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[MrWiggles]

Its that reason why I dont research medkits until I can produce combat armor.

[MrWiggles]

And even then people die.  They always die.  That's X-Com.  Savescumming whenever one of my favorites died was how I killed my best game of X-Com.  It got all crazy, just as I was getting sick of playing the same missions over and over.

For the record though, one of my main squad members was a veteran from the starting batch of soldiers.  He made it all the way to Ethereal Terror Missions.  There were also several from the first set I bought.

Unfortunately on said Ethereal Terror Mission, I found out too late that my blaster launcher guy had 1 psi resistance.  :|

When I ran my X Com rp game, I always treated the soldier PC exactly as you treat them in the game. 100 percent expandable, and actively made the mission deadly. Gave them standing order such as field strip all KIA personnel.

[Heron TSG]

Personally, I start cracking on laser weapon ASAP, sell the engineers by a missile tank and more science dudes.

I add a large radar and start making my primary base a more defensive position. Then play by ear for what I need.

What does this mean?

[Morsigil]

I almost never lose more than 1 soldier, in UFO defense or TFTD, even if that means dropping their weapons immediately after reloading, and I almost never use explosives. The key is multi-man teams.

Buy your soldiers for Bravery, Reaction time, and aim, in that order, you'll be golden.

Until you get psy/molecular control of course. Then that shit gets real.

[MrWiggles]

Personally, I start cracking on laser weapon ASAP, sell the engineers by a missile tank and more science dudes.

I add a large radar and start making my primary base a more defensive position. Then play by ear for what I need.

What does this mean?

In the research tab when your in base view, I start placing scientist researching laser weapons as my first action. I then generally sell all my engineers, as I dont start construction for a few months, and the money I save from not paying their wages off set the cost of rehiring them later on. I also hire more science as I have lab space, as I find research in early game to be more valabue then construction in the early game.

There are various tanks you can buy that are automated (Well player controlled, but they dont have a pilot.) Missile tanks work well for base defense due to a bug that gives them free ammo, they also work well for early and mid game assaults for spotting, as their ample TU allow them to cover a lot of ground. You should never use them to kill aliens though, as that rubs xcom soldiers of dire experience.

I then place in a large radar detector in my base with the small one to increase my radar coverage.

The default base design is terrible for base defense, as its best to have the aliens to go through a gauntlet of defensive coridors. Alien can enter through any hangars and the access lift, as their spawn points. They may also spawn outside this area on harder difficulties due to the amount of aliens in the base defense mission. On harder difficulty, base defense mission become very common. On hard difficulty, I've had to do base defense mission with a few days of playing.

[Thexor]

Since this is a general X-Com topic now, I'd like to suggest that new players (and maybe some vets, too) look at Xcomutil (Wiki article: http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=XcomUtil, website: http://www.bladefirelight.com/), assuming you've got the DOS version.

It includes several bug-fixes (stumps destroying terrain during Mountain firefights, beginner difficulty bug, inaccessible areas during base defense, etc.), but more importantly it includes lots of features to customize your game. As of 9.7, all modifications are optional, so you can simply execute the bug fixes without actually altering game balance. But some of these changes are really, really good - such as changing the layout of the starting base, so you don't have to spend millions reorganizing your first HQ to make it defendable, or automatically appending stat strings to your soldiers for easy identification.

[Myroc]

I usually start the game by ordering the construction of a fuckton of general stores, a large radar, an alien containment, and some extra living quarters. Proceed with buying two extra soldiers, a Rocket Launcher HWP, and 20 scientists, maxing out my living quarters. (You NEED research in the early game.)

Edit: Also, I add my soldiers stat strings manually, with an extra letter to denote special roles. (H for Heavy Weapons, P for Psionics, etc.)

Also, am I the only person here who can actually defend the starting layout?

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

Maybe you're just the only one dumb enough to try.   

 

[cerapa]

In my first game I did base defence on the starting layout and won.
This was also before I learned you cant use unresearched alien guns so my dudes were mostly with equipment they couldnt even use.
I think I lost 5 dudes out of 8. And oddly enough a soldier without any usable guns survived.

[MrWiggles]

The starting layout is winnable, but there are better designs for base defense.

If I feel like I want a base defense challenge I set up hangars and the access thing on three different points. Its a rush to get your guys grouped as they dodge aliens. Very fun and fairly hard, depending on equipment and experience.

[Myroc]

...ow.

I just tried to tackle an alien base.

Fourteen people goes in.

Four come out. Two are wounded. And the base is still there.

:|

[MrWiggles]

...ow.

I just tried to tackle an alien base.

Fourteen people goes in.

Four come out. Two are wounded. And the base is still there.

:|

Alien bases are great fun. Grey and floater bases are a pain, due to psi.

The objective is technically easier, unlike in other mission were the objective is to kill all the aliens, you just have to destroy the command consoles at the C&C on the second story.  It'll have about 2 or 3 heavy terrorist unit depending on the race guarding it, and you need to do some clever micro to overtake the second floor of C&C. They'll be like 5-8 aliens up there. One commander, navi engineer and some soldiers.

Now, there is a tactic where some harvest alien bases for e-115. They never kill all the aliens, and only get the e-115 and leave.

I consider this poor tactic. I shadow alien supply ships, and raid them when they land. About as dangerous as a base smash and grab, though in my opinion the award is much better.

[Myroc]

I did do a base assault earlier when I used to savescum, and I had to do this base assault twice due to the alien inventory bug (Whyyy? Why the left leg, Micro Prose?) forcing me to close down the program without saving. I know what to do, but psionics and general bad luck fucked me over there.

Right now I'm working up a new batch of Laser Rifles and Personal Armours for a second try.

[cerapa]

Does anyone else find it easier to use less soldiers?

I run around with a squad of 4 soldiers and a tank and over the course of 13 missions only 4 deaths, no actual mission losses(except when I ran from 2 terror missions at the start).

[LegoLord]

Floaters don't use psi, Mr.Wiggles.  That's Ethereals you're thinking of.  Floaters are one of the best options for raids.  Not as strong as Mutons, no psi, and if you want a commander, they have a commander.