Xenonauts 2 - Milestone 3 Part 7: A Lesson in Humility
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- Опубліковано 3 кві 2024
- Talk about a cascade situation.
I hope people are seeing an improvement in sound quality..
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Considering that this new MARS is built from the remains of the previous, I think Phoenix is an appropriate name.
Great name, it's on the list!
I’m doing an immediate rewatch to try to figure out why things went so horribly wrong on this mission and see what might be learned about this type of mission on such a high difficulty.
First off, in hindsight, I think the mission required some very risky, bordering on reckless, forward movement, though I didn’t realise this until rewatching it. With such a long way to move to the dropship and only 6 turns until the Cleaner reinforcements arrive, it would appear that the whole squad needed to move very aggressively and directly towards the dropship on almost every turn. Not least because of the Cleaner reinforcements showing up on the right and very close to the dropship.
In the postmortem, stacking all those units behind the container on turn 1 was probably a bad choice in hindsight, because their direction of movement was almost entirely lateral, rather than towards the dropship.
It would also seem that simply rocket killing the Cleaner on the roof on turn 2 to get the squad moving would probably have been the better choice. As it was, killing him cost almost all of the TUs of the entire squad for one turn.
It would also seem that trying to guard the flanks and especially the rear of the squad, while normally important, cost too many TUs on this mission and that these kind of missions necessitate rushing forward and hoping for the best. Placing the Assaults to cover the building cost around half a turn’s worth of TUs.
This mission also showed that the ballistic weapons are already beginning to show their limitations with (too) many shots needed to take down the Cleaners on such a tight deadline. It would seem that on this type of mission, flash banging or laying down smoke and hightailing it for the dropship, rather than trying to kill the Cleaners, might be a risky, but necessary, strategy.
In hindsight, the least dangerous path would probably have been to run more or less directly forward as far to the right of the map as possible, using the buildings and the shipping containers to shield the squad and the VIP from most of the Cleaners and only killing somewhere between one and three or four of them along the way.
The big uncertainty in choosing that path would’ve been the first Cleaner on the roof and the second Cleaner in the building: How would they’ve moved and what lines of fire would they’ve had? But for that reason, using a rocket on each might’ve been a way to get to move on quickly.
When all that’s said and done, considering that Phrosphor timed out and had to face off against a lot of Cleaner reinforcements, I’m seriously impressed that the mission didn’t end in a total wipeout (3 KIAs is not bad when facing such odds), and that he was able to salvage the MARS wreckage, the wounded/unconscious, as well as several of the magnetic weapons. The “overwatch run” by Tau was both an inspired and successful tactic, allowing reduced casualties in a desperate and terrifying situation.
Only on rewatching has it occurred to me that merely running the whole squad directly to the dropship, even without taking any precautions or shots along the way, would probably have taken 3-4 entire turns(!)
That means that there was hardly any time to fight along the way and I simply didn’t realise how far the starting point was from the dropship. Had I played this mission, I’d probably have gotten the whole squad killed, or at the very least the majority of it, let alone the VIP…
I think one other big mistake was that Smoke Grenade, not just did it knockout Corazon Ray, it also didn't impede the Cleaner, arguably impeded his troops instead.
Apart from placing the smoke grenade directly in front of friendly troops, he should have placed the sniper on the roof for that long range fire power
This write-up is excellent and really demonstrates what went wrong with this mission. The reinforcements were brutal and they came so much earlier than I was able to prepare for. Getting out with what I did is a small consolation for what was lost due to delay and indecisiveness.
I am really glad to see Xenonauts 2 challenge me like this.
@@ALV694 I think that not putting the sniper on the roof was actually the correct decision, considering the objective and constrictions of this mission.
A sniper on the roof would’ve been a likely target for multiple Cleaners and they would probably have started to move towards the sniper’s position, making it a distinct possibility that the sniper would’ve been killed.
As I’m not sure that the AI moves units towards the Xenonauts, unless it/they can actually “see” them, not being spotted might be vital on this particular kind of mission.
Even besides these considerations, a sniper on the roof would not be that useful in covering the “corridor” leading directly to the dropship and the TUs spent might make it difficult for the sniper to catch up with the rest of the squad.
With the objective being to get the squad and the VIP such a long distance to the dropship on such a tight deadline and with reinforcements arriving almost next to the dropship, what is normally excellent tactics, such as covering fire, carefully and methodically clearing the area the squad moves through, guarding the flanks etc., risk becoming too time consuming.
I think that this type of mission is quite interesting for that very reason: It requires reevaluating and reshaping the tactics to fit the objective (rescue) and constraints (distance and time).
I'd call the new robot Snickers :)
Also: I know it's easy to say in hindsight but I think in this mission speed would have been the highest priority. Sticking to the right was a good choice but I think there was no need to centure as far into the middle as you have. If cleaners have no line of sight on you, they also can't shoot you and that forces them to exhaust their TU walking over to you which gives them a single attack at most. Also, just running away from enemies works quite well at times. They won't necessarily pursue you. You don't have to fire back on every enemy that shoots you. And if one gets really close, you'll have a lot of firepower concentrated in a small area if the team sticks together closely...
Kiting them into a killbox.
Name the Mars bender, because He's back baby.
I can just imagine the Bender Banter.. (added)
"I'm 40% dolomite, baby. You'll need more than that to scratch my beautiful chassis!"
Mars name : Johnny Five
I literally came in here to suggest that lol
Very popular name! Johnny 5 is alive!
This kind of mission is where smoke grenades shine. You have to be quick and cover your group from incoming fire. Shotguns can be very usefull too. Move and swarm the enemies in front of you while using smoke to cover your back and flanks.
More nades, lighter weapons, zoomier soldiers.
in case you have the space to spare, I would consider increasing the bitrate of your recordings a generous notch to decrease the pixelated blur that occurs after a few camera rotations and pans :)
I'm really concerned about this pixilation that is occuring. I'm not seeing it in my raw footage or my edited footage before uploading to UA-cam and I haven't changed my process. I can certainly look at but rate increase but I'm worried it's a UA-cam compression thing.
22:20 "I don't know how to get up here." As you mouse right over a ladder!
Jokes aside, that ladder blends with the terrain pretty well.
Damn how did I miss that!
I have been waiting for this, I have yet to find a more entertaining Xenonauts 2 lets play!
Thanks for letting me know! Glad to hear you are enjoying this!
Commander we are going to need an upgrade to the memorial wall
Oof, that one hurt!
Please call new robot: Sgt Bilko!
Added it to the list!
Great content. Love the series keep it up!
Names for the robot.
Hal-E as in the Hal 9000 cross with Wall-E
T-1 as in the robot from Skynet that has tracks and two mini guns on it. (It's like a big mars with duel mini guns so like it's close)
Glad you are enjoying this! Added those names to the list!
YES! The return of Clarkdad!!!
Edit:
CLARK DAD, NOOOOOOO 😢
Tough mission. But you are so good at handling these, Phros. Especially on the hardest setting lol. Give yourself some credit!
Even though we lost some good soldiers out there, it's frankly incredible that there weren't more. The desperate sprint at the end was extremely well executed and saved several lives. Juniper is finally showing some of that high accuracy stat you hired her for!
I really had to make that call to just run and I am glad I did. Sometimes you just have to make sure you live to fight another day. At least we got *Citizen Journalist* out of the combat zone in one piece.
Not as terrifying as the title suggested? Amazing work salvaging the team. You have some amazing after action reports in the comments! Call the new bot Lorem ipsum 💪🏾🙏🏾
Been going through comments and they are excellent! lorem ipsum added to the name list!
Nice job! Also, find the VIP mission really difficult as it should be. One thing, you actually can put science and engineering in you main base and only have interceptors in other ones.
Just trying not to have all my eggs in one basket this time! And yeah that VIP mission was TOUGH.
It would be an honour to be on the list to be named a soldier against the alien scum!
I think you have to be a Patreon supporter for that
At the moment I am only taking soldier names from channel supporters (members/ko-fi supporters/Super chatters) BUT you are more than welcome to suggest names for bases, aircraft, mars units etc!
@@Phrosphor I totally understand. Trojan base or Trojan MARS unit has a great ring to it 😉😀
I’m enjoying the series! Bringing me back to original old school XCOM. Nice recovery on what could have easily been a wipe. That last shot on Lore… ouch. What a nail bitter! Suggestion for a name for the new mars… Longshot.
Glad to hear you are enjoying this! That was such a tense engagement. Poor Lore. Longshot added to the name list!
Just wanted to say that I really enjoy your videos :)
I got reeled in by a highfleet series, stayed for the new videos :D
Sweet! That is so good to hear, thank you for taking the time to let me know!
Having never played xenonauts…but having watched some play through.
These missions, you have to move and cover isn’t always going to be the best. But you have to go go go. Smoke might help, but every smoke you throw is TUs not spent trying to kill or in this case move!
You started out with everyone “moving together” as you deployed and then split three ways. With no load out considerations. Oh team two used all its Grenades while team one has all theirs two buildings away…
But good luck! We’ll be watching!
All I can say in my defense is that no plan survives contact with the enemy, and that those MOP suited cleaners can cut whole squads down at this stage of the game and I am terrified of them getting to act.
19:10 highlight of the video
Screw you guys, I'm going home!
GET MULCHED!
1:37 Please do. it will be for income making and radar. i have cool name for the base. The *Nozzle* (also you can name the mars unit "the nozzle")
Please wait while we calibrate...
THE *NOZZLE* .
Please do not look away from...
THE *NOZZLE*
Haha, Nozzle added to the list!
Thank you very much! I love you! =))))))))))
That was a hard mission! OMG!
Call the robot Johnny5
Popular suggestion, added it to the list!
The best option for the new Mars obviously is "Revenge"
Haha, love it, on the list!
Now that was some tense action
So many mistakes, glad it wasn't a total wipe. This is why I play these games.
For the MARS, call it (say_hello_to_my_)little_friend. Thesay_hello_to_my_ is optional.
I like it, the name is a function! Added to the list.
And after all that fighting. You only got a single scrap
Hah!
New Mars unit should build off the name of Lore, so perhaps something like "Lore-M Checksum"
Like it, great link back to the old LORE. Added to the list.
That was An insane and very tense mission, Rover names: Johnny five, Leroy
Haha, Leroy is a great one, as is Johnny 5!
Just gonna drop a preemptive 'oh no' based on the title, will like and be back to watch later.
Great video. Name thr MARS Johnny 5
Thanks! Johnny 5 is on the name list!
I'm re-suggesting Tinny for the mars!
It's on the list! Could go for a tinny right now.
You can right-click on the target to schuffle through different shot types, when holding shift
Great tip, thank you!
26:04 Nope. Nope nope nope. 37%x3 does not in any way mean you've got a guaranteed hit. You've got an 8/27 chance of missing entirely, a little less than one in three. Of course, you also have a 6/27 chance to hit twice, a little less than one in four. Given the short range of that shot, that's honestly pretty disappointing - I could definitely see buffing the accuracy on burst fire as being a good idea, it seems to very rarely be preferable to shooting once except maybe for the suppression effect. All the math is pretending that 37% is precisely 1/3 since I don't have a calculator right next to me at the moment
Below we have edits, and spoilers
28:28 Perhaps name the new MARS "A Drone I Can Send Forward"? On a more serious note, I do think it would be really interesting to have a Ukraine-war-style pocket drone for scouting and grenade-dropping in this sort of game
29:11 You probably could have thrown some grenades, THEN done the scouting. That way the cleaner, who you knew didn't move much, would likely be dead or wounded. Either way less likely for your scout to get shot
32:55 Oof. IMO should just warn you that you won't get the full barrage and then fire both instead of just... not being able to shoot until the gun goes click
I do wonder if at some point you should just abandon fighting and full sprint for the dropship. It'd inevitably be a bloody mess, but maybe not so bad.
...as I type that you say it's time to run for it. Go figure.
And finally (probably) I propose the new MARS be named Hello World
Guess it wasn't final. I'm hesitant to recommend team compositions since you play this sort of game very differently than I do, but I would probably run something like 1x Mars, 2x Sniper, 1x Medic, 2x Shotgun, 1x Rifle Grenadier, 1x HEVY Grenadier, with the Shotguns and Rifle Grenadier both prioritizing grenades and demo charges. Between the demo charges, MARS crashing into things, and the grenade launcher, you can open up sightlines (and pathing routes) for the snipers and to rescue people. You are not financially responsible for property damage.
This is why I always appreciate your detailed feedback. The maths on burst fire never feels 'worth it' and you just justified my gut feeling completely.
I for sure should have cut my losses and sprinted for the end earlier. I was worried about getting cut to pieces in 'Doom Alley' the space between the two buildings but it was actually safer than the route I sent have the squad down.
Added those name suggestions, thanks!
I'd appreciate the new name to be planet themed, so maybe MERCURY (Mechanical Extraterrestrial Remover Created Using Robust Yanks/) or NEPTUNE (Never ever pardon truly underhanded, nefarious events).
Bonus points for acronyms! They are on the list!
Woo, more XenoPhros!
Wow, that was... Interesting
Also, my suggestion is Iceni
Iceni added, also I like XenoPhros :P
Xeno-Gear Rex
You realise if this wins I won't be able to stop myself adding more Metal Gear references into the videos? (Added to the list!)
I suggest that the new MARS should be called Kane, because even in death he lives.
KANE LIVES! (Added to the name list)
Aww yiss.... I was trying to avoid playing Xenonauts too much before release but it's just so damn addictive!
3:16 don't forget the two people who were riding the mars unit ;))
Ah of course, little known fact is that the MARS can hit 70KPH outside of a combat encounter!
A good name for the mars...
How about: Rocket orchestra
Or Rocket Master ?
Rocket Orchestra is great! Added it to the name list.
New robot name GUN-R
RGR! Added to the list!
MARS suggestion is Zombie.
Game hint says unconscious solders can be revived with the medkit which should mean that Corazon-Ray could be jump started back into action. Will have to test this in my game since I think many of us saw the game hint and thought that would work on soldiers which have lost all their HP, and clearly it doesn't. Just works when they are napping...😴
Well done considering the circumstances once all heck broke loose.
Zombie added to the name list! And doh! I totally forgot about the reviving unconscious soldiers thing, thank you for reminding me!
Robot: Johnny 5
Added to the list
Xenonauts in tight spaces! 😂 I am finding it more and more useful to bring a shield or two, that i can suggest maybe.
I just wish there were shield upgrades, the weapons the cleaners have can one-hit a shield now! (Loved the tight-spaces reference)
@@Phrosphor Yeah i think there is a shield upgrade eventually, not sure about the research tree.
Name suggestion for the robot: ED209 (from RoboCop)
I hope mine is better at threat analysis...
MARS name suggestion: Joker
Added!
Vip extraction is easy, just take 9 shields and blast everyone with granades
19:10 Just what I would have done
Get Mulched!
Focus on soldiers with the highest accuracy only. Sack rest
Oh some of those other stats have use. Need those strong folks to carry and throw all my nades and carry the big guns later on. Plus armour weighs a lot!
That was very tense!
I really felt it while I was playing. "How do I get them out of this mess"
Name for new robot would be: Firecracker
Firecracker on the list!
I think you spent too much time trying to kill the Cleaners you see rather than running toward the dropship. The round where you walked your soldier through smoke and ended up with him going unconscious, for example. You could just flashbang the Cleaner and run past him and then flashbang him again the next turn so the Civilian can run past him. There are similar situations elsewhere too.
I for sure got caught in a firefight I didn't need to have, splitting the group was a huge mistake as well. It could have been so much worse, we got lucky.
I mean, since it's rebuilt, it should still be called Lore. Or Lore 2.0.
Good point, added it to the list!
It is your fault that I started to play this again.
This game needs lot of flesh over its bones and new mechanics to keep interest but it got it's own charm. I recommend Terror from the deep with newest modpack - they are still updating those.
42:40 the amount of fear in this phoros voice had me dying😂
GET TO DA CHOPPA!
Extraction missions are about speed. use a small, fast team. snipers are no good here, it's run and gun baby. bring as many smoke grenades as you can carry, and cover both your route forward and behind you. only stop to kill threats to your target, avoidance is faster than killing. since you brought the vehicle, just leave it to act as bait and cover your behind.
I agree with everything you say though I don't like relying on just snipers due to the low ammo count in the guns forcing frequent reloads! I definitely could have moved a lot faster here, if only SMG's where more of a weapon class. Some accelerated SMG's of PDW's would have made a difference.
Not covering your track on the late turns with smoke was a great mistake.
That's not a bad idea -- since the goal is escape not kills, just flooding the map with smoke would be legit.
Yeah I should have been focused more on running than engaging, it's hard to remain objective when things start to slip.
since you rebuild/repaired lore, shouldn't it still be caller LORE?
Good point, it's on the list!
you should develop your science base BEFORE your manufacturing base. will save you LOTS of cash and supplies longterm, as you will be able to develop advanced weaponry sooner, and thus not have to replace another generation of mediocre stuff later. cannot tell you how many times I have played these kind of games over the last 30 years.
If the need for improved armor wasn't so high I would agree. Right now though I urgently need a full set of accelerated weapons and alloyed armour. My scientists are mostly working on income increasing research. It's a really tough balance to maintain.
The starter alien weapons will one-shot my troops and the cleaners will also be moving to have enough armour to take several hits to bring down as well being able to one-shot my teams very soon.
Name it PHOBOS or DEIMOS
Added to the list!
Your tactic sure sucks, there are really a few fatal mistakes you made.
The Mars shall be named...Mr Worf
I really hope this doesn't set a precedent for me losing the entire cast of the STNG... (added!)