Part 6: The Raid - Part 2

The Raid

Last time, our crew completed a scavenging mission, killed a bunch of Slingers, and took control of a radar tower. The tower also had a map of the area, with the location of a town.


As I said last time, I'm approaching the town from a hill for better scouting.

Prof inches a bit closer.

Hm, there is definitely activity in the town. But it's hard to say what's going on, so Prof creeps forward even more...




Well, that doesn't look good at all! We already learned that the Slingers are into kidnapping, and it seems like we caught them red-handed. There is a cutscene here, but you have to be fairly close to the town to trigger it.

That task falls on Akim.

There is one patrolling guard in the village, and Akim will nail him at the farthest point of his route.






Just like expected. Now, it shouldn't be a surprise that the Slingers will turn against the villagers if you just rush into town. So it's time for another crafty plan.




I have placed two infantry teams near the Slingers that are closest to the villagers. Akim has to hang out on his own, since he'll get spotted when he leaves his spot. I had to place him there to trigger the cutscene. My Humvee made a long flank and will rush along the main road, to hit the Slingers from behind. I would have liked to fully surround the village, but the terrain on the left is just too open for that. The timing between my units is pretty important, and I plan to have my soldiers jump out when the Humvee reaches town.

Well, here we go...


nooooo

I misjudged the approach of my Humvee, and it got spotted way too early. I expected the houses to keep it hidden, but nope! The Slingers aggro and most of them run towards it, while the villagers scramble all over the place. This is a fucking mess.


Two of the Slingers decide to fire on the villagers. I knew this would happen, but it's still sad.




The Humvee exacts swift revenge on the remaining Slingers.

They really win no prize for intelligence here, as they just charge into machine gun fire.

Truth be told, I never managed to keep all the villagers alive. It's pretty hard! You basically need to know which Slingers will target the villagers, and have to ice them immediately. I'm not sure if you get a reward for saving all of them, but there is a lone house on the edge of this map. Maybe something will spawn there, but I honestly don't know. I thought about redoing this segment, but figured that I don't want to be too cheesy during this Lp. I'm going to include my honest failures, if they happen.

Anyway, after the dust settles, we can chat with the villagers.





Haha, this is really one of my favorite voices in the game. I'm really sad that it will never get used again.

Well, meet our two new members.

Ivan Petrov and Helena Markova.

But there is something much better in the village, and the cutscene also highlighted it.





The Ural will be our main loot-mule for the rest of the game. It can carry ten people, hold a bunch of stuff, and is all around handy. It's also fucking expensive, so you better keep it alive! It can appear in Wlad's inventory, but you will have to dig deep into your pockets to buy it.

So, we also learned that there is a military base in the area, occupied by Slingers. We probably should take care of that, don't you think?


After a short drive, we can see it in the distance.

Zoom and enhance..



This place is pretty large, but not as populated as you may think. The chopper is also broken and no danger. But make no mistake, you will die horribly when you approach this place from the front gate. Again, proper planning and scouting is your best way to victory in this game. So let's get to it!


I park my vehicles in this little forest, and send Akim, Prof and Boris on a commando mission.

There are some hills on the left side of the base, which keep me covered while closing in.

I can make out some Slingers on patrol, and two Humvees inside the base. There is also a third Humvee on patrol outside.

But there is something much more important inside the base, so let me zoom in on the garages.






A fucking BTR, just chilling there. It's empty right now, but the Slingers will use it when you alert the base. This is why I was so careful in the first part of this mission, as I'm pretty sure that the BTR will come for you, when you let the other Slingers alert their pals. Right now, my only effective weapon against the BTR are the mines. But luring it into an ambush is really dangerous and would probably lead to casualties. Its 14.5mm machine gun will also turn my Humvee into mincemeat, so I really have no good options for engaging it.

Luckily, I don't have to! I'm actually going to steal it and will use it against the Slingers inside the base.


First, I place some mines to get rid of the patrolling Humvee. I place them at this corner, since the explosion will also cause a hole in the wall.







Boris and Anatoli use the hole in the wall, and enter the base.

There is another empty Humvee here, but it has no ammo. Anatoli brought some though, and I can use this Humvee for support if needed. The Slingers on the right side are the designated crew for the BTR, and I could just kill them with the Crossbow and make a break for the vehicle. But that would be kinda cheesy, and not like the designers wanted this to go.

The intended way to solve this, is much more tricky and dangerous.

You can hop this gate here, and then have a straight shot at the BTR. Trouble is, the guards in the area have very tight patrols. You have to watch their whole routes, and then look for a window during which you can slip by. The guard on the left has a longer route, and follows the wall for a bit. The guard on the right however, has a very short route and has a good view on the area. You basically have to send your guys over the wall, while both guards aren't looking, hide behind the boxes when the right one looks your way, and either hope that the left one is still walking away, or plug him with the Crossbow. Tricky stuff, right?

I wait till I see my window, and hop the wall.

The long patrol is all the way at the right side of the screen, so I really don't have to worry about him. A short stop behind the boxes, and I'm scott free.


Or I could fuck it up. That's also a possibility.

I misjudged the timing on the short patrol, and he turned around just in time to spot Prof before he reached the boxes. This is really shitty, and may cost me the whole mission! I honestly paused the game and stared at the screen for a bit, while thinking about what I make of this mess. Well, I really have no choice and need to make a break for the BTR. I'm fine if I can reach it before the crew does, but my runners will get shot at the whole way.

First though, I tell Boris and Anatoli to steal the Humvee in the base...


...and order my own to attack the front gate. Maybe they'll distract some Slingers and lessen the heat on my runners.



The Slingers mainly focus on Prof, and he sprints through a shower of Uzi and machine gun fire.




Bless the heavy vest! Though at this point, Prof only has some strings of Kevlar left on his body.


Phew, this whole thing was much more dicey than I would like. Still, time for some fucking payback!





I know it wasn't much, but I wanted to show you the BTR in action at least once. It's a cool vehicle, but we won't be using it for too long. I really like the sound of it's gun though, and smashing Humvees with it is just plain fun.

Well, my other units just gun down whatever Slingers they can still find and we're done!



"Found anything useful?"

"An old helicopter, but unfortunately it's just scrap. Oh yeah, and another piece of bad news. There doesn't seem to be anyone here who knows anything about the SGDS disaster. At least, not so far."

This scene is a not so subtle hint that there is probably someone around that you can chat up.

Oh hey, what do we have here?

An old man that's trapped in a cage. Don't mind the grey hole in the wall, it's just a texture error.

It's kinda tricky to figure out what you're supposed to do here, as you can't talk to him.

You have to target the fence, which is really finicky.



A slave market, eh? This sounds exactly like the thing that heroes want to take care of! And New Boston sounds like a real town. So we probably can find people there who aren't ragged villagers. Also, I really have no idea why grandpa doesn't want to come with us?

"Base? It looks like we're done here. Any other orders?"

"Yes. Come home!"


Nope, there are still a few things to do.

First, I grab the gear of all those dead Slingers, and loot the base.

• A stash of 9mm and shotgun ammo
  
• Two medkits
  
• Two heavy vests
  
• Binoculars
  

Binoculars will give a significant sight bonus during the day, and you really need to use them. This first pair, goes to my soon to be scout Prof.

And lastly, there is a secret in this base. Remember that broken helicopter, and how the game pointed it out a few times? Let's check it out...


Huh, it seems like there is something inside of it.

You have to shoot it a bit to dislodge whatever is stuck inside. Best use a pistol, otherwise you can blow it up.


Another free Jeep rolls out the back!



Grenades are the main throwing weapon in the game, and you pretty much want to have them on all your soldiers. They are really effective against infantry, but also allow you to engage vehicles. At least when you do it with some tactics.

Well, now we are done with this mission.

I entered with a single Humvee, and leave with a whole convoy. HONK-HONK