Wasteland 2: The Other Side

[Part of the Wasted Land story]

Since his last air unit was lost, Vargas naturally puts Frances' squad on the next chopper and sends them across the mountains which to no one's surprise is shot down too. Fortunately Malice can land the bird with only minor injury to the squad who opt to establish an away base at a nearby abandoned reservoir, fortifying the place from the wild beasts who for some reason are much stronger here.

People can actually survive this?

Once secure they try expand to a nearby industrial scrapyard too but find powerful robot workers guarding the place, and while the bots are unarmed, they still manage to knock out Glenda and Scotchmo. Luckily Provost shows up inexplicably and saves them with his heavy caliber pistol. While he opts to join the team, his foreign language makes it unclear as to why or even how he got there.

The Rangers soon meet a group of traveling merchants led by Pistol Pete who ask them to help cure a sickness spreading in the nearby town of Rodia, which seems to have been taken over by mercs who protect the town from attack by murderous Synths (robot guys) while bullying and extorting the sick residents. Pizepi works out right away that the water is the problem, but without a working microscope the local doctor can't create a cure. Fortunately, he knows the clinic in the town of Angel Oracle has one so that's where the team head next.

Insight: You will need larger caliber and harder hitting weapons on this side of the map which are easy enough to get through combat, but for the first few fights you'll need to be more cautious against the beefed up and better armed baddies here.

Wasteland 2: Grave of Airplanes

[Part of the Wasted Land story]

Damonta is a town in the middle of an airplane graveyard. When the squad arrives it is also being turned into a robot base with most of the residents killed or trapped indoors and the old warehouse having been turned into a machine factory. The Rangers rescue those they can but while pushing forward to the factory, Red is filled with holes from a surprise turret. Glenda is unable to save him.

Damn robots!

Inside the factory they encounter the robot leader "Tinker" who unleashes an ambush on the squad. Pump's heavy machine gun keeps them at bay while the rest throw grenades to clinch victory. With Damonta saved, the team install the final repeater relay on the local radio tower so that HQ can start triangulating the source of these robots. Their job done, they descend from the mountain - finding that the Canyon of Titan has gone to hell, now controlled by the forces of chaos.

Frances decides to let them wipe themselves out while they revisit the Red Skorpion prison. This time, armed with better gear and having enough robot parts and know how to build a one shot attack droid that destroys the gate turrets - the squad storms the prison and eradicates the last of the Red Skorpion gang and reclaiming their territory.

The victorious unit then marches back to the Ranger HQ with heads held high, and are immediately called to the situation room by General Vargas. On the radio they hear Angela Deth and her new squad already airborne and scouting towards the ocean on the other side of the mountains. "We found them," Angela says through the static. "A whole army!"

"We've been spotted - incoming!" yells another voice just prior to an explosion.

"Mayday, maday, we're going down! I repeat we're going down! We're ... aaaaAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! *static*"

This the last they hear of Angela Deth.

Insight: Spread out when fighting the spider-bots, they have area attacks and can leap over your formations / cover.

Wasteland 2: Mutually Assured Destruction

[Part of the Wasted Land story]

With Red's upgraded radsuits the team continues East and while crossing an abandoned railway are attacked by wheeled, tracked and spider-legged robots! The mechs are quite bullet resistant and cause a bit of damage before being destroyed. Fortunately it's nothing Glenda can't fix. Upon reporting this, Vagras summons Angela Deth back to base for reassignment while the rest of Frances' team pushes on to the Canyon of Titan.

A soldier from the Diamondback Militia meets them early on and asks for their help in removing the mad zealots who control the region with their "god" - a nuke. Frances agrees but knows the Diamondbacks will likely be just as bad if they had such a weapon at their disposal. As such, they play nice with the polite monks first, despite each of them being strapped with a high explosive vest. Monks of mutually assured destruction.

They wear nuke S-Vests.

Their system of requiring a suicider escort keeps everyone in check, but is really inconvenient when trying to sneak into their temple so Malice shoots their assigned monk in the back of the head for a clean kill once they get close. Pizepi then manages to hack their back door code which lets the squad inside - and ensuring to kill patrols at a distance.

Eventually the team reaches the nuke silo and Pump opens the panel to deactivate it only to find...

"It's a fake," comes a voice from behind. A priest with a large group of shooters.

He then cuts the tension by asking the team for help in retrieving a live nuke from a not so nearby silo so that their god becomes "real". They are the only ones he can ask as they are among the few who know the truth. Rather than risk a firefight where they are in the open and out numbered, Frances agrees.

Reaching it is easy thanks to Vulture's Cry's tracking and inside is a single monk, the one who found the place. He is conflicted - not really wanting this weapon in the hands of his cult. Frances agrees for real this time and Pump disarms it. They then tell the monk to spread the truth before leaving and pushing onto Damonta.

Insight: A high outdoorsman skill can save you the annoyance of random encounters.

Wasteland 2: Side-Tracked

[Part of the Wasted Land story]

On the return trip from Darwin, the squad runs into more farms affected by the Ag Center virus and cleanses them and upon gaining official confirmation that the virus is no longer spreading, both Angela and Frances take the cure just in time before transformation into a pod person is irreversible!

They also clear out a nest of honey badgers from a local mine, saving a few miners and gaining another Ranger Cadet - Takayuki the bruiser. While restocking ammo and water at the Ranger HQ Vagras tells Frances of another radio tower at Damonta up on the Eastern mountains, but getting there would be tricky due to the high radiation.

Vicious critters!

Vulture's Cry knows someone who might be able to help with this, a tinkerer named Red of the Red Skorpion gang. The team travels to the outskirts of their prison base and while Red himself is rather helpful and joins the team, the Red Skorpions are clearly scum bag slavers. Finding a whorehouse of slaves is the tipping point which leads to all out warfare against the Skorps.

A slow and steady advance wins the day for the Rangers, pushing the slavers back to the prison itself. Massive auto-turrets at the gate prevent any further advancement though, and Frances is forced to leave the enemy survivors to recuperate while her squad gets back on mission.

Insight: After the first timer for Pod Infection runs out it moves to a second "Acute Pod Infection" stage that can't be cured. If you have spare cure vials, make sure to use them before that second lethal stage occurs. I believe you get more if, like me, you save Highpool instead of the Ag Center.