XCOM 2

Well, Julian is no more. Truth is I waited waay too long to run this mission. After my initial bad experience I gave the bad guy too much credit. My 2nd try got me through without any real injury to any of my soldiers and I could have made use of the SPARKS robot during a lot of the game play. Now, he's a bit obsolete. Of course he's under repair for another 24 days (!) so as I approach the end of the game I may see little of him or his abilities again.
The Advent mole just alerted us of an Advent global broadcast that, if successful, could mean the end of humanity. I am being send to intervene post haste.
No pressure.
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I was looking around for a game to play after XCOM 2, and I think I may have to keep the story going.
The Bad Boys will probably return in...

 
Whew.
I've forgotten how many bad guys my trio killed, something like 18 IIRC.
And they ALL came back alive! Had to administer 7 medkits, but even though gravely wounded THEY ALL CAME BACK! Amazing.
So, that was just the set up for the final curtain. My best remaining, uninjured 6 have been transported to the alien Homeworld with an easy order. "Kill them all. "
"Yes, sir! Wilco!"
And to help out THE Commander is coming along as well and his skill level is off the chart. So, I have a 7 man team.
Uh, intel estimates enemy forces at...34...
At least I'll get to die a hero.
 
mTk said:
Well, imagine my surprise (!) when I was advised that this mission, for stealth purposes (?), will only use 3 soldiers.
I'm not going! My relatively new PSI operative, @Barry and @Nort have been assigned.
Hmm.
Click to expand...
Hope you give me a better gun than you did in "Battle Brothers"...;)
 
Gnarly said:
So, next will be the The Chosen on Ironman Commander right? ;D
Click to expand...

done on easy with Ironman is the most fun and frustratingly enjoyable way to play. Accept that troops are going to die. But when you commit to Ironman it adds so much to the experience. Scrambling to get away carrying your wounded and dead comrades knowing that one still living got left behind, but knowing that to save him means a total loss of your team. Seeing the chosen kidnap your trooper and escape, knowing that you can go after him if you play your cards right. Certain mission types are created by battlefield defeats or decisions. Losing a crack team of high ranking troops to an ambush....... forces you to train a deep roster with redundancy in key areas. Right now I’m hurting because my medics that can carry 3 med packs all got whacked..... and I didn’t have replacements in the wings.
 
Yeah, lots of redundancy (x3 at least of each class/type) and lots of skilling-up/rotations to make sure that, for example, your medics all have the same skill levels.

The Infirmary is critical IMO

Seriously though, @sspoom is right. Play even just Easy difficulty on Ironman - it really is an immersive experience, and will force you to think first, rather than just save scum each time something goes wrong..... And you'll also need to weigh up your decisions before you commit to each battle: is it really worth it; what are the benefits; what can go wrong; will I actually have a team ready to go if this goes to crap; is it realistically achievable??
 
Uh, no thanks. That frustration of having to reload on occasion and do over a lot of stuff I've already done generates enough angst for me.
I still have to keep a good rotation of fairly balanced troopers trained. There are always several in the hospital and o/o action.
I mean, I don't reload if people just get an owie.
 
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I played through this game once then switched to Ironman. I have had my ass handed to me in iron and enjoyed it more than if I saved and went back to try again. But everyone plays games to their comfort/enjoyment zone. It’s a great game no matter how we play it.
 
Whew. Taking a short breather.
Nine dead aliens and no squad casualties. In fact, barely any injuries and those are quite light.
Probably helps that my Commander is Superman. He's working very well with my PSI soldier.
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OK, my best count sez 17 down. Still nobody scratched.
Had to use some some HE for the first time. However, the 6-alien pod were all standing together so...
My ambushes have been much better planned given no clock involved.
 
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Shortly after that sunshine & flowers post things went to hell!
Took some substantial AOE damage and imagine my, uh, discomfort, when I went to look for med kits and there were none!
With Nort missing from my crew, due to grave injuries sustained on the prior 3-man effort, I did not have my best medic/specialist.
Furthermore, only one other on my team (other than that lone specialist) had bothered to bring along a kit.
At that point I realized I was likely royally, and truly fooked. I was right. Got to the final battle (I think), but no longer had the stamina to see it through.
So, now I sit here trying to decide whether I bring Nort and his 4 medkits (w/drone delivery service) along anyway. He only has 10 HP, but if I'm vehwee, vehwee careful...
The developers were diabolical! By making that prior mission only 3 soldiers they knew the player would be compelled to pick his best three. They also knew that it was extremely unlikely those soldiers would return injury free. Thus, the player would have to deal with the final battle without most, if not all, of his best 3 soldiers. Or use them with reduced capability.
Hmm.
OK. @Nort comes along. Good luck Bad Boys! :shootero:
 
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Decided to leave Nort in the hospital after all. This allowed for 2 snipers. He only had 8 health and I decided it just wasn't enough.
The decision probably won me the battle and saved the world. My snipers were awesome in over watch.
I was getting ready to be overrun at the last battle zone. Bad guys just kept materializing. I'd retreated back across and set up fire straight down the bridge, as well as flanking fire when they got close to my side. I'm pretty sure there were more than the 34 predicted. They started being very aggressive and I could see the end. It was not going to be a victory.
And then? The last remaining Avatar got a little too confident. He did that teleport thingie and got behind my lines to my left flank. I (my character) laid a 13 damage sniper shot on him and the end was in sight. @Wellsonian followed with another shot on target and @Rico did a banzai charge with his light sabre (or equivalent) and laid him out! Ta, da! It was seriously close.
Something else that saved my bacon and may well have been decisive was my PSI magi laying the <dominate> spell on a Gatekeeper, turning him from an extremely tough foe into an ally for the duration. He soaked up a LOT of enemy fire and survived the battle.
Some nice cut scenes at the end and some total game stats for review.
Awesome.
 
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