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[Naughtyfeline]

Let me introduce myself. I am DK, an outright and unabashed 'furry'. If you don't understand what that means, do a GOOGLE search and read up on the culture, not the antics. This isn't about my lifestyle choices, this is the story of my first game of X-Com.

Forenote: I have read a bit of what's on the forum, and I have played wargames and tactical/strategic games my whole life. I also roleplay on IRC. I have studied military history as well as small unit and large scale tactics. The way I plan to play this game will reflect my intial view that firepower can overcome most problems.

The beginning..

When the United Earth League first came to me three years ago to help develop a plan for dealing with hostile visitors from space, I didn't imagine that I would be placed in charge of the whole thing. It came as something of a suprise also that so many differing countries and cultures would band together and make it stick.

I suppose things got particularly serious when farmers in Pennsylvania and Ohio reported mass disappearances of livestock, and then of people from small towns. It was then that I was ordered to select a site for our base of operations, and I selected an area just a bit south of Pittsburgh. The proximity to D.C. and the outbreak of alien encounters would garuntee the opportunity to do what we had been trained for: To defend the people of Earth.



We had officially become "battle-ready" on the 4th of January, with a roster of 14 fresh new faces and a shipment of battle rifles and rapid-fire auto cannons from various sources. I suppose I should introduce my team, yes?

Infantry
Pvt. Barbara Thompson
Pvt. Barbara Webb
Pvt. Marc Bouissou
Pvt. Brett Sharpe
Pvt. Sigourney Thomas
Pvt. Jean Bouton
Pvt. Kenji Iwahara

Recon
Pvt. Sylvie Dagallier
Pvt. John Blake
Pvt. Tom Nash

Sharp-shooters
Pvt. Matthias Vogel
Pvt. Jane Blake

Heavy Weapons
Pvt. Lester Stodad
Pvt. Astra Yakubik

This would be henceforth be known as Team 1, our first-response unit to activity across North America, and hopefully if we could catch them, other areas as well. Everyone except for our heavy weapon gunners, every soldier will carry a battle rifle and associated ammunition. We keep a rocket launcher in storage at the base, but I don't expect to pack it onto the Skyranger except under an extreme circumstance. Our mission is to protect, not to destroy the landscape.

Edited by Naughtyfeline, 18 September 2005 - 12:03 AM.

[Naughtyfeline]

The glimpse..

01/06/99
Our first contact came today when air traffic controllers in our radar section noticed a very small hit on their systems. An interceptor was scrambled and within an hour it was within visual range of a small, circular craft. With orders to fire, it obliterated the alien craft with a single rocket. A survey team was sent to the area but found only worthless bits and pieces of the craft, and no recoverable bodies.


First Encounter
The call finally came in that "a real live god damn space ship!" had landed, to quote the local sheriff of the town, somewhere in Washington state. Fearing that the aliens might take off and leave us in the dust, I dispatched Team 1 to the site with full knowledge that they would be forced to neutralize the threat in the dead of night. Fortunetly due to an accounting error, the Skyranger had enough flares onboard to light up Nebraska.

The Skyranger touched down between some buildings at a farm where the alien craft had landed, and when the shuttle doors opened Team 1 stared into the gloom. I ordered them to wait for a minute and listen for activity. Unfortunetly, they heard nothing and I ordered them off the ship in a shallow formation around the ramp.

Halfway through the deployment, Private Thompson passed by a window of the building and noticed a little grey alien against the far wall at the foot of a set of stairs. She paniced and thrust her rifle into the window, cutting loose with a burst of fire. Amazingly, all three rounds hit the alien and dropped him. A moment later, Private John Blake approached the same building for a look inside and spotted another grey in the doorway to an inner room. He fired a burst and missed, then ducked down behind the window.

While the rest of the team deployed, John stood up and fired off another burst, and the grey's return fire blew the wall out from under the window. Deprived of cover, John shot another burst and was about to run for cover, but his final two shots took the grey down.

Throwing flares in all directions, the rest of Team 1 spread outwards from the Skyranger while John Blake moved into the building to secure the bodies with Private Stodad providing cover with his autocannon. From the various cameras mounted on the soldiers armor and the Skyranger, I was able to direct most of Team 1 north towards where the alien craft was still waiting. It seemed logical that they had been in the process of leaving when we arrived, as the first two aliens to die were in buildings between us and the saucer. I ordered Stodad to blast down a wall between Team 1's Alpha fireteam and the saucer to see if we might catch any aliens in the act of moving around. He fired, but his weapon had very little effect on the wall so I ordered him to let up.

The remainder of Team 1 secured the area, checking second story rooms and empty fields while Alpha fireteam readied itself at the door of the grey's landing craft. On my signal, Stodad rushed in with his autocannon. And found himself face-to-face with two greys. He leveled his weapon and dropped the first grey, also hitting the one behind it in the burst. He then moved aside to let Private Iwahara through, who took down the final grey with a burst to the head.

We are official now, and we're in business.

Updated ranks:
Infantry
Squ Barbara Thompson
Pvt. Barbara Webb
Pvt. Marc Bouissou
Pvt. Brett Sharpe
Pvt. Sigourney Thomas
Pvt. Jean Bouton
Sgt. Kenji Iwahara

Recon
Pvt. Sylvie Dagallier
Sgt. John Blake
Pvt. Tom Nash

Sharp-shooters
Pvt. Matthias Vogel
Pvt. Jane Blake

Heavy Weapons
Squ Lester Stodad
Pvt. Astra Yakubik

Edited by Naughtyfeline, 18 September 2005 - 12:42 AM.

[Naughtyfeline]

Terror in Wellington

March 29th, 1999
New Zealand was probably the last place we were expecting the aliens to pull off a full-scale invasion, but it turned out to be the first. As my boys and girls filed into the Skyranger, our supply master handed out extra grenades, flares and loaded the rocket launcher onto the shuttle. ... You never know what might happen out there.

To save as many civilians as possible, the Skyranger afterburned halfway across the world and dropped into one of the city's parks. The landing ramp came down, and Private Jane Blake (Company Sharp-shooter) took a step off the ship, she immedietly spotted two strange floating disks and a grey alien between them. As she lifted her rifle to take a shot at the leading disk, her burst seemed to splatter harmlessly across its surface from her laser rifle. The aliens responded with a wave of plasma fire, several hits to Jane Blake dropped her, and her lifeless body rolled the rest of the way to the ground to smolder, her armor blasted through.

Behind her, Private Barbara Webb also absorbed a hit, but a nearby soldier with a med-kit was able to cover up the wound until the mission could be completed. It was Private Brett Sharpe who saved the day by stepping forward, braving alien counter-fire and launching a missle right into the trio. The leading disk was destroyed and the grey with it, while the trailing disk retreated out of sight around a corner.

Team 1 deployed carefully, the heavy gunners providing support as recon elements equipped with flares expanded on the territory that we could see. Riflemen and the remaining sharp shooter perched on the ramp kept a careful watch on the landing zone.

Two civilians made a dash towards the team, and a pair of riflemen moved in to cover their approach. A third civilian crossed the street to the south, only to be gunned down by plasma fire from two directions. This angered Private Lester Stodad, who moved towards the area with a rifleman in support.

Stodad found a pair of greys hidden among some petrol pumps at a service station, and made sure there were no civilians around before cutting loose with his heavy laser. He aimed not at the greys, but at the gas pump between them. A blast engulfed the area, taking out both greys and one more hiding in the shadows nearby.

After several minutes of advancing carefully through the streets, Team 1 lost no more people, but bagged another disk and two more greys. Three civilians were killed, but another eleven were saved by the team. Following current policy, we took no prisoners of the greys, and it was only bodies and equipment that we carried back to home base.

Lessons Learned
What was it that we learned from the invasion of Wellington?

1) During invasions, many of the alien soldiers carry heavy plasma weapons.

2) Grey disks are especially hard to kill, but generally inaccurate with its return fire. The key to overwhelming them is to position enough gunners and riflemen in the area to wipe them out before they have time to manuver.

3) The disks explode when destroyed, making them deadly in confined areas.

4) Smoke is a real hazard, and can sap a soldier within a matter of minutes.

5) Heavy lasers are effective, but lack burst capability.

[MikeTheRed]

Welcome, NF! The earth needs experienced field commanders. Furry or relatively hair free, it's all good. We are establishing bases on other continents to deal with this new menace. Nice to know the U.S. is covered by competent leadership.

Welcome to the fight!

[Naughtyfeline]

Welcome, NF! The earth needs experienced field commanders. Furry or relatively hair free, it's all good. We are establishing bases on other continents to deal with this new menace. Nice to know the U.S. is covered by competent leadership.

Welcome to the fight! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thank you. ^.^ I'm soon to open a second interceptor/skyranger base in Asia. This will extend my reach to the other half of the world. Perhaps an interceptor base/listening post in Africa and Australia too.

[MikeTheRed]

Central command to Commander NF... Central command to Commander NF...

Field commander, please respond. We have reports of 2 or 3 large UFOs landing over North America... your Command Post is not responding...

Central command to Commander NF... Central command to Commander NF...

Central command to Commander NF... Central command to Commander NF...

I'm keying her right Colonel... getting nothing on the designated band

[Naughtyfeline]

Central command to Commander NF... Central command to Commander NF...

Field commander, please respond. We have reports of 2 or 3 large UFOs landing over North America... your Command Post is not responding...

Central command to Commander NF... Central command to Commander NF...

Central command to Commander NF... Central command to Commander NF...

I'm keying her right Colonel... getting nothing on the designated band

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

::This is Field Marshal DK, what is it?:: *grump* ::Are these reports confirmed or speculative? And 'two or three' doesn't help me much, I need a solid number.::

*gestures to Team One leader* "Assemble your fire teams, and alert Team Two that it is on stand-by."