Let's Play: X-COM - UFO Defense

A quick update while I figure out the difficulty bug some more. I call it...


BETTER KNOW A UFO

One of the keys to success in X-Com is knowing your enemy, and one of the biggest constants that will help determine success is by studying the enemy aircraft. UFOs of a particular type will have the exact same weapon systems, floor layout, and a particular spread of enemy numbers.

Below are images of every enemy ship layout save for the "Extra Small" alien ship, the small scout. Small scouts are rare, and single-occupancy craft, worth little (although the alien who uses will always carry a Mind Probe, worth $300k).

Each image is marked with salient points or tips to remember when assaulting them. Additionally, the following information is presented:

Ship Size: as identified via visual and radar data on the Geoscape. Will help narrow down what the ship's capabilities are, and potentially it's purpose. Note that yes, "Medium" and "Large" scouts are both considered "small" ships.
Weapons Range: the range of the ship's weapons; with proper armament, X-Com craft can use a longer range weapon to take down a craft safely by switching between Aggressive and Disengage maneuvers.
Salvage Value: how much the ship - minus it's valuable Elerium - is worth if completely intact. Value will fluctuate as modules are destroyed by gunfire.
[B]Alien Capacity:[B] Numbers of aliens, by difficulty. (Beginner + Expert) / (Veteran + Genius) / (Superhuman)
[B]Other:[B] Extra notes about the ship, potential adversaries, etc.

Thanks to the UFOpaedia for images and information!

Medium Scout

(1) Watch out for aliens hiding behind the Power Core; this is true for all ships, but a particular problem on both Scout Ships.

Ship Size: Small
Weapons Range: 15km
Salvage Value: $481,500
[B]Alien Capacity:[B] 3-6 / 4-7 / 6-9 Aliens

Large Scout

(1) Out of the two doors leading to the cockpit/UFO Power Source, the one on the left is generally safer, given it's better defensive position.
(2) If you have a Heavy Plasma weapon, it has about a 10% chance of being able to shoot through this type of wall. It can be a good way of ambushing aliens inside.
(3) Like the Medium Scout, make sure there's no aliens hiding behind the Power Source.

Ship Size: Small
Weapons Range: 34km
Salvage Value: $637,500
[B]Alien Capacity:[B] 3-10 / 4-11 / 6-13 Aliens

Abductor Ship

(1) A very straight forward ship, but note that this passage leads to a dead end. You can however, shoot the tiles with the computer terminals out with a Plasma Rifle, for a quick entrance into the main room.

Ship Size: Medium
Weapons Range: 22
Salvage Value: $1,391,000
[B]Alien Capacity:[B] 9-14 / 11-16 / 13-18 Aliens
[B]Other:[B] Note that if a Sectoid Ship, it will have a Leader capable of using Psionic attacks.

Harvester Ship

(1) Of the two doors, this is the only one that leads upstairs... at least, without a Flying Suit.
(2) There's a gap above the dead cow that one can use a Flying Suit to gain access to the second and third floors. Aliens can use this too! Particularly watch out for Floaters.
(3) If looking to blast one's way in with a Blaster Bomb, this is my personal favorite spot. It will gain you access to at least one (usually both) elevators, and usually with few aliens.

(4) Of the two doors, this one offers the best protection, as there is a dead-end preventing an ambush from behind.
(5) Aliens love to hide in these Food Modules; be careful.
(6) Of the two elevators to the third floor, this is the better one to take. The other is usually guarded.

Ship Size: Medium
Weapons Range: 20km
Salvage Value: $2,304,500
[B]Alien Capacity:[B] 10-15 / 12-17 / 16-21 Aliens.
[B]Other:[B] Note, that if a Sectoid ship, there will be 1 to 2 Leaders who can use Psionic Attacks.

Supply Ship

(1) Aliens sometimes hide in the core; the best way to assault this room is to send in a soldier from each entrance at the same time.
(2) This elevator leads to the third floor. It's the priority on a Sectoid ship to take out the Psionic aliens.
(3) This elevator leads to the second floor. If short on manpower, keep a couple of soldiers guarding this lift.

(4) As these Food Modules are next to the elevator, they can sometimes hide aliens. Be careful!

(5) This corner often has a Leader alien crouched behind it, ready to Reaction Fire your ass. Approach it from the other side, or know where the "computer" panels are, and shoot through them.

Ship Size: Large
Weapons Range: 34m
Salvage Value: $2,162,500
[B]Alien Capacity:[B] 9-16 / 10-17 / 14-21 Aliens
[B]Other:[B] If a Sectoid ship, this ship will have 1 - 2 Sectoid Leaders that can use Psionic attacks. This ship usually does one of two missions: create a base, or supply a base. If you see one, check the area it lands in for an existing alien base.

Terror Ship

(1) These entrances can fit a X-Com tank; they're good units to draw fire with.
(2) Watch out; there are ledges above that aliens can fire/drop down from. Always keep them covered. You can assault them with Flying Suits, although the elevator is more practical. Watch out for Floaters in particular.

(3) Note there are holes here leading below.
(4) If you've got Flying Suits and Blaster Launcher ammo to spare, plant a missile here to assault the base quickly.

Ship Size: Large
Weapons Range: 42km
Salvage Value: $2,398,000
[B]Alien Capacity:[B] 10-14 / 13-17 / 18-23 Aliens
[B]Other:[B] If a Sectoid ship, there will be one Sectoid Leader capable of using Psionic Attacks. This ship will contain the following terror units (counted in the numbers above): 2-5 / 4-7 / 6-10 terror units.

Battleship

(1) This is the "normal" entrance into the alien battleship. Note that a X-Com tank can fit in either door, and makes a good unit to spot for initial defenders.
(2) These cores are usually only accessible from inside, but sometimes contain units. A Blaster Bomb - at the risk of the Power Source - can get you another route into the ship.

(3) During the initial ship assault, you should have enough TUs to move units up the elevator into either of these rooms, away from alien sight.
(4) This room houses the other elevator up to the third floor, and normally is guarded. Bring at least two soldiers to assault this direction.

(5) While there's little cover on this floor, this dead end is a helpful place to hide.

Ship Size: Very Large
Weapons Range: 65km
Salvage Value: $3,301,500
[B]Alien Capacity:[B] 9-15 / 14-20 / 22-28 Aliens
[B]Other:[B] If a Sectoid ship, this craft will have a Sectoid Leader and Commander capable of using Psionic Attacks. This ship may contain the following terror units (counted in the numbers above): 0-2 / 2-4 / 4-6 terror units.

Note the extreme weapons range makes attacking a Battleship on the Geoscape very difficult; only one weapon in the game can match the Battleships's range. It's advised to not try shooting them down.

Welcome back! When we last left, it was TERROR again, but it turned out to just be Floaters. They're pretty much the weakest terror units imaginable, so it wasn't worth really reporting.

PHILLIAM 3 did bite it tho. That sucked.



One touch I like is that on terror missions, gas station pumps will explode when hit.



Unfortunately,Octopus Prime was cut down when trying to take on a hiding Floater. I had gambled that Floater's TUs were low (given that he had shot a civilian the turn before) but no dice.



Otherwise, it wasn't really noteworthy. The final kill tally was as follows:

Austin: 3 kills
Son of Sinistar: 1 kill
MCBanjoMike: 1 kill
Rai: 2 kills
TheSL: 1 kill
Soren Highwind: 1 kill
Epithet: 1 kill



We've gotten quite a bit of money, so we set up shop in Japan. We'll turn this into a Manufacturing base in due time.



We also finish researching Power Suits, so get to work on making them. This should cut down our mortality rate significantly. We'll also get a lot more use out of Medi-Kits with these guys around.



A medium ship lands near Budapest, so we send our troops in to take care of it. Highlights follow.



It's relatively straight forward, but we unfortunately lose nunix to a house crawling with Sectoids. I swear there were 4 of them in there.





This is always kind of funny when it happens; the Sectoid knocked himself out too! Luckily, we have medi-kits and they don't.







Kishi gets his first kill! Being on Blaster Bomb duty sometimes means that you spend your entire mission on the Skyranger waiting for a moment that doesn't come.

You can probably see why I like tagging this particular area with a Blaster Bomb so much.



There's one jerk above trying to mind control our guys. I make a mental note to try and avoid sending Alixsar against psionic aliens.



A good practice in these missions is to have the soldiers you "know" are weak against psionics to never end the turn with a weapon in hand. Mind control will eventually wear off; plasma shots, not so much.

This was dumb of me; I forgot to build an Alien Containment facility in HEY AFRICA! I fix that.



Here's the kill tally:

nunix: 1 kill
reibeatall: 2 kills
Guildenstern: 2 kills
Mogri: 2 kills
Merus: 1 kill
Alixsar: 1 kill
Gerad: 2 kills
Nodal: 2 kills
Kishi: 1 kill



Capturing landed ships is a bit riskier, but look at that payout! I'm getting overloaded with Elerium and Alien Alloys tho, Nerv HQ is going to need a ton of General Stores to hold all of it.







We double our scientists at HEY AFRICA! And get Stun Bomb research finished. We still have to wait on the Launcher research at BASE CAMP to use the weapon of course. For lack of anything pressing, I start getting the Heavy Plasma research done.



We get two UFOs at once, a good as reason as any to make sure you have multiple bases at once.; the first is a small one we shoot down over Brazil. We send BASE CAMP after it.



The other once again lands in Budapest. They're not supply ships... maybe they're just trying to intimidate the locals?



Let's find out.



I'm getting mighty tired of Sectoids.



There's plenty of cover, and it seems like the landing area is clear, so we start using it, and run PHILLIAM 4 behind cover.



As Gerad has a history of succumbing to psionic attacks, we start tossing his weapon on the ground at the end of every turn.





We make our standard sized opening. No aliens killed, but it seems like most of them are in the ship anyway.



On the alien's turn, one peeks it's head out the door.

It gets blasted by Adrenaline.



Nodal shoots through the wall and kills the other one.



Mogri ends his turn here...



... and sees this the following turn. There's definitely an alien here, although I'm not sure if he went in the backyard, or came from it.



The latter!





Calorie Mate tags him with a reaction shot.



Meanwhile, inside reibeatall destroys some alien food, and makes food out of an alien.



Gerad (still being wary of psionic attacks) gets one in the backyard.





Mogri starts a shootout with the last Sectoid that's outside, but the both of them only tear up terrain.



A psionic attack is attempted, but Mogri resists it. I'll have to test him when we eventually get the technology to do so.



Still infiltrating the ship. It's always good to take these things slowly, leaving TUs for reaction fire if possible (doors suck as much for aliens as they do for you).





Mogri finally puts this one out of its misery.

Rei finds another one near the cow, but fails to shoot it properly.





Reaction shots are the most satisfying, probably because of how many units you generally lose to them compared to the aliens.



I hate these foods containers! Just reach your arm around Guildenstern!

I decide to shoot through the food containers instead.



Shooting through the food containers turns out to be a bad idea. This Sectoid gets a reaction shot off at poor Guildernstern. He does not survive.



Adrenaline avenges him.



reibeatall thinks to himself that he's getting too old for this shit.







He gets one, but only grazes the other.







I love reaction shots!

I hate it when the aliens move in packs tho! Calorie Mate does down.



Master avenger Adrenaline gets one of them...



... but gets reaction fired by the other one. I should have moved back.

I hate reaction shots!

(Not screenshotted, but Nodal gets him.)





A weaponless Gerad gets psionically attacked, but he's not a threat.





Kishi resist it, but I'm taking 0 chances.



Nodal takes out a second alien...



... and Mogri comes in and kills the last one.



Profitable, but losing three XCom soldiers makes me wince.

As for the other ship?



It was just a lone alien playing fiddler on the roof.



Well, with that we've got a lot of potential going into what I hope (as long as I don't need to keep fixing this difficulty bug after EVERY mission) is a fun romp on Superhuman difficulty. We've got Power Suits being built, Heavy Plasma being researched, and a strong stable of soldiers.

We're going to need more decoys... er, I mean, good men and women to fight however! If you haven't already, please sign up for duty. And if you DID sign up and were brutally murdered, don't despair! We'll be reaching the technology to "resurrect" you soon!

(And by resurrect I mean recruit someone else with your name and stick them in a Flying Suit.)

See you next time!

An LP amendment: during the course of trying to figure out how to fix the difficulty, I ended up reverting to an earlier save, and throwing out some LP stuff I wasn't going to use. Well, it turns out that I threw out about two weeks of in-game stuff!



First, our March report. Still looking good, but I expect we'll see some losses soon now that I've fixed the difficulty.



Research! This is pretty important for making stuff out of Elerium.



More research! These are effectively, the best X-Com craft weapons (that don't require resources to use). If you compare, you'll notice this will out-range everything but a Battleship. We'll make some after our Power Armour is finished.



This is part of the research path to some nice goodies, including the Flying Suit.



Power Armour! This offers twice the protection of Personal Armor, so you can imagine you'll want most of your guys wearing this.



And THAT'S where we start researching the Small Launcher.



And also how we fit in 100 scientists at HEY AFRICA!





Finally, our two recruits, one of which of whom was murdered last mission.

Oops!

Good news Mogri, a position opened up!



Unfortunately, that includes that hole of plasma that ripped through your chest.



There are times in life where a man must admit that he's overstepped his capabilities. Attacking a landed Sectoid Battleship on Superhuman difficulty is one of them. I apologize for doubting you X-Com. I will go back to an easier difficulty, like the worthless human I am.

- Eddie

Welcome back! As last mentioned, I finally tried Superhuman proper.

It won.

Although in my defense, starting with a Sectoid Battleship was probably not a bright idea.





Things started out "well" enough...



PHILLIAM 4 found a Cyberdisc hiding in a barn.



Destil er... found another alien.



He died.









Merus found a Sectoid lingering outside the ship, as well as the Cyberdisc that murdered Destil. He took out both.



Sectoids are ruthless bastards with Psionic attacks on this difficulty, so no one was ending their turn holding a weapon.



PHILLIAM 4 got taken out by an unseen Cyberdisc...



... as was Gerad.



Alixsar got shot in the back trying to put some distance between himself and a Cyberdisc.



He died of course.

Merus took out one more Cyberdisc...



... but there was still another left.







But it was nothing Kishi couldn't handle. I saw numerous Sectoids come out of here on the enemy turn, but they apparently all escaped this blast.





And then the psionic fun began.





Nodal was next to die.





Merus and CaptBlasto were no help.



With few options (and fewer men) I decided to make a break for a barn, and hope it wasn't occupied. From there I might be able to make something of a stand.





They weren't under mind control for long.

A Blaster Bomb ensured that.



Kishi panicked, ran outside, and died.



Attempts to fire from the aliens from safety was useless.



Reibeatall falls.



It came down to only Mogri and kaisel left.



kaisel landed two solid hits on the Cyberdisc, but neither was sufficient to bring the craft down.



With a Cyberdisc set to gun kaisel down, Mogri made the ultimate sacrifice.







Alas, kaisel had little hope of fighting them on his own.







And that's when I decided to try Veteran difficulty instead.

Superhuman ladies and gentlemen!

I'm uh, reloading from a save. I hope no one minds.