Ideas on recruiting, screening, training, promoting, assigning soldiers?

[Nerva]

I'm curious if there is any consensus or schools of thought on the best approaches to take for dealing with soldiers?   Specifically, their recruitment, screening (including psi-testing), skills training, promoting (and sacking of officers), and assignment to bases and transports.   I'll outline my own thinking and people can comment or outline their own schemes.

My thinking is to start with one "combat" base with a transport, then build six radar/interceptor bases, then a second combat base on the other side of the planet, and eventually have two transports and two combat teams at each combat base.

Avenger combat teams would be 18 soldiers (with at least one top officer) and two HWP's.   I figure two HWP's would facilitate simultaneously assaulting both entrances to a Terror Ship, or the central lift of a Battleship.   So, combat bases would eventually have a max of 50 soldiers, with 38 assigned to Avengers and the remainder on garrison duty and/or new recruits being psi-screened.   The combat base would have four Psi-Labs for training existing soldiers and screening recruits.

The interceptor bases would have 10 soldiers (at least one officer) and 4 HWP's for base defense missions.   The interceptor base would have one Psi-Lab.

What I'm not sure of is how to process new recruits -- should I hire them at combat bases and then send those that pass psi-screening to interceptor bases, or the other way around?

I am thinking I should use the highest-ranking officers for combat teams and assign the next-highest ranks to interceptor bases.   In combat, the officers would stay behind cover and use Motion Scanners, Psi-Amps, and Blaster Bombs.

[Meridian]

I'm curious if there is any consensus or schools of thought on the best approaches to take for dealing with soldiers?   Specifically, their recruitment, screening (including psi-testing), skills training, promoting (and sacking of officers), and assignment to bases and transports.

My thoughts for vanilla xcom are:
 - don't fire anyone (maybe the ones with really low strength, who can't even carry a gun)
 - don't care about stats too much... and most importantly allow them to die... keeping them alive at all costs is fun-killer

In combat, the officers would stay behind cover and use Motion Scanners, Psi-Amps, and Blaster Bombs.

OMG, and you actually like to play that way?
I admit I enjoyed this in the first (and maybe second and third) playthrough too, but after that it's just boring as heck.

[Slaughter]

Some people fire low bravery soldiers. I use them as cannonfodder.

I like having around 40-50 soldiers per base. Enough to go on missions, always have reserves and defend the base in all situations. Its a life saver if you get a early Retaliation.

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[Nerva]

OMG, and you actually like to play that way?
I admit I enjoyed this in the first (and maybe second and third) playthrough too, but after that it's just boring as heck.

I'm not saying I would keep every officer safe -- just the commanding officer.   So, in the late game, I would have every combat team lead by a Commander or Colonel, who wouldn't be exposed to fire -- I think that's realistic.   The lower-level officers would take their chances just like the grunts.   I'm also not a fan of keeping the commanding officer in the transport -- instead, in the late game, I would give him a flying suit and send him to top-center of the UFO, where he would be safe, but in a position to be effective with the Motion Scanner, Psi-Amp, and Blaster Bomb.

[Mr. Quiet]

instead, in the late game, I would give him a flying suit and send him to top-center of the UFO, where he would be safe, but in a position to be effective with the Motion Scanner, Psi-Amp, and Blaster Bomb.

Wtf, I never thought of doing that with any CO. Thanks Nerva.

[Meridian]

Wtf, I never thought of doing that with any CO. Thanks Nerva.

And then we met Tentaculats

[Nerva]

But, I'm curious, do people like to keep all their best soldiers together in an elite team that does most of the missions, or do they transfer them to garrison duty, so that interceptor bases will have some experienced soldiers rather than entirely raw recruits?

I'm kicking around the idea of having a Psi-Lab at each interceptor base, and have 20 soldiers on hand at the end of each month.   At the start of the next month I would put the 10 new recruits in the Psi-Lab, fire the soldiers who tested low on Psi Strength, and transfer those that tested high to my main combat bases.   Then recruit another 10 soldiers before the end of the month.

Or, I could go with the approach of firing those that test low on Psi Strength, bring in enough recruits to have 10 soldiers at the end of the month, and use the Psi-Lab both for new recruits and those that have tested high on Psi Strength.

[Slaughter]

I usually build my teams around a few officers (aka higher than Squaddies) and rookies and then squaddies.

I usually have one or two officers. Second one is a spare in case first one bites the dust in combat.

My CO usually provides battlefield support - motion sensor use early on, mind probing, first aid, item fetching, ammo storing, long range sniper support, etc.

Not a few missions had COs join frontline combat, or missions where it comes down to the lone CO to win or flee.

Officers are very important to prevent panic spirals and disaster dominoes. With a high-ranking officer, you're free from panic spirals that don't involve psionics.

Also, no such thing as useless rookies!

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[Starving Poet]

I generally have a couple roles that are filled - Long Range, Breach, PSI Magnet, Melee / Grenadier - as long as I have a couple people in each role, that's all I care about.

[Agent-HotChocolate]

I only read a few sentences and comments.

Are you guys kidding me? I play like that and Im picky as hell whos in the agency. Im still like that 30 years later I kick everyone out if they are below standards (Bravery below 50). These guys are suppose to be the pick of litter best of the best each country has to offer around the world Special Force tabbed out every once in awhile a regular army might make it in but rare. I havent played enough OpenXCom and going to install it again taking a break from other games. I always liked the base management to the original Xcom compared to Firraxis Xcom game.

I usually leave the highest ranking officer I think is commander back at base and bring one officer to the mission with rest as enlistees. Usually about 12 agents each equipped with one mag (not including one in weapon), one high explosive (except ones with rocket launcher/blaster launcher), one flare, one proximity, and one smoke. Its pretty cool late game playing like this. The entire game is like a selection process to create the perfect soldier or warrior. Once you get PSI Labs up and running keep everyone with high PSI stats and kick everyone else out which is a slower process? By then you should have some pretty good stats on agents but not all of them have the IQ to be psychics. See its like SELECTION all over again.