AmericanPride

Maybe a dumb question... but will it break my 5.0 save games?

It's definitely interesting to see other players' tactics and preferences, especially in the use of defensive and non-lethal weapons like shields and batons. I don't even bother with them since I prefer blasting my way to a win. My casualty rate is usually pretty high though, since I also focus on offensive weapons instead of equipping my soldiers with armor. On average, I probably suffer 2-3 casualties with rates as high as 5-6 per battle. I've also lost a few teams before I realized that there's no shame in withdrawing if victory seems unlikely. The result is that I have a constant influx of fresh recruits, the survivors of which I reassign to my primary strike team to handle the more dangerous missions. So it's interesting to see how those micro-decisions affect the larger progress of the campaign. At first, I didn't use precision rifles, but then I found the value in them as you stated. I only bring one however since most missions involve assaulting a UFO of some kind and I rather have the assault rifle for that purpose. How do you adapt your approach to terror missions when enemies are often concentrated and covering one another?

Vini, I use rifles to engage medium-ranged targets. I prefer engaging my targets at the max effective distance of the weapon system (which is usually, but not always, the line of sight limit of the operator, which I think in daylight is 16 tiles). Depending on the transport, I have 2-3 LMGs, and I keep them close enough to each other to have interlocking fields of fire. Whenever possible, that's the first weapon system I use in a turn. After destroying or suppressing the enemy, I can then maneuver my riflemen and assaults into a better position (ideally within hand grenade range). I only assign pistols to the LMGs in the event that they deplete all of their ammo - which has only happened once. Honestly, I have not seen any use for shields. I prefer maximizing the firepower of all my operators. The opportunity cost of a shield is another machinegun. EDIT: I agree with you about vehicles. The opportunity cost of a vehicle is two machineguns.

In this game, I've found burst fire to be fairly effective in close quarters since accuracy is already high and I can guarantee three rounds on target. The only other use for burst would be to generate high volumes of fire to gain fire superiority, but given the three round limit, you would likely need more than one rifle servicing that target. LMGs are more effective for that purpose. Why isn't burst fire used more often? Well - it depends on the unit. But the US Army trains on precision shooting for one reason: conservation. First, a soldier with a standard combat load can quickly deplete his ammo if firing indiscriminately in burst. Second, indiscriminately expending ammunition is expensive. The ratio of rounds per enemy KIA in the Vietnam War was insanely high, which is why the Army eliminated automatic fire on assault rifles and discourages the use of burst. The cost of producing, transporting, and securing ammunition is high and it also elevates the risk to combat support elements responsible for those operations since it requires them to resupply forward units more frequently.

All of my kits have dual roles. Like the OP, my Assault kit uses the rifle as the primary weapon and a shotgun for close quarters. He also has C4. When not breaching, he's part of the maneuver element (with the rifleman) to assault enemy positions. The Marksman is also the medic and ammo-bearer (one additional LMG magazine and one additional rocket). The Rifleman, like the Marksman, is also a medic and ammo-bearer. The Grenedier (Rocket) uses a rifle with the rocket in the pack, while the LMG has a pistol as a secondary firearm. I rely heavily on LMG for suppression to enable my riflemen and assault to maneuver near the enemy to destroy them in close combat. Frag and smoke grenades are used heavily. C4 is used for breaching doors and walls, and for reducing obstacles. Ditto for rockets, especially when armored enemies are concentrated in a small area. As everyone has noted, maneuvering the LMG and rocket into a firing position is difficult, and needs to be timed well. When moving into the enemy's field of fire and unable to fire that turn, smoke combined with the use of cover is key to increasing the odds of survival. It helps having a medic immediately on hand. In some circumstances, either weapon can be fired after moving around a corner if your assault element is close enough to the enemy to destroy them by the end of the turn. Gaining superiority of fires (i.e. destroying or suppressing the enemy) is absolutely essential. Both LMGs and rockets can accomplish this or enable it if used correctly.

I haven't seen a problem with balance yet. The larger number of enemies per map makes it more challenging but it helps that some of them are unarmed. Most of my questions are really a matter of gameplay; and I'm sure they'll be answered as I continue exploring the mod. The one problem I have is building my soldiers' kits since the item weights have been changed. But that's really just a load-out management issue. For example, my assault/breacher kit uses the rifle as the primary weapon, since it's more likely to be used than the shotgun until I actually breach a craft. The shotgun is kept in the pack with the C4 and breaching tool. However, I can't put both the rifle and shotgun in the pack because of the dimensions, meaning I have to drop a weapon to use the breaching device. And since the belt is full of grenades now the C4 can't go there either. Whereas in vanilla, the C4 was treated as a secondary weapon and I didn't have that problem. I'll probably just have to cross-load some of the equipment to another soldier.

I'll just like to say thank you to the mod developers for greatly improving upon an already amazing game. The randomness of the enemy composition especially adds to the intensity. And the economy changes lets me focus more on the tactical battle instead of stressing about financing. I have missed a week's worth of tasks because of this game! Thanks!