Megaspawn (Apocalypse)
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You remember those wonderful little Heavy Weapons Platforms (Tanks) that you got in the first game? This is their equivalent. And lucky for you, you don't get one. Can you say uh oh? If the Psimorph is the most dangerous unit in the game because it can turn your units, this would be the next most dangerous unit. The Psimorph and Megaspawn are pretty much equal in terms of threat level. A difference, though: The Megaspawn has weapons. Big weapons. I'm talking Dimension Missile and Devastator Cannon weapons, with a good 2 tons of armor to back that up. This thing is a TANK! If you are going to take one down, I suggest you send in at LEAST 6 units to fight this thing. They only show up in the Alien structures, the Alien Battleship, the Alien Mothership, and the Alien Escort ship, though in the Escort ship the thing stuck in a room, thank God, so it's rather easy to corner them. Here's what you do on the maps.
1) They cannot go up ANY slope. Doesn't matter the grade. They cannot go up slopes. This is advantageous, duh. You can rain down fire from above while they can't hit you. Until they fire their missiles... Yeah, you are going to need to grab a personal shield generator or 5. Make that a PRIORITY. Otherwise you'll be losing a LOT of troops.
2) For the Battleship level, stick your troops outside the two corridor entrances to the Battleship. Let the Skeletoids and Anthropods and other random troops filter into the sunlight where your troops will all be ready for the ambush. When all of these wimps are taken out, move your troops inside the corridors. There should be a staircase at the end of the hall. If you see one of the THREE Megaspawns, move all your guys back. Then take one trooper, send him around the corner. Have him get off two shots, and then hide again. This "hide-n-seek" strategy works great at eliminating the buggers. If any Megaspawns are still inside the ship, have ONE soldier go inside and up to the second level. There should be two one-block grav-lifts at the end of the north-western hallway. Take the northern one. Once your troop is all the way up, they should see the remaining Megaspawn(s). Take them out up here. If they open fire, just go down the grav lift again. Fairly simple.
3) For the Mothership level, put your men on the slopes surrounding the crash site. These hills provide a clear line of sight into the doorway of the ship. If your troops concentrate their fire on the Megaspawn as it leaves the ship, then it should fall easily under the combined fire before it can get off a shot. Thankfully, there are only two on this level.
To Capture: Your insane. Simple. I have been trying to capture these monstrosities for ages, and have had a dickens of a time. So, here's what I did. I downed an Alien Escort ship, took out the entire compliment MINUS the Megaspawn, as it can't get out of that tiny room, or it doesn't want to. Once you have it in that room, and, of course, KNOW which room it's in, grab as many guys with as many stun grenades as you have. Have your men chain throw them into the room, so that the moment one dissipates, the next flies in and explodes, lather, rinse, repeat. Once you have thrown about 12-24 grenades (on average 2-4 per soldier) in the room, the Megaspawn will be sufficiently weakened that you can move a soldier with a stun gun and a devastator or sniper rifle or whatever into the room. One shot to hit the Megaspawn, and the stun grapple should finish him off. Stupid tanks have a slow reaction time, thankfully, so your trooper should have plenty of time to kneel, aim, and fire both weapons, and MAYBE get out of there before the Megaspawn gets off one shot. If it doesn't go down from that... Well, go back to chucking stun grenades in, and then try to get him again. The fella has GOT to go down sometime...
Official Entry (Captured Alive): "It is difficult to disable the Megaspawn's weapon systems because they are an intrinsic part of its structure. One weapon uses energy beams while the other fires a powerful organic missile, which is generated by specialized organs. Our tests also conclude that the Megaspawn is protected from Psionic attacks."
Official Entry (Autopsy): "The Megaspawn is essentially a huge organic weapons platform. It has two distinct weapons systems grown into its body. Although these must be added artificially, the nervous system is directly connected to them, suggesting that the creature is solely a genetically engineered combat unit."