Big City tactics

[fritzbunwalla]

Hey,

Am having trouble with the big city map, with the aliens camping on the roof and around the entrances to the staircases. I can't seem to do the map without losing two or three guys to withering plasma rifle fire.
Anyone got any tips?

[Telok]

Leave one or two snipers/laser rifles at the Firebird to provide sort-of covering fire.
If they get wounded pull them back into the ship and just have them pop out to shoot.

Everyone else rushes the main entrance. Don't bother with reaction fire or kneeling, just run.
Grenade launcher with IR goggles on the open wall as a spotter and fire support, the GL can reach the third floor.
Flamers or laser pistols up the stairs, crouching, lots of extra TUs for reaction fire.
One or two chaps head to the back stairs in a flanking maneuver.

That's what works for me.

[Kobura]

Laspistols?

PLASMA pistols <3 So few TU (10), so much pain (lotz)

Though the ammo is low. You gotta have a big CQB team working together to pull it off.

[Lew Yard]

Not fond of laser pistols.  If you run into anybody with decent armor -- medium armor, say -- they'll do *very* little damage, which is a very very bad thing if you're at a range where short-range pistols make sense considering that the likely response will be either many plasma pistol shots, a plasma blade, or if you're very unlucky a plasma grenade.  Plasma and particle beam pistols are more interesting sidearms; a belt of plasma grenades and/or blades is also nasty if you're thinking of storming the front door.  Flamethrowers are also quite decent at that range.

Along similar lines, for long-range, aimed fire a heavy laser will beat a laser rifle in terms of expected damage per unit time, if against medium armor and maybe light armor.  The rifle's quicker at reaction fire, which makes it perhaps more interesting for your assault element.

On this map... if you've got decent snipers, using patience + the cheapness and good supply of sniper ammo + using ship for cover when healing should get you the first few kills.  Bear in mind that the aliens will never recover hp once wounded, unless the code's changed that since last I looked (quite some time ago...), and that a wounded shooter is a more imprecise shooter.

[parjlarsson]

If this is the "+city" map I have an almost foolproof way to do it:

1-2 Machine Gunners on the south side of the Firebird, crouching. Each turn you should be able to have them crouch-walk out one square and turn back around and sit in 2x react burst fire. This basically simulates what you would do irl, which is to get cover, keep your rifles pointed up and inch your way out backward to get proper fields of fire. Sucks without cover, though. Too bad the game won't let you take a step backward.

All others go in main entrance.

2 people keep going to the far staircases, move up slowly, react fire full auto/burst.

Rest move up the main stair, point the camera straight down, react fire burst or full auto with the soldiers always facing where the aliens will come down from top - then leave a guy watching their back at each new landing, or better yet go superslow each time you reach a new level.

Minimum 2-3 MGs, rest Plasma Rifles. Win.

[andrew.prg]

Stupid and workable tactics, for big city, at least during early to mid game.

Take some guys with MGs (three or four), the rest laser rifles or heavy lasers.

Make a nice line before the dropship, cca three squares apart, crouch, multiple reaction fire.

As the aliens start to turn up at the roof, shoot like hell. If someone receives a hit, continue shooting, and colleague next to him (or a dedicated medic) heals using a medikit.

After some time, all the aliens will go in sight and get shot.

Fortunately, the extraterrestrial intelligence is not advanced enough to lob a plasma grenade from the roof to kill my nice line of shooters without any cover...

[TallTroll]

Took me a while to get to grips with this map, but now I fear it not. My standard squad aces it (nearly) every time.

1 x sniper + 1 x Rocket launcher stay near the Firebird, crouched. The sniper has reaction fire on, the rocket guy can't, but aliens love leaning over the rails over a turn break. RL's get suprisingly accurate with a practiced operator firing them.

1 x Assault rifle and the Shotgun guy go left, to hit the left stairwell. The other 2 ARs, the MG and the Grenade launcher go in the front door. 1 x AR and the MG peel off and go for the right stairwell. The last AR and the GL draw the main staircase, and proceed with extreme care, because aliens can pop out of those doors, and the GL is loaded with explosives so no reaction fire.

If you've timed it right, all 3 groups hit the same floor at about the same time, 1 from each group can hit a floor simultaneously (and from 3 directions) to clear it, and leave a guy in the stairwell preventing unpleasant surprises.

Using this method, I find that the sniper / RL will usually pick up a kill or two, and the GL and AR in the main stairwell see most action, but occasionally you get aliens in all the stairwells, and clearing obscure corners around the main stairwell can be a pain.

The critical thing is careful use of the GL. Yes, you do need to make sure you are in EXACTLY the right square before you try to put 3 rounds through a door above you, otherwise they come roling back down and explode at your feet. Not fun

[Edi]

I tend to rush to the second floor as fast as I can, at which point a grenade launcher guy walks point as a scout to spot the aliens. Snipers and machinegunners stand by with RF and once the aliens do come down the stairs, they get toasted every single time.
I usually have a couple of guys climb the back stairs, because sometimes the aliens like to come down those.

Of course, this is playing 2.4 dev, where all soldiers start with a stat range of 25-40 instead of 12-35 like in 2.3. where such supersoldiers were a very sought after rarity.

[parjlarsson]

A few different ways to go about this:

1. Maximize your chance of winning with no injuries or deaths by using your knowledge of bad AI and bugs to your advantage. After all - sometimes the game is buggy to their advantage, might as well return the favour, right?

2. Play sort of like you would if this was your first time in this exact situation, and you were really in control of a real-life squad. More realistic - more fun.

3. You already know exactly where the aliens spawn, what they're going to do and how they will react. You've played the map too many times to still be interested in running around looking at stuff. Just get it over with, maximum speed, efficiency and minimum effort.


Obviously the AI isn't perfect. They don't throw grenades much, even though that might be supereffective from the top of a stairwell or top of a parking building. They don't work together much.

You know where the aliens are before you start. You know where you will start. It's a great map, but it always goes the same way because the rules don't change, the AI doesn't change and the starting variables/parameters are always the same.

But what is fun for you, really? For me, it's the immersion factor. It's the very minor emotional attachment to the guys. So I tend to play sort of aggressive while still trying to keep my guys alive, a bit like I would in the real world. YMMV. To each their own. Eventually I'm sure we'll get around to moving the starting spot around a bit, and moving the spawns to random, and working on the AI stuff.

[gargy2002]

Of course, this is playing 2.4 dev, where all soldiers start with a stat range of 25-40 instead of 12-35 like in 2.3

That's right but shooting performance is the same like in the 2.3 trunk or even worse..
In the 2.4 dev trunk are aliens at the second floor (4 level) already and mostly coming down by one or two a round. They usually trap me at stairs so now I just wait until they come all down...
In the 2.3.1 or 2.3 trunk I got all men into the building and covered all stairs. Then I moved up to each level with the auto fire mode. 2 or three stayed always on the roof so it's was easy to kill them.
Guns:
Default missions: 2 snipers, 2 laser rifles (assault weapons), 2 heavy lasers (machine guns or electro rifles), 1 grenade launcher, 1 rocket launcher..
Big City: 2 snipers, 2 laser rifles, 2 heavy guns, grenade and rocket launcher soldiers equipped by a flamethrower, plasma pistol or microshotgun.
Flamethrower and plasma pistol guys cover the left back stairs and the front and back right stairs cover two groups by each of the guns remained...

[Bahumat]

I've found that if I want to minimize injuries, my best bet is to run my *WHOLE* team straight into the building, by running up to the building, and hugging it as they run around to the left entrance. Come in through there, and then get the entire team at the four corners and sides of the map, covering from blind corners to cover the back stairwells and main stairwell.

I've yet to get my team through that first round initial run entirely unharmed, alas, but a pistol shot or two is survivable and easy enough to hospital/medpack out.

[jerm]

[+city] stopped bothering me when I realized I could pick off aliens with sniper rifles, coilguns and grenade launchers. Like fish in a barrel. Just lead with rookies equipped with kerrblades/plasmablades and follow up with the snipers. Aliens feel just as much pain getting hit right in the nuts like anyone else. I love it when they fall to their knees and crumple. Plasma fire does not penetrate floor panels.

They pretty much charge down the stairs at you anyway, so you know where to expect them. Although you would find the occasional plasma grenade rolling down the stairs but that's what rookie grunts are for. 

I just had a thought as I was finishing this post. We need a few more death animations like:
1. Stagger and collapse to the ground.
2. Explosive death? e.i- blown to bits. (maybe just ankles and feet remaining)
3. Cut in half (for kerrblade/full-auto fire)
4. Rapid-fire dance (repeatedly shot in the torso)
5. Limbs shot off. Or possibly head shot off.

As debunked in Mythbusters, a person shot even with high calibre rounds do not get blown off their feet or dramatically knocked back. Even buckshot is unlikely to have better results. The ballistics dummy used in the test just kinda toppled after getting shot. Even when wearing kevlar-wearing dummies hardly do more than flinch when hit with solid rounds.

[DarkRain]

Rocket launcher 

Aliens feel just as much pain getting hit right in the nuts like anyone else.

I thought Ortnoks would be immune to such attacks:

All Ortnok specimens we've seen so far were not equipped with reproductive organs. From surgical scarring around the groin area, we believe they may have been neutered for some reason.

[Nutter]

That fully depends on the state of the remaining nervous system in the area.

No equipment doesn't mean no pain receptors.

[DarkRain]

You're aware that I was kidding, right?