Greetings, Guys.
I've been in this situation too, it's not really fun sometimes since the odds are that half your squad is going to turn into grounded meat. I've noticed that, in the case you describe, the most "Exposed" Units (The ones directly facing the alien craft) have very little chances of survival as the Alien, packing dual Plasma Pistols, have massive amounts of reactionary and an accuracy that makes your sniper look like a rookie. And if it wasn't enough, we talk about more or less 4 aliens at mid range ready to reaction fire on anyone who dares to blink.
Sometimes nearby buildings can be useful, sometimes not.
About the "Locked up" Deployment (XCOM-UFO Style) I remember more than once sending a happy Marine out to check the area just to meet a gentle Snakeman and his gang camping outside of the ship. (I bet that that happened to some of you too)
I guess the best option would be to change the point where the Firebird lands. This would make the game a little more interesting since it would allow both sides (Human - Aliens) to set up a defense and a tactical layout. Considering the aliens have better stats, landing near a UFO almost ensures you that one of your units is gonna get stabbed to death by an alien popping out of nowhere with a Kerrblade.
An easier, cheaper, and maybe viable solution would be to make the aliens to not face directly at the Firebird at round one. Well, maybe one could be looking to the Firebird, but 4 aliens with dual plasma pistols and massive amounts of RF, not much fair.
