How to survive your first pogrom?

[wolfreal]

I start playing  0.99E.3 and get into my first pogrom in the first month. I found some Humanists. i survived two turns (Not counting the first waiting turn). They totally obliterated me without any chance of survival. I reloaded the battle and success in stun and retrieve a instructor, costing me just two die hands and one in intensive care. Maybe I´m trying a too high difficulty (Jack Sparrow),  but at least I clean a cultist and a academy mission just with some causalities, no total carnage!. It is better just to show and run, or there are possibilities in the early game to at least capture something?.

[Solarius Scorch]

Ignore them. Before a certain research, Pogroms don't cause negative points if you ignore them - but if you come and run away, you'll get negative points for killed mutants.

[khade]

If you have the equipment and good hands, the early pogroms are a godsend, as they provide very good tools and resources, but for the early game, as has been said, you can safely avoid them, so if you're not feeling ready, there's no loss if you avoid it.  Something to keep in mind is that you're pirates, not defenders of Earth, and don't have any agreements or alliances to force your hand.

[legionof1]

Another point to keep in mind is that most weapons can be used with no research. Grabbing better guns of fallen foes during a early pogrom is a valid tactic.

[Martin]

In majority of the early pogroms you face weak and poorly armed humanists and a few tough policemen that can be dispateched with melee weapons or ignored untill they start panicking. Thus it is quite doable even with just six gals.

[Eddie]

I would advise night combat, if possible. Best way to not get shot is not be seen.

[tylor]

I would advise night combat, if possible. Best way to not get shot is not be seen.

Unless it's ratmen pogrom

[Solarius Scorch]

Unless it's ratmen pogrom

Or Traders. Or Academy. Or Raiders.

[tylor]

Yeah, but neither of them Pogrom that early

[Solarius Scorch]

Yeah, but neither of them Pogrom that early

Really? I didn't know they were pushed back. How am I going to get my early lasers now?

[Moon_Dew]

I think I got a laspistol once from a temple raid, but don't quote me on that.

[karadoc]

For early game pogroms, here are my two tips:

* Kill enemies as quickly as you can (don't try to save ammo or take them alive unless you're really confident).
* Use civilians as cannon fodder. (If the enemy can shoot at something, they generally will do so. This allows you to use relatively small amount of cover very close to the enemy and still be in relative safety. They aren't going to walk around to corner to shoot you if there is something else to shoot already.)

[The13thRonin]

For early game pogroms, here are my two tips:

* Kill enemies as quickly as you can (don't try to save ammo or take them alive unless you're really confident).
* Use civilians as cannon fodder. (If the enemy can shoot at something, they generally will do so. This allows you to use relatively small amount of cover very close to the enemy and still be in relative safety. They aren't going to walk around to corner to shoot you if there is something else to shoot already.)

How does cover work? I kneel people behind bins and bushes but they still get hit.

[ohartenstein23]

Those are just very poor examples of cover - sometimes a bullet might hit those instead, but in general kneeling and small objects won't do much unless it breaks the line of sight between you and the enemy.  The better way to cover your gals is to duck around the corner of a wall, or use a door so that the enemy can't see you right away on their turn.

[Solarius Scorch]

Yeah, the aiming mechanics are getting a lot of flak, and rightly so - it's criminally imperfect when compared to the rest of core X-Com mechanics. I mean, it would be okay in a simpler game, but the original X-Com was better than that.

Many people await a brave coder who would fix this to work more like in FPS games like Doom (X-Com already has real 3D space, so it's perfectly possible), but it would be a major work. I think Volutar put some effort in it, but I'm not sure how far he's gotten. Maybe there's something on GitHub to analyse?