Part 11: Two Roads. One Way - Part 1

Two Roads. One way.



As we learned during the last mission, NOAH is a very secretive organization and we can't contact them directly. Fortunately, the Seeker guild knows how to get in touch with them, and will help us in exchange for a favor. I guess Wlad set that thing up for us? Anyway, we don't know about the exact nature of the favor yet, but I guess it involves murder.


Our new BMP is ready and will do some good work during this mission, oh yes it will! Also, I'll leave David in the base from here on out. Yeah, he's supposed to be the leader and all, but I really don't want him to steal more Xp. The light weapons skill has honestly become useless, so fuck him!





Oh, boy. Where do I even start?

Okay, let's look at the facts. Vladow is a pretty bad trader, as we just hustled him for a fresh T-55 and some down payment. Let's be honest here, we're putting our lives on the line, yes, but I would have been content with that T-55. Oh well, I won't complain about even more free stuff! So, now we have arrived at the first choice in the campaign. But I already said that it is a very minor one, and could have been fleshed out much more. You are free to choose which gang you want to support, and judging by their intel blurbs, this kinda qualifies as a moral choice. Both are bad people, so pick your poison I guess. But given how minimal the impacts of this choice are, it doesn't really matter either way.

So what exactly does this choice do? Well, it will dictate what scenes/voices you will see during this mission. It'll also govern how this mission plays out, but both fights are very similar with the only difference being what you are up against. The TFR is more militarized, and a bit harder to fight than the Claws. Furthermore, this choice will also influence the next two missions a bit. The major thing is that you will keep fighting the gang that you decide against. And having the TFR as your enemy means facing more tanks and RPGs overall, which is more annoying than challenging. The flow of the next two missions will also be a tiny bit different in each path, but it's nothing to write home about. So, now you can see why I didn't put this up to a vote, right? I personally think that joining the TFR is more fun, and they are at least organized and serious. The Claws are just a ragged bunch of criminals, and I don't like them very much.

But before we get to the meat of this mission, let's look around and get our bearings.

We start at the Seeker camp, which is in the middle of Bergstadt.


How big is this city?


Quite. And as always, there's also a lot of space around it.

The camps for both gangs are located at opposites ends of the city.


The TFR has a proper military base. Also, if you squint your eyes you can see a helipad in the back.


The Claws just set up shop in an old industrial area. But don't underestimate them, they hide a lot of firepower in there.

Here's another small thing I want to point out.

There are a couple of Jeeps in the Seeker camp. Some Seekers are scripted to enter them, and drive a few rounds through the city before parking again. This happens over and over. I point this out, because you may be inclined to steal those Jeeps. But that will turn the Seekers hostile, which fails the mission. The same also happens if those guys drive into mines that you have planted. I guess you can steal them, if you have finished the mission and immediately leave the screen after you nicked one or all of the Jeeps. But that would be too greedy for my taste, so I didn't actually try it.

Let's take a look at our down payment.

The boxes contain an empty RPG, two rockets, a light vest, some 9mm and 7,62 ammo. The RPG is very handy because I used my rockets in the last mission. The 7,62 rounds will also be useful, but I'll explain why a bit later.

The free Humvee comes with a new weapon.

The TOW is the only reason, for me, to keep using Humvees at this stage of the game. It has great range, is guided, and does a ton of damage. However, the Humvee is still squishy and will die to tank shells in an instant. You pretty much have to use it as a striker. Sit in cover, dash out and fire a rocket, and immediately get the fuck out again. That is too much hassle for my taste, so I won't keep using it after this mission. But if you enter this mission without a tank of your own, these three missiles will be your greatest asset, and you have to use them with care. Honestly, without a BMP or T-55 of your own, this mission is actually quite difficult!

But that's enough talking, let's get this thing going.

As Vladow said, we need the passwords for the gangs from a contact in town. This is one of my favorite characters in the game, and I hinted at his existence a few times already.


Oh, Mad Mick. How I love your silly voice

Also, those passwords are dumb as hell, but there we are. His last bit of advice is actually important though. If you approach the bases with more than one soldier, the gang will go hostile and you'll take the train to failure-town.

So, let's trek over to the TFR base.

They have a little mine cluster to the side of their entrance. This will have no impact during the coming events, so I clear it out.


And deploy a field of my own on the road that is in front of the claw base.

Okay, okay. I'm abusing my knowledge a bit here, but these mines will not do that much damage. And to be honest, placing mines in front of your soon to be enemy, isn't exactly rocket science, right?


Well, let's meet the TFR.


You can actually still bail, if you want to change your mind.




I just had to include this scene. The VA is so cartoonishly evil, that it cracks me up every time.

On to the boss we go...



Yes, sir!

The Claws are already making a move on the TFR, and we came just in time. The following battle works in different stages, and will be pretty tough if you don't handle it right. But before we talk about that, let's check out that free BMP.


Oh, you cheap assholes. Aside from a few HE shells, this has nothing. Not even fucking machine gun rounds.

But at least Vladow gave us some, so I stuff them in there to make the BMP last a tiny bit longer. Honestly, this vehicle isn't too helpful in the coming battle. You'll use up those shells real quick, and you also have to deal with some targets that won't care about HE. So yeah, thanks for nothing! If you do not have a tank of your own, you basically need to use this as bait for the bigger targets, and engage them with your TOW. Which is neither easy, nor good for the health of your units.

Okay, let me give you a short overview of this battle. As I said, it works in multiple stages, and each has its own spawns and goals. Right now, some TFR units are fighting the Claws deep in the city. You can aid them, but there isn't much point to it. It's better to hang back for a while. The other TFR units also aren't too eager to join the fray, and they'll do a shitty job during this battle in general. So, it's time for some


I placed a few of my units in front of the TFR base. If the units in town get overrun too fast, I can leisurely pick off what drives in view.

To the left of my line, Prof and Feodor are hanging out on a hill.

Prof will again give me eyes on the area, and Feodor will stay hidden until I want him to ambush something with rockets.

The battle in town continues..

..and some TFR Humvees finally decide to get in on the action.

I follow them with my shitty BMP, as I want to mop up whatever Claw units are still in the city. I figure that they took a bit of a beating, and are easy pickings with the support of the TFR.


But again, the AI acts stupid and separates its vehicles.


Welp

Two Humvees and a BTR should be no trouble though, so let's blow some shells.





Okay, I have to explain why this is funny to me. My first shot landed between the Humvees and killed both of them. This prompted the game to advance to the next phase of the fight, and spawn more stuff that now moves towards me. I just find it funny that I became the best buddy of the TFR with a single shot.


I fire a few shells into the BTR, and get back to base. I figure that the Humvee can take a damaged BTR on it's own, so there is no reason to stick around.

While I get out, a few houses just randomly explode.

I think this is scripted and should probably add to the atmosphere. But I dunno, it's kinda weird.

Also, the BTR is on fire and panicked, so my guess was right. But if you take a look at my shitty BMP, it still took a bit of damage while driving away.

On the other end of the map...

...my mines do their job.

And despite what you can see here, they destroyed two BTRs. Right now, there is still shit going on the city and I start to relocate my units in anticipation for the next phase.


That happened a bit faster than I would have liked, as my shitty BMP is still retreating from the city. Oh well, I probably still have enough time to set up.

The third, and last stage of this fight will throw the heaviest targets at you. And you better have some plan on hand for dealing with them!

I pulled my vehicles back, slightly to the side of the base. The hill gives me a bit of cover, and a good lane of fire on the approach to the base. My shitty BMP still has a few shells, and my good vehicles lie in ambush for the big targets. I tucked my BTR away to the side, since it really isn't that useful right now. However, if I want it to, it can still crest the hill and provide some support. My soldiers are also still hidden on the forward hill.

But I don't have to defend the base all on my own. The TFR has some vehicles left, and a surprise..






The MD-500, is the first helicopter you see in the game. It's kinda neat, albeit small and squishy. Even an Uzi can do some good damage to it, so you have to use it with care and make the most of its speed. This one is armed with a twin-linked machine gun, and a single-shot AT-6 rocket launcher. The AT-6 is more or less on par with a TOW and pretty good. However, since the AI is dumb, it'll waste the missile on the first target that comes in range.

I can still make out some commotion in the city, but it doesn't take long for the first Claw unit to arrive.



The BTR destroys another Humvee, before I can even do something about it. Sorry, pal!

My shitty BMP fires its last shells at it, and does a terrible job at actually hitting the damn thing.

See that rocket on the right?


Yeah, the chopper wasted its one missile.

Since my shitty BMP is now out of shells, I park it behind a hill and leave it there.

Then something kinda weird happens...

..I spot a panicked Claw BMP in town. No idea what happened to it, as I wouldn't even have guessed that there are still TFR units around at this point?


But it gets its shit back together, and also brings a friend.


Luckily for me, the AI splits its vehicles again. This could have gone really bad, if the two would have stuck together. Also, please take note of that third Blip in the distance. It'll become relevant in a bit.


The BMP quickly falls to a rocket ambush and AP shells from my own. But the T-55 is almost in range, and shit gets real.


My BMP engages it with rockets and shells, while the Humvee rushes out to help...




Fuck tanks! But to be honest, I should be really glad that this wasn't a direct hit. My Humvee will be in range any second, but I doubt that it'll kill the tank. So I have to move my BMP. I figure I can buy it a bit of time this way, as the T-55 has to take aim again. If I can fire before it does, I'll survive this.


TOW to the face, but as expected the tank survives.


Disabled!

I'm not too sure about the exact numbers here, but I guess my BMP got saved by like a second or something. Yeah, much closer than anyone would like. But that is the thing about hard-mode, your vehicles are much more fragile than in the hands of your enemies. And tanks will always be tough to fight, even if you have your own. If you don't come up with good tactics, your repair bills will outweigh the available time really fast. That is, if your vehicles even manage to survive the mission. But hey, I did it! ..Oh, remember that third Blip I pointed out earlier?


Say hello to the Shilka, one of my favorite units in the game.


By design, the Shilka is an air-defense unit, and will chew through choppers at a crazy rate. But it's also equally good at taking on ground units. It has a quad-linked 14,5mm machine gun, good range, and a terrifying rate of fire. Oh, and did I mention that it's almost as tough as a T-55? Because it is. In theory, it can beat a T-55 in a straight fight, if the T-55 misses a shot or two. It'll be all fucked up afterwards, but it's possible due to the high rate of fire. Now, what do you think will this thing do to my BMP? If you guessed "destroy it real fast", you'd be right.

So, let's see how this plays out...

My BMP has the range advantage for now, and peppers it with shells while it closes in. My Humvee also rushes out to fire another TOW.


The Shilka does not care though, and just drives through all that hurt

And just as it starts to chew through my BMP...



It gets disabled!