My battle strategy

[wbstory]

This is my battle strategy. I hope this useful for other players.

After begin, you have found 8 soldiers in one air-transporter, Firebird.
What all have you to do is, FIRE THEM ALL!

After firing, you have to review all soldier and hire people following specialists:
2 Medic : Speed.
2 Assault : Assault Weapons
2 Sniper : Sniper Rifle, Accuracy
2 Heavy : Heavy Weapons, Accuracy

You don't have to concern about Mind. It may increase during combat.

And equip them:
All : Medikit - Place it into the Holster if possible, otherwise, Backpack.
Medic : Right hand - Machine pistol, Left Hand - Medikit(Rather than Holster)
Assault : Assault rifle, One Additional Magazine and 2 Frag Grenades into the belt.
Heavy : Grenade Launcher with 25mm HIT Grenades, 1 Additional Grenade into the belt. Machine pistol into the Holster.
           (Machine pistol use only kill enemy who approach very close range. you have drop primary weapon to the ground and change it, and shoot him with automatic fire)
           (Yes, G-Launcher take affects from explosive skill. however, Heavy will change his weapon very soon)
Sniper : Sniper Rifle, 2 Additional Mags into the belt, 1~3 Additional Mags into the Holster.
           (you may approx. 2 reloads during each battle)

During the battle, all guys hide behind the transporter. if you can't(too close to enemy), sweep very near enemy ASAP and hide quickly.
Rearrange troops this position:
2 snipers move good sight. sniper can reaction fire from far.
2 Assault search and sweep map. and 2 medics follow these.
2 Heavy supports assaults.

After time passes, you can use the Heavy Laser(I recommend This research first). replace heavy's weapon with this.
Now, heavy use like sniper. He still backup assaults but not need to follow closely. If you want, Heavy hold his position and acts like sniper.
But you MUST 3 more additional D-F Cartridge for each Heavies. 2 is belt, 1 is Holster. You can give up machine pistol and carry 5 because Laser weapons is safer than G-Launcher.
After research finished, Assault change his weapon with Plasma Rifle. If you want, heavy change with this too.
Plasma rifle carry 20 bullets with one cartridge. so you may not need any reload during the battle.
Medic can change Machine pistol to plasma pistol. It can handy.
But do NOT change sniper rifle to Electromagnetic Rifle. EM-guns has poor accuracy and HUGE magazine(3 tile width). it carry only 8 shots and consumes too rapidly.

All soldier must equip at least combat armor. This is important.

And finally, Stun rod can carry Assault or heavy. I don't recommend Medic or Sniper. In most case medic is busy to heal soldier and Sniper doesn't have any chance to close combat.

Thanks.

[CheeseshireCat]

In the start, explosives with rocket launcher is much more efficient. Aliens are weaker in start, and rockets have nect to no spread. If kneeling, it is hard to miss at all.

[Lew Yard]

If you're taking wounds so often that you need two dedicated medics, you're doing it wrong.

Patience combined with a good understanding of the rules -- some of which are not particularly obvious (*) -- and your advantages should make most battles completely one-sided.


(*) Examples which come to mind:

- Certain weapons can fire through a finite number of thin walls (and floors, and ceilings); the only penalty is reduced damage.  This is not documented anywhere in game, as far as I've noticed.  None of the alien weapons can do this.  In certain situations (CQB w/ these weapons and the nifty goggles; snipers targeting aliens in the outer rooms of buildings), this is a ridiculously huge advantage.

Your shooters don't have to see ANY PART of the alien to kill them.

- Laser weapons have NO penalty when firing through smoke or the like.  The game lies.
- There is NO dual-wield w/ pistols.  The game lies.
- A flamethrower shot is really a huge burst of many weak shots.  This makes it likely you'll hit even if both your Accuracy and Heavy skills are utter crap.
- How damage is calculated is heavily obfuscated by the game for multi-shot bursts; it tells you the expected damage *if all shots hit one completely unarmored target*.   Damage reduction is *per shot*.
- The in-game %hit estimates are very, very approximate.
- There is a ~1% chance for any given recruit to have ridiculously good stats (i.e. better than every other recruit, in every single stat).  This is completely hidden.  There is no faster way to find them except checking every single recruit because there isn't even a sort-by-given-skill option. 
- XP required for stat gain is based on the difference between the original stat and the next one.  This means that the 1% supers are far superior to similarly skilled troops that you've been carefully keeping for months and months, because the supers will be gaining stats much faster for a while.  This is hidden.
- Salary and maintenance is based solely on what's there at the time of computation, and not pro-rated.  Don't hire on Jan. 30; hire on Feb. 2.  If you don't mind cheating, fire EVERYBODY before the it calculates payroll and hire back afterwards.

[DelPazzo]

- Salary and maintenance is based solely on what's there at the time of computation, and not pro-rated.  Don't hire on Jan. 30; hire on Feb. 2.  If you don't mind cheating, fire EVERYBODY before the it calculates payroll and hire back afterwards.

and don't forget to tell the aliens not to attack during that period of time

[wbstory]

If you're taking wounds so often that you need two dedicated medics, you're doing it wrong.

Oh, thanks. I have to review my strategy from bottom.

[Tamanfodder]

Well i already fire everyone and choose the best of the best on my squad:

4:assaults - Assault weapons, accuracy.
2:heavys - heavy weapons, least mind (ok that last was a joke  )
1:snipa - accuracy (i don`t mind the weapon skill sniper rifle has so crappy accuracy that the shooter MUST be accurate)
1:full-time medic - (since the assaults all already have a medkit on theyr holster)

[Lew Yard]

Among the soldier types (each new recruit is either a generalist, a specialist in one of the weapon skills, or an elite i.e. super-generalist); the assault and heavy weapons specialists are probably the most generally useful.

Assault includes the assault rifle and laser rifle; the latter isn't that far in research and is accurate, although not particularly damaging.   LR/bolter rifle is bulky, but /may/ be useful because of the high damage and throughwall (and a particularly accurate trooper may use the bolter as primary; the main limitation is the imprecision).

Heavy allows a long-range (heavy laser) / short-range (flamethrower) combo -- swap for when it's time for more close-quarters work, like inside a Harvester). 

Snipers are useful for overwatch, and two of the weapons which can shoot through walls are primarily sniping weapons (the sniper rifle and coil gun)  but you don't need THAT many snipers usually (the 'Hoover Dam' map, OTOH...).  The range, precision and ability to shoot through walls make them useful for killing enemies through light cover at range.

Explosives is tricky.  The grenade launcher lets you take certain shots that are otherwise difficult to impossible, but it's *quite* short range, and there's only one real long-range explosives-skill weapon -- the rocket launcher, which is bulky in both launcher and ammo.

Not a fan of close-combat specialists.   There /are/ nasty pistols like the particle beam pistol, but you won't get them early.  The stun rod... is  chancy enough that I don't like to use it without being sure that there's only one enemy in the area and there's others who'll be able to get clear shots if it fails.  Otherwise, it's "plasma bursts in the face" time.

[bluereaper75]

I always go for the "Aliens(like the james cameron movie)" approach:

2 heavy machine gun soldiers lead
4 soldiers (3 assault and 1 shotgun guy usually) follow them
1 sniper at higher ground providing overwatch
1 heavy explosives guy circling around to watch for any alien flankers. If my main group comes under fire from aliens under heavy cover, i have the explosives soldier flank the aliens and bomb them.

when taking on landed harvesters, heavy MG guys go in first, everybody follows. 1 MG and 2 assault guys per hallway. everybody covers each other when somebody moves. surround the middle staircase area, wait for aliens to pour out.

[Sarin]

Generally, I use:

2x machineguns. These things are, in hands of experienced soldier, deadly even late ingame.
2x snipers. Depending on where I am in game, these are either SR, heavy laser or coilgun.
2x CQ/midrange specialists. One flamer, second with either shotgun or plasma rifle. PR is good only in hand of that 1% chance supersoldier with high assault skill. Later, could be given a needler.
2x explosive/special weapons. Grenade launcher is a keeper, other is stuff like rocket launcher or other such weaponry.

[homunculus]

strangely, i used:
4 * (sniper rifle, frag grenades, medkit, knife, ir-goggles)
later i replaced knife with something better, like plasma blade.
the point is, i didn't seem to need 8 soldiers, 4 (or 6 later in the game) was quite enough.
has anyone else tried the same standard equipment for all soldiers, for efficiency?

flamer + grenades was interesting, though, because the flamer very much forced the soldier to advance, resulting in all-out aggressive rushing the map with some occasional grenade solutions from behind cover.
but in the end, anything else but sniper + grenades seemed to be an annoyance rather than benefit.
the spread out snipers can concentrate their fire over the whole map, and snap shot at closer ranges isn't that slow.
(i don't know about machine guns, though, i just didn't like the concept of some agent carrying such thing around)

[Kine]

Still early in the campaign for me and snipers take too long to clear a map. I have since abandoned the 2-of-each approach as it got obviously too inefficient.

Machineguns were pretty decent often taking out hostiles on the first encounter going full auto even at range. 4 of those + 2 microshotguns did it for me for most scenarios. The only problem with them were their move OR shoot style due to high TU consumption. So getting jumped by an alien can result in casualties but if you're making solid moves then it shouldn't be a problem. Unlimited ammo is also a big bonus.

Then came the laser rifles. With a killer spread these guys took unpredictability out of gunfights. No more 'what if I miss?' considerations like I had with conventional arms. A new issue with them is the 'will it die?' consideration. You should know how many laser rifles you need in your stack for the different races and that don't take long to figure out.

Grenades. In almost every round where there is confrontation, someone in my stack(s) is throwing one type of grenade or another. I don't remember depending on them this much in X-COM94 but in UFO:AI I use them all the time.

Popping smoke saves me time from going the long way around the map from cover to cover. Instead I dash across open terrain and pop smoke at the end of the run. When the cloud clears, the boys open fire and someone pops a fresh one again at the end of it. Good time saver.

Smoke is also a save my ass device in disguise. You should never end your turn with your butt hanging out to dry but I do find myself in awkward situations now and again. In which case I pop smoke and pray. Sometimes the aliens try to finish off my guy but more likely to move instead of shoot if he can't see. Also useful in missions where the frackin pilot decides to land right next to the aliens and I know my boys won't make it to cover by end of turn.

Flashbangs to gangbang. If I can drop a couple on the bad guys I go in gangstar style and get away with it. Absolute must when trying to bag one to bring back to base.

But your regular frag grenade is still the top killer in my arsenal probably accounting for half of the kills made on missions. It didn't get the other half because at those times, it was better to throw first and shoot to finish.

Medic - everyone is a medic on my team. Squaddies work in pairs even in a 6 man stack. If someone gets shot, his immediate buddy drops whatever he's doing to heal the wounded man or woman even in the middle of a firefight. When you get shot the first time, chances are you'll get shot again trying to run so it's better to crouch and look for jesus. If someone could spare a few TUs, I'd have him pop smoke over them. The rest moves on and the healing couple catches up after the turn.

Also I score multiple crashes per day. To save the trouble, I intercept a few before shipping my guys out to collect them in one trip. So healing injuries on the field is not an option. Plus rehab takes too long and healing my guys before killing off the last alien helps keep my roster size to the minimum.

As for role specialization for new recruits, it isn't much of an issue since leveling up weapon proficiency is very quick. Adding to the fact that their best isn't good enough anyway. I hire people with high speed and accuracy that's it. Being a hot blondie probably the only third criteria on my interview list.

[Telok]

2084 December 2

Primary Assault Squad

Lt. Heavy Weapon, 173 missions, 74 enemies killed, Heavy Laser (Flamer at start)
Physical stats 33, 33, 34, 56, 30, 56, 33, 32, 33, 88
Strength, speed, and accuracy have all doubled since starting. Mind is at 250% starting and HW skill has tripled.

Warrant Officer Explosives, 173 missions, 174 enemies killed, 5 civilians collateral damaged, Grenade Launcher
Physical stats 33, 35, 42, 61, 29, 28, 26, 31, 62, 106
Again strength and speed have doubled while mind and explosives have increased to 250% starting values.

Warrant Officer Sniper, 173 missions, 93 kills, 3 civies, Sniper Rifle and Coilgun (ammo issues)
Physical stats 42, 33, 47, 53, 31, 34, 30, 66, 31, 84

Warrant Officer Assault Rifle, 173 missions, 90 kills, 1 civies, Laser Rifle (AR at start)
Physical stats 33, 32, 45, 53, 25, 29, 53, 42, 31, 109

Lt. Sniper, 169 missions, 115 killed, 2 civies, Sniper Rifle and Coilgun (ammo issues)
Physical stats 43, 30, 40, 60, 31, 25, 30, 59, 25, 99

Lt. Close Combat, 145 missions, 64 aliens killed
Weapon loadout: Particle beam pistol, laser pistol, 2 plasma blades, med-kit, stun-rod (to KO civilians), 2 plasma grenades. Started with the SMG and med-kit backed up with a couple of grenades.
Physical stats 36, 30, 42, 58, 62, 25, 26, 31, 33, 82
Speed 30 is double starting, so all stats have gone up about 15 points since start except Mind and Close Combat both of which started higher and have slightly more than doubled.

Lt. ElectroMag, 106 missions, 60 aliens killed, Electromagnetic rifle and Electro laser (Sniper rifle at start)
Physical stats 30, 34, 58, 26, 27, 40, 53, 28, 87
This guy exists because the three round burst is good at point blank range and goes through walls. The aimed shot is just "not pathetic". Again the stun weapon is for saving civilians.

Warrant Officer Explosives, 38 missions, 29 alien kills, Grenade Launcher
Physical stats 30, 31, 35, 46, 29, 23, 22, 28, 49, 102
This is the new guy, replacing a casualty. His mind and Explosives skill have only gone up about 15 points so far. He started off with better stats because at this stage in the game I have a large pool of soldiers to pick from, so I can hire good Accuracy, weapon skill, HP.

[Eegxeta]

I use 2 assaults, 2 snipers, 2 heavy, and 2 runners. I use my assaults to flank and fire on my turn. The heavies are on reaction fire. The snipers fire with reaction and during turn. My runners are equipped with low tu cost weapons so if I need cover ground quick to save a civilian, or the like. It has worked out pretty well so far as all the aliens I have encountered have ended up out gunned or out maneuvered and it only takes a few turns before they are killed.

[Triaxx2]

I tried the two up approach, but it didn't work too well.  Now I use:

Two assault troopers (Assault Rifles, SMG's, 3 Frag Grenades, 1 Flashbang)

One CQC (Riot Shotgun, Micro MG, 1 FG, 1 FB)

One Scout (Riot Shotgun, Mini Shotgun, 2 FB, Medkit.)

One Rocketeer (Rocket Launcher, Pistol, lots of rockets.)

One Demo Expert (Grenade Launcher, Flamethrower, FG's.)

Two Snipers. (Sniper Rifle, Pistol, FB's.)

The Assaults move first and clear positions for the Snipers, Scout is fast and starts with a visual sweep for aliens and civilians. Since he's usually the first one in, the shotgun gives him firepower at short range.

Rocketeer is for shooting through windows, and dealing with heavily armored issues. Demo Expert starts with grenade launcher and only switches when necessary. Deals with rooftops and long, low angle shots.

Snipers are snipers. Long range death dealers.

CQC is special. His job is to go into a building known to hold aliens, use a flashbang to keep himself from getting reaction shotted, and then finish off the job.

[Omnivore]

In 2.4 and earlier I used a full eight man setup with two fire teams each having a support weapon (GL/MG), a sniper rifle or bolter, and two assault rifles - all with medkits and grenades.

In 2.5-dev, with the MG/SR nerfs, I've switched to a six man setup:

1 with bolter, medkit, 3x frags, 2x smoke, 2x flash
1 with grenade launcher, machine pistol, medkit, 2x frags, 2x smoke, 2x flash
4 with assault rifle (later plasma rifle), stun stick, medkit, 2x frags, 2x smoke, 2x flash

Very early on, until the aliens start wearing armor, I might substitute a SMG for an AR depending upon skills.  I usually try to operate the six man unit as three closely cooperating two man teams, two teams with assault rifles, the other team as SWAT.