X-COM Field Manual 31-1

[VegasSte]

Yeah, I use the second one lots and it works!

[JellyfishGreen]

3002: Time Management: Using Time Wisely

 

The aliens have a programmed response to fight to the death. They will not escape the map boundary or take off in an intact craft while X-COM ground forces are in the area.

 

To the discerning commander, this means time is on your side. Unless soldiers are in need of urgent medical attention, there is no need to end the mission quickly.

 

Time should thus be used generously. Every movement will ideally end with a soldier next to cover, kneeling, and with a pause left for reaction fire. Each new position should be scouted and covered by overlapping fields of fire during the scouting. When in doubt, hunker down, take defensive positions, and wait for the enemy to move. The order to save time for reaction fire, generally snap shots, should be given at the start of every movement phase and only rescinded for soldiers in safe rear positions or HWP's that can bear the brunt of a surprise attack.

 

When an alien is spotted, have other scouts check your flanks, then the support team should concentrate on bringing the alien down immediately. The high potency of alien weapons means that if the alien gets a chance to return fire, especially aimed fire, somebody will die. Scouts should not try to flush additional aliens if the support team is busy and does not have the time to bring them down. Instead they should take defensive positions and wait.

 

The time taken to prepare variable-delay grenades can also be optimized using the "grenade relay" technique. Instead of a scout having to stop and prepare a grenade, a rearward soldier can prepare one and throw it to him. The scout needs only to have enough time to pick up the grenade and throw it again. Although the grenade is live, the high accuracy of throwing and the reliability of the timing mechanism make this a useful tactic where waiting another turn to throw would allow the enemy to fire. Extra soldier time should be reserved for moving to a mis-throw and, ideally, for the pause for reaction fire. Primed proximity grenades are much more risky - the accuracy has to be perfect as a mis-throw can only be recovered by a vertical insertion with a flying-suit - and are not recommended for use with the relay technique.

[JellyfishGreen]

Time management, continued: General Order Of Procession During Sweep

 

Most turns should break down in this strict order:

 

1) Reactions to any enemy action of previous turn (shooting at exposed enemy, grenading very likely concealed enemy, medikit use on wounded)

 

2) HWP scouting run. Exposed enemy engaged by support - snipers & heavy weapons - at rear.

 

3) Scouts proceed cautiously. Scanners may be of use outdoors as well as indoors. Exposed enemy engaged by support at rear.

 

4) HWP and scouts retreat and fire at remaining exposed enemy if necessary, otherwise take cover and bide time with reaction fire.

 

5) Support moves to cover scouts for next movement. Note support often does NOT need to keep time for reaction fire, which helps when trying to get that heavy rocket launcher into position.

 

6) Kneel if possible. End turn. Observe enemy activity and evaluate.

 

Evaluation should give probable numbers and locations of enemy for next set of orders.

 

This works for me once outside - I'm trying to use scanners more, as suggested. If I don't follow this order, I take more KIA/WIA.

 

Once we get to the UFO, the orders have to change. The first ones there set up a door ambush while waiting for the rest of the team to finish the sweep. Then we all breach together. But that's another section.

[Hobbes]

Just to bring this topic back up....it contains information that might be of use when playing the game.

[FullAuto]

This should definitely be pinned somewhere. All those in favour?

[cyrus]

Yes, I think so. Haven't time to read through it yet, but it definitely contains a lot of helpful information. Thus it should be pinned down near the entrance to this forum, so the rookies would have an easy access to it without the need to ask same questions over and over again.

 

Well, and who is responsible for pinning?

[FullAuto]

Moderators, I guess. Or the admin. Pete, Alan, etc.

[cyrus]

Then, let's call all together.

 

Peee-e-e-e-te, do you hear!!?

[FullAuto]

Oh Alain? Where art thou?

[NKF]

Hear hear!

 

- NKF

 

P. S: Don't be alarmed. I do make short replies from time to time!

[Jman4117]

Huh? NKF didn't type three pages? :dontgetit:

 

Get the imposter!!

 

It does need to be pinned doesn't it.

[FullAuto]

Hoist by his own petard! Ha HA!

Somebody please pin this!

[Mouse Nightshirt]

Hmm, I decided to investigate this topic.

 

The PSX manual from the game is about 120 pages long. Is it the biggest PSX manual I have literally, and has tutorials in it, detailed examples of how to avoid certain situations etc etc etc.

 

It was a very good manual

[EclipseDog]

It scares me how sometimes game manuals are bigger in size than the memory used to store the games they are used for. For instance I once downloaded a scratchware game some fifteen years after it last was produced... the game itself took up less than 2k bytes but its manual took up 3 megs somehow. Sheesh.

[FullAuto]

Those diagrams are swish, without doubt. Saves time explaining things to noobs over and over again, anyway.

[JellyfishGreen]

I've reposted good info from the "I need tactics" thread to this pinned thread. New commanders, learn from those who have been there!

 

Posted by: Stun Grenade Dec 20 2003, 02:24 AM

Help people,

 

i just get slaughtered out there. Its so hard becuase its only my first or second ufo mission (not first or second in that way, ive been playing for a while) and i dont have armour, good people...

 

aliens come out from nowhere and kill me in one shot!

 

~SG

 

Posted by: Jman4117 Dec 20 2003, 03:22 AM

What difficulty level?

 

*Reaction fire is your friend. Camp the exits of ships.

 

*Save TU's for reaction fire.

 

*Keep near cover.

 

*Get laser rifle, medikit, personal armour, heavy plasma, then plasma cannon.

 

Posted by: NKF Dec 20 2003, 03:27 AM

Ah friend, you've come to the right place!

 

Rule #1: Spend some time in this forum. Read the older threads (there are a few pages of them now). Plenty of stuff to get ideas from.

 

Check out the Field Manual thread Hobbes just bumped to the top. It's packed full of interesting stuff.

 

Next - learn to be very patient. You will fail a lot, but don't let that distress you too much. Stop and look at how you're playing and think about why you're losing. Try to change your tactics. Use different equipment, and try to learn more about your enemy (Mind probes are great for this - but it'll be a while before you get one). Spend time planning your moves. Move slowly. Spread out. Get everyone to cover each other. Etc.

 

Remember that while some tactics work for some of us, it may not work for you. Explore new ideas, refine them to your liking and develop your own.

 

Be flexible. One tactic may work quite well, but it won't work all the time. Be prepared to change your tactics with the changing conditions of the battle.

 

Ask questions. If you feel you're weak in anything, ask about it and see what ideas us nuts can come up with.

 

- NKF

 

P. S: As much as I hate to say it: Never be afraid to concede defeat and back off. That's not to say - evacuate from the battle. I mean, if the enemy forces are too strong, back off a bit - the enemy is bound to foul up. However, if you really cannot go on, cut your losses and evacuate.

 

Of course, if you use save-reload immortality, well, forget that last bit.

 

Posted by: cyrus Dec 20 2003, 08:55 PM

I think that with constant saving-reloading you can forget about all of this .

 

You may do a lot of mistakes this way, and don't bother yourself by making out a good strategy, and reload in case the things will become messed up. But that's not very interesting and doesn't teach you to use your brain cells while planning.

 

Posted by: Jman4117 Dec 20 2003, 09:07 PM

'nade tactics:

 

*Aliens can't see the little red light on top of proximity grenades. They run right over them.

 

*Use proxys at ufo doors to soften up the enemy for your reaction fire team.

 

*You can throw grenades through ceilings. (May be considered dishonourable by some.)

 

*Use the grenade relay tactic. Troops in rear prime grenades and toss them to the front line, who then throw at the aliens. This save TU's for the guys that will be shot at. Can also be used to transport needed supplies quickly (medikits, ammo, etc).

 

Posted by: NKF Dec 20 2003, 09:40 PM

I'll just toss in a few random suggestions of my own:

 

The aliens can only shoot at X-Com soldiers that they can see. So when you spot an alien - have the spotter hold still or back off a bit to safety and then get someone behind to shoot at the alien. See, the aliens cannot use reaction fire if they cannot see the person shooting.

 

Cover. Seek cover. Anything from a wall to a tree will do. Anything to hide behind. Move from cover to cover and never stay out in the open for too long unless you cannot help it.

 

If the alien just won't die - you might want to consider using a stronger weapon. For example, if you face cyberdiscs with nothing but pistols and rifles - you're in big trouble. High explosives and large rockets deal with them just nicely, however.

 

Never pack your soldiers together in tight groups. Grenades do nasty things to tight groups. Spread out, but make sure everyone can still cover the other.

 

At night, use flares to improve visibility. You don't need to use many flares - you just have to use them intelligently.

 

HWPs. Use them. They don't improve, but they can be easily replaced. Let them take the majority of the damage and let the soldiers do all the shooting.

 

Use a smoke grenade for deploying from the Skyranger in a hot LZ. Yes, it cuts both ways and can reduce visibility for both sides - but that's the whole point. You don't get spotted as easily as you normally would without the smoke screen. If you don't have a smoke grenade, a high explosive or a large rocket can provide a light smoke screen in addition to clearing the landing zone of any hostiles (or neutrals, for that matter).

 

Use weapons with splash area effects to defeat any hostiles that you know are there, but aren't within line-of-fire. Such as you know an enemy is behind a wall, toss a grenade over. Or if it's around a corner, a grenade, a rocket or even an incendiary round can be used to get it.

 

HWP rockets are only slightly stronger than the small rockets. So do not expect them to do much against enemy units with heavy armour (like cyberdiscs). Most of the early aliens you'll meet (apart from the terror units) have weak armour, so there's not much to worry about and Rocket HWPs are still an excellent investment.

 

Gain the higher ground and set up snipers on a roof or two. Those on the high ground have a better field of fire, and can shoot at what the ground troops cannot (and vice versa). Later, with flying suits, have a sniper hover in the air at all times to provide long-range cover fire for those on the front lines.

 

In a terror site - worry about your soldiers first. Civilians later. Very important. This is a game, so you can choose to be a bit heartless.

 

If your soldier gets killed when you walk through a door, don't send another one in immediately. We always end up getting into the trap where we just keep sending soldiers in and getting them killed one after the other.

 

Explosive shells and rockets can be fired up at the ceiling above you. You won't get hurt, but everything on the floor above will. Use this to your advantage. (UFO floors/ceilings are strong enough that they often remain intact - so don't worry about that)

 

There's a safe method to dealing with almost every UFO. Several of them have alien 'guards' that do not move from their spot until you 'trigger' them somehow, either by walking through a door or standing at certain locations in the UFO. For example: The large scout has one nasty one. When approaching the bridge of the large scout, head to the left passage (your soldier's relative left), rather than the more obvious one to the right - where you often get killed instantly the moment you step through that door. Wait at the corner just before the left door and the alien will start moving towards you. By the next turn it should be in the room just beyond -- exhausted and unable to fight back. The other UFOs may require bigger weaponry to deal with these 'guards'.

 

I've really got to learn how to summarise...

 

- NKF

 

Posted by: BreakMage Dec 21 2003, 02:02 AM

Actually, you did a great job summarizing. It wasn't 3 pages long, only about one. We just need to sticky all of your hints... Whenever someone new comes along and misses it, just do a *points to sticky thread* and we're good, instead of repeating over

and over

and over

and ooooooooooover again

 

 

 

Posted by: Squaddie01 Dec 22 2003, 07:50 PM

A couple of quick recommendations, if you are a rookie, avoid night missions. As others have stated, don't mass your troops, but do have soldiers close enough to cover one another.

 

In the early going, I prefer to have my worst soldier(s) statistically on the point. Main reason being, they are more expendable. My best reaction troops generally are close up front while my snipers, those with the best shooting accuracy are in the rear.

 

Always make sure to leave enough time units for your reaction troops up front to get off reaction fire. Move your snipers last on your turn so that their TU's are available for shots if your point units spot aliens.

 

When engaging an alien, best practice is to take shots from soldiers other then the one spotting the alien. These should be your snipers in the rear. This avoids alien reaction fire. My spotters take shots at aliens only as a last resort, when others have exhausted their TUs.

 

Avoid spreading your troops to thin though. One thing I like to do is sweep the map section by section. I'll maintain a defensive line in one area while another area behind me is secured. I prefer to sweep the map entirely before entering a UFO. Use your best reaction troops to guard a UFO entry while others secure the entire map.

 

Hope this helps.

 

-------end of repost-----

[sgtsurge]

Is there a complete compilation of the X-COM Field Manual? Is so can it be posted all together here?

This whole forum has been awesome for tactics and everything else.

[Spaceman42]

I'm going to work on it after finals. If anyone wants to work on a specific chapter or something, that'd be good; I'm better at editing than at composition, at least for the first month or so after exams.

 

I ought to remember to check this thread more...

[Spaceman42]

Awright boyos! Man, it's been a while. I'm soliciting contributions to the Field Manual, because despite my best efforts and all that most of my wrtiting ability is taken up in essays and reports. And so my ability to convincingly mimic military parlance has undergone a severe decline in performance. However, my ability to edit stuff to that standard has not undergone a similar decline - thus, if anyone wants to submit bits of chapter headings or the like that need contributing, I'd greatly appreciate that.

 

I'll probably also be copying the Project to one main site and soliciting material from other X-COM forums and sites, so the Project might sorta be able to stand on its own! Yay!

 

LET'S MOVE, TROOPERS!

 

 

Also, please note the change in my email address if you have it; I've gone from Hotmail to GMail. Yay.

[NKF]

Yay, and stuff.

 

We're also now better equipped with more knowledge on things like, smoke grenade effectiveness, reactions and another unorthodox use for incendiary impact damage and fire.

 

Etcetra.

 

- NKF

[Bomb Bloke]

Plus some geoscape craft info. Does that count?

[Stewart]

There's anouther thread here for a "commanders manual". Maybe there should be:

 

a field manual,

a commanders manual,

a pilots manual.

 

Or just some great big thing, who knows.

[Solitaire]

Well, forstly, Hi, my first post, I was just wondering how this project is going? I've read it all and there's some great stuff, I guess it just needs a decent time input.

 

I'd be more than happy to help, i'm not a bad writer and I can make a decent stab at any and all of the sections (though I haven't played xcom for a year or two, my memory is still ok) so if whoever is in charge could/would provide a list of sections which are needed first I'll be more thna happy to help.

 

--Solitaire

[Rzhanov]

Guess, i must add for commander stuff: ilt is usefull to keep a base or two for stable supply of elrium and cash.

[Stewart]

Well, forstly, Hi, my first post, I was just wondering how this project is going? I've read it all and there's some great stuff, I guess it just needs a decent time input.

 

I'd be more than happy to help, i'm not a bad writer and I can make a decent stab at any and all of the sections (though I haven't played xcom for a year or two, my memory is still ok) so if whoever is in charge could/would provide a list of sections which are needed first I'll be more thna happy to help.

 

--Solitaire

Excellent. Go over to XcomUFO and register an account there. There is an entire forum dedicated to the manual in both book and online formats. The online project is just starting out so you'd be getting in early.