Whiskey Outpost is an alternative map and game mode featured on Colonial Marines server. On this map, instead of playing as a USCM Marine in the battalion 'Falling Falcons' of the 4th brigade and the USS Almayer, you'll play as a USCM Marine from the battalion 'Dust Raiders' who are previously in charge of keeping the peace of the Tychon Rift sector. However, they were forced to abandon their flagship, the USS Alistoun due to an attack on the same ship. The Marines must hold out for a hour (or 13 waves of Xenomorph hordes) until reinforcements arrive to rescue them, the Aliens must wipe out the Marine force before more Marines arrive to their world. This is a fight for survival, and neither side can afford to give one quarter.
Whiskey Outpost
Whiskey Outpost was part of the Tychon Rift Sector. It is an outpost that is a heavily fortified military base. It is well situated as any attacks can only assault from the south of the base. The base is well equipped with a large array of automated sentry guns and mannable Smartgun weapon posts, however the base is not fully fortified for a incoming assault. The Marine forces will need to spend their time rapidly establishing barricades and similar defences before the vanguard xeno forces arrive.
There are three main routes into the base. The west side, through a heavy jungle environment, the central area which is a mix of rivers, jungle and open terrain, and the east side through mostly open terrain broken up by dropship debris. Each entry way has two lines of defence, the first line which consists of barricades and manned Smartguns, and a second line which consists of a line of barricades and automated Sentry Guns.
The outpost itself is centred around a central medbay/command post. Surrounded by engineering areas and barracks. The outer perimeter of the outpost is surrounded by barricades and manned Smartgun emplacements. The medbay/command post entrance is guarded by an array of Sentry Guns and a Smartgun emplacement. The west side of the base also contains a resupply pad that will receive resupply crates.
The Marines
The Marine forces don't feature any massively significant changes to their playstyle unlike the Xenomorphs, but there are some facets that are changed that will affect Marines slightly. Listed below are the most major changes to individual job roles.
- Specialists - Specialists are mostly unchanged. However, all Specialist players will spawn in fully equipped with basic armor and a SMG in a holster. in addition they will spawn with a randomly selected Specialist weapon in their hands, this can range from a M4RA Scout Rifle to a M92 Grenade Launcher and B18 heavy armor. You have no choice in your weapon selection. For ammo you'll need to ask your Squad Leader for a resupply crate if you run low.
- Squad Leader - As a Squad Leader you have access to five unique resupply beacons that can be used to send for more supplies, ammo or mines. In addition at the start of the round you will get access to a laser designator, this will let you call in an air strike that will launch a massive napalm or missile strike on your target area in a horizontal or vertical direction. In addition to this, they will be deployed with the older generation M41A Pulse Rifles that contain the 95 rounds per magazine at the cost of less attachment variety and accuracy.
- Doctor / Squad Medic - While Doctors and Medic gameplay remains unchanged, however the medical staff have access to unique Medical Sleeper Pods known as the Autodocs in the medbay. These machines can be used to automatically repair a Marines fractured bones. While it takes longer than doing the surgery manually, as each fracture usually takes four or so minutes to fix, but these nonetheless are life saving when you are being overwhelmed in casualties.
- Military Police / Honor Guard - The Military Police are renamed into the 'Honor Guard'. As a Honor Guard you spawn with with access to a M4RA Scout rifle and a lot of ammo for the weapon. You act as the Commanders ace in the hole. You'll typically be sent to reinforce areas needing extra help, though you may also be acting independently and helping in areas needing help.
- Commander / XO - Commanders are mostly unchanged, however you'll be far more involved and 'hands on' when directing Marine forces. While this gives you more ability to fight in the field, but your command ability is even more important. Its your job to direct Marine squads to defend the base and shore up weak points. The Commander can get access to an old generation M41A Pulse Rifle, with the full 95 rounds per magazine.
The Dust Raider Marine forces must hold out for a hour against the Xenomorph assault. If successful they will be evacuated by the USCM warship, and shortly afterwards the planet will be assaulted by the USCM warship's veteran marine forces to re-take the military compound. The Dust Raiders then secure LV-624 and the entire Tychon's Rift sector.
Supplies
Whilst the USCM warship's crew are still an hour out repairing their main dropships, you can still get assistance from the USCM warship as their fighters, such as the HA-117 Stingray Combat Interceptor can provide Close Air Support, similar to the AUD-25 from the USS Almayer, however they do require a laser to be used at the desired location so that they can lock on to the target as the HA117 was never meant to hit fast moving ground targets, it was developed to take out battlecruiser class starships in squad formations so it uses the laser from the laser designator to make sure the payload is as accurate as it can as well as that it can also prevent friendlies from being hit in the dense jungle, in practice it doesn't always work. Every wave you'll receive a random assortment of resupply crates at the bases resupply pad located to the west of medbay/command (The supply pad can be seen below). In addition Squad Leaders will occasionally be able to call in air strikes when the Marine air forces have refueled on the USS warship.
This is the Whiskey Outpost supply pad, where an assortment of crates will be dropped off each wave to help you as a marine survive the xeno hordes which are incoming to your position. On the right you'll see a Recycler, this allows you to recycle crates into metal to help build defences in this time of need. To use the recycler push a crate on top of the recycler then click on the recycler and the crate will be melted and crushed into metal sheets for you to use.
The Xenomorphs
The Aliens see several major changes to their playstyle in order to suit this game mode. These changes are as follows.
- The Aliens do not get a Queen, or any Facehuggers. More Aliens will spawn every single wave. Aliens are expected to throw themselves at the Marine defences. In order to play as an Alien you must manually take control of a body when they spawn.
- More powerful Aliens will spawn in later waves. Early waves will see the Aliens stuck with young level Runners and Sentinels. Later rounds will see later tiers of Xenomorphs spawning. The final waves usually see a large amount of Elite and Ancient Aliens spawn among all tiers.
- Aliens do not heal on weeds outside of healing out of critical damage. Retreating does you no good.
- Aliens cannot evolve or upgrade their Aliens. You play as what you spawned in as.
Overall, Aliens are a lot more expendable in Whiskey Outpost than standard play. You are expected to throw yourself at the Marine defences, though try and exploit weak points in the Human defences. Don't be afraid to die as you'll be dying a lot as an Alien in this game mode.
Alien Strategy
The game can roughly be divided into three parts. The Early Game (scouting phase), the Mid Game (offensive phase) and the End Game (annihilation phase).
In the Early Game the Xeno forces consist only of scouting xenomorphs, large amounts of Runners and some Sentinels and Drones that reached the Human base first. Eventually being joined by light amounts of Hunters and Spitters. In the Early Game the Aliens should focus on pressuring the outer Human defences and trying to kill as many Humans as they can, the more dead Humans, the more people that will be playing as a Xeno. In this stage of the game the Alien forces are very weak and won't likely overrun the Human defenders.
The Mid Game begins roughly when the "Vanguard" Alien forces arrive, this occurs after the mid-game lull occurs (Marine bombers delay xeno spawns, giving Marines a moment or relief). At this point the Xeno forces consist entirely of Lurkers, Spitters, Defenders, Warriors and Drones with some Sentinel and Runner support. At this point of the game the Aliens become a very dangerous force, unprepared the Aliens can quickly overrun underdefended outposts and many Xenos can easily slip by and harass the central base. Eventually tier 3 Aliens will begin to appear, adding to the threat of the Alien forces. In this stage of the game the Aliens should focus on overrunning the forward defensive lines and opening up the map to Alien movement.
The End Game begins when the full Alien force arrives, and usually occur within the last ten to twenty minutes of the round. At this point most Aliens will spawn in as Elite or Ancient, and you'll start to see a ridiculous amount of Tier 3 xenos, such as dozens of Ancient Crushers, Boilers, Ravagers and Praetorians. At this junction the Xenomorphs are so powerful that they can quickly roll over the remaining Marine defenders in most cases. There is little strategy at this stage, your only goal now is to try and kill the remaining Marines before their reinforcements arrive.
The Aliens must wipe out the Marine force before an hour elapses. If the Aliens succeed they will ward off any further Marine forces from landing, fail and the planet will be assaulted by the USS warship's veteran marine forces to re-take the military compound.
Whiskey Outpost Event Mode
The Whiskey Outpost Event Mode can be triggered on any of the currently available maps by an admin+. Once the Event Mode is triggered late-joining will not not be available for that round and there will not be any Human Response Teams as reinforcements, so you'll be stuck observing or deciding to play as an alien if you didn't ready up in time.
Available Jobs
Similar to the Whiskey Outpost Gamemode there is only a select set of allowed marine jobs for this event.
Not readying up as one of the following jobs will force you to be a Squad Marine:
| Jobs: | Description: |
|---|---|
Commander (Ground Commander) |
Requires a Whitelisted CO - As the Ground Commander you'll be in charge of designating where your Outpost is going to be built and issuing orders to the Squad Leaders for defense similar to a normal round. |
Military Police (Honor Guard) |
As a Honor Guard you're in charge of keeping the Ground Commander alive to the end of the mission. Good luck. |
Synthetic (Outpost Synthetic) |
Requires a Whitelisted Synthetic - Play like a normal round but with the added pressure of defending the designated outpost. |
Maintenance Technician (Outpost Engineer) |
As the Outpost Engineer you'll be in charge of reinforcing defenses around the main outpost and making sure that there aren't any weaknesses in the defensive line. |
Medical Doctor |
Tending to the Injured and dead in the designated medbay of the outpost. |
Dust Raider Squad Leader |
Get your squad to build and man defenses to stop the oncoming xenomorph tide and hopefully hold out until the end.
|
| File:B18.png
Dust Raider Specialist |
Kill the enemy and protect your fellow squad members.
|
| File:Spec.png
Dust Raider Smartgunner |
Kill the enemy and protect your fellow squad members. |
| File:CombatEngi.png
Dust Raider Engineer |
Help build outpost defenses and lay mines. Repair the outpost defenses and synths when needed. Remember to also kill the enemy and protect your fellow squad members. |
Dust Raider Medic |
Treat any wounded/injured and get them to the medbay for surgery if required. |
| File:Standard.png
Dust Raider Marine |
Kill the enemy and protect your fellow squad members. |
Round Start Setup
A selection of Boxes will be spawned in at round start for the marines to move around and setup their ideal and desired Outpost, complete with a functioning medbay. Follow the Ground Commanders orders on where the Outpost should be made. Note that you can examine the boxes to see what machines/supplies are in them.
| Box Piles: | Description: |
|---|---|
| File:WO Materials Crate.png
Engineering Boxes |
A set amount of engineering machines (Floodlights, Recyclers, a Plasma Generator and Powerloader, etc) and engineering supplies (Metal, Plasteel, Sandbags). To setup these engineering machines just drag their box to the desired location of the Outpost/Supply area then crowbar the box open and the machine will be fully setup and useable. |
| File:WO Medical Crate.png
Medical Boxes |
A set amount of medical machines (Autodocs, Sleepers, Body Scanners, Medivendors, Surgery Table, etc). To setup these medical machines just drag their box to the desired location of the field hospital then crowbar the box open and the machine will be fully setup and useable. |
| File:WO Weapon and Turret Crates.png
Turret Boxes |
A set amount of Turrets and Ammo (M56D, Sentry and corresponding ammo). |
| File:WO Weapon and Turret Crates.png
Weapon Boxes |
A set amount of Weapons (M41A, M37A2 Shotgun, M39, Incinerators, Heavy Pulse Rifle, etc) and defense supplies (Mines and the Mortar Kit). |
| File:WO Ammo Crate.png
Ammunition Boxes |
A set amount of Ammunition (M41A Magazines, M37A2 Shotgun Boxes, M39 Magazines, etc). |
Food Boxes |
A set amount of MREs. |
Round Progression
Once the marines have established their outpost the xenomorph waves will start to appear with brief intervals between. Due to the plethora of xenomorphs attacking each wave the marines have been given Special supply beacons File:WO Supply Beacon.png that once activated allow the user to select what supplies they require and automatically call it in. These will drop in the form of supply kits. Note that supply kits will also randomly spawn after each wave with random supplies.
As a xenomorph keep in mind that with later waves comes more powerful xenos; so waiting to mature is deterimental to your goal, as it is easier to respawn later as a higher tier xeno, and there is no limit on timers; once you die as a xeno, you can jump right back in.