One thing to note is that I did the start of that game on N9.6.5 patch rather than N9.7.7, which did add quite a bit of useless filler tech to the start (I updated and suddenly couldn't buy Chemicals in Year 1 Month 11, and I was like WTF) and mysteriously made it so that Bounty Hunts were not unlockable until captain rank 2 (you could get them straight away, and personally I dislike this change as they're good score makers early), and it made all radars longer ranged and into hyperwave decoders by default (just as I had built proper Hyperwave Decoders lol).
But at the same time, 9.7.7 felt like it also really eased up on the combat pressure I was feeling until I started seeing MERC terror missions.
I'd actually argue that 9.7.7 slowed general progress to the point that the Captain's Log's are now pretty hard objectives to get in the expected good timescales, and yes, there are quite a few bottlenecks. Guild Stapler for me was actually found only in the UAC underbase mission (where it's guaranteed); for me, getting Maid Outfits was very difficult (I had 1 whole brothel mission, where they're expected to be found, in like 8 months).
I'm also a prolific save scummer (lol)~ I do not accept a turn where I had too many injuries and/or 90% misses and start it again. In one case I had to reload a Humanist Manor turn 9 about 15 times, because this bloody one idiot would keep walking out of his tiny room and detonating his Panzerfaust at his feet, killing 5-6 catgirls each time (and himself)~ not a tactical problem as he could never see more than 1, it's just how they were unfortunately positioned. In the end, I just had to yolo my own RPG at his closet to kill him before he did it. Stuff like that.
Unfortunately, the game really does become unwinnable if you delay too much early on with injuries and skip too many battles recovering (as I mention in the FAQ). Or you accept a loss more than 1 unit later on, since you can't afford to drop your veterans like flies, the score impact is too high.
