@grossbierMy general load out for this point in the game is 3 shields for scouting 1 laser rifle man for holding utility items smokes, grenades, incinds, grenades, medpacks etc. (more so then other units) 2 ballistic minigunners and 1 laser minigunners for damage output and one laser sniper for clearing out weaker units at a distance or finishing off what the mini gunners suppress. as for strategy i just hide my close range damage dealers behind my tank and smoke it while moving up. everything dies fairly easily to 3 mini gunners when they get into the enemies face. I've only run into one queen before and i just kept my soldiers away and used my tank to kill it. the ai for melee units is pretty stupid in this game and easy to play around. most will either run to civilians or focus to your vehicle over your soldiers if you leave it available . same goes for reapers. just use your tank to bait it out of cover. your tank is your strongest unit on the field and you need to play around it. as for base defense i've only had one base invasion at this point in the game and dont have much to offer in terms of help here. I let it play out and just one of my base defense turrets appeared to kill half of the attacking force judging by the bodies in the spawning zone of the aliens when the fight started.