🚀 go-pugleaf

On Tue, 4 Mar 2003 15:43:40 -0000, "Malc" <malcN...@gothcorp.co.uk>
wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>Pretty much ever terror mission that I start has the same problem: as I
>deploy my troops from the craft at least one of them gets shot by a nearby
>alien with a full clip of plasma and enough time units to get a fair chance
>of hitting. My cunning plan of dropping a smoke grenade out first seems not
>to help too much either :o(
>One thing that I have learned is to split the deployment across a few phases
>so my agents are not all bunched up right at the start of the mission: a
>carefully placed Alien grenade has dampended my spirits too many times as it
>is, without having to worry about loosing my *entire* squad!
>
>So, before I resort to purchasing "cannon fodder" troops, would you guys
>share your tactics?
>
> - Malc
>
The only way I ever found to (sometimes) get around this is to exit
the craft, and *immediately* turn to one side or another.  This allows
the small possibility of the plasma shot hitting the landing gear or
ramp.  I also only move out 4 to 6 troops per turn (depending on
mission and layout) or skip the whole first turn and deploy on turn 2,
if not a terror mission.  Or use a HWP.

The main flaw I have found while waiting during the first
turn-yesterday an etherial soldier lobbed a grendade straight into the
Skyranger.  Two of the three guys left panicked.  Can you say dust
off?

--
TTFN
Gizmocat

still waiting for a clever signature...

In message <b42hj8$1r8un4$1...@ID-137661.news.dfncis.de>, Malc
<malcN...@gothcorp.co.uk> writes

>as I
>deploy my troops from the craft at least one of them gets shot by a nearby
>alien with a full clip of plasma
        I send one out first ... have a look around ... of course,
sometimes the first one becomes the start of a huge body pile next to
the landing legs of the SkyRanger :-(

        There really is no way around that ... until the ******* runs
out of shots ... :-(

        I wonder ... would one catch the alien's fire movement with a
movement detector?  I rarely have any ...


        "cannon-fodder goes first"  :-(

>dropping a smoke grenade out first seems not
>to help
        Waste of space ... never use 'em!  :-)

        My load-out is a grenade and medikit each, two stun weapons,
pistols for those with stun weapons and lasers or heavy plasma for the
rest (assuming I have the tech); armour for the higher ranks and
psi-amps in abundance later.

>split the deployment across a few phases
>so my agents are not all bunched up right at the start of the mission: a
>carefully placed Alien grenade has dampended my spirits too many times

        A very good point.

        If assaulting a Battleship, get them all spaced out -quickly-
... blaster bombs can make a huge dent in your squad and one in the
SkyRanger and it's "game over".  Especially against Sectoids and
Ethereals ... out of sight is safer.

        Don't be afraid to go the "wrong way" on the fist turn ... just
to get distance.  The live ones can come back later and investigate the
burn marks :-(



        I don't see any problem with your tactics ... sometimes the
Aliens are just waiting for you :-(

        The longer you take to get to the scene, the more likely the
Alien Ambush is ... I find.
-- 
Rex M F Smith

In message <s8q96vs2gf8nunkkk...@4ax.com>, Gizmocat 
<furr...@calweb.com> writes

>while waiting during the first
>turn-yesterday an etherial soldier lobbed a grendade straight into the
>Skyranger.  Two of the three guys left panicked.

While trying to pin down the Ethereal, Squaddie with the 
blaster-launcher is mind-controlled, spins and launches *into* the 
SkyRanger ... mission over :-(
-- 
Rex M F Smith

One time on TFTD, I on the first round primed everyones grenades well haha..
then when I opened the door an Aquatoid shot 1 of my guys and I dont
remember how it went but I lost everyguy on the 1 round and I just saw
BuuumBuumBuum because everyguys grenades was blowing up so it was the first
time I saw 1 Aquatoid kill 14 X-Com soldiers. Yes Eearth conquered by 8~
Aquatoids.....

"Malc" <malcN...@gothcorp.co.uk> wrote in message
news:b42hj8$1r8un4$1@ID-137661.news.dfncis.de...
> Hi all,
>
> Pretty much ever terror mission that I start has the same problem: as I
> deploy my troops from the craft at least one of them gets shot by a nearby
> alien with a full clip of plasma and enough time units to get a fair
chance
> of hitting. My cunning plan of dropping a smoke grenade out first seems
not
> to help too much either :o(
> One thing that I have learned is to split the deployment across a few
phases
> so my agents are not all bunched up right at the start of the mission: a
> carefully placed Alien grenade has dampended my spirits too many times as
it
> is, without having to worry about loosing my *entire* squad!
>
Yeah, first few turns of terror mission, have my men move out in groups of
two or three, with the front row left in the ship kneeling for better shot
accuracy. The men move out to the front, left and right of the door, so mind
control/grenades won't hurt all of them

"RMF Smith" <usenet@[127.0.0.1]> wrote in message
news:I64NCzDR7RZ+Ew7C@gehena.demon.co.uk...
> In message <b42hj8$1r8un4$1...@ID-137661.news.dfncis.de>, Malc
> <malcN...@gothcorp.co.uk> writes
>
> >as I
> >deploy my troops from the craft at least one of them gets shot by a
nearby
> >alien with a full clip of plasma
>         I send one out first ... have a look around ... of course,
> sometimes the first one becomes the start of a huge body pile next to
> the landing legs of the SkyRanger :-(
>

It's alyways frustrating when that happens, so easy to get cought by the "he
*must* be out of ammo now, he's already killed three of my guys" line
followed by a determined  <click of the
mouse><stamp><stamp><stamp><gunshot><scream><crumple> :o(
Oh, and never forget that Aliens occasionally have alien-freinds on the
*other* side of the Skyranger... been cought by that more than once too
*sob*

>         There really is no way around that ... until the ******* runs
> out of shots ... :-(
>
>         I wonder ... would one catch the alien's fire movement with a
> movement detector?  I rarely have any ...
>
>
>         "cannon-fodder goes first"  :-(
>
> >dropping a smoke grenade out first seems not
> >to help
>         Waste of space ... never use 'em!  :-)

I have come to a similar conclusion, that said, smoke can be useful - when
destroying all of the pumps in a petrol station the amount of smoke
generated from that tends to be enough to hide all but the closest enemies.
Well worth dropping a grenade into the middle, waiting for the explosion and
doing a run for it! Especially when needing to make a quick exit from a
nasty terror mission! (Snakemen & Crysalids vs. Rookies with Rifles... Oh a
brave but foolish day that was!)

<snip>
>
>         If assaulting a Battleship, get them all spaced out -quickly-
> ... blaster bombs can make a huge dent in your squad and one in the
> SkyRanger and it's "game over".  Especially against Sectoids and
> Ethereals ... out of sight is safer.

When the Blaster launcher gets researched I tend to rely on the scorched
earth solution of demolishing anything that I think might have an alien
nearby until I'm out of ammo. Sending out the mop-up teams afterwards saves
an awful lot of potentially painful blind corner issues!

<snip>
>
>
>         I don't see any problem with your tactics ... sometimes the
> Aliens are just waiting for you :-(
>
>         The longer you take to get to the scene, the more likely the
> Alien Ambush is ... I find.

That I find easy to believe, unfortunately I'm still a long way from
researching decent craft so the terror missions that I'm getting are taking
an awful long time to reach (<grrr> skyranger <grrr>).

Would I be right in guessing  that the agents with the higher reaction
levels have more of a chance to get out of the craft without being fired on?

- Malc

"Malc" <malcN...@gothcorp.co.uk> wrote in
news:b42hj8$1r8un4$1...@ID-137661.news.dfncis.de: 

> Hi all,
> 
> Pretty much ever terror mission that I start has the same problem: as
> I deploy my troops from the craft at least one of them gets shot by a
> nearby alien with a full clip of plasma and enough time units to get a
> fair chance of hitting. My cunning plan of dropping a smoke grenade
> out first seems not to help too much either :o(
> One thing that I have learned is to split the deployment across a few
> phases so my agents are not all bunched up right at the start of the
> mission: a carefully placed Alien grenade has dampended my spirits too
> many times as it is, without having to worry about loosing my *entire*
> squad! 
> 
> So, before I resort to purchasing "cannon fodder" troops, would you
> guys share your tactics?
> 
>  - Malc
> 
> 

terrors are tough...I used to toss out a gernade out the doors just to the 
left and right of the ship then let the aliens take the first turn ...I 
still use the first turn strategy as the aliens often dont save enough time 
units to shoot so the are sitting ducks ...but dont miss em ;)

 Incedentally TFTD ships are so much better to "hide" in and wait for 
aliens to come to you ..in the early stages of the game (Jan-may ) ide wait 
in my ship for as many as 50 turns opening the doors and potshoting anyone 
who got the nerve to come to my doorways ..then go out and clear out the 
remaining 6-7 aliens 

On Thu, 01 May 2003 13:40:06 GMT, lightfoot <bluee...@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>"Malc" <malcN...@gothcorp.co.uk> wrote in
>news:b42hj8$1r8un4$1...@ID-137661.news.dfncis.de: 
>
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> Pretty much ever terror mission that I start has the same problem: as
>> I deploy my troops from the craft at least one of them gets shot by a
>> nearby alien with a full clip of plasma and enough time units to get a
>> fair chance of hitting. My cunning plan of dropping a smoke grenade
>> out first seems not to help too much either :o(
>> One thing that I have learned is to split the deployment across a few
>> phases so my agents are not all bunched up right at the start of the
>> mission: a carefully placed Alien grenade has dampended my spirits too
>> many times as it is, without having to worry about loosing my *entire*
>> squad! 
>> 
>> So, before I resort to purchasing "cannon fodder" troops, would you
>> guys share your tactics?
>> 
>>  - Malc
>> 
>> 
>
>terrors are tough...I used to toss out a gernade out the doors just to the 
>left and right of the ship then let the aliens take the first turn ...I 
>still use the first turn strategy as the aliens often dont save enough time 
>units to shoot so the are sitting ducks ...but dont miss em ;)
>
> Incedentally TFTD ships are so much better to "hide" in and wait for 
>aliens to come to you ..in the early stages of the game (Jan-may ) ide wait 
>in my ship for as many as 50 turns opening the doors and potshoting anyone 
>who got the nerve to come to my doorways ..then go out and clear out the 
>remaining 6-7 aliens 


I usually have a HWP tank and send that out first.  If I'm lucky
enough not to get the tank blown to pieces, it is usually able to take
out 2 to 3 aliens before it runs out of ammo.  Then I use it for a
scout vehicle.

Blister <hrf2b...@attbi.com> wrote in message news:<t1c2bvkrd7in50dkf...@4ax.com>...
> > Incedentally TFTD ships are so much better to "hide" in and wait for 
> >aliens to come to you ..in the early stages of the game (Jan-may ) ide wait 
> >in my ship for as many as 50 turns opening the doors and potshoting anyone 
> >who got the nerve to come to my doorways ..then go out and clear out the 
> >remaining 6-7 aliens 

I'm not sure I'd trust this strategy.  The problem with it is that the
subs don't protect your agents from grenades, even when they explode
outside the sub.  A few times, I've had a whole bunch of soldiers die
to that.  At least that generally doesn't happen in UFO since you're
up a level.  Not that I haven't had an alien toss a grenade up into
the Skyranger. :-\  Maybe in my situation it doesn't work because I
don't leave *everyone* in the sub.  Then again, lots of time I've had
a ton of aquanauts die right in the sub due to reaction fire from
aliens just outside.  Guess it doesn't matter where your agents are,
they're going to die one way or another in TFTD. :)  I think the smoke
grenades are useful in UFO.  They won't keep the aliens from killing
your guys, but it does sometimes keep aliens from seeing your guys so
they don't have a target.  More than once, I've come upon an alien at
very close range in a smoke screen.  One time it was the only thing
that saved my butt when I landed right in the middle of a crossfire at
a terror site.  Only 1 guy survived, but he was the last one standing
... er, more like cowering.

> I usually have a HWP tank and send that out first.  If I'm lucky
> enough not to get the tank blown to pieces, it is usually able to take
> out 2 to 3 aliens before it runs out of ammo.  Then I use it for a
> scout vehicle.

I always use a tank but try to avoid taking aliens out with them. 
I'll use them to spot and then try to fire at the aliens with one of
my agents to help improve their skills.  Problem is those tanks are
expensive to replace.  They can generally stand a couple of hits, but
if they do go down it can put a strain on your finances.  Maybe using
rookies is more efficient ... they're cheaper and not considering
grenades, can withstand 4 hits for the same amount of space.  Only
problem here is the equipment limit.  Have to try this next time ...
the old Russian WW2 human wave strategy. :)

Warren

"Warren" <wsmit...@yahoo.com> wrote

> > > Incedentally TFTD ships are so much better to "hide" in and wait for
> > >aliens to come to you ..in the early stages of the game (Jan-may ) ide
wait
> > >in my ship for as many as 50 turns opening the doors and potshoting
anyone
> > >who got the nerve to come to my doorways ..then go out and clear out
the
> > >remaining 6-7 aliens
>
> I'm not sure I'd trust this strategy.  The problem with it is that the
> subs don't protect your agents from grenades, even when they explode
> outside the sub.

Isn't this only true when the doors are open - which only happens if you
exit the sub (or fire from the doorway) in your own turn? I have usually
found that if an alien has a shot at the doors, the simplest thing to do is
to make no moves at all. The doors stay shut and there is a good chance the
aliens will move away.

> > I usually have a HWP tank and send that out first.  If I'm lucky
> > enough not to get the tank blown to pieces, it is usually able to take
> > out 2 to 3 aliens before it runs out of ammo.  Then I use it for a
> > scout vehicle.
>
> I always use a tank but try to avoid taking aliens out with them.
> I'll use them to spot and then try to fire at the aliens with one of
> my agents to help improve their skills.

I use them to draw reaction fire, so my guys can then improve their shooting
by firing at the alien who engaged the tank.

On 1 May 2003 11:02:28 -0700, wsmit...@yahoo.com (Warren) wrote:

>Blister <hrf2b...@attbi.com> wrote in message news:<t1c2bvkrd7in50dkf...@4ax.com>...

>> I usually have a HWP tank and send that out first.  If I'm lucky
>> enough not to get the tank blown to pieces, it is usually able to take
>> out 2 to 3 aliens before it runs out of ammo.  Then I use it for a
>> scout vehicle.
>
>I always use a tank but try to avoid taking aliens out with them. 
>I'll use them to spot and then try to fire at the aliens with one of
>my agents to help improve their skills.  Problem is those tanks are
>expensive to replace.  They can generally stand a couple of hits, but
>if they do go down it can put a strain on your finances.  Maybe using
>rookies is more efficient ... they're cheaper and not considering
>grenades, can withstand 4 hits for the same amount of space.  Only
>problem here is the equipment limit.  Have to try this next time ...
>the old Russian WW2 human wave strategy. :)
>
>Warren


That is a good point about improving the agents skill levels.  I often
don't pay enough attention to that and then find myself in trouble
late in the game because of it.

As to cost of tanks.  I usually have one base set up and devoted to
just  manufacturing Laser Cannons, so cost is never much of a factor.
I always have more money than I need using this strategy.  

lightfoot wrote:

> 
>  Incedentally TFTD ships are so much better to "hide" in and wait for 
> aliens to come to you ..in the early stages of the game (Jan-may ) ide wait 
> in my ship for as many as 50 turns opening the doors and potshoting anyone 
> who got the nerve to come to my doorways ..then go out and clear out the 
> remaining 6-7 aliens 

I tried that once.  Opened the door and got hit with a grenade which 
exploded on the ships roof.

Result.
12 Aquanats with major head aches!  Everone took damages and 1-2 points 
of bleed wounds.  After I got the wounds patched up the alien had 
already started mindcontroling my poor troopers.

Was not a good day to be on that mission.  I think I ended up with 4 
survivors

Raille

Blister wrote:
> On 1 May 2003 11:02:28 -0700, wsmit...@yahoo.com (Warren) wrote:
>
>> Blister <hrf2b...@attbi.com> wrote in message
>> news:<t1c2bvkrd7in50dkf...@4ax.com>...

> As to cost of tanks.  I usually have one base set up and devoted to
> just  manufacturing Laser Cannons, so cost is never much of a factor.
> I always have more money than I need using this strategy.

Woe to any Sectopods to attempt to invade that base!

Xizor

Raille <rai...@mich.com> wrote in news:3EB1...@mich.com:

> lightfoot wrote:
> 
>> 
>>  Incedentally TFTD ships are so much better to "hide" in and wait for
>> aliens to come to you ..in the early stages of the game (Jan-may )
>> ide wait in my ship for as many as 50 turns opening the doors and
>> potshoting anyone who got the nerve to come to my doorways ..then go
>> out and clear out the remaining 6-7 aliens 
> 
> I tried that once.  Opened the door and got hit with a grenade which 
> exploded on the ships roof.
> 
> Result.
> 12 Aquanats with major head aches!  Everone took damages and 1-2
> points of bleed wounds.  After I got the wounds patched up the alien
> had already started mindcontroling my poor troopers.
> 
> Was not a good day to be on that mission.  I think I ended up with 4 
> survivors
> 
> Raille
> 
> 

Gee raille in all my years and many 1,000's of missions between xcom and 
tftd ive yet to ever see an alien throw a gernade on my turn .. yeah ive 
been blaster bombed ,shot, and stunned but ive yet to ever see an alien 
throw a gernade on an opportunity-fire.

 mind control isnt a big issue in early missions although tedious as hell 
drop every soldiers weapon before you click end turn sooner or later the 
aliens pick 3-4 soldiers they focus on and they cant do jack without a 
weapon yeah you lose opportunity-fire but by selecting save time units for 
kneel you get maximum movements towards the ships and save 4 time units 
enough to drop a gun and gernade(not primed duhhhhh).


 still sticking with the stay in the ship as a great strategy for the early 
stages of the game your front door men get awesome skills after a few 
missions and you tend to keep them back afterwards making them marksmen 
from the doorways front 2 kneeling looking left and right 2 directly behind 
standing looking foreward and position (6) on the craft looking to his 
right gives you 5 guns trained on the doors with as many as 30 shots on 1 
turn. these 5 cannot get gernaded but yeah you can lose 1 to opportunity 
fire still leaves you with plenty of firepower trianed on the alien who 
shot him.
           s=standing k=kneeling x=another soldier         x x

         soldier position =  (2s)(4s)(6s) line of vision = | | / x x x
                             (1k)(3k)                      \ / x x x x
                                               front doors _ _ front doors

"The Blue Max" <brunos...@Jasta1.com> wrote in
news:86831e5cba20ea5f9094eed71790aa56@TeraNews: 

> 
> "Warren" <wsmit...@yahoo.com> wrote
> 
>> > > Incedentally TFTD ships are so much better to "hide" in and wait
>> > > for 
>> > >aliens to come to you ..in the early stages of the game (Jan-may )
>> > >ide 
> wait
>> > >in my ship for as many as 50 turns opening the doors and
>> > >potshoting 
> anyone
>> > >who got the nerve to come to my doorways ..then go out and clear
>> > >out 
> the
>> > >remaining 6-7 aliens
>>
>> I'm not sure I'd trust this strategy.  The problem with it is that
>> the subs don't protect your agents from grenades, even when they
>> explode outside the sub.
> 
> Isn't this only true when the doors are open - which only happens if
> you exit the sub (or fire from the doorway) in your own turn? I have
> usually found that if an alien has a shot at the doors, the simplest
> thing to do is to make no moves at all. The doors stay shut and there
> is a good chance the aliens will move away.
> 
>> > I usually have a HWP tank and send that out first.  If I'm lucky
>> > enough not to get the tank blown to pieces, it is usually able to
>> > take out 2 to 3 aliens before it runs out of ammo.  Then I use it
>> > for a scout vehicle.
>>
>> I always use a tank but try to avoid taking aliens out with them.
>> I'll use them to spot and then try to fire at the aliens with one of
>> my agents to help improve their skills.
> 
> I use them to draw reaction fire, so my guys can then improve their
> shooting by firing at the alien who engaged the tank.
> 
> 

warren you can open the doors to a ship on tftd without entering the ship 
or in this case exiting it ( right click on square directly outside doors) 
yes they will often move away if you make no move at all and this is 
generally recommended on the very first turn but after the aliens have had 
a turn they tend to use up all the time units(specially ones outside of a 
craft) they have then they are cannon fodder feel free to potshot them 
after they have had at least 1 turn ( note some aliens do not make a move 
they are dangerous they will shoot you) but new visuals often get you free 
shots as they cannot shoot back ( get a mind probe and test this later on 
if you dont believe it ...what can it hurt:) and this works awesome for 
lobstermen who take 2-3 plasma hits when you got no armour to protect from 
the return fire

wsmit...@yahoo.com (Warren) wrote in
news:81d917d0.03...@posting.google.com: 

> Blister <hrf2b...@attbi.com> wrote in message
> news:<t1c2bvkrd7in50dkf...@4ax.com>... 
>> > Incedentally TFTD ships are so much better to "hide" in and wait
>> > for 
>> >aliens to come to you ..in the early stages of the game (Jan-may )
>> >ide wait in my ship for as many as 50 turns opening the doors and
>> >potshoting anyone who got the nerve to come to my doorways ..then go
>> >out and clear out the remaining 6-7 aliens 
> 
> I'm not sure I'd trust this strategy.  The problem with it is that the
> subs don't protect your agents from grenades, even when they explode
> outside the sub.  A few times, I've had a whole bunch of soldiers die
> to that.  At least that generally doesn't happen in UFO since you're
> up a level.  Not that I haven't had an alien toss a grenade up into
> the Skyranger. :-\  Maybe in my situation it doesn't work because I
> don't leave *everyone* in the sub.  Then again, lots of time I've had
> a ton of aquanauts die right in the sub due to reaction fire from
> aliens just outside.  Guess it doesn't matter where your agents are,
> they're going to die one way or another in TFTD. :)  I think the smoke
> grenades are useful in UFO.  They won't keep the aliens from killing
> your guys, but it does sometimes keep aliens from seeing your guys so
> they don't have a target.  More than once, I've come upon an alien at
> very close range in a smoke screen.  One time it was the only thing
> that saved my butt when I landed right in the middle of a crossfire at
> a terror site.  Only 1 guy survived, but he was the last one standing
> ... er, more like cowering.
> 
>> I usually have a HWP tank and send that out first.  If I'm lucky
>> enough not to get the tank blown to pieces, it is usually able to
>> take out 2 to 3 aliens before it runs out of ammo.  Then I use it for
>> a scout vehicle.
> 
> I always use a tank but try to avoid taking aliens out with them. 
> I'll use them to spot and then try to fire at the aliens with one of
> my agents to help improve their skills.  Problem is those tanks are
> expensive to replace.  They can generally stand a couple of hits, but
> if they do go down it can put a strain on your finances.  Maybe using
> rookies is more efficient ... they're cheaper and not considering
> grenades, can withstand 4 hits for the same amount of space.  Only
> problem here is the equipment limit.  Have to try this next time ...
> the old Russian WW2 human wave strategy. :)
> 
> Warren

yeah warren ive got nailed three times this time ( yeah playing tftd for 
like the 8th time) on the outside gernades all three times i had enough men 
left to finish (or abort) mission so lossess although hurt at least i kept 
my craft and weapons ..still using that strategy i killed hundreds of 
aliens and they got me with three gernades in 200 missions outside the 
craft before i had my men suited up with armor.

 oh ps think it needs to go without saying that this strategy wont work if 
your craft is on the outer edge with you facing the edge your crafts back 
to the edge is when it works best the aliens arent behind you if your backs 
to the wall        __________________       
                  |**  your craft  **|  ** your craft positions
                  |    works good    |
                  |                  |
                  |                  |
                  |                  |
                  |                  |
                  --------------------   
                  |                  |
                  |  not gonna work  |
                  |                  |
                  |                  |
                  |                  |
                  |**  your craft  **|
                  --------------------
oh and a ps my absolute fave mission in the last few 100 missions came on a 
landed vl where the buggers launched a stun bomb right inside and i had 1 
man left standing he stayed on the craft collecting up the unconcious men 
and standing on them to revive them ( no med kits) and pot shot when he saw 
aliens ./. took about 200 turns to get em all up and kill all the aliens 
but i walked out without a single loss ...bite me lobster boys

lightfoot <bluee...@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:Xns9370869C320E...@66.185.95.104: 

> "Malc" <malcN...@gothcorp.co.uk> wrote in
> news:b42hj8$1r8un4$1...@ID-137661.news.dfncis.de: 
> 
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> Pretty much ever terror mission that I start has the same problem: as
>> I deploy my troops from the craft at least one of them gets shot by a
>> nearby alien with a full clip of plasma and enough time units to get
>> a fair chance of hitting. My cunning plan of dropping a smoke grenade
>> out first seems not to help too much either :o(
>> One thing that I have learned is to split the deployment across a few
>> phases so my agents are not all bunched up right at the start of the
>> mission: a carefully placed Alien grenade has dampended my spirits
>> too many times as it is, without having to worry about loosing my
>> *entire* squad! 
>> 
>> So, before I resort to purchasing "cannon fodder" troops, would you
>> guys share your tactics?
>> 
>>  - Malc
 

hey malc? dont know if you are already doing this but you can save precious 
time units if you walk your first 2 men onto the ramp turn em to the right 
or left and then step off the ramp this gives you a shot when your off the 
craft and mebbe enough time units to hide behind the landing gear.

 ps i think my biggest beef with x-com is the difficulty level in the early 
stages this games near impossible especially that first terror mission if 
its sectiods and you got 4 lazer rifles and some heavy charges and later on 
the all too easy missions

In message <b8sofi$ddbkc$2...@ID-172278.news.dfncis.de>, Xizor 
<dannyf_...@hotmail.com> writes
>Blister wrote:
>> On 1 May 2003 11:02:28 -0700, wsmit...@yahoo.com (Warren) wrote:
>>
>>> Blister <hrf2b...@attbi.com> wrote in message
>>> news:<t1c2bvkrd7in50dkf...@4ax.com>...
>
>>I  have one base
>> just  manufacturing Laser Cannons
>
>Woe to any Sectopods to attempt to invade that base!
>
Well, not really, the Laser Cannon is an aircraft weapon ... LaserTanks 
on the other hand ;-)
-- 
Rex M F Smith

lightfoot wrote:
> Raille <rai...@mich.com> wrote in news:3EB1...@mich.com:
> 
> 
>>lightfoot wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Incedentally TFTD ships are so much better to "hide" in and wait for
>>>aliens to come to you ..in the early stages of the game (Jan-may )
>>>ide wait in my ship for as many as 50 turns opening the doors and
>>>potshoting anyone who got the nerve to come to my doorways ..then go
>>>out and clear out the remaining 6-7 aliens 
>>
>>I tried that once.  Opened the door and got hit with a grenade which 
>>exploded on the ships roof.
>>
>>Result.
>>12 Aquanats with major head aches!  Everone took damages and 1-2
>>points of bleed wounds.  After I got the wounds patched up the alien
>>had already started mindcontroling my poor troopers.
>>
>>Was not a good day to be on that mission.  I think I ended up with 4 
>>survivors
>>
>>Raille
>>
>>
> 
> 
> Gee raille in all my years and many 1,000's of missions between xcom and 
> tftd ive yet to ever see an alien throw a gernade on my turn .. yeah ive 
> been blaster bombed ,shot, and stunned but ive yet to ever see an alien 
> throw a gernade on an opportunity-fire.
> 

Sorry, I failed to explain fully.  Its one of those, popped the doors 
open, get shot at and see a whole lot of lobsterboys hanging around the 
exit.  Close door and pray.

At least I didn't get the bug I've encountered infrequently where the 
doors get stuck open!

Raille

On Fri, 02 May 2003 07:21:38 GMT, lightfoot <bluee...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> ps i think my biggest beef with x-com is the difficulty level in the early 
>stages this games near impossible especially that first terror mission if 
>its sectiods and you got 4 lazer rifles and some heavy charges and later on 
>the all too easy missions

Yeah, that early Sectoid terror mission can really hurt.  Sometimes worth
just showing up and bugging off.  Not only the Cyberdiscs, which are
dangerous enough, but also the Sectiod Leaders who can mind control your
guys.  I breathe a big sigh of relief when those missions have Floaters.
They can still put a hurtin' on you, but not nearly as bad.  Once you get
over the initial shock of the Snakeman terror troops (can't remember what
they're called at the moment), then Snakeman terror missions are pretty
easy as well.  Who can ever forget their first night terror mission against
those guys, though. :)  Still, all those pale in comparison to an the TFTD
ship terror missions with Lobstermen (without HtH weapons) or Tasoths (due
to mind control issues).  Come to think of it, all the TFTD terror missions
are a real bear. :)

Warren

On Fri, 02 May 2003 06:23:27 GMT, lightfoot <bluee...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>warren you can open the doors to a ship on tftd without entering the ship 
>or in this case exiting it ( right click on square directly outside doors) 
>yes they will often move away if you make no move at all and this is 
>generally recommended on the very first turn but after the aliens have had 
>a turn they tend to use up all the time units(specially ones outside of a 
>craft) they have then they are cannon fodder feel free to potshot them 
>after they have had at least 1 turn ( note some aliens do not make a move 
>they are dangerous they will shoot you) but new visuals often get you free 
>shots as they cannot shoot back ( get a mind probe and test this later on 
>if you dont believe it ...what can it hurt:) and this works awesome for 
>lobstermen who take 2-3 plasma hits when you got no armour to protect from 
>the return fire

I'll give this a shot the next time I fire it up.  In fact, would've last
night except couldn't find my CD.  In general, I haven't tried to get older
games to run on my new XP system, but I'm planning on giving it a try over
the weekend.

Warren

>> 
> 
> Sorry, I failed to explain fully.  Its one of those, popped the doors 
> open, get shot at and see a whole lot of lobsterboys hanging around
> the exit.  Close door and pray.
> 
> At least I didn't get the bug I've encountered infrequently where the 
> doors get stuck open!
> 
> Raille
> 
> 
> now that makes sence yeah ive had the door prob on occasion too , note** 
if you are going to make a **mission** save then whatever position the 
doors are in on your save thats how they will appear after you reboot it up 
....in otherwords if your gonna save before you do a mission then make sure 
the doors you want closed are indeed closed before you save or they wont be 
there on a reboot

"Warren A. Smith Jr." <wsm...@mindspring.com> wrote

> Still, all those pale in comparison to an the TFTD
> ship terror missions with Lobstermen (without HtH weapons)

I must have played TFTD through 8 or 9 times and every time bar the first I
couldn't finish it owing to the tech tree bug. Every time bar one also I've
had *no* HtH weapons for the same reason, and didn't even realise they
existed.

One game I had an alien colony right next to my second base in about week 4,
and I had to assault it with jet harpoons as my main weapon. I encountered
my first lobsterman on that raid and hit it 9 times with harpoons before he
went down - stunned, not killed. When it took 5 shots to take down a
tentaculate it became obvious I was going to run out of ammo - my 10 guys
had 2 x 10-round clips each so even if every remaining round fired was a
hit, I wouldn't be able to deal with more than 2 or 3 more lobsters.

So I retreated headlong, taking the stunned lobster with me. Later I went to
a port raid site, this time armed with Gauss rifles, thinking I was niow
tooled up enough to do them some serious harm. I found myself deploying from
the bottom right. North was a house / hotel complex and west there was a
ridge with Easter Island-type statuary. I spotted a lobsterman in cover
behind one of those, so I had 5 or 6 guys take him down and advance to
secure that flank. They ran straight into 3 more lobstermen and a couple of
those mini-flying saucer things which blow up and kill you if you hit them
from too close. Meanwhile more lobstermen started enfilade fire on me from
the roof of the hotel.

At one stage I had so many enemies in sight I was doing Napoleonic-style
volley fire in ranks, trying to blow up the flying saucers so they'd take a
lobsterman down with them. No such luck. I had 4 of 10 killed, 5 wounded, 1
survivor.

I thought DPLs were my salvation and went into the next base assault very
cocky. I fired 2 DPL rouns into a corner where I'd seen 3 lonsters lurking,
then sent one guy in there to count the bodies. Of course he found all 3
still standing.

The best lobster killer I ever had was Astra Kurkenko, whose shooting got so
good she could fire 2 snapshots with a sonic cannon in one turn with 109%
accuracy. As long as she didn't have to turn to fire she could be relied on
to kill a lobsterman every move. I went in and renamed her "Thermidor"
Kurkenko in tribute to her lobster-toasting skills...

"The Blue Max" <brunos...@Jasta1.com> wrote in
news:3ed6650db355408b612631fefb4339c0@TeraNews: 

> 
> I must have played TFTD through 8 or 9 times and every time bar the
> first I couldn't finish it owing to the tech tree bug. Every time bar
> one also I've had *no* HtH weapons for the same reason, and didn't
> even realise they existed.
> 
HtH research the following...calcinite corpse to get vibro blade,once ya 
got the blade reasearched.....gillman corpse to get thermal lance to get 
heavy thermal lance

 tech bug = dont research a tsoth commander ..like ever

 attributes for heavy thermal lance time units needed 10, kills a lobster-
boy in one hit..makes a nice cracking sound too heh heh.**NOTEive used this 
on biodrones as well but only the once and i got it alive it didnt burst 
but i havent enough experience combating biodrones to know if this was a 
fluke or perhaps a way to avoid that nasty explosion

as for colonies max i dont nescessarly take them out right away they 
provide a healthy income with landed supply ships and app 600 points to 
take a supplyship not to mention the irreplaceable 150 zbrite for 
completing the mission. far as ships go i find these supplyships to be 
extremely player friendly in ease to take out with the ship setup even 
lobster boys can be eliminated if you get the ground troops taken care of 
and secure the doors.

 basically once the doors are secure you take two men carefully making sure 
they both go up the left side of the walkway to the elevators and secure 
them (no-one can come up or down now(right side will get ya shot by a guy 
downstairs)
 now youve got the elevators secure take a man up the left side elevator 
with a primed gernade if theres a lobster boy on the right pod place your 
gernade at your feet via the equip-soldier screen and go back down do this 
repeatedly till ya kill him or them.
 if no-ones on the pod check the room directly in front of those elavators 
and do it to him (gotta throw to him but hes facing away)..once ya get that 
done go down the right side of the uppership( keep 2 on the elavators to 
cover your back but you can bring em up a level.you'll find 2-3 lobstermen 
in the main room and they generally will not shoot if you throw gernades at 
them cause they have equipped hth weapons and one has a stun launcher..ps 
leave your gernades on the ground outside the doors to that room case the 
one with the stun launcher gets ya lol.

once upper is cleared if theres stilla couple on the lower level who didnt 
try to come up but had to stop on the second floor and ya killed them with 
doormen ya gotta go in ok np..going downs a ikiller but i place a gernade 
on the 7th tile on the left side of the outside of the ship ..this will 
breach the hull of the ship just enough to get you into a room with a door 
that you can go get a look at the bottom floor without having to use an 
elevator and determine what way is best to kIll the remaing 2-3 lobsterboys
 
oh if ones on the lower right hand deck you can shoot him from upstairs 
(inside second square from the doorway and up against the wall) and 
kneeling after your shot he has no line of fire and has never returned fire 
on me so 3-4 aimed shot will get him "free"*note bring the two from level 
three down to cover the elevators while he takes out this alien in case one 
comes up
  |
* |GERNADE THIS SQUARE OUTSIDE SHIP
6 
5  |
4  |
3 /
2|        
1|
  
   __/--
  max i have 7 existing ALIEN bases on my current game 3 are sectiod 
daytime mission(Super easy with blaster bombs even mind controls a joke 
soon as you see the ship the leaders are on the 3rd level back room one 
bomb to breach the hull one to kill the leaders and poof there goes the mc 
** also works for tsoths as they are in the same place but one bomb inside 
doesnt guarantee you three kills up there) three are lobstermen 1 day 2 
night that will be gone soon as i get hth combat weapons and a tsoth thats 
gotta go they just piss me off lol my points run anywhere from 8,000-10,000 
a month so they dont get too pissy about a base floating around. generally 
speaking you get 2 supply ships a month on a base if your close enough to 
detect them

Warren A. Smith Jr. <wsm...@mindspring.com> writes:

> Yeah, that early Sectoid terror mission can really hurt.

Oh come on, that's not a hard mission. Hard mission is base defense on
day two. Can't bug out, have to win. And with the equipment you start
with. I've only had that happen once and I was so surprised I forgot to
save the game. I also lost... Too bad really, it's quite a challenge.

On Fri, 2 May 2003 14:16:33 +0100, RMF Smith <root@[127.0.0.1]> wrote:

>In message <b8sofi$ddbkc$2...@ID-172278.news.dfncis.de>, Xizor 
><dannyf_...@hotmail.com> writes
>>Blister wrote:
>>> On 1 May 2003 11:02:28 -0700, wsmit...@yahoo.com (Warren) wrote:
>>>
>>>> Blister <hrf2b...@attbi.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:<t1c2bvkrd7in50dkf...@4ax.com>...
>>
>>>I  have one base
>>> just  manufacturing Laser Cannons
>>
>>Woe to any Sectopods to attempt to invade that base!
>>
>Well, not really, the Laser Cannon is an aircraft weapon ... LaserTanks 
>on the other hand ;-)

Besides, I sell them so fast they are of little defensive value
anyways. :-)

Anssi Saari <a...@sci.fi> wrote in 
news:vg3of...@sprite.modeemi.cs.tut.fi:

> Warren A. Smith Jr. <wsm...@mindspring.com> writes:
> 
>> Yeah, that early Sectoid terror mission can really hurt.
> 
> Oh come on, that's not a hard mission. Hard mission is base defense on
> day two. Can't bug out, have to win. And with the equipment you start
> with. I've only had that happen once and I was so surprised I forgot to
> save the game. I also lost... Too bad really, it's quite a challenge.

never as early as day 2 but i have had one in the first month before n yeah 
was a killer not to mention the terror within hours after and not near the 
men to go think i had 1 and 1 wounded (tftd)....hmm day 2 my equiptment? 8 
heavy cannons 24 ap rounds  24 reg gernades and 1 tazer(based on my initial 
equiptment purchase every time i play).. could be a hell of a lotta fun 
(prob near impossible in x-com but doable in tftd cause of the diff between 
a cyberdisc and a calcinite as backups for the sectoids/aquatoids) 

Blister wrote:
> On Fri, 2 May 2003 14:16:33 +0100, RMF Smith <root@[127.0.0.1]> wrote:
>
>> In message <b8sofi$ddbkc$2...@ID-172278.news.dfncis.de>, Xizor
>> <dannyf_...@hotmail.com> writes
>>> Blister wrote:
>>>> On 1 May 2003 11:02:28 -0700, wsmit...@yahoo.com (Warren) wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Blister <hrf2b...@attbi.com> wrote in message
>>>>> news:<t1c2bvkrd7in50dkf...@4ax.com>...
>>>
>>>> I  have one base
>>>> just  manufacturing Laser Cannons
>>>
>>> Woe to any Sectopods to attempt to invade that base!
>>>
>> Well, not really, the Laser Cannon is an aircraft weapon ...
>> LaserTanks on the other hand ;-)
>
> Besides, I sell them so fast they are of little defensive value
> anyways. :-)

Whoops....my bad...tanks, laser, seem to say laser tanks to me...

Xizor