Whats the inteded way to handle wounded troops?

[BDoubleDs]

Hi, new player here obviously.

So we only start with 6 troops, it doesn't appear theres any way recruit more easily.. so what is the intended way to handle troops getting wounded over time?  Just 'not get hit' ?  using entire ships of the sub par peasants?  I worry just skipping missions over 20 days to heal up my units is probably not expected.

thanks

[Solarius Scorch]

"Not get hit" is indeed the best way, but obviously it's not a very productive advice.

Visiting the nearby town and securing a supply of peasants is the most direct approach. They are... well, hopelessly bad at first, but it's better than nothing, and they're very cheap to replace. You can make them somewhat useful if you give them shotguns or small throwables (there are other ways too, but I'm keeping it simple).

You start with a parrot. It's easy to forget, but it's there and can fill one slot. Not a combat unit by any means, and prone to die, but again, it's better than nothing and it can scout good.

Look out for missions like "Save a Sister", where you can find extra Gals. They mostly aren't easy, though.

None of these methods are perfect and often you will face a dilemma: send an incomplete team or just skip this mission. Deciding which to choose is a matter of some experience and learning which missions are easy enough to do with a smaller crew.

[FireStarTracer]

It's also worth remembering that X-P like some mods are designed so that some missions are meant to be hard to win at early levels and part of the strategy is knowing when to cut your losses.   This is a mistake I made in the first few times I played because I have certain compulsive habits that took time to break (that was one) - once you get used to judging cost/benefit things can get easier.

That said, this game always offers you different strategies and approaches to handling problems so if one thing doesn't work, try something else.  Part of the fun is experimentation (that was another habit that needed changing.)

If all else fails, consider to reduce the difficulty level - again the mod is intended to be difficult because many of hte people who have played X-com (or it) are veterans and enjoy a challenge, so there's no harm in reducing difficulty (I myself still don't play above the middle tiers of difficulty.)    It's also worth remembering that when you start a game RNG will sometimes be against you even from the start.   I've had games I started that I had an easy beginning, whereas with others I crashed and burned early.   That's just part of the experience, too.   If the opening months of the game you seem to struggle it could be RNG and you might consider re-starting and hoping for a different outcome.

My personal experience is missions that give you castaways (the 'save a sister' missions Solarius Scorch spoke of) occur earlier in the game most often (There's even one that always appears featuring necropirates that will give you several castaways) and that has always helped me to bulk up the early ranks as long as I am careful.    You can also always go the 'Gals are superior' route which makes it easier to obtain.    If you're lucky at gambling (or just save scum) you can save up glamour to obtain veterans (Slow but they come quite skilled.)

Any mission that features mutants (aircar race, Mutant Pogroms, etc.) can always feature young ubers that you can 'claim' as a reward.  Young Ubers aren't as good as castaways (especially the escaped lunatics) but with time and patience you can develop them (of course you can do this with slave soldiers and peasants too.)

There can be a surprising number of ways to get gals of varying quality if you keep at it, but those are OTOH the early ones.  Its been awhile since I kept up and I'm still a few versions behind.

[RSSwizard]

As part of your treatment regemin use Mutant Meat and Mutant Eggs. It cures 5 health directly or 2 health for the eggs. Somebody should be carrying some Steaks on their leg slots just in case. Cure 10 health over the course of a couple turns and that may be 10 days worth of downtime averted. The game throws these commodities at you.

The difficulty is when you're wounded and get treated... how many turns are left before you bag the enemy? Plus the penalty you pay for dragging out combat just to leisurely get hands back up to health is Glamour will fade.

Also load scumming. Even if you're on supermutant mode and the random number is fixed you can always reload and choose differently. You can also change opponent's outcomes by having somebody else open fire, even shoot the scenery, because that expends a random roll. Ultimately the cheating behind save scumming is the loading of games and you can still somewhat get away with it. Ie, just do not do the thing that got you shot bad in the first place.

(and if you're set back a couple turns no need to fret - do everything as you did since the random numbers wont change)

[Iazo]

No one gave the obvious advice of building a mess hall?

Ok. Build a mess hall. It reduces wounded time by 25%.

Further, research dogs. Dogs are way more useful at start than peasants, and they can be taken in the airbus to replace one other person.

Choose a wise place to start the game. Some countries and some continents give you aditional units within the first 10 days. Notable choices are Thebes and Turan. Others are Nordfederation, Blackmarch and the Pacific region. Special mention to Romanica if you pair it with Male Touch, you receive 6 very durable armors for them.