XCOM: Warspace Mod

In this article I will be discussing a specific mod for XCOM which for me has greatly improved a lot of the features and made the game a lot more fun and engaging not to mention challenging. For those intrested in installing and running the mode I will include links at the bottom of this article. Please note I cannot provide technical support for this mod I am merely discussing my experiences with it.

One of the first changes you will notice at the start of the game is modifications to health and damage. The sectoids now start with 4 health rather than 3 but your weapons have been improved to reflect this.  Your grenades will do 4 damage so can still be used to 1 shot sectoids, and your rifles have had their damage upgraded respectively. Although I can't say specifically how (the mod creator is vague on the details) the AI really doesn't make 'stupid' moves. An example of this would be floaters using their 'jump' ability and leaving themselves in open ground, with this mod they always seem to jump behind hard cover. With the AI overhaul there also comes another new feature for the'zombies' in the game, if you don't put a zombie down fast enough they in turn will die and spawn another Chrysalid for you to deal with.

Another nice feature is the skills tree's have been re-designed for all classes, for example the sniper now starts with squad site rather than head shot. The heavy has now gained the assaults ability 'flush' which forces an opponent to move from cover. This feels like a very good fit for your heavies and I have been a lot more keen to take them based on this ability. Another change is your troops are slightly less prone to dying, how ever the down side is you can end up with a solider being injured for 30+ days. This may seem harsh but it forces you to change up your line up regularly and your managing your soldiers becomes a real issue rather than having your super line up trash everything.

Another big change is shooting down UFO's is a lot more of a challenge even the basic scout UFO's require at least 2 Interceptors to take down. You will need to spend funds dismissing your shops and hiring new ones if their damage is to high so you're always ready for an attack. Upgrading your ships becomes a high priority as does using the 'buffs' such as dodge and aim on your ships, something i never found a need for in the un-modded version.

The changes I have outlined above can't quite do justice to how much of an improvement this mod has brought to the game. If you have completed classic ironman and feel that the random number generator on impossible is just to dull, I highly advise you look into this mod.

Official Warspace mod page:http://xcom.nexusmods.com/mods/18

Official Warspace discussion thread:http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/808571-warspace-extension-discussion/page-17

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XCOM: Classic Ironman Begginer's Guide

This article is meant for players who have completed and enjoyed XCOM: Enemy Unkown on normal difficulty but are having trouble stepping up into classic iron man. I myself have never played the original XCOM, and have had incredible difficulty going from normal to classic as the step up in challenge is quite steep. Hopefully with a few tips and help, you can survive your attempt and Classic Ironman Xcom and come out the other-side grinning for more.

Early Game Base Management

First thing's first, for your first Classic play-through I highly advise picking the US as your starting XCOM base. The reason for this? The reduction in cost to satellites. This is key for getting a strong foot hold and getting you cash flow going. Your first priority is to get as many satellites up as quickly as possible. There is no need to worry about rushing into the story mission or even researching the arc thrower. Take your time and get your satellite network up to scratch.Only ever launch satellites 1 day before your council report is due, launching satellites any earlier is a bad idea as you never know how the country's panic levels will look come the end of the month. Rush for carapace armor asap. Research alien materials first then carapace armor, you are going to need to get some experienced troops asap and the armor helps keep them alive to get to this stage.

Key Points:

• Get your soldiers kitted out in carapace Armour asap.
• Launch satellites 1 day before your council report is due.
• Try to dig to a steam node asap to get your power situation under control
• Don't worry about getting satellites coverage over an entire nation quickly just keep country's panic levels under control. 

Tactics In The Field

Now we get down to the meat of the challenge in Classic Ironman, the combat. There is a lot to learn here but I will try and cover the key points which will help your troops survive. Firstly BE PATIENT no seriously, take your time moving across the map running into enemy's after dashing into cover is never good and can often lead to casualty's  Move your selected solider to the max BLUE movement field, we don't want them dashing. By doing this you have options and don't end up with a solider stranded ahead of your squad staring down 3 sectoids. Regardless of cover he will die. Generally its always better to edge your troops in slowly and where possible in cover and finally leaving them in overwatch. 

Use grenades liberally, don't worry about them blowing up the aliens weapons, getting experience on your troops from the kills is far more useful than getting a few weapon fragments early game. 

Understand the cover mechanic, the cover is a perfect 180 degree/half circle arc in front of the cover being provided, so any shots coming from the side behind this half circle regardless of how slight will count as flanking. Full cover prevents your troops from shooting over it, they may only shoot round the side use this to your advantage to hide your troops from sight while moving them into position.

Amazing paint skills!

Key Points:

• Don't rush! take your bloody time and think about every action you take! Patience is key.
• Use your movement wisely, while exploring the map NEVER dash you will be punished.
• Use explosives as much as possible, spam grenades and launch rockets like there is no tomorrow.
• Get to grips with the cover mechanics and don't be afraid to fall back to better cover or hide a troop in full cover to move him into position. 
• To be hidden in full cover there must be 2 blocks of full cover either side of the one you are using to hide.
• Always leave your troops in overwatch when possible 
• Use troops in overwatch to cover your other soldiers who could be easily flanked.
• If moving your sniper try to leave them in overwatch with the pistol equipped where possible. 
• DON'T RUSH, TAKE YOUR TIME AND BE PATIENT.

Summary

The advise and tactics I have outlined above may not be the best out there or the most efficient but they should hopefully let you sink your teeth into Classic Ironman mode and develop your own tactics.Classic Ironman is a step up, your troops are going to die, country's will abandon the Xcom project and you will feel under pressure constantly. Once you have managed to get a foot hold though everything will become much easier and victory shall follow.

Good luck out there guys and girls!
PATIENCE IS KEY

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Durr's new addiction: Xcom

This is something I have meaning to write about for some time, but for what ever reasons I have been putting off doing any writing for nearly a month. This afternoon I decided to pull my finger out my ass and crack on with writing about a game I enjoyed beyond belief.

Xcom at it's heart is a turn based strategy game, it uses a system which could easily be done with pen paper, tape measure and dice (warhammer style).  So how can such an old style of game have gripped me so completely? Because none of your brilliant strategy's are guaranteed to work.  The skill in the game comes from reducing the risks your troops take and planning for the worst case scenario constantly. 

At the start of each mission your squad is dropped down in an area and you must traverse the map weather it be a UFO crash site in a forest, or a city center under attack. You must command your team very carefully and traverse each map with due care, if you get it wrong you could be staring down a large group of very pissed off aliens and defeat very quickly.

Aside from the missions, you have to manage your base as well, your research team will torture interrogate captured aliens to learn new technologies form them. Once these technologies have been discovered your engineering team will construct them for your troops, albeit at a cost. Everything costs money, do you upgrade your troops as quickly as possible? Or provide more satellite coverage to the nations providing you money? If you don't protect the nations funding you they will pull funding, to many country's withdraw and it's game over. It's one hell of a tight rope to walk between keeping your base running and keeping your troops alive in the field.

It's very difficult to try and put how much fun Xcom can be into words, the story is quite bare-bone, but this isn't what you will remember about the game. The stories come from YOUR PERSONAL experience, for example one of my rookies took a shot at a certain alien that causes 'Intimidate' forcing them to take a 'Will' test and failing. This rookie in a state of panic turns and blasts my favorite corporal in the face with a shot-gun killing him out right. That's right Gaunts Aldenhai 87 kills 38 missions, killed in combat... by one of my own fucking rookies shitting themselves, a truly inglorious death. I laugh about it now but at the time? I was mad as fuck.

All in all Xcom for me is an amazing game and one I will keep coming back to time and time again I am only sorry I missed the original back in the day.

 (I always thought xcom was a spaceship flight simulator - how wrong I was)

I have also recorded myself playing Xcom, you can find the video here:

Durr Failing at Xcom

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Durr Plays XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Well I had disappeared for a few weeks mainly due to having an operation and dealing with the shittyness that is Christmas and avoiding people like the plague!

But one of the main culprits was XCOM a single player game. A single player game hasn't gripped me and sucked me in like XCOM in a long time. In the video below I am trying to begin a 'Classic Ironman' campaign. In this mode the difficulty is severely stepped up and there is no save and go back when things go bad. When your favorite solider dies HE STAYS DEAD.

Seems I had some free DLC turned on which explains some of the randomness with damage I was doing! lesson learnt.

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