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

[Arthanor]

So i've been an idiot and been going for the wrong base. Damn.

Or a dashingly brave officer with little regard for his men? Sounds rather British to me

Also I wholeheartedly agree with:

No .. no ... not an idiot.

An entertaining LetsPlay commander who just needs to sack his intelligence officer

Hope you will continue the LP.

Especially the last part! You need to continue!

and if you do ... i hereby want to enlist as the new battlefield intelligence rookie

But unfortunately I just stepped up for this role There's plenty of other openings though! And I'm sure the next base assault will create a few more! (Might evendors be one to replace me.. )

So, Lion66Six, have at it man! Don't let them aliens get the last word!

[Kjotleik]

With that in mind, i would like to set a challenge.
If anyone can beat that base using the men available from this saved game, then I will donate £20 to the openxcom fund.

Rules:
1) It has to be the next mission, no playing for another month and then going for it with better men.
2) It has to be recorded and uploaded to youtube. No breaks or splits etc during the mission. No save scrumming etc.
3) Hellrazor can't do it, since he is the beast at this mod. Or if he does, thats cool but won't trigger the donation.

Let me know if anyone accepts this challenge!

I must admit I haven't had time to watch all the latest episodes of this playthrough (shame on me, I know). But I find it interesting that you made this a challenge. I'll accept (but don't expect me to actually win it...). If I can get my recording-software to function properly, I'll even try to record the attempt. If I do, I'll upload it to my currently dead youtube-channel (it's been neglected far too long, but at least nobody misses it).

Expecting a heavy loss, but I'll try to do my best to win it. I need to familiarize myself with the Hardmode Expansion first, though. I've just now downloaded and installed it. I re-named and opened your savegame (just to check if it worked at all). It did. I mean; it does. I went to Alien Base-2 (the one in Oceania) and played a couple of turns (just to see what it was like). I never got myself past the rooms below the elevators... Next time I go for Smoke and Explosives!

This week I'll start a new game on the mod to get a feel for how it plays. Then I'll return to your savegame (probably next Saturday/Sunday) and go on the mission. I'll upload my attempt during next week (when I can get myself around to do it). I'll make a new reply here to tell you when it's done.

I'll wait for the ship to get fully re-fueled, and then I'll take the mission straight away. I'll go watch your episode today (to see what you did when you tried).



Sincerely
Kjotleik

[hellrazor]

In general, rifles are a good skirmishing weapon, with decent close up damage but also the ability to reach out and hurt something further. In bases though, the distance over which you might need to reach something is severely limited so shotguns are generally better. You could use the soldiers who are usually snipers with rifles, so their retain their "sniper" role, but indoors sniper with more mobility and close range power with the autoshot.

I would usually go dual, giving the guys Shotguns+Rifles. But since the team is not that experienced the roles need to be splitted.

Some HE is always good to have, it's kind of a FU card to play on the AI for many things. Cyberdisc gonna kill you, why not take him with you instead and kamikaze yourself with a high explosive. If you didn't use instant grenades, you could also throw it and retreat immediately around the corner, allowing your soldier to survive because the wall shields him from the explosion. You do need something to take care of cyberdiscs and it looks like rockets are not particularly good at it, on top of being rather difficult to move.

The Elerium Rocket (140 HE Damage) is basically a guaranteed 1 hit kill on normal Cyberdiscs and in my eyes a little more flexible then a HE, especially in the Range department. If you need to kamikaze, you already play the game wrong.
A Battlefield is a equilibrium, which you need to distort in a way a tsunami unfolds washing away your enemies, without you lifting your fingers.

One thing I'm wondering though, having pretty much caught up on the LP, is why are you trying to assault Alien Base 2, which has floaters, reapers and cyberdiscs, when you could assault Alien Base 1 which only has floaters and reapers? That would get rid of the worst enemy, allow you to grab the tech and progress, then you could eventually go back in Alien Base 2 with more tech to kick their asses. Or did I misunderstand about the first base?

I told him like a few times go for the initial base, because it is easier, but he insisted to slam his head against cyberdiscs in close quarter. Funny to watch, I am seriously doubting that at the current state he will be able to turn the game in general around. But we will see.

[hellrazor]

So, Lion66Six, have at it man! Don't let them aliens get the last word!

The last word the aliens will speak to him is the green plasma bolt cloud from the Mutons storming his command center and blasting him to shreds with a Plasma Shotgun.
They will hunt him, literally.

[Arthanor]

I would usually go dual, giving the guys Shotguns+Rifles. But since the team is not that experienced the roles need to be splitted.

Yeah, that works, with the XAE I do something similar, but shotgun + pistol. A 25 range aim shot with pistols is usually far enough and having it in the quickslot/belt makes it a faster draw than from a backpack. But you buffed rifle damage so it might be worth it. It's good to have versatility, if your soldiers are strong enough.

The Elerium Rocket (140 HE Damage) is basically a guaranteed 1 hit kill on normal Cyberdiscs and in my eyes a little more flexible then a HE, especially in the Range department. If you need to kamikaze, you already play the game wrong.
A Battlefield is a equilibrium, which you need to distort in a way a tsunami unfolds washing away your enemies, without you lifting your fingers.

Didn't know about the elerium rockets, all I've seen in the LP so far are the large ones. If they are reliable, then yeah, superior to HE for sure. As for the poetry, it sounds nice, and indeed usually if you can start gathering momentum then things keep on going better, but XCom, and it seems especially true in this mod, has a way to suddenly throw you some curveball that takes that momentum away.

I told him like a few times go for the initial base, because it is easier, but he insisted to slam his head against cyberdiscs in close quarter. Funny to watch, I am seriously doubting that at the current state he will be able to turn the game in general around. But we will see.

Well, got some further prodding and now we'll see a change in strategy. I'm very much looking forward to more!

[Zyzyfer]

The Elerium Rocket (140 HE Damage)...

Nice
I already abuse the vanilla launcher in the current mod I am playing, only if I had this XDDDD.

[Lion66six]

Thanks all,

Some very interesting comments made on this thread. Glad to see a few people have taken up the challenge. I look forward to seeing some youtube videos showing how well it went.

In terms of moving forward with the lets play, I have been doing some off camera stuff including DIY around the house and some wedding preparation stuff so not been actively playing. I do intend on playing some more base attack missions off camera to see if I can get some better skills at it, and then intend on having another attack at the base. This time I will be attacking base #1 instead and likely using the team from the USA. However they aren't very experienced, so will have to see how that pans out. It might be a few weeks before that happens.

In the meantime thanks for the extra comments, nice to hear others have enjoyed the series so far. Watch this space for more!

[Kjotleik]

Technical issues with editing, I'm afraid.

I did play the mission (and recorded it), but whenever I try to export the thing from my editing software (the free version of Lightworks) I only get an "Format Unsupported" error message.

I know I've exported from the program before, but now something apparantly has changed.
This means I won't be able to make any videos at all. Just uploading the raw footage without fixing the sound is not an option.

Will try to figure out what is wrong. But no promises.

Oh, and I lost the mission   
It went reasonably well until around turn 10. I think the aliens can spot you at that point in Hardmode Expansion. That was a bit too much for the squad to handle, as it turned out.


Sincerely
Kjotleik

[Lion66six]

Technical issues with editing, I'm afraid.

I did play the mission (and recorded it), but whenever I try to export the thing from my editing software (the free version of Lightworks) I only get an "Format Unsupported" error message.

I know I've exported from the program before, but now something apparantly has changed.
This means I won't be able to make any videos at all. Just uploading the raw footage without fixing the sound is not an option.

Will try to figure out what is wrong. But no promises.

Oh, and I lost the mission   
It went reasonably well until around turn 10. I think the aliens can spot you at that point in Hardmode Expansion. That was a bit too much for the squad to handle, as it turned out.


Sincerely
Kjotleik

No worries, thanks for the info. Just released the next episode, might be of interest :-)

[Lion66six]

Next episode is out folks, a bit earlier than expected. Link below!

[LP]Hardmode Expansion [EP29] - Team Two Goes in, what comes out? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvLMTAv0oPA

[hellrazor]

Next episode is out folks, a bit earlier than expected. Link below!

[LP]Hardmode Expansion [EP29] - Team Two Goes in, what comes out? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvLMTAv0oPA

Congratulations! A well deserved success, kinda. I hope you will manage the upcoming onslaught.
Some Field Medikits could really have helped, to reduce the wounded.

I must say that was a very nice tactic, to at last kill all the aliens in the base.
The loot will give you some nice and needed financial boost.
Just remember to keep at least 1 of each item for research.

The second alien base you have will generate you some incoming missions in the future, so having a team in that region can give some great financial benefits. Producing Laser Cannons is also a option to get some more money.

This will not be your last visit to a alien base in this game. Sometimes you just have to take them out.
I am just testing the turned map sets i made for them, so there will be a lot of more different map modules to fight in.
Hadn't had time to fix the so far found errors on them.

[Kjotleik]

No worries, thanks for the info. Just released the next episode, might be of interest :-)

Yes, that episode was interesting. A victory at an Alien Base is always welcome.

I look forward to your next adventure in Hardmode!
Go get those aliens! Save the Earth!


PS!
I did feel a bit embarrassed by my editing failure, though. So I spent the whole night up fixing the problem.
In the end I had to download another editor. This time I used the free version of DaVinci Resolve.

Since I have had no previous experience with this program, I had some difficulties in making the video the way I wanted it.
But I think I got it almost ok-ish in the end.

If anyone is interested in an hour long attempt, where I make a fool of myself by horrible tactics and bad command decisions... here is the video:

Because of the fact it is almost a year since I last tried to record anything, I had to re-familiarize myself with OBS Studio. I had a quarter of my brain occupied by technical issues, a half with trying to do commentary, and just a quarter left for gameplay decision-making. As we all know, men are not too capable of multi-tasking. I had several facepalm-moments in there, that I discovered when I watched the rendered video after making it...

But I had a blast making it, so I just uploaded it to YouTube anyways. If you watch it, I recommend jumping to about nine minutes in (prior to that there is just small-talk and equipping the squad).


EDIT: Reason: Removed info about mission-result to keep the suspense up until the end (thanks for the tip, Lion)

[Lion66six]

Yes, that episode was interesting. A victory at an Alien Base is always welcome.

I look forward to your next adventure in Hardmode!
Go get those aliens! Save the Earth!


PS!
I did feel a bit embarrassed by my editing failure, though. So I spent the whole night up fixing the problem.
In the end I had to download another editor. This time I used the free version of DaVinci Resolve.

Since I have had no previous experience with this program, I had some difficulties in making the video the way I wanted it.
But I think I got it almost ok-ish in the end.

If anyone is interested in an hour long battle, where I make a fool of myself by horrible tactics and bad command decisions... here is the video:

Because of the fact it is almost a year since I last tried to record anything, I had to re-familiarize myself with OBS Studio. I had a quarter of my brain occupied by technical issues, a half with trying to do commentary, and just a quarter left for gameplay decision-making. As we all know, men are not too capable of multi-tasking. So it went the way it had to go. I had several facepalm-moments in there, that I discovered when I watched the rendered video after making it...

But I had a blast making it, so I just uploaded it to YouTube anyways. If you watch it, I recommend jumping to about nine minutes in (prior to that there is just small-talk and equipping the squad).

Thanks, as mentioned on your youtube video:

A very interesting attempt, entertaining to see and your commentary is quite fun to listen to. There was a few moments when you sounded a bit like father christmas with your hohoho! Glad you enjoyed recording it. Its quite a new experience to both play a video game and comment it on it at the same time. Perhaps in the future you will do a full lets play etc.

Look forward to some other entries for the above mentioned challenge. I'm happy to leave the challenge up for a few more months to see what happens :-)

[Kjotleik]

I would suggest that you edit your post ...

Thanks for the tip.
Post edited to remove info about mission-result.

[hellrazor]

Thanks for the tip.
Post edited to remove info about mission-result.

I so far didn't had the time to download and watch the your video. I hope that Lion66six will be able to finish the game.
I had a spare hour today so i made a small testsetup trying to win the Cydonia Mission. Oh Boy Oh Boy...Need to change CheatTurn to more reasonable value, since 0 is basically total death...