Tanks Only Mission

[Aralez]

I made one mission today with tanks only, one tank to be precise. I was low on unwounded soldiers :o and had a second crashed ufo close to my base, so i decided to do as much damage as possible there and return. Aaaand: It worked.

 

i didn't killed all aliens as some of them decided not to leave the ufo (i had a lasertank only) but i could kill all sectoids that were outside their ship. My rating:+38 points. Ok i didn't get any experience points and artifacts, but

-i won a mission

-got 38 points

-didn't loose a ONE soldier

 

Is this a real alternative at the start of a game? Especially when your soldiers are un-armoured? Or what are your opinions...

[Jman4117]

Bring along a tank or two to scout. Use your rookies to pick off aliens at a distance and enter ufos. A rocket/laser/6 trooper combo is nice.

[NKF]

Depends. Difficulty level and whether or not there are terror units can change the odds drastically if you're just using a tank.

 

For example, just using a cannon tank might get you by a normal crash site (except perhaps that alien waiting in the bridge - which you can probably get if you had a rocket tank along...), but things may be a lot trickier in a terror site, especially if there are cyberdiscs and you're playing superhuman where a rocket tank are rendered highly inadequate.

 

It's still better to use a soldier and tank combo where the tanks and soldiers can build on each others' weaknesses. You don't have to if you don't want to. (some players prefer to hire four scapegoats rather than a tank - not my cup of marmalade, but eh)

 

Note that not all ships have an alien that won't move. Most of them can be cleared out by simply waiting for the aliens to leave. The only ships that have spawned an immobile alien would be the Large Scout and the Abducter. The supply ship may or may not have one too. All the rest should be fine and will only require a bit of time.

 

Early on, if you're having trouble staffing your ships due to a high injury(not death) rating, it would be best to just hire new soldiers and kick out a few engineers or scientists until you can make more room. Or if you simply cannot wait, kick out the injured soldiers and fill in their gaps. It takes 72 hours or so for new recruits to arrive once they've been hired, so weigh up whether or not kicking the recovering invalid out is faster than hiring a new soldier.

 

- NKF

[Zombie]

Tanks are good and all in some situations, but can they be a effective substitute for a group of average rookie soldiers? That's a tough question. For some players, tanks are standard equipment on every mission. For others (I fall into this category), tanks are only used rarely or on special occasions. Each player should weigh the pros and the cons and decide themselves.

 

Pros of tank usage:

1) High armor.

2) High Health

3) More TU then the best rookie.

4) High Stamina

5) Very high Bravery (cannot be panicked normally).

6) Very high Psionic Strength (cannot be mind controlled).

7) High firepower.

 

Cons of tank usage:

1) Expensive.

2) Is a big target.

3) Cannot fit through a single-width door.

4) Firing accuracy is even with average rookie.

5) Poor Reactions (you won't be winning any opportunity fire contests with these).

6) Cannot throw things.

7) Stats will not improve with kills.

 

So, what did you decide? Here's my take (and this is only an opinion):

Tanks are pretty expensive early on. A loss of one of these might put a dent in your budget for a while until you visit more UFO's to recoup the cost. They will stand up to Plasma Pistols and Plasma Rifles, but once those aliens start toting around the Heavy Plasma's, a tank will fall rather quick.

 

HWP's need a line-of-sight to a target. They have no alternative method of attacking a target besides shooting directly at it. Soldiers can throw things (like grenades) and still retain another form of attack (shooting). A tank has poor reactions. Even the worst rookie has better reactions. On top of this, a rookies skills will improve with use while a tanks will not. The tank may edge out a rookie in terms of Firing Accuracy and rate-of-fire early on, but once a rookies stats improve a tank is no match. Also, you cannot kneel down with a tank to lower it's profile and increase it's accuracy. Finally, you can replace a soldier in 72 hours, while a tank takes 96 hours.

 

HWP's rock when you are going up against Ethereals and Sectiods, since the aliens will not panic or mind-control them. Tanks are excellent scouts because of their high TU and Stamina. Rookies tend to tire quickly when scouting. So are tanks a viable substitute for rookies? Nope. But like I always say, they are a suppliment, in addition to rookies.

[The Veteran]

I tend to always play the game with at least two tanks. At the beginning I always sell the rocket tank and trade it in for a cannon tank. Later in the game the fusion ball h/tank is an awesome ally to have

[Torgulf]

I don't think tanks can't weigh up 4 rookies... maybe one or two, but not an entire group of them. The only reason I really bring them along every time is the 80 items limit. A tank only counts as one item unless my memory fails me, and a rookie requires at least 5 (weapon, clip, extra clip, medikit, grenade) to be of any use, but some soldiers also need stun guns, smoke grenades, pistols (for those rocket launcher dudes) and flares for instance... so I guess I'll have to cope with a tank or two <_<

(is there a mod that increases that limit by the way?)

 

I seriously do not see any other benefits, other than that the fusion ball launchers seem to be more effective than the blaster launchers (of course, that's nothing four blaster launchers couldn't weigh up). Well, it would be to force myself to put someone to guard the outside of UFOs (as tanks can't enter them) since I always seem to miss an alien or two there. Not that it's impossible to backtrack, but I'm a very impatient person and would rather not to =P

 

But other than that, I think they suck really. I'd do much better without them, if I could have more soldiers instead. But noooo, I have to limit myself to only like 2 door-opener-rookies...

 

Hi, by the way =) I'm new here but I do recognize a few people from the xcomufo-forums, so it isn't too intimidating, despite that it's all blue and stuff here :o

[NickAragua]

Early on in the game, I tend to use rocket tanks, and as heavy fire support. Later on, the plasma hovertanks make excellent hunter/killer units, while fusion ball hovertanks will rock the house.

 

Using the starting tanks as scouts is a bit foolish to me. Here, when we're talking about "scouts", we're not talking about guys who put on green makeup and sneak around without being seen with the intention of providing observational data on enemy units. No, we're talking about basically the equivalent of sending rabbits into a mine field. Since there's no real 'concealment', your 'scout' basically walks forward until he either a) sees an alien or B) gets pegged by said alien. That being said, I don't usually look forward to sending out a $500,000 piece of equipment just so it can get blown up by a sectoid with a little plasma pistol.

 

Hence, I don't buy cannon tanks, and don't usually bother with making laser tanks (unless I just want to mess around).

 

The plasma hovertanks are, of course, REALLY fast, can deliver three shots per round, have "unlimited" ammo, and can take a couple of hits, not to mention the ability to fly over those pesky obstacles. They can get anywhere on the battlefield, and even act as spotters for blaster launchers. I tend to pack about two onto my Avenger.

 

Of course, some upshots in general of using tanks in combat are:

 

a) they don't get fatal wounds.

b) no matter how much they get shot up, they're always at full health the next mission, without having to lie in bed for a month, taking up space.

[Arclight]

I take at least 2 plasma tanks on every mission when they become available. I use them to scout ahead of the soilders and when they find an alien posistion my troops so they can fire upon them. If the tank is destoryed, no big deal just build another, no significant lose of experience as they dont gain it. I would rather lose a tank to an alien attack than any man (usless they have v.low Psi strength). I have on a regular basis only used tanks to wipe out a crash site, there is no point risking men to kill a couple of aliens when all I want is the goodies. There are occassions when I have to use men such as assulting a base or large UFO (Single doors) but I keep the tanks close 1. for protection, 2. To take reaction shots from aliens. Using this tactic i can assult any size ship and only lose a few men around 5 at the worst guess. If i have Psi this figure is next to nothing as I take over the aliens, disarm them and then use men to gun them down.

[Bomb Bloke]

I tend to bring along a rocket tank, and I keep a couple in reserve in my base as well. I move up to hoverplasma tanks if I can afford it, but it's not unknown for me to be bringing treaded rocket tanks to cydonia.

 

They cost a bit, but I can afford them. *shrugs*

[Aralez]

Sorry for taking so long with a reply, but i had a serious PC problem and had to make a complete reinstallation (actually two). I have started a new campaign with Xcomutil installed on superhuman. And atm i try to avoid the usual massacre on my units by adding tanks to my troop. Especially on Terror sites they are real lifesavers. First i clear the landing area with my rocket tank and then let the rest of the aliens get killed by my troops to up their stats. (I'm at the start of the campaign atm)

 

After reading all your posts i'm doing no longer "all-tank" missions. Especially NickAraguas post changed my thoughts... But as you all suggested, they are very useful, but can't replace soldiers, still they are excellent for support fire etc.

 

No mission without a TANK for me from now on. But no mission without a Soldier, too.

[Ross]

Rocket tanks are great. I don't like using them as scouts. I drive them off a Skyranger and put a rocket through every barn, apple orchard, stables, tree cluster, valley, etc. When the smoke dies down, I send in regular troops to move in.

[Bomb Bloke]

Heh, say what you like about the cost of tanks, the rockets are cheap enough. Providing you don't blow up equipment, but anyways.

[Ki-tat Chung]

refering to TFTD exp (havn't played UFO in a looooong time), i use a cannon tank to complement my squad. it really is just a scout, and backup fire'er. when it see's an alien, it allows for kneels and aim-fires from soldiers from afar. if they miss, go the tank for the kill, and if it misses, it'll most likely last the next round. i choose cannon because i think its too risky to use rockets, since the tank isn't exactly the best shooter around...

[Stun Grenade]

Now who likes using Hover tanks? Me me me!! Not only can they scout well but they have excellent sight (probably why they can scout well).....

[Pete]

I like to send out tanks and two guys to carry stuff when the rest of my men are injured. How do I still have two men if the others are injured? Simple, they never elave the base

 

The only time my tactic fails is when my bases get attacked