Whelp, that was a disaster.
FMP Ironman
MISSION:
Snakeman Terror Ship Crash Recovery, Forest Terrain
CRAFT:
Skyranger-1
CREW:
6 Rookies, 4 Squaddies, 2 Sergeants, 2 Captains
LOADOUTS:
ROOKIE
1x Assault Rifle, 3x Rifle Alloy Clip, 1x Grenade, 1x Smoke Grenade, Coveralls
SQUADDIE
1x Assault Rifle, 2x Rifle Alloy Clip, 2x Grenade, 1x Smoke Grenade, 1x Pistol, 1x Pistol Alloy Clip, Armoured Vest
SERGEANT
1x Heavy Cannon, 2x HC-Alloy, 1x Grenade, 1x Smoke Grenade, 1x Incendiary Grenade, 1x SMG, 1x SMG Alloy Clip, Alloy Vest
CAPTAIN
1x Tactical Sniper Rifle, 3x TSR Alloy Clip, 1x Magnum, 2x Magnum Alloy Drum, Alloy Vest
These 14 soldiers were split into two teams, each consisting of three Rookies, two Squaddies and a Sergeant, with the Captains hanging back at the 'Ranger.
Turn 1, the foremost rook tossed a smoker to the base of the ramp.
Turn 2, the rookies deployed in a circular formation around the ramp, spotting nothing.
Alien Turn: Snakeman seen slithering in the foliage, no shots fired.
Turn 3, two rookies advance on where the snake is presumed to be hiding. One gets killed by reaction fire from a snake hiding in some nearby trees. His partner freezes and spins in place, not finding the shooter. Meanwhile, the other rookies have deployed.
One Squaddie primes his grenade and tosses it to the pinned rookie, who catches and throws it into the brush.
One snake is maimed and exposed.
Alien Turn: The rookie who grenaded the bushes is shot at but not hit. The snake in the trees is shot by a squaddie while mulling about.
Turn 4: Rooks and squaddies fan out from the 'Ranger, one group moving to help the pinned rookie and the other searching for the UFO. my snipers set up in the smoke cloud.
The snakey in the trees gets shot from behind. Killed.
Alien Turn: The grenaded snakeman bleeds to death. The sweep team spots a Chryssalid wandering on top of a hill.
Turn 5: OH GOD CHRYSSALID
The whole sweep team opens fire on the chryssie, hits it a few times, but fails to drop it. Snipers engage and hit but it remains standing.
The other group loses a rookie to a plasma caster reaction shot. The one remaining rookie throws a grenade to smoke out the shooter.
Alien Turn: The chryssalid paces for a while, then decides it's time to make some babies and strolls over to the sweep team, mercifully running out of TUs just as he's breathing in a rook's face.
The snake with the plasma caster survives the pineapple surprise and retorts with his own. One whole team is now gone.
Team 6: The remaining team runs like hell because Chryssalid, but you're not outrunning that guy without help.
The AI doesn't like fire. The last Sarge had been hanging back, saw the problem here, and came up with a solution only crazies would see: Disco inferno. He primed and tossed his incendiary at his buddies.
Alien Turn: The whole squad (save the snipers) smells like Jimmy Dean now, but Chryssies likes their meat raw and wrigglin', so he walks along the perimeter of the fire for his whole turn.
Turn 7: The BBQ'd troops move out of the fire to shoot the Chryssalid some more, and thankfully it dies.
Obviously, we're in no shape to keep fighting here. The next few turns are an uneventful bug-out. Nobody else died, but their stuff is probably in a Snakeman pawn shop now.
And the pyromaniacal sergeant got promoted.