Terror Mission Loadout

[thothkins]

My troops were in Cairo, seeing the sights and being thumped by the aliens.

In particular, I found that my standard 8 man load out was proving to be pretty ineffective in the two current build terror missions I had.

For the third one, I changed things around and came home with only one wounded.

My standard approach has been.

x2 Shotguns. High resilience.

x1 Machine gunners.

x1 rocket launcher

x3 Assault Rifles

x1 Sniper (why not 2? no idea)

I found that the large amounts of space with zero cover render short range weapons obsolete. So, the shotguns are now back up weapons and have been replaced with assault rifles.

Likewise, lugging the rocket launcher around proves to be a chore and also accuracy seems to be an issue with it in my current squad.

The machine gun accuracy seems less in this build, but it's pretty good for suppression.

Jackal armour is now standard. On some UFO missions, I'll let the heavy support weapons go around in basic, just to be able to get the movement. But the terror missions are pretty lethal.

Pistols remain useless (until assault shields?)

The poor Hunter does what it can as a scout/suppressor before being invariably being taken out.

So, I now have

x2 Snipers

x2 Machine Guns

x4 Assault Rifles

and they all have their place, which is something I find more in this game than it's predecessors.

So, what does everyone else do in terror missions?

[Max_Caine]

I load up on LMGs, Precision Rifles and Rocket launchers. Terror Mission maps are far too open for shotguns, and they usually feature the higher class of bad guy. I find with assault rifles I'm pouring magazine after magazine into bad guys with little effect, and they then pull out the heavy plasma and give me a very bad day.

If you want to overcome the problems with weight, I took a tip from RoTGtIe, and overloaded my troopers with gear from day 1. They quickly build up their strangth stat (especially if you kit them out with LMGs and rocket launchers), then you never have to worry about overloading again.

[thothkins]

I am pretty poor when it comes to overloading them form the start. It does make some sense, but for some reason I always get the urge to keep them in the green.

[Chris]

The new build will have them gain strength as long as they are carrying 80% of their carry weight.

Interesting that you don't find the rocket launcher much use, thothkins. I guess it's a bit null with the big old Hunter backing you up though.

[Sjaka]

I usually stack two or three xenonauts behind the tank, since I haven't experienced it "dying" yet.

No problem using shotguns in open enviroment then, since the aliens don't shoot through the tank.

[thothkins]

Interesting that you don't find the rocket launcher much use, thothkins. I guess it's a bit null with the big old Hunter backing you up though.

It's probably just this squad. It used to be a real asset, so happy to say it's just me and I'll certainly be going back to it at some point.

[thothkins]

I usually stack two or three xenonauts behind the tank, since I haven't experienced it "dying" yet.

No problem using shotguns in open enviroment then, since the aliens don't shoot through the tank.

Has there been a build where it blows up, or am I just recalling an older game?

The next question is, will it ever blow up? If not, then it's a definite tactical choice. Well, except for the time I tried it and one Caesian shot the tank and his buddy then shot the bloke using it for cover. Bah!