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IMP spec ops campaign[message #302907] Sat, 07 April 2012 04:10 Go to next message
Ryft is currently offline Ryft

 
Messages:278
Registered:June 2009
I hadn't completed an IMP game in some time, since I've lately been having a lot of fun playing with mercs and combinations of mercs that I had not previously tried. That said, I've wanted sort of a new look for the game for a while, now, so after getting some custom IMP portraits I'm ready to get back into an IMP campaign. The customization of your team, as well as the flat 3 grand per merc gives you tremendous team flexibility, as well as excess cash to spend on gear and helicopter abuse. So I'm going to try a wealthy IMP campaign and have some fun with a new weapon progression that I have in place.

Campaign notes:

Team consists of 6 IMPs, and early rebels. I'm imagining the IMP team to be similar to many modern day special forces, where there's an attempt by a small group of seasoned veterans to control a region by making contacts with local insurgents that can be motivated, equipped, and trained. Certainly local hires will be permitted. Likely no other website mercs until late game. Team emphasis is on night ops and skirmish ability, with high firepower for a small team size. The four rebels will likely form the core of a second team that will perform necessary side missions.

IMPs
Shades - squad leader and sniper
Doc - medic and all-around soldier. no relation to the Doc from the original JA.
Sunder - heavy weapons expert
Widow - machine gunner... probably going to compete with Shades for kill count this campaign.
Slip - combat engineer for explosives and lockpicking
Hush - ranger/stealth expert... also she looks like Audrey Hepburn, so she's pretty much adorable.

Difficulty is customized... Soldier difficulty (their accuracy, mostly), percentage of elites, and DCA numbers/severity are set to Experienced. Enemy alertness and aggression levels, and similar strategic setting factors are the equivalent of Expert. Enemy numbers and reinforcements are set to the equivalent of Insane, so I will be fighting a ton of bad guys, though they won't be quite as on top of me as they would be in the true Insane setting. Suppression effectiveness is at 200%. Explosives damage and suppression from explosions is also 200%. All weapon caches and terrorists are both on, because I like storming the weapon cache locations and because I'm hoping I will *finally* get to try out Slay.

Drop all is on, and Bobby Ray is set to awesome. Mostly the BR setting is for ready access to tons of mortar shells later game. I'm evaluating a new item progression for the first time, so I won't be purchasing firearms from BR at all because of that. I'll probably do a low-cash non-IMP campaign with drop-all set to off later on, to evaluate the progression from another perspective. Don't expect that game to have Insane numbers of troops to fight, though. I definitely tone it down a lot when my team is broke and under equipped. Wink

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Master Sergeant
Re: IMP spec ops campaign[message #302909] Sat, 07 April 2012 04:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ryft is currently offline Ryft

 
Messages:278
Registered:June 2009
Omerta drop went kind of shaky, actually. The team dropped with a mixture of Spectre M4s and MP5/10A3 submachine guns, as well as a Fabarm FP6 for Hush. Aimed autofire generally took out the enemies that swarmed the landing site early on, but then Slip missed an early interrupt opportunity (she and Doc are starting at 1st level, the other 4 IMPs are 2nd) which caused Hush to become my first casualty of the campaign (I can usually manage Omerta without a scratch). The wound wasn't very serious at all, and Doc patched her up just fine.

I have weapon progression set to "fast", but in retrospect I should have probably picked "normal". Notable loot included a C7CT with 7x scope, which is from progress 2, and a trio of HEZI carbines, progress 0. Shades gets the rifle, and two HEZIs I'm hanging on to for Ira and Dimitri.

Made contact with the rebels, and now my team size is up by four. The rebels have their default gear, except for Ira. At some point I modded her to come with a .357 magnum revolver, which is more interesting than her default .32 special, and also shares an ammo type with Dimitri's Desert Eagle. Doesn't much matter this campaign, because now they're using HEZI carbines!

I left Omerta to the east, moving towards Drassen while staying north of the road. Ran into trouble in the woods north of the airport, but was able to clear the enemies quite handily with the aid of the C7CT, which jammed twice. Making a note to repair some equipment as soon as I finish taking the airport.

So... Drassen. Solid garrison size. If I hunker down for the night in the woods to rest, repair, and plan for a night time assault on the airport, I'm going to get attacked while I'm resting, so I'm staying aggressive and taking it, even though it means a daylight assault. My ten mercs should give me enough to engage a larger force. I hope...

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Master Sergeant
Re: IMP spec ops campaign[message #302922] Sat, 07 April 2012 11:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Scouty is currently offline Scouty

 
Messages:76
Registered:April 2008
A 7x scope in Omerta? Hah, I'm afraid what the "very fast" weapon progression setting does then!

I like "slow" progression and "normal" BR myself, keeps you excited about finding that MP5 and 2x scope. Smile

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Corporal
Re: IMP spec ops campaign[message #302925] Sat, 07 April 2012 13:10 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Ryft is currently offline Ryft

 
Messages:278
Registered:June 2009
I won't even find an MP5 until probably progress level 7 (so I'm guessing 5ish on this fast setting). The MP5A4 is one of the better SMGs in the game, in my opinion, so it and the other MP5 variants are suitably ranked.

And the 7x scope in Omerta isn't really broken when some of the other enemies have them, too. Since I'm also playing with Drop All on for this campaign, gear discovery isn't really going to be part of the excitement this time around. It's more about finding new stuff and evaluating its place within the chain.

So, I raided the airport from the north. Came in behind Pablo's hangar, inside the fence-line. A bold daytime raid, I'm counting on that C7CT to get me kills before the enemy marksmen start carrying scoped weapons as a standard. This sort of trick probably wouldn't work any earlier.

As luck would have it, it paid off. The enemy didn't get off more than a single shot in my direction, as I overwhelmed the guards camped out near the plane, and then picked off the remaining goons as they AI-glitched around the barricaded gate and failed to properly rush me.

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Master Sergeant
Re: IMP spec ops campaign[message #302929] Sat, 07 April 2012 13:43 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Scouty is currently offline Scouty

 
Messages:76
Registered:April 2008
This reminds me a bit of creating a full party in Baldur's Gate for example. You rely less on NPC interactions and more on your self-written party members.

I'm still hoping NCTH gets balanced in such a way that a 7x scope is a trade-off, not the end-all in equipment. Then I'd have no problem finding it so early.

Good luck with your campaign. Smile

[Updated on: Sat, 07 April 2012 13:48] by Moderator

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Corporal
Re: IMP spec ops campaign[message #303292] Thu, 12 April 2012 05:11 Go to previous message
Ryft is currently offline Ryft

 
Messages:278
Registered:June 2009
Alright, so... I secured the airport with some militia while I was repairing my stuff. Ordered buckshot and facepaint for Hush, and ammo for Miguel's Kalashnikov, which was one of my only "long" ranged weapons at this point. I left the rebels there to hold it and train while hitting the swamp. While resting I got attacked by a medium sized force of redshirts. I dug in behind the cyprus trees and cleared them without much incident, receiving only a couple of shots in my direction while holding them back with massed SMG fire and accurately placed marksman shots. The loot was solid... some more longer ranged rifles, plus face gear and badly needed helmets.

I then cleared the eastern SAM without any real issue... Hush came in from the north, at night, and moved behind the building, then cut her way through the fence, and climbed the building to act as a spotter for the others, who approached from the southeast. Towards the end of the fight, she tossed a flare into the midst of the yard in front of the building, exposing some 4 enemies (who were hiding behind the little checkpoint shed thing) to the rest of my team, maneuvered in anticipation of this and cut them down soundly after the flare was thrown. Then it was just a matter of clearing the last two guys, who were in the fenced in SAM area. This was done easily with a stealthy Hush.

After securing the SAM, I headed south and west, around the lake. Ran into a large force of elites in the sector with Skyrider's cabin. Most of the enemy was stuck across some swamp water, and I cut them down like cattle as they tried in vain to swim across. Of the notable enemies on my side of the water, one tried to flank me from the west. Sunder pinned him down to the prone position, behind a tree with SMG fire. As I couldn't shoot him directly, Hush actually maneuvered from tree to tree and then ran up to him and beat him to death... her first martial arts kill!

Notable loot was Ameli machine guns, one of which I gave to Widow, an M40A1, which I gave to Shades, and several decent carbines. Upgrading my SMGs to those... so far I'm really enjoying this campaign, but am not properly getting to evaluate my weapon selection because I'm upgrading too fast. I think I'm going to have to start that secondary campaign soon.

While escorting Skyrider back to the airport, I came across a final skirmish that I thought was going to be easy, but which turned out to be the hardest yet. A small force, but a force of elites, and during the day. I was approaching them more or less over open terrain, but I tried to stay behind the small trees that I had access to. Sunder got nicked and pinned down by sniper fire as he tried to move to the next tree. Figures that my heavy weapons guy would be the target, as he's the only one with smoke grenades to screen with. I had to lay down cover fire in the direction of the sniper (since I couldn't see her) to stop the shooting, so Widow's new Ameli really came in handy. Fortunately it was enough to get Sunder back under cover. Also, the sniper turned out to be the last enemy in the sector. I got shot at more, though, as I tried to advance on the sniper's position to flush her out, so I had to get back behind cover again. Hush went stealthy and busted out the binoculars. I took her on sort of a circular route through some very dense trees. I was eventually able to spot the sniper, and that allowed Widow to put more accurate suppression on her. After that point it was easy to take her out with Shades at a distance, using Hush as the spotter.

Still need to get Skyrider to the airport, and then contemplate my next move...

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Master Sergeant
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