UPDATE: Direct link to the files is now available. Click here to download[drive.google.com]:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mBJNu885Yu-eJk7amVdNnqeXsvIYW0rB/view?usp=sharing

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This mod has been completely revamped from an initial idea to give stronger veterancy bonuses to your troops to changes that have completely revamped the entire experience of the campaign. Many of the bugs have been completely reworked and improved, and the game now feels like a true war against an overwhelming swarm of arachnid threats. Get ready to rethink your strategies, and don't be ashamed to save scum.

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Big fan of the original Starship Troopers film?

Want the challenge of relying on the iconic Mobile Infantry to get the job done?

Well, these changes are for you. My original intent was to make veterancy ACTUALLY mean something worthwhile. Besides the unlocked ability, there is no real benefit for having a Vet3 squad over a non-vetted squad - giving no real incentive to keeping them alive. Sure, there is a small bonus to accuracy and fire rate, but its effect is negligible at best.

Perhaps, I've been spoiled by the Company of Heroes franchise, where you do everything you can to avoid getting your fully vetted squads wiped out because of the very noticeable decrease in quality of rookie squads. That's not so much the case in STTC. Apart from the Powered Infantry, who get a very noticeable buff at Vet3, does anyone really care about losing a unit? Just spawn in another one, right? These changes are expected to address that.

Also, these changes will increase the potency of several units against light to medium armored threats, allowing them to remain as a viable option to tackle late game missions. Want the challenge of beating the game using only basic MI troopers? Now, you can.

NOTE: All units that received veterancy bonuses will gain experience at a slower rate after Vet1. This is an attempt to balance the strength of the unit by making it more difficult to get to Vet3. Also, this further incentivizes working to keep your units alive, as it now takes even longer to get a fully vetted unit.

RETREAT

Ever tried to run a unit away from a horde of warriors, only to watch them get slaughtered while they leisurely jog away? Well, now you can issue the "Retreat" command!

Retreating units will begin to sprint for 15 seconds, during which time they will suffer a severe penalty to their firing speed and accuracy. Afterwards, the troopers will be exhausted for 15 seconds, during which time they will have reduced movement speed in addition to the penalty to their firing speed and accuracy.

Note:. This ability has been given only to front line troopers. Support troopers, such as rocketeers and radio operators, do not have this ability.

• Retreat uses the Sprint icon
  
• Units will Sprint for 15 seconds, increasing movement speed by 35%
  
• After sprinting, units will be Exhausted for 15 seconds, decreasing movement speed by 30%
  
• Firing rate is reduced by 50% while retreating and exhausted
  
• Accuracy is reduced by 33%, while retreating and exhausted

This ability will increase the chances of you getting that last model or two out of harms way so that you can reinforce the squad instead of losing it all together.

Rifle Troopers

• Unit can Retreat (see detailed information above)
  
• AP increased with each level of veterancy, up to a maximum of +10 AP at Vet 3 (Note: This is still 5 AP less than the nerf they received in the beta patch)
  
• Vet 3 now confers an additional 5% to accuracy. (Change from +15, 15, 5 to 15, 15, 10)
  
• The "stungun" shotgun that individual models shoot in melee range now deals the same amount of damage and shock as the shotguns in the special ability (it simply didn't make sense for the same shotgun to deal less than 1/3 of the damage). The shock value has been decreased from 100 to 60 to match the shotgun ability. Cooldown has been reduced from 6 seconds to 4 seconds. In my testing, these changes increase the survivability of rifle troopers when they get surrounded in melee combat, but the troopers will still get quite handily wiped out if you do not make an effort to get them out of there.

Also, does anyone use the Bundled Grenades? Sure, they have a powerful blast, but their short range and 7-second timer make them, essentially, useless for most engagements. The shotgun ability is much more useful, especially when there is a horde of warriors and Tigers getting close to your lines. The following changes improve the bundled grenade, making it worth adding to one or two of your Rifle Troopers.

• Timer has been reduced from 7 seconds to 3 seconds, same as the regular grenade
  
• Range has been extended from 6 to 10 - the grenade is heavier; so, you cannot throw it as far, but you, also, don't have to essentially drop it at your feet.

Snipers

• AP increased by 5 with each level of veterancy, up to a maximum of +15
  
• Without AP, snipers are essentially useless as combat units, only being effective against Spitters.
  
• On Brutal difficulty, it takes snipers 8 shots to kill a basic Warrior, 4 shots on normal difficulty. Now, with veterancy, snipers can better contribute as a combat unit, allowing a Vet3 sniper to kill a Warrior with only 3 shots on Brutal.
  
• This change incentivizes both using snipers and keeping them alive, as a Vet3 sniper now offers more than the occasional Crippling Shot or Sensory Flair

Heavy Troopers [MK II]

• Unit can Retreat (see detailed information above)
  
• Accuracy increases with each level of veterancy (same values as Rifle Troopers)
  
• AP increases by 5 each level of veterancy, to a maximum of +15
  
• Vet3 units will now have the same AP as the base unit before the Beta Patch

Marines

Sure, they are good in a pinch when you need some extra firepower, but who keeps them around after things settle down? They gain no benefits, have no abilities, and those 5 supplies would be better used to get other units. We either never use them or immediately de-spawn them after an emergency use. These changes will make them worth keeping around:

• Unit can Retreat (see detailed information above)
  
• Grenade ability has been added from Rifle Troopers (because, why the bleep don't they have grenades?)
  
• Marines can now gain veterancy, which increases their accuracy
  
• Supply cost reduced from 5 to 4 (we often have 1 supply in the bank. Now, if you lose a front-line unit, you will have the exact amount of supply needed to call down this emergency unit.)

The Few. The Proud: Vet3 Marines now have the Tactical Command unlock ability, but it operates differently than the Tactical Officer's ability. The Marines can inspire all those around them in an aura, increasing movement speed, firing rate, and armor penetration. There is a five-minute cooldown to keep this from being spammed and to encourage using it only when facing dire circumstances.

• Movement speed increased by 30%
  
• Reload speed increased by 40%
  
• Accuracy increased by 40%
  
• Armor penetration increased by 10

Marauder

• Accuracy increases with each level of veterancy (10, 15, and 20%, respectively)

Grenade Launcher Turret

Let's face it. For its cost, the grenade launcher is a very lackluster unit. After firing its initial volley of six grenades, it just sits there for 10 seconds while the horde of arachnids is still coming at you. I found myself never building these things, as building two additional MG turrets was always much more effective. The following changes improve the grenade launcher and make it worth the cost and trade-off for two MGs.

• Fires a volley of 3 grenades instead of 6
  
• Cooldown between volleys is 3.3 seconds instead of 10 seconds

Morita Pistol

Improved the Morita Pistol to improve its combat effectiveness.

• Shock increased from 0 to 10
  
• Burst decreased from 5 shots to 4
  
• Delay between shots decreased from 0.4 to 0.2
  
• Reload decreased from 3 seconds to 2 seconds
  
  The pistol fires a large slug, causing more than three times as much damage as a bullet from the Morita MKI Rifle while having 5 more AP. By increasing the Shock value, the pistol now has a bit of stopping power to match the large slug.
  
  Next, the changes to the Burst, Delay, and Reload values increases the firing rate of the pistol from 10 shots every 10 seconds to approximately 14 shots every 10 seconds.

Fleet Liaison

"Pardon me, Sir, but you want to drop down with what? A PISTOL"?!?

Improved the Morita Pistol to improve its combat effectiveness

• Restored her weapon to the Morita Pistol, given the updated stats.
  
• She can shoot through units, allowing her to remain behind your main line

E-Pulse Infantry

"What do we do if these things overheats, Sir?

Battery Overload is a great ability, but after firing for 10 seconds, your troopers will stand there and be completely useless for 20 seconds. With this change, the troopers will switch to their secondary pistols until their primary weapons have finished cooling down. You will STILL need to get them away from the front line, but now they will do more than just stand there while the random survivor of the ability just slaughters them.

• Troopers will switch to their pistols during the 20-second, Battery Overload cooldown
  
• Unit can Retreat (see detailed information above)

Radio Operator

• Propaganda Broadcast increases the accuracy of all affected units

In the base game, this ability only decreases the reload time of your units; however, since it alerts all other enemies in the vicinity, there is no real incentive to use this ability – as the increase in enemies only makes things harder for you. This change strengthens the ability by adding a strong incentive to use it. There may be more bugs, but your soldiers are fighting a lot harder.

Engineers

Note: I am STILL trying to figure out how to increase repair and build time for Engineers based on veterancy level, but this may have to do for now.

The build time for grenade and rocket turrets is 20 seconds - which amounts to just sitting around while waiting for it to finish building. Until I figure out how to affect this with Engineer veterancy, I just adjusted the default build time. This is more of a QOL change than a change that would actually affect gameplay.

• Grenade and Rocket Turret build time decreased from 20 to 15 seconds

To increase the utility of Engineers, I have adjusted the rate at which they gain experience, making it easier to get a fully vetted Engineer squad.

• Unit can Retreat (see detailed information above)
  
• Vet1 Engineers gain veterancy 50% faster (1.5x speed)
  
• Vet2 Engineers gain veterancy twice as fast (2x speed)
  
• Damage increased based on veterancy level. +2, 4, and 6 respectively

Wavebreaker

This is a great unit, but it is too easily destroyed by Scorpions, especially when 3+ show up at once. This is a heavy piece of armored artillery, and it should feel like it. Additionally, I noticed an issue with its targeting. It currently fires a salvo of two shells in rapid succession, followed by a four second delay. The problem is that this salvo will target the same enemy – even if the enemy is in its death animation – wasting a shell. The following changes improve the Wavebreaker:

• Fires a volley of 1 shell instead of 2
  
• Reload has been reduced to 2 seconds instead of 4
  
• Armor increased from 40 to 70 (the unit can sustain 7 Scorpion hits instead of 5)
  
• LOS increased from 50 to 60 (matches the range of the cannons)
  
• Unit can be REPAIRED!

The DPS remains the same, but the unit is much less likely to waste its second shell and will, instead, target another enemy. With two cannons, the Wavebreaker now maintains a sustained rate of fire by firing one cannon at a time (although, the animation has it firing from the same cannon, lol).

Note: adjusting the values to get the same fire rate with both cannons firing still resulted in the Wavebreaker firing at the same target, despite death animation.

All gates and bunkers can now be repaired by Engineers

Warriors, Tigers, and Hoppers

As a result of increasing the combat effectiveness of veteran units, it is only natural that the arachnids gain a buff in the number of units that they field. These increases will serve as a further incentive to keep veteran units alive, as rookie units will have a much more difficult time dealing with the increased number of arachnid threats. The speed of Warriors and Tigers has also been increased, allowing them to close the distance much faster (similar to the speed observed in the first film).

Additionally, the supply costs and build time of Warriors has been decreased to facilitate them being spawned more frequently and rapidly.

• Warriors increased from 12 to 15
  
• Warriors speed increased from 7 to 8
  
• Warriors supply costs decreased from 5 to 4
  
• Warriors build time decreased from 2 to 1
  
• Tigers increased from 10 to 12
  
• Tigers speed increased from 6 to 6.7
  
• Hoppers increased from 5 to 7

Royal Guard Bug

The Royal Guard reanimating as a Raged Guard always felt a bit… gimmicky. Pretty much, you kill the bug, and then, run back until it's "rage" bar runs out - while the Raged Guard moves towards you at a snail's pace. To increase the intensity of this unit, the following changes have been made:

• Royal Guard health has been increased from 300 to 600
  
• Number of Royal Guards increased from 1 to 3
  
• Speed increased from 5.5 to 6
  
• Killed Royal Guards will NOT transform into Raged Guards - they were completely shot up, not tickled a little bit

NOTE: For some reason, the health bar appears to only be about 25% full, but the Royal Guards do, indeed, have 600 health, as you'll see in the amount of damage they take to kill.

Scorpions

Scorpions have been the bane of many people's playthroughs. Instead of adjusting their health or attack values, I have made the following changes that should limit the number of Scorpion pods that are spawned while increasing the chances for other arachnid types to spawn, namely Warriors and Tigers

• Supply costs has been increased from 3 to 4
  
• Build time has been increased from 4 to 5

Tankers

The following changes will increase the fire rate and range of the Tanker.

• Reload reduced from 4.5 to 3.5
  
• Charge reduced from 1.9 to 1.3
  
• Range increased from 20 to 25

Tankers are now much more potent on the battlefield, and it is not as easy to simply run circles around them.

Plasma Bug

The Plasma Bug is the arachnid's long-range artillery; however, in game, it's plasma strikes are more of a random nuisance than an actual threat. It can only fire when your units have been spotted, but even still, there is a 60 second cooldown between attacks.

To improve the experience of being under heavy artillery bombardment, the Plasma bombardment has been completely revamped. These things can fire into orbit; so, why are they limited on the battlefield to a range of only 150? And why are they firing so slowly?

NOW, these things will have you under consistent bombardment across the entire map! Their attack is similar to the Grenadier, but it fires a larger projectile. When these are on the map, you better keep moving. Check the video!

• Plasma Strike has been replaced with the Grenadier plasma weapon
  
• Plasma attacks cover a 50% larger area than the Grenadier plasma
  
• Range has been increased to 450. Plasma bugs can fire across the entire map.
  
• Minimum range has been reduced from 100 to 70
  
• Reload has been set to 7 seconds (they can fire approximately once every 10 seconds)
  
• "Plasma Launch Detected" announcement has been removed

Grenadier

This is meant to be the Arachnids' indirect fire unit, operating much like a mortar; however, with a range of only 55, the Grenadier has to get too close to the front line before it starts firing - allowing you to quickly focus it down. This change allows the Grenadier to operate more like a conventional mortar behind the front line; therefore, if your units have been spotted, it can fire from further away, providing effective indirect fire coverage for advancing arachnids.

Note: the sight range for the unit remains the same, with a value of 40. If your units have not been spotted, the Grenadier would still need to close the distance before it could "see" you.

• Attack range increased from 55 to 70.

Bombardier Bugs

Even on Brutal, these were never a challenge. Not once did they even get to make an attack before being wiped out. The below changes are intended to increased their survivability and give them a better chance at getting to your front line and using their ability, causing damage to your troops if you do not focus them down.

• Health increased from 40 to 70
  
• Armor reduced from 20 to 0
  
• Speed increased from 7 to 8.5

None of these changes are set in stone. I've done quite a bit of testing over the past several days and I'm only now going to start an actual play through; so, I'm expecting that I may need to make a few other adjustments to get things nailed down precisely. I am looking forward to any feedback. Do you like the changes? Should I make some adjustments on the values? Are there any ideas for strengthening other fully vetted units? Thank you to everyone for reading this post and testing these modifications.