Could You Give Me Some Pointers Please

[Ylenard]

Hello.

I just got back to playing xcom after a few years(like 10, or so... ) break. Surprisingly enough I seem to remember quite a lot about it because it was once my favourite game, but I only remember theoretical stuff like techtree and the like. Being crazy as I am, I started playing ironman superhuman campaign, and I am experiencing some serious problems.

 

Its 1st aprill of the first year in my game. I suceeded in getting HWD, and succesfully created 3 radar bases in addition to my main one(only my main has HWD for now, although they're in construction in my other bases). I do have laser rifles, personal armor and medikits on all my soldiers. For tough(terror) missions I also equip them with HEPs. Even though my equippment is moderately good I suffer horrible losses. I was forced to abort 4 missions, and am losing 5-6 soldiers per fight on average. I was lucky I didn't lose my scyranger yet. I can't attack bigger then small sectoid ships because I get ripped apart by PSI. Even against floaters I lose 3-4 soldiers per crash site/landed UFO. My guys are all terrible because they're all rookies. Noone lasts more then a few missions(actually I have one guy from the beginning, but it's only because he seems to be wounded almost all the time:D)

My questions are:

 

-what to do about PSI? it seems that if I drop the attacked soldeirs weapons aliens switch to another one... I went through 4 soldiers this way, and most of the time I have like 6 soldiers by the end of the mission... Having 2/3 of my force unarmed doesn't seem like a good idea;)

-how to cut on loses?

 

and any general tips you might be willing to give me;)

thanks in advance

 

-edit- I guess I should also add that I have lots of problems with storming ufos. For example - on one of my missions 5 sectoids camped inside a medium scout. I had only 6 soldiers left after clearing the whole area around UFO. I've waited a 100 turns for them to get out, but they simply camped. after having lost 4 of my soldiers trying to storm the UFO I gave up(meaning I primed a HEP on my one-but-last soldier and run inside the UFO:P ).

Edited September 25, 2007 by Ylenard

[gufu]

Best way to lure em out is to get at least one man closer - they will come out to kill him...

[zaimoni]

-edit- I guess I should also add that I have lots of problems with storming ufos. For example - on one of my missions 5 sectoids camped inside a medium scout. I had only 6 soldiers left after clearing the whole area around UFO. I've waited a 100 turns for them to get out, but they simply camped. after having lost 4 of my soldiers trying to storm the UFO I gave up(meaning I primed a HEP on my one-but-last soldier and run inside the UFO:P ).

Medium Scouts are among the hardest to storm, and sectoids have too good reactions to safely outwait anyway.

 

Assuming favorable terrain, I'd probably set up a firing line on one side, and put a couple of expendables on the other side next to the Medium Scout (where they have cover from the firing line). If the aliens still won't come out to be mowed down, send the expendables in.

[Guest Azrael Strife]

Just a comment: IIRC, once you have ONE HWD you don't remember to build additional, are you not aware of this or are you just building them for the fun in it?

[[NKF]]

I think he meant he has HWDs in construction at the other bases.

 

 

 

PSI - Don't kill your psi weak soldiers. They can be used as psi-sponges while you ferret out the psi user(s). Try to disarm the soldiers and keep them alive, perhaps in the Skyranger. This means the psi alien ends up wasting its attempts on the sponges. Alternately, wear personal armour or power suits and arm most of your soldiers with basic pistols and rifles. Pistols can easily kill sectoids, but they do nothing to a power suit, so hand them to soldiers you think might get controlled. If everyone's in power armour, you can even go so far as to use autocannons with HE shells.

 

One possible strategy you could use if you really don't know who's psi weak is to start the battle and have your soldiers that stay insie the Skyranger drop their weapons. Wait a few turns and see who gets controlled.

 

Generally if you play very aggressively and wipe out lots of sectoids in a span of a few turns, you'll cause enough widespread panic to cause even the alien leader/commander to balk and panic. This especially useful on ethereal missions, where ALL ethereals have psi.

 

Later in the game, once you get blaster launchers, you should immediately shell the UFO's bridge with blaster bombs, as the sectoid leaders generally start there.

 

 

Storming UFOs: Turn the tide on the aliens. Don't walk into their ambush. Let them walk into your own. Set your soldiers up in a rough semi-circle around the entrance to the UFO. 6 or more soldiers are ideal. Arm them with very fast snapshot weapons like the pistol, laser pistol or laser rifle. Then wait. Wait. Wait. Wait as long as several hundred turns if you have to. You can also go so far as to mine the entrance with proxies, but be careful with its placement. Eventually all of the aliens will leave the UFO. If they don't seem to be moving, they need some bait. If they haven't moved for a long time, have someone move up close to the door (HWPs are good for this) and they'll start filing out.

 

 

 

For general advice, read the forums. Lots of great stuff out there.

 

A few very-general but good all rounders include:

 

 

 

- Learn how Reaction and TUs work. The reaction article and its related articles on the Ufopaedia wiki is a bit over-elaborate, but very good reading.

 

- Wait at least one turn before disembarking from the Skyranger. Aliens on the first turn always have 100% of their TUs, which means they have 100% of their initiative: a reaction fire nightmare. Wait at least one turn before leaving the ship.

 

- Spotter/Shooter strategy - the person who spots the alien should not be the one to shoot it. This negates the alien's chance at using reaction fire. If you could only take one piece of advice away from anything that shows up here, let it be this one.

 

- Take your time. Unless there's psi, of course. Don't rush things and don't try to use all your TUs up every turn.

 

- Learn how to use all your tools effectively. Like the smoke grenade, flares, incendiary rounds, motion scanner, mind probe, etc. They aren't as useless as they may initially seem!

 

- Brute force. Don't be afraid to use it. Almost anything can be solved with enough high explosives.

 

Just ask about anything that you might need help on.

 

- NKF

Edited September 26, 2007 by NKF

[Ylenard]

"Best way to lure em out is to get at least one man closer - they will come out to kill him..."

 

that somehow doesn't work for me. They stay inside for 200+ turns(didn't have patience to wait more)

 

"Medium Scouts are among the hardest to storm, and sectoids have too good reactions to safely outwait anyway"

 

They're the hardest for me... Aliens seem to get out of all other UFOs(except maybe a few leaders that stay on the bridge). I had to resort to "suicide rookie+explosives" tactics a few times. Theres nothing wrong with the tactic except that I destroy elerium this way...

 

"Assuming favorable terrain, I'd probably set up a firing line on one side, and put a couple of expendables on the other side next to the Medium Scout (where they have cover from the firing line). If the aliens still won't come out to be mowed down, send the expendables "

 

thats a great tip. I started implementing it in my own way - I kneel with expandables in front of my better soldiers:D. Cruel, but effective.

 

"Just a comment: IIRC, once you have ONE HWD you don't remember to build additional, are you not aware of this or are you just building them for the fun in it? "

 

Im (was:P ) building only one HWD in each base;) .Im sorry I wrote it in such unclear way...

 

 

"PSI - Don't kill your psi weak soldiers. They can be used as psi-sponges while you ferret out the psi user(s). Try to disarm the soldiers and keep them alive, perhaps in the Skyranger. This means the psi alien ends up wasting its attempts on the sponges. Alternately, wear personal armour or power suits and arm most of your soldiers with basic pistols and rifles. Pistols can easily kill sectoids, but they do nothing to a power suit, so hand them to soldiers you think might get controlled. If everyone's in power armour, you can even go so far as to use autocannons with"

 

My main problem is that with such high loses on each mission I can't afford to have 4 soldiers unarmed and out of fight.Not to mention Im unable to keep track of "low psi" ones since they die all the time, and Im replacing 3/4 of my squad each 2 or 3 missions. Im wearing personal suits on all my soldiers, but autocannons, laser pistols and better weapons still easily kill my soldiers, while using pistols on them is equal to them being unarmed:P .

 

"Generally if you play very aggressively and wipe out lots of sectoids in a span of a few turns, you'll cause enough widespread panic to cause even the alien leader/commander to balk and panic. This especially useful on ethereal missions, where ALL ethereals have psi.

 

Later in the game, once you get blaster launchers, you should immediately shell the UFO's bridge with blaster bombs, as the sectoid leaders generally start there. "

 

Recently I got quite lucky and I almost exclusively get floaters and snakemen, so no problems with PSI for me;)(currently:P ).

 

"Storming UFOs: Turn the tide on the aliens. Don't walk into their ambush. Let them walk into your own. Set your soldiers up in a rough semi-circle around the entrance to the UFO. 6 or more soldiers are ideal. Arm them with very fast snapshot weapons like the pistol, laser pistol or laser rifle. Then wait. Wait. Wait. Wait as long as several hundred turns if you have to. You can also go so far as to mine the entrance with proxies, but be careful with its placement. Eventually all of the aliens will leave the UFO. If they don't seem to be moving, they need some bait. If they haven't moved for a long time, have someone move up close to the door (HWPs are good for this) and they'll start filing out.

"

 

This works for me but only when capturing medium/large ufos. Aliens never seem to leave small UFOs. It doesn't matter what I do outside of it. I can run in circles around the UFO, stand close to the doors, throw smoke granades or HEPs. They simply never leave even if I wait 200+ turns...

 

"

- Learn how Reaction and TUs work. The reaction article and its related articles on the Ufopaedia wiki is a bit over-elaborate, but very good reading.

"

 

Homework done;).

 

"Wait at least one turn before disembarking from the Skyranger. Aliens on the first turn always have 100% of their TUs, which means they have 100% of their initiative: a reaction fire nightmare. Wait at least one turn before leaving the ship."

 

I can't belive I never thought of that. Great tip. Saved my hide in a few recent missions;) .

 

 

"Learn how to use all your tools effectively. Like the smoke grenade, flares, incendiary rounds, motion scanner, mind probe, etc. They aren't as useless as they may initially seem! "

 

I do use mind probes. I use flare and I-type ammuntion only on night terror missions. I avoid night missions whenever I can, so I don't assault landed UFOs at night. I try to shoot them down and recover them during the day. I tried to use smoke grenades, but they seem to do more harm to me then to aliens... Maybe Ill learn how to use them some time...

 

 

"

-Spotter/Shooter strategy - the person who spots the alien should not be the one to shoot it. This negates the alien's chance at using reaction fire. If you could only take one piece of advice away from anything that shows up here, let it be this one.

 

- Take your time. Unless there's psi, of course. Don't rush things and don't try to use all your TUs up every"

 

I use it... kind off...

I move my expandables as far as I can(or as far as I can without seeing aliens;) ), and then shoot everything with my better soldiers from far away. I do

stop to recover TUs before going around the corners and in such dangerous places though...

 

Thanks for all your responses guys. Im proud to announce that your tips helped me cut the average loses by 2;) (so I have 4 soldiers dead on average now;) )

 

BTW. Its 23rd april now. I have 6 bases. 3 With HWDS, the other 3 are in construction. Ill have full ground radar coverage(populated ground:P ) within half a month. I still have that one guy from the beginning. He's wounded of course... He's wounded all the time:P . Whenever he goes to a mission he gets wounded and stays in bed for the next month or so:P .I ve also lost 147 soldiers since the beginning of the game. Quite a monstrous amount...:O

[Munkeh]

NKF has covered the meat of it (as he always does), I'll see if I can address a few of the little scraps left.

 

I tend to be a fairly agressive player, so I tend not to wait very long for the enemy to breach and rush into my ambush. Instead I prefer to go to them. It's impatient of me, I know, and it can be high risk, but I've picked up some things.....

 

Firstly, if you can make your own entrance (or better, use one in conjunction with the one that's already there), it'll make life go easier. BB's take out hulls (as do HiEx Packs in XcomUtil), and heavy plasma can take down interior bulkheads. I'm rather fond of breaching the large scout from front and rear simultaneously.

Secondly, laser pistols. Perfect for point-blank room clearing, what with the high rate of fire. Also, don't underestimate the H. Laser as a support weapon.

Thirdly, if you absolutely have to rush through a door that may have enemies beyond it, I'm of the opinion that instead of using expendables, I'm better using a veteran with high reactions (50 or so is usually good for your typical alien, but not a toughie like an Ethereal, maybe a Muton). Motion scanners are handy here....if they have moved, they're gonna have less initiative than they'd have otherwise, maybe enough to let you get some shots off. Or at least retreat back through the door and have a backup toss a grenade.

 

Also, know your enemy, and how to react accordingly. Sectoid psi users can be countered using the methods NKF detailed, while ethereals (being too tough for an AC-HE or rifle) have to be agressively sought out before their psi attacks can do too much. You sometimes get a grace period at the start, depending on the difficulty. So you'll want to do as much damage as you can, quick as you can, without leaving yourself overly exposed (since they also happen to be crack-shots). Even once the grace period wears off, you'll be encouraged to move forward and spread out just to avoid controlled teammates. Ethereals are one of the few enemies where you're actually at an advantage having your men work alone rather than in elements.

Chryssalids are best countered by forming a tight perimeter on open ground, and letting them come to you. You need to stay fairly tight for volume of fire, since Chryssies can shrug off rediculous damage.

Edited September 26, 2007 by Munkeh

[gufu]

The way to lure out them from ufo is to get on high position - like a wing of skyranger. A soldier must get up on the roof (!) of the UFO - forcing aliens to come out to shoot them Great practise for reaction fire...

[SaintD]

I have a few more bits of advice here.

 

#1. If you haven't lost yet you are winning. So what if you go through rookies like popcorn? This is war.

#2. Save at the start of turn one before each battle, and if it turns out badly replay it (just for practice since this is ironman).

#3. Start each battle the same way. Unit at door arms a smoke grenade, end turn, unit toss grenade at the end of the ramp, end turn.

 

If you have a HWD built by april, the aliens are in serious trouble. As long as you can afford to keep hiring cannon fodder, it's a perfectly acceptable way to win the game. It's well and good to want to preserve as many lives as possible, but don't stress on it too much.

 

You can usually do a lot better job the second time you do a mission. Mostly because you know where all the aliens are. The trick is, think about why what you did was more effective. You know there is an alien behind that hill, so you act accordingly. The first time you played, you knew there MIGHT be one, so why was it able to take out 4 of your guys?

 

Smoke can hurt as much as it helps in some places, but it's almost always better to have some smoke cover to exit the landing craft. At least that way you can get a few units into firing position where reaction fire is unlikely to come in from multiple angles. If you are using tanks then they can exit first thing on turn two and look around the gear for hostiles.

 

If you post a savegame from a tough battle in the savegame forum you might get some people to play it and give you some good advice.

 

-D

[Munkeh]

That's a good point.....if in doubt, assume there's an alien there.

[[stewart]]

Handling psi is like handling being on fire, stop-drop-and-kneel. All PSI means is that you lose reactive fire.

 

Setup your artillery (say four guys with autocannons loaded with high explosive) and send out a tank (cant be mind controlled you see). Your goal is to kill no more than one alien per turn unless you are forced to attempt for more. So your artillery is at one end of the map and the tank scouts (like the buffalo girls, best to go 'round the outside). As soon as you spot a bug, nail him with artillery. Try to end the turn with the tank reasonably hidden. Kill the bug end turn. Next turn repeat.

 

Storming UFOs (dont bring HE ammo in a UFO, learnt that the hard way!!). Pop some proxies by the door, setup firing squad not to front but to the side (one side only not both, learnt that the hardway too!!). Wait. If after a while nothing. Lob grenade to kill proxies. Switch to AP ammo. and suck it up princess your going in. If come across a group of aliens, if you can save the ones not looking at you for later.

 

 

#1. If you haven't lost yet you are winning.

 

i wonder what incredibly brilliant person first came up with that line?

[[NKF]]

Stewart, wear power suits. That'll make your inside UFO with HE ammo encounters all the more pleasant! Well, for you anyway. Just mind the blasts when working near power units.

 

- NKF

[Ylenard]

I have one more specific question.

 

Two muton battleships on infiltrate mission came to europe. I assaulted the first one, but didn't fight with them yet.

Due to my lack of brain(...;/) I haven't researched plasma rifles yet, so I can't use them despite having 14 along with 150+ clips in my stores...;/

My whole squad is armed with laser rifles, 8 of 14 soldiers have power armor. Now for the question:

 

-How to play not to attract blaster bombs?...

I tried assaulting muton battleship before, and I ended with heavy loses because of a BB being shot while I was deploying my troops from scyranger... I don't want that to happen again...

[[NKF]]

Unless you have your own blaster launchers, early defence against blaster bomb is achieved through two methods. Relying on luck and hope that the shot will miss or that you spot them first. Since you can't control the first method, you must concentrate your efforst on the latter.

 

The first thing you should do is save the game at the very start of the battle. Either save while still in the geoscape, or on the first turn in the battlescape. Either method is up to you. Unless you're playing with extremely hardcore save/reload conditions, It's generally acceptable to allow a reload in the case of a blaster bomb being fired right into the Skyranger before you even get a chance to deploy.

 

Once deployed, use the same rules you use to avoid grenades: have everyone spread out and try not to have several soldiers bunch together in the same spot for as long as absolutely necessary.

 

Play the mission as normal, but keep an eye out for the aliens carrying the blaster launchers. One or two may be out in the field, otherwise they'll usually be inside the battleship. I forget the exact distributions, but there are usually on average 3 blaster launcher aliens. However don't lower your guard even after shooting the third alien with a blaster launcher.

 

Once found, drop everything and concentrate fire on any alien carrying a blaster launcher.

 

If you're in a real pinch, you can save your soldier by rushing up next to the alien. The AI is smart enough to get aliens with blaster launchers to hold fire when at point blank range.

 

With battleships, I generally try to secure the central shaft as quickly as possible, then have a few soldiers clear the rest of the map while the aliens file out into a 3-way ambush (with a roving group waiting in the blind-sides). Hopefully one or two of the blaster launcher aliens will get mowed down during this time, but there is always the possibiliy of the door being left open and a blaster bomb flying out.

 

If you're playing the CE version of the game, you have a unique advantage that the game completely messes up when a blaster bomb is fired up or down on the same tile. Instead of moving vertically, it flies off to the south. This can be the source of many self-inflicted kills amongst the alien forces, so you can hope that this comes into play too.

 

- NKF

Edited September 29, 2007 by NKF

[Munkeh]

As NKF says, it's about spotting them before they spot you.

Two points to doing that. The first would be being very proactive in your scouting efforts, having them try to cover as much ground as they can as quick as they can to reveal alien positions. This would probably mean using the reserve TU's you'd normally keep for reaction fire. Ideally you'd have a tank or two for this.

The second would be avoiding them getting LOS on you, through smart use of cover and plenty of smoke. Unlike human players, the AI fortunately only fires at where it can see a target, not where it thinks one might be.

 

when hitting the battleship, you should try to clear the bridge first if you can. Ideally you'd have some BB's of your own for this, and even better, flying suits. If you can panic a few soldiers, you might get lucky and remove a BB or two from the equation right there.

[Zombie]

I have one more specific question.

 

Two muton battleships on infiltrate mission came to europe. I assaulted the first one, but didn't fight with them yet.

Due to my lack of brain(...;/) I haven't researched plasma rifles yet, so I can't use them despite having 14 along with 150+ clips in my stores...;/

My whole squad is armed with laser rifles, 8 of 14 soldiers have power armor. Now for the question:

 

-How to play not to attract blaster bombs?...

I tried assaulting muton battleship before, and I ended with heavy loses because of a BB being shot while I was deploying my troops from scyranger... I don't want that to happen again...

I've done plenty of Muton missions and the trick with the Battleship is cover. Get to it as quick as possible. Drop a smoker near your ramp in the interim and then deploy your men who look for appropriate areas to hide. Don't clump up during this process: that invites unanticipated Blaster Bomb strikes. I find that the legs of the Battleship provide excellent cover (2-3 soldiers per leg). If you hear doors opening during the aliens round, peek around the corner of the legs and kill any aliens standing there. If the Battleship is crashed, look for breaches in the hull legs. The elevator lifts are good places to sneak up and then hide in L1. At least on a Battleship, you could see between 3-6 aliens carrying Blaster Launchers depending on difficulty level and alien loadout. :wink1:

 

If you come across an alien carrying a Blaster Launcher who is close by, ignore it. Go after the aliens without launchers first. After those aliens are dead, try to kill the BB carrying alien. If you can't, run up to it. That's kinda counterintuitive but as NKF mentioned aliens with Blaster Launchers aren't going to fire it if it means their death too.

 

- Zombie

[Ylenard]

heh... I lost...

I assaulted first of the two battleship and managed to capture it with minor loses(only 2 soldiers!). If I assaulted the second one I would have to fight at night, so I decided not to... And then it happened. Sectoids launched an attack on my main base and crushed my defenses:P

 

Fortunately I have a save I made in the beggining of the base defense so Ill be able to both practice base defenses and play the game as a non ironman one(purely for practice before another go;) ).

 

I have a base prepared for an attack(a chokepoint, 18 armed soldiers(including some veterans) and 2 laser tanks), but I still cant defend it. How do you set up to defend chokepoints? I tried something like that:

 

----------------

SC----- D

-SC---- D

SC----- D

----------------

 

Where S= standing soldier in power armor, C = crouching soldier in power armor and D = lift doors.

 

The problem is that Aliens open both lift doors, and they shoot through it with superior numbers(like 10-15 aliens per turn! including cyberdiscs), and mindcontrol 2 or 1 of my defending soldiers as a disruption. They do choose a soldier to MC for sure, because I tried using different soldiers as my defense to no avail. They only MC the ones I use for reaction fire.

 

I suffered such high loses that I even had my laser tank panic!

 

How do you defend?

[Munkeh]

It's very much about base layout.

 

As you say, it only takes one alien to open the lift doors at the start of the round to clear a fire-lane for, potentially a dozen on so of his comrades (if you have a hanger right beyond the doors, as per the default layout).

 

It also means that as soon as you send one guy through those same doors, you're going to be exposed to a TON of reaction fire. Not only the guy who opened them, but his buddies down the corridor, too.

 

 

There is a defensive base layout on here somewhere (concieved by Stewart, I believe) that makes good use of the dogleg in the Missile module. Pretty much all that module is good for, admittedly, but it does give you plenty of corners to wait behind. It also solves the aformentioned problem with the lift by isolating it from the main corridor.

 

It also provides you with a very commanding spot upstairs to monitor things with a motion scanner.

 

 

 

Also, leaving your guys lined up in the open is a risky proposition. Depending on their reactions, the type of alien, and their location, they can potentially be caught out with alien fire before they have a chance to react. And god forbid that the aliens has a BB launcher.

 

I use the same tactic, but only with high-stat troops, and only against low-threat aliens like floaters.

You should try to improve their chances with a low-cost snapshot weapon, like a laser pistol.

Personally though, I prefer to just hide around the corner and lob a grenade when they get near.

Edited September 30, 2007 by Munkeh

[gufu]

You know you can try to nuke the entrance lift with the rockets and alike... should work, especially with cyberdisk...

[Zombie]

If you are the type who would just like to build a defendable base from the ground-up, see stewart's base design thread. Quite a novel approach and makes use of the otherwise useless missile defense module to create a choke point between the hangars and access lift from the rest of the base. This way your men are not out in the open begging for a preemptive Blaster Bomb strike from the aliens.

 

The main point to remember is to get your men under cover and not out in the open during the aliens turn. Having them sit in the corridoors hoping to get some reaction fire is not the way to go. There are plenty of small rooms in your base modules, so use them. If you hear doors opening during the aliens turn, pop your head out of a room and check the hallway for intruders. If it's empty, go back into hiding. Otherwise kill the alien by whatever means possible. One time I didn't have any weapons for a base defense mission except for Stun Rods and was still able to win the mission simply by using the rooms in the General Stores for cover.

 

Nowadays, I don't worry too much about properly setting a base up to defend. If you know the total number of spawn points your base has, you can stock your base with that many soldiers (up to 40) and prevent the aliens from showing up, effectively giving you an auto-win mission. Can't ask for a better scenario than that. A drawback is that you must keep your base on the smaller side, but it is quite effective for a intercept/listening post base with a couple hangars, a GS or two and a Living Quarters.

 

- Zombie

[[NKF]]

I'm probably just repeating what's already been said, but my fingers and brain were on automatic at the time and fired off some thoughts that came to mind. Didn't want them to go to waste. Anyway:

 

Think of base defence as the aliens playing a game of whack-a-mole with moles that can fight back.

 

Make use of the sniper/scout strategy that you use out in the open. Soldier closest to the alien sources pop out or use a motion scanner to see what's there. If anything's found, let the ones down the corridor jump out of their little rooms or HWP closets and take a few long range shots. Note, it's often wise to have the spotter jump right back into the room to avoid friendly fire.

 

The rooms are also quite a good way of surviving against a blaster bomb shelling. Not a perfect defence, but adequate.

 

You can have soldiers out in the corridors, such as when you're making an aggressive advance into a hangar. Just be aware that there may be an alien with a blaster bomb still out and about, so spread out a bit and don't bunch up (out in the open) for as long as possible.

 

Don't hesitate to make use of the mighty rocket launcher. It's a great opening move to fire a couple of large rockets into the hangars. With luck you'll wipe out a fair number of your opposition in the first couple of turns. Don't worry about destroying the loot - the well-being of the base comes first. Also the hangar and access lift are indestructable, so damage to them won't cause any base module loss.

 

Proximity mines are also good early warning systems. Have them in front of the access lift, or in any corridor that you are sure the aliens will want to take.

 

As for your base layout - as long as you construct your base so that the aliens are all over on one side, you should do fine. The starting base layout is designed to make base defence very difficult indeed by having aliens come at you from three different directions.

 

A good argument for a secondary chokepoint (in larger bases - like the starting base) is to have a clear firing corridor into the hangars (assuming your main chokepoint is the access-lift). The small radar has a large open octagonal room that's perfect for this, but any structure with a clear path will do. A clear firing path would allow you to easily fire rockets into the hangars from the very start. Also two different access into the hangar/access lift area allow for pincer or flanking attacks.

 

Much later into the game, if you're not able to use Zombie's auto-win base setup, you can stock a reasonably sized escort of Fusion hovertanks in the base and make use of the free HWP arming "feature" and just shell the hangar and access lift to kingdom-come within the first couple of turns. That generally softens up the opposition quite a bit.

 

- NKF

Edited October 1, 2007 by NKF

[[stewart]]

If you are the type who would just like to build a defendable base from the ground-up, see stewart's base design thread. Quite a novel approach and makes use of the otherwise useless missile defense module to create a choke point between the hangars and access lift from the rest of the base. This way your men are not out in the open begging for a preemptive Blaster Bomb strike from the aliens.

 

The main point to remember is to get your men under cover and not out in the open during the aliens turn. Having them sit in the corridoors hoping to get some reaction fire is not the way to go. There are plenty of small rooms in your base modules, so use them. If you hear doors opening during the aliens turn, pop your head out of a room and check the hallway for intruders. If it's empty, go back into hiding. Otherwise kill the alien by whatever means possible. One time I didn't have any weapons for a base defense mission except for Stun Rods and was still able to win the mission simply by using the rooms in the General Stores for cover.

 

Nowadays, I don't worry too much about properly setting a base up to defend. If you know the total number of spawn points your base has, you can stock your base with that many soldiers (up to 40) and prevent the aliens from showing up, effectively giving you an auto-win mission. Can't ask for a better scenario than that. A drawback is that you must keep your base on the smaller side, but it is quite effective for a intercept/listening post base with a couple hangars, a GS or two and a Living Quarters.

 

- Zombie

 

My boy, Im so proud of him!

 

Thing to note about that design is typically the silver footballs are sent flying along the walls and not smack down the middle of the hallway. That is after they dipsy-doodle around the missile defense.

[Munkeh]

.....which in itself isn't easy.

 

Last time I played this setup, 8 or 9 of my veteran supertroopers were saved from certain death by the alien AI misjudging the dogleg.

[SaintD]

heh... I lost...

I assaulted first of the two battleship and managed to capture it with minor loses(only 2 soldiers!). If I assaulted the second one I would have to fight at night, so I decided not to... And then it happened. Sectoids launched an attack on my main base and crushed my defenses:P

 

Fortunately I have a save I made in the beggining of the base defense so Ill be able to both practice base defenses and play the game as a non ironman one(purely for practice before another go;) ).

 

I have a base prepared for an attack(a chokepoint, 18 armed soldiers(including some veterans) and 2 laser tanks), but I still cant defend it. How do you set up to defend chokepoints? I tried something like that:

 

----------------

SC----- D

-SC---- D

SC----- D

----------------

 

Where S= standing soldier in power armor, C = crouching soldier in power armor and D = lift doors.

 

The problem is that Aliens open both lift doors, and they shoot through it with superior numbers(like 10-15 aliens per turn! including cyberdiscs), and mindcontrol 2 or 1 of my defending soldiers as a disruption. They do choose a soldier to MC for sure, because I tried using different soldiers as my defense to no avail. They only MC the ones I use for reaction fire.

 

I suffered such high loses that I even had my laser tank panic! <_>

 

How do you defend?

 

Can you post the savegame? Maybe in the savegame forum?

[[NKF]]

In that particular situation, assuming its one where you must have your troops out in the open, it's probably better to have the barricade a little further back, so that they aren't within immediate sight of aliens behind the aliens that walk through the door.

 

Remember, maximum visual range is 20 tiles. So adjust it so that your furtherest soldier is about 18 - 19 tiles away from the door.

 

- NKF

Edited October 3, 2007 by NKF

[Ylenard]

thanks for your help guys.

 

Actually the battle isnt THAT HARD to win, but I screwed up on my first try... I also cant seem to finish it without heavy loses....

 

Ill post a save game when Ill be able to(probably around weekend)

 

My base layout is like that:

 

HHHHHH

HHHHHH

---L-----

FFFFFFFF

FFFFFFFF

FFFFFFFF

 

HH

HH = hangar, L = lift, F = other facilities.

 

Its not as briliant as Stewarts one, but it would work pretty well... If the attackers were floaters...

I don't get one thing. Weren't the aliens supposed to PSI attack only the weakest PSI soldiers? In this game they attack only actively defending ones. If I postion the soldier behind my main defenses they ignore him and attack some other guy...

Edited October 3, 2007 by Ylenard

[[stewart]]

Dont feel bad. Designing bases used to be an allconsuming passion for me. Plus a lot of learning things the hard way.

 

BTW if you dont use my design have the connexion point to the SE of the base. That way you clearly see aliens that are just around the corner. Sometime you are actually spoting the alien but the wall block YOUR view (IE you the guy playing). This is my only regret about my base design; I really wish the groundfloor plan of the missle defense was rotated 180?.

[SaintD]

thanks for your help guys.

 

Actually the battle isnt THAT HARD to win, but I screwed up on my first try... I also cant seem to finish it without heavy loses....

 

Ill post a save game when Ill be able to(probably around weekend)

 

My base layout is like that:

 

HHHHHH

HHHHHH

---L-----

FFFFFFFF

FFFFFFFF

FFFFFFFF

 

HH

HH = hangar, L = lift, F = other facilities.

 

Its not as briliant as Stewarts one, but it would work pretty well... If the attackers were floaters...

I don't get one thing. Weren't the aliens supposed to PSI attack only the weakest PSI soldiers? In this game they attack only actively defending ones. If I postion the soldier behind my main defenses they ignore him and attack some other guy...

 

 

 

PSI seems to drop off with distance. In my experiece PSI aliens attack the weakest unit IN RANGE. So move your psi sponges as close to the front lines as you can.

[Munkeh]

thanks for your help guys.

 

Actually the battle isnt THAT HARD to win, but I screwed up on my first try... I also cant seem to finish it without heavy loses....

 

Ill post a save game when Ill be able to(probably around weekend)

 

My base layout is like that:

 

HHHHHH

HHHHHH

---L-----

FFFFFFFF

FFFFFFFF

FFFFFFFF

 

HH

HH = hangar, L = lift, F = other facilities.

 

Its not as briliant as Stewarts one, but it would work pretty well... If the attackers were floaters...

I don't get one thing. Weren't the aliens supposed to PSI attack only the weakest PSI soldiers? In this game they attack only actively defending ones. If I postion the soldier behind my main defenses they ignore him and attack some other guy...

 

 

 

PSI seems to drop off with distance. In my experiece PSI aliens attack the weakest unit IN RANGE. So move your psi sponges as close to the front lines as you can.

 

 

I hadn't realised psi HAD range.

Or is that another difference between the normal game and superhumans uber-psi?

[SaintD]

I hadn't realised psi HAD range.

Or is that another difference between the normal game and superhumans uber-psi?

 

I have seen the same thing on Beginer, Veteran and Super Human. Same goes for your guys. Get as close as you can to have more chance of an effect. If you can see the enemy (within 20 spaces) I don't think getting closer helps much. However around 40 spaces it seems to drop off pretty fast.

 

-D

[NinthRank]

Yes, this was very enlightening for me, so check it out if you're interested in the formula behind psi.