I'm to take it that these recruits the world has given me to the task of defending the world from the evul eeetees have only 2 weeks of basic training before they're shipped into the secret meatgrinder that is Xenonauts? Because it certainly feels like it. None of them are above the rank of Private, and they all panic too easily AND shoot worse than my grandma.

what gives

Game would be pretty easy if they gave you Rambo, John J, to start. Along these lines, it was clever to give each trooper a military background and "combat experience". Added some nice flavor. I was tempted to take only recruits with combat experience but realized quickly it didnt actually translate to any game mechanic. Still enjoyed it though.

I always figured that they were supposed to be quality troops from existing militaries from around the world, but they have to give up their existing rank (whatever it may be) to join, since Xenonauts/XCOM/whatever has their own rank system.

I do agree that all of them should have combat experience though - it doesn't make sense to send you what are effectively green troops; however that would only be a flavour thing since it doesn't affect anything in-game.

Which makes some sense, since each military tends to have different ranks, or at least different names for the ranks. So they need some kind of consistency.

Also Xenonauts allows any soldier to become an officer through combat experience - while this can happen in most military units, its generally very rare. IMO it would have made more sense to make the max ranks still NCO level and not actual officers (unless they added a specific officers, or officer training).

As for panicking easily - they are fighting aliens. Aliens where even simple non-combatants are much tougher than any soldier recruited, not to mention the freaky hard-core aliens encountered later. Accuracy is probably realistic - in real life, you wouldn't expect a soldier to charge forward, take a snap shot with a rifle and expect to actually hit anything, especially while under fire.

I wasn't expecting them to give me honest-to-god supersoldiers (and I would note that even Rambo and John Matrix still have to work their asses off to beat the enemy - human enemies at that). I guess I'm too used to the old unfinished UFO:AI where there is literally no psionics and human forces v aliens aren't entirely lopsided - but even that had its moments.

At the moment my first game is totally FUBAR - first Terror Mission resulted in the annihilation of my vet team (and the entire city), which means Central America is overrun with aliens that literally increase their population each time they bite someone even if their in armor. Then came the two Alien Bases - both, curiously enough, located in North and South America.

First Base I took out was in Europe, and it was... ok, I guess, by the standards of this game. Several dead troopers, IFV busted, but whole base caught in a bag and eetees meeting the big E. These two bases however are whole different kettles of fish - I've sent in two attempts each (and numerous savescum loads), AND I still can't crack the jesus out of them. If I send in a section with IFV... IFV gets busted in the first few moves or gets stuck and then gets busted, and all my guys die horribly even with their newfangled superarmors. If I send in a boots team... well, they all get slaughtered. Usually by some asshole ON MY TEAM who got too itchy on the rocket launcher trigger. Who then panics and then gets killed by eetee mopup crew and leading to fission mailure.

So now I'm stuck - funding has dropped massively, expansion has stopped at four bases with replacement fodder getting greener and mushier, UFOs are now brazenly flying in their BBs all over my airspaces and I'm thinking of signing the Intergalatic Potsdam Declaration before the people of earth become roboslaves or something. And R&D - still haven't caught my first live eetee.

Well, that is certainly true - eetees are otherworldly beings and humans aren't exactly comfortable with the thought of the alien (just look at your average reaction to bugs - and those have been with us since forever). Still I have to question the realism of accuracy when I literally have three guys corner an eetee at pointblank (1 or 2 tiles)... and they all miss (with rifles).

One thing I would really love... is the ability to put in more than 8 guys on an important mission like those Terror Raids. You could apparently field dozens in base defense missions, I don't see why this supposedly global-funded Anti-Alien United Front Organization is unable to pull out all stops when New York City or Brisbane is suddenly swarmed by echo tangos. Its especially jarring when your field team is wiped out by something unexpected (like those filed-off Chryssalids) and you still have another team back at base cooling their heels for.... something? Yeah newsflash the city got nuked because GHQ decided it was easier to write off an entire city than send in all the infantries they can muster. In the middle of the Cold War. Nuclear tensions running high.

There are two upgraded troop transports you can get - one fields 10 troops, and one fields 12. They definitely make things much more bearable so i tend to focus on getting those as soon as possible (often before better interceptors, or just after). Pretty sure 12 is the limit though, obviously less if you use vehicles.

I agree that you should be able to send in multiple transports per mission - I suspect the reason we can't is a combination of "balance" and that then the game would need to account for multiple landing sites.

I like how Governments can now nuke cities though. Makes sense with those zombie-creating freaks running around - those things always freak me out. You know if you find one, and it's in range of one of your guys - that guy is DEAD, and another one will come out of him soon.

Aren't there also friendly militia units in terror missions? Or is that only the regular ones? Not that they're much help though - I usually don't bother checking for friendlies (except my own) when I decide to level a building. It would have been cool if there had been a whole crapload of the appropriate Nation's military helping you on terror missions, even if they'd drop like flies.

I do wish the game had used the Cold War setting a bit better - as it stands, it doesn't really impact anything, except possibly explaining why each region has separate funding (though not really). Apparently Xenonauts 2 will improve that aspect of it (and then some) - though TBH I don't know how it's going to compete with Phoenix Point, as that's being made by one of the creators of the original UFO. Phoenix Point sounds like it's going to be really, really good.

Maybe some have already said, but I like to see it as the ranking system is `reset` when you join Xcom. You maybe a Lieutenant or Major or Sergeant in your Special Forces but in Xcom you start from the Private and work up. No exceptions. Makes sense. Level s the playing field and reduces that `I`m better than you` one-upmanship when joining. I`d certainly make such a rule.

As for for fighting ability, I always assumed the *Alien* is like a threat not even conceived by man (no one seriously expected Aiiens to attack or to have to fight any), so...

1. The psychological horror of meeting the unknown Alien. No man will have ever met these things before. The mental hit of this is a negative factor. It will cause anxiety and fear, even to the toughest of men.

2. These men signed up to fight other Humans originally, not Aliens. Even Special Forces don`t know what to expect in tactics and even movement of Aliens.

3. The Aliens are so much more advanced in weaponry and killing knowhow it renders the Special Forces abilities to the level of inexperienced noobs.

4. The Aliens have a mental advantage of travelling space and likely meeting and fighting other Aliens. Humans are just another prey to them. These are the first ever Aliens to Humans.

All this would affect the most battle hardened of Special Forces reducing them to the level of noob experience. Think like the first Predator movie where experienced, hardened men were wiped out by what they didn`t understand or know by a supremely confident Alien using advanced knowhow and weaponry and it took until the last man, before someone started to get the upper hand against it, 90% of the Human team being wiped out.