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[Chiefwaffles]

I dunno. Commander ironman is generally pretty easy if you don't mess up in the first couple missions.
Except for VIP missions. Fuck VIP missions on ironman.

[origamiscienceguy]

Or just be Beagle, and glitch the game to do your bidding.

[umiman]

Commander Ironman is out of Everyones reach. Unless your like Christopher Odd and have the stats memorized on everything

http://steamcommunity.com/id/umiman/screenshot/550931938597813167

I can't even remember the names of the difficulty modes, let alone the stats.

p.s: Here's the Tl;dr version of how to win on ironman

IS THIS MOVE RISKY? Y/N

Y -> DON'T DO IT.
N -> GIT GUD SCRUB IT'S TOTALLY RISKY WHAT ARE YOU DOING SEE Y

[moondowner]

I completed the game on Veteran few weeks ago. I'd say it's more difficult then EW overall, even though middle-game (after the first armor upgrade/before skulljacking the Codex and first Gatekeeper) was really easy, much easier then EW ever gets. Beginning is really tough, though, and then after Avatars, Gatekeepers and Sectopods start appearing, it's difficult again. And the last mission... just fuck the last mission.

I'm now on my 5th or 6th attempt into L:I. Managed to get 6 missions into it without getting a squad wiped out. Armor upgrade is so close, and then it's bliss!

[LordPorkins]

You get my point. You need to sink about 100 hours into any xcom game to consider trying ironman Commander.

[umiman]

You get my point. You need to sink about 100 hours into any xcom game to consider trying ironman Commander.

I would amend that statement to replace "trying" with beating" and adding a "probably" in there somewhere.

I still think ironman is the way to go. The game has no intensity when you can just savescum at will.

[Rolan7]

Maybe now.  Around launch, there were occasional glitches (not many, but occasional) that really screwed me.  There was a sectopod on the other side of a train which I couldn't see.  My soldiers could see it apparently, but even firing on it didn't "decloak" it or show me what it was.  Then it wiped out 4 guys in cover in a house with the explosive blast (the lasers weren't shown either).
Also, and apparently this wasn't a glitch, I lost a random mission and suddenly didn't have contact with a zone.  Lost my radio tower, no notification at all, just suddenly had an option to "reestablish contact".  I actually thought this was a glitch at the time, now I just know it's a gotcha (and desperately needs a notification).

Ties into my main problem with the game, really.  I had a lot more fun when I was playing ironman (but not officially, only reloading on glitches or misclicks).  And before I got plated armor.  I was losing half my squad *every mission*.  Things were grim, but we were mostly succeeding with heroic sacrifices and a steady stream of cheap recruits.  Sometimes I got officers, but inevitably they would get shot or pulled out of heavy cover.

The most fun I had was taking out an Avatar facility.  I could have gotten all 3 survivors out if I'd had foreknowledge of the massive Advent reinforcement wave waiting for the objective (for no logical reason).  Instead of reloading, 1 guy escaped, carrying a corpse and valuable loot.  It was great.

But it kept getting worse, the aliens were advancing and I was messing with storyline research and autopsies.  The low point, which was also a great mission, was trying to abduct a VIP.  It was almost literally impossible to take the 2-3 advanced enemies per turn at that point, even sprinting for the first couple turns (and getting damn lucky).  I just didn't have the upgrades.  My elite officer (a lieutenant lol) had to leave four rookies behind and evac, triggering like 4 more mutons and 2 vipers on the way.

Magnetic weapons and max squad size helped a lot (though I was seriously upset to find out that you only buy the "upgrade" to a weapon once, I had no idea it was so cost effective).  Then plated armor...  The game didn't get *easy*, because it started spamming absurd enemies like codexes and sectopods, but I kinda lost interest.  Particularly when I started using mimic grenades haha (and yeah I heard they got nerfed hard).  It just didn't feel like a desperate resistance force anymore, but a bunch of superhumans who eat bullets and face off with demigods.  Which got incredibly boring in XCOM 1...

Maybe I can mod it to recapture that feeling.  Mods or easy tweaks probably exist to do all I want:
Buffs:
* No normal codex spawns, they hurt the mystery for me and their abilities are silly.  Presumably applies to gatekeepers too.
* 75% chance of bleed-out rather than instant death.  Current lethality makes no sense and is a waste of medkit/carry mechanics.
* Removed or significantly lengthened time limits, probably that mod where the time limit only starts once concealment ends
* Losing missions no longer sometimes (randomly??) costs territories

In exchange:
* No XCOM armor upgrades (weapons are okay, but this prevents the freakin double-inventory and other things)
* More Avenger defense missions (instead of like 1-2 per campaign)

Increasing the squad size would make sense but good cover is already so rare, and it would add tedium...  maybe.
Avatar project forcing progression is probably okay as-is.

[misko27]

Maybe now.  Around launch, there were occasional glitches (not many, but occasional) that really screwed me.  There was a sectopod on the other side of a train which I couldn't see.  My soldiers could see it apparently, but even firing on it didn't "decloak" it or show me what it was.  Then it wiped out 4 guys in cover in a house with the explosive blast (the lasers weren't shown either).
Also, and apparently this wasn't a glitch, I lost a random mission and suddenly didn't have contact with a zone.  Lost my radio tower, no notification at all, just suddenly had an option to "reestablish contact".  I actually thought this was a glitch at the time, now I just know it's a gotcha (and desperately needs a notification).

Ties into my main problem with the game, really.  I had a lot more fun when I was playing ironman (but not officially, only reloading on glitches or misclicks).  And before I got plated armor.  I was losing half my squad *every mission*.  Things were grim, but we were mostly succeeding with heroic sacrifices and a steady stream of cheap recruits.  Sometimes I got officers, but inevitably they would get shot or pulled out of heavy cover.

The most fun I had was taking out an Avatar facility.  I could have gotten all 3 survivors out if I'd had foreknowledge of the massive Advent reinforcement wave waiting for the objective (for no logical reason).  Instead of reloading, 1 guy escaped, carrying a corpse and valuable loot.  It was great.

But it kept getting worse, the aliens were advancing and I was messing with storyline research and autopsies.  The low point, which was also a great mission, was trying to abduct a VIP.  It was almost literally impossible to take the 2-3 advanced enemies per turn at that point, even sprinting for the first couple turns (and getting damn lucky).  I just didn't have the upgrades.  My elite officer (a lieutenant lol) had to leave four rookies behind and evac, triggering like 4 more mutons and 2 vipers on the way.

Magnetic weapons and max squad size helped a lot (though I was seriously upset to find out that you only buy the "upgrade" to a weapon once, I had no idea it was so cost effective).  Then plated armor...  The game didn't get *easy*, because it started spamming absurd enemies like codexes and sectopods, but I kinda lost interest.  Particularly when I started using mimic grenades haha (and yeah I heard they got nerfed hard).  It just didn't feel like a desperate resistance force anymore, but a bunch of superhumans who eat bullets and face off with demigods.  Which got incredibly boring in XCOM 1...

Maybe I can mod it to recapture that feeling.  Mods or easy tweaks probably exist to do all I want:
Buffs:
* No normal codex spawns, they hurt the mystery for me and their abilities are silly.  Presumably applies to gatekeepers too.
* 75% chance of bleed-out rather than instant death.  Current lethality makes no sense and is a waste of medkit/carry mechanics.
* Removed or significantly lengthened time limits, probably that mod where the time limit only starts once concealment ends
* Losing missions no longer sometimes (randomly??) costs territories

In exchange:
* No XCOM armor upgrades (weapons are okay, but this prevents the freakin double-inventory and other things)
* More Avenger defense missions (instead of like 1-2 per campaign)

Increasing the squad size would make sense but good cover is already so rare, and it would add tedium...  maybe.
Avatar project forcing progression is probably okay as-is.

I have a mod which guarantees minimum 1 Avenger Defense, and dramatically increases the likelihood of having more after your first (before it was like a 25% chance).

[umiman]

-stuff-

Yeah, all the difficulty and challenge for XCOM (regardless of the series) is frontloaded. Once you get railguns / lasers the game is won unless you fuck up royally. And I think most of us just like the ballistic, earthy-stuff more.

The final mission is total horseshit but you can replay that one as many times as you want even on Ironman.

I'm still waiting for my giant mechs.

[Sirbug]

Yes, the game is really uneven because it's easy to screw up and run everything. If there was no losing condition, I'd play on Ironman, but I just can't keep the pace and what exactly is fun with replaying the same events over and over, with losing hours of progress? Yes, there are games where each playthrough is different, XCom is hardly one.

[Sensei]

Well, did you see the outfits in the DLC that just came out? Firaxis is one step ahead of you.

[Egan_BW]

Now I want a TBS set on top of moving vehicles, which change positions each turn.

[EnigmaticHat]

I may have designed a game like that.  Never actually wrote a line of code tho (game design ideas are a dime a dozen).

[Lightningfalcon]

Now I want a TBS set on top of moving vehicles, which change positions each turn.

Thats a thing. Think it is called Convoy.

[Persus13]

Speaking of conversion mods, the fact that there's a helicarrier named the Avenger in XCOM 2 makes me want to see some kind of Marvel Comics SHIELD mod.