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[Madman198237]

I frankly don't even care if the XH3 wins now (though obviously I'd prefer either PLATE or a fully-automatic version of the railgun), just so long as we don't toss the infantry under the not-actually-proverbial bomb-launching alien bus of doom.

[10ebbor10]

The general notes on alien operation and training of men for situations involving aliens (Unit Experience) will be of great use for this project. As will using stolen EXALT intelligence (EXALT token) with what we can gleam of their operation methods and what they know about the aliens already in order to give our operatives an idea of what to expect with more subtle situations.

This is even vaguer than the previous iteration.

[Chiefwaffles]

I don't think burst-fire has that notable of a difference with full-automatic. Especially when they're both compared to upgrading to burst from semi-auto.
But I'll modify the XH-3 to make burst-fire optional in the sense of "automatic would be nice but we wouldn't complain about burst-fire." It'll probably still be burst-fire on a non-crit role, but it shouldn't add difficulty and it's better than making burst-fire a required part of the design.

And yes. Just anything upgrading our infantry would be nice. We can't just ignore on the ground when we lost so horrifically there last time. Adding another Unit won't fix it.

The general notes on alien operation and training of men for situations involving aliens (Unit Experience) will be of great use for this project. As will using stolen EXALT intelligence (EXALT token) with what we can gleam of their operation methods and what they know about the aliens already in order to give our operatives an idea of what to expect with more subtle situations.

This is even vaguer than the previous iteration.

Okay, I completely disagree (and that isn't meant to be taken as this turn's reivsions) considering we didn't have to be this specific for any other token, but whatever.

We use the Unit Experience token to train our agents.
We use EXALT intel to learn about how EXALT operates, and see if we can find anything about what they know about aliens. Then we incorporate that into agent training to better prepare them for what to expect.


But with that being said, I'd prefer a bit longer on the revision if possible. I won't complain if it goes regardless since it's not exactly within my rights or abilities to delay an update, but personally I'd like to at least see if Madman and I reach anyone with our arguments first.

[Madman198237]

Burst fire is, in the technical sense, harder than full-auto. At least, it is with a conventional firearm. Here it's all computerized, and the difference between "burst" and "auto" is whether or not the electricity stops after 3 rounds.

[Chiefwaffles]

Basically, I just didn't want the revision to try and absorb the difficulty of handling recoil in full-auto. We definitely have a very manageable recoil for the gun to be as useable as it is right now, but I don't think that it's quite at "easily handled at full-auto without upgrading" levels yet. And I want the revision to focus on the burst/auto-fire part, not the recoil part.
I'll make the revision reflect that more accurately. So less "make it burst-fire" and more "don't worry too much about recoil".

[Madman198237]

Actually, you'd just need a slider to control the strength of each shot. The gun is already computerized, otherwise it'd be full-auto now (though with a slow loading system). You just need to tell the computer "less power, but don't stop feeding power in" and boom, full-auto with less recoil.

[Pavellius]

Switching my vote to XH3 (if possible).

Anti mimic training of Inter agency cooperation teams (2): Strongpoint, Pavellius
Rockbreaker Missiles Mk. 2 (0):
XH-3 Railgun (4): Chiefwaffles, Happerry, Madman, Pavellius
ARC Thrower (0):
Investigatory Unit (3): Blood_Librarian, Happerry, strongpoint
PLATE: (1) Madman

[Chiefwaffles]

Good point, Madman, I'll edit that in.

[Madman198237]

Sniper rifle, battle rifle, assault rifle, and submachine gun, all in one.

[Blood_Librarian]

Anti mimic training of Inter agency cooperation teams (2): Strongpoint, Pavellius
Rockbreaker Missiles Mk. 2 (0):
XH-3 Railgun (4): Chiefwaffles, Happerry, Madman, Pavellius, Blood_Librarian
ARC Thrower (0):
Investigatory Unit (2):  Happerry, strongpoint
PLATE: (1) Madman

[10ebbor10]

Okay, I completely disagree (and that isn't meant to be taken as this turn's reivsions) considering we didn't have to be this specific for any other token, but whatever.

In the previous tokens, you were far more specific. To take the Talon as an example :
- Alien alloy was used to reinforce and strengthen the armor
- Power core was used to inttegrate a power core
- Propulsion was used for your specific engine

I can do the same thing with your base. The big fancy computer is intended to do the analysis and look for aliens.

We use the Unit Experience token to train our agents.

Using Unit experience to train agents is as vague as can be. Any action of any sort will involve training agents.

[Chiefwaffles]

That's because the other tokens are far more specific. Alien alloy is a specific material, power core is a power core, propulsion is propulsion. It's easy to use these tokens more specifically when they themselves are more specific. It's hard to know what to do with just a nebulous "Unit Experience."
Regardless, I should be able to describe it better when I next post a design using the token. For now, it's not relevant since the XH-3 is winning over Investigatory Units.

Also, edit done to the XH-3. Link is here for those who don't want to go hunting for it.

[Happerry]

Anti mimic training of Inter agency cooperation teams (2): Strongpoint, Pavellius
Rockbreaker Missiles Mk. 2 (0):
XH-3 Railgun (5): Chiefwaffles, Happerry, Madman, Pavellius, Blood_Librarian, Happerry
ARC Thrower (0):
Investigatory Unit (1): strongpoint
PLATE: (1) Madman

[Thanatos Russ]

Why not use the experience token to teach the NS dudes how to use the new equipment really well?

[10ebbor10]

XH-3 Railgun (Edited - changed wording around recoil and whatnot)
The XH-2 is a solid railgun, but it's still effectively a glorified prototype.

By drawing on our experience with the manufacturing and maintenance of the XH-2 since its deployment as well as our other experience with railguns - the Phoenix gunpod, the Talon's upgraded railguns, and our base defense railguns - we can improve the gun. The XH-3 uses more advanced self-loading systems in order to reload at a rate sufficient for fully automatic fire.
If recoil is a problem, we can just modify how much power goes to the rails per individual shot and let soldiers switch between modes, since it's all electric and computerized anyways. Several modes can exist - sniper, battle rifle, assault rifle, SMG. All just a matter of adjusting how much power the rails get. SMG gets low-enough power to allow for comparably-insane firerates, sniper rifle gets high power at low firerates, and so on. Bonus is that it lets the XH-3 be a multi-purpose weapon with very little effort from us.

TL;DR: We've spent a lot of time with the XH-2 and have done lots of railgun tech since then. Give the XH-2 (now XH-3) automatic-fire capabilities to make it a more effective combat weapon, especially in closer-range and faster-paced combat.

Normal : 3 + 1 = 4 Below Average

The XH-3 consists of a set of simple modifications to it's predecessor, the XH-2. The reloading mechanism has been reworked to allow fully automatic fire rate, and the devices firmware has been adjusted to allow soldiers to pick from various firerates and corresponding muzzle velocities. We also added a small supercapacitor, in order to allow the system to accumulate sufficient power for high power single shots, or for rapid fire action.

While the weapon is versatile, the basic design means that it's not well suited for all applications. Optimal functionality remains in the original configuration, with both rapid fire and high power fire being less than perfect, suffering from capacitor depletion and recoil respectively. Those are relatively minor issues.

UFO DETECTED

Craft: Medium Lander
Destination: India
Altitude : Low altitude
Mission : Harvest ?

Bogey 25 is one of the alien's big lander vessel.It's currently slowing down and heading for a landing in India. Behavioral analysis and the choice of the landing terrain suggests that this one of the alien's large scale kidnapping operations.

As a heads up, current local time is the middle of the night.

Craft: Small Lander, Small Fighter
Destination: Russia
Altitude: Orbital

26 and 27 are coming down from orbit near Russia. They consist of a small alien lander, and was as one of their smaller fighters. Insufficient data was present to devise their intent.

Craft: Small Lander, Small Fighter
Units: Skin Crawlers/Mimics , Sectoid
Destination: Mexico
Altitude : Take-off

We spotted these last 2 in Mexico, shortly after they'd taken off again. Behavioral analysis is unable to deduce their purpose here, the village they chose to accost did not fit in with their typical abduction targets, and they don't appear to have abducted anyone.

UAV footage managed to spot 1 unit of Skin Crawlers and some Sectoids as they clambered back into the UFO. The sectoid appears to be carrying some new type of weapon.

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
      - Rockslide Missiles : An upgraded targeting system, that increases missile effectiveness.
      - Ground Combat Package : Replaces half of the Raven's Avalanche missiles with high tech air-to-ground SMART missiles

Talon (Interceptor) : Integrating copious amounts of Alien Technology, the Talon is grav-wave propelled, heavily armored interceptor. Has 18 hard points for missiles and 2 nose mounts, fitted with a railgun by default.  Cost :   3  VP.  (1 Token worth free)

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    [1 Free Skyranger available]
 
Equipment

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

XH-3 Railgun Rifle : An effective and versatile rifle. Fires a powerful railgun round with tremendous velocity and penetrative power. Capable of firing in full automatic, semi-automatic and single shots, with progressively stronger shots as fire rate decreases.  In addition, it's equipped with a smart SCOPE to allow it to identify enemy drone targets. Best efficiency in semi-automatic mode, with automatic and single shot suffering from capacitor depletion and recoil respectively.
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

Phoenix railgun pod : A modular gun pod containing a light railgun. Relatively low firerate, but decent armor penetrating capability. Can be attached to Skyrangers and Ravens, though the latter looses 4 of it's missiles to make room. Cost: 1 EP for 3

Rockbreaker Missile: A missile coated in a very thin alien alloy and equipped with a volatile destabilized elerium powercell as warhead. Will detonate if exposed to shock or heat. Cost : 1 EP for 8.

TAV-2: A cobbled together combat visor that can identify and highlight aliens, including disguised ones. Fragile, cobbled together and decidly unergonomic.
Cost : 1 EP

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/South 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]
       - UFO Power Core
       - Railgun Defenses
       - Heuristic radar
       - Improved production
Brazil Jungle Base [A relatively isolated, partially underground base in the Brazilian Jungle]
       - Alien Computing Systems
       - Aircraft Maintenance and Hangar facility : +1 VP
       - Equipment Production facilities : +1 EP
       - Primitive alien containment

Aereal reconnaissance program : A simple program that allows us to requisition drone reconnaissance on suspected UFO sites.

7 VP
3 UP
5+1 EP

2 Alien Equipment Token, 1 Unit experience Token, 1 VP Token, 1 Exalt Intel 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

Revision Phase

Turn 8

Month end : Gain 1 free VP; UP or EP point

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