Save often and before you sent your troops. If there is attack before they are back (how unlikely is that), reload from save point and send fewer soldiers.
Also, at the time you lend at UFO, first save, and then progress. Do not allow them to shoot your people. Use tactics described before with 2 soldiers, One advancing and discovering the alien, and other one (or two) shooting it, and then exchange the soldiers, so that other ones can gain better characteristics. (aliens are using similar strategy)
Any base should consist of more then 2 stores. Sell stuff you don’t need as soon as you got it at base.
Laser weapons are great as they don’t require any ammunition. Use it as much as you can.

Hey! Finally someone agrees with me!

Heavy Plasma can kiss my rectum, Lasers are the way forward!

Lasers are good for base D and sectopods. Okay against Floaters and Sectoids. For everything else, there's Mastercard. I mean, Heavy Plasma. The ammo thing is just not good enough of a reason for me to stick with lasers, not when I have hundreds and hundreds of spare clips of Heavy Plasma that I nicked from fallen aliens. But to each his own.

Done.

Here's how I usually asault downed or landed UFOs.

Troops near the Sky Ranger cockpit take a look around. They CAN see a good amount of terrain!

Tanks goes out first, checks every direction, moves ahead.
Next four troops go out, take positions behind wheels and each other, try to cover every direction.

Last four troops move ahead in the Sky Ranger, ready to go out.

First "strike team" follows tank lead, all the way to UFO, second team secures houses, barns, takes position on rooftops and second floor windows.

Usually, only my first team will end up going INTO the alien craft. Until now, it is VERY rare when some critter gets my first team from behind. Strategy seems to be working so far, not accounting for mind controllers, those cheating bastards always put my team in disarray.

When one of my troops goes berserk or panicks or is mind controlled, next turn, if he is "feeling better" I disarm him/her and send him back into the Sky Ranger, pending a future Court Martial back at the base :sneaky:

As for the 80 Item limit. Sighs. IT sucks.

What about me? :huh:
Heavy Plasmas are in all ways better than Laser Rifle(to be objective) but I hate it anyway.Honestly I NEVER got problems to kill anything with Laser weapons.
Anyway I checked my old DOS Ufo. Lasers get VERY downgraded in Ufo Defense.Heavy laser had indeed damage of 120 and 110% of accuracy in aimed shot.
I began to hate person who played with stats in Ufo Defense :angry: :angry: :angry:

What about me? :huh:
Heavy Plasmas are in all ways better than Laser Rifle(to be objective) but I hate it anyway.Honestly I NEVER got problems to kill anything with Laser weapons.
Anyway I checked my old DOS Ufo. Lasers get VERY downgraded in Ufo Defense.Heavy laser had indeed damage of 120 and 110% of accuracy in aimed shot.
I began to hate person who played with stats in Ufo Defense :angry: :angry: :angry: [/b][/quote]
I think you're right, but it also makes sense to tone down the Heavy Laser, else everyone would use that and Blaster Launchers. At least with UFO Defense, you have a reason to switch away from Heavy Plasma/Blaster Launchers sometimes. It would be pointless to switch away from Heavy Laser/Blaster Launchers if HL did 120 damage (and a whopping 180 damage against Sectopods).

It wasnt reason to switch on HP for me. Lasers are old reliable for me and I would NEVER change them. And also I personally hate HPs.
Actually I began to wonder how many things get actually little changed in Ufo:Defense :butcher:

I think human grenades used to do 50 pts of dmg and in UFO Defense they do 60 pts.

A tipical day in the lives of an XCOM squad:

Captain Rayo> all right people, tank's blasted to bits, fan out!!! Sargent Slaughter! keep the rookie safe and watch our backs!
Sargent Slaughter: uh-oh, I know where THIS is going...

Troops fan out, kneel.

Rookie: (gets mind controlled) Aliens are our best friends! They bring peace!
Sargent Slaughter: Huh? (gets shot in the back by rookie) arghhh… accursed... Jedi… mind… control… trick! (falls unconscious)
Captain Rayo: right. We have trouble in the rear people! And its more than 70 TU’s away! who volunteers to go back and heal Sargent Slaughter in 2 turns?
Troops: ….
Captain Rayo: Right. He has the Blaster Launcher you know…
Rookie: oh my god, it’s full of stars (goes berserk, shoots everything on sight, nicks captain Rayo’s power armor)
Captain Rayo: Right. (shoots rookie full of plasma)
Rookie: egad! ET come home…! (dies)
Troops: (cheer)
Captain Rayo: allright then, any volunteers now? (waves heavy plasma around)
Sargent Divx: Sir! I will go SIR!
Sargent Slaughter: (dies of fatal wounds)
Captain Rayo: right. THIS is why I HATE rookies (reload game).


:D

LOL

:kosta:

I always wondered what the movie of this game would look like. :)

:cheers: