Part 2: First BloodAs we left the action last time, X-Com had just downed its first UFO, and was waiting for daybreak to launch a recovery operation. In this installment, we'll be assaulting the aforementioned UFO, seeing the Battlescape for the first time. Of course, there is also the victorious interceptor itself to consider...
There are no freebies here. Weapons require ammunition, and expended ammunition must be replenished from base stores. If you don't have enough, you get a screen like this. In this case I don't give a damn, though. I sold all my Stingray ammo for a reason, and that reason is that as soon as I get my shipment of new weapons, I will never use them again. This does mean that this interceptor will start any further air combats between now and then with less than a full weapons load, but that's ok. Anything that would require a full load to down is likely to wipe the floor with even a fully prepared interceptor at this point anyway - the range on Stingrays is simply too short to safely engage most larger enemies.
Day breaks over Europe, and with it my Skyranger takes to the air carrying a recovery team bound for a rural area just outside Bonn where the alien ship crash landed. Close one, that. This is 1999, so Bonn is still the seat of government for the united Germany, and if the UFO had crashed on, say, the presidential residence or the Bundeshaus, uncomfortable questions were bound to be asked.
The mission briefing for a crash recovery mission. "Exercise caution" - those are wise words. There will always be some living aliens after a crash, and going in expecting to just hook a crane up to the wreckage and tow it back to base is a bit too optimistic.
Teal'c has hair! Sadly, X-Com is quite limited in squad appearances, and there are only four male and four female faces. Aside from Ripley who just had to be the one with the best stats, I fitted the names of the agents to their appearances as well as possible. You only see them on this screen, though. In mission, everyone's a blonde caucasian, so that bit of attention to detail was a bit of a waste.
Anyway, Teal'c and the other four agents each get their trusty pistol plus one spare clip. I didn't even have to equip them, as the XcomUtil patch included an option to automatically distribute equipment. If I make any changes from this loutout, those will also be stored and automatically applied on the next mission if I have kept the same kit on the Skyranger. In the unpatched game, I would have started with all items in the bottom section labelled "ground", and would need to equip my agents from scratch in every. single. mission. This is better.
The arrows in the top right cycle left/right between agents, with the left-most starting closest to the exit ramp of the transport and moving further away as you cycle further right. It loops around, though, so that is only good for reference if you have a starting point. The first agent you see is always the one closest to the ramp. The order follows the order of the squad list you see in your base, so in my case, Teal'c and Carter are on point duty, followed by Ripley, Zoe and finally O'Neill.
Touchdown. What you can see on the battlescape is determined by line-of-sight from your agents, who have a 90° field of vision extending out to a range of twenty squares if unobstructed. Or out to a range of -eight- squares in darkness. Aliens have excellent night vision and can see for the full twenty squares in all lighting conditions, which is one reason why I avoid fighting at night where possible.
Given the Skyranger's lack of windows, I only have clear vision out the back, and will be blind to any enemies on the side or rear as I exit the craft. Becasue of that and a few other factors, initial deployment is probably the most dangerous phase of any ground mission. Fortunately the UFO we're recovering is a very small one with a minimal crew, so the risk of being ambushed as I step outside is small.
On the other hand, I have been quite unlucky with the terrain around my Skyranger. While I can't see much yet, it is clear that there are at least two buildings surrounding my landing site. These are great places for aliens to hide, and notoriously dangerous to clear. I much prefer open grass where aliens can be engaged from a safe distance and where they won't be stepping out from a small cubbyhole to shoot you in the back. Ah well.
As soon as I step outside and turn to check the immediate area, Carter spots the UFO. As you can see, it is tiny. This is, in fact, a one-man craft and the smallest enemy ship in the game - a good first engagement to cut my teeth on. The purple light underneath it is a grav-beam offering access to the inside, so while it is all but certain that the pilot has left before we arrived on the scene, I will still have to keep it covered. Just in case.
In the end, as can be seen from the map screen, it turns out that there are no less than three buildings around my landing site, any of which could hold the alien. The X off to the right is the UFO itself. If this had been a bigger UFO, this could easily turn into a disaster. As it is, it is merely very dangerous.
The map also clearly shows the line-of-sight rules in action. Windows allow me to see parts of the inside of some of the buildings, but they are mostly obscured to me. Likewise, the twenty-square sight limit is also clearly apparent. Low hedges and stone walls allow me to see over them, but that doesn't mean there couldn't be a crouched alien hiding behind them - just being able to see the terrain doesn't necessarily mean that the terrain is free of aliens.
I manage deploy my forces without incident, and without spotting the UFO's pilot. I spread out my forces enough that they aren't likely to get hit by stray shots aimed at another agent, and try to keep all directions covered. Ripley, Teal'c and Zoe set up to cover the three buildings, while Carter keeps watch over the UFO she spotted earlier. O'Neill, meanwhile, keeps the rear covered in case the alien should come around the corner of the northern-most building.
Later in the game when I have acquired some armor for my troops, a spread out deployment like this would also keep any neighbours safe in case anyone attracts a grenade attack. Without armor, though, even the very fringe of the blast from an alien grenade would be enough to cripple or kill an agent, so at this point I can only hope that no grenades will be used against me.
Regardless, this is all I can do at this point. No alien has been spotted, and I'm keeping all angles covered by troops with enough time units left for reaction fire.
Reaction fire? Ah, yes. See, if your agent (or an alien) has time units remaining during the opponent's turn, they may be able to use those time units to automatically take snap shots at an enemy who passes through their field of vision. This is why the initial deployment is so risky - everyone, including aliens, start the mission with full time units, so any alien facing the Skyranger when you exit it has a chance to take potshots at you before you even know they're there.
Whether they actually get to use those time units depends on a number of factors, primarily the reactions of both the shooter and the potential target. Hence why reactions is one of the most important stats in the game. It keeps you safe when moving (up to a point), and lets you pick off aliens during their turn.
But enough about that. Time to end the turn.
Spooky. It is always unnerving to watch this screen, as you know the aliens are doing -something-, but have no idea what. It does occasionally offer clues, though. If an alien moves into the field of vision of one of your agents, the hidden movement screen will give way and you'll see their actions as long as they are in sight. Additionally, there are audio clues from time to time which can prove helpful. If you hear a door opening, for example, and there is only one house on the current map, then you've narrowed down the location of at least one alien. Not enough to take it out, yet, but enough to box it in and make sure that if anyone is taken by surprise, it won't be you.
As it happens, no movement is spotted by my agents, and noone is fired at. This is both good and bad. Everyone survived the first alien turn, which is always great. On the other hand, I still have no clue where the alien is.
Turn two. As I'm moving Carter out to get a better view of the north-east, which was beyond sight range from her position covering he UFO, she comes under fire from behind. That green blob in the image is a plasma round, and almost certain death to an unarmoured agent. Fortunately, it misses. Wait, what? Behind? But I have two agents covering that side and they're still not seeing any aliens!
I turn Carter around hoping that she, at least, will be able to see her attacker. Turning in place doen't provoke reaction fire, so I can do this safely.
Ah. The roof. This is why I hate landing near buildings. The little gray guy there is a Sectoid, one of the weakest aliens I'm likely to meet. Not, however, one of the least dangerous. The Sectoids have certain other advantages to offset their physical weakness which make them quite fearsome in the right - or perhaps rather, in the wrong - situations.
At any rate, I now know the location of my enemy. Carter has a clear shot, should she choose to take it, but the pistol is a poor long range weapon, and even against a Sectoid it may well take more than one shot to kill it. And Carter only has enough TUs left for a single shot.
Now, if you look at the previous image, you can see the shadow of the Skyranger's wing on the ground. Instead of taking a shot at the alien which is unlikely to hit and uncertain to kill even if it does hit, and risk the alien taking another reaction shot at her afterwards, I choose to walk Carter three squares south to place the wing between her and the alien. Hoping all the while that this movement won't trigger another reaction shot.
It didn't. I also move my other troops into locations where they can't be targeted from the occupied roof... with the exception of Ripley.
Now Ripley, her I move into the occupied building itself. Over each of the next three turns, I pop Carter out one square to check the location of the alien on the roof, and then, having verified that it is still there rather than having headed down, pop Carter back into cover and then rush Ripley up through the building towards the roof.
Eventually, she ends up in this location, and even has enough time units to head up the stairs and take a shot at the alien's back. That is still risky though, as she might miss or fail to kill with the first shot. Ideally, I'd want her to have at least three shots worth of TUs for the ambush. So I move her aside so the alien won't spot her if it turns around, and wait another turn.
I am glad I did. Carter having once again verified the location of the alien, Ripley heads halfway up the stairs and gets to work. Ultimately it takes three shots to bring the alien down, one hit, one miss, and finally another hit which proved enough to kill it. Ripley has the highest reactions stat out of all my agents, which is probably why I managed not to attract any reaction shots in return. Shoot an alien in the back with an agent with low reactions, and chances are it will spin and shoot back if your first shot fails to kill.
But that did not happen. Instead, Ripley got her first kill, and X-Com managed to recover its first UFO. All in all, that went pretty well.
Given the size of the UFO, there wasn't a whole lot to recover. Still, any alien loot is most welcome at this point in the game. And even if it is something I don't currently need, I will be able to sell it to improve my ailing finances.
And of course, credit where it's due. Congratulations, Sgt. Ripley.
Thus ends part two. Barring a particular challenge, battle reports in future installments will probably be rather less detailed, since this one also needed to serve as an introduction. That said, in situations where I really have to fight for it, or want to explain something in detail, I will of course provide a step-by-step report.
[Edit] Images lvlshotted.
