Criminal Mastermind

[Binnatics]

The most astonishing award in the entire GTA Online game, is the one called Criminal Mastermind; "Complete all Heists, in order, with the same crew, on hard difficulty, without dying."
Reward: $10.000.000


This is a team challenge that will ask the very best of the members, both in skills and in team play. We, Stiku, Uzi, TerrZor and me, are about to try it.
Will post our adventures in this topic, but first some preparation, thanx to Stiku for pointing it out and Neo_Ledah for creating this threat:

Rules and FAQ concerning Criminal Mastermind Award

So let's all get our heavy armored suit and casket and get going!!!! 8)

[PZ]

Best of luck, gents!  :-X

[Art Blade]

good luck  :-X

[OWGKID]

Good luck  :-D :-X

[Binnatics]

Thank you guys!

We will need it ;)

[fragger]

Good luck chaps :-X

Just read through the rules, sounds like there's not much margin for error. Guess that's why they call it a challenge, eh? :-()

[Binnatics]

Well, in fact you are allowed an error or two, as long as you stay alive. Some of the setup missions or finales are very tricky and you can fail them for example when you alert the cops or some guards, or destroy a mission related vehicle. But if you fail like that, and everybody stais alive, you won't fail for that challenge.
We tested these heavy armored clothes and helmet; they do make a big difference. Some missions though, require specific clothing like a prisoner's autfit or a trash collecters outfit. So you won't be allowed to wear your own choice. Some of these missions really are critical for our chances of success ;D

[Binnatics]

Report from the Masterminds:
[smg id=8020]

Yesterday was our first attempt. We had agreed on starting around 21:00 h. but after a few misunderstandings we were grouped together around 22:00 h.
Turned out we had to deal with quite a bit of bad luck. First of all it turned out that Stiku's hand was hurting pretty bad and was swolen almost double the size. First he could only use one hand, so our chances of success and, more important joy, were narrowed quite a bit.

We started in two teams of course, to deal with the Fleeca Job. Me and Stiku went together and robbed the bank while TerrZor and Uzi did the same. That went all very smooth without any trouble. Then we started together with the Prison Break. First to steal the plane from the Vago's was an easy "Kuruma Job". Stiku joined one of our cars and set back to give his hand the rest it needed. I took the plane out, flew it over to LS Airport and the first setup was passed. Second came the Prison Bus. Also something we could get done with the Kuruma's and of course the heavy armor suit to make sure no lost bullets would make an end to our noble task. TerrZor took care of the bus while the rest took care of the police helicopter and collateral blue in the area.
Now the third setup Mission. Here we had to split up in two teams, as experienced heisters may know. 2 of us go out to get the prison bus schedule from a nearby police station and the other two go to the docks to steal Reshkovski's Lampadati Casco out of a freight container on a large ship. I was to steal the schedule with Stiku. Calling in the cops and confiscating the cop car was easy. In fact, going over to the station, stealing the schedule from a back office and then burn the cop car is also a very easy job. Can't remember having failed it ever before. Anyhow, this time went different. I don't know what raised the suspision of the cops in the lobby. Was it the fact that I didn't follow Stiku into the back office or was it the fact that I still held my pistol in my hand? Anyway, just before exiting the station, suddenly they started screaming and shooting at me. There were 3 or 4, al within a few meters from me. I got killed before I knew what went wrong. :D :D :D
We chose to complete the Prison Break heist, although we had failed the Mastermind requirements, more as a practice run. Especially the finale is quite tricky to complete without casualties so it was actually a good idea to have a bit more practice. We completed it without any more trouble, and with that in mind we went back to the start; Fleeca again.

We split up in the same teams. Luckily, the painkillers and other medicines that Stiku took for his hand started to kick in so he was a lot more animated to go on, and even started to enjoy the challenges. Our second attempt on the Fleeca went smooth for both teams. Me and Stiku did it in 6:23 mins, only 3 seconds short for the elite challenge extra cash bonus. I fucked up the hacking once, that must have necked us. Still pretty fast. Uzi and TerrZor, who started from another planning room that is farther away from the starting location, Lester's Garment Factory, did it in only 30 seconds more, which is remarkably fast as well.
Me and Stiku celebrating our first success at the Tequi-La-La:
[smg id=8016]

Full of good spirit we started together on the Prison Break again. This time everything went smooth. We sticked to the same roles during the setups and finale.
Here we take a small break after stealing the Prison Bus:
[smg id=8017]

In the finale I flew the plane, as I usually do. Uzi was demolitions and did an excellent job destroying the swarming cops around the excaping noose bus. Stiku and TerrZor were ground team. They handled the stuff inside the prison like pros. Entering the aircraft at Trevor's airstrip went perfect. Good timing and no police in close vicinity.
Celebrating our second victory in Uzi's appartment:
[smg id=8018]

Since everything went so nice, we decided to go and do one more heist. We started the Humane Labs Raid. Again the heavy armoured clothes really came of good use. During the first shootout after receiving the Labs keycards from Michelle, Nico Bellics ex girlfriend aka undercover cop-bitch, I as the buyer and Uzi as one of the lookouts stayed in the area while Stiku and TerrZor already escaped after the first wave of cops. I got hit badly, being exposed to cops coming in from 3 different sides, but the heavy armour sure saved my life there. I only lost my regular body armour and a milimeter of health and we made it out alive without trouble.
First blood:
[smg id=8019]

As things went smooth, we went on stealing the Insurgents, the EMP from the aircraft carrier, the Valkyrie and finally delivering the EMP at the Labs. On that last setup mission we failed 4 times. We kept allerting a scientist or Marryweather security because we lacked aiming precision or communication. Anyhow, we pulled it off on our 5th attempt completing the assassination streak with an excellent triple simultanious kill.  :-X
Since failing without dying isn't a threat to our course, we laughed about it. The finale was a smooth and balanced operation. Uzi and Stiku went inside. TerrZor was the gunner and as usual I flew the Valkyrie.  8)
When celebrating our victories in the titty bar, we decided it was enough for one evening. We had completed 5 heists in a row after all, so it was a good time to go have some rest:
[smg id=8021]

Tonight we will continue with Trevor's A Series Funding. We all think this is the trickiest heist for this challenge. There's one setup, the trash truck, where you can get killed so easily, and the game doesn't allow you to select the heavy heist armour, or any other player saved outfits. That means we will have to be very careful, constantly watching eachother's backs and operating in perfect coordination. Also the mission where you go to Max Payne's yacht is dangerous. The gooms on the vessel really know how to shoot you. Good thing is; here the heavy armour is available. I'm looking forward to it 8)

[Art Blade]

nice :) good luck with the rest  :-X

[OWGKID]

Nice  >:D 8)

[Binnatics]

Report from the Masterminds:
[smg id=8027]

Yesterday evening around 21:00 h. we had agreed to continue our quest. We were all there in time and after visiting the ammu-nation and a food shop we were all good to go. On the roll was Series A Funding. On TerrZor's request we watched the entire cutscene when Trevor enters the heist planning room; quite an introduction :-()
[smg id=8028]

The first setup, where you have to board the huge yacht, went smoother than I had anticipated. Again the Heavy heist armoured suit prooved its value. I once entered one of the cabins and overlooked a goom hiding behind a table. He shot me up close with a shotgun; I only lost like a milimeter of my regular armour so that is impressive. Of course the guy didn't get a second chance >:D
We took our time and went all on top deck to make our escape with the helicopters, instead of using boats to escape. Save and steady we made it back to Trevor's lockup.
Going in Heavy:
[smg id=8029]

Next setup was, in my opinion, the riskiest mission of the entire Mastermind playthrough; the Trashtruck. We can't use heavy aroured suits here, so we were dependant of our teaming and shooting capacities. After completing the setup, I can only conclude that there was nothing wrong with these capacities. We went through it as a knife through butter. Our main organization was; two men, the operators, protect the front; the other two, the collectors, take care of the back. Minigun mayhem after minigun mayhem;  Uzi went crazy on the traffic at the crossing next to the gass station pickup location, creating a pile of melted, blackened steel. When we brought in the molly, Ron was happy as a child ^-^
Clear skies:
[smg id=8030]

Now that we had completed this tricky setup it went all downhill. The rest of the setups; sneak-attack on the bikers, stealing some trucks with weed from the ballers, and finally stealing a trailer filled with meths from the O'Neils, seemed a piece of cake. We were very careful while driving back to the hideout after those missions, because we all know the risk of an exploding car damaging, and even destroying one of our own vehicles. We focussed on just killing the drivers and if by accident one of the vehicles were about to explode we warned the rest of the group to keep some distance. Good, solid transportation, like an oiled machine.
Happy Ron:
[smg id=8031]

The trailer of meths is just a short drive, but we had an excellent plan to keep away instorming clan-mates Doyle, Dane, Darrel and of course, Cleatis :-D We positioned two Kuruma's in front of the trailer, and one at the back. Trailer was safe, O'neils were dead >:D

On the Finale, we positioned TerrZor in the North team, manning the .50 cal gun that's mounted on the Rebel we'd use to make a safe escape. He used it to fight off instorming Ballers, O'neils, Lost or Vago's. The rest of us, already possessing a minigun, made good use of that piece of equipment of course :-D
The escape route to the lighthouse, mostly highway full of ballers and lost trying to take us out, was ecatually fun. No harm done to any of us, and watching the final cutscene where Trevor almost gets fucked by the narcs was both a relief and funny.
Getting the money:
[smg id=8032]
"Hey... Trevâh"
[smg id=8033]
Poor Trevor ;)
[smg id=8034]

Now time for the final score; The Pacific Standard Job.
[smg id=8035]

We are all the most experienced on this heist, since it pays the best and has excellent gameplay. The setups are all pretty doable and the risk of dying is overall small.
We did use caution though, and spoke through the roles and order to do things for every setup. First mission, stealing a Post-Op Van to get the transponder was an easy job. I did put on my heavy armour suit, which was completely unnecessary; I just wanted to prevent any risk :-D
Resquing Avi Schwartzman from the cops can be tricky, but heavy armour was our life insurrance again. Then the Hack, the Thermal charges and the Lectroes, it all went down flawless. When we were up for the final I realised that this whole Mastermind gameplay put me in an entirely different modus; Take it easy, overlook the situation, and never, ever rush through. We know what we have to do and how we will do it; we just walk the line until the final take is done.
We had agreed on using the Kuruma for the getaway. I doublechecked if it was still present in the right garage and so did Uzi as a backup.
While checking, my eyes were caught by a line above the entrance of GO Postal:
[smg id=8036]

When we entered the bank, Uzi and me were crowd control, I accidentally killed a hostage; I wanted to shoot the guard, which Uzi did a second before me, so my bullet perforated the head of a female hostage, f@#k!!
We all expected the NOOSE to come in and make it even more challenging, but when we exited the bank, only regular cops came in. I think that I killed the hostage before she actually was positioned hostage by the game so we were freaking lucky there; Thank you Rockstar :bow

The fighting through the alleys towards the Lectro's went fine. One event scared the s#!t out of me, when Uzi took out one of the police helicopters. Accidentally the burning leftovers fell right on me. Fortunately they didn't damage me at all, and where I first thought I was stuck under it, the next moment the game pulled me gently away from that spot and we could continue our escape.
When we were gathered at the bikes, we managed to get inside my appartment in one single go without being seen by the cops. This was actually a moment that was risky and we had forgotten to think about a plan B. When we apporached the spot we quickly agreed on the following; if it would be impossible for both me and Uzi to enter the appartment and get the Kuruma in position, we would just hide in the corner and wait for the timer to run out. That way we would fail the mission without dying and could of course try again. Thinking it over now, I wonder if the cops would have let us hide there for over 5 minutes, but whatever. We made in inside and the Kuruma ride towards the boat went smooth. I didn't hit any police cars at all, but Stiku mentioned I was driving extremely careful. That is true; I was way to scared to f@#k it up in the final moment.
Anyway; Slow and Steady, we made it to the boat and escaped:
[smg id=8037]

The earnings:
[smg id=8038]

The joy:
[smg id=8039]

The peace:
[smg id=8040]

The Bong:
[smg id=8041]

The spending:
[smg id=8042]

Oh, the spending:
[smg id=8043]

Thank you Uzi, Stiku and TerrZor for sharing this great gaming experience with me. It was quite something :wink

[PZ]

Dang, that's impressive, Binn!  +1 for that marvelous story  :-X

[OWGKID]

10 000 000/10 Would do challenge again  :-X +1

[Art Blade]

well done, Binnatics :) +1 :-X

[fragger]

+1 Binn :) Great job you guys! I gave Stiku a kudo too - since TerrZor and Uzi aren't members of OWG I have to give them virtual ones :-D

[Art Blade]

That is not entirely correct.  :-()

Actually, TerrZor is a member. Date Registered: Friday, August 10, 2012 - 04:26:00 PM

[OWGKID]

 :-X :)

[Binnatics]

That is not entirely correct.  :-()

Actually, TerrZor is a member. Date Registered: Friday, August 10, 2012 - 04:26:00 PM

But he hasn't been active for... quite a while though ;)

[Art Blade]

true.. the silent and absent type. :)

[fragger]

My bad :-[ Art got in just before me, I was going to say that he doesn't appear to have any posts that I can find, so I still can't give him his kudo. He'll have to stick with the unofficial one :-()

[Art Blade]

Maybe I can talk him into posting here so you can slap him.

On the back, that is  :-()

[Binnatics]

That would be a funny introduction; "Hey, when are you finally coming over, so that we can slap you properly?" :-D

[OWGKID]

 

[Art Blade]

I'll try that. :-()

[Art Blade]

OK, I just did. :-()

08:23 PM - Art Blade: fragger wants to slap you so you better show up ( hehe)