That feeling you have when there is a giant adventure about to unfold. The first couple of days on an alien planet were scary. Far too many unknowns lurking behind the fog. I also had no idea how the tiny army I had brought along with me would end up holding up in the long run.

It’s a shame I did not get to keep or build on some of the starting units I had brought along with me to the planet. While there was an alien version of the tank. I quickly learned that bulky units were not as useful as I had hoped. Many of the future combat situations I'd find myself in had lots of terrain that would make it a challenge to get to a location where I needed them.

On the other hand, I was quite sad when I lost the two helicopters I had. Each number under a unit is not their level. It is how many of them there are. The helicopters were great for flying over congested or ravens in maps and taking out enemies quickly.

After a little bit of exploring around and some encounters that did not go my way at all. I ended up wandering back to the base. Thankfully I was able to construct an arsenal to replace the units I would be losing in mass.

I also discovered the importance of talking with the group of non-military experts that I brought along with me to this planet. It turns out some of them had resources and other useful items on them. Some even had some rather helpful information that they were withholding on till we got to the planet.

I even attempted to use the spaceship again. Nothing happened when I did. This would also not be my last time checking to see if I could use the thing. I had hopes at some point I could return to earth and recruit more experts to bring here. I also wanted to take back a powerful army and deal with some situations I was unable to at the start.

I then went out to explore the local area. I needed some food and water. I’d quickly learn that this planet was quite a deadly one. I would have to fight my way across the surface to map things out.

Many times, I'd be dealing with a hostile in a combat encounter. I quickly learned that even the ones that appeared to be neutral would sometimes become agitated for no reason and start attacking me. Mostly it seems they were at war with my enemies.

I also found it just easier to clear anything that moved from my path. It would make things easier to see and for things like tanks, I could get them across the combat area with less stuff in the way.

Some of these fights would be over in just a couple of turns. Others I could be a dozen moves in and I'd find myself no closer to victory than when I started. Sometimes I was waiting out my time hoping things would resolve themselves on their own. Other times I was trying to keep safe what remaining units I had left and I could not resupply at the base.

After many of these fights, I'd end up discovering some strange things left behind for the winner. One would think Crimson Nightshade was deadly to eat. Yet on this planet, it seems if you grow it you can harvest the planet for some food.

During the early days as soon as a single fight was over. I’d be making a mad rush back to base. I would need to resupply troops. I also wanted to check to see if I could build or upgrade anything.

Then I'd be right back out exploring quite a thick forest that I found myself in. There was just so much to take in. The colors of this planet were so vibrant. Sometimes I'd find myself walking along a forest path and suddenly logs that were blocking my way would get up and move by themselves. What a strange place I would often think.

Every once in a while, I'd gain a tech point to spend on different upgrades. It turns out these were earned based on how much population you have. The bigger the population the quicker you are supposed to be able to earn them.

At first, I ended up going to increase my field of view on the battlefield. This ended up coming in quite in clutch when needing to make tactical choices about movement and even getting some ambush attacks in.

My eyes would become fixated on certain parts of the tech tree. There were quite some interesting things from unlocking new combat units to increasing my army size. I would however quickly learn that I would not be getting any of those points in the tech tree for quite some time.

It was not just enough to spend points on each of the three tech tree branches. I also needed to acquire things called tech cores to unlock what were roadblocks on the tree itself.

This information I would not be learning about for a while. These tech cores would also be quite rare to come by. Often lurking in underground temples with quite challenging engagements. Such things that I was nowhere near being able to face down for the time being.

While out exploring I even found my first group of people. Some women had been kidnapped. Their kidnappers fought quite a mighty battle. In the end, however, I became the victor.

It seems like these people had been from Earth or at least their founders were. I’d later discover that many different countries had sent ships quite many years back to this planet. For the time being a language barrier kept me from having any real conversation with whom I rescued. I least got an understanding of where their base was and an invitation to come visit them at some point.

It would be quite some time before I went and visited their base. It was in a direction I had yet to explore. I was also quite busy with my early attempts at finding food, water, and anything else I could use right away to help survive on this planet.

Final Thoughts

In my first couple of days on this alien planet, I ended up discovering two underground dungeons. With how badly things went on my first attempt at one of them. I decided to leave them alone for the time being.

I had only searched a couple of sections of the planet so I was quite eager to explore the surface a lot more than go underground for the time being. Each area also took me exploring through the darkness before I had a clear map of the area. Requiring quite a few combat situations to unfold as a result.

At least after the first couple of nights on this planet, my base and crew were now stable. I felt that I had a fighting chance to take on this alien planet. I had no idea at the time of the kind of massive horrors that I'd be facing. Along with the invisible hands trying to guide certain activities on this planet in one direction into something bigger than I was expecting.

Information

Screenshots were taken and content was written by @Enjar about Xenowars (I don’t make anything from this tracking link).

Disclosure: Game received for free for review.