[LP]Hardmode Expansion - Glory or death! (Likely much of both)

[Lion66six]

I know it's a bit late, but I can join if more cannon fodder is needed. Just use my forum name.

Aye no worries. I have already recorded upto Episode 17 so far, so you won't be able to join until at least episode 18. Will enlist you then :-)

[Zyzyfer]

Kudos to you on that night mission (Ep12), & doing it without casualties. I personally would have flattened all the buildings with HEs (but I guess that is boring way), going door to door certainly makes for more suspense.
Speaking of human grenades over HEs (i use x2 dedicated grenadiers with +35 strength; reaction 50+), distance isn't really an issue  particularly after a few missions.
As my scouts gain strength I also start supplying them with HEs. The damage is well worth it for the extra strength it takes to throw over grenades.

I also use different squad setup to traditional sniper-scout setup, one major thing i do differently is I don't use tanks on missions (only leave some lying around for base defense), as 4 scouts are much more valuable (personal opinion here), over x1 tank particularity as they become universal super soldiers.

I am also very picky regarding rookies, firing/hiring happens very often within the first weeks in particular. I use x1 sniper and x1 heavy on any given team the rest are scouts and must have starting reaction +50 (even my Grenadiers must meet this prerequisite- as grenadiers get most kills their firing accuracy improves very fast and are usually the first to hit FA 100 and they do it very quickly at which point they become scouts & I rotate in new Grenadiers).
SO alot of  recruits (due to not meeting the +50 reaction stat get fired during the initial screening process).

Also it must be the mod you're playing but I am pretty sure vanilla xcom didn't stack radars; but I dunno maybe openxcom/the mod does (so I tend to use x1 of each small/large radar instead of building multiple large radars), once I get hyper=wave decoder I dismantle the large/small radars.

WOW long post...anyways looking forward to more episodes.  XDDD

[Lion66six]

Kudos to you on that night mission (Ep12), & doing it without casualties. I personally would have flattened all the buildings with HEs (but I guess that is boring way), going door to door certainly makes for more suspense.
Speaking of human grenades over HEs (i use x2 dedicated grenadiers with +35 strength; reaction 50+), distance isn't really an issue  particularly after a few missions.
As my scouts gain strength I also start supplying them with HEs. The damage is well worth it for the extra strength it takes to throw over grenades.

I also use different squad setup to traditional sniper-scout setup, one major thing i do differently is I don't use tanks on missions (only leave some lying around for base defense), as 4 scouts are much more valuable (personal opinion here), over x1 tank particularity as they become universal super soldiers.

I am also very picky regarding rookies, firing/hiring happens very often within the first weeks in particular. I use x1 sniper and x1 heavy on any given team the rest are scouts and must have starting reaction +50 (even my Grenadiers must meet this prerequisite- as grenadiers get most kills their firing accuracy improves very fast and are usually the first to hit FA 100 and they do it very quickly at which point they become scouts & I rotate in new Grenadiers).
SO alot of  recruits (due to not meeting the +50 reaction stat get fired during the initial screening process).

Also it must be the mod you're playing but I am pretty sure vanilla xcom didn't stack radars; but I dunno maybe openxcom/the mod does (so I tend to use x1 of each small/large radar instead of building multiple large radars), once I get hyper=wave decoder I dismantle the large/small radars.

WOW long post...anyways looking forward to more episodes.  XDDD

Thanks mate, glad you are enjoying the video series.

Interested in seeing more of your play style, would you consider doing a recording or two when you next play so I can see that in action? Not a full series, just a mission or two.

I'm thinking in OpenXcom the radars stack, hellrazor mentioned something previously about that. I didn't really have the money at the start to be picky about the soldiers since most of them seem to die easily anyway hahaha.

[hellrazor]

I'm thinking in OpenXcom the radars stack, hellrazor mentioned something previously about that. I didn't really have the money at the start to be picky about the soldiers since most of them seem to die easily anyway hahaha.

To be precise, you get more detection checks each 30 minutes. So they do stack, but not quite as normal people think.

[Zyzyfer]

Thanks mate, glad you are enjoying the video series.

Interested in seeing more of your play style, would you consider doing a recording or two when you next play so I can see that in action? Not a full series, just a mission or two.

I will try doing a mission (we will see), I am afraid it will take about a week to upload thanks to Australian upload speeds comparable to Burkina Faso.
The Australian Government should be ashamed of themselves!!!...& we call ourselves a "developed country", more like developing country.

ps. Hurry up already with your next video I am having withdrawal symptoms. XDDD

[Lion66six]

I will try doing a mission (we will see), I am afraid it will take about a week to upload thanks to Australian upload speeds comparable to Burkina Faso.
The Australian Government should be ashamed of themselves!!!...& we call ourselves a "developed country", more like developing country.

ps. Hurry up already with your next video I am having withdrawal symptoms. XDDD

Nice!

So yes the next video is up. Here is the link and its a good one!
[LP]Hardmode Expansion [EP13] - Easter Island Demolition Crew Arriving ..... https://youtu.be/lfIGzB7TvuU

[hellrazor]

Nice!

So yes the next video is up. Here is the link and its a good one!
[LP]Hardmode Expansion [EP13] - Easter Island Demolition Crew Arriving ..... https://youtu.be/lfIGzB7TvuU

That was nice terrormission, even thou getting 9 men killed was harsh.
You made some grave errors, which led to deaths.

Replace all those Reapers with Cyberdiscs - the Horrors of a pure Sectoid Terror Mission

[Lion66six]

That was nice terrormission, even thou getting 9 men killed was harsh.
You made some grave errors, which led to deaths.

Replace all those Reapers with Cyberdiscs - the Horrors of a pure Sectoid Terror Mission

Yep not looking forward to Cyberdiscs .....

For the mistakes made, i can't remember them clearly since that recording was 2 weeks back. Was there particular ones that you think I could have avoided for future reference

[hellrazor]

Yep not looking forward to Cyberdiscs .....

For the mistakes made, i can't remember them clearly since that recording was 2 weeks back. Was there particular ones that you think I could have avoided for future reference

Well not really, but you should check in general that you have smoke grenades available and think about how you use your soldiers a little bit better.
As a general notice if you set smoke around the skyranger entrance, using the gears as cover is in general a good idea. It packs your soldiers together tight, thats true.
But gives you the opportunity the fire at more targets on the deployment turn. Being covered in smoke then and having terminated all visible targets makes this method pretty safe in my experience.

I really recommend using the advanced option "Save Preprimed Grenades" for smoke grenades only.
You can then equip you scouts and other members of your team with preprimed smoke grenades on base in the inventory screen.
In case someone is in a tight spot, 4 TU (same as reserve for kneeling) are needed to drop the a primed smoke from shoulder slot to the ground.
I personally use my Snipers to throw grenades at my forwards troops, once all targets are eliminated.

[Lion66six]

I really recommend using the advanced option "Save Preprimed Grenades" for smoke grenades only.
You can then equip you scouts and other members of your team with preprimed smoke grenades on base in the inventory screen.

Thats awesome, I didn't know thats how it worked. I will be doing that :-)

[hellrazor]

Thats awesome, I didn't know thats how it worked. I will be doing that :-)

Also consider to put some Armor, at least on your scouts. The Alloy Vest is really good to begin with and cheap.
It does only have some restrictions, adding 2 weight and reducing stamina by 5 and increases survive chances somewhat.

Personal Armor was not changed and is the same as vanilla.
Power Suits grant you a big boost in weight you can carry (+10) and add stamina (+30), same for Flying Suits.
You need two Alien Engineers to unlock Powers Suits, see Research Tree.
There is also a lategame Versions called "Reinforced Power Suits", and "Reinforced Flying Suits".
They both have additional armor and grant +10 TU additionally to the weight reduction and stamina increase.
Normal Power/Flying Suits can be easily upgraded into reinforced versions.

Also you can neutralize the amount of engineers early on by letting them produce Motion scanners and build up a small production force.
Depending on your playstyle aiming for a dedicated production base could also be a option. Laser Cannon production helps greatly getting your finances in check.
You were actually right to scrap the Interceptors, even thou keeping at least one with a Alloy Cannon and some Avalanches is handy to shoot down scouts. The Airgame changes greatly once you get Retaliators and Laser Cannons, enabling you to also target and shoot down Terrorships, but you need to group up at least 4 and might still loose one.

Aim to get and protect some veterans at least a handfull you will need them 

EDIT: I am looking forward to your first Snakeman Terror Mission, even thou be ready for Chryssalids getting some Elerium Rockets might be a livesafer. Did you attempt the base attack?

EDIT2: I am looking forward to the next episode

[Lion66six]

Also consider to put some Armor, at least on your scouts. The Alloy Vest is really good to begin with and cheap.
It does only have some restrictions, adding 2 weight and reducing stamina by 5 and increases survive chances somewhat.

I have 2 of these now, they will come in handy I expect!

Personal Armor was not changed and is the same as vanilla.
Power Suits grant you a big boost in weight you can carry (+10) and add stamina (+30), same for Flying Suits.
You need two Alien Engineers to unlock Powers Suits, see Research Tree.
There is also a lategame Versions called "Reinforced Power Suits", and "Reinforced Flying Suits".
They both have additional armor and grant +10 TU additionally to the weight reduction and stamina increase.
Normal Power/Flying Suits can be easily upgraded into reinforced versions.

I look forward to seeing these, in my original play through I got to power armour but nothing more.

Also you can neutralize the amount of engineers early on by letting them produce Motion scanners and build up a small production force.
Depending on your playstyle aiming for a dedicated production base could also be a option. Laser Cannon production helps greatly getting your finances in check.

I have plans for the USA base to become exactly that, and as a second strike base.

You were actually right to scrap the Interceptors, even thou keeping at least one with a Alloy Cannon and some Avalanches is handy to shoot down scouts. The Airgame changes greatly once you get Retaliators and Laser Cannons, enabling you to also target and shoot down Terrorships, but you need to group up at least 4 and might still loose one.

I got that view when they got owned in my original play through. I got the idea of 2 skyrangers from Meridian's Hawaii challenge lets play. Seems to work well.

Aim to get and protect some veterans at least a handfull you will need them 

EDIT: I am looking forward to your first Snakeman Terror Mission, even thou be ready for Chryssalids getting some Elerium Rockets might be a livesafer. Did you attempt the base attack?

EDIT2: I am looking forward to the next episode

Started recording Episode 19 and maybe even 20 for the alien base attack, it should be a good one!

[hellrazor]

Bring some Autocannons if you go against the floater one.
Icendiary grenades are a convinient way to take out cyberdiscs (explosion).
Flashbangs might also work.

[Lion66six]

Bring some Autocannons if you go against the floater one.
Icendiary grenades are a convinient way to take out cyberdiscs (explosion).
Flashbangs might also work.

Its a crazy one, I can tell you that much. You will just have to wait and see!

[Lion66six]

This evenings feature is a triple helping! Something very significant happens in an upcoming episode, so releasing a few at a time this evening.

[LP]Hardmode Expansion [EP14] - Labship for a lobotomy? - https://youtu.be/fvaDzT-LADY
[LP]Hardmode Expansion [EP15] - How many days in Feb again? - https://youtu.be/qmNtLjbSza0
[LP]Hardmode Expansion [EP16] - Is all the drama done, nope! - https://youtu.be/V8q04D0QHpY