Let's play Incubation - Battle Isle Phase 4 (Completed)

[spekkio]

Turn 1

Starting situation is as follows:

We have:

2 Gore'Ther West:

3 Cy'Coos + some other aliens + 3 Equipment Crates North:

Plus some nasties on the moving platform in NE corner:

2 Cy'Coos East:

And another platform with nasties South:

Our goal is the eastern exit:

Let's have a closer look at all four moving platforms in this mission.

The platform occupied by the team can only move N (it's probably controlled by the switch S)

The southern platform can go W or N, but I bet my ass it will go N, here:

Northern and eastern platforms will probably go here:

Check out overview map if you don't know what I'm talking about:

I think we should split up (5 Cy'Coos god dammit!)

One team should stay in the center of the map, opening those 2 Equipment Crates and trying to reach the eastern door.

Another team should ride the platform N and try to open those 3 Equipment Crates and kill some of those Cy'Coo.
They're on tall platforms, but AFAIR it can be done.

That's how we're gonna play, but I think it's time for some C&Cs first.


How should I execute this mission:

A) Fast: We move East as fast as possible, killing only those Scay'Ger, that will block our path. We ignore ECs that are too far away or not worth the risk. Advantage: faster and maybe safer.

B) Slow: We move slowly, killing all possible Scay'Ger and opening all Equipment Crates. Advantage: more experience & EPs.

So, how is it gonna be, team?

 

[Derper]

Do it slowly, you can do it!

 

[lightbane]

*slaps dekkio* It isn't obvious, soldier? Every. xenos. scum. MUST. DIE!!! So take your time and your men and throw them to their deaths as many times as necessary, no mercy for the enemies of Mankind (specially if there's profit involved)!!!

 

[Bluebottle]

Play it be ear.

Start off slow, but if things start to go tits-up, get out of there as fast as possible.

 

[spekkio]

Updated 1st post with links to particular missions.

Should I also copy all Weapons/Equipment descriptions into 1st post for easier reading/choosing?

 

[Krraloth]

You know where I stand Commander.

Slaughter.

 

[Pussycat669]

I would be for a split up. Bratt over the bridge, Reich + 1 or 2 bayonet(s) to the switch, if you feel lucky let the rest pause for a round then flip the switch. Reich&Company should be able to handle the guys from the south and I can fry whatever we find on the norther platform, then kill the enemy artillery. The rest should be manageable from there on.

So yeah, the aggressive approach.

 

[Ashery]

If I recall correctly, of the equipment crates behind the Cy'Coos, the furthest one has a skill bonus in it. I *think* it's +1 Battle Fitness, but could be wrong.

That's one of my main complaints with this game, actually, that you can't assign the implants to specific soldiers. Frustrating as hell when you have a maxed LW soldier open a crate and get a +1 LW and HW implant. Would be nice if you could assign each implant right after the mission. Hell, at least being able to decline the implant upon first opening the crate and moving a soldier that actually needs it over to it.

 

[spekkio]

Phew, fortunately for me you were too late with your PROTIPS, guys.

With all the votes for slow approach I didn't even wait for your decision, Pussycat669.

I've just finished this mission, and the update will have to wait till tomorrow (73 screenshots to upload).

But fear not, dear soldiers, I'm gonna spoil you a little:

 

[AlaCarcuss]

I've had this game (+expansions) sitting on my "I'll get to them one day" drive for years. Following this LP has finally led me to install it.

Just about to start the mission spekkio's up to now. What a little gem this is, enjoying it immensley.

Hope I can finnish it before my ME2 torrentz finnishes (14GB!!) :wink:

 

[drexciya]

That was quite a performance with the 5 Cy'Coo. I recall I had one soldier sporting a Sniper Rifle by then. That really makes a big difference for long-range kills.

 

[spekkio]

*slaps dekkio*

Play it be ear.

Gee soldiers - you're so scared that you can't even type properly, and you want me to play this mission slowly?

I would be for a split up. Bratt over the bridge, Reich + 1 or 2 bayonet(s) to the switch[...]
Reich&Company should be able to handle the guys from the south and I can fry whatever we find on the norther platform, then kill the enemy artillery.

The funny thing is, I did more or less everything you suggested here during my play.
See the results below

spoilarz, as always

That's one of my main complaints with this game, actually, that you can't assign the implants to specific soldiers.

Yup, the only way to avoid this is to load previous save and open the crate with different soldier - of course I'm not gonna do this in my LP

Just about to start the mission spekkio's up to now.

Good luck, comrade.


Anyway...

Turn 1

Bratt moves E, lightbane S + DM, Reich SW, Pussycat669 S, uses the button

Platform with Krraloth & Bluebottle moves N

Southern platform moves N

NE platform moves S, eastern platform moves W.

Current situation:

Krraloth moves S + DM, Bluebottle E + DM

All units changed their positions. Let us pray.

Enemy turn: All Cy'Coo miss their shots.

• 1st R'T hits Pussycat669 for 0 damage
• lightbane kills him, he also kills 2nd & 3rd R'T, WRH. Oops, I forgot about his shitty gun.
• 4th R'T assrapes Pussycat669 for 7 HPs total

• Krraloth kills four R'Ts, WRH
• Bluebottle kills 5th R'T, levels up

Turn 2

That went ALMOST perfect.
Pussycat669 is now only a Pussy.

Here you can see that without a good armor, even a single R'T can be a threat to our soldier.
In previous missions we would simply use Rest with Pussy, but here we have 5 C'Cs that gonna rape him for sure if he stays in one place.

The only important issue till the end of this mission is changing unit positions in EVERY turn.
Second issue: those guys, especially this G'T.

Pussy moves E.
Reich goes S and kills Pussy's rapist with 2nd shot. Not bad for a civilian.

Both of them should be safe for now. Bratt & lightbane will have to deal with those 5 R'Ts & 1 G'T.
I'm not gonna bring Krraloth & Bluebottle back, those two G'Ts to the west would surely rape our squad hard.
Northern team should concentrate on killing C'Cs and opening the crates. And staying alive.

Bratt moves E + DM, lightbane E.

Krraloth moves E, opens 1st EC

Bluebottle moves E + DM, let's find out if we can shoot those C'Cs from here.

Enemy turn:

• All 5 C'Cs miss.
• Bratt hits one of them for 3 HPs, misses 2nd :shock:
• Bratt kills 1st R'T, levels up, kills 2nd, WRH
• Fortunately for Bratt, other R'Ts are not close enough to rape him
• Bluebottle didn't react to the C'Cs, it seems we can do jack shit to them from this northern platform.

Turn 3

Our main point of concern should be this G'T:

If we can kill him, we should win this mission.

Bratt is in shitty situation, with G'T almost cutting him off from the rest of the team. We should move him S ASAP.

Pussy moves S, Reich E, shoots this R'T twice, but misses

lightbane kills this R'T, moves E, kills 2nd

Bratt moves E, kills 3rd R'T

Krraloth & Bluebottle move E

Enemy turn: No casualties.

Turn 4

It's Bratt & lightbane vs. this G'T now.

If we move Bratt to the south, he should survive (it should take this G'T 2 APs to move WS diagonally, right? RIGHT???)
Let's try this now.
lightbane, Pussy & Reich move E

Krraloth moves E, Bluebottle SE

Enemy turn: All C'Cs miss, 4 out of 5 tried to kill Pussy

Turn 5

Bratt is still breathing

Bratt moves SE, lightbane W

Reich & Pussy E

Krraloth moves E, opens 2nd EC

Lucky mofo!
Bluebottle opens 3rd EC

moves NE

I think both of them can be used to shoot those 2 C'Cs East.

Turn 6

lightbane kills G'T

levels up, moves E

Reich moves NE, Pussy W

The plan for now is as follows:

• do not get ourselves killed
• open remaining ECs
• kill all C'Cs (if we don't run OOA!)
• heal Pussy
• use him to kill remaining G'Ts

Bratt moves N, opens 4th EC

Krraloth moves E + DM, two C'Cs in range.

Bluebottle moves E

Enemy turn:

• All C'Cs miss
• Krraloth kills 1st C'C, the one in SE corner :shock: , levels up

• hits 2nd, the closer one.

That was some damn fine shooting, soldier!

Turn 7

We can do it, soldiers.

Let's start with the northern guys this time.

Bluebottle moves E + DM, Krraloth S + DM.

Bratt moves N + DM, lightbane NE, opens 5th EC

Reich & Pussy move E

Enemy turn:

• All four C'C miss
• Bratt kills 1st & 2nd, misses 3rd
• Bluebottle kills 4th

Turn 8

lightbane goes N + DM, Bratt N + DM, Reich E, Pussy N

Krraloth & Bluebottle move W - it's time for those 2 G'Ts

Enemy turn: Bratt misses remaining C'C, lightbane doesn't shoot - probably out of range.

Turn 9

lightbane N + DM, Bratt W + DM, Reich E, Pussy N

Krraloth & Bluebottle W

Enemy turn: Bratt hits last C'C but no kill , runs OOA. lightbane still OOR.

Turn 10

Since there are no ammo crates in this mission, It's time to move Bratt and Reich out of the battle, east.

Bratt moves E. lightbane moves here:

C'C is now in his shooting range, but let's go E for now.
Reich goes E, Pussy W, other 2 guys W.

Turn 11

Bratt goes E, Reich NE, lightbane W + DM, Pussy & other guys W

Enemy turn: lightbane misses

Turn 12

Bratt & Reich E, lightbane E + DM, other guys W

Enemy turn: lightbane misses

Turn 13

Let's try lightbane's last shot. Other guys changes positions just in case, but C'C tried to kill Pussy every time in the past.

Enemy turn: lightbane misses his last shot, runs OOA.

Turn 14

Alright, people. Too bad lightabne did not kill this C'C due to his shitty weapon (and him being a failure as a soldier), but we still can kill all those fuckers.
The plan is to bring back Krraloth & Bluebottle, kill C'C, heal Pussy and kill both G'Ts
lightbane will operate the switch. Let's move Bratt & Reich from the platform - we don't want to end this mission yet.

In turns 15-19:

• lightbane advances SW
• other guys move back and forth just in case
• lightbane heals Pussy twice
• Krraloth & Bluebottle position themselves on the platform & use Rest

Turn 20

Pussy moves N

lightbane NW, uses the switch. To my surprise, only the platform with Krraloth & Bluebottle goes back

Bluebottle moves E + DM, Krraloth uses DM (he's so lucky, that there is no chance of him being hit by C'C)

Enemy turn: Bluebottle kills this motherfuckin' last Cy'Coo for good.

Turn 21

Now for those 2 G'Ts.

Pussy uses Rest at last.

Other guys go E, lightbane heals Pussy some more.

Turn 22

Pussy is now Pussy'motherfuckin'cat669 again.
lightbane heals him twice, moves E.

There is probably no chance for Pussycat669 to kill those G'T up front (they will be hit for 0 damage + immobilized, checked this later just to be sure).
Let's move SW instead. Krraloth & Bluebottle use Rest.

Turn 23

Let's not take any chances here.
Pussycat669 use Rest, Krraloth goes E, other guys use Rest.

Turn 24

Fuck! In that moment I was certain that it would be the end for Pussycat669. G'T blocked his view so he was unable to shoot this other G'T, clearing the way for Krraloth.
Luckily for him Krraloth delivers for 100th time, killing 1st R'T from narrow angle.

Who's the greatest soldier EVAR (and why?), Krraloth or this gentleman:

DISCUSS!!!

Another close call, if Pussycat669 will not kill this G'T, Krraloth probably dies.

But Krraolth proves that he's the luckiest mutha of our team once more:

Bratt & Reich board the platform

lightbane uses the switch

Nearest platform goes N, nothing more happens.
Maybe we need other units on this platform as well?

Turn 31

All units board the platform, mission ends.

Kills in this mission: Krraloth 6, lightbane 6, Bratt 5, Bluebottle 4, Pussycat669 1, Reich 1


Stay tuned for the greatest shopping known to mankind and fresh dose of C&Cs!


Erratum:

Kills in this mission & info on level-ups (Krraloth 1, Bluebottle 1, not 2-0 as stated before)

 

[lightbane]

(and him being a failure as a soldier)

Hey! Don't blame me! Blame the retarded techpriest that manufactured the weapon (and even with a crappy pistol I managed to be the 2nd one with more kills in this mission), I really need something better ASAP.

PS: Some images don't show up.

 

[Krraloth]

Don't be too hard on yourself soldier, we rock anyway.

Commander, that was some fine ordering.

 

[spekkio]

Main Map at last!

Let's check out all new places.

There is a new cutscene:

General Urelis thanks Corporal Bratt for our team's great performance in the field and promotes him to Sergeant.

Next we have a meeting with Cpt. Rutherford, who gives us our new orders.

Because dr Reich's claims that finding a cure for Scay'Ger infection is impossible, Scay-Hallwa is gonna be evacuated.
For now we have to retake the fort, situated between the factory and power station.


We can finally go shopping:

Since we have one commendation from mission 6 and two from mission 7, we can now commend three soldiers.

I've decided that the commendations will be distributed as follows:

• Bratt for his exceptional leadership so far
• Krraloth for his overall greatness
• lightbane for his medical skills, shown in previous missions

Updated Unit Menu:

New equipment descriptions (can be found in 1st post of this LP as well):

Heavy Machine Gun

Heavy fire power, good choice against multiple targets. It takes 2 action points to use. Best if there is a group of enemies to target and take care of.

Modes: 1
DM: No
Range: 1-20
Power: 5
Accuracy: 5%
AP: 2
Bayonet: No
Ammo: 15
EP: 50
Requirements: 1 in BF, 1 in LW, 2 in HW.

Heavy Stimulant

Plus two action points per round in one round per mission (after use) + maximizes the physical condition of the unit (whatever that means)

EP: 50
Requirements: 1 in BF, 2 in ME

Target System

Doubles accuracy of any weapon. Useful, except for weapons with 100% accuracy.

EP: 60
Requirements: 5 in TE

Banner

All units in 7x7 area surrounding the unit holding the banner get +1 APs & their DM works in all directions.
Be good soldiers, and maybe someday I'm gonna buy one for Bratt

EP: 100
Requirements: 1 in BF, 5 in LE

Attack Armor

+5 front armor, +0 back armor. Risky.

EP: 30
Requirements: 3 in BF

Shopping order will be based on cumulative kills in missions 5-7:

1. Krraloth: 8+9+6=23
2. Bratt: 0+9+5=14 (but I'm your Sergeant soldiers, so my personal equipment takes priority as always)
3. Bluebottle: 2+6+4=12
4. lightbane: 0+4+6=10
5. Pussycat669: 4+0+1=5

I've decided to buy Ammo Pack for Bratt (-2 SPs, -70 EPs):

450 EP's left for you, soldiers.

Unit info & shopping possibilities:

Instruction:

• check out your current skills & SPs available (1st screen),
• consult equipment descriptions above and/or in updated 1st post of this LP,
• make your choice, try to not make a fool of yourself

Krraloth:

Bluebottle:

lightbane:

Pussycat669:

You probably haven't noticed this, but we can also recruit new units:

Recruiting one new unit costs us 60 EPs. More on this later.


Our team can take one of the two missions:

Mission 8a - Lead the 2nd Attack Path

We can use 6 soldiers here.

or

Mission 8b - Advance to the Fort

We can use 5 soldiers here.

Alright, team! You have to decide on three things:

• equipment that you are going to buy
• recruiting one new soldier (-60 EPs): y/n
• which mission should we take: 8a or 8b

So, how is it gonna be?
Sergeant Bratt out (for now)!

Bonus image: last killed Gore'Ther in all his HD glory

 

[Pussycat669]

Seeing my arse exposed to all those Ray'Thers I thought I was a goner for sure. That armour is worth every penny.

I'm not sure if there isn't a wee bit too much focus on light weapons though. Heavy weapons are generally preferable late game since they take longer to overheat (laser excluded), have better damage output (especially the mine thrower) and you can carry a truckload of ammo. The sniper rifle is not too shabby but I felt that the only time accuracy really counts are the levels in the power station and two others, the rest mostly resolves around close to mid-range encounters where the mini gun will outperform pretty much anything else in the arsenal except for the double-barrelled machine gun since it doesn't overheat so quickly in defence mode. A real lifesaver when you play the mission pack.

Edit: Cool new stuff! As my commander is obviously plotting to kill me off in the most gruesome fashion I'll take the standard armour and 8b for more creeps to burn. And don't pretend that you have to be greedy with your EPs, buy us more cannon fodder against those alien hordes.

 

[lightbane]

I would like to have more dakka (an Assault Rifle specifically), and I vote for 8a (plus I vote for another soldier, the more new recruits we have, more meathshields for me... I mean for the team).

 

[Krraloth]

I'm going to grab the ammo pack...and i'm not too sure about the heavy machine gun. The loss of DM it's tricky.
I'd say I save those cool points for a servo system when I can afford it.
(though the screen is half cut so I don't know if I can actually grab it right now).

I'd say 8a (for the sixth man) and of course grab another recruit.

 

[Ashery]

No reason to waste 60EP on a soldier that you can't equip properly :p

The final LW actually avoids overheating quite well and makes for a good weapon to use defensively. It lacks the bayonet of the previous assault rifles, however, and doesn't have the range and accuracy of the sniper rifle. Also has six firepower, so it definitely packs the most punch of all the LWs.

Last recommendation for this bit is to grab the ammo box for the flamer and stick with that until you can get the rapid fire machine gun.

Actually, that's a lie, the last one is to save the damn commendations for when you *need* to bump up a skill in order to grab something specific ;p

 

[spekkio]

Some images don't show up

the screen is half cut

Do other people also have this? All images show up fine for me (tested on FF & IE)?

I'm going to grab the ammo pack...and i'm not too sure about the heavy machine gun. The loss of DM it's tricky. I'd say I save those cool points for a servo system when I can afford it.

Ammo pack + Servo system bought, you can still buy sth else due to your awesome skills:

350 EPs left

The final LW actually avoids overheating quite well and makes for a good weapon to use defensively. It lacks the bayonet of the previous assault rifles, however, and doesn't have the range and accuracy of the sniper rifle. Also has six firepower, so it definitely packs the most punch of all the LWs.

My favorite weapon, actually.

save the damn commendations for when you *need* to bump up a skill in order to grab something specific

But that would be totally against the spirit of this LP :wink:

*edit:
I've noticed that I can also buy sth more with Bratt
One Sniper Rifle & Standard Armor bought.

320 EP's left

 

[Bluebottle]

Sniper + Light Armour.
Y
8a

 

[spekkio]

Shopping:

Krraloth:

• bought 1 Ammo Pack, 1 Servo System
• can buy: check the screenshots above

Bluebottle:

• bought 1 Sniper Rifle, 1 Light Armor
• can buy: light stimulant (30 EP)

lightbane:

• bought 1 SAR
• can buy: light stimulant (30 EP), heavy stimulant (50 EP)

Pussycat669

• bought 1 Standard Armor
• can buy: heavy machine gun (10 EP)

Answers concerning next mission: 3/4 voted for 8a

Answers concerning 1 new soldier (I'm not gonna recruit more, because we couldn't use them now): 4/4 voted Y

Meet PrzeSzkoda:

He's a total maggot ATM, can't buy shit because of his low skills. We'll have to level him up a little.

Current unit menu:

210 EPs left, place your additional orders, gentlemen.

 

[Bluebottle]

Are the pills worth it? If so I'll take some of them.

Also, how long till we'll need a scan module?

 

[spekkio]

Are the pills worth it? If so I'll take some of them.

Nigga, please!

Once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can...

Also, how long till we'll need a scan module?

I don't remember, but Ashery will probably spoil this soon, as he always does.

 

[lightbane]

Pills? YOU SAID PILLS??? BRING ME THESE!!! ALLL OF THESE!!!

I mean... one heavy stimulant please, to... increase our possibilities, of course.