XCOM Design TurnBeing overwhelmed by aliens? Horrified that some enemy is gonna pop out of the darkness? Can't look in 360 degrees around you at once? Need some extra gunfire? Need a buddy to share your secrets with? The Guardian has you covered!
The Autonomous Portable Weapon "Guardian" starts off as a rectangular prism cubeish-like object carried on someone's back, like a backpack, with neat detachable straps. Take it off your back, press a button and throw place it on the ground/floor/alien mothership hull/whatever. It'll unfold outwards. A small but sturdy tripod keeps it stable and gives it a bit of height, while a single-barrel air-cooled 20mm cannon extends outwards a bit. Recoil-dampeners and a 360-degree motor at the base of the turret (between it and the tripod) allow it to rotate freely. Most of the chassis is dedicated to power and ammunition storage, with about 10% for target recognition and operation electronics.
But that's all quite straightforward. The most important part is the extensive sensor array. Microphone, camera, lidar, radar, heat sensors, motion sensors, infrared, and more. All commercially available, though of course we'll be using higher-grade military stuff. Sensor data is all compiled and analyzed. Existing military research around the world, especially China governmental research, help it detect any kind of potential enemy. For the time being we've programmed it to fire at anything that's alive and not a human. For ammo constraints, it will only fire a single burst (or, keep firing until most of a burst hits) per target but nearby soldiers can override this if overkill is needed. Sensors are placed so it doesn't have to be looking in a direction to detect things in that direction. That'd just be bad design.
The entire thing can refold and be carried again. It can also be reloaded in the field, which is useful given its size. Power isn't expected to be a concern, but regardless it can be plugged into a cable (coming from any power outlet in the engagement area or our deployment vehicles) to charge whenever.
Hard 4 + 2 -1 = 5
On their first day of work, we pose our new engineers a challenge. Take this assorted pile of weaponry, and created a weapons system that can fit in the carry-on luggage of a commercial airliner. It is testament to capabilities of our engineers that they took what was supposed to be a simple hazing challenge, and created a viable weapon's concept that we're now ready to deploy.
While the Guardian doesn't technically fit in the overhead luggage (being about twice too heavy and significantly too large), it does feature a fully autonomous 20 mm cannon, easy portability and sleek aesthetics. Most of our engineers agree that those features make up for the extra ticket price.
The 20mm gun around which the Guardian is built is capable of cutting through cover, armor and flesh with ease, killing most targets with a single burst. This helps mitigate it's low fire rate, which is the result of design compromises surrounding ammunition and heat concerns. Another possible weakness is it's performance at longer ranges, where it's shortened barrel introduces reduced accuracy and bullet drop.
The Guardian's sensor system is both advanced and user manipulable. The weapon can be fired in semi-autonomous and autonomous modes. In the former, an operator approves every target. In the latter, the weapon simply fires at every target that does not sufficiently meet it's definition of human. It's suggested that the weapon's systems are kept at low scrutiny in civilian areas, as misidentification of children, elderly and extravagantly costumed people is a rare but possible occurrence.
In the end however, the Guardian is an efficient, portable (but quite heavy) autonomous weapon platform, capable of both assisted and autonomous operation in most combat conditions.
Autonomous Portable Weapon "Guardian" : Autonomous 20mm man-portable deployable turret. Can be operated in assisted or autonomous (fire at anything non-human) modes. Heavy. 1 EP.
The Killing House, Mark II
Most special forces and counterterrorism units go through training in what's known as a "Killing House". First designed and used by the SAS, a Killing House is a live-fire range using movable targets and easily adjusted lightweight walls, so that every time the soldiers go through it's different. It teaches adaptability, reaction time, fire discipline, accuracy, everything a soldier needs in a combat environment.
The Killing House, Mark II builds on that, with a massive building (underground, if our base is underground) covered with movable walls, ceilings, and floors. The system is controlled via computer and can be modified even during a practice mission, allowing the terrain to be switched from close quarters to longer ranged engagements at the click of a button, while recruits run through the building clearing rooms or engaging hostiles in various conditions.
To aid in this, operatives are given a powerful augmented reality headset, capable of transforming the environment and changing the identical targets and walls into appropriate terrain. A body suit shocks the trainees anywhere they're "shot", while the trainees can see the results of their shots and thus instantly evaluate whether or not to fire again via the AR images.
The size of the chamber and the bullet-resistant walls allow multiple smaller simulations to be run simultaneously to get in more effective training time for units. The end goal is to transform our pathetic "Rookies" who didn't get any XCOM training into the best soldiers that can be found even if it takes a while (i.e., raises UP cost. We want REALLY DARNED GOOD soldiers even if they're more expensive), capable of dealing with every single terrain type imaginable. This also eventually will provide benefits for specialization (beyond "sniper", "officer", and "machinegunner", the three meaningful military specializations that don't involve vehicles) if that actually becomes a thing we want to do for some militarily incomprehensible reason, though snipers are going to need a surface-side range as we don't have infinitely long range down here.
Units trained down in the Killing House are referred to as Operators, and given privilege of first use of the facility for constant training to maintain and improve skills as the enemy brings out their own improvements and changes.
Hard 3 + 4 -1 = 6
The MkII Killing House is major overhaul of our current training programs. Before, XCOM mostly relied on the existing training of it's candidates with a simple course used to streamline and integrate everyone. With the Killing House, we know have a tool capable of mimicking nearly every combat, even those involving moveable walls.
The killing House is a modular construct contained within a large factory hall. Movable cranes can be used to rebuild the structure as needed, and integrated moveable objects can move part of it around even during the exercises. An augmented reality system further aids the accuracy of the combat simulation, including both visual and sensory feedback.
As is obvious, the killing house can not simulate any excessively heavy weaponry or long range encounters.
As a result of the program, we've reclassified our force options :
Rookie Training Program : New recruits drawn primarily from memberstate militaries, who have completed basic introductory courses to bring them up to speed with the XCOM project, but are basically normal soldiers. Cost : 1 Unit Points.
Operator : Soldiers who have completed at least one batch of Killinghouse tests with adequate scores. Cost : 2 Unit Points.
Master Operator : Soldiers with extensive experience with the XCOM project, and considerable training on the Killinghouse's most difficult courses Cost : 3 Unit Points.
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 : 1 VP
Skyranger (Troop Transport) : World's first supersonic troop transport. The Skyranger is high speed, heavily armored troop transport, capable of deploying and retrieving two squads of soldiers in various situations. Cost : 1 VP
Equipment
Standard Issue Weaponry: The best of the best (within reasonable price range), from armories all over the world.
Breaching Charges : Heavy duty demolition explosives, great for blasting into enemy UFO's if you don't particularly feel like getting them intact. 1 EP
Autonomous Portable Weapon "Guardian" : Autonomous 20mm man-portable deployable turret. Can be operated in assisted or autonomous (fire at anything non-human) modes. Heavy. 1 EP.
Training Program
Rookie Training Program : New recruits drawn primarily from member state militaries, who have completed basic introductory courses to bring them up to speed with the XCOM project, but are basically normal soldiers. Cost : 1 Unit Points.
Operator : Soldiers who have completed at least one batch of Killinghouse tests with adequate scores. Cost : 2 Unit Points.
Master Operator : Soldiers with extensive experience with the XCOM project, and considerable training on the Killinghouse's most difficult courses Cost : 3 Unit Points.
Close Combat Specialist : Assign a close combat specialist to the chosen squad. This does not increase squad size. Can not be deployed independently Cost : 1 UP
Mission Profiles
- Interception: A basic mission to destroy incoming UFO's.
- Down and Capture : A basic mission to force UFO's to land and then capture their valuable materials
- Investigation : A basic investigation mission, that tries to find Ethereal symphatizants.
XCOM Resources
3 VP
6 UP
3 EP
Main Base : Germany (Europe)
Subsidiary bases
- China (Asia)
- Mexico (North America)
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
Author
Topic: XCOM Arms Race II : VIGILO CONFIDO (Read 14242 times)