Just had my first Invasion

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Psieye
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Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2017 12:27 am

Just had my first Invasion

Post by Psieye »

The AAR. I got Chryssalid corpses in July from that. I don't even know where else to get Chryssalid corpses this early. Seems Turn 8-ish is when the RNF gets serious. That means the shinobi needs to make a beeline towards the relay from the start, which is fine. I happened to have an easy time as the Relay was on a roof and the shinobi threw Shaped Charges to insta-destroy it. I brought 2 snipers just in case. It'd be much easier with a Snapshot Double Tap sniper who can shoot 3 times with a Command but it's manageable. The majority of my 10-man squad was MSgt which definitely factored into how I got a Flawless win.

The biggest problem was the crashes. I think there were so many assets loaded that smoke grenades caused it to go over the limit. 13 or so crashes before I could get back to the Avenger afterwards.
My three 8-man GOp squad Commander campaigns:
1st
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nmkaplan
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Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:14 pm

Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by nmkaplan »

There actually appears to be a bug involving the relay on Invasion missions. Any shot that hits the relay destroys it instantly, and if you look you can see a single tile hole in the roof where it was. It's not clear to me if the bug involves the shot destroying the floor (which destroys the relay) or something more complicated than that.

In any case, I've seen people mention it here and there and experienced it myself last week.
TrainInVain
Posts: 27
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by TrainInVain »

nmkaplan wrote:There actually appears to be a bug involving the relay on Invasion missions. Any shot that hits the relay destroys it instantly, and if you look you can see a single tile hole in the roof where it was. It's not clear to me if the bug involves the shot destroying the floor (which destroys the relay) or something more complicated than that.

In any case, I've seen people mention it here and there and experienced it myself last week.
I've fired a shot at the relay with a mag equipped sniper that did 8 damage and failed to destroy the relay in one hit.
Psieye wrote:The AAR. I got Chryssalid corpses in July from that. I don't even know where else to get Chryssalid corpses this early.
Liberating an HQ in a high enough strength region IIRC you can see them that early.

Also you don't need a spotter for a sniper if the relay is on the roof, as long as you are in a position that can hit the relay with a sniper, you can take the shot. It might not show the relay as a valid target among your row of possible targets until you actually click on the button to fire a shot. Then the relay will show up as valid as long as your sniper is in a position that can fire on it. At least that's been my experience on multiple invasions.
I play on veteran and I like to have a few invasions, they are good source of corpses for MK3 gear.
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SonnyWiFiHr
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by SonnyWiFiHr »

I don't have crashes right now .
So I should F5 every turn ? Every move ? Only Invasion ?
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nmkaplan
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by nmkaplan »

TrainInVain wrote:I've fired a shot at the relay with a mag equipped sniper that did 8 damage and failed to destroy the relay in one hit.
Was it on a rooftop? If so, I guess it doesn't happen all the time? Odd. As I said, I've seen multiple people mention this and had it happen myself.
Dwarfling
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by Dwarfling »

My usual strategy is to forego the pull and snipe tactics and bumrush the ground enemy troops using consumables and cooldowns early, on multiple pod activations. That way you're getting the whole squad closer to the beacon faster and at the same time since there's less enemies on the ground, RNF is less of a concern. The composition would look like X grenadiers, X SPARKs, X assaults, ranger, gunner, sharpshooter, shinobi. The downside is that with so many explosives you get less loot. And an enemy or two might go uncontrolled if you activated a pod too many but that's what the SPARKs are there for.

I never count of being able to snipe the beacon or kill the beacon floor anymore after getting a ground floor beacon behind a wall.
Psieye
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by Psieye »

Yeah, it definitely was a mistake to pay attention to the civilians or to try and establish a safe camp. This isn't a Destroy Relay mission where the squad has to get out afterwards with an evac flare. I'll definitely want Overdrive serum for the next one. Since the pods are 3-man and scattered around the whole map, it's not hard to bumrush for the relay.
My three 8-man GOp squad Commander campaigns:
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TrainInVain
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by TrainInVain »

nmkaplan wrote:
TrainInVain wrote:I've fired a shot at the relay with a mag equipped sniper that did 8 damage and failed to destroy the relay in one hit.
Was it on a rooftop? If so, I guess it doesn't happen all the time? Odd. As I said, I've seen multiple people mention this and had it happen myself.
Yes was on the rooftop. I'd also read everyone say it goes down with 1 hit.

I just remembered for dealing with the lag, I usually reload at the start of every turn. Found I have to do this on Invasions and some haven defenses when the reinforcements start piling up and lag kicks in.
Swiftless
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by Swiftless »

I want to say there was an Xwynns video (somewhere in season 2) where he explains the relay thing. I'm probably not remembering correctly but the thing with relays is if they're on a roof tile and you deal a minimum amount of damage in a single attack it will explode; so you can essentially one shot it. I can't remember what the minimum amount of damage is but a sniper hits hard enough I never failed to completely wipe out the relay on an invasion since it always spawns on a roof.

My tactic for all three invasions in my last campaign was to always take a DFA sniper and a sneaky shinobi as a spotter. Get the DFA sniper on the highest roof possible with a clear line of sight to the relay. Then hold the nest long enough to get squadsight on the relay with the shinobi and hit it with the DFA sniper. One shot, every time. After that it's all about mopping up whatever's left over.
Phaseless
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by Phaseless »

Dwarfling wrote:My usual strategy is to forego the pull and snipe tactics and bumrush the ground enemy troops using consumables and cooldowns early, on multiple pod activations. That way you're getting the whole squad closer to the beacon faster and at the same time since there's less enemies on the ground, RNF is less of a concern. The composition would look like X grenadiers, X SPARKs, X assaults, ranger, gunner, sharpshooter, shinobi. The downside is that with so many explosives you get less loot. And an enemy or two might go uncontrolled if you activated a pod too many but that's what the SPARKs are there for.

I never count of being able to snipe the beacon or kill the beacon floor anymore after getting a ground floor beacon behind a wall.
That's exactly what happened to me, relay was ground Floor, walled off.
Was a tough fight. I also Kind of bumrushed and managed to set my gunner up with cyclic. Tech rocketeered the wall away, cyclic fire brought it down enough for the sniper to finish it off. I jammer-ed the first RNF back one turn which meant 2 RNF after the turn when I destroyed the relay.
7 wounded, 3 of them badly
This would have been impossible without cyclic or any other way to fire several times a turn for massive damage.
Can't afford to devote more than 2 or 3 guys to the relay when you're swarmed by enemies
Psieye
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by Psieye »

Phaseless wrote:swarmed by enemies
That only really happens on Turn 7 or 8. 4 waves of shit RNF before they get serious. A lot depends on whether your 10-man squad has elite dudes who can consistently kill 2 trash mooks every turn.

Is the RNF point supposed to be the same every turn on an Invasion? I know sometimes the RNF point gets 'stuck' and RNF always land there. I'm assuming Invasions are supposed to drop RNF all over the place.
My three 8-man GOp squad Commander campaigns:
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Phaseless
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by Phaseless »

Psieye wrote:
Phaseless wrote:swarmed by enemies
That only really happens on Turn 7 or 8. 4 waves of shit RNF before they get serious. A lot depends on whether your 10-man squad has elite dudes who can consistently kill 2 trash mooks every turn.

Is the RNF point supposed to be the same every turn on an Invasion? I know sometimes the RNF point gets 'stuck' and RNF always land there. I'm assuming Invasions are supposed to drop RNF all over the place.
Despite me trying to balance hugging the edge of the map and making a hasty sprint to the relay, I still got unlucky activations coming from the middle. So controlling/killing mobs and advancing to the relay with key damage dealing units was a tough job.
Also I think my two psi-ops were a bad choice. They are not good at crowd control and deal consistent but little damage. Should have brought sparks and another tech/grenadier instead.

But hey, it was my first invasion after all. Lots to learn.
gimrah
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by gimrah »

I had one with relay on the ground, inside a building with no windows, and with other structures in the way. That was intense.
Psieye
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by Psieye »

Phaseless wrote:Should have brought sparks and another tech/grenadier instead.
Hmm, those are burst-AoE options. They'll have to do until you have GSgt assaults, shinobi, rangers and specs (for TA). Add MSgt gunners and snipers to that list for "can kill 2 things every turn without Command".
gimrah wrote:I had one with relay on the ground, inside a building with no windows, and with other structures in the way. That was intense.
I'm getting the strong urge to prepare a high mobility SMG grenadier who will have Overdrive Serum and get Oscar Mike + Command to super triple dash and lob a Shaped Charge to clear walls in future invasions. Oh and aggro everything to take cover in the wrong direction (except half the pods don't even take cover).
My three 8-man GOp squad Commander campaigns:
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gimrah
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by gimrah »

Spark is brilliant on invasions. Bombard destroys all terrain it touches and can be thrown anywhere in squadsight. So it's an alternative to a sharpshooter, which otherwise aren't that suited to that kind of fighting. Bombard is better actually, because if the relay is on the ground in a building, it can also be used to open up the wall to get LoS for your squad. This is also a mission when you get into huge fights and get lots of yellow alert actions against you - having a dedicated tank is helpful.

Failing that, I'd put a shaped charge on a shinobi probably. And take a snapshot sharpas well so you have multiple options.

Otherwise, bladenobis do very well on these missions. You have a big squad, there are lots of enemies, so I like to have two phantom soldiers to fan out and let the squad move up with confidence. Also there are a lot of enemies and reaper is great.

Other fast/flexible soldiers are good too, so assault and centre column rangers. Gunners aren't bad because you get terror enemies (i.e. big ones) so shooty gunners can hit them hard, and you get a lot of enemies so suppression gunners can control them.

If you have MSGTs, then a grenadier with full kit and sting/fire etc is great. Without full kit he'll probably run out of consumables too quickly to really pull his weight.

As with any big mission, centre column MSGT assault with chain lightning is god mode.
Psieye
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by Psieye »

gimrah wrote:there are a lot of enemies and reaper is great.
Reaper -> Hit & Run free SMG shot -> EXO punch or Face Off. I hate myself for not discovering this in my 1.4 campaign. There is still a place for super-tank shinobi (who then take HI + Hit & Run to troll while tanking) but a great many shinobi don't need to be that build.
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gimrah
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by gimrah »

Psieye wrote:
gimrah wrote:there are a lot of enemies and reaper is great.
Reaper -> Hit & Run free SMG shot -> EXO punch or Face Off. I hate myself for not discovering this in my 1.4 campaign. There is still a place for super-tank shinobi (who then take HI + Hit & Run to troll while tanking) but a great many shinobi don't need to be that build.
Reaper -> shreddergun is indeed great.

With shinobi officers, I really like reaper -> command, mainly just thematically. "I just killed 4 things, now you do something."
Dwarfling
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by Dwarfling »

My beacon (August):
Image

My team (MECanized infantry):
Image

Turn 1, 9 kills. Turn 2 infinite RNF on the rear is annoying to say the least.
Kamikaze Samurai
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by Kamikaze Samurai »

I just got a Chryssalid in July on a UFO mission.
gimrah
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Re: Just had my first Invasion

Post by gimrah »

Kamikaze Samurai wrote:I just got a Chryssalid in July on a UFO mission.
Isn't that normal? I'm in July on current campaign and I just got a beserker double lid pod on a retaliation in July.
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