Game #12: Special Operations (1984)
We have almost 2/3 of the time left, and we know where the compound is - we can afford more wilderness searching. On the other hand, I don't know what else we might find to help us break into.
So, I agree with Lynx - let's go for it, if passes and uniforms don't fool Germans, my gun surely is convincing enough. One thing before we enter - I'd suggest patching up our wounded. Can we heal both Dayyalu and Gubisson with one invocation of the Medic skill, or will it eat up both remaining slots?
Quote from Baron Rastignak on 31 May 2024, 7h54We have almost 2/3 of the time left, and we know where the compound is - we can afford more wilderness searching. On the other hand, I don't know what else we might find to help us break into.
So, I agree with Lynx - let's go for it, if passes and uniforms don't fool Germans, my gun surely is convincing enough. One thing before we enter - I'd suggest patching up our wounded. Can we heal both Dayyalu and Gubisson with one invocation of the Medic skill, or will it eat up both remaining slots?
I think one invocation is enough.
On the other hand, I wonder does it even make a difference whether they are wounded or OK.
Sorry for dropping out of the Earth.
I agree with Lynx, and all my training in Hidden&Dangerous 2 told me you simply barge in and shoot everyone.
Interlude.
Well, given your vote, I beeline to the compoundt and...
... what the Hell Rastignak!
F.....
...
I guess we're in the compound now?
Damn.
So I reload the game, and after deactivating the Sniper skill, I try to talk to the guard:
After which...
etc etc...
I tried with the Linguist skill, but it did not help. I tried with the Actor skill, and I passed... but then Gubisson was suspicious and we were all rounded all the same. Maybe the wounded midget with a blooded uniform too large for him gave it away?
When testing the game, I found out that you don't need the Actor skill for everyone, and I managed to get the OK for 3 people of my squad, but eventually I got caught. There are some randomness as well, as different test with the same "attempts" had different results.
So that's where we stand. If you are bored, we can consider the mission failed and move to something else, otherwise I guess we'll have to explore all the wilderness and see if we find the lorry or anything useful.
Quote from The Wargaming Scribe on 2 June 2024, 17h28Maybe the wounded midget with a blooded uniform too large for him gave him away?
Reminds me of that scene in The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission where the Black US soldier bandages his face when they're disguised as German soldiers, but leaves his hands bare.
I'd post a picture of it, but it seems the Internet doesn't care about mediocre made-for-TV sequels. This is the best I can give you:
Quote from The Wargaming Scribe on 2 June 2024, 17h28Interlude.
Well, given your vote, I beeline to the compoundt and...
... what the Hell Rastignak!
But it went so well the last time I tried this 🙁
Okay, okay, I'll use a silencer the next time.
Maybe the wounded midget with a blooded uniform too large for him gave it away?
Did you try his midgeting skills?
So that's where we stand. If you are bored, we can consider the mission failed and move to something else, otherwise I guess we'll have to explore all the wilderness and see if we find the lorry or anything useful.
Given the nature of the game it may just involve lots and lots of save-scumming as it's totally unclear what we need to successfully breach the compound (and, as it goes with adventure games of the period, whether we're not already in a walking dead situation).
So I'm ready to have some appropriate comically heroic epilogue and call it a day.
Ah yes, should have considered the risks of taking a trigger happy sniper along.
If the game requires that almost everybody needs to have a actor skill for this kind of infiltration to succeed, then it deserves some bashing in the review. It seems that this game uses the learn-by-dying approach and we might have put ourselves into walking dead situation already from the start with our skill selections. And looking at our skill set we really don't have anything useful at our disposal, so only option left is to return to wilderness. I have to admit that I have no high hopes for that.
But before that, you could test what the sapper skill does on the compound map.
So, I guess it depends on does our leader have stamina or desire to see the map fully filled. Have some interest in finding out does the game provide anything useful in the wilderness or is the only function for it to prolong the play time.
T=56
Well, I persevered because I need it for my blog anyway. So I combed the map, first found a T-shaped key in the map:
Later I found a lake. I couldn't explore it ("you may drown"), until Dayyalu remembered he could dive:
That was great, because now I have a full map. Also, it makes Operative Lynx redundant:
There were 3 places left to explore:
- The cave to the North has a dead Frenchman with valves that I picked up.
The remaining lake and cave have respectively a rusty key and a set of brass keys...
So our equipment:
- 11 passes (I met another patrol)
- 10 uniforms. I wonder who carry them
- A small book
- "Valves
- Radio
- Map
- Rusty Key
- Brass Keys
- T-shape key
- Password
I also followed the road to find the lorry, but nothing happened. I reloaded that part as it took me hours (in game terms, only 1 minute real life).
Finally, I know from my previous test that you can remove the mines with the sapper skill, but if you try to touch the barrier, this happens:
So that's where we stand. The manual mentions "3 or 4 ways to get inside the compound" so maybe not everything is lost?
Hmm, five men in bloodstained uniforms suddenly emerging out of the wilderness - this is definitely not suspicious at all. Maybe we'll still have better luck with this damned lorry? If we can find and repair it, maybe we'll pass for a troop rotation. And we can hide Gubisson inside.
Scribe, did you try to use the radio again? Maybe the truck has broken in one of the potholes, outside the road?
Also, I feel the electric valves might help to bypass the wire barrier, but I have no idea how to apply them correctly.
Maybe an expert in Electronics. I don't think we can manage with only two "general skill uses". Also RNG on skill use means you can savescum this? Endearing.
The Lorry seems one of the few ways we can manage (and consider that "barging in with uniforms and passes, passing the wire and going with the lorry" are already 3 ways in so a bad designer would be satisfied). Let's try that one and burn a Leader skill for repairing it, or if nothing happens...
I dunno, bruteforce the Actor roll just to see what's beyond? If a designer does not respect you I feel no need to respect his creation.
Who could have guessed that cartographer and diver are the redundant pair of skills. I had hoped that sapper would take care of both mines and wires, but I guess not. Among the skills there's not any which would clearly be the solution. Yeah, valves most likely need electronics skill.
And it seems that the lorry can be anywhere, so it would probably require lawnmowing the map to find it. Was it that the potholes didn't contain anything. We have quite a lot of keys without knowledge where to use them. I wonder could the houses have been opened with these keys so there wouldn't have been a need to waste leader skills for opening them.
Looking at our inventory and skill set, I have no good ideas at the moment. It's very bad design if the only working solution for us is to bruteforce skills.
OK folks, I found a lot of things, but I am going to have to call it a day because it turns out the game is time-sensitive...
I started "Searching" every tile, starting by the one closest to the compound.
First, I found a tower 2 squares from the compound:
We could even midget inside the tower, but it was full of poisonous gas so Gubisson had to leave - I guess we need to find gas masks!
One tile from the compound, we found, well, that:
It is guarded by a lot of Germans, and after killing them (and losing people)... it turns out we're not agile enough for the pothole. Using the acrobat skill, I can explore the cave and find my wat to a passage that has been walled off. The "Sapper" skill did not work, though. Maybe strongman? But I was out of skill use.
Since "pothole" means something, I returned to the two potholes, and what do you know searching them gives this intel:
I don't call that a pothole, but whatever.
Using the leader-climber skill, I explored the two potholes. In the first one I found a broken radio, and the body of a Frenchman mentioning a secret tunnel just next "alongside the road". That must be the way to know there is a tunnel leading to ... somewhere.
Near the compound, on the road, I also heard "running water", but nothing I could do with that.
Since clearly there are some "items" pointing you to other items, I used the radio skill again... except this time I did not pick anything. I checked where I last picked something... nothing.
So I loaded an old game, and found that the lorry is actually on the road (I still needed to "search" ^^)
After killing the guards, I can use Mechanic to repair the lorry, and then get in and drive ... to the compound.
... where we are arrested and killed all the same.
I also failed to brute force the guards, so I think I ll stop there, and try to succeed the game alone with a "better" combination of skills. Given the amount of keys we found, I suspect Lockpick can allow you not to have a diver, for instance. Actor/Linguist is probably a must have if you try to pass the guards.
Thanks a thousand for your patience - I don't think I would have persevered without this forum thread, and now I want to finish it: the manual actually mentions 6 (SIX) ways to the compound. I think it can be done!
After having slept over it I had come up with a couple of ideas and the other one was to use the search command on the road or near the road.
The other; I can't believe I hadn't thought about this earlier, but what is an essential part of every infiltration story? To add our own photos onto passes. And since there is the Forger skill, maybe the designer has been smart enough to implement that and you have to forge the passes.
Hmm, with the running water you encountered I started to think that maybe the designer was being tricky here. Maybe thinking about Sapper with the minefield is a red herring and you should think about the alternative meaning. You could try does the Sapper do anything with the running water.
Wall in the cave is probably a job for the Explosives expert?
Yeah, the game most likely is time-sensitive. Since we didn't bring or find any gas masks, maybe the tower fills with poison over time. So, to use the tower, you would have to find it fast and then it is a job for the classic Midget-Strongman duo.
I think this attempt was doomed from the start and the key to success is building an ascension kit by choosing the right set of skills for the task. Maybe we could still compare our thoughts about what we consider to be essential skills.
Quote from Operative Lynx on 4 June 2024, 8h47After having slept over it I had come up with a couple of ideas and the other one was to use the search command on the road or near the road.
The other; I can't believe I hadn't thought about this earlier, but what is an essential part of every infiltration story? To add our own photos onto passes. And since there is the Forger skill, maybe the designer has been smart enough to implement that and you have to forge the passes.
Hmm, with the running water you encountered I started to think that maybe the designer was being tricky here. Maybe thinking about Sapper with the minefield is a red herring and you should think about the alternative meaning. You could try does the Sapper do anything with the running water.
Wall in the cave is probably a job for the Explosives expert?
Yeah, the game most likely is time-sensitive. Since we didn't bring or find any gas masks, maybe the tower fills with poison over time. So, to use the tower, you would have to find it fast and then it is a job for the classic Midget-Strongman duo.
I think this attempt was doomed from the start and the key to success is building an ascension kit by choosing the right set of skills for the task. Maybe we could still compare our thoughts about what we consider to be essential skills.
Damn, you're good! Both tricks (the forgery and the sapper-on-water) yielded some results!
Update coming much later today, I am afraid
So -
As proposed by Operative Lynx, I went saping on the water, and this happened:
Not sure what we needed a sapper for that, but whatever.
The manhole opens with the T-key...
... but I can't go further, even with a diver. We may need to find a pump - possibly in the tower?
More promising, with the Forgery skill we can add our pictures to the passes (no need for the PHOtographer skill). I then tried to pass the guards... and they got consistantly suspicious. I had to combine with the ACTor skill and savescum a lot to pass: the leader has 75% chance to pass, but Gubison the midget kept being busted, and the rare times Gubisson passed then KarbonKitty would fail. I suspect that's because they are the two wounded characters of the team.
Anyway, I am out of LEAder skill, but I am in.
Inside the camp, I expected to be able to do something with the purple barracks, but you can't get inside. However, wherever you go, you are regularly "inspected" by guards, but now we pass most of the time... but sometimes Gubisson gets busted and I have to save scum more...
I move to the red square where they ask for the password AND the pass, but the Germans did not suspect anything...
.. and we are in the complex already!
The complex is a mix of corridors and doors, with guards here and there that can control you.
Our brass keys open the doors, and I managed to get into the file room, but any searching triggers a guard inspection, which we rarely pass as those guards must be better
Speaking of guards, the corridors have guards which, you guessed it, ask for your pass every time. The savescumming is so intense it can generate energy - we must have missed or forgotten something. Like a doctor ^^.
I also try the Southern route, where I find the stores and more guards:
I guess I am going to call it a day here, and try to "finish" the game with another team. As I see it, a good team should need:
- DOCTOR
- ACTOR
- LOCKSMITH (makes finding all the keys redundant)
- Possibly Linguist to make sure those pass checks go smoothly?
- Forger is probably something best left to the leader as a one-off. You probably need a talent related to the mission (it can be "steal the plans", "blow up the base" "steal the secret fuel formula",
On the other hand, Sniper and cartographer can probably be skipped fully.
Any thought?
I'd say we can call this a rather successful first attempt, we managed to get into the complex and learned a lot about how the the game operates. I think we can deduce that the primary skills are meant for completing the mission inside the complex and the secondary skills determine which of the routes to get into the complex are possible to use.
You mentioned that the leader had a 75% chance to pass the inspection, that's 3/4, suggesting that there are 4 components checked. You had an OK status, forged pass, and active Actor skill. That's three and I think it's safe to assume that the fourth component is Linguist skill. Probably, inside the complex, with the better guards you want to have all four. Since the pass had two states (non-forged and forged), maybe uniform also checks whether the wearer is wounded or OK. That would make Doctor an important skill to have on the team.
This would require a team with skills: Leader, Actor, Linguist, Doctor. Then the fifth member would be a mission specialist (handling rocket fuel sounds like a job for a Chemist.)
As for secondary skill, there seems to be more options. It probably doesn't matter what the leader's second skill is as long as it is something useful.
We found out at least partial information of several ways to get into the complex. Going through the gate requires password. I wonder if we could have been able to interrogate the captured German if we didn't already own the password. So getting password would require either Cipher or Interrogator?
Cave would need Acrobat (+ Explosives? +...), Tower would need Midget (+...), Sewer would need Sapper (+ T-shaped key +...). I think that gives at least some knowledge for deciding whether a team has a chance or not.
Too bad that you couldn't test can Locksmith open the doors in the Complex. Since brass keys were used inside the Complex, I think it's safe to assume that the rusty key was for opening the houses. So, the question remains: can the Locksmith replace both types of keys or only the rusty key?
Beside Locksmith we used Diver and Climber several times, thus they might also be usable secondary skills.
When we started I was thinking that sniper skill would be used on the Compound map, but based on our experience, I think Sniper's function is to just make survival in the wilderness, and obtaining the uniforms, easier. Cartographer and probably Scout too are also just for making the hiking in wilderness more comfortable.
Turns out the linguist (and no one wounded?) was the secret ingredient. I had 100% pass rate, no save-scumming necessary. You can't brute force the password however. If you don't have it you'll get busted 100% of the time however good your mastery of German vernacular is.
I found out that ju-jitsuing the guards in the complex with UNArmed combat would have worked too, but I was out of Leader skills.