Itchy//Tasty said:
I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but every single strategy I try fails, and even online guides don't seem to be helping. I might have hang this one up and accept defeat, but I don't want to because it's such a beautiful, likeable game. Any tips, GAF?
If you read my posts earlier in this thread I almost quit as well, but now I'm more than halfway through the game and I love it a lot. It's one of those games you have to "learn" how to play before you really start to enjoy it. Anyways here's my n00b0rz tips: (they're all pretty obvious once you "realize" them but I didn't really pick up on certain things until a few missions in. Some of these will be stupidly obvious to you - so take it for what it's worth to you)
1. Lancers/Snipers CAN NOT counter attack! Man, I wish this had just "clicked" with me earlier in the game. This means if you see like three Lancers taking cover and all you have is a Scout = you win. Rush up on these assholes and spend all the turns in the world throwing grenades and capping them in the face - they won't counter with a lance shot. Any time you see a Lancer all by himself and all you have is a Scout or Shocktrooper, then you have them dead to rights. They can't counter attack you as you rush up on them so take advantage!
2. Level up Scout to Lv11 ASAP! Once they are Lv 11 they get the grenade launcher which I think is the most useful weapon in the game. This makes the Scouts DEADLY. They can kill almost any unit in one kill - and from distance! Don't bother doing equal XP distribution early in the game - get the Scouts to Lv 11 ASAP and rock with the grenade launcher.
3. Lead with your Tank on the battlefield and set screens! I always lead with the tank out in the battlefield. When you're in turn (offense) there's nobody capable of destroying your tank as you move into a battlefield. They'll just chip damage you a lot, but nothing that will KO you in a turn. (Unlike the Scout where if she runs up on a hiding Shocktrooper - they're dead) Keep your units behind the tank, especially an Engineer who can heal the tank, when progressing on the battlefield. If one of your units get in trouble, have the tank move to block it from targets when the enemy's turn comes (defense).
4. "Stand up" your enemies before rushing/attacking! Again this is something that did not click with me until several hours and missions into the game. When an enemy is in "Crouching" - you aren't going to be able to kill them in a turn and you'll only do chip damage to them. Basically when you see an enemy crouching behind sandbags - you need to "stand up" them first before you can do a head shot in hopes of killing them. There are some effective ways to do this. By far the most is to use your Tank. Have your tanks run over enemies that are crouching and destroy the sandbags. Ironically you won't damage them, but you'll destroy their cover and make them "stand up" so you can rush up to them and do a head shot or kill them with a grenade.
Here's an example of this > You see a Lancer crouching behind sand bags. You rush up on them and try to head shot them with a Scout. You BARELY do any damage. What you should've done is lobbed a grenade first to destroy their cover and stand them up. Then on the next turn, rush up for the head shot kill.
Or while you're leading the front with your tank, you see a group of enemies crouching. You run them over, destroying their cover and standing them up. On the next turn you have a Scout or Shocktrooper lob a grenade killing them.
5. Don't use up all your CP (command points/ character turns) if you don't HAVE to! You can always save CP for the next turn. Usually I like to save one or two CPs per turn where I am just setting up positions, and save them for when I go on an "offensive turn". Do strategic things like flank an enemy and stack up three or four units against a wall out of sight. Then save for your next turn and have all characters rush the base or enemies you're trying to kill. Remember to take out the defensive units first: Tanks, Shocktroopers, Scouts... and then rush up on Snipers and Lancers when there's nobody there to protect them.
... That's all I have for now! I hope at least one of those will help.
