More details on managing the strategy layer. Comments on launching satellites, painful realities in the air game, research paths, SHIVs vs. XP growth...
I found a couple early SHIVs to be really useful if used intelligently - and a total godsend for certain missions - definitely worth the loss of soldier xp but some players prefer to just spam gunners or whatever to get through April
Speaking of April, certain RNG and spawn locations can just doom the campaign - some terror missions with flower spam on the burning cafe/library map, or that tiny roadway map with the back spawn in swarming with 14-16 floaters
I also used infantry and found that they really crushed in the mid game but fell off hard in the late game along with assaults
Ultimately I managed to ‘beat’ I/I with the hardest start I know - India - in that I had done 7-8 base assaults, beaten the xcom base defense , and unlocked every tech etc.
I was about to do the temple ship and and another base defense hit before the shot down satellite could re-deploy
I didn’t even know that was possible.
Anyway the firestorms with fusion lances never even got a chance to engage and the base defense was completely unwinnable so that was that
I've never had 2 base defenses in the same campaign. That feels like cheating by the aliens.
I do like SHIVs. One shot kills, don't need cover, can actually tank a few shots unlike everyone else in April. But a rookie with 2 grenades is also pretty good. For me the question is do I want to spend the money (60 is actually a lot at the start of a campaign) for this unit that I want to use as little as possible?
I think you have it right about Infantry - though crush might be putting it a bit strong. They do get 2 shots before everyone else, but don't have the ammo to really support that rate of fire. Regardless, having one extra 70% shot at that flanked thin man is wonderful. But yeah the fall-off is huge. I just don't see a future for them. In my current campaign I had 2 infantry soldiers total. 1 was chopped into a Valkyrie early on, the other is going to be a SGT forever.
Assaults fall off too but I don't ever mind having one along on a mission, any mission. Its just that other soldiers (MECs) can do what Assaults do up close, but also from far away. So Assaults are replaceable. So are Infantry. Every other soldier can do something special that MECs can't do and so we need them.
But yeah, When Exalt is defeated, I always have way more Assaults than I can use. This campaign I have 6 at TSGT rank or higher. And my guess is that 3-4 of them will still be active in January. At that point I usually chop one into a Marauder, but I already did that, so now I am just going to have a bunch of Assaults sitting around the base reminiscing on the good ole days.
For my current Brutal playthrough, I decided to start in Australia and the Aliens ended up infiltrating Mexico. That has completely derailed my planned satellite launch schedule. This made me wonder if you have ever considered trying to mix up your strategic game by forcing yourself to go after other continent bonuses before getting Air and Space. If you have any thoughts on the subject, I would appreciate them! ^^
I strongly believe that North America is the best continent bonus to get early, and that when combined with a good nation bonus is the strongest start.
That being said, other nations are perfectly viable, even on Impossible difficulty. Quay d’Orsay and Cadre are both strong.
I like the Australia bonus but I don't like starting there. It is too far from the HQ, and so a scout UFO is much more likely to escape. What happens is you send an interceptor which knocks the scout down below 50% health, then it runs away before your 2nd interceptor can reach it. This also happens with Russia and India, which also have decent starting bonuses, but are far from the continent HQ.
Were you planning to start in Australia, then immediately expand into North America? This is really problematic. For one thing, you will need 3 total satellite uplinks before you get the N. America continent bonus - which means you won't get a discount on interceptors for quite some time, which makes it far less valuable, as you will need to build interceptors right away at the full $200 price tag.
Also you will be splitting your air force across 2 continents in April and May. During this time you will likely go through some periods where you only have 3-4 healthy birds. This isn't too bad if you are only on one continent, but if you are on 2, this leads to situations where you have 2 interceptors in Asia, and 2 in N. America, and weak on both continents - a Raider scouting either continent is more likely to escape.
So it is best to stay on one continent until you have the hangar to oppose all UFOs on 2 continents.
If you were planning on getting the N. America bonus after getting the Asia bonus, I would say that it doesn't really hurt that much to lose N. America. Really. By the middle of summer should have a large hangar full of interceptors, and the discount on buying more isn't that meaningful anymore. The reduced maintenance cost is still real money, but going for Europe next will probably grant about the same amount of cash.
Also, just because the aliens take a nation in N. America does not mean you can't get it. In my most recent campaign, the aliens took Germany and Russia, and in October/November I ran base assaults in both those countries, taking them back so that I could get the Europe bonus. When the aliens turn a nation, you should just alter your plans such that you go after different continents through the end of summer. In the fall, you should run a Base Assault or two, and that will open up most any continent.
You make a fair point about Shivs, although I find that they are a significant help on early Terror missions. I tend to value getting an A squad up and running ASAP and they help avoid injuries. I would definitely argue that SHIVS pay for themselves and then some (Meld in Medium UFO missions etc.), but you have a great point about the cascading effects of XP in the barracks. No SHIVS means earlier total ranks which means faster squadsize.
Reductively, you could look at each Squad Size basically giving you an *extra LCPL* every 4 missions in addition to simply making tactical missions easier. Even getting Squad Size up 8 missions earlier is 4 Squaddies and 1 LCPL more, pretty huge early on. On top of the missions you promoted an extra rookie, that is a pretty huge difference. Gunner/Engineer/Assaults/Rocketeer all have a significant presence at Specialist enough to not notice the lack of a SHIV outside of pulling multiple pods. And while I would disagree with you about SHIV's having too much of a cost, I remember Joinrbs framed it in an interesting way that almost all of the cash he gets early on is spent to 'buy' experience for his soldiers through generating missions. Even if I lose 10 meld in a scout with not bringing a SHIV, paying $40 to promote a Rookie (that I otherwise would have had on the mission) is a reasonable trade and I am definitely overvaluing SHIV's earning you Meld here (it is probably closer to 1 can every ~2.5 missions).
It is some interesting food for thought. I still think I would build a SHIV is basically every campaign, I think I might only keep them for the first few terror missions and potentially avoiding a fatigue spiral.
All good points, especially regarding Terror Missions. I will say that the XP boost from no-SHIVs really surprised me. But yeah, sometimes you really want a SHIV. This latest campaign I had enough xp for squad size one on April 1st, which is unusual. Unfortunately I forgot to build the power plant early - so couldn't build the OTS straight away, and then I got a Terror mission on April 2nd, lost a veteran, dropped below the xp threshold for Squad Size I, and needed another mission's worth of XP to finally purchase it. Had I brought a SHIV, I am pretty sure that wouldn't have happened.
Looking at my notes I also see that I started building a SHIV on the 13th of March then canceled it. Then started another one on April 4th, then canceled it again. I remember trying to fit one in, but just needing (wanting?) the money for other stuff. Sometime in April I realized that I had enough rocketeers to bring 2 along occasionally, and decided that would be how to handle the tough missions.
I really like Joinrbs old MEC rush campaign. Dude is really good at Long War.
I love these articles
Your reversal on SHIVs is interesting
I found a couple early SHIVs to be really useful if used intelligently - and a total godsend for certain missions - definitely worth the loss of soldier xp but some players prefer to just spam gunners or whatever to get through April
Speaking of April, certain RNG and spawn locations can just doom the campaign - some terror missions with flower spam on the burning cafe/library map, or that tiny roadway map with the back spawn in swarming with 14-16 floaters
I also used infantry and found that they really crushed in the mid game but fell off hard in the late game along with assaults
Ultimately I managed to ‘beat’ I/I with the hardest start I know - India - in that I had done 7-8 base assaults, beaten the xcom base defense , and unlocked every tech etc.
I was about to do the temple ship and and another base defense hit before the shot down satellite could re-deploy
I didn’t even know that was possible.
Anyway the firestorms with fusion lances never even got a chance to engage and the base defense was completely unwinnable so that was that
I've never had 2 base defenses in the same campaign. That feels like cheating by the aliens.
I do like SHIVs. One shot kills, don't need cover, can actually tank a few shots unlike everyone else in April. But a rookie with 2 grenades is also pretty good. For me the question is do I want to spend the money (60 is actually a lot at the start of a campaign) for this unit that I want to use as little as possible?
I think you have it right about Infantry - though crush might be putting it a bit strong. They do get 2 shots before everyone else, but don't have the ammo to really support that rate of fire. Regardless, having one extra 70% shot at that flanked thin man is wonderful. But yeah the fall-off is huge. I just don't see a future for them. In my current campaign I had 2 infantry soldiers total. 1 was chopped into a Valkyrie early on, the other is going to be a SGT forever.
Assaults fall off too but I don't ever mind having one along on a mission, any mission. Its just that other soldiers (MECs) can do what Assaults do up close, but also from far away. So Assaults are replaceable. So are Infantry. Every other soldier can do something special that MECs can't do and so we need them.
But yeah, When Exalt is defeated, I always have way more Assaults than I can use. This campaign I have 6 at TSGT rank or higher. And my guess is that 3-4 of them will still be active in January. At that point I usually chop one into a Marauder, but I already did that, so now I am just going to have a bunch of Assaults sitting around the base reminiscing on the good ole days.
For my current Brutal playthrough, I decided to start in Australia and the Aliens ended up infiltrating Mexico. That has completely derailed my planned satellite launch schedule. This made me wonder if you have ever considered trying to mix up your strategic game by forcing yourself to go after other continent bonuses before getting Air and Space. If you have any thoughts on the subject, I would appreciate them! ^^
I strongly believe that North America is the best continent bonus to get early, and that when combined with a good nation bonus is the strongest start.
That being said, other nations are perfectly viable, even on Impossible difficulty. Quay d’Orsay and Cadre are both strong.
I like the Australia bonus but I don't like starting there. It is too far from the HQ, and so a scout UFO is much more likely to escape. What happens is you send an interceptor which knocks the scout down below 50% health, then it runs away before your 2nd interceptor can reach it. This also happens with Russia and India, which also have decent starting bonuses, but are far from the continent HQ.
Were you planning to start in Australia, then immediately expand into North America? This is really problematic. For one thing, you will need 3 total satellite uplinks before you get the N. America continent bonus - which means you won't get a discount on interceptors for quite some time, which makes it far less valuable, as you will need to build interceptors right away at the full $200 price tag.
Also you will be splitting your air force across 2 continents in April and May. During this time you will likely go through some periods where you only have 3-4 healthy birds. This isn't too bad if you are only on one continent, but if you are on 2, this leads to situations where you have 2 interceptors in Asia, and 2 in N. America, and weak on both continents - a Raider scouting either continent is more likely to escape.
So it is best to stay on one continent until you have the hangar to oppose all UFOs on 2 continents.
If you were planning on getting the N. America bonus after getting the Asia bonus, I would say that it doesn't really hurt that much to lose N. America. Really. By the middle of summer should have a large hangar full of interceptors, and the discount on buying more isn't that meaningful anymore. The reduced maintenance cost is still real money, but going for Europe next will probably grant about the same amount of cash.
Also, just because the aliens take a nation in N. America does not mean you can't get it. In my most recent campaign, the aliens took Germany and Russia, and in October/November I ran base assaults in both those countries, taking them back so that I could get the Europe bonus. When the aliens turn a nation, you should just alter your plans such that you go after different continents through the end of summer. In the fall, you should run a Base Assault or two, and that will open up most any continent.
You make a fair point about Shivs, although I find that they are a significant help on early Terror missions. I tend to value getting an A squad up and running ASAP and they help avoid injuries. I would definitely argue that SHIVS pay for themselves and then some (Meld in Medium UFO missions etc.), but you have a great point about the cascading effects of XP in the barracks. No SHIVS means earlier total ranks which means faster squadsize.
Reductively, you could look at each Squad Size basically giving you an *extra LCPL* every 4 missions in addition to simply making tactical missions easier. Even getting Squad Size up 8 missions earlier is 4 Squaddies and 1 LCPL more, pretty huge early on. On top of the missions you promoted an extra rookie, that is a pretty huge difference. Gunner/Engineer/Assaults/Rocketeer all have a significant presence at Specialist enough to not notice the lack of a SHIV outside of pulling multiple pods. And while I would disagree with you about SHIV's having too much of a cost, I remember Joinrbs framed it in an interesting way that almost all of the cash he gets early on is spent to 'buy' experience for his soldiers through generating missions. Even if I lose 10 meld in a scout with not bringing a SHIV, paying $40 to promote a Rookie (that I otherwise would have had on the mission) is a reasonable trade and I am definitely overvaluing SHIV's earning you Meld here (it is probably closer to 1 can every ~2.5 missions).
It is some interesting food for thought. I still think I would build a SHIV is basically every campaign, I think I might only keep them for the first few terror missions and potentially avoiding a fatigue spiral.
All good points, especially regarding Terror Missions. I will say that the XP boost from no-SHIVs really surprised me. But yeah, sometimes you really want a SHIV. This latest campaign I had enough xp for squad size one on April 1st, which is unusual. Unfortunately I forgot to build the power plant early - so couldn't build the OTS straight away, and then I got a Terror mission on April 2nd, lost a veteran, dropped below the xp threshold for Squad Size I, and needed another mission's worth of XP to finally purchase it. Had I brought a SHIV, I am pretty sure that wouldn't have happened.
Looking at my notes I also see that I started building a SHIV on the 13th of March then canceled it. Then started another one on April 4th, then canceled it again. I remember trying to fit one in, but just needing (wanting?) the money for other stuff. Sometime in April I realized that I had enough rocketeers to bring 2 along occasionally, and decided that would be how to handle the tough missions.
I really like Joinrbs old MEC rush campaign. Dude is really good at Long War.