after the Berlin raid. Doctor Bear's analysis of the captured sectoids confirms alien belief that X-COM's casualties were too heavy following the Berlin assault; they appear to have been caught with their pants down in the Nairobi operation. We hope that the swift boot to the xenos' nonexistent genitals we gave them will prove otherwise.

Early in June, Doctor Surlethe's team reported a couple of critical breakthroughs.



We can now use and manufacture the aliens' heavy plasma weaponry. The troops are extremely ecstatic.

Engineers Fnord and Academia report they have adapted and improved upon the heavy plasma device, as well.



We can now arm our Interceptors with these new plasma beams, which are estimated to outrange any known UFO plasma weaponry to date. Now, if our Interceptors catch it, they can kill it.

There were several small scout raids throughout the first half of June. We downed a muton medium scout over South America, and commenced the assault-and-clear. This was one of the most interesting clearance operations, as we were dealing with two unknowns: it was the first time we'd used plasma weaponry ourselves, and it was the first time we'd fought mutons face-to-face.



The ground operation was sobering: only one muton managed to hold off our entire force. The UFO itself was gutted by Erik von Nein's Avalanche missiles, and only one muton was alive in the wreckage.



We cornered it and tried taking it alive, only to have the alien withstand three direct hits by stun bombs and casually execute their shooters.



After losing Acidburns and Consequences to the mutons' fire, we finally put it down for good with our laser HWP.

With the exception of that unfortunate battle, June went almost brutally well for us.





We encountered nothing but scout craft, most of which were dropped with breathtaking efficiency by the new plasma cannons. Every single one of our Interceptor pilots has become an ace by now, even the new ones.

Note: Not pictured are UFOs 27 and 30. 27 was the UFO with the stubborn muton in it. 30 was a medium scout that we dropped over the Atlantic.





Doctor Surlethe and Bear kept very, very busy studying the various odds and ends of alien technology. Both the sectoids and the snakemen were thoroughly interrogated for solid results.



A successful autopsy on the recovered mutons left chills running down our spines. We had definitely encountered the enemy's shock troops.



On a lark, Surlethe analyzed the alien entertainment we recovered from the downed terror ship on his off hours. The device is curious, and once again hints at strange mental technology on the aliens' part. Science division is theorizing possible weaponized usages of this technology, and we are all quietly worried as to whether the aliens possess this capability as well.

However, the coup de grace of our research in June . . . .



We have begun research on how to construct our own elerium-based aircraft. We anticipate a complete prototype by the end of July.

At the end of June, another snakeman terror craft was detected en route to North Africa.



PeZook brought it down over the desert with extreme prejudice.




Its time to see how those insect monstrosities deal with our latest toys . . . .

I want to get in on this alien ass-kicking. If there's a recruitment drive in the near future, count me in.

Did I get made into some sort of ethically abominable Robo-Frankenstein Maxentius or do I stay dead?

If it's the former I would like to request some sort of retention of the liver. So I can wreck it again.

C'mon! Let's see how my new Robot body deals with snakeman scum!

Peptuck wrote:After losing Acidburns and Consequences to the mutons' fire, we finally put it down for good with our laser HWP.

"Ugh where am I? Hey I didn't sign up for this! There's no way I'm going over there! Okay okay, just don't point that thing at me. If your the trained soldier, why do I have to go first? At least I got a gun....I don't remember there being a draft....what that over there? Blarg my spleen!"

Thanks for conscripting me Peptuk, and thanks for the consistently entertaining thread. I've had some real laugh out loud moments reading your narrative.

Well, at least I didn't try to take on the muton in melee, although that would have been far more awesome now that I think about it.

Well, that's one UFO I can paint onto my ship.

The laser HWP again? Well, at least it gibbed the muton. Or perhaps it was simply the flashlight that broke the Muton's heavily reinforced skin armor? Hmm... what's the next step up in remote-controlled mayhem?

Hawkwings wrote:The laser HWP again? Well, at least it gibbed the muton. Or perhaps it was simply the flashlight that broke the Muton's heavily reinforced skin armor? Hmm... what's the next step up in remote-controlled mayhem?

Hovertank/Plasma, which I think could already be manufactured, seeing as plasma cannon and UFO construction have been researched.

Karza wrote:

Hawkwings wrote:The laser HWP again? Well, at least it gibbed the muton. Or perhaps it was simply the flashlight that broke the Muton's heavily reinforced skin armor? Hmm... what's the next step up in remote-controlled mayhem?

Hovertank/Plasma, which I think could already be manufactured, seeing as plasma cannon and UFO construction have been researched.

Hasn't appeared yet in either my research or manufacturing options. I think I need to either do "New Fighter Craft" or Flying Suits to get access to hovertanks.

Peptuck wrote:Hasn't appeared yet in either my research or manufacturing options. I think I need to either do "New Fighter Craft" or Flying Suits to get access to hovertanks.

Yeah. It doesn't need seperate research, they're buildable as soon as you research "New Fighter Craft".

How far away is X-COM from being 'totally broken' at this point in time?

Ford Prefect wrote:How far away is X-COM from being 'totally broken' at this point in time?

I have to imagine that someone, somewhere has a step by step guide on how to twink your way to a win by March.

I'm not sure you could consistently win the game by as early as March.

By doing only critical path research you could likely get most of the technologies required by about April/May, but you also have to capture the live Commander, so you're reliant in small part on what missions the aliens do and which species do them. (If you only see base/infiltration missions from Mutons, say, it might be some time, because they don't have Commanders)

I'd say your earliest possible win would likely be about May.

Ford Prefect wrote:How far away is X-COM from being 'totally broken' at this point in time?

As soon as Psionics hit the field. That's when the game really falls over.

Lesse. You need...

Alien Leader (easy, found in most medium or large scouts)
Intact UFO (easy again if you're lucky, you could grab the first terror scout as it lands)
Ultimate craft (takes time more than anything else)
Alien Commander (bit tricky unless they set up a base)

At this point, I'd LOVE to see 26 unarmored, earth-tech armed invaders storming Cydonia with rifles and praying not to run out of ammo.

Nephtys wrote:Lesse. You need...

Alien Leader (easy, found in most medium or large scouts)
Intact UFO (easy again if you're lucky, you could grab the first terror scout as it lands)
Ultimate craft (takes time more than anything else)
Alien Commander (bit tricky unless they set up a base)

Not quite.

You need:

Any live alien - Alien Origins
Alien Leader - The Martian Solution
Alien Commander - Cydonia Or Bust

Avenger and it's prerequisites.

Also, you can't get a Leader from anything smaller than an a Medum UFO (Abductors and Harvesters), your best chance of snatching one early is from a terror site.

Vendetta wrote:

Nephtys wrote:Lesse. You need...

Alien Leader (easy, found in most medium or large scouts)
Intact UFO (easy again if you're lucky, you could grab the first terror scout as it lands)
Ultimate craft (takes time more than anything else)
Alien Commander (bit tricky unless they set up a base)

Not quite.

You need:

Any live alien - Alien Origins
Alien Leader - The Martian Solution
Alien Commander - Cydonia Or Bust

Avenger and it's prerequisites.

Also, you can't get a Leader from anything smaller than an a Medum UFO (Abductors and Harvesters), your best chance of snatching one early is from a terror site.

That was why we were using lots of stun weapons on that terror mission in Nairobi. We wanted to see if we could bag a sectoid leader alive.

Unfortunately, either they didn't have a leader, or the Porta-Raep gibbed him along with all the other xenos bastards.

I'm seriously considering deploying Mind Probes so we can track the fuckers down. Its late June and we don't even have basic psionics.

If you still need pilots, I'll fly an interceptor. If not, I will volunteer for cannon fodder infantry.

Jason L. Miles wrote:If you still need pilots, I'll fly an interceptor. If not, I will volunteer for cannon fodder infantry.

Excellent. We have a test subj- er, new pilot for our new fighter craft once we finish construction.

Private Jason "Test Subject" Miles, reporting for horrible experiments duty.

Peptuck wrote:I'm seriously considering deploying Mind Probes so we can track the fuckers down. Its late June and we don't even have basic psionics.

I'd recommend that; you really desperately need to get started on psionics. As it is, even if you capture a sectoid leader tomorrow, you need time to research the leader, then research psionics, then 24 days to build a psi lab, and then a full month to get the first batch of soldiers through psi training--and if you finish the lab on the 2nd, it sits idle until the first of next month. So that takes you to September, minimum, before you even have your first batch tested, and more likely October or even November. By which point the aliens will be throwing Ethereals at you.

Oh man, you are totally screwed. I anticipate some really hilarious updates in the near future.