Steel Monkey

Realising that the last 2 months' play to bring a base online and up to full operation to save a continent has been for nothing.... despite shooting down all the UFOs. Grrrr Well, you live and learn.

Hello All, Veteran of the original game here, and most of the others as well, including XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Really enjoying my first vanilla runthrough, looking forward to starting on harder difficulties with mods. Steel Monkey

Hi Didact04, I'm on my first vanilla playthrough as well. My tips so far for the early game are: a hospital or 2, a big team of rotating squaddies, rocketeers and some guys with shields as point men/ tanks/ observers, shotgunners and a sniper. Basically anything but the riflemen with ballistic weapons. It's a slow methodical advance, rocketing cover at a few, select points. Then rocket the UFO front door and lob some gas grenades in if there's more than one alien in the entrance. If you're having a problem with cover, then smoke grenades can help protect your team. I don't like the normal grenades, they seem to take too long for too little effect (a run up and shotgun is usually much better). At one point in my early game I had 2 hospitals full of wounded soldiers, I think I was lucky that few died, but some were out of action for ages. Steel Monkey