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 X@COM Mod "UNION" v1.01
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Compatible X@COM version: R9.4

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 Overview
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A very simple mission, you have control over a group of infantry and mechs, find and eliminate enemy forces in this ruined town.

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 Background
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Your forces are from the Union, a more radical group which fractured off of your foes the United Planetary Federation a long time ago, fed up with their refusal to change having remained near constant since even from back at first colonisation where they were the initial government. They control most of the land and technology but laws regulating population growth now mean the Union has a far higher population density than them despite starting as a much smaller population. The real spark for this current war was accepting refugees from off-world conflicts, which the UPF desperately want their world to remain completely neutral in while the Union is unwilling to abandon those civilians and needs land they will need to take to support these new citizens. They demanded complete evacuation of many border towns, and after the civilians were gone and with military forces setting up they began bombardment. They are now sending in forces to secure the towns, like the one you command.

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 Union Forces
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*Militia are poorly trained and equipped infantry. They carry a basic assault rifle, which is light and easy to use but not that accurate, fast firing, and not very powerful. It still can do damage to light mechs if you get lucky, and is a decent anti-infantry weapon.
-They also carry a grenade. It's effective against very light mechs and infantry.
*Scouts have the same light armour as militia, but are otherwise better equipped and are more skilled, with them being especially mobile infantry.
-They use semi-auto rifles giving quick snap shots but can also be carefully aimed for accurate fire.
-Others use sniper rifles for more accuracy and power but are slow to shoot.
-They carry two grenades rather than one, though some carry explosive charges or disposable rocket launchers instead. These are heavier than grenades, so they carry SMGs as their main weapons to save weight. They are fast firing and light, but not very powerful and not that accurate. They are mostly effective at close ranges against infantry.
-Explosive charges are much heavier and more powerful than grenades but otherwise identical. Disposable rocket launchers are very light rocket launchers using the powerful heavy rockets, however they aren't very accurate. The rockets are mostly focused on directly hitting targets with not that powerful or large explosions.
-Some carry laser targetters instead of grenades while still using semi-auto rifles. They can call down one of each strike, either multiple mortars, accurate missiles from the mostly anti-air Sunbolt, a more powerful missile and machine gun fire from the more flexible Hawk fighters or a powerful shell from the Crocodile artillery.
*Standard infantry are a bit better armoured and armed though slower than scouts. As well as grenades they carry an assault rifle firing same damage ammo as the semi-auto rifle.
-Others carry a light machine gun with better accuracy and fire rate in bursts but inferior single fire and higher weight.
-Some carry a light rocket launcher with rockets replacing all their other equipment. It may not be as powerful as the disposable rocket launcher but it is more accurate and carries more than a single shot. Some instead do carry a disposable rocket launcher as well as assault rifle.
-Others use the heavy sniper, which is the most powerful and most accurate bullet based infantry weapon but slowest to fire.
*Heavies have the most protective armour that distributes weight best, but limits mobility. They use powerful heavy assault rifles.
-Others use the heavy machine gun, which is to the heavy rifle like the LMG is to the assault rifle.
-Some carry the heavy rocket launcher, which fires the same rockets as the disposable rocket launcher but more accurately. With very limited ammo they carry a pistol which is like the SMG but lighter, one handed, less accurate and only has a 2 shot burst.
-Some are equipped for demolitions with explosive charges and a semi-auto rifle.
*Special Forces are top quality infantry with no expense spared, and strike teams are not expected to spend long periods in the field so use equipment judged too difficult to maintain for standard troops, they are very effective with mobility, armour and powerful weapons combined. The Special Forces rifle is based on the heavy rifle, but using superior ammo and a number of modifications that overall improve power, accuracy and fire rate. They also mount an underslung grenade launcher which can be fired by 'u'sing it. The rifle is heavy and unwieldy so for those carrying lots of other equipment and fighting in close quarters a carbine was developed. Based on the infantry assault rifle but shortened and lightened it isn't as accurate, but is easy to handle and also uses superior ammo so hits a bit harder.
*Plasma troopers use the prototype handheld plasma guns. While the most powerful non-explosive weapon for infantry it is heavy, slow to fire and has a limited range. It also has massive overheating problems, so its operators wear special armour to protect them from it which also protects better against hostile plasma or fire attacks, but worse against everything else.
*The Jackal is the basic Union mech. Armed with 2 HMGs it can achieve a massive rate of fire though not powerfully enough to threaten tough mechs. It also isn't that accurate and is best up close. It's not that well armoured, but is decently mobile.
*An attempt to make a better jackal, the Coyote uses top quality bullets and superior armour. It proved very expensive for a small increase in effectiveness so remains fairly rare, piloted by a few of the more experienced jackal pilots.
*The Basilisk isn't as mobile as the jackal and less capable of taking damage, but a shield generator keeps its durability up effectively adding to armour. Its missile launcher uses missiles based on the heavy rocket, but its superior targeting and control of the missiles give it better aim and faster firing. It also carries much more ammo than any infantry with rockets, though it still is pretty limited. This is particularly obvious if firing salvos, firing multiple missiles at once totally overwhelms the targeting systems leading to poor accuracy but is utterly devastating for most mechs if it hits.
*The Shocker advanced mech is very mobile and its electrical weaponry is very effective, but it isn't very tough and is short ranged. Against those very well protected it can attempt melee attacks with its claws, helping the electricity coursing through to be at its most effective.
*The Snub-nose is very simple, a big gun with thick armour on legs. It isn't very mobile and the large explosive shells it uses are too heavy to propel very far or very hard for this mech. Thus it is short ranged, slow firing and entirely reliant on the powerful and large explosion. Their size also limits its ammo. While its armour is tough on all sides it is focused on the front and to a lesser extent the sides, partly in order to protect itself if using its cannon at very close range.
*The Long-nose came from simply remaking the snub-nose but using less cripplingly large shells. It has accuracy, range, damaging direct hits and more ammo carried. There was even room found for a small shield generator and power for it, making the long nose better protected all round. The firing speed hasn't been improved and obviously the explosions are less devastating but it is overall a better mech.
*While now obsolete on the world it was created the Executor is an advanced mech by Union standards boasting both mobility and toughness with powerful though not effective at long range weaponry. Its advanced shields can be changed between standard, kinetic or adsorption modes, changing at the start of next turn. With kinetic it's nearly as tough as heavy mechs- against 1 shot, though it is fairly tough even when the shield is broken. Absorption shielding weakens rather than stops attacks, making it easier to damage but harder to do a lot of damage to.
*The massive Goliath is very tough, with the fast firing autocannon which devastates both infantry and mechs with its hard hitting but also explosive shells. The Unions has inferior railgun technology, so much the Goliaths one has to replace its rail after each shot leading to very low ammo. However it has devastating power and to make the best of its ammo has slow but accurate fire.

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 UPF Forces
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*UPF guards are about equal to militia. They often use SMGs instead of basic rifles, and some aren't dedicated combatants or are pilots out of their mechs and wield mere pistols.
-Some man mounted MGs, leaving them immobile but with heavy firepower and providing some protection from the front.
*While the UPF doesn't really respect infantry they have maintained the security forces all the way back from the Icarus, their colony ship, who were well trained and equipped with power armour. Their expense kept their organisation small, serving mostly as bodyguards but with this war they are seeing some military action. As well as making them the most durable infantry their armour provides the strength to use their heavy machine guns a bit more easily even with more ammo loaded at once.
*Ghosts are scout mechs, with great visibility but poor armour and weapons. They use a single HMG, with their other weaker arm equipped to do something the Union relies on infantry to do like use a laser designator or plant explosives. (The second arm doesn't have any in game effect, but would if they become playable)
*MK8s are the standard mechs, with accurate and very powerful though slow firing railguns. They aren't very mobile or tough, but use potentially very effective kinetic shielding. It provides a lot of protection but drains instantly, even with its recharge being fast it does leave a period of vulnerability. Rapid fire weapons or a weak weapon leaving them open for powerful ones can totally destroy them.
*MK9s are a minor advance. Their targeting system for their weapon was tweaked for veterans with better quick fire accuracy and less time to get a very good shot for those veterans, and they abandoned kinetic shielding for decent protection all the time.
*The MK8c is a lot different from the standard. It has the protection of the MK9, more mobility and switches the Longbow railgun for a less power and ranged but continuously firing plasma beam weapon. Its powerful main reactor cannot keep up with the full potential of all its systems but can supercharge one at a time for great shields, great mobility or giving its plasma beam punch as well as fire rate with a slightly extended range.
*The Minotaur was designed as a cheap solution to infantry in urban areas. It is slow and short ranged, but pretty well armoured and its dual flamethrowers can incinerate large areas. Most of the flames aren't enough to threaten mechs but at the centre of the flames it is hottest and on a direct hit it can damage mechs, though it still isn't that powerful and is overall a poor mech killer.
*Longhorns come from adding slightly more to the horns on each kill a minotaur makes. These veteran mechs are usually piloted by veterans giving them a bit better stats, and are also usually an older version of the minotaur. Its vulnerable fuel tanks and weak rear armour make it often easier to destroy, but it has stronger front armour. Meant to fight infantry at close range the explosion of its fuel tanks can often be as bad for them as it is for it, though as an unintentional weapon it lacks to power to damage mechs.
*The Hydra carries two railguns, and each has multiple rotating barrels allowing for faster fire without overheating. It's not very mobile, but decently tough and its fire rate is impressive for shots so powerful, though not as accurate as the MK8/9 at full fire rate. When taking time to aim and single firing it can be accurate, but it worse than halves its fire rate.
*The Gorgon is very similar to the hydra in a lot of ways, but swaps multiple multi-barrel railguns for one bigger one. It has fantastic power and accuracy but poor fire rate.
*The Scylla is based on the same frame as the Hydra and Gorgon, but uses a Coilgun rather than a railgun. With projectiles not touching the rails there isn't the overheating problem from friction that makes the Hydra go to such length for fast firing but the projectile also lacks the guidance to be really accurate. Thus the coilgun has a blistering fire-rate with lower accuracy and power.
*The Titan is the ultimate UPF mech, its advanced missiles providing fast, accurate and powerful fire though lacking burst fire and with unimpressive splash. It will still rip apart mechs or groups of infantry, with combined shields and kinetic shields making it extremely hard to bring down.