Your Tactics

[master]

My Tactic is a the start of a mission is to split up my men in groups of four or two, based on what type of weapons they a good with
Assault and Snipers, Heavy weapons and Close Combat, High Explosives and Assault men

[Wanderer]

I don't even understand what I'm supposed to be answering for the poll question.

[BTAxis]

Same here.

[Nidox]

First post on the forum "Yay!" (N00b)

In response to the whole 'tactics' question I tend to start right back at base, equiping my troops.

4x Assault
2x Sniper
1x Heavy Weapons
1x Support (Medic-esque)

When the mission starts I immediately move my pair of snipers towards the closest and highest building, With a roof, to provide cover.

My assault team divides into two pairs and takes alternate routes to stop aliens slipping past toward the support troops back at the dropship.

My 'support' troops, the medic and heavy weapons guy only come into play when a pair becomes pinned down by an enemy, in which case a helpful heavy rocket and heals is welcome.

Thats how I run most missions at the moment, I imagine once some of my units become 'elite' as it were I will switch equipment to try to keep them safer or put them on sniper detail.

Any constructive criticism is welcome as some of the time this tactic becomes unwieldy.

Cheers... :shock:

[EuchreJack]

I try to edit my loadouts so my snipers can switch to pistols as primary weapons, and still carry their rifles.

This is important when entering buildings, where a pistol is better for the tight spaces.  After all, in the starting scenario, there are aliens in the closest buildings.

[shaft350x]

So far my tactic has been to split my team into 3 groups.  2 sweeping and 1 long range support.  The two sweep teams take different routes through the map to clear out aliens and get between baddies and civilians/save civilians.  The long range support usually is just a sniper with someone nearby for closer range protection.  I imagine tactics will change on harder difficulty settings.  Haven't used much close range or grenades.

Sweeper teams generally have reacitonary fire ready and I try to keep the team near some form of cover.  I will probably try to make more use of small arms and grenades though.  I like the previous poster's suggestion of two pistols to make a sniper more effective in indoor situations.

[PandaKnight]

My tactics are kind of uncertain now, as I transition from X-com to use of multiple weapon disciplines. 

[Cro]

First post on the forum "Yay!" (N00b)

In response to the whole 'tactics' question I tend to start right back at base, equiping my troops.

4x Assault
2x Sniper
1x Heavy Weapons
1x Support (Medic-esque)

When the mission starts I immediately move my pair of snipers towards the closest and highest building, With a roof, to provide cover.

My assault team divides into two pairs and takes alternate routes to stop aliens slipping past toward the support troops back at the dropship.

My 'support' troops, the medic and heavy weapons guy only come into play when a pair becomes pinned down by an enemy, in which case a helpful heavy rocket and heals is welcome.

Thats how I run most missions at the moment, I imagine once some of my units become 'elite' as it were I will switch equipment to try to keep them safer or put them on sniper detail.

Any constructive criticism is welcome as some of the time this tactic becomes unwieldy.

Cheers... :shock:

That doesn't work on harder difficulties.

[Sophisanmus]

My approach generally has six Assault soldiers, one Grenadier, and one Medic.  The Assaults wield anything from the so-named rifle, Machineguns, SMGs, and Sniper Rifles (though no more than two Snipers per squad).  The Grenadier uses the Launcher, not hand-thrown grenades.  The Medic carries a Medkit in one hand and a Pistol in the other.  The Assaults eventually progress to Lasers, then half to Plasma (also carrying a researched pistol of a different damage type than his primary), while the Grenadier sticks with his core weapon until he gets Plasma rounds.  The Medic eventually swaps for a Laser Pistol (for range), and later holds a Plasma Pistol in his holster for close-up emergencies. 

I like to deploy two groups of three; two spread behind partial cover up front (with better armor when available) and one midway and behind them, usually with a heavier weapon (higher reaction TU cost).  The Grenadier usually stays between the two groups, moving to support one or the other as needed.  He fires much like as an artillery piece (though with somewhat lacking range), usually trying to bounce/roll shots alongside covering enemies.  He usually exhausts his ammunition in 2-3 rounds of bombardment, letting me swap in Incendiaries.  He keeps one flechette salvo in his pack, just in case he needs to go door-to-door.  The medic carries a belt of assorted of defensive grenades so he can holster/ditch his gun and start throwing smoke, fire, or flashbangs.

[Surrealistik]

Load up with grenades and rocket launchers, lasers (rifle and heavy), and the best possible armour. Snipe and RF aliens from beyond the effective range of their weapons. Use overpowered SMGs at close/medium range. Plasma blades at melee range. Saturate hiding aliens with indirect fire and explosives. Enough said.

[DaCheetah]

Howdy,

Tactically, the first thing I do is sort my troops and add designations to the end of their names, as I did in old UFO...  As the months go by and I'm given loads of cannon fodder (CF) soldiers, and a few occasionally good ones, I rotate them in to a squad or keep them on staff for injuries.  I only really protect those with the ability to improve (at least competent Mind stat) and other abilities that are survivable, i.e. a high mind stat and a close with at least average speed...  These are my SQ1 group, and if any of them die, I generally restart the mission, lame as that sounds.  I also pick one of the SQ1 to be my kind of rep, high speed, average+ accuracy and competent mind; weapons skills are kind of bunk at that point.  This member rocks the SMG perpetually... and I've had no problems yet, labeled OFF.  Some of my SQ1 members are proficient or so in other weapons skills, namely Heavy Weapons, which somehow I lucked out and had two pretty good heavy weapons guys, a sniper, and a couple just so-so.  The so-so-ers start with the plentiful shotguns (snipers occasionally), by the time I have better weapons they're strong enough in either assault or close to hold their own, provided they survive.  Anyways, upon landing in the mission area, the first priority is to determine how F-ed the civvies are and how I can save them without taking too many casualties. 

After a quick look around, I dispatch troops in pairs or so, sometimes more, depending on the situation.  Often, I'll move my machine gunner or OFF to cover nearby building entrances (or windows, anywhere an alien could be lurking who could wind up with the drop on my squad next turn).  I generally progress about the level aggressively with the light equipped members (namely the OFF, some CF, or whoever is closest to gunfire) but 90% of the time have at least one RF shot stored, about 50% the time multiple.  All turns end crouched, most end near cover.  I like to try to use the dropship for cover too, when possible, but on assault, the maps are forgiving enough to give you multiple firing arcs to cover your soldiers.  Windows are great.

I have noticed, however, that my soldiers have a very hard time responding to fire from a higher level, like in the Estate map, even my Sniper.  Maybe they just don't have an angle to see the enemy.

[btfx]

1 sniper - SMG backup
1 grenade launcher - smg backup
6 assault rifles - extra grenades and medikit backup

grenades flashbangs and knives for everyone!

[Serrax]

Hi! My first post in the forum. 

I prefer another combination:

1 x flamethrower (+ stun rod)
1 x laser pistol (+ stun rod)

2 x grenade launcher ( + laser pistol, extra grenades)

2 x laser rifle ( + medkit)
1 x heavy laser (+ extra ammo)
1 x sniper rifle (+ medkit)


My tactic depends on the terrain, but I am used to operate 2 squads with 4 soldiers each (shortrange, grenade launcher, 2 sniper/laser) or with 3 soldiers per squad and 2 sniper/RF-soldiers. At least 3 soldiers are equipped with medkits - often 4 ones.

I just played the standard campaign and it worked quite well.

cu

[shevegen]

Hmm do people find flame throwers usable?

Ok, at a very close range they are cool, but I am not sure, i think the other weapons in general seem to be better.

About the question, I normally try to make small teams, 3-6

4 or 5 people are best i think

If i use too many people, I tend to misplace them more often and they die faster too

[tobbe]

Hmm do people find flame throwers usable?

Ok, at a very close range they are cool, but I am not sure, i think the other weapons in general seem to be better.

About the question, I normally try to make small teams, 3-6

4 or 5 people are best i think

If i use too many people, I tend to misplace them more often and they die faster too

I always use the full squad of 8 soldiers. Every guy adds more firepower and there allows to kill the aliens faster. It really depends on the map how i group my soldiers, but most of the time i have 2 squads of 4 soldiers. 4 soldiers have often sufficient firepower, to spot one or two aliens and kill them and retreat back into cover.

Concerning the flamethrower:
You mentioned the most important aspect yourself: the flamethrower is really deadly within its range. Especially in maps with enough cover and many buildings i used it quite often. And it is ,of course, quite useless in open maps, where you need superior range (e.g. druglord-map)
But lately i started to replace the flamethrower with the SMG (right now THE best weapon)...the SMG has superiror range, and is also able to kill an alien with a full-auto salvo...but i expect that the SMG will be rebalanced at some point.

Once the features for equipping your squad just before the mission, after a mission briefing is implemented, you will be able the choose your weaponry better suited for the.

Meanwhile, i recommend researching Laser pistols. They are extremly accurate, deal acceptable damage and have a sufficient range. If I dont know the map, all my short ranged units (granade laucher, SMG, Flamethrower) start with a laser pistol in their hands and an empty holster. This way they can return fire and once they come to close range, they just put away the laser pistols and go for the kill...