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Author Topic: Blade Drone Hive  (Read 2457 times)

Offline zapkitty

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Blade Drone Hive
« on: March 08, 2010, 05:20:24 pm »
Blade Drone Hive

This would appear when raid losses make it clear to the aliens that Phalanx troops need dedicated robots deployed against them as opposed to the more general purpose bloodspider and bloodmantis.

In this case the robot is actually a stationary AI-equipped "Hive" that would deploy relatively simpleminded five-legged disposable robotic drones the size of a small dog.  Heavily armed robotic drones.

Hive Structure: Your average big alien box, about 2 meters on a side, with holes in the side and sprouting spiky antennae.

Blade Drone Structure and Weapons: Five legs, a body containing the power pack and the electronics, a sensor cluster and a plasma blade in the front... and it carries an additional explosive charge.

When Phalanx troops intrude on the raid area the Hive begins dispatching blade drones to deal with what the Hive deems as the most threatening enemy units. When a blade drone is in range it leaps at the target in an attempt to lock on with the plasma blade. If it succeeds it spends that turn killing the target and then it will explode the next turn.

Otherwise it will try again.

And again.

The blade drone's small size and pre-programmed evasive maneuvers will make it a difficult target to hit in the meantime... and there's always the chance that a drone will explode anyway if it is hit hard enough.

The actual embodiment and descriptives can be changed at will, of course, but would this seem likely to provide sufficient game variety for the effort that would be involved?

Offline Sgt. Hatter

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Re: Blade Drone Hive
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2010, 10:26:01 pm »
Ewww, Mook Makers in a UFO/X-COM game?

Kidding.  I kinda like the idea, but I'm a bit iffy about it.  Aliens mid to late game can already outnumber your squad 2-to-1 and typically carry superior weaponry.  Giving them a mook maker that can spit out what's basically an endless supply of instakill-capable melee units is probably overkill.  I hated it in X-COM Apocalypse & UFO: Aftermath (BRAINSUCKERS and DEATHBELLOWS, ARGH!!) and I don't think I'd like it here.

Then again, an enemy with this level of absolutely b@%^#!$&ry is kind of a tradition in every UFO/X-COM game, now that I think about it.  I just dunno if the fact that we already have the Plasma Blade, which can be wielded by any alien and isn't obvious until they equip it, fulfills the tradition or not.
« Last Edit: March 08, 2010, 10:36:51 pm by Sgt. Hatter »

Offline zapkitty

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Re: Blade Drone Hive
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2010, 01:34:06 pm »
Ewww, Mook Makers in a UFO/X-COM game?

Kidding.  I kinda like the idea, but I'm a bit iffy about it.

My friend, have you ever watched... 8-Bit Theater?  8)

... ah well, I was pretty sure I'd already given away the plan when I did the Plasmoids writeup...

But I intended to be fair and I'd envisioned this particular Hive spawning only one drone at a time and the troops could take it out in turn by planting a bomb (when that becomes available).

It's a very flexible concept, I just wanted to get its foot in the door...