Holy Mulligan!

I got my second shot at my turn for XCOM, and I feel much better about this mulligan.

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A Somber Rememberance

Things started out on a down note as I started my turn in the XCOM Succession Game since my namesake was brutally gunned down fighting for the human race in the previous mission. Ramblin Red put up a good fight, was a critical member of the team, and his sacrifice will not go unavenged.

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Mission Prep

With my somber duty attended to and a few shots downed in celebration of his contributions to the team, I set out to plan my revenge…which didn’t amount to much since I am still trying to learn the details of the game. I did recruit another rookie to join the squad and set her out to become a Ranger since I didn’t see any member of that profession on the roster. I’m hoping having a well-rounded team works well in this game, but I’m sure I’ll learn fast. Anyway, it’ll take a few days for her to learn the ropes.

I also figured it would be prudent to at least take a look at the various sections of our ship to see if there was anything that needed attending to. Still, for the most part, engineering, science, and all the departments seemed to be working like a well-oiled machine. So I took a look at the possible missions, and eventually, Operation Purple Fear showed up.

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Operation Purple Fear

This seemed like a relatively straightforward mission – raid the transport station and neutralize any enemy activity. I figured with a direct mission like this, I could grab the supplies and get back to base quickly without having to worry too much about whether I was doing things correctly or not. With the mission set and my team picked out, I relaxed and tried to play out the strategy I would take for the mission in my head. I started to drift off, and as things tend to go, I had a nightmare that had me seriously worried about the mission…the entire squad died when some kind of teleporting alien showed up. Unfortunately, it seemed this alien was attracted to the Skulljack device I was asked to use during Operation Purple Fear to attack one of the ADVENT officers. Now I was worried this simple mission might prove to be more trouble than it was worth. We were committed though, and this was the best team I could put together, so I had faith my suspicions would prove false.

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Tactical Setup

So things started out well enough. We landed in New Mexico, and I deployed the team to provide covering fire and tried to layout a kill zone. Soon enough, the enemy arrived on the scene. With a Viper and a Mec on the scene, I at least knew what I was up against, and I figured my team would be able to handle them.

We maneuvered into position and soon found that there was another ADVENT Mec and an Officer in the transport station. Luckily we were positioned in such a way to have cover from both groups of bad guys, so I opened up my assault.

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Purple Hammer

Magi got us started out with a nice Deadeye shot on the Viper. Our new recruit followed up with a nicely tossed frag grenade to mess with the Mec and protect the team, but of course, the enemy knew we were there now.

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Death From Above

With her position on the ridge above the fray, Endalia was ideally situated for a one-two punch. She finished off the Mec with her rifle, and thanks to “Death from Above,” she was able to take care of the Viper as well.

That left the Officer and the Mec in the transport station – that we knew about.

Bookanerk was advanced pretty far but was well protected behind a tree, so he decided to take a shot at the remaining Mec – pow – he was down to 2 HP, and Bookah was still undercover.

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Cover, Rookie, and a Magi

It was the enemy’s turn to advance, and while they took a couple of potshots at Bookah, they were unable to penetrate the tree. When the Officer moved, though, Bookah was able to seize the opportunity to fire and knock him down a bit.

It was our turn again, and Klaus took care of the remaining 2 HP on the Mec leaving the Officer as the only enemy we knew of. Fortunately, Magi was in a great position to finish him off. I would have left the Officer around to Skulljack but I didn’t want him to get to Bookah’s position.

Hmm…the mission was not over though. Perhaps we didn’t find all the bad guys.

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More Vipers

Sure enough, as we advanced se spotted a couple of new Vipers.

Bookah had advanced beyond his tree and was a bit too exposed so I asked him to hunker down behind a light post which turned out to be a great idea since the Viper missed his shot. The other one did spit at him though and poisoned him – I certainly hope my medical bot can treat poison.

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Turkey Shoot

With the 2 Vipers hiding in the transport station and my team well positioned, the rest turned out to be kinda a turkey shoot. Magi took a shot…Endalia took a shot…boom…boom…dead.

The final guy refused to expose himself but I had plenty of time since there was no turn limit. Bookah sent his drone in to zap the snake…Magi too a long range shot…and the combat drone took the final zap to finish him off…dead snake.

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Job’s Done

Mission Complete. No deaths though Bookah took a bunch of poison damage. Bottom line…everyone came back alive!

Then of course I had to figure out how to save the game and post it to Google Drive.

On the whole I feel much better with this mulligan than I did with the nightmare I attempted to run where the Codex attacked. Perhaps I’ll be ready to deal with a Codex next time…for now I’m just happy everyone survived.

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Ramble 4 Aardvark 4| Holy Mulligan!