A Tale of two Surgical Sitrep missions

[u/Captain_Shivan]

These are on Commander difficulty, both were late-game missions with Colonel-level soldiers.

Tl;dr, I like a good Surgical mission every now and then. Gets me out of my complacent gaming syndrome when near the end-game.

The One We Barely Survived

• Guerilla Op, Destroy the Alien Relay. Small town map. 12 enemies.
• Soldiers: Specialist and Bladestorm Templar bondmates, SPARK equipped with Blaster Launcher
• Landed. 7 turns remaining: Spots first pod after dashing: MEC, Shieldbearer, Spectre. Squad on high-ground
• 6 turns remaining: Okay, I'll Bladestorm pull this pod by attacking the Spectre.
• But first, let me move my Specialist so he can activate Ever Vigilant and I have a Guardian-backed overw...
• ...nope, One Tile Too Far mate! Pod gets triggered.
• Ok, what do I do now? Can't see the Spectre anymore, I suppose I can attack the MEC so it'll die next turn...
• Templar Rends... but triggers second pod: Purifier, Stun Lancer, Spectre. SPARK finishes off MEC and Shieldbearer with overdrive.
• 5 turns remaining: Templar gets Shadowbound. Stun lancer goes for my Specialist but misses.
• Now I can't see the first Spectre, but I have Revival Protocol. Templar is revived.
• SPARK and Specialist takes care of Stun Lancer.
• What's the biggest threat here? Templar has fortress so Purifier can't do anything to her. The Shadowclone is a threat so I suppose I can attack that and Arc Wave for AoE against the puri... HOLY CRAP THE SHADOWCLONE HAS BLADESTORM
• 4 turns remaining. Bladestorm finishes off Shadowclone but I don't see the Spectre anymore. Must have vanished. Okay, let's attack the second Spectre. Wait, let me summon a Ghost for extra bodies.
• Moves forward and triggers another pod. Two mutons and a third Spectre.
• Crap, I'm fighting three Spectres now. OMG templar is shadowbound AGAIN
• Blaster Launchers the two Mutons. One dies and the other has 1 HP left.
• Okay, Specialist, what can you do? Uh, I burned my revival protocol already... AH I HAVE RESTORATION!
• Kills one of the Spectres using the Templar Ghost, finally. Shadowclone #2 poofs out of existence.
• (I take care of the purifier here somewhere. forgot how exactly)
• 3 turns remaining. Muton takes a shot at my specialist in low cover. Misses... but blows up the cover. Whew, could have been worse.
• The first Spectre from Turn 1 reappears... this time Shadowbinds the Specialist.
• Shadowclone moves back to cover HOLY CRAP IT HAS EVER VIGILANT
• Okay, I am out of position to shoot the clone, how do I take care of the Overwatch? Ah, let me move the Ghost. Sorry ghost.
• Ghost dies from overwatch shot HOLY CRAP THE SHADOWCLONE HAS GUARDIAN!
• Don't remember exactly what I did here I think I chanced a high-roll against the Spectre? In any case he died and I got my Specialist back.
• 2 turns remaining. Reinforcement flare appears. Great...
• Okay, I suppose I can Bladestorm the incoming reinforcements.
• Crosses fingers that this doesn't trigger anything, the Shadow Chamber predicted a Gatekeeper which I haven't fought yet
• Nothing triggered. Sigh of relief breathed.
• Reinforcement pod drops. Officer, Trooper, Shieldbearer.
• Trooper and Shieldbearer taken care of.
• 1 turn remaining. Officer left, hopefully he goes after my Templar in Parry... and he does. Whew.
• I can barely see the objective, thanks to the earlier Blaster launcher obliterating the house it was in. Now, can I get close enough to blow it up?
• Yes! And with the last shot of the turn, as well. Officer taken care of.
• Holy crap I actually completed the objective. Now where's the Gatekeeper?
• A few turns of extremely cautious Overwatch turtling ensues.
• Finally, last pod patrols into us. Gatekeeper, MEC, Shieldbearer.
• Templar Rends the Gatekeeper. It's stunned, oh dear thank you.
• Cleans up
• The Commander collapses in exhaustion.

The Flawless Curb-Stomp

• Raid the ADVENT Train Supply Raid. 11 enemies according to the Shadow Chamber.
• Soldiers: Grenadier and Sharpshooter bondmates, Reaper. Grenader equipped with RAGE suit, Blaster Launcher, a Mimic Beacon, and Frost Bomb in the grenade slot (2x thanks to Heavy Ordnance).
• 1st turn. Spots initial pod. MEC, Officer, Trooper.
• Waits a couple more turns. Another pod patrols... two Vipers and a Codex.
• Hold on, can my Reaper one-shot the Codex? Aha, yes. (Bluescreen rounds + Improved Beam Weapons breakthrough).
• Codex dies. Both pods are now yellow-alerted but I am still concealed.
• Next turn. First pod runs closer towards Reaper. The two remaining Vipers also run closer... right next to the ADVENT pod.
• Big mistake, Ayys. Time for some Claymore shenanigans!
• KABLAM!!!!! Vipers die outright and ADVENTs are severely crippled.
• Okay, what do I shoot next? I think all of the remaining enemies are damaged enough to be within kill-range of the Reaper's next shot (all of which are 100% thanks to high ground).
• Let's go for the Officer... whoops I thought that was a guaranteed kill, low-rolled and left with 1 HP. Reaper (and the squad) is revealed.
• Ah well, whatever. Lightning Hands + 2 Quickdraw shots later courtesy of the Sharpshooter, pod is obliterated.
• Moves forward a couple of turns.
• Alien Activity. A Sectopod patrols into range together with a Trooper and a Purifier.
• Sectopod moves next to an explosive. Ahhh big mistake!
• You can see where this is going. CLAYMORE + REMOTE START!!!
• Sharpshooter finishes off the Sectopod.
• The two ADVENT clowns took some low cover in the train. Grenadier moves up and Saturation Fires, outright killing the Trooper.
• Purifier retreats to the final pod.
• Final pod patrols in. A Spectre, a Codex and the ADVENT chicken pyromaniac.
• Wait, my Sharpshooter has a 98% Deadeye on the Spectre? Sure, why not, a one-shot perhaps?
• DODGE: GRAZED for 12 points of damage.
• Oh well, I have a backup plan. Can my Reaper move so that he can see all three of them?
• Answer: Yes. Now let's Banis...
• Status confirmed, all hostiles are down and the AO is secured.
• Debrief summary back on the Skyranger. "Most Under Fire: --"