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[Kashyyk]

Some potential non-canon options for Troops, (admittedly I cribbed the ideas from other places instead):

Approximately the size of an Ethereal's clenched fist, the Brainjacker is a slimy, soft-skinned creature, equipped with a large number of whip-like tendrils. When presented with a helpless subject, the brainjacker can infiltrate the subject's body and seize control of the nervous system, effectively claiming the body for itself.

After some time to assimilate the host's memories and familiarise itself with the control system, the Brainjacker will be able to effectively assume the host's identity. This should be ideal for infiltrating human power structures and in presenting a familiar face to potential sympathisers.

A writhing mass of tentacles, approximately the same volume as a human, the Tentaculat is capable of carrying and using vast amounts of gear due to the sheer number of manipulator limbs it possesses. The tentacles all stem from a small central core, containing the creature's essential organs. Thanks to the vast majority of it's form being tentacles, the core is hard to target and not always in the center of mass, so critical hits are difficult to achieve.

Possesing a large, six legged exoskeleton reminiscent of terran insectoids, the Insectopod is well armoured with natural chitin and additional alien alloy plates affixed on top. They have a strong olfactory sense, capable of pinpointing the location of hostile forces and strong grasping armours, equally capable of carrying weapons as they are of pinning an enemy for a sting or bite.

[10ebbor10]

Repeating a question, then: What, if any, changes have been made to air combat/air support? Feel free to answer with “No comment” if the idea is for us to wait and see.

I'm not going to tell you everything, because that makes it easier to spot the flaws but the gist is :

1) I rebalanced XCOM's starting aerial units
2) I started both sides out with a mission type that does not involve aerial combat
3) Some other stuff.

[10ebbor10]

Alien Design Turn

Mercurial Shipyards:
With the resources currently at our disposal, the number of ships we can deploy is strictly limited. Transporting ships across interstellar distances is simply not feasible; we need in-situ shipyards to build and maintain our fleet.
The Mercurial Shipyards are named such for two reasons: One, they are located in our main base on Mercury; Two, they are designed to rapidly change and adapt to our needs. All the equipment is modular, moving around on magnetic tracks according to the whims of the shipbuilders, allowing for ships of all sizes to be assembled or repaired. Attached are the necessary foundries, reactors, and labs needed to produce the various components that go into our vessels.
The Mercurial Shipyards are mostly automated, with management tasks being performed by Sectoids.

Hard : 4+3-1 (6)

The Mercurial shipyards are a massive undertaking. The entire structure of the shipyard is heavily modular, with entire assembly being fitted with magnetic tracks that allow cranes, ships and even entire void docks to moved across the surface with comparative ease. This allows the shipyard to easily produce, support or repair any ordinary class of vessel, and even allows the shipyard to maintain and upgrade itself.

Hidden underneath the main assembly are the foundries, reactors and advanced fabrication plants that produce the materials required by the shipyard above, ensuring a short and efficient supply line.

Due to the self-assembling nature of the shipyard, we've already brought 1 part online, with the majority of the complex coming online next month.

Mercurial Shipyards +1 VP next turn, +3 VP thereafter

Ophanim:
The Ophanim are a curious specimen. They are disc-shaped, and covered in dozens of eyes. They do not walk, but rather float in the air with the aid of the Gift (made easier by their lightweight bodies). Physically, they are incredibly weak, incapable of surviving more than two or three shots with even conventional weaponry. However, their capacity for the Gift is impressive, and- as one might expect- their vision is excellent. Between their various eyes, they are capable of seeing deep into both infrared and ultraviolet, can spot movement at incredible distances, and have excellent night vision (not all eyes can do all those things, rather they have several kinds of eyes specialised in different tasks).
Their psionic abilities include their ability to float, move, and communicate, but also the "Eyes of Fear" ability, where they stare directly into a target's eyes, causing them to become paralysed with fear for a brief period- this being their primary means of 'self defence', as it allows them to escape whilst their pursuer is frozen. It can also be used to aid in gathering research materials, as the Ophanim can track down subjects, freeze them, and summon Sectoids to subdue the target more permanently.

Ophanim are useful scouts, and thanks to their small statures and simple metabolisms can be deployed in large numbers. Their psionic abilities could be expanded in future, if desired.

Normal : 2 +4 = 6

The Ophanim are a peculiar species indeed. At first, they may be mistaken for a cloning failure, as they look like a soft fleshy sponge filled with eyes and assorted organs. Nonetheless, the pancake shaped species is exactly as the Ethereals designed it. Their incredibly simple cloning process allows them to be produced by the dozen, and discarded just as easily.

With no legs or limbs, the Orphanim is entirely reliant on the gift for both movement and manipulation of it's environment. Both are tasks that it manages to accomplish with decent accuracy. It's dominant characteristic, the eyes, function perfectly, given the Orphanim a perfect view of the battlefield, one that it gladly shares with it's fellows, as well as our sectoids.

Offensively, the Orphanim is rather weak. If given eye contact, it can utilize it's weak psionic capabilities to temporally subdue a target, but beyond that their fleshy forms are weak to any kind of violence. Faced with significant number of enemies, the Orphanim can only hope that it is able to flee.

Orphanim A tiny pancake shaped alien with way too many eyes. Floats using the gift, and can stun enemies. Unit cost : 0.5

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

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 threathens, the container will perform an auto-sterilization cycle.  Cost : 1 EP

Aliens
Sectoid : A 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.
Cost 1 UP

Orphanim : A tiny pancake shaped alien with way too many eyes. Floats using the gift, and can stun enemies. Unit cost : 0.5

Misc

Mercurial Shipyards +1 VP next turn, +3 VP thereafter

Mission Profiles

Abduction : A basic mission that focuses on acquiring genetic material by abducting humans   
Raid : A basic mission that focuses on spreading fear by engaging in rampant destruction   
Infiltration  : A basic mission that tries to subtly contact sympathetic elements on Earth   


Alien Resources

3+1 VP
6 UP
3 EP

Bases
Nigeria (Africa)
India (Asia)

Spoiler: Map (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

You now have 3 revisions

TURNTURNTURN

[NUKE9.13]

Minor note, it's Ophanim, no R.

Anyway, that went well. Unfortunate, in a way, since that leaves us with 3 revisions and no glaring flaws to spend them on.

The suggestion of giving Sectoids mind-merge powers with a revision seems quite reasonable. Beyond that, I'm not sure. Giving our Small Scouts something to make them slightly more effective could be good- although we'd want it to be something that didn't change the cost, ideally. Improving the Plasma Pistol slightly might be feasible?

[Failbird105]

We could make two new psionic abilities. Mind Merge and something for offense as well.

[Kashyyk]

We could potentially revise a pistol that doesn't use plasma? X-Com might preemptively start designing plasma-proof armour considering how on-trope it would be for us to use it.

[Failbird105]

Idea: make some kind of multi-person psionic ability for the Ophanim to use, putting their individualy weak psionic power together for something stronger.

[Doubloon-Seven]

Good Idea, Failbird.

Spoiler: Angelic Chorus (click to show/hide)

One Ophanim is feeble, its Gifted song barely able to stun one man. Yet, as we all know, greater things are possible together. Through tireless study and effort, we have discovered a way for a group of Ophanim to link their psychic powers together as a Chorus of the Gift. This improves not just their organization, but their offensive capabilities as well.

When multiple voices join to sing, the collective power of them all is like a beacon. Working together, a Chorus of Ophanim is capable of working into an enemy's mind to assail it directly. The force of the assault, depending on how many voices join the Chorus, can damage it and also disorientate it.

Thoughts?

[TricMagic]

Decent.

Mission: Acquisition of Ancient DNA Samples

We have a Mission to acquire human DNA. But who says we can't also collect Ancient DNA from this planet. The humans have already done most of the work for us, we simply need to collect the bones, and leave.

As such, there are three parts.

• Disable the Target Building/Area's Cameras and electrical devices
• Quickly shuttle the bones and amber of the Ancient Species into our craft.
• Disable, remove, or kill any humans on the premises that spot us.

Quick, efficient, and we gain access to the Ancient DNA, which can be used to aid us.

Additive from Ethereal NUKE

I was initially sceptical, but thinking about it more I do like the idea of using Ancient DNA. As we all know, older things are more powerful.
That said, I don't think we need to be so careful? Smash and grab would be more our style, I think. And it'd be good to go into more detail regarding the value of Ancient DNA. Something more like this, perhaps:

The life on Earth today is but a shadow of what roamed the planet in ancient times. Augmenting our forces with portions of Ancient DNA could make them considerably stronger and tougher than unaugmented forces, or those augmented with common or garden human DNA. The downside is that Ancient DNA is harder to acquire, and often damaged, meaning a successful mission may not result in as much usable DNA- but the added potency should make up for it.

Acquiring Ancient DNA does not require us to search for and excavate fossils, as conveniently the Earthlings have done so for us. Instead, this mission involves tracking human communications to determine where samples may be found- "Museums", "Universities", and "Palaeontology Dig Sites"-, then setting down and eliminating any local resistance, before bagging the bones (or amber, in some cases) and taking off again.

Smash and Grab possible as well. Just ensure to remove all living humans and their local recording devices in the process. If not possible, ensure the collection is prioritized.


Angel's Aura

Ophanim have fairly weak abilities. However, it's more than enough to short-circuit humanity's electrical systems. This way, no one will spot us with them on the move. It can even be able to cause humans themselves to collapse.


E6

E6 is a powerful blasting material which can be triggered by the Gift. Used in Elysium Grenades, they can be triggered remotely using only a bit in their construction as the trigger. It can also be directly applied to doors to blast them open, or in bombs we can trigger through sabotage.

Angelic Chorus (1): TricMagic
Mission: Acquisition of Ancient DNA Samples (1) TricMagic
E6 (0):

I would note in the Angelic Chorus Design the ability to increase the powers of others with the gift. Particularly messing with electrical systems to short-circuit them.

Actually..


Shuttle Transport

With the Mercurial Shipyards coming online, we can make something a bit better than a small scout. A Shuttle Transport can carry up to 4-6 units to their destination, as well as transport material from or to the Earth. Good for missions, though the more units it is carrying, the less material it can transport. A revision of our current Small Scouts for something with a bit more capacity.

[Failbird105]

4-6 units is... either pitifully small(smaller than our scouts probably), or really big. Like, bigger than a house. We don't buy units individually, we get them in squads, which can be upwards of 20 whole units depending on the unit in question.
Also I feel like new grenades with a special psi-activated explosive material is probably more a design level thing.

[TheFantasticMsFox]

Plasma PDW
While the basic plasma pistol is dependable, we can do better. The Plasma PDW is at its core an enlarged plasma pistol with increased ammunition capacity allowing longer bursts of sustained fire, a faster rate of fire to utilize that increase in ammunition, and a slightly longer acceleration period to increase damage.

[TricMagic]

Feel a mission to collect certain types of DNA is needed, given our current mission is human acquisition.

[RoseHeart]

Game Master... is within the bounds of the game to do something like, sample fossil DNA and implement extinct life in modern designs?

Can't see why not.

DINOSAURS!!!

Angelic Chorus (1): TricMagic
Mission: Acquisition of Ancient DNA Samples (2) TricMagic, roseheart
E6 (0):
Thin Men (1): roseheart
Shuttle Transport (0):
Plasma PDW (1): roseheart

Also I love the visualization of thin men mafia I am getting from the new pdw.

[Doubloon-Seven]

Forget dinosaurs.

It's smilodon time.

[NUKE9.13]

We could potentially revise a pistol that doesn't use plasma? X-Com might preemptively start designing plasma-proof armour considering how on-trope it would be for us to use it.

How would they design plasma-proof armour? Or rather, how would they do so in such a way as not to be more resistant to everything, not just plasma? And how would we revise a plasma pistol into something that A)doesn't use plasma and B)isn't weaker?

Mission: Acquisition of Ancient DNA Samples

We have a Mission to acquire human DNA. But who says we can't also collect Ancient DNA from this planet. The humans have already done most of the work for us, we simply need to collect the bones, and leave.

As such, there are three parts.

• Disable the Target Building/Area's Cameras and electrical devices
• Quickly shuttle the bones of the Ancient Species into our craft.
• Disable, remove, or kill and remove any humans on the premises that spot us.

Quick, efficient, and we gain access to the Ancient DNA, which can be used to aid us.

I was initially sceptical, but thinking about it more I do like the idea of using Ancient DNA. As we all know, older things are more powerful.
That said, I don't think we need to be so careful? Smash and grab would be more our style, I think. And it'd be good to go into more detail regarding the value of Ancient DNA. Something more like this, perhaps:

The life on Earth today is but a shadow of what roamed the planet in ancient times. Augmenting our forces with portions of Ancient DNA could make them considerably stronger and tougher than unaugmented forces, or those augmented with common or garden human DNA. The downside is that Ancient DNA is harder to acquire, and often damaged, meaning a successful mission may not result in as much usable DNA- but the added potency should make up for it.

Acquiring Ancient DNA does not require us to search for and excavate fossils, as conveniently the Earthlings have done so for us. Instead, this mission involves tracking human communications to determine where samples may be found- "Museums", "Universities", and "Palaeontology Dig Sites"-, then setting down and eliminating any local resistance, before bagging the bones (or amber, in some cases) and taking off again.

I like the Angelic Chorus and Plasma PDW as well, although bolstering Sectoids with Mind Merge would also be good...