Combine Activity

[Planetary]

We'll see in September anyway.

Is that my answer for everything these days?

 

[leib10]

You're not the only one guilty of that.

 

[Omega11]

heheh

Is it possible though that hunters aren't ever deploye? They seem pretty fast, and I could imagine them running to their destination sometimes. Maybe they'll also be deployed som completely new, unknown way. Maybe those pods that fly out from the citidael in the end of EP1? You don't necessarily see what's in them, and although they could be distress beacons, I doubt there are that many advisors in one citidael. So maybe the Hunters were already deployed?

 

[Narvi]

heheh

Is it possible though that hunters aren't ever deploye? They seem pretty fast, and I could imagine them running to their destination sometimes. Maybe they'll also be deployed som completely new, unknown way. Maybe those pods that fly out from the citidael in the end of EP1? You don't necessarily see what's in them, and although they could be distress beacons, I doubt there are that many advisors in one citidael. So maybe the Hunters were already deployed?

Only around a dozen pods were deployed. You could easily have that number in a building that size.

 

[Aspe]

Only around a dozen pods were deployed. You could easily have that number in a building that size.

Yeah. In the chamber where you first encounter an Advisor face to face, you can see plenty of them arranged in the shaft down below the floor.

 

[leib10]

heheh

Is it possible though that hunters aren't ever deploye? They seem pretty fast, and I could imagine them running to their destination sometimes. Maybe they'll also be deployed som completely new, unknown way. Maybe those pods that fly out from the citidael in the end of EP1? You don't necessarily see what's in them, and although they could be distress beacons, I doubt there are that many advisors in one citidael. So maybe the Hunters were already deployed?

By that logic, most cars are pretty fast, but they still transport them over long distances by train or by semi-truck. Same thing with most military vehicles. Having them go to a combat zone on their own causes undue wear and stress on the vehicles, as well as eating up a lot of unneccessary fuel, although it might be different for synths.

I still think they're transported by dropships, which can go anywhere and in less time (thanks to their flying ability), in groups of 6 or 8 per dropship, given the hunter's size.

 

[Planetary]

I still think they're transported by dropships, which can go anywhere and in less time (thanks to their flying ability), in groups of 6 or 8 per dropship, given the hunter's size.

I doubt that many will all come to one place. It seems just too overwhelming, for practical reasons in gameplay.
Each Hunter has 300 health.

300 x 6 = 1800!
300 x 8 = 2400!

Compare that to the APC (750).

Imagine destroying 3 or 4 APCS with every dropship load.

No, I'd say 3 per dropship at most. Oh sure there's more room, but then why does the dropship in Sandtraps only carry 2 rollermines? There's room for dozens!

 

[ríomhaire]

In the game we have seen dropshıps transportıng troops, APCs, strıders and rollermınes.

 

[Omega11]

I doubt that many will all come to one place. It seems just too overwhelming, for practical reasons in gameplay.
Each Hunter has 300 health.

300 x 6 = 1800!
300 x 8 = 2400!

Compare that to the APC (750).

Imagine destroying 3 or 4 APCS with every dropship load.

No, I'd say 3 per dropship at most. Oh sure there's more room, but then why does the dropship in Sandtraps only carry 2 rollermines? There's room for dozens!

The Dropship in Sandtraps wasn't carrying them in a container last time I checked. It was. . . interesting, because it was carrying nothing. It jus flew over and dropped out a couple rollermines. Also, Hunters don't seem human size, in the trailers and demos, they seem huge, and drophips can only carry like 3 or 4 troops. With hunters, who seem one a and a half times bigger, you'd be lucky to fit two. And mind you, in the ingame clips, they normally travel in pairs. Like that one house you're in, and one's at the front doorway, and it chases you through the house, then another one comes and they chase you out of the house.

 

[leib10]

I doubt that many will all come to one place. It seems just too overwhelming, for practical reasons in gameplay.
Each Hunter has 300 health.

300 x 6 = 1800!
300 x 8 = 2400!

Compare that to the APC (750).

Imagine destroying 3 or 4 APCS with every dropship load.

No, I'd say 3 per dropship at most. Oh sure there's more room, but then why does the dropship in Sandtraps only carry 2 rollermines? There's room for dozens!

Well, just because they are able to carry that many doesn't mean they will, and it doesn't mean that you'll have to face them all at once.

It would all depend on how compactly they can fold the Hunters.

 

[Aspe]

I'd still like to have seen dropships walking around on the ground as well as flying/deploying units.

I would imagine that the hunters are transported in the same way as the soldiers. Dropships, and wasn't there a screenshot somewhere of a convoy of Combine moving into the forests? The one on a bridge with an upright Advisor pod.

I'd like to see mortar synths in this episode. Their ability to fly would make them ideal for combat over the suggested terrain. Ah well.

 

[Ursa Major]

It would be nice to have had something like that gigantic flying synth on page 89 of Raising the Bar.
Would've given us a better idea of the means through which the Combine was able to subvert earth during the 7-hour war.

Someone should ask Laidlaw if the Combine are very technologically space-capable. More likely the Combine have no need for such a technological-path, though for an Imperium termed the "Universal Union", one would think at one point in their conquering endeavours, they would have encountered the need for space-adept technology. It also would've provided another boss battle crescendo and an excuse for Kelly Bailey to compose another fantastic catchy, tense, combat electronica music.

Something tells me the reason the Combine Empire conquer, subvert and enslave is far more complicated than just being inherently-bad/evil antagonist(s) - that they're engaged in conflict with another power, and their subsequent subjugation of races across space/universes is done out of fear and desperation to keep up their resources and their fight against something unseen and immeasurably powerful.
Said something could speculatingly be that which the G-man is a representative of.

Whatever the reason, it has to be said that the Combine will exist indefinitely. Gordon's efforts, despite tremondous in accomplishment are restricted to the scale of his planet at this point.
I mean, the Combine tunnel through universes... Breen didn't call them the Universal Union for no reason.
And as was pointed out, the glimpse of the portal's destination at the end of HL2 was simply a Combine Factory World.
Unless we start seeing some serious ramping-up in the significance of Gordon's future efforts - the Combine's neutralisation on earth won't feel as satisfactory as it will seem.

What is it we see on earth? Citadels collapsing, striders being busted, gunships taken down - do we not need to see combine planets being busted?