Would it be possible to add the 0-1 alien guards to the Light Scout, a set of equipment for the non-combatants that includes a plasma rifle, or making the plasma pistol more deadly. Maybe this is the effect of having played the Alpha for so much, but the first half a month of ground combat seems incredibly monotonous fighting light scouts and the one or three aliens with plasma pistols in the light scout pose absolutely no threat to even unarmored Xenonauts personnel. Looking at the technology tree, it seems that the effect of earlier plasma rifles might be an earlier ability to research Alien Plasma Technology, but since that should be available once you shoot down the first scout anyways it does not seem like it would create much of an advantage for the player.