"I don't like Mondays..."

[Dalerian]

On Sunday, my alien raids were a few Anthropods* and a few misc lesser aliens.

 

The next day I find them arriving in bigger ships, with more escorts. The raids are suddenly "manned" ("aliened"?) by some yellow flying critters.

Critters which have tactical nous, better accuracy and a supply of boomeroids. (Half the squad which discovered this new breed is enjoying enforced R&R in the medibay, as a result.)

 

Does some kind of difficulty upgrade occur on Sunday nights?

 

Dal.

 

*Something _that_ stupid could only be named so by someone who doesn't respect humanity.

[Pete]

And if you thought that name was stupid, the flying guys that look like skeletons are called *drum roll...* Skeletoids!

 

Hmm, I hadn't noticed it was a weekly thing. I'll have to go and have another play and see what happens. I'm playing on superhuman though, so I'm probably goig to have a hard time and encounter them on week two or soemthing silly

[Kret]

Yes, all alien improvements occur at the end of the week when you get the funding in, the updated market list and your evaluation report, and the game improves the aliens according to the report scoring. Big scores = big alien upgrades

[Dalerian]

Well, I'm definitely "off" Monday, then. These new (relatively) super-critters are not only flying, faster, smarter & better shots, they also have this ability whereby they don't take damage from my initial shots - a blue energy protects them for a while.

 

I assume that this is the "shield" I've heard about on here. Unfortunately, when it runs out, it seems to vanish. (I didn't get any on the bodies.) Maybe I need to go raiding against armed with stun grenades... Yikes...

Roll on Engineering, with their production of a 'toxigun' - maybe that will help. Hmm.

 

Ok ... enough speculating, back to making Alien paste.

[Pete]

Toxiguns will help the war effort considerably

 

Stun grapples and stun grenades are the best way to get those sheilds. You kinda need one of those transporter ships (the tall ones) with Skeletoids on if this is possible and then they've only got one way out. Have a crack team assembled with stun grapples and a few guys with machine guns holding fire behind.

 

Come to think of it though, I don;t think they travel in that kind of UFO

[Dalerian]

... I'm playing on superhuman though, so I'm probably going to have a hard time and encounter them on week two or something silly

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, if they can arrive for me on Monday week 3 as a "beginner", I think someone experienced enough to play SuperHuman can handle them on week 2.

[Dalerian]

Toxiguns will help the war effort considerably

 

Stun grapples and stun grenades are the best way to get those shields. You kinda need one of those transporter ships (the tall ones) with Skeletoids on if this is possible and then they've only got one way out. Have a crack team assembled with stun grapples and a few guys with machine guns holding fire behind.

 

Come to think of it though, I don;t think they travel in that kind of UFO

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Two of those ufos just wandered over my city, with their 3 escorts.

My incredibly brave/stupid pilots engaged them. Technically, we outnumbered them 6:5. (4 hoverbikes + 2 hovercars - I don't think the Aliens were very scared.) After one exchange of salvos, I turned tail and sprinted. No deaths, but both hovercars need serious repairs. On the positive side, one of -their- craft will need a scratch re-painting. (To quote one of my pilots, "If you think we look beaten up, you should see the other ... uh ... ah, well, never mind.")

 

So - even if the Skeletoids get in one of those craft for a special journey - they'll have a nice safe ride. Until I can approach air equality, I'll be relying on beamed-down aliens. (I'm currently working on the theory that making&selling disruptors/devastators will eventually pay for a pair of Hawks. I hope -they- can regain some airborne pride.)

[Kret]

A note regarding the personal shields you're encountering: Stun grapples WON'T work while grenades will. This is reasonable since the grapple is supposed to be some sort of energy shock while the grenades use fumes.

 

If you don't have toxic ammo you could use any flame weapons. If firing at ground targets you could still use smoke or stun grenades to put out the flames, if your target is airborn the risk of arson is quite low depending on how far the target is from the nearest flammable object.

[Cap'n Kyth]

If it all gets too much, start destroying the streets and highways. This'll low your score (due to city destruction) and piss off Transtellar. Be prepared to pay them after you're done obliterating the transit system. And don't hit any buildings.

 

(Hint; order an aircraft to go to a location on the big map, then go back to normal view. Press "M" and left click to fire. Right click will move the unit to that location (-roughly-) and that is the wonder of Manual Control. Avoid hitting buildings at all costs.)

 

(If you can, take out the highway bits going under buildings in the Slum Area. There should be two two-lane double-level highway parts. Take out the supports then cut them. Not only will they fall, but the building that has it's upper layer hovering over one of them will collapse and you won't get blamed for attacking them, meaning you can destroy more and be blamed less.)

 

If you're crazy and have ship-mounted disruptor guns, go for the big mushroom/tower structures with launch pads at the top. Aim near the bottom and cut through the base as fast as possible. The entire thing will come crashing down and they won't be able to launch air support. Any vehicles still launching should be crushed too.

 

Just make sure you aren't shooting your own towers. The owners will not be pleased with you.

[Jasonred]

Plasma Cannons (Lineage Plasma Cannons?) are the only way to get early air superiority. DO NOT bother with pea shooters; the alien ships will have massive armor that a lot of weapons have trouble penetrating. I have seen the motherships' shields get torn off by Megapol Hovercar machineguns, (shields get no damage reduction), but the actual ship hull itself is mostly impervious to enitre flotillas of normal craft. (the building defense forces).

 

You also want to research alien weapons ASAP. Alien ship weapons. I am unsure of the exact flow of research tree.

 

Hoverbikes, armed with Plasma Cannons, are actually quite powerful! Dance like butterfly, sting like bee. If I'm not mistaken, 2 top modded hoverbikes have more firepower than an unmodified Hawk.

 

Stun grapples don't work through shields. Grenades do. So do toxiguns. And so does fire. And you don't get the shields if you destroy them, you have to circumvent them with said stuff. If you have psi capable troops, try to get the alien to drop his stuff.

 

 

Also... if I'm not mistaken, factions upgrade personal armaments throughout the week, based on score and stuff. So COS can technically get access to top technology on Wednesday, days before the ALIENS get their hands on new supplies on Monday... heh. Especially funny if you've managed to capture and research the tech by that weekend...

 

Aliens: Hah, with these newfangled Devastators and iinvisibility devices, X-com will never know what him them!

X-com troops teleport in and drop piles vortex mines, then teleport out.

Aliens: ... Remind me to drop a Overspawn on that COS temple... BOOM!

 

 

And, if, like me, your main problem was the air superiority, and your ground forces were still the stronger, ignore any advice on lowering your score. Especially since, by the sounds of it, you are in financial straights.