97 Unit manors / manors spawn migs on HQ in 1998

[SickBoySid]

im on my 3rd (mostly ironman lol) Veteran play though this year. i played 3-4 years ago aswell. my last 2 runs ended in late 1999s and 2000s.

i love the game but i tend to have issues with the manors ( the screenshots are from late 1998 so its not even 1999 yet )

So i think the manors are a fair bit harder then earlier alien terror missions, ive tackled them in a few ways
-night ops attack with good nigh owl and spelunker commendations so they have 12+3~ night vision ( tho reinforcements can spawn on them and kill them before they even get a turn :c )
-spam smokes and antipersonnel mines
-zerg the building and hold with mix mash of alien weapons
-did one in hazmat suits and lit everything on fire lol was kind of funny but hard i think it causes reinforcements to spawn constantly
-i go during the day and use the Crazy broken far superior to the miniguns HMGs with TRITANIUM VESTs only issue is that i need my beefcakes to not be wounded for 48+ days with sickbay after clearing a manor cus they got 90fkin hp with 80 hp missing  :'(

even tho i can take them out it takes alot of time and effort to do so and i generally always lose a bit of the A team

im not sure if its my playstyle / research path. or what im doing wrong but i often get 25-32+ manors in vet difficulty before 1999 and most of them have MIGS so they make the map pretty hell and i have to bait and its just really annoying especially in 2 of my 3 playthrus they spawned migs Ontop of my main HQ base at some point

my monthly score is generally 800-2000+ every month until mid-late 1998 where the manors cause too much activity, i take every mission and research everything for the points im not sure if theirs some sort of balancing that makes more manors spawn because of my high monthly score or something ?

also i had one where i got reinforcements literally every 2 turns ? this is just a theory but i think mass explosives and trigger them to spawn. it happened on my mass fire nade and anti personal mine attempt with like 95+ kills...

bonus dose anyone have any tips on dealing with napalm nades ? the AP usage of a fire extinguisher is really high and it can knock out units and sap AP.


i LOVE the x files mod its amazing but god the 30 mig manors that spawn 70-100 units in 1998 sap my fkin soul

[Juku121]

Manors have been nerfed for two versions now, so presumably your experience will improve with 2.8.

tho reinforcements can spawn on them and kill them before they even get a turn

Er, what? Manor reinforcements have had 'minTurn: 3' for as long as I recall. Granted, I went from 2.1 to 2.5, so maybe 2.3 had different values.

i think it causes reinforcements to spawn constantly
...
not sure if theirs some sort of balancing that makes more manors spawn because of my high monthly score or something ?
...
also i had one where i got reinforcements literally every 2 turns ? this is just a theory but i think mass explosives and trigger them to spawn.

Reinforcements have no such hidden mechanics. They have a fixed minimum turn, a fixed chance of showing up per turn, a fixed number of 'waves' and (mostly) fixed directions these waves come from.

i often get 25-32+ manors in vet difficulty before 1999

Praise Solarius, for now manors don't evolve immediately and don't spawn so much.

Although you used to have a 4*3*8% chance to get one, so an average of one per month for 15 months before 1999. Getting 25+ means you got unlucky.

bonus dose anyone have any tips on dealing with napalm nades ? the AP usage of a fire extinguisher is really high and it can knock out units and sap AP.

Chemweapon extinguisher clips. Though being on fire is not too bad. Kinda like heavy fatal wounds, 5-10 damage per turn, mitigated by resistance and with pretty good chances of going out on its own. Better chances in fire-resistant armour.

i LOVE the x files mod its amazing but god the 30 mig manors that spawn 70-100 units in 1998 sap my fkin soul

You'll be seeing more tier 1 manors now, which 'only' have ~50 enemies plus maids.

[SickBoySid]

Ah not sure what V i have. i got it off of google drive because i has having some issues with downloading stuff from openxcom for a while and i was really itching to play x com files again but that's really useful information if this run falls flat i might update it.
and the reinforcements might of been every 3 and felt like every 2 because of my frustration of the spam of units that kept spawning
the massive spam of manor thing happened in 2 of my 3 runs so maybe i was just really unlucky

but the mods really good and fits pretty well in theme to the original idea of the main game fits the vibe of xcom longwar mods but far better imo and the manors ( and lack of direction with researching with the beef cake research tree) are my only real complaints i hope the patreon dose decently

[Juku121]

Ah not sure what V i have.

See attachement.

i got it off of google drive because i has having some issues with downloading stuff from openxcom for a while

You can always get the latest WIP version from here.

lack of direction with researching with the beef cake research tree

You mean the cake research?

Otherwise, don't get killed and rack up Senior and Solid commendations. See RD Stormies, research RD Storm program. Get the eyeball man and study how to genemod yourself. See Zombies, research Zombies and do missions until you can become a Zombie yourself.

i hope the patreon dose decently

Sadly, Patreon only works as a source of income for a very small number of developers.

[Solarius Scorch]

Patreon is not a "source of income", don't say that as it makes me look bad. It's a tip jar I set up because people kept asking me about it.

[Juku121]

Patreon is a source of income for a (quite small) number of people. And a much bigger number aspire to make it one and fail.

It's okay-ish as a tip jar, unless you want to do risky content.

[Solarius Scorch]

Patreon is a source of income for a (quite small) number of people. And a much bigger number aspire to make it one and fail.

Indeed, just wanted to clarify that it's not a source of income to me or anything. From the context, it was easy to assume that I do.

It's okay-ish as a tip jar, unless you want to do risky content.

What qualifies as "risky" in the US is impenetrable to an outsider anyway.

[Juku121]

Indeed, just wanted to clarify that it's not a source of income to me or anything. From the context, it was easy to assume that I do.

Yeah, my statement could indeed be misread that way.

What qualifies as "risky" in the US is impenetrable to an outsider anyway.

QFT. Bestiality with fantasy creatures is okay, (fully clothed!) 18+ high schoolers are forbidden.

[Chuckebaby]

also i had one where i got reinforcements literally every 2 turns ? this is just a theory but i think mass explosives and trigger them to spawn. it happened on my mass fire nade and anti personal mine attempt with like 95+ kills...

Don't breach the mansion entrances and do not go in the backyard unless accompanied by an adult.
In my experience, this is what triggers reinforcements. You can usually take out a mansion by strategically placing your guys around the parameter and picking off enemies as they exit.
You may have to enter the mansion to get the last few, etc. But do so with a plan.

Set your guys up so they are ready for the next turn because they're coming and they're coming hard and fast.

And I believe there are no more than 3 (or 4) rounds of reinforcements. So no, they won't be coming 10 times per mission.

[PPQ]

QFT. Bestiality with fantasy creatures is okay, (fully clothed!) 18+ high schoolers are forbidden.

And if you slip up or forget it Saint Jason will remind you of it most violently.

Points to those old enough to know the movies I am referencing.

[PPQ]

As to how to clear manors here is my formula:

• Rush for the Osprey. You need the manpower.
• Use at dedicated grenadiers with smoke weapons. At least 1, maybe 2 if you want to be extra safe. I use 2 personally.
• Rush promotion 3 and get a mortar. Or two. No more than three though. Four is entirely sufficient. Five is more than adequate... You get the picture. But like, seriously 2 is enough.

When breaching set your forces up so that you have clear lanes of fire and are outside of grenade throwing range of the main house. Failing to do so can be disastrous as a single grenade can ruin your day. If your spawn is set up so that you can't easily do that just load a save from before you landed and reroll the map. There is no shame to this. Nobody is looking.

Only attack during the day. There are those that would tell you to use night as your cover but I disagree. Night is the great equalizer. And only fools fight fair.
Yes, your enemies can't see you but you can't see them either. And unlike the AI you don't cheat and don't know where the enemy is. And you actually care about losses as well where as the AI can afford to loose a scout or two. So night time is always your disadvantage.

Instead learn to use smoke liberally to control the sight lines in a way that is to your advantage and your advantage alone.

When a good position is established place your mortars in the rear and your riflemen in the front. Set up a firing line flanked by smoke and let your enemy wonder in. Ideally you should have some sort of murder tunnel set up. Barring that a murder cone. With smoke cutting sight lines so that your enemies have to wonder into optimal weapons range before you spot each other and waste their TU walking into your reaction fire.

Use mortars once you can get them to obliterate anything outside of that range, anything that comes out of a corner or really just anything.

Finally avoid Red Dawn and MIB related manors until you hit Promotion III. You can get it off just killing off one of the other cults and adding mortars and rockets to your arsenal really helps.

[Chuckebaby]

I really haven't explored Motor shells enough in this game. Gonna have to revisit this my next play through.

[PPQ]

I really haven't explored Motor shells enough in this game. Gonna have to revisit this my next play through.

Mortars are the gods own weapons in this mod. They are reasonably accurate (as much as you'll ever need with a giant bomb). And can wreck enemies from sniper rifle distance even with cover in between. And they remain useful well into the late game as long as you don't mind picking up the pieces and taking no prisoners.

My tactic is always to keep a guy with a mortar next to my landing craft offering fire support in case a heavily armored enemy or a bunch of enemies show up.

Oh, and the automatic mortar is just sick too. Like that thing is literally the Microsoft Excel of weaponry. It can do anything. It will do anything.

[Juku121]

Don't breach the mansion entrances and do not go in the backyard unless accompanied by an adult.
In my experience, this is what triggers reinforcements.

Reinforcements are entirely based on turns passed (minimum 5 or 3 depending on manor tier) and random chance (10% per turn).

So night time is always your disadvantage.

Throwing flares like candy, using incendiary ammo and just blowing shit up so it burns. Using bats as spotters, maybe. Tends to take too much fiddling compared to smoke and punishes mistakes harder. And personally I cannot throw flares like candy due to the 12-tile throwing limit.

Instead learn to use smoke liberally to control the sight lines in a way that is to your advantage and your advantage alone.

You can also camp in a perimeter building if one presents itself. That's likely safer, but takes more maneuvering and makes mortars hard to use.

In my experience, the AI tends to dawdle around a lot when it comes to pure firefights. What kills you is either a grenade or other explosive, or just so much incoming fire (Red Dawn snipers ) that they're bound to get lucky sometime.

MIB related manors

There are MiB manors?

[Chuckebaby]

Reinforcements are entirely based on turns passed (minimum 5 or 3 depending on manor tier) and random chance (10% per turn).

Have not experienced that at all. Matter of fact I have been able to reproduce reinforcements just by either A- entering the mansions door, or B- going past a certain point into the back of the mansion.

We can ask Solarius about it, he should know what triggers the reinforcements.

Some missions are triggered by turn based. but that seems to be the Alien meetings (with MIB).

On rare occasions, I've made it through mansions without seeing any reinforcements.

Including on this thread
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,10878.msg150759.html#msg150759

I also did the mansion. The deed is done. Was super hard. Funny thing is, I'm not sure how i did it but the reinforcements never showed up.