The XMEN Clan Forums

Xcom is one of those games that you can never get out of your system. It was addictive back when it first came out and its just as addictive now. I started a new game last night and was getting things set up back at base when my first UFO comes down and lands.

I hate the weapons you start out with, prefer the laser weapons. So I send my Skyranger out to greet the new comers. When I get there I have a hard time getting my rookies into shape, they don't have much in stamina. I am in a corner of the map, a stone wall along one side and a wooden fence on the other, enclosing me. I line up my troops on the walls and wait a couple of turns for them to rest up. I then spend the next 5 turns trying to break the walls to get out. Crappy balistic weapons. Once out I start for the near by farm house with a group of 4, another group heads for the ship towards the center of the map, and the rest go to the far side to secure the area and meet up at the ship door. This is the large scout ship, the plus sign shape.

I dont get very far before my teams come under fire. First though was it was the little grey men trying to keep me away, but in fact it was the purple floaters hovering in the air trying to kill me. The one closest to the farm house gets 8 solders firing at it, one of which has the heavy cannon. Almost all of them miss, very few were even within 7 squares of the target. But the floater did die from a pistol shot half way across the map (that guy got promoted). The other floater died in a similar fashion. When I sent a 2 man team into the farm house I was expecting a surprise but even that didn't prepair me for what happened. By then almost all of the map was secure, 4 solders were guarding the door to the ship as the other teams were forming up on them. The only sholders that were not heading that way were the ones searching the farm house.

The first floor was clear, a couple of doors were open but that could have been from the one killed out front. Got both solders near the stairs, but far enough away that they couldn't see or be seen from upstairs. Both solders are equipped with pistols. The first one makes his way up the stairs only to run out of movement points at the last step facing a floater with a heavy plasma gun. The dang thing didn't show up until after my guy moved to that spot, should have been able to see him sooner. First thought in my mind was that solder is going to die and start my game off a bad foot. I quickly moved the other solder to the side of the stairs and ordered him to fire up. Surprisingly he didn't kill his teammate and was able to kill the floater.

Once the farm house was done being searched, I formed up everyone around the door to the ship at a good distance apart. At the time I hadn't noticed that one of the first two floater corpses had vanished long ago. I could hear something moving inside the ship as doors opened and closed. Suddenly a floater steps outside. This is usually where I start loosing 3 or more solders. Gun shots flash across the screen, bullets bounce off the ship, grass around the floaters feet is tossed into the air. The floater steps back in and my turn comes around. I don't move anyone out of their positions. End turn. The floater steps back out, bullets fly through the air, striking the sides and inner walls of the ship. More grass is destroyed around the door as the floater steps back in.

Fearing that the AI will just shoot me as I send a scout in I decieded I should just wait it out here and hope someone can hit the broad side of a barn before they run out of ammo. End turn, floater steps out, bullets fly through the air stricking anything and everything in its path. No solders lost to friendly fire or enemy fire. Again the floater steps back inside. Move a couple of solders around for better shots and maybe a better look insde the ship to see if there are any more. End turn, floater steps out, shots cut the air, bouncing off the ships walls, floater steps back in. The enemy was about to close the door when suddenly a loud thunderous boom sounded. The solder with the cannon had fired from 17 squares away by a shed. The large round drifted through the air, passing the head of a friendly, slowly over the destroyed grounds around the door, and then finaly up to the floater. The shot vanished into the darkness of the ships interior. What felt like minutes passed by with nothing. Fearing that there were more inside the ship, I waited. Finaly the aliens turn ends with the cry of a falling floater. Mission debreifing appears and informs me that a live alien died because of no containment back at base.

Fist mission ended with no losses and two promotions to the ones who actually hit the enemy. Later on at the first terror site, one of those solders died protecting the others as they deployed into a field encircled by the enemy floaters and their two legged dogs. Three solders died near the base of the landing ramp on that terror mission, 5 alien dogs died, 9 floaters killed, 3 civilians lost and 7 saved. The other sargent is currently in the medical ward of the base after taking a heavy plasma shot to the chest. Laser pistols have been issued out to most of the solders and Laser rifles are currently under production. This group of weak rookies is quickly building up into a worth wild team, surving a terror side with the simple balistic weapons that they had (not using a missile launcher which would have been tempting).

Hate the floaters.

Played a couple more UFO crash/landings and the game seems to love giving me the Floaters. Sold about 30 of their bodies off for money and its only the second month. Lost about 2 more solders since the terror site. All of my troops are equipped with Laser Rifles now. Almost all of them had Laser Pistols for a while. Spent some time doing target practice with a broad side of a barn to help them get better, also thrown some electro flares around. Lets just say that there was still a good portion of the wall I was aiming at still there at the end of the mission, but the rest of the building, along with everything behind it and around it, was missing.

Out of all the time I have put into this game in my life time, I have never beaten it. I have gotten to the point where Ihave everything researched, all my bases fully developed, have 3 Avengers working out of each base, each Avenger is fully loaded with one disk tank and one plasma tank along with all the solders in flight armor it can hold. The one thing that kept me from attacking their base on mars was finding that dang commander with the coordinates. I would go into alien bases and capture all of them alive and still not get the commander needed. Then there would be missions where I would just bring in a couple of disk tanks and completely level the supply or huge UFO because I was getting tired of going through them. The only thing I didn't do well on was the mind control stuff. I was able to keep from loosing anyone for 15 out of 16 missions or so.

Always hated the floaters, but I also always hated the mind control stuff.

There were a couple of times where my own bases got infiltrated and most of my teams were wiped out.

Those dang floaters!

Last night before bed, I did a mission to capture a large scout ship. It landed in a forest and was full of floaters, even though the thing was half destroyed from my Intercepters. Lost none one leading up to the ship invasion, even though they kept popping out of the trees and firing at me.

The one thing I fear in every mission is entering their ships. I had half of my squad guarding the door at a good distance off and disperesed so to reduce possible casulties. I heard no movement and once all of my team had gathered there, moved them all up to the door ready to invade. Then the dang floater desides to step out for a smoke with an armed gernade! Before I even had the chance to say a thing, a little sphere left its grubby purple hands, fell flat on the ground as 12 solders shot it full of laser holes. The next moment those same 12 solders were laying there dead, the remaining 2 went wild. And the mission didn't even end there. I quit and reloaded. That mistake didn't happen the second time I went in.

Just did a mission where I shot down a large UFO. It landed in a farm area not to far from my base. When I landed I was greeted with a Snakeman. Then when I got to the nose of my ship there is one of those black guys that infect you. For this mission I have 6 laser rifles, 2 heavy lasers, and 6 heavy plasma guns.

My laser solders secure the parimeter and fan out, finding snakemen hiding in the corners and such. My plasma solders made their way to the front of the ship and entered through the left door. They took up possitions around the hall and the hole in the ceiling to the second floor. The rest of the team continues and finds a snakeman that takes 3 heavy laser hits and doesn't die. That snakeman then kills one of my solders then dies my next turn. The outside is soon secured.

The plasma team slowly works their way to the destroyed power generator. A message saying that the Snakeman Leader has panic shows on the screen. The plasma team soon has most of the floor under guard as the heavy lasers enter from the right door. Suddenly a black figure drops down, touches one of my solders, walks through a gun shot and touches another. The closest plasma solder takes aim and misses 9 shots. The next hits one but fails to kill the infected. Another kills one of the infected. A heavy laser fails to even see the enemy. End of my turn proved to be the end of my game. Those 2 black infectors then proceed to infect both heavy laser solders and the rest of the plasma team. 9 solders gone, 1 died to a snakeman, 1 died after infection, 7 hunting the other 5 down.

It sucks how, even though you leave the solders with time to attack, they don't defend themselves when an enemy walks right up to them. The initial sighting should have caused both plasma solders to shoot him and one of the heavy lasers saw it happen right in front of his eyes. Needless to say I exited the game and will retry that map later.

You must have forgot the pre-map caffeine injection. Your dudes were asleep!

Proximity mines are your friend when it comes to watching the front door of a ship.

You can clear the grenade with high explosive or with a grenade too.

I've caught many of those aliens that like to pop their heads outside with those things.

Sometimes, I set it up so that one of my closest soldiers has one of those in his hand. Next turn I make sure to arm the grenade with enough turns to throw it after sending him in. I send him in to toss the grenade where I see aliens, or just where I think they will be.

Sometimes, you don't get much technology this way, but in the beginning, before you have armor, it helps the soldiers out.