AP - Boarding a Xenon Q, some trouble.

[sadron]

No matter what I seem to do most of my marines get killed before making it to the computer core. Am I just unlucky? Nearly all of my marines seem to constantly get killed... are the 30 5 star marines on my Sirokos not enough? What am I missing, here?

[DrBullwinkle]

What am I missing, here?

Probably timing.

Make sure those "5-star" marines have 100% fight skill. Send in 20, then send in the next 10 at the right time.

Finding the "right time" is your challenge. (Sooner rather than later.)

The trick with Xenon capitals is that you have to have sufficient number of marines on each level in order for the squad to survive to the next. Kind of like real life in a heavy-combat scenario.

30 marines on a Sirokos is usually enough after you have mastered the timing. Until then, you might need more.

[sadron]

I will master it even if it takes me all week ;p I want that damned achievement. And I can assure you, I've looked at all 30 of my marines, all of them have an Overall of 100.

[brucewarren]

There's a minimum # of guys that need to be on the target ship at all times. Something like 17 or so. This is a mechanic specific to Xenon ships. The lore is that they have built in anti-personal defences. Should the number drop to less than that they all die instantly. You have to keep reinforcing the crew with fresh meat as they guys die off in the fighting. Watch the levels on the marines monitor window.

Because of the time lag between launching a pod,it arriving, and the new guys join the team. That makes the timing hard. That's why it's easier with a much higher number of guys. With say 70 or so You can launch the pods almost continuously. Any marines that don't board (since a Q can only hold 21 during the operation) end up in space and have to be collected later.

[sadron]

Actually I think they all die instantly below 18 when reaching the core. I've had times when it got as low as 6 people and it was still going.