New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Psieye
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New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Psieye »

So I decided to start a new campaign instead of going back to my old one.

- Not Ironman
- Commander's Choice
- Peek from Concealment
- No Alien Hunters DLC
- XCOMLW_AWCPack.ini - ALWAYSSHOW = true
- Default graze band
- House rule: only 1 8-man GOp squad (HQs don't count). Other GOps need to be done with normal-sized squads.

To make it easier for me to go on a hiatus as my RL schedule demands, I will be extensively logging the strategy layer (and barracks plans) in this thread so I can pick the campaign up again without trouble. Upfront, I'm thinking of dedicating this campaign to exploring Conc. Rockets.
Last edited by Psieye on Wed Oct 04, 2017 12:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
My three 8-man GOp squad Commander campaigns:
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Jacke
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Jacke »

Psieye wrote:- House rule: only 1 8-man GOp squad (HQs don't count)
So, all missions except HQ's (and Rendezvous, obviously) will be done by ONE 8-soldier squad? Whoa, dude. You must have substitutes for wounds and KIAs? Except they won't be trained up unless you sub them in early.

And Concussion Rockets. Cool.

This will be interesting to follow.
Last edited by Jacke on Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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johnnylump
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by johnnylump »

Godspeed, Psieye. And thanks for all the reports; they're good reading.
Psieye
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Psieye »

Ah, it's good to know I have an audience (beyond the Views count).

Flawless Gatecrasher with a Stock from loot (and Datapad). Sectoid and Officer corpse intact. A good start.

The barracks has 4 rookies at Mob 17 (including one with -10 Def). I guess I'm encouraged to make some shotgun Assaults. I also see a 73 Aim 15 Mob -10 Def 3 HP guy screaming "I'm your snapshot guy". In fact... I have 3 guys at -10 Def. This will take some head scratching.

Well, shouldn't think about them until after they graduate from being Rookies. The 8 Gatecrash guys:
- 13 Mob 71 Aim guy becomes sniper. AWC AlwaysShow says he'll have Quickdraw and Lightning Hands as well as Aim. Ok, this guy will be my DfA.
- 15 Mob 58 Aim girl becomes SMG grenadier. She'll get Quickstudy and Smoker?! Might be an officer, this one.
- 15 Mob 68 Aim 5 Hack girl becomes specialist. Steady Hands, Will to Survive and Ghostwalker will show up quickly, she'll go OW path.
- 15 Mob 65 Aim 5 Def guy becomes ranger. Kubikiri... I guess it's time to try out crit rangers.
- 15 Mob 69 Aim -3 Def 10 Hack guy becomes sniper. Deadshot will come up fast.
- 15 Mob 68 Aim -2 Def guy becomes technical. Will get Aim and EV.
- 15 Mob 66 Aim -7 Def 13 Dodge 3 HP girl becomes shinobi. Flush and Hail will show up, as will Guardian (and Infighter lol). Might take Combatitives instead of Shadowstep with this one.
- 15 Mob 64 Aim 4 Def 12 Dodge 3 HP girl becomes shinobi. DGG, EV, Sprinter and later, Untouchable + Lethal. Must keep her alive...

XCOM starts in East Asia.

1st GOp: 5d 18h "Hack for Intel Package" - 5-man with 2 rookies (both 17 Mob)
Lib 1: 4d 17h, skipped

7 Mar - Res. Comm. researched, Modular Weapons go (because of that Stock)

Hmm... that's 6 days and I haven't found the 2nd GOp. I think it's time to move on though, more Avenger scan won't help that much as we should have paid off the upfront cost. Blackmarket scan begins, switch everyone to Recruit.

2nd GOp: 4d 10h "Engineer in Van"

Buy scientist for $90. Send 5-man (with 73 Aim rookie) to 2nd GOp, will boost. Start contacting New Arctic.
My three 8-man GOp squad Commander campaigns:
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Psieye
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Psieye »

Ah damn, lost my post. Quick version: had to Bronzeman reload while getting used to LW2 again after WotC taught me bad habits.

Got close to the hack objective (in a building) without seeing anything. Pod 1 got a frag hitting all 3 but killing none. Shinobi gave up stealth to finish pod 1. Pod 2 orange alerted out of the building later and hit the spec for 3 (and grazed rookie for 1). Much as the sniper got off a nice OW shot on the Sectoid, wasn't necessary because Fleche. Objective hack came with +1 rebel. Lamppost hack was fail but inconsequential.

Specialist down for 13 days. Loot:
- Stock
- Adv. Magazine
- Adv. Hair Trigger
- 1 HP PCS

Promoted Rookies:
- 59 Aim 17 Mob 0 Def -> Assault. Comes with Locked On, Quickdraw, Lightning Hands, EV, Kubikiri for future AWC. Hmm...
- 56 Aim 17 Mob -5 Def -> Assault. Sprinter, Guardian and eventually Combat Fitness.
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Psieye
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Psieye »

Jacke wrote:
Psieye wrote:- House rule: only 1 8-man GOp squad (HQs don't count)
So, all missions except HQ's (and Rendezvous, obviously) will be done by ONE 8-soldier squad?
Ah no, it means I'm only allowed one 7 or 8-man squad and the rest of the GOps must be done with ordinary 4~6-man squads.
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Jacke
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Jacke »

Psieye wrote:
Jacke wrote:
Psieye wrote:- House rule: only 1 8-man GOp squad (HQs don't count)
So, all missions except HQ's (and Rendezvous, obviously) will be done by ONE 8-soldier squad?
Ah no, it means I'm only allowed one 7 or 8-man squad and the rest of the GOps must be done with ordinary 4~6-man squads.
I find 4-soldier GOps are very risky, especially with a Shinobi that wants to stay stealthed. On the other hand, to get enough squads into rotation, I have to mostly use 5 or 6 troops. Only send out 7 or 8 on big missions: Haven Defense and currently infiltrating a Liberation 3, hoping to capture the target.
Phaseless
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Phaseless »

Jacke wrote:
Psieye wrote:
Jacke wrote:So, all missions except HQ's (and Rendezvous, obviously) will be done by ONE 8-soldier squad?
Ah no, it means I'm only allowed one 7 or 8-man squad and the rest of the GOps must be done with ordinary 4~6-man squads.
I find 4-soldier GOps are very risky, especially with a Shinobi that wants to stay stealthed. On the other hand, to get enough squads into rotation, I have to mostly use 5 or 6 troops. Only send out 7 or 8 on big missions: Haven Defense and currently infiltrating a Liberation 3, hoping to capture the target.
Same for me. With good Intel you can get 5-6 into a Mission without too much trouble because you have enough time to Infiltrate.
Had a 4 GOPs Mission just yesterday, had to get an item on a 10 turn timer. Went extremely well. But I also find them very risky because every time a squad member becomes incapacitated by any means, it leads to a Domino effect very quickly.

For that reason, I only send 4-people squads on extremely light missions.
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by quarter »

*Grabs popcorn

Thanks for the great information and entertainment, Psieye!
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SonnyWiFiHr
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by SonnyWiFiHr »

Go for more than 100% with 4 man squad.
It is faster. Speed vs big squads speed wins - more missions.
2nd region demands small squads or you will miss half of missions and if you detect reinforce mission you will have to pull out big squad.
3rd region One big squad in reserve half of missions Shinobi/Specialist combo after that you will have big barracks.

On commander just put 8 man squad on first few mission. Aim for light-moderate or lesser. Use grenade/smoke every turn to avoid -10 defense rookie instant kill . Enjoy the game
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Psieye
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Psieye »

SonnyWiFiHr wrote:Aim for light-moderate or lesser.
Ah, you weren't around for my 1.4 campaign.
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by SonnyWiFiHr »

Heavy ? Tried that - only works with force level 1. Force level 2 is +1 HP for advent.
For me - a lots of med-kits + every turn smoke + bomb everything + lost squad for 30 days.
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Psieye
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Psieye »

It is Mar 10, current research is Basic Research (16d). Intel package was 1d scan for a Soldier - low priority. Time to get back to East Asia to scan. Also, Lib 1 will refresh in 3h.

Jailbreak: 9d 9h for 2 rookies and 1 rebel. Eh, I don't have a choice. Send 1 sniper and 6 rookies away for 9d.

Scan for soldier: the next mission was 1d 3h away. Get a Squaddie Assault: 16 Mob, 61 Aim, 6 Def. Will get EV, CM and other stuff. Phantom sorta ruins the CuP and EV he may learn.


"Engineer in Van", boosted to 105% infil. 5-man.

Turn 1, first blue move and see Sectoid up on roof out of cover with Engineer and Drone. Eh, too tempting, let's do it. Technical gets to high cover and OW. Shinobi scouts ahead: nothing to flank us. Sharpshooter shoots from no cover: 6 dmg on Sectoid. SMG grenadier blows up Engineer's cover and hits for 3 (while shredding 1 armour off Drone). 73 Aim Rookie finishes Engineer.

Drone misses exposed sniper. Shinobi sees Pod 2 inside art gallery.

Turn 2, sniper moves forward and holos Drone for Rookie's kill shot. Squad moves to edge of Pod 2's vision (may not be best idea as we just used a frag).

Pod 2 does not see the squad and runs towards the noise. Thank you walls and awkwardly angled windows.

Turn 3, activate Pod 2 by walking the grenadier over to pick up loot (from Pod 1's Sectoid). Pod 2 scampers to take cover relative to that grenadier's position. Technical walks over and flames a Trooper (2 dmg) and Sectoid (5 dmg). Grenadier happens to have 1 pixel where a frag hits all of Pod 2: both Troopers in it die, Sectoid with 1 HP. Holo it and the rookie shoves gun to face: 113% hit chance. Pick up loot. Shinobi spots pod 3: 2 Troopers.

Pod 3 comes closer.

Turn 4, technical moves to just outside visual contact and OW. Rookie hides and reloads. SMG grenadier runs to rooftop.

Pod 3 meets technical's OW: it misses. No orange alert actions.

Turn 5, technical frags Trooper to death. Sniper walks and holos other Trooper for minimal-graze-chance Fleche (it hits). 8 kills, time to get the VIP and run.

Turn 11, squad is out. No RNF. Flawless and pretty reckless opener that I'd only do in earlygame.

Loot:
- $20 (core)
- +1 HP PCS
- Adv. Suppressor

Promoted Rookie: 73 Aim, -10 Def, 15 Mob, 3 HP, 10 Dodge -> sniper. Could get smoker, Aim, Rapid Reaction (wtf, he's not supposed to be seen). Oh and the Offensive AWC branch is all grenades.
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Psieye »

Lib 1 detected: 6d 16h. Sure, 5-man with 1 rookie.

Smash & Grab detected: 6d 15h. 5-man with 1 rookie. 3d 19h for next mission, Recruit time! 3 days of contacting New Arctic. Now back in East Asia, switch back to Intel (got 1 rebel). Ready for the next missions.



Lib 1: Hack Train, 100% infil.

Turn 1, 2 solo Drones spotted. Shinobi scouts flank: safe. No OW, sniper opens fire: graze for 1. Assault moves up and activates pod... yeah, didn't scout the front. Run & Gun into high cover! Also, getting out of the way for FitH rocket (does not kill the 2 targetted Drones). Rookie lands 75% chance to shoot Drone 1 dead. Assault lands 51% shot to kill other Drone (loot drop).

Astonishingly lucky miss by Trooper shooting exposed sniper.

Turn 2, said Trooper put himself in shotgun-to-face range to take that shot. Dies. Shinobi spots next pod of 2 up ahead. Sniper has a great shot on explosive carriage (which pod 2 is next to) but can't possibly blow it up in 1 shot. Instead, walk and steady weapon. Send 2 to hug a big rock, tempting for the Engineer to flashbang.

Engineer runs away. Pod 2 is alert but doesn't see the squad.

Turn 3, pod 2's 1st Trooper is in LoS of sniper and is visible to shinobi. Dies from 92% shot. Other Trooper scampers forwards, into... not quite melee range of the assault. Dies from 76% shotgun shot. Engineer is once again alone.

Engineer moves forward to take 20% shot on assault - miss.

Turn 4, this is a 17-3 Mobility assault. Just enough blue move to shotgun-in-face. But it low-rolls and doesn't crit so the Engineer is still alive. Oh well, holo and SMG it with the shinobi.

Turn 5, shinboi walks forward and sees pod 3 then hunkers. Assault reloads and hunkers. Sniper dashes to pick up loot. Everyone else walks and hunkers.

Trooper and Gunner OW.

Turn 6, annoying: a lot of flashbangs are 1 tile off from being useful. Time for inefficient flashbangs: shinboi blinds Trooper to cancel OW. Rookie moves forward to frag Gunner. High roll, outright kills it (blowing up loot). That makes assault's decision easy: Run & Gun down the Trooper.

Turn 7, assault hacks objective.

Turn 8, squad is out. Flawless.

Loot:
- Magazine
- +6 Dodge PCS
- $10 (Laser Sight x2)
- $10 (Emergency Life Support)

Promoted Rookie: 17 Mob, 64 Aim, -10 Def, 3 HP, 6 Hack -> specialist. Too fragile to put on front lines. Steady Hands, Low Profile, Hard Target, Holo Targetting... ok I was thinking of making him stay far back but he might be a good OW guy once I get some armour on him.
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Psieye
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Psieye »

7-man Jailbreak: 100% infil

Turn 1, spot a lone Drone and a pod with a Sentry with the one SMG rookie. Get all the other rookies into OW trap, SMG rookie moves out of sight of Drone. Sniper opens fire on roof without cover, kills Sentry and DfA moves to edge of roof with cover. Sectoid from pod 1 takes 5 dmg from 2 OW shots.

Sectoid rez zombie.

Turn 2, SMG rookie frags Sectoid dead (loot destroyed).

Turn 3, some slightly risky dash scouting to make progress. No contact.

Drone finds us.

Turn 4, blue move reveals pod 2: Trooper and Sectoid. Rookies advance and double frag the Drone dead. Smoke 4 rookies in low cover and Hunker 2 more (also low cover).

Mindspin panics a rookie to hunker. Trooper dies to a rookie OW shot.

Turn 5, 2 frags and the Sectoid is still at 3 HP. 61% shot from sniper kills it.

Pod 3 walks in: Engineer (dies to 2 OW shots), Drone and Trooper (enters OW).

Turn 6, flashbang the Trooper. Frag and snipe the Drone dead. Flank shoot the Trooper dead. 9 kills, yellow RNF bucket. Dash time.

Turn 7, SMG rookie hacks cell door.

Turn 11, squad is out - the 13-3 Mob DfA sniper took 1 extra turn to get to evac. Flawless.

Loot:
- +7 Dodge PCS
- $10 (Emergency Life Support)

Promoted Rookies:
- 13 Mob, 59 Aim, 8 Def, 6 HP -> Gunner. Sentinel will be available eventually but not interested.
- 15 Mob, 62 Aim, 5 Def, 20 Dodge, 3 HP -> Shinobi. Sprinter and DGG and Formidable look good. Run & Gun and Untouchable in the long run.
- 17 Mob, 57 Aim, -4 Def, 12 Dodge, 4 HP -> Assault. Shredder, Locked On and CuP look attractive.
- 16 Mob, 58 Aim, 5 Def, -6 Dodge, 5 HP -> Grenadier. Too many assaults, not interested in flamer, sorta awkward to make a gunner. Turns out he'll have access to Lone Wolf, Aim, Hail of Bullets and Holo if I keep him around long. Probably a sapper tank build.
- 14 Mob, 67 Aim, 2 Def, 8 Hack, 9 Dodge, 4 HP -> Specialist. Could have been a grenadier but I need more people who can hack objectives. He'll get Low Profile, Hard Target and Rapid Deployment eventually: OW guy (uh yeah, I seem to be missing non-OW specialists).
- 14 Mob, 66 Aim, 1 def, -8 Dodge, 5 HP -> Technical. I need more Technicals even though this guy could become a grenadier. Has access to Walk Fire, Sprinter, Light 'Em Up, Aim, Untouchable. Gosh darn it, every Technical I roll wants to pick up Shredder. Ok, the other Technical who only will get Aim and EV will get Conc.
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Psieye »

Alien Debris cleared: +43 supply.


Smash & Grab - 6 crates for 5-man

Turn 1, shinobi sees pod 1: Sectoid and Trooper. Snipe the Trooper at 76%: crit for 8 (hah, would have oneshot the Sectoid). Hunker creep towards Sectoid.

Ah drat, should have predicted Sectoid would move backwards to rez.

Turn 2, pod 2 activated by assrandom tile that rookie happened to run through: Sentry, Officer. Oh well, move the snapshot sniper around the back to not be seen and fish for a flank. The rest have moved forwards assuming they'd be flanking the Sectoid.

Oh and pod 3 is in shinobi's sight. Assault must not advance. Rookie panics from being grazed for 2. Grenadier panics from Mindspin. Oh and zombie is very close to them both.

Turn 3, flashbang the Sectoid with assault, all we can do. Sniper moves behind to try and get some snipes off on pod 2: they're in high cover and the hope is that they won't move as they can see targets. Shinobi can't move because will be seen: giving up stealth when it'll activate another pod AND run OW isn't good.

Pod 3 heard nothing, walks away. Good thing I didn't frag earlier. Officer shoots panicked Rookie for 3 (1 HP left) - I guess panic hunker doesn't affect Hit calculations? Sectoid misses assault. Sentry hits assault for 3 and OWs.

Turn 4, grenadier and rookie double frag Sentry. Sniper shoots Officer in back for 4. Shinobi Fleche rolls high enough to kill Sectoid, activates pod 3 (another Sectoid). Assault Run & Gun Officer for 7.

Sectoid rez zombie somewhere. Trooper takes flank shot on shinobi and misses.

Turn 5, frag those two: Trooper dies from high roll (with loot). Fleche Sectoid dead. Ok, rookie is too deep in red fog to carry on, send her back to evac.

Pod 4 comes in: Officer, Drone. Is visible to sniper and Officer OWs. Facepalm.

Turn 6, Hunker assault and sniper. Grenadier dashes to grenade next turn. Shinobi grabs crate. Rookie runs to evac.

Drone stuns assault. Officer marks and shoots sniper.

Turn 7, Fleche the drone dead. Grenadier low rolls with last frag on Officer. Sniper misses 79% snapshot from flank.

Officer runs out of sight.

Turn 8, grenadier fishes for unwalkable tile, finds it and moves to spot the Officer. Fleche hits for kill.

Squad gets out with 4 crates just as RNF bucket turns red.

Wounded:
- Assault: 12 days
- Rookie: 30 days (shaken). 4 HP, 65 Aim, 15 Mob, -2 Def, 7 Hack -> Technical. I'm funneling a lot of potential rangers into technicals for this campaign. Has access to Center Mass, Covert, Kill Zone. Return Fire, Lightning Hands, Clutch Shot too - might be a viable pistol user if AWC time is available.

Loot:
- 16 alloy
- $26
- Data Cache
- Adv. Magazine


$154 available, begin constructing the AWC. I have loot to sell off to afford the 2nd scientist from Black Market later this supply round. Must stick to scanning for a time though: it's March 23 and I expect to scan about 5 days before moving on.

Hmm... tempted to go Proving Grounds first and then GTS. This alloy wants to be turned into vests and I want Hazmats sooner rather than later. Might put a dampener on laser lance rush.
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Psieye
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Psieye »

25 Mar - Lib 2: 4d 6h "LCpl Grenadier from City" - pass

26 Mar - "Hack for Intel Package" 5d 15h, eh sure 5-man no rookie. Will get to 95%, that's enough on Str 1

27 Mar - Supply Train <3d. Well damn, let's see if that 95% infil will be enough

28 Mar - "Engineer in Jail" 5d 23h, go! 5-man no rookie. Exactly 100%. Switch everyone to Recruit, go to Black Market. Sell Data Cache, dodge PCS x2, Life Support x2, Data Pad for $96. Buy Scientist for $96. Contact New Arctic, begin scan.

30 Mar - Debris cleared: $50. Engineer to rush out the AWC in 4d.

31 Mar - S&G 9d 5h. WTF. Spend $15 for +1 rookie, send 7-man with 4 rookies. +1 rebel in East Asia.

1 Apr - "Hack for Intel Package" begins (E. Light)


Turn 1, Drone spotted. Ooh and assault sees pod 1 (3 goons) positioned exactly where I'd want to dash someone to the roof for. Yeah, goodbye WotC bad habits, gotta be careful again. Decision: don't engage pod 1 deliberately.

Pod 1 moves away from squad. Drone flies sideways.

Turn 2, Rookie dash scouts: nothing. Technical and spec go OW, hoping Drone will fly to spot Technical. DfA sniper is in nest. Assault dashes back to join squad.

Drone flies away.

Turn 3, Rookie walks further to side: no contact. Assault just walks into Drone's view, we can't keep waiting. Oh drat, and pod 1's sight too. Technical moves to high cover and frags Drone. Run & Gun into some out-of-sight cover and shoot Drone - miss 65%. DfA sniper kills drone and re-steadies. OW spec decides to take a risk and Aid Protocol the technical (in high cover) while in low cover herself.

Officer shoots technical at 9% - miss. Trooper shoots spec for 1. Other Trooper OWs next to first one.

Turn 4, Squaddie rocket misses Officer but gibs the two Troopers (and 1 loot) and blows a hole in shop's roof. Assault walks to rooftop and OW. Rookie dash scouts flank: no contact. Spec goes out of sight for Officer. DfA sniper smokes the technical.

Officer runs away.

Turn 5, assault walks forward to see Officer had forgotten what direction the squad was in. DfA sniper and technical shoot the completely exposed Officer. Assault hunkers. Rookie and spec walk and OW.

Pod 2 walks in: Engineer, Gunner (OWs) and Drone. DfA sniper can only see the Engineer behind cover.

Turn 6, Rookie however? Walks to edge of Gunner's vision and shoots with sniper's holo. Graze, so the technical has to finish the job. Spec fails an 89% hack to stun the Drone. Shotgun it for 2.

Pod 3 was in the shop with hack objective... Sectoid and Trooper (orange-alert shoots specialist for 1). Sectoid rez zombie right next to the assault that just got Drone stunned.

Turn 7, flash the Sectoid after moving specialist out of sight. Sniper (on ground) and technical both miss the Drone. Frag hits Trooper for 3.

Recruit gets flank crit shot for 4 by 1 HP Trooper. Does not panic. Engineer OW, dazed Sectoid and Engineer both miss.

Turn 8, Recruit finishes Trooper. Technical runs OW and does not get hit. Specialist hacks objective from low cover 1 tile away from evac (blind thrown to edge of vision earlier). No reward.

Drone hits tazer on assault. Sectoid mindspin technical for panic. Engineer flashbangs technical and specialist.

Turn 9, assault misses 81% point blank shotgun on Drone. Sniper hits 61% shot to kill it. Rookie flashes Sectoid then evacs. Spec runs out of sight.

Sectoid OW. Engineer misses assault.

Turn 10, Aid Protocol the assault to run the OW. Graze for 1. Everyone evac.

Wounded: Rookie, 21d. 14 Mob, 66 Aim, 7 Def -> Gunner. Will access Guardian and Locked On.

Now, pistol DfA sniper normally should get Center Mass at Cpl or maybe Phantom if I want a safe journey to nest. This one gets DGG because I have a stupid idea.

Intel Package was 2d Alloys.
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Psieye »

Apr 1 - Hybrid Materials finished. Alien Biotech go. "LCpl Gunner in Van" 7d 18h - 5-man sent.

Apr 3 - "Engineer in jail" begins. Evac is close to front of jail.


Turn 2, pod 1 is to the side: Drone, Trooper, Engineer. Squad not in ambush position.

Turn 3, shinobi spots pod 2 up ahead. Has 3 including Sectoid. Frag pod 1, nothing dies, everything scampers forwards. Sniper OW kills Engineer. Spec on roof kills Drone. Shotgun-to-face on Trooper.

Pod 2's Sectoid orange-alert rez zombie.

Turn 4, Sniper crits the exposed Sectoid for 6. Pod 2 scampers forward. Frag Trooper (dies) and Engineer for 3. Fleche Engineer dead. Run & Gun Sectoid dead.

Turn 5, RNF bucket go yellow. Squad regroups.

Turn 6, Hack jail. Shinobi bungles into pod 3 outside building: Gunner, Trooper, Trooper. Not good, the spec will get easily flanked if they come forwards more. Smoke the shinobi and assault. Grenadier's last frag only does 2 on both Troopers. Assault flash 2. Shinobi gibs Trooper with frag.

Gunner misses grenadier in low cover (12%). Trooper OW.

Turn 7, spec flashes without moving to cancel OW. Snapshot at 79% to kill Trooper. Shotgun at 59% to kill Gunner.

Turn 8, VIP evacs out. Fail lamp hack, get RNF.

Turn 9, squad out. Flawless.

Loot:
- +14 Will PCS
- Magazine
- +3 Aim PCS
- Elite Suppressor

Engineer VIP.


Jailbreak: 7d 9h for 2 rookies and 2 rebels in East Asia. Send a 6-man, it'll reach 99%... 101% with elite suppressor.

AWC completes, put the grenadier in there to learn Quick Study. Hmm, just noticed there's a power coil on 3rd floor directly beneth a Debris. Looks like fast Labs will be happening.

Apr 4 - Alien Biotech complete. Trooper Autopsy (4d) begins. Now then... I want that alloy. I should scan until Apr 6 then transfer over.

Apr 5 - Incoming supply train, 1d 21h. Ok, East Asia will be a Str 3 zone for the next mission. Also, Lib 1 at 4d 8h - skipped.

Move to alloy scan site. S&G 9d 8h V. Light spawns. I have nobody to send. In 2d 6h I'll get a 5-man squad free. Also, in 14d I'll get $63 + $65 from excavation. Blast and I'd forgotten to set New Arctic on Recruit. Oh well, do it for 2d 6h.
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Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Psieye »

Apr 6 - Lib 2: 1d 20h for Engineer. Cannot 8-man this early, never mind with no soldiers. Hmm, East Asia has 10 rebels, will get 2 more from jailbreak so I should keep everyone on Intel to fish for a better Lib 2

Apr 7 - 13 Alloy from PoI. Begin contacting West Asia, down to 22 Intel. Start "LCpl in Van" mission.


Turn 1, spot Drone.

Drone flies in close to grenadier.

Turn 2, Peek from Concealment lets SMG grenadier move out of detection radius (by 1 tile) without losing concealment. Assault sees two 2-man pods.

Pod 1 with Stun Lancer moves away. Pod 2 with Engineer and Drone comes close. Solo Drone from before also comes close.

Turn 3, spec OW, frag Pod 2 - both hit for 2. Both die to spec's OW. Frag and shotgun kills other Drone. DfA steadies.

Pod 1 walks in, rolls no alert actions.

Turn 4, rocket - Sentry dies, Stun Lancer hit for 4. DfA snipe the Lancer dead. Spec walks forward and activates another Drone. Frag and Run & Gun to kill it. Sniper moves forward.

Turn 5, grenadier activates pod 3: Sentry and Drone. Frag them. Sentry gibbed with loot. To keep the slow sniper moving, don't shoot the Drone with him. Instead, walk and holo. Technical gets the kill.

Turn 6, hack van, fail reward.

Turn 8, squad out. Flawless.

Loot:
- Magazine
- +3 Def PCS

Gunner from Van is 16 Mob, 66 Aim, 5 Def, 8 Dodge, 4 HP LCpl. Access to Fortify, Rapid Deployment, Tactical Sense. For now, Combatitives.

PoI is 2d supplies. Send 5-man (DfA sniper, OW spec, assault, gunner, shinobi) to the V.Light S&G.

So, it's Apr 7 and New Arctic just finished a mission. I should scan until Apr 12 here then switch to the PoI. Another New Arctic mission will fire in 1d 2h. Jailbreak in East Asia is in 2d 21h but I don't need to scan there anymore (10 rebels).

Apr 8 - Trooper Autopsy done. Render an Elerium Core so I can start on Laser. I should hit this New Arctic S&G at 90% infil just to get more scan time for the next GOp. It's at E.Light already.
My three 8-man GOp squad Commander campaigns:
1st
2nd
3rd
Psieye
Posts: 829
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2017 12:27 am

Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Psieye »

Some long-term planning. It's Apr 8 and Laser can start in <24h. But I'll be low on Elerium even after breaking open that Core. That Elerium might be better used to build Mag weapons following a Laser-skip. It's 4 Alloy and 15 Elerium to research both Laser and Adv. Laser. It's $100 and 20 Alloy to research both Mag and Adv. Mag. Then there's the cost of building high tech sniper rifles.

I also remembered Trial By Fire wants to come out ASAP and I have a candidate Quick Study officer who should hit Sgt by the time a GTS is built... if I postpone Proving Grounds. Yes, I think I'll go for the officer rush. The Excavation supplies will go to a GTS. Officer tube upgrade before vulture. One of the S&Gs will finish before I start laser. That should inform me which way to go with my research.
My three 8-man GOp squad Commander campaigns:
1st
2nd
3rd
Phaseless
Posts: 225
Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2017 9:06 am

Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Phaseless »

Is Trial by fire your Standard go-to or do you use it in the early game to boost experience?
Psieye
Posts: 829
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2017 12:27 am

Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Psieye »

Phaseless wrote:Is Trial by fire your Standard go-to or do you use it in the early game to boost experience?
In my last campaign I had 2. Certainly the very first Captain should be Trial by Fire. I had a lot of 2nd Lieutenants so there weren't many Captains last time. By the time I had additional Captains, Sgts were coming out of the black market and mission rewards.

We'll see what this campaign looks like. If I get a constant stream of rookies I'll want more. That's a point though, do I want to spend my officer tube time on mass producing 2nd Lt shinobi or make more awesome officers? At least for the AWC I know I want to fast-track a WTF A-team guy in the time it takes for that first Trial by Fire officer gets trained. Next time I can see my soldiers I'll plan who that will be.
My three 8-man GOp squad Commander campaigns:
1st
2nd
3rd
User avatar
SonnyWiFiHr
Posts: 416
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2017 1:57 pm

Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by SonnyWiFiHr »

Boosting is nice. If I can spare 8 men squad I go for experience and tense mission. How do you get rookies ? I have 24 soldiers and I m planning opening 3rd province. I will end in 3 men missions. Paradox.
The Preacher
Psieye
Posts: 829
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2017 12:27 am

Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by Psieye »

SonnyWiFiHr wrote:How do you get rookies ?
The steady way to get them is from the Recruit job. Often there's better things for rebels to be doing, so you'd have to go out of your way to get them.
My three 8-man GOp squad Commander campaigns:
1st
2nd
3rd
User avatar
SonnyWiFiHr
Posts: 416
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2017 1:57 pm

Re: New 8-man GOp campaign - 1.5 Commander

Post by SonnyWiFiHr »

Supply raid vs one rookie is not worth effort. I need full heaven on intel to detect something (+ Scientist + avenger). Intel package with rookie - never had that.
The Preacher
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