Part 22: Base

Base


Akim and Sorana are the first soldiers that reach a second skill. I'm not surprised by Akim, seeing how much kills he scored, but I don't know why Sorana is there too. I had her on vehicle duty all the time, so maybe she got experience as a gunner? I honestly have no idea how the Xp system works for vehicle crews. Anyway, Akim gets Athletic and Sorana becomes a second sniper. Mostly as a backup if Akim should get killed. All of my main soldiers are roided up by this point, so let's skip that part from here on out.

Off to the garage..

I only fix the T-55 that I salvaged on the last mission, and leave the rest of my vehicles as they are. I have a reason for that, and I'll tell you at the end of this update.

For now, let's check our new plane!





Planes are different from other vehicles, in the sense that you can't actually pilot them or bring them with you on missions. They work pretty much like artillery strikes that come from outside the map. You have to use an item called "bug" to tell the plane where you want a bomb dropped. It's pretty much like a beacon that you have to place down, and it will get destroyed in the following explosion. Once the beacon is placed, you can call the plane with an option in the context menu, and it will appear on the map a few seconds after that. The plane automatically does it's bombing and will fly away again. I'm pretty sure that it also can't be destroyed while being on the map.

Honestly, planes are kinda cool, but it really depends on your taste if you want to use them at all. There is certainly no need to do it, and doing it right requires a bit of work. Like, you have to sneak up to a good target, place the beacon and sneak away again. That is often a bit too much trouble for my taste, but I'm still going to drop a few bombs. If only for the sheer amount of destruction that they can cause! Speaking off, you have to buy the beacons and bombs from Wlad, and arm your plane before you go on a mission. Our plane has five hardpoints, and each can either take a small or heavy bomb. Heavy bombs are more rare, but also appropriately powerful. You can't tell your plane which bomb it should use, and I think it just works by what order you equip the bombs.

Let's see if Wlad can offer us some bombs...

..or new vehicles. Yeah, that's okay too!


Now we're talking! Despite being designated as a transport chopper, the Mi-8 is a very powerful assault chopper. It can't take that much damage, but is able to field multiple weapon systems designed for large choppers. I'm not going to buy it though, because the next mission will give me something better for free!


Wlad also offers a new tank that I grab instantly. It's expensive, but really worth it!




The Ma1a, better known as Abrams, is the king of tanks in this game. It has the same cannon as a T-55, but can take much more damage. Instead of a second machine gun, it comes with a 40mm grenade launcher that has to be operated by a third crew member. But just like the second MG on the T-55, this hardly ever works. Like, I haven't seen the launcher being used a single time. And I tried really hard, believe me.

Next up, I trade for some heavy ordnance and gear.

Aside from bombs, shells, and rockets, I also pick up two big rocket pods. Both are for the cool chopper that the game will gift to me in the next mission. Those pods fire unguided rockets, but can carry a lot of ammo.

And lastly I grab some beacons for my plane.

They are surprisingly expensive, but I can afford them. I also trade away my trusty Ural, because I don't need it anymore.

Now, remember that I saved some time in my garage earlier?

I wanted to pimp my new Abrams

Okay, that's it for this time. My force is looking pretty powerful, but I actually won't be able to use most of it during the next mission. See, the next mission is going to be special, and also is the hardest and maybe longest mission of the game. I love it and you can honestly look forward to it! All I'm saying is that we'll go undercover