[Rhymes]

I'll volunteer myself for whatever you need: driver, demolitions, meat-shield, that guy that gets the coffee, whatever.

[NGTM-1R]

Peace, you're all still on the list from the first time. Well, except Gortef, and he is now. I'm in the hunt-the-last-alien portion of the mission now, and it promises to be a pain in the ass, so this could take an hour or two.

[Kobrar44]

I'm in the hunt-the-last-alien portion of the mission now, and it promises to be a pain in the ass, so this could take an hour or two.

Just BURN AAAAAAAAAALL THE THINGS!

[NGTM-1R]

With what, Jet Harpoons?

There is one major change this time, involving the tank. The Aquajet's low ammo supply basically meant I didn't use it for fear of needing it later, so we went to...


There have been a number of reports of commercial aircraft lost in this area. The UFO was in fact maneuvering to stalk an airliner when it was abruptly bounced by Scotty and FireSpawn and shot down by both of them in concert. (The actual kill goes to Scotty, but both fired.)

"Contact, looks like...THAT'S A SECTOID!" Spoon remembers well the enemies of the First War.


mxlm and Bloodeagle manage to kill it with splash damage that penetrates rents in the thin aluminum skin of the airliner.


The enemy UFO is fairly large, comparable in size to a Large Scout.


The planes are surprisingly intact considering we think the aliens brought them down. Actually, they're just surprisingly intact in general; they should have pancaked or shredded when they hit the water. No sign of human remains, but jg18 reports the engines still read as active and there is movement inside them. They'll have to be checked out.


BlueFlames and Jack enter the plane. An alien throws a grenade and is taken down by BlueFlames; the grenade lands on the top level of the plane above them and blows the hell out of First Class, but does nothing to the soldiers.


Scourge of Ages locates another on the other side of the UFO. “Sectoids, confirming Sectoids!”


Then he tries to kill it. He gets a hit, but Mongoose has to bring it down.


What's this bit? I'm not sure, but I think it might be the rear end of the airplane. It's weird, it's like somebody cut it into neat chunks and then transported it to the seabed very carefully. Then we showed up to blow it all up with grenades.


Like MP-Ryan did to this guy.


There was an alien right inside this door, but CommanderDJ killed it. More doors. We're gonna need more people to handle this.


The second opening of the door reveals a second alien. It too experiences warm greetings from CommanderDJ. The advance continues. Note, please, the placement of StarSlayer and watsisname. It's actually important, as it gives you the ability to see into the final compartment without moving there. Looks clear...but probably isn't. Aliens can actually hide in apparent line-of-sight in TFTD


It is clear. The last one is hiding somewhere. TFTD increased ground clutter and map size both, so hunt-the-last-alien isn't uncommon. The ship is empty. Internal layout is pretty complex, but it must have paid off; despite taking several torpedo hits the ship appears to be structurally intact and no systems have obvious damage. While the recovery crew will be happy, this means we might have to pull the kill if the aliens actually bottomed to try and hide from the Barracudas. They wouldn't be the first people to go to the bottom and silent to try and hide a sub.


watsisname checks out the cockpit section. You know, this is a weird airliner.


And the last alien was...hiding in the bathroom. BlueFlames, disgusted by its efforts to use the sink as a toilet, opens fire.


Mission Complete.

[NGTM-1R]

Squad composition ("*" indicates the ability to carry heavy weapons)

BlueFlames, Able Seaman
Scourge of Ages, Able Seaman
BloodEagle, Able Seaman *
CommanderDJ, Able Seaman
MPRyan, Ensign
StarSlayer, Able Seaman
watsisname, Seaman
Mongoose, Ensign
Jack Folstam, Seaman
mxlm, Able Seaman *

Currently everyone is armed with a grenade, and the event of night combat a flare. Since we only have two heavy-weapons troopers the assignment of our two Gas Cannon is obvious; one clip AP and two HE for daylight operations, additional clip of white phosphorous rounds for night.

Riflemen have a Jet Harpoon and two clips plus a Thermal Tazer for CQC. We're hoping to trade them for Gauss weapons late this month or early next.

[Droid803]

Hell why not, sign me up.

[z64555]

You know, that UFO kinda looks like... 

[NGTM-1R]

You know, that UFO kinda looks like... 

Ah, the grand HLP penisquest! Actually, though, if you look at where the engines are, the door's on the front.

[FireSpawn]

You know, that UFO kinda looks like... 

Steve Irwin's murderer?

[NGTM-1R]

Steve Irwin's murderer?

It's a little-known fact that Steve Irwin was actually killed by aliens.

[FireSpawn]

Steve Irwin's murderer?

It's a little-known fact that Steve Irwin was actually killed by aliens.

The bastards!
I loved watching that crazy Aussie poke angry animals with a stick, and they took that away from me! Load my Barracuda with napalm and point me to the nearest alien orphanage. 

[BlueFlames]

And the last alien was...hiding in the bathroom. BlueFlames, disgusted by its efforts to use the sink as a toilet, opens fire.

Grotesque, alien scum!  ****ting in the sink is an exclusively human passtime!

[Spoon]

There is one major change this time, involving the tank. The Aquajet's low ammo supply basically meant I didn't use it for fear of needing it later, so we went to...

Time to spray and pray!

You know, that UFO kinda looks like... 

I bet Trashman modelled it.

[NGTM-1R]

Welcome to the Tanaga Islands, where an alien attack is currently in progress, and so is our response. We weren't able to get enough Gauss ammo to equip everyone, so two people (Jack and mxlm; there were screwups in weapons issue too) still have Jet Harpoons.


Do not **** with tanks, dammit!


Scourge of Ages, preparing to enter the hotel, meets this alien. It does not survive.


Despite six people shooting at this alien, the only person who hit it was mxlm, who had a Jet Harpoon and didn't kill it with one hit. Yes, that's right, all you Gauss Rifle jockeys blew it and got shown up by somebody with the ****tiest gun in X-COM that can still be considered an actual gun. Spoon had to clean up after it.


Nice hotel, got a sauna for some reason and a beachfront, an alien in the closet-wait that's not supposed to be there, kill it Scourge!

Not that there's anything wrong with being in the closet, unless you're an alien.

This guy came from nowhere, not as much as the Demented Fuzzy Shivan on the ramp, but the tank or someone should have spotted him. He also went to nowhere. I'm not even sure he fired. BlueFlames did, though, and got him.


Bloodeagle gets a kill. watsisname spotted, but he's barely able to move under the weight of the Gas Cannon he ended up with, so his moving around makes it hard for him to shoot things.

Jack and his Jet Harpoon welcome you!


One more for the Spoonzer. I should note that it takes more than one shot even for the tank sometimes, but not this one after Spoon put the shot into this guy's forehead.


*screech of surprise* “Sorry ma'am!”


One for watsisname, now that he's finally gotten to a good overwatch position.


BloodEagle runs up and stuns an alien inside the large bunker thing. Normally by now this thing has cost me a soldier, but for some reason the alien didn't try to engage BloodEagle when it ducked out a few moments ago.

Does anybody know what this damn bunker is even supposed to be? It's not a real bunker, no fire ports, and while the jigger in there does suggest that it's designed to protect against explosions this is a freaking resort. In the Tanaga Islands. Wherever those are. (Apparently near New Zealand from the end-mission location of Triton 1.)

Another for mxlm with his Jet Harpoon.


That was somebody's wife, you fiend! Killing people in the honeymoon suite! CommanderDJ will avenge them!


watsisname hits another, but apparently even the Gas Cannon AP round isn't gutsy enough to ensure a kill as we saw with Talon 1024's death back in the other attempt.

mxlm finishes it off. Damn Gauss people, you're getting dissed here.

Mongoose spots the last one in an area that's technically still dark (spotting is weird in TFTD) and blasts it with an HE round. Mission Complete.


An alien ship buzzed the base while the team was out, then outran pursuit. Fortunately nothing came of it.

[NGTM-1R]

Also, FireSpawn is in need of more time in the Barracuda simulator, as he managed to go Winchester on Barracuda 2 without downing a small alien sub. It was pure luck that the sub stayed in the area long enough for Barracuda 1 and Scotty to vector out, acquire on their own sensors since it had passed out of base sensor range, and make intercept.

Triton 1 launched as well at about the same time Barracuda 1 did. jg18 should deliver the team in daylight to an area just off the continental shelf of Africa in the South Atlantic.

[NGTM-1R]

The unfortunates who have Jet Harpoons (or maybe fortunate if mxlm is any indication) this time are Mongoose, who is to be commended for not hogging the good gear despite being an officer, and Jack Folstam again.

Bottom conditions include disused wellheads and signs of dumping. Things have hit the bottom in small clusters or singly, kicking up mounds around them and partially burying themselves. No sign it's due to an organized effort or the destruction of a ship. And I don't think the UFO was dumping barrels out the back as it went down.


Jack hits this one but the Jet Harpoon is still the Jet Harpoon, and Scourge has to finish it.


Mxlm, freed of concerns about civilian causalities and given his proper weapon, opens up on this alien with HE. It's a direct hit.


More fodder for mxlm. The ease of the game is starting to concern me, but at least there's stuff to intercept now.


The dumping hasn't complete destroyed the environment here, we're starting to encounter small amounts of coral in little forests. Still no sign of the UFO. TFTD is actually a very visually appealing game for its era; I'm hoping we'll get some of the shipwreck or underwater ruins terrain to show that off eventually.


Several turns, once the limits of the battlescape have been established, are spent organizing into a proper sweep formation. The effort is somewhat wasted as the northernmost teams have already found the opposite edge lengthwise as well. But then the southern teams report a structure rising from the murk; it's the UFO.


The alien ship initially appeared undamaged, despite a minimum of four torpedo hits. Appearances were deceptive; one of the engines detonated due to damage. Interior damage is impossible to assess from outside.


We just lost CommanderDJ and Scourge of Ages to a alien which ducked out of the doorway. Another took a potshot at Jack as he prepared to enter through the hull breach, and is lurking right inside the door. MP-Ryan took down the alien on the exterior. Jack killed the other moments after I took this screenshot.


Mission Complete.

[CommanderDJ]

Nooooooooo. Two Able Seamen down. And I didn't even get to walk in lava again.

Well, whenever a spot frees up feel free to resurrect/clone me.

[TrashMan]

You'll have to wait in line for those of us that still havn't died.

Time for me to shine! (Or die horribly and miserably)

[Spoon]

I thought we were all adults here. Can't you guys clean up after yourselves?.
I demand overtime pay for all the extra panzering I had to do.

[Backslash]

Nice, sign me up!  The waiting list is long but you never know how many losses there will be.

Did you switch all the way to Beginner or go for some difficulty in the middle?

TFTD is one I never did finish.  Some of the later two-part missions were LONG.