Where can I put bases? (Azores, Madeira and other islands)

[Core]

Hello, I apologize if this question has already been answered around here - but where exactly can I put bases and ground installations? I know the answer is - on the land. But it does not work for "small" islands. I wanted to fill in Atlantic radar gap, for which the best place to put radar or base would be Azores or Madeira Archipelago. Although these islands are clearly visible on the globe, the game does not let me tu put anything on them, as if I was clicking on water. On the other hand, the game lets me put a base in Hawaii.

My question is - are these places considered water, or do I have to just find the right pixel to click on?

And, if they are considered water, will this be changed in future versions - I believe Madeira as well as Azores are big enough in the real world to house a radar or base. 

[Noordung]

no point in covering water. destroyed ufos will be lost in water and you wont get any bonus to national happiness.

[anonymissimus]

After starting a new campaign, the "build base modus" doesn't disappear after a failed build attempt. as that's the only sensible thing to do. So that's what you can use to find out whether you really can't build a base there. And zoom in on the island.

no point in covering water. destroyed ufos will be lost in water and you wont get any bonus to national happiness.

Well, perhaps you want to reduce the number of tactical missions, or cover already most of the land. It can be useful to keep track of ufos flying over the Atlantic (so you can immediately launch an interceptor when it comes near to the other side).

EDIT
Also, somewhere in this forum it was said that building bases on islands would reduce or eliminate the number of alien attacks on it which come without any warning, that is, without an UFO. However, this seems to be wrong, as I already got such an attack on an island base.

[Core]

no point in covering water. destroyed ufos will be lost in water and you wont get any bonus to national happiness.

Actually I'd like to see as much of UFO trajectory as I can, because I am currently in a stage when I have to chase Harvesters with Stilletos and since they are much faster than I am, I need to predict their way and have a bunch of my interceptors waiting for them. I can't effectively predict where they will be if I keep constantly losing them over water.

After starting a new campaign, the "build base modus" doesn't disappear after a failed build attempt. as that's the only sensible thing to do. So that's what you can use to find out whether you really can't build a base there. And zoom in on the island.

Wow, that was a good idea! Thank you, I did exactly what you said and I found one place on Azores islands where I can put an installation. Ironically, the exact position is a little bit into the water, just south of São Miguel Island. I try to attach a screen with the location crossed out in case anyone would like to fill in the atlantic radar gap too.

[anonymissimus]

Attacking harvesters with stilettos is too dangerous though. Just one of them surely looses, and they can't run away from harvesters. As harvesters can attack by themselves in 2.5, it's possible to lure them into firing range of ground defenses to safely take them down.
And at that stage there are better things to spend money for instead of radar coverage - namely UFO disassembly, selling UFO parts yields about thrice the money of selling it directly.

[Core]

Attacking harvesters with stilettos is too dangerous though. Just one of them surely looses, and they can't run away from harvesters. As harvesters can attack by themselves in 2.5, it's possible to lure them into firing range of ground defenses to safely take them down.
And at that stage there are better things to spend money for instead of radar coverage - namely UFO disassembly, selling UFO parts yields about thrice the money of selling it directly.

Thanks, I did not notice it is most effective to sell UFO parts instead of whole UFOs. I am now playing my first game - still version 2.4, since it was "last stable version" when I downloaded the game. I am attacking harvesters with a bunch of Stilettos together - they all are armed with plasma cannons, so they shoot down harvester all right - sometimes, one of them is shot down of course... but since the pilots do not get any experience (afaik), I wouldn't mind it too much.

I am disassembling UFOs as fast as I can, but it is still VERY slow process and I can't make it any faster, even with money - since the game lets me hire only 20 more technicians each month... I have them all hired of course, but since the begining of the game, I have disassembled only 7500 units of alien metal, so I still can't build the best interceptor I have researched, because it needs 9000   

[ShipIt]

Thanks, I did not notice it is most effective to sell UFO parts instead of whole UFOs.

This might not be true for v2.4.

I am disassembling UFOs as fast as I can, but it is still VERY slow process and I can't make it any faster, even with money - since the game lets me hire only 20 more technicians each month... I have them all hired of course, but since the begining of the game, I have disassembled only 7500 units of alien metal, so I still can't build the best interceptor I have researched, because it needs 9000   

This and lots of other stuff were improved in v2.5. So we strongly recommend playing this version.

[anonymissimus]

This might not be true for v2.4.

It is. Slightly less effective.

This and lots of other stuff were improved in v2.5. So we strongly recommend playing this version.

In 2.5 it is difficult to keep nations happy because aliens are so effective in killing civilians. Honestly, a beginner mode with boosted civilian health or aliens not shooting on them would make sense. A snap shot by anything is enough to kill one of these cluelessly running around weaklings. There are a few maps where I never managed to save at least half of them, so these missions necessarily make nations unhappy. In 2.4 on the other hand I never actively protected civilians (throwing smoke at them and posing as a replacement target).

[Sarin]

If you are talking just about money, then it's better to disassembly UFO and sell the parts.

However, selling it directly also earns you nation happiness, and does not keep your workers away from important projects.

[Schilcote]

It is. Slightly less effective.
In 2.5 it is difficult to keep nations happy because aliens are so effective in killing civilians. Honestly, a beginner mode with boosted civilian health or aliens not shooting on them would make sense. A snap shot by anything is enough to kill one of these cluelessly running around weaklings. There are a few maps where I never managed to save at least half of them, so these missions necessarily make nations unhappy. In 2.4 on the other hand I never actively protected civilians (throwing smoke at them and posing as a replacement target).

I always thought the aliens had messed-up priorities when it came to selecting civies over PHALANX agents. Seems like it would make more sense to deal with the guys who can stop you from achieving your objective first, then actually achieve that (defenseless) objective.