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Started by wsmit... Warren
Mon, 19 May 2003 14:11
TFTD Ship Terror Missions
Author: wsmit... Warren
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 14:11
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 14:11
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A query for TFTD players better than myself (which is probably most if not all of you) ..... Is it possible to beat a ship terror mission while facing Lobstermen and Bio-Drones without MC-capable troops? It's the beginning of April (... hmm, maybe March, can't remember .... it's my 3rd terror mission, so probably March) and I get word of a terror attack on a cruise ship. I land on the bow of the ship, exit the Triton and am facing a couple Lobster men on overwatch over the LZ. Normally, in a case such as this, I see Lobstermen this early, and I get right back in the Triton and leave. But, this time I figure I can handle it, as I have 3 Vibro Blades and 5 Thermal Tazers as well as a number of veterans from the very first day of the war. And it started off well. The first few Lobstermen fell to Vibroblade attacks pretty quickly. Then things started going badly ... very badly. Gosh, do I hate Bio-Drones. They have phenomenal reaction stats such that it seems impossible to me to get anywhere near them in order to use a HtH weapon on them. Shooting them isn't any better because you can't get good LOS on the things in the cramped ship corridors, so they're usually right on you where their explosion will ruin your day. It's even more frustrating when you can see them, but you can neither fire on them, nor toss a grenade anywhere near them. When the smoke had cleared, all of the Lobstermen lay dead or stunned. One idiot Lobster shot a civilian with a Thermal Shok Bomb at point-blank range and stunned itself in the process, otherwise they were all taken down by Vibroblade attacks, but not without cost. And I had even taken out 4 of the 6 Bio-Drones, only 1 to a Vibroblade attack, meaning the others taken their toll with collateral damage. But, my last, wounded soldier gave his life in a heroic attempt to get at one of the remaining Bio-Drones attempting to at least claim some sort of phyrric victory for this phase of the battle. This is the most experienced and most prepared troops I've ever had for such an attack this early in the war, and I still didn't stand a chance, really. Even if I had somehow managed to "beat" the first level, I wouldn't have had anything left to clear out the last batch of aliens. My team consisted of 5-6 soldiers with TUs over 65, a similar number with marksmanship over 65 (several over 70). I had 8 Aqua Armors, 3 Medikits, I already mentioned the HtH weapons. For weapons, no sonics were available, but we had 2 modified Heavy Gauss carried by Snipers and Guass Rifles for everybody else. We also carried Sonic Pulsers ... not that we could throw them many places inside the ship. Should I have just high-tailed it out of there like I normally would, or is it actually possible to win such a battle if you know what you're doing? If it's possible, I'd sure like to learn how. Thanks for listening to my sob story. :) Warren
Re: TFTD Ship Terror Missions
Author: The Blue Max
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 21:00
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 21:00
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"Warren" <wsmit...@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:81d917d0.0305190611.8f8dae5@posting.google.com... > A query for TFTD players better than myself (which is probably most if > not all of you) ..... > > Is it possible to beat a ship terror mission while facing Lobstermen > and Bio-Drones without MC-capable troops? <snip> It's possible, but IME not easy, especially not on cargo ships, and you're going to lose a lot of guys. You'd need a 14-man squad all armed with Heavy Gauss, and you'd need to have researched sonic pulsers, so you can pick them up off stunned Lobstermen. You'll run out of whatever supply you bring. On a passenger ship you can at least camp at the end of long hallways and fire volleys at oncoming drones. I have succeeded against lobstermen by proceeding in groups of 4 or 5 guys, all of whom unload on any lobster they see. It can take 5 or 6 HG Hits to take a lobster down. It looks almost Napoleonic at times. Forget about moving. You need every TU for reaction fire. On a cargo ship, OTOH, the first level is a maze with a biodrone around every corner and very few long shots available. Your best bet then is to wait for a group of 1 or 2 biodrones and lobsters to congregate, and then try to take them out with grenades. With luck the combined effect of exploding pulsers and exploding 'drones will take the lobsters out too. The trouble is that it also blows out so many walls and bulkheads you're usually left with no cover, so it doesn't work, you are really screwed.
Re: TFTD Ship Terror Missions
Author: wsmit... Warren
Date: Tue, 20 May 2003 16:17
Date: Tue, 20 May 2003 16:17
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"The Blue Max" <brunos...@Jasta1.com> wrote in message news:<0ce25a73ad479b50b0803d5c905d8fdd@TeraNews>... > It's possible, but IME not easy, especially not on cargo ships, and you're > going to lose a lot of guys. Thanks for the comments. It's nice to know it's not just me. :) I reloaded, took out the first 2 lobsters within easy reach (gotta love fast troops with Vibroblades when the lobsters are facing the opposite direction :), picked up 1 corpse (for research) and the weapon to get *something* out of the effort and then went home. My first problem was I only had 10 soldiers because my MC Lab had just come online and I fired all the guys with Psi ratings too low to avoid paying for them for the next month, and the replacements hadn't arrived when the mission came on April 1. Then, I only had a couple Heavy Gauss, the rest armed with Gauss Rifles which are all but useless against lobsters. Last, I just don't think it's worth losing good soldiers on such a difficult mission. These veterans have saved my butt numerous times on "normal" missions and are worth a lot more than several rookies each. I've decided I'm not going to throw them away until the odds are more in my favor. Later in April, I got another terror mission, this time against Gillmen in Port Terrain. It was a cake-walk but come the start of May, I had a repeat cruise ship terror mission. I piled out of the Triton and discovered a Bio-Drone on the other side of it. Took it out with a few Sonic Pulsers and then went home again. :) When I get MC Disruptors, I'll be back. :) In some ways, those make the game too easy, but I figure by that point, it's payback for being abused in the early game. :) > exploding pulsers and exploding 'drones will take the lobsters out too. The > trouble is that it also blows out so many walls and bulkheads you're usually > left with no cover, so it doesn't work, you are really screwed. Yeah, I had something similar happen when I tried to finish that mission. Found a couple Bio-Drones in the kitchen area on the lower level, and tossed a few Pulsers in from the elevator to try and take them out. But, instead of taking them out, it just blew out the walls, so now they could get into the open hallways making it near impossibly to approach them without them getting a free shot on my guys. Didn't help myself there, much. Thanks. Warren
Re: TFTD Ship Terror Missions
Author: The Blue Max
Date: Tue, 20 May 2003 17:53
Date: Tue, 20 May 2003 17:53
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"Warren" <wsmit...@yahoo.com> wrote > My first problem was I only had 10 soldiers because my MC Lab had just > come online and I fired all the guys with Psi ratings too low to avoid > paying for them for the next month, and the replacements hadn't > arrived when the mission came on April 1. That makes life difficult. IME the early-game tanks are only useful when recovering UFOs in open terrain, when you can use them as rolling cover. When you're up close and personal on a ship, you are better off with four more shooters, especially since the tank can't get out of the loading bay. If you don't *have* 14 guys to hand, your best bet is to do what you did - bag a sample of what you ran into, and run like buggery.
Re: TFTD Ship Terror Missions
Author: lightfoot
Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 18:51
Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 18:51
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wsmit...@yahoo.com (Warren) wrote in news:81d917d0.03...@posting.google.com: > "The Blue Max" <brunos...@Jasta1.com> wrote in message > news:<0ce25a73ad479b50b0803d5c905d8fdd@TeraNews>... >> It's possible, but IME not easy, especially not on cargo ships, and >> you're going to lose a lot of guys. > > Thanks for the comments. It's nice to know it's not just me. :) > > I reloaded, took out the first 2 lobsters within easy reach (gotta > love fast troops with Vibroblades when the lobsters are facing the > opposite direction :), picked up 1 corpse (for research) and the > weapon to get *something* out of the effort and then went home. > > My first problem was I only had 10 soldiers because my MC Lab had just > come online and I fired all the guys with Psi ratings too low to avoid > paying for them for the next month, and the replacements hadn't > arrived when the mission came on April 1. Then, I only had a couple > Heavy Gauss, the rest armed with Gauss Rifles which are all but > useless against lobsters. Last, I just don't think it's worth losing > good soldiers on such a difficult mission. These veterans have saved > my butt numerous times on "normal" missions and are worth a lot more > than several rookies each. I've decided I'm not going to throw them > away until the odds are more in my favor. > > Later in April, I got another terror mission, this time against > Gillmen in Port Terrain. It was a cake-walk but come the start of > May, I had a repeat cruise ship terror mission. I piled out of the > Triton and discovered a Bio-Drone on the other side of it. Took it > out with a few Sonic Pulsers and then went home again. :) When I get > MC Disruptors, I'll be back. :) In some ways, those make the game too > easy, but I figure by that point, it's payback for being abused in the > early game. :) > >> exploding pulsers and exploding 'drones will take the lobsters out >> too. The trouble is that it also blows out so many walls and >> bulkheads you're usually left with no cover, so it doesn't work, you >> are really screwed. > > Yeah, I had something similar happen when I tried to finish that > mission. Found a couple Bio-Drones in the kitchen area on the lower > level, and tossed a few Pulsers in from the elevator to try and take > them out. But, instead of taking them out, it just blew out the > walls, so now they could get into the open hallways making it near > impossibly to approach them without them getting a free shot on my > guys. Didn't help myself there, much. > > Thanks. > > Warren > pick 2 guys ya wanna "sacrifice" n see how far ya get but i wouldnt expend an entire good squad on a probable no-win scenario.
Re: TFTD Ship Terror Missions
Author: Akvatoid
Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 01:00
Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 01:00
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I have done terror boats with no gauss weapons, but I had dart rifle or that and sonic pulsers. Well it was the "easiest" difficulty.
Re: TFTD Ship Terror Missions
Author: wsmit... Warren
Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 12:45
Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 12:45
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"Akvatoid" <tra...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<bah7eu$epn$1...@nyytiset.pp.htv.fi>... > I have done terror boats with no gauss weapons, but I had dart rifle or that > and sonic pulsers. Well it was the "easiest" difficulty. Just out of curiosity ..... On purpose? or those were the only weapons you had available? I've never seen a ship terror mission much before April (maybe end of March) and you certainly should have more powerful weapons by then. In any case, I could see it with Gillmen. Maybe even Aquatoids except that the Calcinites are pretty tough for harpoon weapons. But certainly not the other races. Warren
Re: TFTD Ship Terror Missions
Author: Akvatoid
Date: Sat, 24 May 2003 19:53
Date: Sat, 24 May 2003 19:53
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Well I dont quite remember the circumstances only that it was the "early years" of my X-Com coureer ;) I borrowed X-Com 2 to a borrowed laptop (thinkpad 133mhz no sound) and played on it. Well I remember shooting lobstermans with harpoon rifles and it was a job. After some years i even studied gauss weapons they werent "interesting" I went straight to sonic cannons and because I was a "n00b" I didnt have any by the time the lobstermans came up and they came Very early Btw. Well thats it
Re: TFTD Ship Terror Missions
Author: Akvatoid
Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 14:22
Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 14:22
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that was the time when I started to play x-coms
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