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

[spekkio]

The course of our campaign on Scay-Hallwa:

• 
  Mission 1 - Secure the Halls
  Mission 2 - Enter Another Hall
  Mission 3b - Street Fight Area
  Mission 4 - The Portal
  Mission 5 - Enter the Power Station
  Mission 6 - Find dr Reich
  Mission 7 - Escort dr Reich
  Mission 8a - Lead the 2nd Attack Path
  Mission 9 - Way to the Fort B
  Mission 10 - In Front of the Fort
  Mission 11 - Conquer the Fort
  Mission 12 - The Hole
  Mission 13 - Under-city
  Mission 14 - Heaters
  Mission 15 - Cross the Drawbridge
  Mission 16 - The Nest
  Mission 17 - Rescue the Wounded Unit
  Mission 18b - Defend Path B
  Mission 19 - Footbridge Path B
  Mission 20 - Statue Park
  Mission 21 - The Aid Station
  Mission 22 - Residential Area #1
  Mission 23 - Residential Area #2
  Mission 24 - To the Flak Battery
  Mission 25 - Halls #1
  Mission 26 - Halls #2
  Mission 27 - Rutherford's Rescue
  Mission 28 - Spaceport #1
  Mission 29 - Spaceport #2

Weapon & Equipment Descriptions:


Light Combat Gun

Basic weapon a.k.a. shit. Overheats as fuck, buy something else ASAP. No bayonet so game over if out of ammo.

Modes: 1
Defense Mode: Yes
Range: 1-10
Power: 2
Accuracy: 3%
AP: 1
Bayonet: No
Ammo: 7
EP: 10
Requirements: none

Advanced Combat Gun

First decent gun. Buy this or SAR ASAP. You can stab nearby enemies in the face with bayonet.

Modes: 1
Defense Mode: Yes
Range: 1-10
Power: 3
Accuracy: 3%
AP: 1
Bayonet: Yes
Ammo: 8
EP: 20
Requirements: 1 in LW

Standard Assault Rifle

Good weapon for early part of the game. Bayonet attached.

Modes: 1
Defense Mode: Yes
Range: 1-20
Power: 4
Accuracy: 4%
AP: 1
Bayonet: Yes
Ammo: 10
EP: 30
Requirements: 3 in LW

Sniper Rifle

It's Sniper Rifle - 'nuff said. We gonna need 1-2 of those babies soon.

Modes: 1
DM: Yes
Range: 1-30
Power: 4
Accuracy: 20%
AP: 1
Bayonet: No
Ammo: 15
EP: 40
Requirements: 3 in LW, 1 in TE

Flame Thrower

A lot of power, but VERY short range and only 5 Ammo. Interesting fire mode B.

Modes: 2
A (Default) Attack a single enemy (and probably take it out).
B Create a flame carpet which covers a 3x3 area. Nobody can walk there till the flames are gone, so use that to stop enemies.
DM: No
Range: 1-4
Power: 10
Accuracy: 100%
AP: 1 (2 in fire mode B)
Bayonet: No
Ammo: 5
EP: 40
Requirements: 3 in HW

Heavy Machine Gun

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

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.

Double Fire (Assault Rifle)

The most powerful of the light combat weapons, very useful when used in defense mode. Cools down fast.

Modes: 1
DM: Yes
Range: 1-20
Power: 6
Accuracy: 5%
AP: 1
Bayonet: No
Ammo: 15
EP: 50
Requirements: 4 in LW, 1 in TE

Rapid Fire Machine Gun

You can use this weapon in two modes. Target individual Scay'Ger in weapon Mode A (1 AP) or hit multiple enemies at a distance of about 5 or more squares in weapon Mode B (2 APs).

Modes: 2
A (Default) Attack single enemy.
B Attack multiple enemies. Needs two Action points and two Ammo.
DM: Yes (only in fire mode A)
Range: 1-20
Power: 6
Accuracy: 10%
AP: 1 (2 in mode B)
Bayonet: No
Ammo: 20
EP: 50
Requirements: 2 in LW, 3 in HW

Grenade Launcher

You can use this weapon in two modes. Attack 3x3 area in weapon Mode A or place mines in weapon Mode B. Can shoot over walls.

Modes: 2
A (Default) Grenade Thrower. Damage Area 3x3.
B Mine Thrower. Damage Area 3x3.
Defense mode: No
Range: 2-20
Power: 10
Accuracy: 60%
AP: 3
Bayonet: No
Ammo: 5
EP: 60
Requirements: 2 in BF, 4 in HW, 1 in TE

High Energy Laser

Heavy energy weapon. Infinite ammo but overheats as fuck.

Modes: 2
A (default) High damage laser. Single target, great range.
B Paralyzes the enemy.
DM: Yes
Range: 1-40
Power: 10
Accuracy: 90%
AP: 1
Bayonet: No
Ammo: unlimited
EPs: 70
Requirements: 1 in BF, 5 in HW, 3 in TE

Multi-Target Destroyer

Can destroy multiple targets

Modes: 2
A (Default) Attacks multiple targets. Damage Area 3x3 (another source: 9x9).
B Single, powerful attack. Damage Area 3x3 (another source: 7x7), uses 3 ammo.
DM: No
Range: 2-45
Power: 15
Accuracy: 90%
AP: 3
Bayonet: No
Ammo: 4
EPs: 90
Requirements: 3 in BF, 5 in HW

Plasma Gun

Weapon with two totally different modes.

Modes: 2
A: Shoots multiple targets simultaneously. Attack will hit anything, your soldiers included.
B: Creates a stasis field around your troops, protecting them from all attacks & recovering their vitality. Protected units can fire but not move.
DM: No
Range: 1-10
Power: 10
Accuracy: 100%
AP: 1
Bayonet: No
Ammo: 10
EPs: 80
Requirements: 1 in BF, 4 in HW, 3 in TE

-----------------------------------------------------------

Scan Module

Shows invisible enemies on radar. Useless in early game, useful later - when Ee'Ther a.k.a. Invisible Motherfuckers From Hell show up.

EP: 50
Requirements: 2 in TE

Light Armor

+3 front armor, + 2 back armor. Useful in early game, replace with better armor later.

EP: 10
Requirements: 1 in BF.

Small Medic Kit

Soldier who carries SMC can restore one hitpoint of other soldier / himself per round. He has to stay next to this other soldier and face him.

EP: 80
Requirements: 1 in ME

Light Stimulant

Plus one action point per round in one round per mission (after use). Not that great, but hey - we can buy drugs in this game!

EP: 30
Requirements: 1 in BF, 1 in ME

Ammo Pack

Doubles ammo carried by soldier. Buy this ASAP.

EP: 70
Requirements: 2 in BF, 1 in TE

Standard Armor

+4 front armor, +2 back armor. Useful.

EP: 20
Requirements: 2 in BF

Servo System

+1 Action Point permanently. Buy ASAP.

EP: 30
Requirements: 2 in BF, 2 in TE, 1 in ME

Heavy Stimulant

Plus two action points per round in one round per mission (after use) + maximizes the physical condition of the unit (lol wut?)

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

Target System

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

EP: 60
Requirements: 5 in TE

Banner

All units in 7x7 area surrounding the unit holding a banner get +1 APs & their DM works in all directions.

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

Attack Armor

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

EP: 30
Requirements: 3 in BF

Long Range Scaner

Shows invisible enemies on radar in a wider radius than the Scan Module.
Helpful, but if you buy a jetpack, you also get a Long Range Scanner for free.

EP: 100
Requirements: 4 in TE, 1 in LE

Heavy Armor

+6 front armor, +4 back armor, -1 AP. Not recommended

EP: 50
Requirements: 4 in BF

Large Medic Kit

Soldier who carries LMK can restore 3 HPs of other soldier / himself per use (1 AP). He has to stay next to this other soldier and face him.

EP: 160
Requirements: 5 in ME

Jet Pack

User can jump for great distance & over walls. Usage costs all APs.
Equipped with long range scanner.

EPs: 190
Requirements: 4 in BF, 3 in TE

Explosion Pack

Used to blow up the ducts.

EPs: 10
Requirements: 2 in BF, 1 in LW, 1 in HW, 3 in TE

-----------------------------------------------------------

What can a proud member of prestigious RPGcodex Magazine do to deepen the legendary decline of this site?
Between many popular things like: making troll account, posting shitty replies in every thread possible, derailing good thread into discussion about lolicon etc, etc there is one thing that requires some real effort.

That's of course starting a LP Thread and abandoning it after 2-3 initial updates.
So, without further ado...

When reading great UFO - Enemy Unknown and X-COM - Terror from the Deep LPs here on Codex, I always hoped for somebody to make a LP of another turn-based classic, containing shooting evil aliens in the face by brave space marines.

I was thinking about Incubation - Battle Isle Phase Four, game created in 1997 by german developer and publisher Blue Byte Software. In the nineties they created some really outstanding titles, like: Battle Isle series, Settlers series, Albion (must-play if you're a furry), Extreme Assault and Archimedean Dynasty.

Incubation as title clearly states is 4th part in Battle Isle series and by simply looking at the cover we can tell what we should expect:

Well, what we can say about this game:

• it's turn-based,
• it's tactical,
• it's terrifying,
• it contains some boobs.

All above is true my dear readers. Btw this chick in blue dress and with big tits is our boss, OMG HOW AWESOME!

More details stolen from Wikipedia:

Incubation: Time Is Running Out (also known as Incubation: Battle Isle Phase Four) is a turn-based tactics computer game from Blue Byte Software released in 1997. In the game, the player controls a squad of soldiers. The game was one of the first strategy titles to use fully 3D graphics, and supported hardware acceleration on the 3dfx Voodoo.

Incubation is part of the Battle Isle series, though it is only loosely related to the other games in the series. The plot revolves around a mysterious virus causing indigenous inhabitants surrounding a planetary colony to mutate into the monstrous Scay'Ger. The single-player campaign includes around 30 missions set in futuristic interiors full of aliens, as a squad of space marines battles to save the civilians and themselves. The game has some head-to-head and co-op multiplayer support via LAN and software such as Kali. There are three difficulty levels which influence parameters like monster respawn and damage rates.

Outside of missions, the main decision is which weapons and equipment to purchase to outfit the squad. A variety of weapons are available. Some low-level guns feature bayonets for melee combat, which form a substantial element of the game. Equipment like jetpacks, scanners, improved armor, stimulants and medical kits becomes available as the space marines accumulate experience points.

Reception:

Criticism of Incubation was mixed. PC Gamer's take was quite positive, awarding it "Best Turn-Based Strategy Game of 1997". Others, such as Kasavin, felt the game made some steps in the right direction but lacked the depth and challenge needed for a great strategy game. Writing for GameSpot, Greg Kasavin notes that "Most weapons at your disposal carry limited ammunition and can overheat rather quickly, forcing you to fire only when you must." Niko Nirvi of Pelit, who initially considered the game a botched X-Com variant, came to think of it as a sort of puzzle game and was very taken with it.

Blue Byte later published an expansion pack, The Wilderness Missions, which added new missions with more resourceful enemies, as well as a map editor.

I hope you noticed that Greg Kasavin dissed this game for being too hard - proof that he was never good and Gayspot decline started probably more than 100 years ago.

Important stuff:

• I'm using Tinypic for image hosting because I've heard they're ok,
• screens will be 640x480, let me know if that's fine,
• I'm gonna play in software mode, 3dfx wrappers work, but the game still looks last-gen and behaves strange.

This wall of text is probably already tl; so it's time for some screens:

Let's start New Campaign, which starts with intro, you can watch it on JewTube.

Scene 1:
Corporal Bratt and Corporal Kelly are taking a walk, talking about boring life of space marine on a desolate space station and how awesome it would be to nail some top-quality FEMALE ass for a change, when...

Scene 2:
Space marines are having their butts kicked pretty hard by Scay'Ger - teh Evil Alien Race of this game.

Scane 3:
Our brave heroes are landing on the surface of planet Scay-Hallwa.

To sum shit up: something went wrong and all previously harmless planet fauna turned into killer monsters called Scay'Ger. We go down, kick some ass, help remaining civilians, etc, etc. Standard fare.

Here is the Main Map, between the missions we can:

1) Watch a cutscene, in most cases it's briefing/debriefing (green)

2) Start a mission, sometimes there is more than one to choose (red)

3) Visit a shop (blue)

And that's what we're gonna do first.

That's our team:

Corporal Bratt:

Private West:

Private Maxon:

As you can see, there are some RPG elements in this game, mainly skills and equipment.

But before I start to explain how shit works here, I need 2 recruits to replace West and Maxon (well, technically speaking - rename them).

So, are there any brave or bored Codexers who want to join the noble cause of kicking ass and taking names?

Scay'ger infested Scay-Hallwa needs You!

Damn, cpt Rutherford in her spacesuit-bikini needs You!

So, who wants to enlist? Two people for now, but the team will count up to 7 men/women/trannies. Of course fresh meat may join after some casualties. And you can count on casualties. I've played this game once, long time ago, on easy... and I reloaded like crazy, which not gonna happen this time - we're going semi-ironman, babies!

 

[Ch1ef]

Re: Let's play Incubation - Battle Isle Phase 4

 

[lightbane]

In the name of the Emperor, I demand to be the 1st recruit for the lulz, with several clones for if I got killed too early.

 

[Krraloth]

The game seems nice enough, I have a craving to die horribly.

Count me in

 

[Pussycat669]

I hope you noticed that Greg Kasavin dissed this game for being too hard

I bet the mission pack sent him home crying.
Anyways, I'm in!

 

[Bluebottle]

Fuck yeah, this is gonna be awesome. I played the demo of this game to death.

Sign me up, when there's a place, so long as I can be promised a noble death.

 

[Bluebottle]

...doublepost

 

[PrzeSzkoda]

A great game, I remember playing it to death on multi with my bro, along with Total Annihilation. Sign me up for the squad.

 

[spekkio]

Alrighty people, we have 2 brave recruits:
lightbane and Krraloth

Let’s start with explaining the basics:

1) I’m gonna play semi-ironman, which means: if somebody dies, he/she can be revived, but not ad infinitum. This will be done by pressing “Undo last turn” button. Let’s assume that every new recruit can revive fallen soldier once. So: if for example lightbane dies, Krraloth may decide to revive him. After that, Krraloth can not revive anybody anymore. lightbane can not revive himself of course - he’s dead.

I will be playing as Corporal Bratt, because he is a “hero” of this game - in most cases, if he dies, game ends. If he (or any mission-critical person) dies, I will simply use “Undo last turn” button as many times as necessary. It should not be happening often, because I will try to keep Bratt out of trouble - regular soldiers will be responsible for most of the dangerous work.

2) What are you (soldiers) gonna do:

• Pick up equipment before missions - this is connected with leveling up. So: you can decide on what your soldier gonna take with him into battle and what his skills gonna be. This may not sound like much, but is actually crucial in this game.
• Decide on style in which any mission will be executed. For example: what is our goal in mission: kill as many aliens as possible (more experience, more people may die - we don’t close any doors / don’t blow up manholes, etc.) or bring everybody back home (less experience, but safer).
• Decide on the mission that we take, when there is more than one to take.

Next step: explaining how equipment / skills works. Let’s have a look at this screen:

On the left we have standard icons for things like load, save, undo turn, exit, briefing, etc. Icons on the right are for camera control. At bottom-right we have mini-map.
Nothing of great importance to you.

6 icons in the middle-bottom are for commands. I’ll explain them later.

The most important thing for you is the bottom-left panel. Starting from the left we have here:

• figurine of our soldier, with his name, hit points available (9/9), front and rear armor (yellow bars) and “vitality” - AFAIK it shows how fast your soldier will panic when hurt. I’m not sure about this and cannot find manual for this game anywhere.
• bar with your current/total exp,
• info about your weapon: number of APs required to fire weapon (1), attack power (3), ammo (6/8), level of heat (graph above),
• APs available (3).

Let’s go back to shop/upgrade menu:

All icons on the left side should be clear now.

In the middle of the screen we have icons representing our skills. From top to bottom:

• Battle Fitness,
• Light Weapon Proficiency,
• Heavy Weapon Proficiency,
• Technical Skills,
• Medical Skills,
• Leadership Skills.

ATM Bratt’s skills are as follows (check out green dots): BF 0, LW 1, HW 0, TE 0, ME 0, LE 2.

Every weapon / part of equipment has it’s own skill requirement. For example, if you want to equip Advanced Combat Gun you need 1 in LW. Bratt meets this requirement, so he is able to equip ACG without spending his skill points (he doesn’t need to level up his LW skill).

If we want to buy him a ACG, the only thing we need is 20 Equipment Points (more on this later).

Maxon (or should I say Krraloth) is in a different situation:

He is: BF 0, LW 0, HW 0, TE 0, ME 0, LE 0 (to put it simply, you suck ATM, Krraloth ).
If we want to buy him a ACG, we need to level up his LW to 1, spending the only one skill point he has. We also need 20 equipment points.

Skill points are obtained when you “level up” after enough kills. Those are linked to individual soldier - you gain them, you spend them.

Equipment points are obtained when soldiers open up equipment crates during the missions. As you can see our team starts with 100 EP. EPs are shared between the team.


Allright, enough of this shit. Let’s buy some stuff.

ATM shop has:

Light Combat Gun

Basic weapon a.k.a. shit. Overheats as fuck, buy something else ASAP. No bayonet so game over if out of ammo.

Modes: 1
Defense Mode: Yes
Range: 1-10
Power: 2
Accuracy: 3%
AP: 1
Bayonet: No
Ammo: 7
EP: 10
Requirements: none

Advanced Combat Gun

First decent gun. Buy this or SAR ASAP. You can stab nearby enemies in the face with bayonet.

Modes: 1
Defense Mode: Yes
Range: 1-10
Power: 3
Accuracy: 3%
AP: 1
Bayonet: Yes
Ammo: 8
EP: 20
Requirements: 1 in LW

Standard Assault Rifle

Good weapon for early part of the game. Bayonet attached.

Modes: 1
Defense Mode: Yes
Range: 1-20
Power: 4
Accuracy: 4%
AP: 1
Bayonet: Yes
Ammo: 10
EP: 30
Requirements: 3 in LW

Scan Module

Shows invisible enemies on radar. Useless in early game, useful later - when Ee'Ther a.k.a. Invisible Motherfuckers From Hell show up.

EP: 50
Requirements: 2 in TE

Light Armor

+3 front armor, + 2 back armor. Useful in early game, replace with better armor later.

EP: 10
Requirements: 1 in BF.

Phew. That’s all for now, folks.
Let’s start our first mission now.

But first, lightbane and Krraloth (a.k.a. team) have to decide on 2 things:

1. On which difficulty level we’re going to play: Easy/Normal/Hard?
2. How should I equip your soldiers?

Details about equipment possibilities ATM:

Bratt is:
BF 0, LW 1, HW 0, TE 0, ME 0, LE 2,
has 0 Skill Points,
can buy: ACG (no SPs required).

That’s it for now, so I’m going to buy a ACG, spending 20 of our Equipment Points.

One last important thing about EPs: they’re not “money”, so they’re not consumed. They’re cumulative.

Explanation: We had 100 EP, I spent 20 EP on ACG. We should have 80 EPs left. But we have 90, because I de-equipped my Light Combat Gun which was worth 10 EP. Simple, huh?

lightbane is:
BF 0, LW 0, HW 0, TE 0, ME 2, LE 0,
has 0 Skill Points.
can buy: jack shit ATM, because of low skills and 0 SPs.

But he has small medkit equipped!

Small Medic Kit

Soldier who carries SMC can restore one hitpoint of other soldier / himself per round. He has to stay next to this other soldier and face him.
EP: 80
Requirements: 1 in ME

Cool for you, lightbane, if not for this medkit, you’ll be totally worthless maggot...

Krraloth is:
BF 0, LW 0, HW 1, TE 0, ME 0, LE 0,
has 1 Skill Point,
can buy: Advanced Combat Gun (spending 1 AP in LW) or Light Armor (spending 1 AP in BF).

It’s your call, Krraloth.
Of course you can stick to your current equipment and buy something better when you have 2-3 SPs. But it’s not such a great idea early in the game. You should buy best available gun ASAP and generally speaking - spend all your SPs before going into fire.

That’s all for now, ladies and trannies, I’ll wait for lightbane and Krraloth to decide on difficulty and equipment (Krraloth) and we’ll start shooting aliens after that.

 

[JoKa]

great game, played it quite a bit back in the day....please add me to your roster of brave soldiers for the time when the cannonfodder at the helm invariably dies...

 

[Black_Willow]

A great game, shame I never finished it.
Black_Willow reporting for duty, sah! Sing me up!

 

[lightbane]

What does that Defense Mode mean? I vote to play in normal difficulty.

PS: How is the death rate compared with x-com?

 

[spekkio]

What does that Defense Mode mean?

It works like reaction fire: you spend 2 APs of your turn but can counterattack during enemy turn - when he moves/attacks. And not once but as many times as possible - you stop when your weapon runs hot or you run out of ammo. Of course with let’s say 4 counterattacks you can hit the enemy 4 times or miss 4 times, losing ammo. Enemies can also use DefMode. I'll cover this later, when we start the mission.

I vote to play in normal difficulty.

One vote for normal it is. We can change difficulty during the campaign, don't worry.

PS: How is the death rate compared with x-com?

I finished Incubation (and expansion) on easy and it was definitely lower. But if something will go wrong, we’ll gonna lose some guys for sure. For example: there are some enemies that can kill a soldier with one hit:

...or even 3-4 soldiers with one hit.

You’ll see .

But generally speaking: nothing has higher death rate than X-com, nothing!

 

[GarfunkeL]

Oh, yes, sign me up too. I have to do penance for all the Codexers I got killed in the murky depths.

 

[Krraloth]

I vote for normal too.

Grabbing the Light Armor would be the most conservative way to keep myself alive...but I'm in for the glory, so grab the gun instead!

Since I'm sucky and lightbane has teh med I'm going to take point?

 

[drexciya]

A cool game, I even managed to finish it back in the day. You need to plan a bit more ahead I think. That means that someone will prepare him/herself for Light Weapons, Heavy Weapons (there's a Flamethrower I recall) and other stuff. So it's better to keep those points and wait until you can do something really useful.

Also some missions have a certain puzzle element; there's only a limited number of ways to "solve" such particular missions. The add-on was insanely hard by the way.

 

[Serus]

Interesting game but some missions are not tactical in nature - they are f**** PUZZLES. It is the only downside of this otherwise good game imo.

 

[reaven]

I love incubation, have been wanting to replay it for some time now. Never tried the expansion.

 

[Azira]

Signing up for certain death too.

I played the original Battle Isle games, but threw out the disks for them when I moved last. Never did play Incubation though.. Wonder why?

 

[spekkio]

I vote for normal too.

Normal it is, then.

Grabbing the Light Armor would be the most conservative way to keep myself alive...but I'm in for the glory, so grab the gun instead!

Allright, ACG bought. Current unit menu:

Since I'm sucky and lightbane has teh med I'm going to take point?

There is only 3 of us for now, so everybody will get a chance to shoot some stuff.

Briefing is short and simple:

Cpt. Rutherford orders our team to check out the work halls, exterminate all Scay’ger and go back to Command Center after that.

Let’s go:

Mission 1: Secure the Halls

Briefing:

PROTIPS:

First, we have to deploy our units:

And...

Turn 1
Here it is: battlefield from diagonal view:

Overview map:

And free view (top-down perspective), my favorite:

Icons:

• Red dots: our soldiers (overiew map) / visible enemy (minmap).
• Yellow icon / crosshair: visible enemy.
• Green icons / beams of light: enemies not yet visible. One green dot not necessarily means one enemy!

As you can see, we have one enemy unit in sight - Ray’Ther:

Isn’t’ he adorable?

The most common Scay'Ger. Very fast unit and makes for close combat. His poor armor also makes him a rather short lived opponent but it always attack in groups. So, watch your ammo supplies and use bayonets.

Action points : 6
Hit points : 2
Front/Rear armor : 0/0
Weapon : claws
- Range : 1-1
- Accuracy : 100%
- Damage : 2
- Defensive mode : no
- Action point : 1
- Ammo : none

This is melee unit, so all we have to do is stick tohether and use defend mode to kill them when they rush at us. If they come close - use bayonets.

We could of course try to take him out from a distance, but why should we waste ammo on missed shots?

lightbane goes first, because he is the weakest ATM so I want him to level up ASAP. I move him to the left:

Make him face NW:

And use Defense Mode.

The order in which we use DM command is important: first soldier that was ordered to use it will start shooting first during the enemy turn.

Other soldiers: Bratt - move left and use DM, Krraloth - move SW and wait (no DM this time).

Situation at the end of our turn looks like this:

It’s time to end our first turn:

During first enemy turn you can see how DM works.

1. Enemy moves close to Bratt (Ray’Ther is melee unit). He is going to act (attack), probably biting Bratt’s balls off.

2. But that’s when DM kicks in. Our brave hero lightbane aims at poor fucker (he was the first ordered to use DM).

3. Fires

4. And scores! Excellent performance, soldier!

Of course I’m not going to describe every motherfuckin turn in the future in such detail. Only kills / level ups / things that went wrong.

Stay tuned for:

Turn 2

 

[spekkio]

Turn 2:

Just look at lightbane’s happy face after his first kill!

Current situation:

I’m gonna move all soldiers to the left, to lure out all Ray’Ther in the south.

Enemy turn:

All Ray’Ther decided to play along:

Turn 3:

3x DM of course: lightbane, Bratt & Krraloth.

Enemy turn:

All Ray’Ther attack.

• Bratt kills the first one.
• lightbane kills the 2nd.
• lightbane hits another one but no kill. His shitty gun overheats.
• Bratt finishes off the wounded one.
• Bratt kills the 4th, from the long distance. Weapon overheats.

No screenshots from combat this time people, animations are really fast on modern systems. It’s possible to take maybe 3-4 screenshots max.

Turn 4:

That’s way better. Now we’re going to finish off all enemies to the north.

Notice that after some killing Bratt’s max HP went to 7. I’m not sure what caused this. He did not level up yet, that’s for sure. Well, he’s a corporal, maybe those fuckers are build different than regular humans? Anyway, we have to heal him to this value first. lightbane uses his medkit.

Alright, let’s start with Krraloth this time - he needs to kill some aliens too.

Turn 5:

You probably noticed brown crate to the left? This is ammo crate. It replenishes the ammo of soldier that opens it. We don’t need to open it right now.

Let’s lure some Ray’Ther in the north.
I moved Bratt north as far away as possible, and - surprise - at least 2 Ray’Ther are there.

Bratt is out of APs, the FOV of 2 other soldiers is blocked, so we have to use Krraloth in DM and hope he can take care of everything that will try to attack Bratt.

Enemy turn:

Krraloth delivers with 2 kills.

Turn 6:

We’re going to finish off remaining Ray’Ther using Bratt and lightbane.

Enemy turn:

Bratt kills one Ray’Ther and levels up. Way to go, me!

Turn 7:

Two or more Ray’Ther left, lets finish them off using Krraloth and lightbane. Bratt will act as bait.

Enemy turn:

Two Ray’Ther activated.

Turn 8:

It’s time to end this. 3xDM with lightbane, Krraloth and Bratt.

• lightbane critically hits first Ray’Ther for 0 damage,
• Bratt finishes him off,
• Krraloth kills the last one.

Mission ends.

Let’s have a look at Mission Report:

10 kills, 0 loses. If that’s not successful operation, I don’t know what is.

Check out this “Best Units“ list in the middle. In the future, with more guys in the team, I’m gonna prioritize soldiers from this list when it comes to spending our EPs after every mission.
To put it simply: kill plenty aliens or GTFO from the shop.

New mission awaits

But first, let’s check out the shop.

With only 3 soldiers in the team there is no problem with EP distribution.
Especially when both of you maggots did not level up, and the only person that can buy something is Bratt.

One Light Armor for me.

Allright, let’s start next mission.

Mission 2: Enter Another Hall

Briefing:

PROTIPS:

Turn 1:

In next update: we’re going to learn how to open a door and about very dangerous part of environment on this planet: ventilation duct!

Stay tuned!

 

[lightbane]

Regular soldiers' uniform look like a mix of Judge Dredd and the Silencer of Crusader games, and Bratt is apparently Steel. Do the characters' appearance change when they equip new armor?

Also, do you have to spent equipment points to replenish your weapons between missions?

 

[spekkio]

Do the characters' appearance change when they equip new armor?

That's pretty tricky question actually. Weapons are clearly visible on models, but armor...?

Let's compare 2 screenshots:

Corporal Bratt without Light Armor:

Corporal Bratt in his new Light Armor:

Hmmm... He's more bulky now, so... I don't know.

Also, do you have to spent equipment points to replenish your weapons between missions?

No, we only need EPs if we want to equip better equipment.

 

[spekkio]

Turn 1

I want both other soldiers to level up ASAP so I open first door using Bratt:

Let's move other soldiers to the right and use DM x2.

Enemy turn

• lightbane kills two Ray'Ther, he levels up, gun overheats
• Krraloth kills another one and levels up

Turn 2

One more thing - PROTIPS suggested that we should use "Rest for the next turn" button:

When using this button you will sacrifice all your APs in current turn to start next turn with 1 AP more than your max (3). So, in next turn Bratt would start with 4 APs. If you use RFTNT button once more, you once again start the next turn with 4 AP. Not that great really.

Krraloth's and lightbane's max HP went up to 7, so it's connected either with leveling up or gaining experience. Anyway, let's move in and heal Krraloth to 7 HP.

Turn 3

I open next door with Bratt, order lightbane to heal himself and use DM, order Krraloth to use DM.

Enemy turn

• lightbane kills 1 Ray'Ther and hits 2nd
• Krraloth finishes 2nd

Turn 4

We move north and notice two new things: equipment crate and ventilation duct (currently closed).

Equipment crates give us EPs when opened. Later in the game they can also contain various goods (medkids, packs of explosives etc.) taken by the soldier that opens them.

With ventilation duct open new Scay'Ger can appear on the battlefield. We can do shit about this ATM, except shooting newly arrived aliens. Later in the game we can blow ducts up with explosives.

Important thing: newly arrived aliens cannot arrive->move->attack in one turn. They can only do 2 things: arrive & move or (AFAIR) arrive & attack (If our soldier is standing next to the duct). So: we should keep a distance from those things.

Ventilation duct is currently closed, so let's open equipment crate with one soldier and move to the next door with others.

Turn 5

lightbane opens up the crate:

Other guys advance east:

Turn 6

Our destination point is behind this door. The plan is as follows: Bratt rushes to the [A] point, Krraloth covers him up and lightbane covers our backs. Let's go.

Bratt opens up the door:

There is 1 Ray'Ther sitting on the [A] point.

Two ventilation ducts open up:

Let's move Krraloth east and use DM, lightbane should also advance east and use DM - something may creep out from this duct.

Enemy turn

Krraloth kills 2 Ray'Ther.

Turn 7

Look what we have here:

As you may noticed, lightbane did not react to this new alien. He probably would, if this Ray'Ther tried to move or act.
Let's move Bratt East + DM (there is some enemy/enemies to the south), order Krraloth to finish this fella with bayonett and go East, move lightbane SE.

Krraloth fucks nearby Ray'Ther up:

Situation looks like this:

Enemy turn

Bratt kills 2 Ray'Ther

Turn 8

We are close:

Notice that Bratt's HP is now 7/8. I'm sure he did not level up, so Max HP must go up with experience (3rd yellow bar).
Let's move Bratt NE, krraloth East + DM, lightbane East + DM to cover our asses.

Enemy turn:

• Ray'Ther rushes at Bratt
• Krraloth shoots at him and misses (WTF is wrong with you, soldier?!)
• Ray'Ther hits Bratt for 1 HP
• Krraloth shoots again, killing Ray'Ther this time, he levels up

Turn 9

Notice that both Bratt's HP an Vitality went down. One more hit and he's gonna panic.

Let's move Bratt close to the [A] point and order Krraloth to move East + DM. Too bad I have to rely on Krraloth's shitty shooting skills again :evil:. lightbane covers west.

Enemy turn

• 1st Ray'Ther rushes at Bratt
• Krraloth shoots at him... and misses
• Ray'Ther hits Bratt for 0 damage
• Krraloth shoots at 1st Ray'Ther again, fortunately killing him this time, runs out of ammo
• Second Ray'Ther rushes at Bratt and hits him for 2 HP

Turn 10

Brat is in panic:

He cannot use Attack/DM commands and can only move to the nearest square.

Krraloth is out of ammo, but luckily his ACG is equipped with bayonet. Let's test Krraloth's skills in close combat this time.

Fortunately, he stabs the last remaining Ray'Ther to death.

Let's move Bratt and lightbane East. lightbane is ATM our only unit that is able to shoot. Krraloth is OOA and Bratt is in panic.

Turn 11

Luckily, no more Scay'Ger this time. Let's move Bratt south and press "next turn", ending this mission.

Mission Report:

Kills in this mission: Krraloth 8 (MVP), lightbane 3, Bratt 2.

Main Map:

What did we learn in this mission:
We should not rush things on normal difficulty, for example by splitting up our team, exposing our commander and using blind guy as fire support. :evil:

Anyway, let's check out new available places.

First, there is new "shop" this time, a battlefield to be specific:

It has new stuff, such as:

Luckily, our soldiers auto-regen after each battle, Current-Gen style:

See: corporal Bratt as good as new.

New stuff descriptions:

Sniper Rifle

It's Sniper Rifle - 'nuff said. We gonna need 1-2 of those babies soon.

Modes: 1
DM: Yes
Range: 1-30
Power: 4
Accuracy: 20%
AP: 1
Bayonet: No
Ammo: 15
EP: 40
Requirements: 3 in LW, 1 in TE

Flame Thrower

A lot of power, but VERY short range and only 5 Ammo. Interesting fire mode B.

Modes: 2
A (Default) Attack a single enemy (and probably take it out).
B Create a flame carpet which covers a 3x3 area. Nobody can walk there till the flames are gone, so use that to stop enemies.
DM: No
Range: 1-4
Power: 10
Accuracy: 100%
AP: 1 (2 in fire mode B)
Bayonet: No
Ammo: 5
EP: 40
Requirements: 3 in HW

Light Stimulant

Plus one action point per round in one round per mission (after use). Not that great, but hey - we can buy drugs in this game!

EP: 30
Requirements: 1 in BF, 1 in ME

Ammo Pack

Doubles ammo carried by soldier. Buy this ASAP.
EP: 70
Requirements: 2 in BF, 1 in TE

Standard Armor

+4 front armor, +2 back armor. Useful.

EP: 20
Requirements: 2 in BF

Servo System

+1 Action Point permanently. Buy ASAP.

EP: 30
Requirements: 2 in BF, 2 in TE, 1 in ME

There is also new cutscene:

Standard military chatter. Cpt. Rutherford orders us to capture a power station.

Allright, it's time for some C&C.

We can either:

take Mission 3a - Way to the Power Station

Briefing:

PROTIPS:

or Mission 3b - Street Fight Area

Briefing:

PROTIPS:

So maggots, which mission it is gonna be? 3a (+1 new teammate) or 3b (+2 new teammates)?

Also, what should I buy for your sorry asses (I'll be watching you in future missions Krraloth, you can count on that...)?

Bratt has no SP so he cannot buy anything new.

lightbane is:
BF 0, LW 0, HW 0, TE 0, ME 2, LE 0,
has 1 SP,
can buy: Advanced combat gun (1 SP), Light Armor (1 SP), Light Stimulant (1 SP).

Krraloth (a.k.a. The Blind Guy) is:
BF 0, LW 1, HW 1, TE 0, ME 0, LE 0,
has 2 SPs,
can buy: Standard Assault Rifle (2), Scan Module (2), Light Armor (1), Flame Thrower (2), Light Stimulant (2), Standard Armor (2), Small MedKit (1).

Krraloth have priority because he was MVP of last mission (yeah, right - moar like Double Nigger to me ).

Anyway:

• which mission should we take?
• what should I buy for you?

Stay tuned, folks.

 

[lightbane]

I vote for the Advanced combat gun, we need to kill fast, but bullets are too slow... But as I'm the medic my survival is prioritary... Decided, I would like the light armor.
And I vote for 3b, the more we are, the more meatshields we have.