Hey, everybody else has started a let's play and abandoned it. Lets Play X-Com!

[Pie Guy]

Soldier A: Hey, did you hear something?

Soldier B: Yeah, it's just my talking Medkit, good guy.

Soldier A:*Backs slowly away*

[Lord of Rapture]

You're cosplaying as Fate. Get back to being miserable.

[Kane]

I suggest we put Randall Munroe on the payroll, just in case the nuclear-powered dinosaurs go rogue.

Incidentally, am I on the list, or have I already been recruited and killed, but I missed it?

[Jimorian]

I suggest we put Randall Munroe on the payroll, just in case the nuclear-powered dinosaurs go rogue.

Incidentally, am I on the list, or have I already been recruited and killed, but I missed it?

You and I (and our clones) are part of the Fort Fri garrison at the moment.

[Cubey]

So, I hear dinosaurs? Sure, what do you want them to be? Robot Dinosaurs That Shoot Beams When They Roar, or just normal plain ol' biological dinosaurs? I'll make the staff research it right away, sure. *goes back to thinking about Samus Aran power armor*

Fri, help yourself to the Medi-Kit's stimulants. Or if you're feeling really depressed, painkillers. That should help ease the... well, pain, of being a ghost.

[chiasaur11]

So, I hear dinosaurs? Sure, what do you want them to be? Robot Dinosaurs That Shoot Beams When They Roar, or just normal plain ol' biological dinosaurs? I'll make the staff research it right away, sure. *goes back to thinking about Samus Aran power armor*

Fri, help yourself to the Medi-Kit's stimulants. Or if you're feeling really depressed, painkillers. That should help ease the... well, pain, of being a ghost.

The robot dinosaurs that shoot beams when they roar, of course.

Also, fantasizing about Samus is a perfectly productive use of company time. Just keep it to yourself if it gets weird.

[Cubey]

I'm on it!

Mmmmorphball.
You heard nothing!

[Alex Knight]

My one worry (well ok, aside from never getting a new beat-down stick) is that my psi-strength is going to be too low to allow on future missions....

[chiasaur11]

My one worry (well ok, aside from never getting a new beat-down stick) is that my psi-strength is going to be too low to allow on future missions....

Don't worry. When the decoder's up, you'll still be able to beat up Mutons, Snakemen, and Floaters if you aren't up to code.

[Cubey]

You mean, he'll be able to beat up Mutons. Everyone can beat a Floater up, it's like saying "you can defeat a kid without legs in a sprinting race". Funny, Floaters have no legs as well. Same for Snakemen - their Ufopaedia entry makes them sound dangerous and threatening, but they're only slightly stronger than a tiny little Sectoid weakling.


I left Chryssalids out on purpose.

[Neo]

lol, on the bright side chryssalid zombification would be one way to keep Copper quiet, unless you go for a Red vs Blue alien baby arc.

Fri shouldn't complain about medkits not being used too much, just be happy they aren't supositories.

[chiasaur11]

You mean, he'll be able to beat up Mutons. Everyone can beat a Floater up, it's like saying "you can defeat a kid without legs in a sprinting race". Funny, Floaters have no legs as well. Same for Snakemen - their Ufopaedia entry makes them sound dangerous and threatening, but they're only slightly stronger than a tiny little Sectoid weakling.


I left Chryssalids out on purpose.

Hey, somebody has to kill the floaters. Might as well be someone not better off hunting Etherals. Besides, in the latest mission (about a week from posting), Knight did something pretty badass. So he has that to look forward to.

[Alex Knight]

I left Chryssalids out on purpose.

If I ever manage to beat a Chryssalid up, I will consider myself a God among X-Com operatives, second only to Lopez and the Colonel.

[pendell]

If I don't get the opportunity to kill something soon, I shall be *very* put out.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Hey, I haven't even been *recruited*, yet.
I want to get my righteous slaughter* on.

* May or may not be as righteous as advertised

[hajo]

One of the things about X-Com isn't just the difficulty, it's that it's scary. It's downright, genuinely scary. ..
And Chryssalids at night, regardless of difficulty, are the scariest enemies in the game.

Also, watching / listening closely during the alien turn, trying to match the sounds of doors and footsteps with the part of the map you have already explored, and guessing where the aliens have been - all that made a big contribution to the fun of playing XCom

[chiasaur11]

Also, watching / listening closely during the alien turn, trying to match the sounds of doors and footsteps with the part of the map you have already explored, and guessing where the aliens have been - all that made a big contribution to the fun of playing XCom

Fun fact:

Apparently, Chryssalids scream when they see a victim. On base invasions, that's a big hint that could save a forward scout's bacon.

On terror missions, that's just a mental note to up the number of Chryssalids by one.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Colenl, Sir? When Can I commence the Righteous Slaughter of the Foul Xeno Scum, sir?

[chiasaur11]

Colenl, Sir? When Can I commence the Righteous Slaughter of the Foul Xeno Scum, sir?

You're one of the replacements at the main base.

You're a twitchy coward who couldn't hit a target if your life depended on it.

[Winterwind]

You're a twitchy coward who couldn't hit a target if your life depended on it.

Isn't this an accurate description of 98% of all X-Com soldiers?

Incidentally, inspired by this thread, I started to play Terror from the Deep again. This completely "research alien X with profession Y if you want technology Z"-dominated tech tree is driving me nuts!

[Thanatos 51-50]

You're one of the replacements at the main base.

You're a twitchy coward who couldn't hit a target if your life depended on it.

Twitchy meaning I have good reflexes, right?
Considering my pretty low-rolled stats, I hope I'm either A) Psionic, or B) Given a weapon with which I can saturate the atmosphere with lethal projectiles.

[Cubey]

Given a weapon with which I can saturate the atmosphere with lethal projectiles.

Hey, Blaster Launchers didn't even appear in-game yet. Give them some time!

[Thanatos 51-50]

Hey, Blaster Launchers didn't even appear in-game yet. Give them some time!

What? X-Com doesn't have access to man-portable machine guns?

[Winterwind]

What? X-Com doesn't have access to man-portable machine guns?

The closest thing to those that is available would be autocannons, and I believe we do have one of those on our team currently.
They tend to get outdated pretty soon though, their firepower just doesn't hold up in comparison to the weapon technologies available later on (and the armour ratings of the aliens walking around).

[Smight]

Fun fact:

Apparently, Chryssalids scream when they see a victim. On base invasions, that's a big hint that could save a forward scout's bacon.

On terror missions, that's just a mental note to up the number of Chryssalids by one.

yes, be afraid you shisnos, very afraid, bwuhahahaha,

[chiasaur11]

Hey, Blaster Launchers didn't even appear in-game yet. Give them some time!

The twitchy guy is the last person in the world you want to give Blaster bombs to.

Anyway, another day in X-COM. Every day in X-COM is like a day at the farm. Assuming especially mean cows.

After our pilot (who, on counting his kills and realizing he's an Ace, will not let us call him anything but "The Hammer of Hell". Germans.) got another quick total destruction of a UFO, the engineers managed to finish a production run of the basic armor. Now every officer but Copper could be sure of protection against one or so plasma rounds. Copper can stick with the standard non armor, if only because none of us want to see him naked.

Meanwhile, the psi research had been going well, other than the occasional awakenings of the alien leader and attempts to control the minds of everyone at the base. A quick right hook ended that problem the first couple of times, and eventually it stopped trying.

Chumbley was having luck with his communications work with the navigator and the grunt we captured. We obtained specs on missions and a basic description of the principles of hyper wave transmission. Getting those into a workable form would take weeks and cost millions, of course, but it was a start, and Chumbley now had someone to record his TV programs for him.



Progress continued at a breakneck pace. The Psi Amp prototype was finally built, for when the testing is done, and we now knew how to use Elerium as a large ship based power source. And apparently some other project, given Cubey's mutterings.


As time went by, we received an alert.

"Troops, it seems everyone really does go to Rick's. Terror mission. Casablanca. Look alive people!"

The bad one liner division of the research staff positively lit up.

As we landed (half mad from "As time goes By" for the 900th time), I handed Captain Knight something I'd managed to pick up from the lab.

It was a modified laser rifle with bayonet attachment. Knight's face lit up like a Christmas tree. Only one prototype was ever made as, quote, "Punching a Reaper in the face if you don't need to? Are you out of your mind?"

Well, no time for that. We'd landed.



Reapers and Floaters. Again.

Took most of the squad combining fire (my aim was off that day.) but it eventually went down.


Of course, there was more trouble than that. Floater was going for a civilian.
With a muttered "Here's looking at you, kid." Copper dropped it. Lopez followed up with a quick check on the inhabitants of the building. We found one guy alive, so it looks like we acted quick enough, for once.


With the south end secured, Lopez went north. Spotting a tango, I turned to BRC.

"Look! An oppressor of the proletariat!"

It worked.

"Die, parasites on the efforts of the workers!"
I know a good set-up line when I hear one.

" I don't mind a parasite. I object to a cut-rate one. "

Unfortunately, my spot on Casablanca quoting was interrupted by a plasma round to the chest. Trazoi grabbed his medkit.
"You still with us, Colonel?"
"Floaters wear red, We wear blue."
"Good enough."
"Funny though, I came to Casablanca for my health."
"Um... sir?"
"I came to Casablanca for the waters."
"We're in a desert, Colonel."
"I was misinformed."
"Right. You've said weirder things even when not hopped up on morphine."


Eldan, Copper, and BRC kept up the firing while I steadied my rifle. We managed to drop the last couple of Floaters, and I mentally noted to make sure to not give Copper any hints to upcoming plans. He was a decent shot when prepared, but his reflexes are a mite poor.

We'd secured Casablanca, but not as quickly as might be hoped. Seems the man Lopez spotted in the southwest house was, in fact, the only survivor. And, to make matters worse, I'd received a minor injury. Seems I was going to be in a hospital for a week. The doctors, of course, offered standard excuses.

"You're missing a lung", "Is that disgusting mess of tissue supposed to be his heart?", "Even considering immediate medical attention, it's a miracle you survived at all", "The medkit... talked? How much morphine were you taking at this time?"


Of course, there were redeeming features. A purple heart, and promotions all around. Trazoi's quick thinking got him bumped up to captain, BRC was now a Sergeant, Knight made Colonel (I think his subtle brandishing of his new bashing stick was what did it.), and joy of joys, I was now Commander of X-COM. Now the only authority I needed to report to was myself. I immediately chewed myself out for not having Copper killed and making it look like an accident.

[Thanatos 51-50]

The twitchy guy is the last person in the world you want to give Blaster bombs to.

But, we could call that soldier "Collateral Damage Man."

[chiasaur11]

But, we could call that soldier "Collateral Damage Man."

No.

Even if we wanted a pastiche of a member of section 8, Dogwelder would be a better pick than Friendly Fire.

Hmm.

Cubey? You got any ideas on dogwelding?

[Johnny Blade]

We'd secured Casablanca, but not as quickly as might be hoped. Seems the man Lopez spotted in the southwest house was, in fact, the only survivor. And, to make matters worse, I'd received a minor injury. Seems I was going to be in a hospital for a week. The doctors, of course, offered standard excuses.

Civilians are never a concern unless you need cover.

But, we could call that soldier "Collateral Damage Man."

Heh.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Even if we wanted a pastiche of a member of section 8, Dogwelder would be a better pick than Friendly Fire.

I actually have no clue what that means. I'm going to assume I inadvertandly referanced a comic book or anime I have never seen or read.