Need advice for tactical battles.

[Kalenden]

I've recently discovered this great game and have been playing it often.
I play singleplayer standard campaign and at the start I really enjoyed it.
The missions were fun, not easy and not hard. If I reloaded a few times I could play through them with 0 casualties.
But now ( around April ) it is getting WAY too hard.

I got , at the moment, 2 missions running whom I just can't complete and civilians die because of that, so I'm afraid I'll lose the campaign.
1 of them is a terrain map where you start in the north east corner next to a house and on a hill is another house.
No matter how hard I try I can't complete the mission with less than 3 casualties. I can only use 4 of my team if I immediately enter them into the house. The other 4, if moved away from the protection from the transport, get sniped by aliens on the hill I can't see or hit. Now those 4 who are in the house can clear it without casualties(with a bit of luck) of aliens, but then some enter or shoot through the windows and my men die. Then I give up.
Another one is a military base. I split my team into 2 parts, 4 men for the 2 entrances. Now I've reloaded this mission A LOT of times and one entrance is always blocked by 1 citizen or more. And they won't move.
My tactic was to squash the aliens between the 2 teams, but since I have to concentrate my men together always a few of them die.
I've played these missions so many times I've lost count.

My team is fully equipped with nano-something armor ( the best armor in the game I think ). 4 of them are equipped with Assault rifles, 1 with a Flamethrower, 1  with a rocket launcher, 1 with a one handed machine gun and a grenade and 1 has a plasma blaster. They all got grenades, med packs, IR goggles, the works.
I don't really got weapon technology ( only the plasma blaster ) but I could research them very quickly.

My main problem is that aliens easily kill my men with 1 or sometimes 2 shots. Although I try to kill them before they attack me, they duck up from hidden corners, snipe me from far far away or I can't kill them all in my round. I think I can complete these missions but 3-4 men would die and I've gotten really attached to them. I'm trying to make veterans of them so I mostly reload when even one dies.

Do you guys got any advice from me? Maybe I just plain suck but I just can't complete these missions without casaulities.

[Bongo_clive]

I think number 1 should be to make sure the first and last thing u do in any turn is make sure your men are in cover. If you leave them in cover, they're much harder to spot, let alone shoot.

Number 2, make sure all your men have 'reaction shots' left. This will slow you down as you explore, but it means you can hit the aliens if and when they pop up out of cover.

Basically, you need to remember that your troops are soft, and will die with 2, if not 1 shot. Make sure you look after them.

[blondandy]

try playing multiplayer coop. it is a good way to learn tactics off experienced players. (read the wiki to find out how to set up games).

leave guys with sniper rifles crouched (greatly improves precision) at a range of 32 or more map squares. they can do the reaction fire. the sniper rifles are better than anything the aliens have at long ranges. (though particle rifles are almost as good).

at close range, be sure to use flashbangs to steal alien TU.

good hunting.

[SpartanMarine88]

I would say as well, i had had those problems in the campaign too, untill i made sure i got the second armour early on the everything ran smoothly from then on

[Telok]

For the first mission try a couple snipers, a flamer/SMG or three, and grenade launchers. Aliens don't use reaction fire yet and always move out of line of sight from your soldiers to end thier turn. At long ranges aliens are much worse shots than snipers.

For the second mission... Cap the civvies. I know it's wrong but as long as you save at least a couple of them and win the mission then it's fine. Civilian AI needs improvement badly. Multiple soldiers covering approaches, SMGs and flamers are good again, it's a tight map. Heavy MGs are actually useful here too with the restricted ranges and high damage per shot.

[bobbens]

There is no civilian death limit in 2.2.1 (unreleased at the time of this writing) and later.  They hurt your faction standings (which will lose the game if low enough), but nothing more.  Aliens also use reactionfire in 2.3 (not sure about 2.2.1) so you should get used to that, because it'll happen soon.

I see you have nanocomposite but no weapon research.  Never rely on armour for anything, best defense against an alien is putting a bullet in it's head.  My current tactics revolve around getting laser rifle as fast as possible, until then I rely on basically heavy weapons and explosives.  With laser rifles I then quickly switch to assault as primary.

Also take into account it's normal for you to still have a couple of casualties on some of the harder missions.

Basic survival rules are:
1) Always cover all flanks, it's no fun to take silent casualties due to backstabbing aliens with kerrblades
2) Never leave your guys out in the open, a stray particle beam can destroy your poor soldiers
3) Use a lot of coverfire and play conservatively unless you have a reason not to like 50 assault weapons skill, laser rifle and nanocomposite
4) Crouching increases accuracy - go for the preemptive headshot / rocket blast for easy first turn kills
5) Make cornered aliens come to you, don't go to them.  Even though the last tamaan is probably panicked, he can still one-hit you with a kerrblade.  Covering with sniper/machine gun and flushing out with grenades/flamethrower is a good way to get them out.

The more you play the more you'll see how aliens behave in different maps, allowing you to exploit their weaknesses.  Example would be a crashed harvester.  Camp the area around the fire with machine guns and sniper rifles.  Flush the second floor with grenades.  The aliens will eventually all come out and just get destroyed by reaction fire.  The few hiding on the top floor will succumb to the grenades.

Another interesting map is the military convoy, if you end up hiding, popping out, shooting the aliens and hiding again in the same turn, you'll destroy them.  You need good accuracy, laser weaponry works best.

Damn... long post.  You can tell I play too much...

[blondandy]

Aliens have used reaction fire since at least 2.1.something.

It is rare (always a bit of a surprise) and increases with the difficulty, I think.

[knightsubzero]

use whatever cover is available, just like the real army, go from cover to cover (where possible).

if you can sneak around and use the cover, then get really close to the building and use your grenade launchers, grenades, flame throwers, always have some snipers available cause on big open maps they are your only real chance...assault rifles are ok at range two so try and have most of your troops equipped with assault weapons.

[Captain Bipto]

Always make sure your teammates travel in groups to back each other up.  Specialize your soldiers into several groups: I use Close, Assault, Heavy, Sniper and Medic groups.  Use your close guys as scouts and have them stay in cover (or at least crouched at the end of their movement).  Use the assault guys as mid range (longer range than the close guys especially with laser rifles) to back up the close guys.  Heavy and Sniper (except short range heavies such as Grenade launchers) are used to cover suspicious buildings, hedges, walls etc at long range and to provide cover for your shorter range dudes.  I also usually end up using my Medic as a scout of sorts to spot for targets for my grenade launcher guy.   Don't rush through maps and even if you cannot use cover all the time, at least make sure your guys are crouching at the end of their movement and that most if not all of your team has at least one shot's worth of time units for when the aliens show their faces.

[courier]

(1) If nobody with spare TU and a line of fire can see a soldier's back, that soldier is probably going to die.  An alien will ALWAYS take the opportunity to make a kill without being seen.  Move very slowly, particularly in built-up areas, to avoid this situation.

(2) If you don't have the aliens completely encircled, they will be almost supernaturally good at hiding from you.  If I read the code correctly, they actually cheat a little bit to find perfect hiding places.  Aliens almost always avoid ending their turns in visible locations.

(3) Therefore, a good mission plan (at least for a relatively open map) is:
 (a) Deploy snipers to high ground where possible; this holds the aliens in place and puts them on the defensive.
 (b) Hunt aliens with heavily-armored scouts with short-range weapons (SMGs, for example) and good TUs.  Be slow and patient and always have backup!
 (c) Encircle areas where aliens have been spotted using medium-range units (assault rifles, for example)
 (d) Flush encircled area with grenades, let reaction fire take out enemies if they try to break out.

Note, though, that although aliens don't deliberately save TU for reaction fire, they definitely will sit still and save their TUs if they have nowhere to go.  DO NOT expose vulnerable units to trapped aliens.  If you must charge encircled aliens (to get a stun, for instance, or if you can't get an angle for grenades) then you MUST use flashbangs.

[Doctor J]

Aliens have used reaction fire since at least 2.1.something.

It is rare (always a bit of a surprise) and increases with the difficulty, I think.

I'm no expert, but i think the AI puts a high priority on being hidden.  The only time i've seen an alien reserve TU for reaction fire is when they are trapped such that they cannot move out of sight.

[Doctor J]

Specialize your soldiers into several groups: I use Close, Assault, Heavy, Sniper and Medic groups.

The problem here is that your pre-planned teams get all shuffled around when they land.  I just wish the engine would allow us to load troops in the dropship in our preferred order rather than dropping them randomly.  I mean, the random shuffle would make a lot of sense if they were parachuting in...

[Doctor J]

(1) If nobody with spare TU and a line of fire can see a soldier's back, that soldier is probably going to die. 

(2) If you don't have the aliens completely encircled, they will be almost supernaturally good at hiding from you.  If I read the code correctly, they actually cheat a little bit to find perfect hiding places.  Aliens almost always avoid ending their turns in visible locations.

(3) Therefore, a good mission plan (at least for a relatively open map) is:
 (a) Deploy snipers to high ground where possible; this holds the aliens in place and puts them on the defensive.

1. very wise

2. The aliens actually do cheat, in that they always know where you are [regardless of whether they can see you].

3. There is a problem here in that Line Of Sight is not the same as Line Of Fire.  A sniper on a tall building will have LOS to most outdoor points on the map.  However, most such buildings in UFO have a parapet or lip around the building that blocks LOF.  LOF currently emanates from the hip, though there have been discussions about moving it higher.  In fact, Nemchenk was looking into using current LOS code for all firemodes other than snapshot but i don't know how far that has gotten.  The other thing that reduces the value of snipers is that by the time they have climbed to that high point, the aliens have already all gone indoors.

[Captain Bipto]

The problem here is that your pre-planned teams get all shuffled around when they land.  I just wish the engine would allow us to load troops in the dropship in our preferred order rather than dropping them randomly.  I mean, the random shuffle would make a lot of sense if they were parachuting in...

I never have had a problem that causes fatalities. Besides (i do agree the shuffle is whack) if that shuffle continues to be the case, just means the teams will have to be more balanced with a good mix of close/assault/heavy weapons.

Does suck though when my sniper guys are busy smoking a cig in the worst possible starting location.

[Aiki-Knight]

The other thing that reduces the value of snipers is that by the time they have climbed to that high point, the aliens have already all gone indoors.

I find that, if you get your sniper in a good sniping position, patience and luring will draw bad guys into sniper-range. Set up your arcs of fire, and control the map - don't leave any axes of approach un-sighted. Wait for the alien charge and fight it off. Then slowly advance through cover. The aliens will usually start popping out. Hold at cover, re-position your sniper, and continue. My sniper gets a lot of long-range kills with this method. If you have to flush out ensconced aliens, try the grenade launcher on timed shots. Bounce lots of grenades into the holes and you'll get em. Keep the doors and windows cover with other agents, and let the grenadier do his/her job. Works like a charm.