Score dropping like a rock (-250/day, month 3) HALP!

[Armitage451]

My infamy is dropping by a whopping -250~ or so a day, and I have no idea why and more importantly - how to fix it.

I am playing on Blackbeard after finding Jack Sparrow a bit too easy, and I have zero issue on the tactical side of things - I took every single engagement and landed UFO that has appeared since the start of the game, and crushed them with little difficulty. However, despite that I am poised to loose the  game because uh
My score dropped to -1500 in one month despite the fact that I've completed both a prepper base and an old fort defence mission, each for 500+ score plus a multitude of small missions.

I am completely flabbergasted and have no idea what could be causing it, and more importantly - how to fix this.
Anyone have any ideas / suggestions? Loving the mod thus far, this aside.

[legionof1]

Examine the regional activity graphs. More then likely there is some significant cluster of landed/flying ufos somewhere outside your present radar coverage.

Once you track where it's happening you can try to send your craft to disrupt landed ufos.

Mechanically a landed ufo inflicts double the score loss of when it's flying, so even just touch and go without fighting can help.

[Ultimoos]

This mod is harsh on new players, even tho we had some nerfs in recent patches. Like legionof1 said, enemy activity lowers your score and if you are unlucky you can get hit very bad in early months. Most of the things that fly around and is not a civilian will keep lowering your score. Best way to counter that is of course to shoot things down. Necroplanes and bandit blimps in March are 95% beyond your capability but bandit cars and trucks can be taken down with Little Bird. The problem is 14mm ammo. You only start with 200 rounds and if you are not lucky you will run out of it very quickly. Also, going on a mission with Little Bird grants you bonus points from additional glamour.

There are some guides on how to effectively start a game but I will strongly recommend getting Little Bird ASAP.

[Armitage451]

UFO activity spiked (somewhat - it is rising) in Oceania and Antarctic - which I cannot reach. EU also, but after doing a few fly-bys in the airbus I came up with nada.
Worse yet is that I just had a base defence and 2/3 of my gals are not gonna recover in the 15 days I have left to get my score to -500, so looks like I am screwed.

[Armitage451]

This mod is harsh on new players, even tho we had some nerfs in recent patches. Like legionof1 said, enemy activity lowers your score and if you are unlucky you can get hit very bad in early months. Most of the things that fly around and is not a civilian will keep lowering your score. Best way to counter that is of course to shoot things down. Necroplanes and bandit blimps in March are 95% beyond your capability but bandit cars and trucks can be taken down with Little Bird. The problem is 14mm ammo. You only start with 200 rounds and if you are not lucky you will run out of it very quickly. Also, going on a mission with Little Bird grants you bonus points from additional glamour.

There are some guides on how to effectively start a game but I will strongly recommend getting Little Bird ASAP.

I read pretty much every guide I could find, and didn't see anything about air defence priority, crap!

Rushing the Little Bird + ammo, but I doubt I'll get it fast enough to save my game in the 15 days I got left.

[Fugazza]

Now there's a lot of ground vehicles and GR guns (You can use the Rotogun, and the Assault cannon as craft weapons!) so, maybe you can check that. The Gunwagon is pretty nice. I mean, it isn't as effective as the Little Bird with a 14mm, but still...

... Maybe you can get a vehicle as a recon vessel. Get the one with the most radar range, and check the systems. IDR if the Pirate radio extends the radar range on ground vehicles.

[Delian]

Post .sav file

[Ultimoos]

I read pretty much every guide I could find, and didn't see anything about air defence priority, crap!

Rushing the Little Bird + ammo, but I doubt I'll get it fast enough to save my game in the 15 days I got left.

Rushing Little Bird is something you would do from first day, so treat this as a tip for a new game.
To be honest I'm not sold on Gunwagon to be a viable interceptor even for ground enemies. It's like a last resort to deter enemies from discovering your base. Angry Bird on the other hand can be useful if you get some rotor guns and improvised aerial explosives. And that is what I do when I run out of 14mm ammo.

I have also recently started a new game. I have problem with save scuming and wanted to finally have an Ironman game. I'm currently at the end of May and I as well had a lot of activity eating my points in both April and May. I was very lucky on getting more 14mm ammo and I'm still using Little Bird.

If you are interested I could post a quick rundown of what I did from beginning until now in that campaign.

[Armitage451]

Post .sav file

Here you go!

[Armitage451]

Rushing Little Bird is something you would do from first day, so treat this as a tip for a new game.
To be honest I'm not sold on Gunwagon to be a viable interceptor even for ground enemies. It's like a last resort to deter enemies from discovering your base. Angry Bird on the other hand can be useful if you get some rotor guns and improvised aerial explosives. And that is what I do when I run out of 14mm ammo.

I have also recently started a new game. I have problem with save scuming and wanted to finally have an Ironman game. I'm currently at the end of May and I as well had a lot of activity eating my points in both April and May. I was very lucky on getting more 14mm ammo and I'm still using Little Bird.

If you are interested I could post a quick rundown of what I did from beginning until now in that campaign.

Yup, at this point I am pretty sure that I will have to start a new game - and will prioritize Little  Bird lol!

How did you get more 14mm ammo early?

But yes, a run down of your research / advice for avoiding a game end like this one would be very appreciated! Feel you on save scumming though, it's much more satisfying when you just roll with the punches, even if it means loosing your best soldiers to bad luck.

[Delian]

You know, there's special bonuses for starting in specific countries. There's 23 of them and you didn't put your base in any, so that's one disadvantage.

Anyway... yeah, bandits are eating all your score. You don't need to rush LITTLE BIRD; GUNWAGON with Nitro is fine. A bit late for it now tho.
Your own score is poor because you're killing everything. Should try to capture anything that's not a bandit (don't use Rope, that's crap). The score is also poor because you only have 4 brainers and you're not researching anything that gives a good score boost.

[Armitage451]

You know, there's special bonuses for starting in specific countries. There's 23 of them and you didn't put your base in any, so that's one disadvantage.

Anyway... yeah, bandits are eating all your score. You don't need to rush LITTLE BIRD; GUNWAGON with Nitro is fine. A bit late for it now tho.
Your own score is poor because you're killing everything. Should try to capture anything that's not a bandit (don't use Rope, that's crap). The score is also poor because you only have 4 brainers and you're not researching anything that gives a good score boost.

Thank you, really appreciate the detailed rundown.

I had a full prison of (mostly not bandit) hostages but sold them off recently.

What are the general guidelines for what research boosts score? Couldn't really find much info.

What are the country bonuses? I tried searching for it, but had no luck online or in bootypedia.
EDIT: never mind, found it with different keywords.
Which ones would you say are the better ones?

[Delian]

Theban Hive

Pirate Traditions gives 500 score. Researching a codex gives 1000...
Survival 50, Weirdness 100, Violence 200, Cunning 300, Mutant Origins 250...
Each #000 number tip gives 250 score, so mass researching Altair Boys (3 each) and Academy Nurse (5 each) would unlock a lot of those tips and give a lot of score.

[Armitage451]

I was actually leaning toward the Hive! The lore looks cool, not to mention the clones!
To unlock a clone, I need to get all the items for the 'assault clone manufacture', right? Trying to figure out how to use my clone licenses.

appreciate the advice, going to go and put it to good use!

[Delian]

You just research the license and then produce Assault Clone, which consumes 1 license each.