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[Strongpoint]

You seem to forget why revisions exist - they're not "sacrifice some aspects to fix other things." We can use it to fix the flaws without arbitrarily increasing it in size.

Or we can improve our roll by using an easier way to fix it. Also, you are saying it like a larger version is strictly worse or mutually exclusive. It is like saying that a MG is worse than an assault rifle because you can't give it to every soldier.

Larger version will be, at the very least, more accurate. I'll actually add scope to revision proposal

If we'll have two sizes of railguns for our infantry, we can likely improve both with one revision and then better cooling of larger version will be useful

[Chiefwaffles]

A MG is not explicitly worse than an assault rifle, but right now we need an assault rifle more than we need a MG. We already have the XH1. Now we need to let the rest of our soldiers use railguns instead of conventional firearms.

The railgun is already a niche gun. The XS-1 fulfills the same niche (heavy ranged support) without making any progress towards actually pushing the railgun towards being a viable infantry weapon. It would provide little to zero experience in making proper handheld railguns as it only fixes its problems by "making it bigger". Something that of course goes away with smaller guns.

[TheFantasticMsFox]

New member, what is current situation?

[Thanatos Russ]

New member, what is current situation?

We are being shown through the mission phase that it's way better to concentrate forces to actually defeat the enemy and get some stuff, than it is to try and distribute our forces equally.

We are also trying to realize that the tech tree of the games is not required to be followed and it's best to just use it as a general rule of thumb to know difficulties.

We need to fix our rail-gun in such a way it ends up only costing 1 Equipment Point, so that we can have potentially two in one squad.

[Strongpoint]

We need to fix our rail-gun in such a way it ends up only costing 1 Equipment Point, so that we can have potentially two in one squad.

It already costs 1 EP.

Also, I assume that one unit of equipment = enough to fully equip a squad. 10ebbor10 Am I right?

[10ebbor10]

10ebbor10 Am I right?

Yup.

[10ebbor10]

Railgun Revision (1 Alien Alloy Token)
Alien alloy is used to replace components prone to malfunction and improve durability. The shock absorbing potential of this material is also explored to make the weapon safer. As a second priority, if other goals are achieved, scopes sensitive to drone electronic signatures are added.

Normal : 4 + 1  Average [Token Used=> Effect boosted]

The new alien alloys make our railguns issues disappear almost instantly. The new stronger rails are capable of easily resisting the significant stresses and tremendous heat of the railgun operation, even during repeated and sustained firing. Explosive failures have been eliminated, recoil has been mitigated, and maintenance issues virtually eliminated. With plenty of time left, we added a smart scope system that should allow us to spot the enemies drones more easily.

In effect, the XH-2 is a very effective semi-automatic rifle. The railgun round has tremendous velocity and penetrative power, making it an effective weapon both at range and against armored opponents. It has a limited capability to fire through most forms of cover and kill those hiding directly beneath, and is equipped with a special scope to identify drone systems.

UFO DETECTED

Craft(s): Small, Small, Small?
Current Trajectory:Medium Altitude, Descending
Location: Brazil

Radar installations in Brasil have detected a small flotilla of UFO's descending steadily towards one of the countries rural areas. Analysis indicates an estimated 3 UFO's are present. All UFO's appear to be the same size, there appears to be no sign of the small UFO seen during the last incursion. Analysis has pegged 2 of the UFO's as the lander they've used during previous abduction attempts. The third so far defies classification. It may be new, or modified, or even simply a fluke of the radar installation.
Bogey XXX
Location : North Pole

Spoiler: Technology (click to show/hide)

Vehicles

Raven (Interceptor) : Way beyond the bleeding edge of technology, the Raven is far beyond any other jet fighter ever build on Earth. With upgraded avionics, adjusted tracking, and advanced pulse detonation engines, the Raven is capable of pursuing even high speed alien craft. If needed, it can use it's avalanche missiles to shoot down any intruders.   Cost :   2  VP
      - Ground Combat Package : Replaces half of the Raven's Avalanche missiles with high tech air-to-ground SMART missiles

Skyranger (Troop Transport) : World's first supersonic troop transport. The Skyranger is high speed, heavily armored troop transport, capable of deploying and retrieving a single squad of soldiers in various situations. Cost : 1 VP

Equipment

Basic XCOM Rifle : XCOM's standard rifle. Cutting edge, custom designed, yet still affordable. Part of standard equipment.
Cost : 0

XH-2 Railgun Rifle : An effective semi-automatic rifle. Fires a powerful railgun round with tremendous velocity and penetrative power. In addition, it's equipped with a smart SCOPE to allow it to identify enemy drone targets.
Cost : 1

Basic XCOM Grenade : A simple grenade. Activate, throw, explode. Part of standard equipment.
Cost : 0

BASIC XCOM PISTOL : A simple, highpower pistol. It packs a pretty heavy punch, making it an effective if chalkenging sidearm Part of standard equipment.
Cost : 0

Training Program

Rookie Training Program : A basic introduction to the entire Xcom project. The absolute minimum that any soldier needs to know to operate successfully at XCOM. Cost : 1 Unit Points.

NOTSOFTER training regimen : A hard, effective international training regime, that gives our soldiers the tools and capacity to deal with aliens. Trains forces to a standard marginally higher than that attained by most special force units Cost : 1 Unit Points.

Inter Agency Cooperation teams : As part of ties developed through the NOTSOFTER training regime, we now have the capability of drawing upon special force teams. They're not as well suited to fight aliens as we're however, and nations will object if we keep losing them. Cost 1 Unit Point    [SPECIAL : Can't use XCOM GEAR, No vehicle needed for deployment when used in North America or Europe]

Mission Profiles

Interception : A simple mission profile that focuses on intercepting an alien vessel as soon as it's detected, destroying it before it can do any damage to any innocent people.

Down and Capture : A more complicated mission profile that focuses on downing an alien vessel (or waiting for it to land), and then storming it with ground forces.

Combined Arms : A mission profile that integrates air and ground forces to storm UFO's, using aerial bombing, reconnaissance and strafing runs when available to take out enemy strongpoints or UFO armor.

XCOM Resources

Island Mountain HQ [An isolated, hidden underground base on a remote island in the Aegean]
Aereal reconnaissance program : A simple program that allows us to requisition drone reconnaissance on suspected UFO sites.

6 VP
3 UP
3 EP
1 VP token,

Spoiler: PANIC METER (click to show/hide)

Africa
---> Egypt
---> South Africa
---> Nigeria

Asia
--->Australia
--->China
--->India
--->Japan

Europe
--->France
--->Germany
--->Russia
--->United Kingdom

North America
--->Canada
--->Mexico
--->United States

South America
--->Argentina
--->Brazil   X

Interception Phase

AABBCCDD

[Chiefwaffles]

Welp. We got outplayed.
Seems like they're making use of the advantage that is a combination fighter/lander UFO. Hmph.


The only way we have a chance of doing anything is if we send 3 Ravens. But that's not guaranteed (considering a Raven is very roughly 1:1 with their lander, and there's a new UFO in play). That means no Skyrangers and no ground combat, but I'd rather a chance at preventing the aliens from getting anything than nothing.

Operation First Summer
[Intercept Bogeys 008-010]
3 Ravens (Eliminate Lander UFOs)

Operation First Summer (1): Chiefwaffles

We should consider an interceptor design next turn.

[Strongpoint]

I think they assumed that we failed to detect Brazilian UFO and try it again. BTW, I was afraid of situation like this and this is why I wanted better missiles.

Operation Amazon
Combined Arms:
3xRaven
-2x of which equipped with SMART
1 Skyranger (VP token)
-NOTSOFTER
--XH-2 Railgun Rifle

I am not willing to take chances in 2 vs 3 fight. We simply can't afford them to raise panic further. Stopping them is our first priority.  Yes, ground forces will have a hard time but we have rifles and air support.

We can also consider just going intercept and keep Skyranger full of troops in reserve.

Damn, if only our cooperation with special forces worked in South America..

We can try 2 ravens and 3 skyrangers and wait till they land... but I don't think it is a good way to do it. Risk is too high.

Ninja'd

I don't think that pure interception is the best way to do it. We can win aerial battle.

[Happerry]

I like Operation Amazon, except for the bit where two of the Ravens are equipped with the Ground Combat Package. That does replace the Raven's normal anti-air firepower to some degree after all, and I'm hesitant to throw two debuffed ravens out when the enemy has a new ship and we're going to have even sides in the air. I'd prefer to only put one Raven through the Ground Combat Package modification to make sure that we win in the air, so we can use the Ground Combat Package in the first place.

[Chiefwaffles]

We should equip none of them with the ground combat package. Again - a Raven is roughly equal with their lander UFO. They have a new UFO and three in total. A Raven with the ground combat package won’t be able to fear their starter UFO 1:1.

We need every aerial advantage we can get.

[RoseHeart]

GM, was the VP token spent on a skyranger?

  X•COM TRUSTEE   
/\ •V I G I L O• /\\
/\ \C O N F I D O/ /\\

[Happerry]

We should equip none of them with the ground combat package. Again - a Raven is roughly equal with their lander UFO. They have a new UFO and three in total. A Raven with the ground combat package won’t be able to fear their starter UFO 1:1.

We need every aerial advantage we can get.

My issue is that, while what you said is true, we could be facing three crews with only a single skyranger's worth of troops. Even if we assume that the unidentified third UFO is some sort of larger escort instead of some sort of dedicated Transport or science vessel or something and doesn't carry any troops, we're still going to end up going with one skyranger's worth of units verses two crew units. Given those odds, I'd like to give at least one Raven the Ground Combat Package to make sure we can actually take what we shoot down.

So far our Ravens have done pretty well verses anything they have even numbers with. Given that, I consider one Ground Combat Package worth the risk. Just not two of them.

GM, was the VP token spent on a skyranger?

Not yet, it's still in the inventory, but we can (and should) spend it this phase. (Though the Alien Alloy Token is also still in the inventory... Typo?)

[Chiefwaffles]

If we shoot them down the Aliens they don’t get the benefits from successfully completing a mission.

I think it’d be much better to do that rather than risk everything so we have a better chance at securing the UFOs. Again - Ravens go 1:1 with their starter UFOs, and they developed a new UFO.

[Strongpoint]

A Raven with the ground combat package won’t be able to fear their starter UFO 1:1.

Ground combat package reduces number of available avalanches. Did we have a problem of getting close to running out of missiles vs starter UFOs?

I am hesitant to leave only one raven with air to ground missiles because it may be shot down and then we'll have no SMART. Ideal situation will be if we'll attack them after they land. They'll be far less dangerous in this case.