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Magical Mack’s Bug Slaughtering Expedition

So Magical Mack became fed up with all this doom and gloom talk of the entire planet becoming Xiticix food, so he developed the following concept to knock the wind out of the bugs’ expansion. He doesn’t expect to completely eliminate the threat but is pretty sure this will greatly aid other efforts to do so.


Stage 1 – Saddle Up

The following personnel are needed:
- 1 Techno-Wizard
- 1 Pilot/crew for a GAW-130 Hercules Aircraft
- 1 EOD Technician (or equivalent Headhunter/Soldier/etc.)
- 12 Mages (Ley Line Walkers, or others who can learn spells are preferred)

Notable Equipment:
- GAW-130 Hercules Aircraft (from Merc Ops) with a few Techno-Wizard upgrades. Invisibility - Simple and Globe of Silence are the major additions, but a few more defensive spells could be added.
- Techno-Wizard helm(s) of Astral Projection, for any mage who can’t learn the spell.
- Techno-Wizard box(es) of Teleport Lesser, for any mage who can’t learn the spell.
- Explosives… lots of explosives. (There are plenty of things that could fill this need, but for simplicity I’ll use Fusion Blocks, each with a dozen frag grenades strapped on.)

Home base:
- The GAW-130 needs at least a 900 foot runway to take off, so we’ll need to establish a suitable location to fly from. However, with its 3000 mile flying range there are plenty of places available. The preferred option is to find a sympathetic community outside of Xiticix territory, but if need be the missions could be flown from Lazlo.


Stage 2 – Peeping Tom

For this stage we load everyone (minus the EOD Technician) in the Hercules and fly over Xiticix territory, with the goal of mapping as many of the Xiticix structures as possible. According to Xiticix Invasion page 11, the bugs ignore aircraft that stays above 10,000 feet. For prudence, we’ll keep the GAW-130 at a minimum of 20,000 feet and employ its Techno-Wizard features to keep the bugs blissfully unaware.

To make the mapping proceed faster, each member of the Mage Squad will use Astral Projection to survey the area. Upon return from each out of body experience they will make appropriate notations on a common set of maps to share with each other. Once all the significant structures are identified, the team will move on to mapping the internal sections of the Hives themselves. They will ignore Warrior’s chambers and instead focus on the Queen’s chamber and Nursery. These need to be precisely pin-pointed.

This stage will take many sorties to accomplish. Exactly how many is hard to tell, but it should not be rushed.


Stage 3 – Cherry Bombs in a Mailbox

Once a Queen’s Chamber and Nursery has been located, the team will shift into offensive sorties. The Fusion Block bombs will be loaded onto the GAW-130, and the team will use the aircraft as a delivery platform. Using the knowledge gained from the Astral Projection scouting, the mages will use Teleport Lesser to distribute the explosives directly into the desired chambers. At only 15 PPE per Teleport, each mage should be able to send a dozen or more bombs into the hive. This will require a little practice on the team’s part. They’ll have to set the countdown timer on the Fusion Block and then teleport it quickly to the target. Ideally the bomb will explode as soon as it arrives, but that’s a tricky proposition. So there’s going to be time left on the clock when it arrives, giving the bugs a chance to scramble. Of course, when they all start going off we’ll then have scrambled bugs.

Two of the mages should Astral Project into the hive just before the fun begins. It will be important to observe exactly what happens when the bombs arrive, assess the damage inflicted, and record the bug’s responses. This knowledge will improve successive sorties.

The first salvo should be aimed directly at the Queens with the goal of eliminating as many as possible as quickly as possible. Subsequent salvos should be scattered around the Nursery and frag the eggs before the Nannies can make off with them. If the bug’s backup Nursery is known, then after a suitable pause it couldn’t hurt to toss some bombs into it as well.

The goal is not to destroy the hive, but to stunt the population growth.


Stage 4 – Rinse, Repeat, and Refine

This stage simply repeats the previous two stages, and improves the process. Keep bombing them until the Nurseries are cleaned out.


Notes

- While wiping out an entire hive in this manner is not feasible, a sustained effort should significantly diminish the Xiticix population growth, possibly even stall it.
- The bombs I chose are a pretty simple design. The damage could easily be ramped up with the use of missile warheads instead.
- Instead of using a timer to detonate the explosives, a “keep alive” signal would work better. The bomb is configured to not detonate as long as it receives a steady signal from the Hercules. Once the bomb arrives in the hive depths, it would lose the signal and automatically explode. That would prevent the Xiticix from moving away from the strange object.
- Sponsorship by a major power would be really helpful. Lazlo is the best candidate, though covert support from several other powers is possible.
- This kind of attack should stir up a hornet’s nest, literally. Anyone located on the edges of Xiticix territory would be attacked.


This is an idea that's been floating around the back of my head for about a week or so. Figured I'd toss on the forum to see if there's any obvious mistakes.

Flaws? Thoughts? Comments?

I like it!

Question though: How dose a mage using Astral Projection map anything? They can't use paper or pencils. They can't carry computers. Are they mapping from memory? That might be tricky in a place with towers and tunnles that all look the same.

Pilot - What did you find down there?
Mage #1 - I saw a bunch of big Xiticix Towers.
Mage #2 - Me too. Hey did yours were yours about 10 stories tall?
Mage #1 - I guess. But mine had Xiticix buzzing in and out.
Mage #2 - Mine too!
Pilot - <facepalm>

I guess my point is it's very hard for a person in a normal city to find his/her way around without a map. Take the streets and street signs away, and make all the building look alike with virtually no decernable landmarks and ....well you get the idea.

Posible solution - and I'm spitballin' here - can a psychic or mage use remote veiwing on someone who is astrally projected? Because that might solve that problem.

1) After the first and second attack, will they continue ignoring "aircraft flying above 10.000 feet"?.

2) You will need to evacuate the edges of their territories or build up some sort of containment (for example: a CS Army), otherwise it will become a blood bath because they are going to move for sure.

3) All in all, I really like you plan! Congratulations!

Hystrix wrote:Question though: How dose a mage using Astral Projection map anything? They can't use paper or pencils. They can't carry computers. Are they mapping from memory? That might be tricky in a place with towers and tunnles that all look the same.

Agreed. It's going to take some time to build a common set of reference points. Probably the easiest way is to find the Elder Queen and work from there. That's why Stage 2 will take many sorties.

Mack wrote:

Hystrix wrote:Question though: How dose a mage using Astral Projection map anything? They can't use paper or pencils. They can't carry computers. Are they mapping from memory? That might be tricky in a place with towers and tunnles that all look the same.

Agreed. It's going to take some time to build a common set of reference points. Probably the easiest way is to find the Elder Queen and work from there. That's why Stage 2 will take many sorties.

So, they use total recall or something?

ffranceschi wrote:1) After the first and second attack, will they continue ignoring "aircraft flying above 10.000 feet"?.

Unknown. For that matter, the I don't see a maximum altitude for how high Xiticix can fly. But that's why the GAW-130 is augmented with both Invisibility, Globe of Silence, and stays above 20,000 feet. The bugs should have no idea it's even there.

ffranceschi wrote:2) You will need to evacuate the edges of their territories or build up some sort of containment (for example: a CS Army), otherwise it will become a blood bath because they are going to move for sure.

Agreed. That's one reason I mentioned a major sponsor would be a big help.

Hystrix wrote:

Mack wrote:

Hystrix wrote:Question though: How dose a mage using Astral Projection map anything? They can't use paper or pencils. They can't carry computers. Are they mapping from memory? That might be tricky in a place with towers and tunnles that all look the same.

Agreed. It's going to take some time to build a common set of reference points. Probably the easiest way is to find the Elder Queen and work from there. That's why Stage 2 will take many sorties.

So, they use total recall or something?

Mostly they would learn via repetition. That's another reason I focused on obvious targets like the Queen and Eggs. Astral Projection lasts for a half hour at 6th level, so they should have approx 20 minutes of exploration time per use. And they could make a half-dozen back-to-back trips from the plane each time it's overhead. As long as each mage can Teleport the bombs, it's all good.

straping grenades on a fusion block whould be pointless. they cant set of the block and whould not add to the force as there presure waves are nothing compared to a cultroled fusion explosion.

AT floation device for take off and landing can make it no longer need the runway.

The big problem is that the bugs can sense large ammount of PPE so you may get their attion. I whould recomend using the bomber from rifts mercnares as it can defend itself better if attacked. just reoutfit it for your need or use a telporting bomb drop for its bombs.

Also invisibilty supier covers sound and trail but fails when you attack from within it.

There is a tribe of psi stalkers that can map out the hives, recruiting from them may help.

Blue_Lion wrote:The big problem is that the bugs can sense large ammount of PPE so you may get their attion. I whould recomend using the bomber from rifts mercnares as it can defend itself better if attacked. just reoutfit it for your need or use a telporting bomb drop for its bombs.

"The jet propulsion system enables the Air Castle to reach a maximum speed of 800 mph (1,280 km), and climb to an altitude of 50,000 feet (15,240 m)."

Very good idea!

Blue_Lion wrote:The big problem is that the bugs can sense large ammount of PPE so you may get their attion.

Fair point. I don't think the bugs will sense the mages within the airplane since it's a few miles up, but they make sense an Astral Travler via the psionic Presence Sense ability. Even if the bugs are set on edge, it shouldn't affect the outcome.

Blue_Lion wrote:I whould recomend using the bomber from rifts mercnares as it can defend itself better if attacked. just reoutfit it for your need or use a telporting bomb drop for its bombs.

I considered it, but comes with a fair amount of 'baggage' that I'd rather avoid.

Blue_Lion wrote:Also invisibilty supier covers sound and trail but fails when you attack from within it.

Right, but Invisibility Simple does not drop. I'll edit the above post to reflect which one I intended.

I understand using Fusion Blocks, why not Nuke's?

Tiree wrote:I understand using Fusion Blocks, why not Nuke's?

You could. My original thought was a group of adventurers attempting this, and they wouldn't have a handy nuclear stockpile.

With the right sponsor, nukes (or a magical equivalent) are certainly possible.

With either version of Invisibility, there would still be no way to cover the exhaust. Granted, at nearly 4 miles up, that shouldn't be a problem, but it still could cause some problems. I personally would use warheads off of missiles no smaller than MRM's mainly for the blast radius. A project like this would require a rather wealth patron (or a number of them), so if you are going through all this trouble, you might as well make sure it gets done right.

you know what this plan needs?

fake xiticix that you can use as scapegoats

to that end, you should start by extracting scent glands from another hive, coat the bombs with the scent from the other hive's glands, and then proceed to frame the other hive for the assassination of the first hive's queen(s), eggs, and grubs.

bonus points if you have some way of making it look like the other hive is sending in a large attack force at the same time, though i imagine that will not be easy.

Mack wrote:

ffranceschi wrote:1) After the first and second attack, will they continue ignoring "aircraft flying above 10.000 feet"?.

Unknown. For that matter, the I don't see a maximum altitude for how high Xiticix can fly. But that's why the GAW-130 is augmented with both Invisibility, Globe of Silence, and stays above 20,000 feet. The bugs should have no idea it's even there.

ffranceschi wrote:2) You will need to evacuate the edges of their territories or build up some sort of containment (for example: a CS Army), otherwise it will become a blood bath because they are going to move for sure.

Agreed. That's one reason I mentioned a major sponsor would be a big help.

I could see Northern Gun offering aid. Under the table and on the sly of course to avoid CS repercussions (Though, the CS might turn a blind eye to such an op if it were discovered, considering they want the xits gone just as much as anyone). IMO, a few companies of Juicer Killer PAs would be an asset in containing the xits. They lack manueverability, but the automated targeting systems and extra attacks they give would be welcome against such a numerous enemy as the xits.

Mack wrote:

Hystrix wrote:

Mack wrote:

Hystrix wrote:Question though: How dose a mage using Astral Projection map anything? They can't use paper or pencils. They can't carry computers. Are they mapping from memory? That might be tricky in a place with towers and tunnles that all look the same.

Agreed. It's going to take some time to build a common set of reference points. Probably the easiest way is to find the Elder Queen and work from there. That's why Stage 2 will take many sorties.

So, they use total recall or something?

Mostly they would learn via repetition. That's another reason I focused on obvious targets like the Queen and Eggs. Astral Projection lasts for a half hour at 6th level, so they should have approx 20 minutes of exploration time per use. And they could make a half-dozen back-to-back trips from the plane each time it's overhead. As long as each mage can Teleport the bombs, it's all good.

So it's less actual mapping, and more of the Mages getting firmiliar with the area so they can teleport in and out?

Overall, a good start. With the suggested fine tuning, the sort of bugstomping effort I'd support.

Hystrix wrote:So it's less actual mapping, and more of the Mages getting firmiliar with the area so they can teleport in and out?

Right, just to teleport the bombs in. There's no reason for the Mages themselves to go down.

One reason I like this approach is that the bugs never know where the attacks come from. Bombs just keep appearing inside the hive.

and that's what makes it so easy to frame another hive

just give them a reason to think it's another hive, and let the xits kill each other

dragonfett wrote:With either version of Invisibility, there would still be no way to cover the exhaust. Granted, at nearly 4 miles up, that shouldn't be a problem, but it still could cause some problems. I personally would use warheads off of missiles no smaller than MRM's mainly for the blast radius. A project like this would require a rather wealth patron (or a number of them), so if you are going through all this trouble, you might as well make sure it gets done right.

Actualy the higher one does remove all tracks, the exhust is just another form of trail. There is a wealthy patron or they where wealthy, Lazlo was funnding a war on the bugs but that whent south with the war on tolkeen.

Mack wrote:

Hystrix wrote:So it's less actual mapping, and more of the Mages getting firmiliar with the area so they can teleport in and out?

Right, just to teleport the bombs in. There's no reason for the Mages themselves to go down.

One reason I like this approach is that the bugs never know where the attacks come from. Bombs just keep appearing inside the hive.

Actualy sounds simula to Lazlos plan, just the way you are doing it is more set in what equipment you want.

What is the flight ceiling of a Xit anyway? Could they, even if enraged, reach a target 4 miles up?

They are not listed with a max altitude, witch is odd most tech flight has a posted limit but not organic flight.

Don't the bugs go mental and kill everything in the vicinity once their queens are killed?
If so, this is probably the sort of thing that would only work on the one hive considering the team will all be dead.

I prefer sending in a solo Loup Garou with a Plasma Harness, or maybe a few Loup Garou

Mack wrote:

Hystrix wrote:So it's less actual mapping, and more of the Mages getting firmiliar with the area so they can teleport in and out?

Right, just to teleport the bombs in. There's no reason for the Mages themselves to go down.

One reason I like this approach is that the bugs never know where the attacks come from. Bombs just keep appearing inside the hive.

Now the only question is, why isn't Lazlo going with this plan instead of wasting lives a resouces (as presented in WB 23)?

Giant2005 wrote:Don't the bugs go mental and kill everything in the vicinity once their queens are killed?
If so, this is probably the sort of thing that would only work on the one hive considering the team will all be dead.

I prefer sending in a solo Loup Garou with a Plasma Harness, or maybe a few Loup Garou

Better yet Burster Scarecrow with Plasma Harness... super fuel that plasma flame... oh boy and on top of that a Burster Scarecrow can't ever be truly killed only restrained.

Hystrix wrote:Now the only question is, why isn't Lazlo going with this plan instead of wasting lives a resouces (as presented in WB 23)?

Because Plato is still upset about losing a game of checkers to Magical Mack.

(I tell ya, that serpent is the worst sore loser...)

Mack wrote:

Hystrix wrote:Now the only question is, why isn't Lazlo going with this plan instead of wasting lives a resouces (as presented in WB 23)?

Because Plato is still upset about losing a game of checkers to Magical Mack.

(I tell ya, that serpent is the worst sore loser...)

Well it simular but there may be teleportaion issues like what happens when a bomb ends up in you wing and you don't know it when you shut down the plane for resupply or when murphy screws with your transmitter.

I think the best way to popuation control the bugs is TW factory + robots + creat Golem spell. Just think about it robots with all the powers of golems. Unless you remove the heart (the nucler core) they get up in 24 hours at full health. If you can make it so they can kill 1 or more down before they fall and keep producing them as fast as you can. This should slow bug growth down and at some point start to over welm them. (maybe have a TW bug spray go off when they die or heck they can be blown to bits and get up walking bombs any one.) The big issue is you are slowly killing people to make them but if you can transfer the damage and have volenteers take the perm sdc loss for you.

Blue_Lion wrote:I think the best way to popuation control the bugs is TW factory + robots + creat Golem spell. Just think about it robots with all the powers of golems. Unless you remove the heart (the nucler core) they get up in 24 hours at full health. If you can make it so they can kill 1 or more down before they fall and keep producing them as fast as you can. This should slow bug growth down and at some point start to over welm them. (maybe have a TW bug spray go off when they die or heck they can be blown to bits and get up walking bombs any one.) The big issue is you are slowly killing people to make them but if you can transfer the damage and have volenteers take the perm sdc loss for you.

plans that involve a massive investment of life-force (ie hit points) are not always a terribly good idea.

Shark_Force wrote:

Blue_Lion wrote:I think the best way to popuation control the bugs is TW factory + robots + creat Golem spell. Just think about it robots with all the powers of golems. Unless you remove the heart (the nucler core) they get up in 24 hours at full health. If you can make it so they can kill 1 or more down before they fall and keep producing them as fast as you can. This should slow bug growth down and at some point start to over welm them. (maybe have a TW bug spray go off when they die or heck they can be blown to bits and get up walking bombs any one.) The big issue is you are slowly killing people to make them but if you can transfer the damage and have volenteers take the perm sdc loss for you.

plans that involve a massive investment of life-force (ie hit points) are not always a terribly good idea.

you could always capture some of the bugs and use them as batteries(sacrifices)... the more that are captured the more 'bots' you can make and the more bugs you can capture...

Slight001 wrote:

Shark_Force wrote:

Blue_Lion wrote:I think the best way to popuation control the bugs is TW factory + robots + creat Golem spell. Just think about it robots with all the powers of golems. Unless you remove the heart (the nucler core) they get up in 24 hours at full health. If you can make it so they can kill 1 or more down before they fall and keep producing them as fast as you can. This should slow bug growth down and at some point start to over welm them. (maybe have a TW bug spray go off when they die or heck they can be blown to bits and get up walking bombs any one.) The big issue is you are slowly killing people to make them but if you can transfer the damage and have volenteers take the perm sdc loss for you.

plans that involve a massive investment of life-force (ie hit points) are not always a terribly good idea.

you could always capture some of the bugs and use them as batteries(sacrifices)... the more that are captured the more 'bots' you can make and the more bugs you can capture...

Actualy it is sdc so dont think bugs whould work, now forcing the loss whould be eviel but if it is a choice and giving all the information and handled right it can done with good.

Besides who said you have to be one of the good guys to stop the bugs. You don't think the True federation of magic whould want to get rid of them? Or the cult of (insert random cult here) whould want to clear the way for thier gods conqeust.

how do you think create golem works, exactly?

because when i look at it, to me at least it is pretty clear that the caster of the spell is the one who loses the hit points.

now, i suppose you could try and pull some cheese with an african witch (though i think that might be SDC only, whereas the spell specifically requires hit points) or a rather ridiculous scheme i came up with for an earth warlock to keep inhabiting new bodies and sacrificing their new body's MDC (which is sketchy at best... probably blatant abuse of the rules quite frankly, i just thought it was a funny thing to throw out there).

also, i'm pretty sure that if you had a robot that kept on getting up, the bugs would start by destroying it more every time, or eventually they would just settle for having a single worker (they do have millions after all) constantly destroying it before it can regenerate if for some reason they are unable to just smash it into tiny enough pieces that the "heart" is destroyed.

frankly, the capacity of the xiticix to make extra workers is much greater than the capacity of probably anyone on rifts earth to make golems (maybe splynncryth, but frankly i get this feeling he'd probably use bio-wizardry creations rather than having his high level spellcasting minions churn out iron golems or anything like that).

I am almost certain this has been said before, but earlier in the thread there was mention of mapping from memory being an issue, so what if you just teleported in objects (marked/differentiated in some noticeable way), used them as landmarks, and mapped step by step by step. You go in the hive a few dozen or so feet or something, return, map. Warp in a landmark, go to that point, and go about a dozen or so feet, return, map, repeat. Over and over and over. It was already stated mapping needed to be done well and acurratley and would take multiple sorties, this method is really really slow, but will yield reliable results.

As a note, the Xiticix will be disturbed and confused, possibly hostile, of the new landmarks which could cause problems when mapping and trying to stay under the radar. They wouldn't be harmful though, so in a best case senario they go unmolested for their entire extent in hive. Wort case, they get destroyed and you will have to restart your mapping another way.

Shark_Force wrote:how do you think create golem works, exactly?

because when i look at it, to me at least it is pretty clear that the caster of the spell is the one who loses the hit points.

now, i suppose you could try and pull some cheese with an african witch (though i think that might be SDC only, whereas the spell specifically requires hit points) or a rather ridiculous scheme i came up with for an earth warlock to keep inhabiting new bodies and sacrificing their new body's MDC (which is sketchy at best... probably blatant abuse of the rules quite frankly, i just thought it was a funny thing to throw out there).

also, i'm pretty sure that if you had a robot that kept on getting up, the bugs would start by destroying it more every time, or eventually they would just settle for having a single worker (they do have millions after all) constantly destroying it before it can regenerate if for some reason they are unable to just smash it into tiny enough pieces that the "heart" is destroyed.

frankly, the capacity of the xiticix to make extra workers is much greater than the capacity of probably anyone on rifts earth to make golems (maybe splynncryth, but frankly i get this feeling he'd probably use bio-wizardry creations rather than having his high level spellcasting minions churn out iron golems or anything like that).

Acording to rifts bom of magic it drains 6 points of sdc not hp. But I thaght i adressed that earler. And it is that loss that i listed as the draw back. Now there is a set rate of recever but it reforms compleatly even if blown to bits. So even smaching the heart to bits will not stop it as it will still get up you have to remove the heart not destroy it.

that still leaves the xiticix fully able to just keep on destroying it when it tries to reform. and i'm still not convinced anyone can produce golems to the extent that a xiticix hive can produce xiticix.

Instead of fusion blocks (Heavy 4d6x10 MD, 10ft radius), I would use NG6 Plastique (2d4x10+20 MD per pound). You combine that in some homemade bomb casings surrounded by shrapnel. Another alternative would be to teleport plasma mines inside the hive. The heavy anti-vehicle ones can be set to sense the Xits from 5 meters and blow up (3d6X10 MD, 70ft radius) and they have the benefit of being disguised as part of the walls/floor.

As for mapping the hive, I would use TW modified spy drone. The playback of the video would more than cover the requirements to teleport the bombs into the hive.

Shark_Force wrote:that still leaves the xiticix fully able to just keep on destroying it when it tries to reform. and i'm still not convinced anyone can produce golems to the extent that a xiticix hive can produce xiticix.

That is just it you do not have to match the same rate of production just build up to a number that over time can mirror the production. If the initial goal is containment they will be bleading off forces on a set location. If you send in say 10K and they kill 10K one day and 10K every day that whould slow down xit production. (not even shure what that is) With that at the end of a month you have killed 300K xit. if you can then agment that force with another 500 units then at the end of the second month 315K where killed in that month. at some point your going to match the growth rate it might not be quick but in the mean time you slowed it down. Now if you make a realy good (munchkin robot) they might get 2-3 xit before they die. Give it a Bug spray cload on death and it can go higher.

you`re not going to be killing any xiticix after the first couple of times. they will kill it, then they will leave a single warrior to stand there and keep ripping it apart faster than it can put itself together once they notice that it isn`t as dead as they would like for it to be. or alternately, maybe they`ll just glue it into the wall somewhere. they do have magic guns that shoot MDC fast-set concrete after all.

ffranceschi wrote:1) After the first and second attack, will they continue ignoring "aircraft flying above 10.000 feet"?.

2) You will need to evacuate the edges of their territories or build up some sort of containment (for example: a CS Army), otherwise it will become a blood bath because they are going to move for sure.

3) All in all, I really like you plan! Congratulations!

Well frankly if you are flying at 20k feet it won't matter if they ignore you or not. Their guns have a max range of 4k feet and their max altitude for flying is 10k feet. So stay above 15k feet and there is nothing the xiticix can do to you. As huge as the xiticix forces are their low altitude and slow flying speeds are one reason modern opponents can probably take them even at gross odds. Fly at 40k feet and they won't hear you and likely won't even see you especially at night since they don't have radar. You can bomb and bomb and bomb and they won't ever be able to track you to your landing strip rinse/repeat as necessary.

Hystrix wrote:

Mack wrote:

Hystrix wrote:

Mack wrote:

Hystrix wrote:Question though: How dose a mage using Astral Projection map anything? They can't use paper or pencils. They can't carry computers. Are they mapping from memory? That might be tricky in a place with towers and tunnles that all look the same.

Agreed. It's going to take some time to build a common set of reference points. Probably the easiest way is to find the Elder Queen and work from there. That's why Stage 2 will take many sorties.

So, they use total recall or something?

Mostly they would learn via repetition. That's another reason I focused on obvious targets like the Queen and Eggs. Astral Projection lasts for a half hour at 6th level, so they should have approx 20 minutes of exploration time per use. And they could make a half-dozen back-to-back trips from the plane each time it's overhead. As long as each mage can Teleport the bombs, it's all good.

So it's less actual mapping, and more of the Mages getting firmiliar with the area so they can teleport in and out?

Yup this. They don't need a map the mages just need to know where the target is enough to be able to teleport and for this astral projection should be fine.

I am pretty sure the xiticix book implies a 10k foot altitude cap for how high they can fly but even if they can fly over that given how slow they are in the air they would have pretty much no chance of detecting the attack and if they did the bomber would be long gone before they could do anything about it. Do the missions at night and the lack of radar would make the xiticix oblivious to what was happening. Even with conventional surface bombing they would get all riled up but other than attacking things along their borders they would have no real target for their agression so while travel in near the hivelands would be dangerous they likely would not rampage outside it much unless they had some target to chase.

Shark_Force wrote:you`re not going to be killing any xiticix after the first couple of times. they will kill it, then they will leave a single warrior to stand there and keep ripping it apart faster than it can put itself together once they notice that it isn`t as dead as they would like for it to be. or alternately, maybe they`ll just glue it into the wall somewhere. they do have magic guns that shoot MDC fast-set concrete after all.

Agreed. I don't think golems would work either. I like Mack's idea.

Or just nuke the sight from orbit...

kaid wrote:

ffranceschi wrote:1) After the first and second attack, will they continue ignoring "aircraft flying above 10.000 feet"?.

2) You will need to evacuate the edges of their territories or build up some sort of containment (for example: a CS Army), otherwise it will become a blood bath because they are going to move for sure.

3) All in all, I really like you plan! Congratulations!

Well frankly if you are flying at 20k feet it won't matter if they ignore you or not. Their guns have a max range of 4k feet and their max altitude for flying is 10k feet. So stay above 15k feet and there is nothing the xiticix can do to you. As huge as the xiticix forces are their low altitude and slow flying speeds are one reason modern opponents can probably take them even at gross odds. Fly at 40k feet and they won't hear you and likely won't even see you especially at night since they don't have radar. You can bomb and bomb and bomb and they won't ever be able to track you to your landing strip rinse/repeat as necessary.

where does it list there flight cap?

Blue_Lion wrote:where does it list there flight cap?

It doesn't. None of the bug's have a max altitude listed in their RCC descriptions, so it's left to GM. However, earlier in the book it says they ignore anything over 10,000 feet so there is a presumption the two are connected (but it is a presumption). That's why in my write-up I kept the aircraft above 20,000 feet and added TW features to keep it hidden.

Mack wrote:

Blue_Lion wrote:where does it list there flight cap?

It doesn't. None of the bug's have a max altitude listed in their RCC descriptions, so it's left to GM. However, earlier in the book it says they ignore anything over 10,000 feet so there is a presumption the two are connected (but it is a presumption). That's why in my write-up I kept the aircraft above 20,000 feet and added TW features to keep it hidden.

I know that but when some one says they have a hard stat I was like where does that come from.

I think the big defrence between your plan and the lazlo plan to Rift in attackers is the Lazlo plan was built around hereos doing most the work (to give RP to players) while yours was about safty.
I think if you combine what i suggested with what you sugest with robot golems built and put on the primitor to geve the angry bugs a target that fights back and does not go down easy. (There are many easy ways to get out of the fast dring rezen if you are using TW items.) People seams to forget that the bugs work mostly on instict and hive mentality, something attacks them and they kill it loosing a few members they don't care unless it hits the hive.

ok, let's stop for a second. supposing you decided that you wanted to use some sort of non-human forces to attack the bugs. why would you ever choose golems? or, more to the point, why would you ever choose something that is going to consume your life force to create?

there are options that don't require you to burn your life force. there are spells that create magic warriors which are not even alive, for example. they have the disadvantage of not regenerating every day, but they also have the advantage of not permanently siphoning off a bit of your life force to create. i have a hard time believing you're going to see a nation of mages choose in favor of sacrificing their life force, permanently, rather than spending a little bit of PPE that they can generate from a ley line.

(and of course, if we're looking at something like, say, atlantis, then i think we have to consider the possibility of zombies enhanced with transmute bone to MDC bone, with their hands/limbs enchanted as bone weapons and their skulls enchanted to shoot fireballs, all using russian bone magic/necromancy, for example, as something that still remains a much much better option; probably lazlo wouldn't use this, because i don't think they'd create an army of zombies, but it is a much better option once you remove morality from the equation).

Shark_Force wrote:or, more to the point, why would you ever choose something that is going to consume your life force to create?

Instead of mass producing golems, mass produce scrolls of create golem. That way anyone who can read could donate some SDC to the cause to create a golem.

That would get around the mage giving up all his "life force".

That said, I still don't think golems would be very effective. Once they're immobilized by bug-glue, they'd never move again.

--flatline

flatline wrote:

Shark_Force wrote:or, more to the point, why would you ever choose something that is going to consume your life force to create?

Instead of mass producing golems, mass produce scrolls of create golem. That way anyone who can read could donate some SDC to the cause to create a golem.

That would get around the mage giving up all his "life force".

That said, I still don't think golems would be very effective. Once they're immobilized by bug-glue, they'd never move again.

--flatline

What about building weapons into the Golems? As I understand it the Create Golem spell is serving as the basis for a TW Robot... it'd be a shame not to include weapons such as a flame aura and immunity to energy... suddenly that M.D.C. glue doesn't seem so bad... in fact with a proper AI and the ability of them to coordinate with each other getting 'killed' and encased wouldn't be such a bad thing as they could repair themselves and then break free all via controlled use of a fire aura... that said I don't actually know if there is a fire aura style spell or not but it should be creatable.

Slight001 wrote:

flatline wrote:

Shark_Force wrote:or, more to the point, why would you ever choose something that is going to consume your life force to create?

Instead of mass producing golems, mass produce scrolls of create golem. That way anyone who can read could donate some SDC to the cause to create a golem.

That would get around the mage giving up all his "life force".

That said, I still don't think golems would be very effective. Once they're immobilized by bug-glue, they'd never move again.

--flatline

What about building weapons into the Golems? As I understand it the Create Golem spell is serving as the basis for a TW Robot... it'd be a shame not to include weapons such as a flame aura and immunity to energy... suddenly that M.D.C. glue doesn't seem so bad... in fact with a proper AI and the ability of them to coordinate with each other getting 'killed' and encased wouldn't be such a bad thing as they could repair themselves and then break free all via controlled use of a fire aura... that said I don't actually know if there is a fire aura style spell or not but it should be creatable.

Well first off it is a TW device so are you casting it every time or is the person that presses the buton casting it. Actualy i do have a few ideas for a right up on the stats. (used something like this to plauge a party of munchkin charters. Called it the TW-1000)

On death it blew itself to bits so there was nothing to salvaged and then fully reformed in 24 hours. So encasing it in rezen whould not realy be a problem (besides i dobt that most bugs whould figure out what was going on beyound there is a large group things on our boarder where we killed some yetsterday.