Squiddy McSquids possibly short life - {Possible spoilers inside}

SpenzOT · Post by **SpenzOT** » Mon, 1. Dec 08, 07:43

Go for a pirate centaur. Their turret armament is surprisingly weak so you only have to worry about their devastating CIG frontal alpha strikes (that snazzy paint job doesn't hurt either).

Heavy Centaurs (especially the prototypes) are usually very heavily armed and have great turret coverage (filled with heavy weapons) to boot. Your chances of surviving that encounter with just a fighter is very low.

Or go for broke and cap yourself an elephant. Great poor-mans capital ship and is almost as fast as a H.C. anyhow. You can put those IBL's to use. Carries 14 fighters as well. Furthermore, it opens up a practical way to do those well-paying station build missions. Just trick...erm...ask some split freighter pilot that you want him to pick up some wares in this here unknown sector *whistles*.

crawlerw · Post by **crawlerw** » Mon, 1. Dec 08, 10:55

are you allowed to buy factories in this game, or will it count as cheating

Al · Post by Al » Mon, 1. Dec 08, 11:50

Good stuff. Makes me think I should be progressing further in my game though. hopefully get a couple of hours worth in tonight and I'm going to make them count too

SpenzOT · Post by **SpenzOT** » Mon, 1. Dec 08, 12:49

crawlerw wrote:are you allowed to buy factories in this game, or will it count as cheating

I don't see how it would be cheating (as the rules stated he could not buy any ships, but never said he could not buy any stations). Besides he has already stated earlier that he wanted to get a complex going. The rules also never stated that he cannot MAKE his weapons (and ships if he gets an HQ) either. Of course this is all looking into the future, and if he gets that far along, the inevitable death is going to hurt so much more than it would now.

em3e3 · Post by **em3e3** » Mon, 1. Dec 08, 16:11

I'd have to vote for training up their fighting skills before taking on an M6. Also important is to have a bioscanner, and look for countermeasures installed in the target.

Also, now that you've merged the two assault teams, will you change the name? Gaga Lo's Raiders and Ho t'Sht's Misfits have a nice ring to them.

Mav'r'ck · Post by **Mav'r'ck** » Mon, 1. Dec 08, 19:19

Necrosexual wrote:Oh that's right he could go for a TL.

So SLUG have you ever fried a marine by accident with ION D's? the energy stream does jump targets after all.

Shouldn't be a problem with marines surely? Ion D only affects shields, and astronaouts don't have any!

Of course this is all looking into the future, and if he gets that far along, the inevitable death is going to hurt so much more than it would now.

I don't know what anyone else thinks but I personally would vote for Squiddy to allow himself to reload if dying through unavoidable 'it's the games fault' type stupidity, EG gate collision/completely random death.

This story is so much fun, I'd be absolutely gutted if it just...ended. Mind you, that would make moments like the near gate collision described earlier so much less heart stopping...and I suppose gate collisions are avoidable if you're careful every time. Still, a random death for know apparent reason at all should be allowed a re-load I think. If he goes down it should at least be in a blaze of glory/stupidity!

GCU Grey Area · Post by **GCU Grey Area** » Mon, 1. Dec 08, 19:25

Mav'r'ck wrote:
Necrosexual wrote:Oh that's right he could go for a TL.

So SLUG have you ever fried a marine by accident with ION D's? the energy stream does jump targets after all.
Shouldn't be a problem with marines surely? Ion D only affects shields, and astronaouts don't have any!

It does - Ion Ds do insignificant damage to a ship's hull (10 per 'shot'), however spacesuits don't have thick hulls - doesn't take all that long to fry a marine with a sustained burst.

Mav'r'ck · Post by **Mav'r'ck** » Mon, 1. Dec 08, 19:31

GCU Grey Area wrote:
Mav'r'ck wrote:
Necrosexual wrote:Oh that's right he could go for a TL.

So SLUG have you ever fried a marine by accident with ION D's? the energy stream does jump targets after all.
Shouldn't be a problem with marines surely? Ion D only affects shields, and astronaouts don't have any!
It does - Ion Ds do insignificant damage to a ship's hull (10 per 'shot'), however spacesuits don't have thick hulls - doesn't take all that long to fry a marine with a sustained burst.

Well I never...I stand corrected.

NUKLEAR-SLUG · Post by **NUKLEAR-SLUG** » Tue, 2. Dec 08, 01:32

GCU Grey Area wrote:If you need more troops to practice with & maybe to capture a standard M6 before going after the P-type, I'd go looking for a TP & press-gang the all the passengers...

I do have about a dozen or so slaves. Need to find a Merc base to 'convert' them tho.

Necrosexual wrote:So SLUG have you ever fried a marine by accident with ION D's? the energy stream does jump targets after all.

I only use the ION-D to burn off weapons, when marines are inbound I switch back to EBC.

crawlerw wrote:are you allowed to buy factories in this game, or will it count as cheating

Got a small E-cell/Silicon/Ore loop in Presidents End. It's making good money and I use it as a refuelling base.

em3e3 wrote:Also, now that you've merged the two assault teams, will you change the name? Gaga Lo's Raiders and Ho t'Sht's Misfits have a nice ring to them.

Gaga Lo is still Misfit sqad-leader. (The Split aren't much happy about it)

I decided to put Operation 'Steal an M6/TL (*delete as applicable)' on hold for a brief period while I make a concerted effort to track down a Merc base. Until I can get the slaves I've got 'converted' to extra troops the squaddies I've got are a valuable resource. While I'm busy exploring it will also give me some time to monitor the activities of the two HCPs and identify any possible point of vulnerability plus it'll give the Misfits a bit more extra training towards 3-star which can't hurt any.

Getting together a bunch of AdvSats I start up in Farnhams legend and make a run down thru Split-Fire -> Hatikvahs scouting out each sector and laying an Advsat in there for intel. Aside from a Brigantine group floating around Brennans Triumph the area seems devoid of pirate activity which would seem to indicate the race military patrols are having some success in keeping the bad guys in check. Jumping into Loomanckstrats is much the same story. The Boron/Paranid combined fleet is still living there quite happily although the Anarchy Port is up and running again. I suspect that's going to be a brief period of operation tho as while I'm heading towards the south gate there's stirring in the Boron fleet to the north and some elements are heading east. I think the place will be pirate-free again pretty soon.

Heading down thru Mookeyes I'm still keeping an eye out for that Pirate Centaur but it seems as tho it was just passing thru and wherever it is now it certainly isn't here anymore. West into Desecrated Skies and with that sector scouted and sat-tagged that's pretty much all the main pirate sectors accounted for and no Merc base which is altogether a bit depressing. Heading back into Mookeyes there's a bit of activity to the south which turns out to be a Minotaur taskforce clobbering a wing of Pirate Novas so I watch that while I ponder what to do next. Far as I'm aware the only other place with a few pirate sectors is way down south-east around Maelstrom. (Down to the last two Novas) It's a good deal more of a trek than I would like however it is fairly off the beaten track so may not have been hassled by any military forces. (Last Nova) Which means if there is one down there it's probably still there. (Dead)

It's as the last Nova goes down in flames and the Minotaur group forms up and calmly resumes it course westwards that the dark thoughts begin to creep into my mind and I start to look at that Minotaur group in a whole different light. Is it feasible? Could my guys actually pull that off or is that too big fish to be trying to hook? Only one way to find out but either way it's not going to do my Argon rep much good. A quick equipment check and the kernel of a plan forms. Yep, I aim to misbehave.

Lining up on the Minotaur I wait until they're in a clear region of space. The Minotaur is in X formation so I select the M8 in each arm of the formation since they have no ability to shoot down an incoming warhead and fire a Hammerhead at each. 4Gj+ of thermonuclear death goes careening off into the distance and I'm rewarded a short time later by four clean connections and thirteen ships are now two. Somehow or other one of the escort Novas managed to avoid being vaporised but it's not a problem, a couple follow up Thunderbolts resolves that one. With the Minotaurs escort removed and the area safed it's time to do some crime.

Jumping in my Toucan I order him to initiate boarding ops while I switch to quad EBC and bombard the Minotaur with Thunderbolts. Soon as the shields drop the Toucan deploys all seven of my remaining troops in an all or nothing assault and they make their way to contact..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/min1.gif

The split guys are still red to me as you can see but this time around I had the foresight to turn my turrets OFF before starting so we had no repeat of that unfortunate insta-gibbing incident. A quick EVA to target and the Misfits have latched on and are breaking out the oxy-cutters. I'm realistically thinking that this is as far as they'll get because I'm really not expecting them to get thru the hull. However my lack of faith in my team is unfounded as they ably prove my wrong..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/min2.gif

Having already suprised me by getting thru the hull can they possibly pull it off? There is seven of them and they do have super-hacker extraordinaire Olmanckelttak to finish the job up..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/min3.gif

Hmm..

Debrief:
An exceptional performance from the team in a difficult mission pretty much made up on the fly practically no planning. Mission success was estimated to be negligible but they exceeded all expectations. Tea and biscuits all around. It's regretful that Gaga Lo didn't survive to share in the victory with his squadmates and tho he was never too popular with some of his squad and his death was somewhat controversial the Split members of the squad are vehement in their claim of "Split say, foolish Boron throw pin not grenade!" I guess we'll just have to take their word for it.

Anyways, I now find myself in the possession of capital ship for which I have no weapons and no present manufacturing capacity to be able to supply it. It also needs about 14 million in repairs.. Odd how days turn out.

Total Assets:
1x Medusa 'Questionable Ethics'
4x 25 Mj shield
4x EBC+Ammo, 4x PAC, 1x PBE

1x Minotaur 'Ask Questions Later'
1x Zephyras TM
1x Perseus 'Shifty Business'
2x Blastclaw
2x Blastclaw Prototype
3x Caiman SF - L
2x Caiman SF - S
1x Caiman Hauler 'Logistical Support'
1x Caiman Miner 'Red Dwarf'
1x Toucan Hauler 'Dropship - 01'
1x Hermes 'Dropship - 02'
4,800,000cr

BDStyle · Post by **BDStyle** » Tue, 2. Dec 08, 01:39

This has now become my all time fave X related thread.

So much so that I'm copy pasting it into one long word document for future reading when inspiration to play is low...... is this squid stalking?

dminor · Post by **dminor** » Tue, 2. Dec 08, 01:45

Oh Slug, Give your self one mulligan, just for being such a complete pirate.

Congrats on your new 'Acquisition'. Once again you nearly have me falling out of my seat.

Ravenholme · Post by **Ravenholme** » Tue, 2. Dec 08, 01:46

This is my favourite X-related thread just now. It's absolutely great, and it inspired to me to do something similar with the Poisoned Paranid start.

BDStyle · Post by **BDStyle** » Tue, 2. Dec 08, 02:00

My god.... I'm a Squiddy fanboi......

On a side note I haven't even thought about capping the m7m's.... seems like easy money. I'll be trying that later

Ravenholme · Post by **Ravenholme** » Tue, 2. Dec 08, 02:09

I personally have never really looked at the Minotaur before, it's pretty cool looking. (I've always used the Boron Kraken as my M7M.) I might just invest in a Minotaur or three at some point.

Speaking of which, I've updated Tupman and the Long Road to Recovery.

KiwiNZ · Post by **KiwiNZ** » Tue, 2. Dec 08, 02:12

Congrats mate!
I also did my first captures tonight in Yaki territory. Got myself two TMs and stupidly forgot to switch off turrets against the TL, so it went splat. Still good fun.

In regards to your merc bases, check weapons/missiles/marines. The description of these items usually lists all installations that deal with them.

Lancefighter · Post by **Lancefighter** » Tue, 2. Dec 08, 02:16

holy crap, nice job!
Never really thought you could go for something like that without real planning and good troops...
Seven of them you say?
Hrmm...

nitromethane · Post by **nitromethane** » Tue, 2. Dec 08, 02:16

your writing ability appears as good as your luck very interesting read.

on second thought perhaps you should do a write up on missiles and there use im still in the sell em state of mind

Random_Guy · Post by **Random_Guy** » Tue, 2. Dec 08, 02:19

Nice! Good job on that cap, I never would have been so lucky. (For example, I recently lost two, three-star fighting marines to a marine-less M6 in my primary file.)

You have any plans for building a Flail and/or Hammer complex? With your new... acquisition, I dare say it would be the most profitable thing you could do. I have yet to fly an M7M myself but from what I hear, if you can keep one stocked it owns pretty hard.

Just not if you're using MARS. I have that installed and it has effectively kept me off M7M's. The script is good at what it does, and without something to aid the missiles, M7M's (and M8's) fight a hopeless battle.

BDStyle · Post by **BDStyle** » Tue, 2. Dec 08, 02:20

You really shouldn't, missiles even up the score in the most difficult of circumstances. A real leveler if used correctly

Necrosexual · Post by **Necrosexual** » Tue, 2. Dec 08, 05:56

You're dangerous!

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egosoft.com

Squiddy McSquids possibly short life - {Possible spoilers inside}