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[MetalSlimeHunt]

My Normal game is now well underway, and I am undertaking the Alien Base this month. On the verge of Mutons appearing. Things have been interesting so far. Conclusions:

-Second Wave options: Not Created Equally, Hidden Potential, Aiming Angles, Training Roulette. The last of these makes for an interesting shakeup indeed. Sometimes bad (medic perks, mostly), sometimes good (I now have a Colonel Sniper with HEAT ammunition. Dear fucking god.)
-Mechs are OP as fuck. The fact that you're allowed to use more than one is insane, and I doubt I will. A Mech squad could probably steamroll anything.
-Slingshot was better than I heard from most people. I've got to love the last mission, and Zhang isn't problematic. He's just one solider among many, or at least he was by the time Slingshot started for me. Besides, I needed a heavy.
-All of my female soldiers become assaults. All of them. It's fucking ridiculous. This is why I needed a heavy.
-Three deaths, two to Thin Mints and one to a surprise Cyberdisk. The only one I really cared about was my main assault, Lt. McKay, gunned down in cold blood while placing beacons in the second Slingshot mission and far away from help. RIP, you berserk Scottish lunatic.
-Not many useful augments among the gene mods thus far, but then again, less cost to using them too. Might give my sniper Thin Mint legs, but otherwise nothing that useful yet.
-All of my Arc Thrower wielders now receive Guile hair. It is the rite of their kind alone.
-Renaming medals is fun.
-No signs of EXALT beyond the first mission of Progeny. Any day now...
-I should not play Normal, even Ironman+Second Wave. Classic and Impossible are too good of training. Even with Enemy Within's changes shaking things up, I retain mechanical efficiency.
-C-Day is way fucking easier in Normal compared to Classic/Impossible.

[umiman]

I still don't understand why you'd want to play on normal. It'd be too easy.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I don't have a lot of time for gaming these days. While I could throw myself against the wall in Classic until I get a winner, I'd probably not see any of Enemy Within's features until Summer thanks to Thin Mints.

[Sirus]

You know, every time you call them Thin Mints they kill a colonel :x

[TCM]

You know, every time you call them Thin Mints they kill a colonel :x

The real reason behind the alien invasion: They want to take all of our delicious Girl Scout Cookies. Frankly, I think it's noble of X-COM to defend such a precious resource.

[Steelmagic]

You know, every time you call them Thin Mints they kill a colonel :x

Every time they kill a colonel they get called Thin Mints more. It's the circle of life.

[Mageziya]

What I don't understand is why aren't floaters as terrifying? They have the same gun (And aim bonus.), I think the same natural aim, can fly, and always have half cover in the air. Aside from suicidal leaps, why aren't they as scary?

[umiman]

No poison. And they like to suicide jump into your team.

[MorleyDev]

Floaters..well, tactical thinking isn't their forte. They don't seem to realise all they need to do is fly really high and snipe. They're basically angry flying bears with guns.

Thin Men are coded to have a more intelligent AI, which translates to realising that they can kill all of your dudes just by staying far back and high up.

[Remalle]

That said floaters do have their moments of terrifying efficiency, when they can take advantage of their height... advantage, and don't do anything stupid like dive bomb your shotgun assault.

This is rare.

[Thexor]

Well, I just finished the Fishing Village mission for the first time. You guys weren't kidding when you said it was rough! I'm lucky to have only lost one (my best Heavy, RIP "Road Block"). Didn't help that my only Assault was in medbay...

[umiman]

If you're curious, it's not actually possible to wait out all the Chrysalids before activating the airstrike. They come infinitely.

Can be useful, if you want tonnes of free exp.

[MorleyDev]

My tactic with that mission has become to just run an Assault with the Muscle Fiber Density straight to the boat, and run him straight back again and keep a squadsight sniper back and high for covering fire. In and out as fast as possible, because all else is death.

[PanH]

If you're curious, it's not actually possible to wait out all the Chrysalids before activating the airstrike. They come infinitely.

Can be useful, if you want tonnes of free exp.

But Chrysalids can not spawn for a few turns. I've had 3 turns during which none spawned (I had the time to go activate and get out of the boat).

[Sean Mirrsen]

If you're curious, it's not actually possible to wait out all the Chrysalids before activating the airstrike. They come infinitely.

Can be useful, if you want tonnes of free exp.

But Chrysalids can not spawn for a few turns. I've had 3 turns during which none spawned (I had the time to go activate and get out of the boat).

I wonder how quickly can one complete that mission. A Hover SHIV likely can't activate the panel, so the fastest way is probably a fast MEC Trooper with jump boots, after Improved Servomotors research, flanked with SHIVs for support. Or perhaps a regular trooper with Sprinter and the leg musculature genemod. Preferably an Assault, so Run&Gun can be used.