Trying To Get Them All.

[Tuoppi]

People have posted on these forums that they ignore some battles they think are too hard/insignificant. I go after every single UFO and crash site and feel personally failed if any of them escapes, although of course that happens sometimes.

 

Later i tend to shoot down some ships over water to avoid constand ground fighting. (anybody know are these calculated according to destroyed or downed score?)

 

And yes. I would really try to take ethereal battleship with starting squad if it showed up early. Maybe that is the reason i haven't completed superhuman game, but its the earth we are defending, right? How many of you go against any foe?

[SupSuper]

later in the game, i stop visiting small ufo crash sites unless i need the elerium. i mean, such small missions are no fun. it's more fun to go against a full battleship!

other than that i never retreat from a mission or ignore it. either they die or i die.

[[NKF]]

These days I weigh up the odds before choosing to go out on a mission. I mean, is it worth it to send a brand new batch of rookies (After your super elite team of uber-soldiers got wiped out) against an army of ethereals backed up with sectopods? Well, if it means getting a psi lab it would probably do. Just as long this doesn't put my overall activity score into the negatives.

 

The only ones you cannot miss are terror sites. The score loss is too costly.

 

The earth needs saving, but it doesn't need to be saved from every action by the alien that's not immediately hostile.

 

But, hey, that's just me.

 

- NKF

[[Blehm 98]]

You also still get points for just shooting down the UFOs....

[remysweet]

I try to shoot down smaller UFO's over water unless I have a few rookies who need a little experience. Anything medium or larger I try to shoot down over land. And battleships I just let them land on their own. I can't have my craft always in the repair shop :whatwhat:

[Robo Dojo 58]

I like to let the UFOs land, then I assault them on the ground. I like to go after every UFO, because I'm greedy, and want the Elerium.

 

A few UFOs never land (retal scouts, mostly) so I shoot those down. Then I raid them, because I'm just as greedy.

[Puasonen]

In the beginning I go to all crash sites, after few months I stop going to small ufos.

[[Blehm 98]]

That is what i mostly do. Just go to every UFO until you get far enouph into the game it isn't worth the elerium(you never get any from the smaller ufos)

[j'ordos]

Honestly, the thought of letting just one UFO sit there never crossed my mind. No matter how puny or how big, assault them I shall

[[Blehm 98]]

Even if you have almost no soldiers left?

[j'ordos]

Eh? I always hire ample soldiers beforehand so I can replace almost an entire Skyranger should I run into some unexpected losses

[[Blehm 98]]

Do you retreat though, that's the bit question now!

[j'ordos]

Aaaahh, well, occasionally the situation becomes dire enough to warrant a tactical manoeuvre consisting of rapid redeployment of all remaining forces to the nearest aerial vehicle with the purpose of securing any gains made so far while minimizing further losses, aka tactical withdrawal

[SupSuper]

Aaaahh, well, occasionally the situation becomes dire enough to warrant a tactical manoeuvre consisting of rapid redeployment of all remaining forces to the nearest aerial vehicle with the purpose of securing any gains made so far while minimizing further losses, aka tactical withdrawal

aka running for your money

[[Blehm 98]]

HOw much is dire though? 1 soldier left? 10% starting forces?

[j'ordos]

That depends, if half my squad gets eradicated on the first turn by a grenade in a sectoid terror site at the beginning of the game, that counts as 'very dire' and warrants immediate dustoff

Basically, the further I advance in the game (read: the better stuff I get ), the longer it takes me to reach that vague point where I sustained enough losses to just try and get every remaining soldier to the skyranger/avenger. And of course, there are exceptions. Having 2 soldiers left would most likely make me admit my defeat, unless I believe there's only one or two aliens left, in that case I'll try to take them still (often though, those are just the ones that kill off my last soldier )

[[Blehm 98]]

If i don't think i can beat a mission, then i won't do it. That is how i play(i.e.-Etherial terror site with psi weaklings

[vellocet]

Is there a penalty for not landing on every UFO you shoot down? I almost never bother going for a crashed UFO unless I'm desperate for Elerium. Jungle terrain, no way baby...desert maaybe. I love shooting them down over water or destroying them outright. That little white cross bothers me...but I just let it sit there until it goes away.

[Shotgunner]

I'm not exactly sure. I THINK it does, but I could be wrong.

[GreatGold]

Hi -

 

The downside to that techniques is three-fold. First, you do loose the money, supplies, new researchable items that may be present at the crashdown. Two, your soldiers do not get experience and increase in ability. And three, the most important I think, is that youdo not get the points you would normally for successfully finishing the assaults. These points are how you are judged by funding countries, ets. So not enough points, not enough money from funding...

 

- Gold

[XComOnyx]

I'm sure NKF will provide definitive metrics on the exact ramifications of this strategy... but...

I typically go after everything early in the game, but once I get everything I need and am just passing the time to get my guys' Psi skills amped up I do like you, shoot 'em down and leave 'em.

 

I can say that I was able to do this, not going on a single mission the last couple of months before Cydonia, and my ratings remained Excellent each time at month end, with increased funding from nations still on board with the program.

Edited January 18, 2005 by XComOnyx

[j'ordos]

topic already exists : http://www.xcomufo.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4605&hl=

 

merged

Edited January 18, 2005 by j'ordos

[vellocet]

It's no problem to lose the alien goods, as well as the positive points, as well as the skill levels. My guys are usally good enough already. No reason to get them blasted on a meaningless crash site. If there's no actual negative, rather than the absence of a positive, I can live with that.

 

I just can't stand getting all the guys equipped, piling out of the Skyranger, cleaning up aliens on whatever landscape happens to be there, and spending all that time assaulting some large scout with blown power sources. 100 alien alloy plus a few heavy plasmas and assorted corpses...whee. Grand treasure, matey. It's a different story if it's broad daylight in desert or arctic, though. Those aren't nearly as hard to search as jungle or farm.

 

I DO aggressively seek landed UFOs, as they have the undamaged power sources and Elerium I need. Scores more points, though happens less often.

Edited January 18, 2005 by vellocet

[Adun_Toridas]

It would be a good idea to shoot down smal ufos. They might be infiltrators of bases!!! And that´s a problem so...

[XComOnyx]

I believe we are all saying that we shoot everything down, we just don't land and go on a field mission. We just allow the downed ship to sit until it disappears (which appears to carry no penalty) .

[GreatGold]

Hey -

 

This does brings an interesting question to mind. In Xenocide, should you b able to just shoot down UFOs and not assualt them, and still get points towards winning/funding/etc? Or should there be a penallty. Similarly, should there only be a penalty if you chose not to attack medium and larger craft? I'm just curious what peoples opinions are on that.

 

Thanks,

Gold

 

EDIT: By attack, I actually mean assault downed craft.

Edited January 18, 2005 by GreatGold

[vellocet]

There should probably be a penalty, but there should be an "auto combat" mode to eliminate uninteresting battles. Either that, or expensive "cleaner" crews could be hired and sent to the site to remove the evidence.

[Snakeman]

You thought he was dead, but Harvey Keitel is back ths summer working as a government cleaner in the game Xenocide!

 

I wish

 

I think only those imperative missions along the lines of Terror missions (or any mission that involves civs on the battlescape) cost you points like before. See the world's detection systems might not be quite so on the ball with regard to shot down UFOs and where they are in rural settings. But they will damn sure know if X-COM didn't respond in time to a heavily populated area to stop a terror campaign.

[vellocet]

What happens to the aliens and their ship when you don't pursue them? Do they just sort of wander off and start new lives as managers of self-storage units? I always liked how the X-Com manual said, "in the Battlescape, aliens won't go far from their ship as Earth's atmosphere is hostile to them." Haha, they don't go far from their ship because the map is 5x5.

[[Blehm 98]]

I always thought they just repaired teh ship and ran home, they couldn't finish their mission

[Tsereve]

Well, I once took down a large scout with a fusion ball. I doubt they're going to repair that anytime soon. Maybe the time it takes for the UFO crash site to disappear depends on the damage done?

[[Blehm 98]]

hmmm, but all they need to do is just seal off the hull and take off, once they have working engines and a sealed hull they should be able to take off and head for mars...

[vellocet]

Usually, a crashed UFO has one or more blown power supplies. I don't think a single-engine scout can get off the ground with its only power supply gone. And a battleship probably has four power supplies for a reason.

[[stewart]]

I can understand not wanting to visit small UFOs later in the game, but at that point their purpose is for training; keep that in mind.

[teukros]

I can understand not wanting to visit small UFOs later in the game, but at that point their purpose is for training; keep that in mind.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I find that there's not much difference in my losses whether I'm cleaning up a shot-down scout, or assaulting an intact supply ship full of snakemen. So I concentrate on the supply ships and ignore just about everything else.

[vellocet]

Why do you need more training in the later parts of the game? Usually I have a base full of Sargeants and above. By that time, it's usually such a production to get everyone out of the Avenger, deployed, and fighting...I'd rather just skip the meaningless UFOs. Who cares if I win the game with 1000 Elerium or 150?

[[stewart]]

Your favorite squad has a spot of bad luck and you're playing ironman, now what do you do; train.

[Sergio]

Yeah I thik its best to go on all the missions you can. There are always Rookies that need to get experience. I usually have a large squad of troops and rotate them through the missions so there are always some experienced reserves if I lose too many men.

[Tsereve]

Before getting Avengers, I usually keep around 14 *crack* soldiers, plus 2-4 squaddies-sergeants at my main base. I have another Skyranger at my secondary base (in America or Europe, depending on my 1st base), with 14 soldiers rated "pretty good" and up to 6 meatshields used for quick replacements. Later, I may have a third base located in Antarctica (quick access to everywhere) filled with my psi defense experts. Most of them are pretty good in combat skills, but nothing really special. So I really don't rotate much, and if my best guys die, I'm screwed.