Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - (X-Com) The Council of Nation Needs You! -- Part II

Brian Swartz · 01-23-2013, 10:12 PM

OPERATION ENDURING VANGUARD
Marseille, France
June 26, 4:49 AM

That's optimistic. More accurate would be crumbling vanguard. Err, make that pathetic, rapidly distintegrating insult to the concept of a vanguard.

We're in the middle of a city street, buildings to the right or left and between them a smaller street straight ahead. Yeah, that's just asking to be flanked there. The on the right's closer, and we head there.

Idol is the first to spot a Muton trio, outside the building and to the right of it. There is no retreat option, just no place to go that's safe. Shadow opens up a door and lines up a sniper shot ... missed. Idol misses as well. This isn't going particularly swift. Palmer misses for a third round of fail, and nobody else even has a shot.

They advance on the right of the building a bit. One misses Idol, another misses Shadow, creating two more holes in the wall. We can all shoot now! Thanks for the LOS, fellas!! Shadow misses again. Good grief. Spike Snow -- should we just call him SS? That name's just awesome -- actually manages to hit one, while Palmer moves into the building and hunkers down.

Grenade time. Another hole in the wall. Soon, the wall will be an interruption of the empty space, not the other way around. One of them finishes off Shadow -- so much for all the congratulations. A panickfest ensues. The only thing left of this mission is filing the paperwork -- we just have no good options here, it's over. Idol moves right and finishes off the injured one, leaving him exposed and in poor cover. Not that there's any good cover to be had ... Palmer takes a similar risk and gets a flanking shot, injuring one of the remaining pair.

They divide their fire, injuring Idol and Palmer but leaving both alive. Having returned from the land of PanicVille, Coffee Warlord(just the third iteration) hits the injured Muton, but can't finish it. Idol moves up for an execution shot, and that's two down. Palmer retreats, and Gale VI covers Idol with a smoke grenade, first useful things he's done in ... well, basically since ever.

The muton swings around to the other side of the store, presumably because that's the only side without walls blown to smithereens and he wishes to rectify that fact. CW drills him, nearly killing him, but he's exposed ... Gale gets just close enough, and guns him down!

Ok, we're clear. Shadow Thomas is dead, multiple others injured, three Mutons eliminated. Most of two walls of the 'store', aka smoldering bomb crater/disaster area beyond the help of FEMA, are now destroyed as well.

We don't even move, and three Sectoids come from farther down the store. And here I am without any arc throwers. These guys should be easy pickings for us. However, they have good cover, we have jack squat, and once again can't retreat to anything better. Idol gets to cover and uses a medikit -- he's no good dead. Ok, maybe not much more alive, but ... We gun one down, and attempt to get the others to advance.

Cover be damned, they hit Gale anyway. Dodging reaction fire, Coffee moves in ... and two thin men decide to join the party! She retreats, and Spike risks dashing around a bookshelf, thankfully not springing any more enemies, and dropping another sectoid.

The thin men poison, then shoot Warlord. Again, cover is irrelevant apparently. We miss a sectoid on the move, and they continue to peg us, regardless of position. A reaction shot makes Idol the second casualty of the mission.

The final Sectoid creeps to the corner of the building, and the still-poisoned, still-panicking CW panics herself right into a kill. The thin men are still out there. Spike's lightning reflexes come into play, dodging the fire of one to reach a decent spot to take out the other. The remaining enemy moves to the corner, and Warlord is executed. Everyone else but Palmer panicks, and she has no shot.

Another ridiculous-angle shot ends the career and life of Spike Snow! Two more thin men arrive, and we fire at each other in a panicky mess. Next up to go down is Gale, then Palmer is hit on the move before taking out another thin man. She's nearly dead with no help and no medikits.

Yep, sayonara.

OPERATION ENDURING VANGUARD is anything but, 8 aliens killed, 5 operatives lost. We had crap for cover, the enemy didn't miss much, and there were few if any tactical options. Very bad combination.

Russia, China, and Japan respond by going to full panic mode.

PERFORMANCE REVIEW

Sq. Benton Gale VI -- KIA, 1 kill in 2 missions
Rk. Coffee Warlord III -- 1 kill in 1 mission, KIA.
Sgt. Ren 'Spike' Snow II -- 11 kills in 5 missions, KIA.
Rk. Deacon Palmer IV -- 1 kill, gravely wounded(12 days)
Rk. Ace Idol III -- 2 kills in 1 mission, KIA.
Lt. AJ 'Shadow' Thomas -- 12 kills in 7 missions, KIA.

01-23-2013, 10:12 PM	#106
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	OPERATION ENDURING VANGUARD Marseille, France June 26, 4:49 AM That's optimistic. More accurate would be crumbling vanguard. Err, make that pathetic, rapidly distintegrating insult to the concept of a vanguard. We're in the middle of a city street, buildings to the right or left and between them a smaller street straight ahead. Yeah, that's just asking to be flanked there. The on the right's closer, and we head there. Idol is the first to spot a Muton trio, outside the building and to the right of it. There is no retreat option, just no place to go that's safe. Shadow opens up a door and lines up a sniper shot ... missed. Idol misses as well. This isn't going particularly swift. Palmer misses for a third round of fail, and nobody else even has a shot. They advance on the right of the building a bit. One misses Idol, another misses Shadow, creating two more holes in the wall. We can all shoot now! Thanks for the LOS, fellas!! Shadow misses again. Good grief. Spike Snow -- should we just call him SS? That name's just awesome -- actually manages to hit one, while Palmer moves into the building and hunkers down. Grenade time. Another hole in the wall. Soon, the wall will be an interruption of the empty space, not the other way around. One of them finishes off Shadow -- so much for all the congratulations. A panickfest ensues. The only thing left of this mission is filing the paperwork -- we just have no good options here, it's over. Idol moves right and finishes off the injured one, leaving him exposed and in poor cover. Not that there's any good cover to be had ... Palmer takes a similar risk and gets a flanking shot, injuring one of the remaining pair. They divide their fire, injuring Idol and Palmer but leaving both alive. Having returned from the land of PanicVille, Coffee Warlord(just the third iteration) hits the injured Muton, but can't finish it. Idol moves up for an execution shot, and that's two down. Palmer retreats, and Gale VI covers Idol with a smoke grenade, first useful things he's done in ... well, basically since ever. The muton swings around to the other side of the store, presumably because that's the only side without walls blown to smithereens and he wishes to rectify that fact. CW drills him, nearly killing him, but he's exposed ... Gale gets just close enough, and guns him down! Ok, we're clear. Shadow Thomas is dead, multiple others injured, three Mutons eliminated. Most of two walls of the 'store', aka smoldering bomb crater/disaster area beyond the help of FEMA, are now destroyed as well. We don't even move, and three Sectoids come from farther down the store. And here I am without any arc throwers. These guys should be easy pickings for us. However, they have good cover, we have jack squat, and once again can't retreat to anything better. Idol gets to cover and uses a medikit -- he's no good dead. Ok, maybe not much more alive, but ... We gun one down, and attempt to get the others to advance. Cover be damned, they hit Gale anyway. Dodging reaction fire, Coffee moves in ... and two thin men decide to join the party! She retreats, and Spike risks dashing around a bookshelf, thankfully not springing any more enemies, and dropping another sectoid. The thin men poison, then shoot Warlord. Again, cover is irrelevant apparently. We miss a sectoid on the move, and they continue to peg us, regardless of position. A reaction shot makes Idol the second casualty of the mission. The final Sectoid creeps to the corner of the building, and the still-poisoned, still-panicking CW panics herself right into a kill. The thin men are still out there. Spike's lightning reflexes come into play, dodging the fire of one to reach a decent spot to take out the other. The remaining enemy moves to the corner, and Warlord is executed. Everyone else but Palmer panicks, and she has no shot. Another ridiculous-angle shot ends the career and life of Spike Snow! Two more thin men arrive, and we fire at each other in a panicky mess. Next up to go down is Gale, then Palmer is hit on the move before taking out another thin man. She's nearly dead with no help and no medikits. Yep, sayonara. OPERATION ENDURING VANGUARD is anything but, 8 aliens killed, 5 operatives lost. We had crap for cover, the enemy didn't miss much, and there were few if any tactical options. Very bad combination. Russia, China, and Japan respond by going to full panic mode. PERFORMANCE REVIEW Sq. Benton Gale VI -- KIA, 1 kill in 2 missions Rk. Coffee Warlord III -- 1 kill in 1 mission, KIA. Sgt. Ren 'Spike' Snow II -- 11 kills in 5 missions, KIA. Rk. Deacon Palmer IV -- 1 kill, gravely wounded(12 days) Rk. Ace Idol III -- 2 kills in 1 mission, KIA. Lt. AJ 'Shadow' Thomas -- 12 kills in 7 missions, KIA.