The Mission (part 1)

As BoggyB waited for the helicopter to land, he knew this was going to be a tough one. Invading an enemy base was never easy, especially with this particular adversary. Known and feared throught the Tournament, Xan had taken particular lengths to stop any invaders. For once, the truth could be worse than the rumors.

The mission had seemed simple on paper: run past the usually inaccurate plasma cannons, blast the chains holding the door, make your way in (dealing with anyone in the way), open the door to the back room and give the giant blue crystal thing a good blatting. For bonus marks, you could open the front door to make things easier for your teammates. Easy, right?

The time to deliberate was over - the helicopter had landed, and it was time to arm up and invade the base. Run out the 'copter, grab a bit of ammo lying around, dodge the plasma cannons (stand still, let it start firing, then run before it can properly track you), take out the snipers with the shock rifle, switch to the rocket launcher, push the button, and...

Click.

Whoops.

Xan and his cronies had been very busy - they had dropped some fake ammo that jammed the weapon when used. A very sneaky tactic, as in the Unreal Tournament ammunition is possibly the most important thing, after having something to fire it with. Still, the shock rifle is just as effective when used in combo mode. Blast the first chain, fire at the second one, watch the door open, and see one of Xan's grunts holding a Redeemer. Mistake number two.

Once BoggyB respawned at the helicopter he thought over what had just happened. Xan had firstly placed dummy ammo around, so ignore any ammo unless you know where it came from. Secondly, he had extra guards with non-standard weapons for this scenario. He must have planned for anyone playing by the usual rules. Time to start changing them....

The Mission (part 2)

So, Xan was obviously expecting everyone to play by the "normal" rules (this being the Tournament, the only rule was shoot anyone not on your own team, and even that's only a guideline). These being, amongst others, "Don't cheat by grabbing weapons that don't exist" and "Don't muck around with the standard spawnpoints". In this case, Xan choose to bend the rules a bit by getting hold of some Redeemers, and by dumping fake ammo that jams the weapon.

Hmm... looking at the base, there are really only two ways in or out. You can try the front door (not much use as the only control is on the inside), or you can sneak round the back past the defenders and knock out the counterweights for the side door. The second route is what everyone takes, and, unless Xan's got some *really* good repairmen, that door's wide open. The only problem is getting past the idiots guarding it with Redeemers. It's possible to knock a Redeemer missile out of the air, but only a total fool would try that since you need to be outside the blast radius...

That's it! Get to the back gate, and empty a couple rounds from the Minigun into the fools with Redeemers. Knowing the usual intelligence of Xan's grunts, they will be daft enough to fire a Redeemer into the mess, blowing themselves up and saving you the effort, plus giving you a couple of Redeemers in mint condition. Then, the side door will be unguarded, and I'll have enough firepower to take out anyone in the base itself...