Part 15: Heroes Die Young - Part 2

Heroes Die Young

Last time, our crew started their journey towards NOAH, and discovered that some Claws were blocking their way. They also found a new recruit, who has a friend that got captured by the Claws.

Time to take care of business.

The city is pretty close to the rail yard. Two roads lead in, but the one in the back also hides a cluster of mines.

Let's scout!

Nothing besides soldiers and some Humvees. This is not hard at all, and I could pretty much just waltz over the Claws here. But that would be kinda boring, so I'm going to do it with a bit of style. Also, there is at least one minefield inside the city, so it's not too smart to just drive inside.

First though, let's grab some almost hidden loot.

If you follow the tracks from the rail yard, you can find another Grail with two missiles.


And this small base next to the city hides an ammo crate.

Back to the city...

Prof actually found the mines inside the city. But I'm honestly not sure if that is all of them, so I rather keep my vehicles outside. However, there is one important thing about this shot. If you flex your eyes, you can spot some of my units all the way in the back. I carefully moved them around the city, because there is something sweet back there.


An empty chopper.



The OH-58 is exactly like the MD-500 that the TFR used in the last mission. I honestly haven't been able to find any difference between the two. It also comes with a dual machine gun, and a single shot missile launcher.


It's guarded by a Humvee, but that's no problem. My units won't use it right away though. It's very flimsy, and I want to kill some of the troops around before I take off. Otherwise they will shoot the chopper to bits pretty handily. Also, there is a stash of 40mm grenades here that my guys pocket.

Let's cause some mischief in the city..

Akim snipes a random dude, to draw the other units towards the hill.


AK-surprise to the face

Then a Humvee follows...

I really love this shot, it just worked so perfectly


Encouraged by this performance, Ivan decides to just grenade the last asshole that comes looking.

Time to rule the skies!


Noooo, Beck

The loss of such a well established character is very tragic, but please try to move on, because we have to talk a bit about helicopters. Okay, as you could see, they actually need to wind up their rotors before they can start. That can become pretty important when you want to start with enemies in the area, as they'll just shoot the chopper to bits before it can get off the ground. Once you are in the air, the chopper will ascend to a standard height which you can't influence by yourself. You can only order it to land or to fly, that's it. However, a chopper will automatically rise above high terrain pieces, or move around them.

You also could see that this model is kinda flimsy, as the soldiers started to damage it with ease. I believe that was from an M60, but even a group with Uzis can quickly chew through its armor. Of course, there are heavier choppers that can take some heat, but it's always a good idea to keep your distance. And you better believe that enemies will ruin you with RPGs or other missile weapons! It is possible to dodge a guided missile, but it is extremely hard and based on lucky circumstances. One time, I managed to dodge a Grail missile and led it into a building where it exploded. Pretty cool, but I only pulled this off once and wouldn't advise anyone to try it. So, the greatest features of choppers are the range of the different weapon systems, and the speed/maneuverability. If you use these two aspects to their full potential, choppers can wreak a lot of havoc! It's perfectly possible to break some missions with the right use of choppers, especially since a certain model is literally the harbinger of doom & destruction. You have to be a bit lucky with Wlad's selection, but choppers are kick-ass!

Okay, back on track. Since the Claws just gunned down an innocent guy, there will be no mercy for them.

Did I already say that I really enjoy to fire frag shells at unsuspecting soldiers? Because I do!


This is almost sad to watch...


..almost



Everyone shed a tear for Beck....done? Okay, then let's finish this!


In the center of town, you can find a nice cache of ammo. And most importantly, there are some bolts!

Afterwards, our group hauls ass towards the new objective.

I left one of my BMPs behind, since I really don't need five vehicles for this. Also, this vineyard has a hefty stash of shotgun shells. But who still uses them at this stage?

Our new objective is actually a bit behind the vineyard.

The survivors pulled back into this little mountain village, and the Claws are already here. The civilians have a wooden wall, a Humvee and some guns, but they will die horribly if you don't support them quickly.

Our new chopper fires his TOW..

And you can see that the Claws already did quite a number on the wall





And the last unit dies in the crossfire.

Okay, that was easy enough, right? Yes, but don't get careless because here is one of those little moments where the game tries to fuck you over. It now spawns a Shilka close to the village.


So I tell my chopper to immediately land in the village, because I won't take any chances with a Shilka around.


Here it comes.


My tanks engage it...


...but do a shitty job at actually hitting the damn thing.


The terrain also fucks with my line of fire


Thank you, T-55!


After the death of the last Claw unit, the leader of the survivors becomes chatty.


Ah, the fuzzy feeling that you get for doing something good


Mission done, time for looting!


The village has this little stash.




Throwing knifes are kinda weird. While they are silent and bypass armor, the have pretty poor range and need a clear line of sight/throw. They are also incredibly rare, so this knife may be the only one that I find. Dunno, never had much incentive to use them.

So, here is another thing I want to bring up. By this point, you will end up with so much gear that it's quite the hassle to stuff the best things into your inventory. It's up to you how much inventory-tetris you want to play, but you have to invest a bit of time if you want to get the most from the available loot.

This is pretty much everything I found during this mission. Doesn't look like too much, right?


Think again

Welp, my greed gets the best of me, so I thoroughly shullfe around loot until I'm satisfied. Oh, another thing I want to mention is that there are no more secrets from here on out. At least to my knowledge, and I looked pretty hard! Kinda weird, but I guess the designers either ran out of ideas, stopped to care or had to cut corners. On the other hand, it isn't too bad, because we will now enter the part of the game where we'll encounter much more vehicles and chances for salvage. So maybe it's a balance decision? Dunno, but I just wanted to bring it up.

Time to go!

Not much salvage this time around. Honk