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[Failbird105]

I really don't think we need a better weapon, not just yet anyway, soon maybe, but not this turn. There's a very low chance of them completely nullifying our weapons advantage in one turn.
We are more than capable of killing them with our pistols, but what we can't do is hold up to their weapons. I think trying to get really cheap armor into our free equipment list is going to be more useful than making a bigger gun that will take equipment points away from what we could be spending on meld and drones.

[Shadowclaw777]

@10ebbor10 For thematic reasons alone, how long is each turn? From the description and such I believe it's either 2 weeks or a month... but a month means each turn is kinda over-exaggerated? It means we actually do very little for the time we're given, so it makes sense in my head that each turn takes 2 weeks. Also base Xcom 2012 did have two abduction choices out of three spots (so the aliens tried harvest on 6 sites each month) you had to choose per turn, as I remember

Also it seems we are very much inclined to go for better armor, however we have 2 UP tokens at our discretion, and utilizing them for Sectoids (Gen. 1) and Scout Drones seem ill-advised; better for a more sophisticated unit we will inevitable create next turn with the DNA token

[Failbird105]

Oh yes definitely. The question is which one, all the designs seem useful so far for their purposes, but they also all seem to be trying to really reach for it. Personally I would rather try to use our bonus to give us an advantage to an easier roll, than use it to counter the disadvantage for a harder roll.

[10ebbor10]

@10ebbor10 For thematic reasons alone, how long is each turn? From the description and such I believe it's either 2 weeks or a month... but a month means each turn is kinda over-exaggerated? It means we actually do very little for the time we're given, so it makes sense in my head that each turn takes 2 weeks. Also base Xcom 2012 did have two abduction choices out of three spots (so the aliens tried harvest on 6 sites each month) you had to choose per turn, as I remember

It's deliberatly kept vague for that exact reason, but 2 weeks to a month-ish makes sense.

[Failbird105]

So ebbor I wanted to ask, what kind of things would be relevant to the DNA point? Like, would NuCom floaters be able to use it even though they're very heavily cybernetic?

[10ebbor10]

So ebbor I wanted to ask, what kind of things would be relevant to the DNA point? Like, would NuCom floaters be able to use it even though they're very heavily cybernetic?

Depends on the justification and fluff you attach to it.

[Failbird105]

Depends on the justification and fluff you attach to it.

So I'm assuming that a DNA token is meant to represent patching in Earth DNA to change things?

Would you be willing to say how much benefit the current creature designs would get out of using it, or do you want us to find out by making them?

[10ebbor10]

Yup.

How much benefit depends entirely on what you want to do. But, if you want an example, just compare the nuCom 1 and 2 Sectoids.

[Failbird105]

Alright, so. I decided to make a thing for next turn. This may be familiar, and that's because it's based heavily on the Slenderion, but altered to be more physically interesting and use a lot more Earth DNA to get that DNA token bonus.

Masked Reaver
Tall slender creatures, partway between mantis and various reptilian species. The Reavers are 7 feet tall and athletically built for something with its size, with a dark grey-blue exoskeleton. They use this in combination with their raw willpower to survive great amounts of damage. They fight with a terrible cunning, using their bladed forearms and sharp mandibles to rip their enemies apart should they find themselves in close quarters, and they show brutal practicality to demoralize and break foes. Their main strength, however, is intelligence. Reavers are implanted with genetic memory of various tactics and strategies, and can use this to plan around our enemies actions and lead our troops. However, they lack any propensity for the Gift.

Physically they are, as stated, a hybrid of mantids and various reptilian species. They have well built legs based on a recreation of ancient Earth reptilians, ending in iguana-like feet, good for climbing and traversing rough terrain. Their arms are similarly well built, but on the underside of their forearms they possess the blades of a mantis. Rather than the third limb segment possessed by most mantids for gripping, the Reavers have three-fingered hands with an opposable thumb, for wielding guns. Their torso is mostly reptilian, and they have a large mantis abdomen coming off where the tail would be, situated at an angle where it touches the ground when they stand straight, but comes out straight back when they are in their forward leaning fighting posture. Their head is a hybrid between mantis and serpent, with the mantid eyes and mandibles, but a serpent structure. It's covered by a layer of bone like a mask, hence their name, which unhinges, opening along a center line, shedding away their elegant and oddly beautiful facade to reveal the frightening truth.

[NUKE9.13]

I'm not sure about making them super intelligent. That seems like it would raise difficulty and/or cost. Sectoid-level intelligence, or even less, should be enough for deadly melee fighters.

[Failbird105]

The point is that they're meant to be capable field officers who can fight as well as they can lead. Admittedly though you made me realize I went overboard with both the strength AND intelligence. Muscular implied being like mutons, they're more like human olympians I also toned down the overall intelligence, they still have the natural tactical knowledge though because that's the point.

[Shadowclaw777]

How to make this creature more simple to create... having backup organs probably makes the thing quite ridiculous however I believe a muscular 7 ft creature isn't above the norm in terms of athleticism, I'm pretty sure that this creature can run up to a athletic human grab it and than horrible mangle in some method; and that's without the bladed forearms. I would probably remove the backup organs part and just give it a strong exoskeleton like a insects or such.

As for mantids, I wonder if our first terror unit should be based off a mantis? Imagine the horror when you got a bunch of giant flying mantises charging at civilians and humans that are immune to bullet fire and could horribly maim the humans or even give it the infection ability of the chrysalids or Flood-style unit

[Failbird105]

Hmm, okay yeah I'll get rid of the organs. Not the abdomen though, I feel that adds a lot to the aesthetic without really increasing complexity.

As for our first terror unit, honestly I think there's very little more terrifying than seeing your own kind warped into monsters. Though something like a big fleshy blob monster that just straight up eats people would be great as well.

[10ebbor10]

Major Fighter Improvements: Our Light Fighter has proven to be inadequate to deal with the Humans own interceptor, and the fact that such primitives can do such damage is unacceptable. As such, we have decided to make plenty of improvements. To do this, we increase the speed and maneuverability of our craft as much as we possibly can, all the while replacing the control of the craft from a navigator in another UFO to the fighter itself, this can also allow it to utilize its construction better and react thousands of times faster then any mere sectoid controller could ever hope. All of this will result in more agile fighters that can tell the difference between human aircraft and our UFO's, know how to engage and destroy human aircraft in an efficient manner, and of course, be able to dodge and get into the blind spots of enemy aircraft. A side objective of this work, that is mostly only to be worked on if we have time left, is to armour the fighter a little bit better, not much as it needs to remain light, but enough that it will increase survivability slightly.

Normal : 2 + 3 : Average

Unsatisfied with previous work, the fighter pattern is revised completely. To satisfy a demand for greater speed and maneuverability, the new fighter is equipped with an anti-grav significantly larger and more powerful than the old design. Navigation computers have been greatly increased in size and complexity to give the vessel a true autonomy, making it a powerful hunter in the skies. To power this all, the reactor has been enlarged significantly, with a little spare capacity used to thicken the alloy armor over the most vulnerable areas.

The result is a reasonably effective fighter. Simulation indicate that it should be capable of dealing with every plane currently fielded with XCOM, while mock fights against our own ships suggest it could easily win against 2 or even 3 fighters at once without a scratch(if it is hit however, the light scouts powerful armament does usually result in significant enough damage to cause an eventual loss).

Unfortunately, the additional power and capacity result in an unavoidable increase in cost.

Recruit Collaborators: Not all Earthlings are irrationally opposed to our efforts to bring them into the Great Plan. Many are, for various reasons, willing to cooperate. Some want wealth, their desire for the worthless metal they call "Gold" overwhelming xenophobia. Others want knowledge, and will work for us in exchange for meaningless secrets. Some simply want to be a part of something greater than themselves. Whatever their motivation, we can accomodate them.
We send a team of negotiators to contact susceptible individuals, establishing communications and providing whatever it is they desire. Subsequently, the converted Earthlings will serve us, providing information on their country's actions, offering assistance in further missions, and spreading our influence to make way for our eventual takeover.
Mechanically, the goal of this mission is to contact, negotiate with, and then ensure the safe and anonymous departure of our new allies. Should XCOM interfere, they should be either eliminated, or kept away from the negotiations long enough for them to conclude, and prevented from identifying our collaborators.

Normal : 4 + 3 (Superior craftmanship)

With gifts of wealth, knowledge or through the sheer power of the Truth, we should be able to make humanity see the light. Their help will go a long way to making the rest of humanity recognize our superiority, allowing us to help them exploit the Gift. Thanks to XCOM and humanities outmoded ideals, they can no do this in the open, they'll have to act from the shadows. As such, we aim to create a heavily compartmentalized high level infiltration of human society, secured against eventual losses or even partial discovery.

The general focus of this strategy is therefore on subterfuge and stealth. Units are covertly inserted near target locations, and make their way then to the collaborators. There, they will negotiate, delivering the required goods as needed and agreed up. Extraction via UFO follows later. If attacked, the primary focus is to obfuscate the purpose of the meeting, keeping XCOM busy while allowing collaborators to escape.

This strategy relies primarily on subterfuges. Species that can infiltrate society, and small, high speed UFO's are therefore best suited.

Spoiler: Equipment (click to show/hide)

Vehicles

Small scout : One of the tiniest vessels at your disposal, the Small scout is both cheap and reliable. Powered by a single Elerium core, the vessel makes decent speed, while carrying up to 2 units to their destination. It's equipped with a plasma turret for self defense . Cost : 1 VP

Light fighter : Roughly half the size of a Small Scout, the Light fighter is a small craft that can be slaved to a nearby UFO to defend it. It's armed with 3 forward firing plasma guns, giving it a decent amount of firepower. Like the small scout, it is powered by a single Elerium core that gives it decent speed. Cost : 1 VP

Medium fighter Roughly 3 quarters the size of a small scout, the medium fighter is a small automated craft capable of independent operation. It's armed with 3 forward firing plasma guns, giving it a decent amount of firepower. Powered by an enlarged Elerium reactor, it's small size gives it greatly superior speed and maneuverability. Cost : 2 VP

Equipment

Plasma Pistols : A basic simple sidearm that has been used in many pacification operations. The plasma pistol is a dependable bit of equipment that is light but not particularly powerful.

Elerium Grenade : The elerium grenade is powerful handheld explosive. Cost : 1 EP

Meld Container : A container filled with the precious Meld, a substance that consists out of billions of cybernetic nanomachines that automatically capture, catalogue and analyse any foreign DNA they find. Greatly increases the effectiveness of recovery operations. If capture threatens, the container will perform an auto-sterilization cycle.  Cost : 1 EP

Aliens
Sectoid : A formerly weak species with a limited capability for the gift. Nonetheless, their simple biology allows to easily clone these creatures and deploy them in great numbers. Integration of human DNA has brought their strength up to par with human baseline.
    - Reversable Mind Merge: Merge minds with an organic, intelligent friendly or enemy, giving or drawing upon them for strength
Cost 1 UP

Scout drone : A small but fast scout drone armed with powerfull short range non-lethal weaponry and powerfull sensors. Effective at hunting down humans as well as spotting threats, but lightly armored.

Cost 1 UP or 1 EP

Mission Profiles

Harvest: A simple mission profile that involves a UFO landed in a secluded area to capture humans other lifeforms for analysis in the main base.

Recruit Collaborators : A more complex mission profile that relies on the insertion of infiltrating units to make contact and recruit potential collaborators.

Alien Resources

3+1 VP
6 UP
2 EP

2 UP Token
1 DNA Token
Dark side of the Moon base [Hidden, Industrious]

[/spoiler]

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

ALIENS INVADE: PHASE 3


AABBCCDD

[NUKE9.13]

Hmm. Unfortunate that it costs more. How much more, exactly? I'm guessing 2VP, but it doesn't actually say?

Anyway, the way the results for RC are worded suggests to me that the unit we create next turn should, amongst other things, be suited for infiltration. I like the Masked Reavers for the idea of a unit with a mask concealing a horrible alien face. They could be modelled after the classic tragedy/comedy theatre masks. Then we just cram 'em in a suit, and from a distance, it's just a regular dude wearing a mask for some reason. In combat, they reveal their true face, tear off the suit, and lay into folks.