Transfer of Scientists & Engineers to other bases

[Steve]

HTF do I transfer Scientists & Engineers??  I see how to TX Soldiers.  There is a field on the Scientists & Engineers screens that says "number of scientists/engineers in transit", but I don't see any obvious way to do it.

Do I have to fire them in one location and rehire in the other??

[bifohe6676]

33 minutes ago, Steve said:

HTF do I transfer Scientists & Engineers??  I see how to TX Soldiers.  There is a field on the Scientists & Engineers screens that says "number of scientists/engineers in transit", but I don't see any obvious way to do it.

Do I have to fire them in one location and rehire in the other??

Scientists and engineers are not transfered like soldiers, you can just fire them in one spot and hire them in another without any consequences.

Although I am not sure why you would ever want to fire scientists and engineers in any base, generally you always want more of these guys globally unless you are really struggeling with income.

The "number of scientists/engineers in transit" box just tells you how many new people are on their way to your bases after you hired them, so you don't wonder why the lab/workshop capacity is maxed out after you hired a bunch but you don't have their extra work-speed yet.

[Steve]

I build specialized bases for research and engineering.  As I progress thru the game I transfer both functions out of the original base so I can maximize capacity.

[bifohe6676]

17 minutes ago, Steve said:

I build specialized bases for research and engineering.  As I progress thru the game I transfer both functions out of the original base so I can maximize capacity.

Fair enough, I do that for Xenonauts 1 and for Xenonauts 2 too for lab and workshop expansion (I think most people do this), but I don't cut back on the main base much while doing that.

So yeah, just fire and hire them as you please.

[doubleskulls]

What are people's strategies around bases? I'm thinking 

• Base defence missions - can I get away with Sentry Guns? $40k to build, but only $2k pcm maintenance makes them cheaper than soldiers with pretty much any sort of worthwhile equipment. Are they good enough for base defence missions?  If so I can build bases without needing living quarters etc for soldiers, unless I want a dropship there. 
• Missile batteries - are they worth building? On veteran I've had one base defence mission and it was a bit painful but survivable without any batteries. 
• Workshops can generate a small profit, but the return on investment is quite poor, so its only worth building workshops you need. The upfront investment in workshops etc does not pay back within the scope of the game.  Having a 2nd base with workshops is useful so I build fast enough. 
• How many labs do people build? I'm thinking 3 may be enough, which I can fit into my original base. 

So other than maybe a second base with some workshops, I'm thinking everything after the first base is mainly just an interceptor/radar base - 3 hangers, as many radars as you need for coverage, generators for the radar, and Sentry Guns for defence. 1 base with 3 radar costs the same as 1.5 bases with 1 radar, so I'm thinking North America and South America probably require a base each, but Europe/Africa and Asia/Soviets can each be covered by one base with 2 or 3 radar.  Will that be enough interceptors though?

[Steve]

I've attached a PowerPoint file with the layouts I normally use.  There are millions of possibilities, but these suit my style of gameplay pretty well.  I use the same basic thought process for Xenonauts 1 and all of the XCom games.

As time permits and depending on how fast I get my Research Base and Engineering Base up and running I will slowly convert the default base to something more functional.  I run my main strike team from here.

While that is going on I will slowly build what I call generic bases.  Based on the placement of the first 3 bases I will build the generic bases in locations with the highest alien activity.  From those bases, I will run additional strike teams if things get really busy.  I'll load them up with fighter/interceptor aircraft with one drop ship.  That being said place all of your bases for the most efficient radar coverage.  Don't overlap.

Bases Grid.pptx