X-COM: Oscar Company Edition (Picture Intensive)

[Davis, E.]

So, ladies and gentlemen, fellow gamers and wannabees, I have (finally) picked up a copy of X-COM: Enemy Unknown. For those of you unfamiliar with this title, get familiar. Real familiar. You're about to experience the thrill, the joy, and the crushing agony of the best (yes, THE BEST) tactical battle simulator ever. And you get to do it with your own characters from Oscar Company. This is your introduction to the idea and to bring you up to date on what's happening in the current game. If you have stopped caring already, check your pulse. If you still have one, well, I'm sorry you're missing out. If you don't have one, WHY ARE YOU READING THIS! GO TO THE HOSPITAL!

So, the X-COM project is a multinational (16 nations to be exact) initiative to halt the alien menace that has started attacking our beloved planet. While beholding to the council, we (yes we, I'm including you in on my triumphant journey here) are the sole command of the entire project and are responsible to save the world. Difficulty is on normal (2 of 4 levels) with that added difficulty of Ironman mode, which means every choice, every action, is permanently locked in. No going back and reloading boys and girls, this shit is for real.

We are currently in our second month of operation, and while we lost 2 of our supporters (if we lose 8, it's game over) due to a computer glitch, I think we'll still be solid. I am not naming anyone until they prove they aren't going to die their first time out of the gate. Currently, the only named people are First Squad, First Team. With 10 missions total under their belt, Furby and Ward are clawing for the right to be kill king, while Avery and Davis are just happy to be around to help. My last mission added Grace Wilkas to the ranks of named people, and I'm expecting to start building Second Squad, Third Team soon.

Pictures will follow. Stay tuned for more excitement!

[Stringer, K.]

So how do we do this?

[Davis, E.]

You sit back and enjoy the show.

You know, once I figure out screen shots. It's not agreeing with me right now.

[Davis, E.]

So, time to meet the team thus far. Again, picture heavy. Also, all stats are as of completion of Operation Glass Hymn. (Covered in the next post.)

This is First Team, geared for a mission, with Wilkas and McMillan for support.


Evan Davis, sporting original body armor, AR, and pistol.


Nathan Avery, with Carapace Armor, LMG, and Rocket Launcher.


Jay Furby, with starting kit.


And finally, Jonathan Ward, our kill leader, with Carapace armor, and laser weaponry. (Yes, it's a laser shotgun.)

Joining the fun is Grace Wilkas.


James McMillan



And Kevin Stringer, our newest sniper.


Others will come, but as of right now, I'm not naming a Rookie until they have shown they can survive. Patience my friends, the rest of you will eventually grace this with your own awesome people. (And likely better gear.)

And next to join the fray, Michelle Faust, sporting the new Light Plasma Rifle (Deceased: 8/15/15. Operation Final Smoke)



Next class of Named Characters

John Upshaw - With a Plasma Sniper Rifle, laser pistol, and Skeleton Suit Armor (it has a grappling hook to reach those out of the way places)



Thomas Stone - Heavy Laser and Carapace Armor



And finally, Jase Cruz - Heavy Plasma and Titan Armor

[Davis, E.]

So, a few pictures from game play, so you can see the graphics. I will get better at photo documenting missions as we go on. 

So, this is the original starting place for Operation Glass Hymn in Nigeria. 


We proceed to move around both sides and through the building in front of us. Wilkas and Ward broke right, taking first contact of the mission. We killed/chased them up the street, finding the rest of their friends in the building behind this one. Stringer (replacing the wounded Furby for this op) took a position on the rooftop to provide Sniper support. He logged two kills. After a quick firefight (made quicker by a rocket from Avery and slower by our rookie), Ward finished the op by dropping the final alien with our ARC thrower.

Nice pic of Ward and the mission wrap up.
 

[Durant, M.]

That... is just nothing but badass. And YEAH! FOX IS THE BEST!

[Stringer, K.]

This is actually pretty cool. And you made me a sniper! *geek gasp* I could kiss you davis, no homo. Lol.

[Davis, E.]

Operation Cryptic Thunder

Soldiers: Wilkas, Davis, Furby, Stringer, Avery, and Ward

Briefing: (Yes, we're in the back of the bird)


So, this was a landed UFO. Usually carries more live aliens then a crashed one, and you can sometimes search for a while. Fortunately, we found this one right away. As well as aliens. Thankfully they grouped up tight allowing for this bit of awesomeness, courtesy of Avery.




Pretty intense firefight, with Avery and Ward being caught in the blast of an alien grenade. Thank R&D for that new body armor boys. With a far flanking Stringer and Furby in a high overwatch, the battle quickly turned our way. Here is a close up of Davis getting ready to do some damage. (He missed the shot too. Must be missing Stone in his ear.)



With the battle cleaned up, we fanned out, trying to find a "safe" entrance into the now beat up UFO. Thanks to rockets, exploding enemy robots, and grenades of several varieties, there was little left for cover around the craft. Wilkas and Avery found the best approach.



With the pieces in place, Wilkas charged in and flushed out the final alien. With no cover left, Furby had a clear shot to end the mission. Nice work team.

[Durant, M.]

Oorah!

[Stringer, K.]

Fucking-A! Combat report of kills and injuries?

[Davis, E.]

I'll start posting briefings, closings, and debriefs of all missions. That way you can see ranking up as well. Stringer got another level after my last op. Also, my next op is the make or break one for now. This is where my last attempt all fell apart. It will be well documented.

[Davis, E.]

Operation: Defiant Stallion


So, Terror Missions (civilian rescue) missions have the ability to go very bad VERY fast. They start out with a few small wins that make you go "I'm doing all right" and then BAM! the hammer of alien death smashes you. So, here's the starting set up (sans Davis, I moved him before I thought of taking the shot. Like I said, I'm still learning photojournalism.)


While I'm still trying to get out of the death bottleneck they start me in, we run across a Cyberdisk w/ Drones. This is the X-COM alien equivalent of a ghost. They are unmanned small tanks that can do a huge pile of damage, throw grenades, and do an area flash attack around them if it gets in the middle of a group. Drones are a nuisance alone, but they heal cyberdisks. Here's Furby lining up his shot on said Death Disk.


Getting out of there, we made our way into the motorpool of whatever base we were helping out. Tanks for cover, which isn't too bad. This is where the firefight started in earnest. Another Cyberdisk w/ support, and an increasing number of Crysalids. These aliens are melee only, but they plant eggs on their victims, which raises them as zombies who eventually hatch into new Crysalids. You can see why I said things can go bad really fast. So, this series of four pictures is the start of the turn I was pretty sure we would die. The series starts in the upper right hand side of my vision and works its ways to the lower left. You'll see lots of aliens, a few civilians (poor people) and the team. The counter at top is civilians. Green is rescued, red is dead.








Again, this is a grim place. Surrounded, with a Disk in the middle, and people already wounded. So, we start the shoot, move, communicate routine and manage to kill most everything of an immediate danger. Poor civilian lady in picture one was killed by the drone (thank goodness it wasn't one of the Crysalids) but all in all we managed. Here's a picture of Ward going toe to toe with a Crysalid. (Spoiler alert: He wins)


So, after that, we are still doing ok. It isn't perfect, but we are in a stable position. There is still the threat of Crysalid/Zombie overrun, but our immediate threats are gone and everyone is still alive. Two picture series to show the battlescape and another picture of Furby. (Sorry, snipers just lend themselves to awesome footage.)






So, one thing leads to another and we win the day with no losses. Avery gets the final kill and finishing picture.


And as requested Stringer, the debrief. (Note, Ward leads the kill count now.)

[Davis, E.]

Rest of June Overview.

Operation Hot Ring.



Stringer taking a shot. (Fan service)


Davis with the finish. And the AAR.




Note: Faust has joined the named characters list. I'll post her up in the bios soon.

Operation Burning Father



Missed the final kill shot, so here's the AAR.


And our council rating for the month.

[Stringer, K.]

Cool. Liking this more and more. Also, the nick name "nightmare" for stringer, I like! The zombie things sound scary as hell though!

[Davis, E.]

If you look at picture 1 in the series of 2, you can see one to the left of the screen. Ward shot him in the face twice and it was all good.

Yes, I think Stinger's got the coolest call sign.