Promotion Bug?

[lingmiester]

Hi all,

 

I reciently re-descovered xcom again and was happy to find this huge community of fans! This is also my first post.

 

Now i was reading in the instruction booklet about the amount of soldiers you need before promotions. This is what happened to me:

 

This is what i had to start:

 

Base 1

1 Captain

3 Sergeants

4 Squaddies

2 Rookies

 

Base 2

2 Squaddies

4 Rookies

 

Before i went on a UFO crash mission, i ordered/purchased 10 soldiers and not delivered.

 

Went to the mission with troops of base 1, shot up hella lot of aliens...

 

When i came back there were many promotions, i now had:

 

Base 1

1 Colonel

2 Captains

6 Sergeants

1 Squaddie

 

How is this possible when you get a colonel with 23 soldiers? Does this mean soldiers in transit (in my case 10) and soldiers in all bases (this case 15) all add up in the promo calculation?

 

Thanks!

[Bomb Bloke]

Er, yes, I would say it does.

 

(Greets to the forums! )

[Pete]

Yup, it's not per base, it's worldwide otherwise you could end up with one Commander per base, transfer them all to your main base and have the most elite squad ever with little morale trouble if one of them got shot

 

I forget how many men you need for a Commander (I also forget if the rank at thevery top is actually Commansder ).

 

And ditto, welcome to the forums.

[NKF]

The manual says 30 soldiers or so will give you a commander.

 

Soldier that have just been hired and are still in transit are put into the worldwide soldier roster, even though they're not at the destination base. So yes, I suppose they do get considered in the head count when the game decides determine the promotion handouts.

 

- NKF

[Bomb Bloke]

Which makes the whole 'don't pay the scientists' bug seem kinda odd, doesn't it?

[lingmiester]

Thats interesting, you could then hier like 70 rookies, send all your sergeants on missions and come back all captains and then sack all the rookies and have a squad of captains!

 

Not sure what the advantage would be though....

[Bomb Bloke]

Higher ranks tend to give morale boosts. Possibely stat boosts to, but certainly not stat cap boosts.

[NKF]

Well, Ranks simply affects morale. Morale loss, mainly. If a high ranked soldier is killed, you lose lots of morale. If an ordinary soldier is killed but there's a high ranking officer on the field, morale loss is lessened. Cuts both ways. I'd rather just work with squaddies, personally.

 

- NKF

[Pete]

Nah rookies are more fun.

 

"Oh no, a rookie died! Oh well... they're easy to replace :P".

 

*Ponders how difficult it would be to play theg ame trhough with just rookies...*

[NKF]

Hmm. It would be pretty expensive!

 

You'd have to only let each new recruit go out and fight mission each, then either let them get killed or sack them once they've been promoted to squaddie. Then buy more soldiers.

 

As I said, it would be really expensive!

 

- NKF

[lingmiester]

I actually though up a tactic, not really sure if it really is one but: I'll keep a core or say 2 captains, 4 sergeants (mixed 2 snipers, 2 troopers), 2 Hvy weapons of a total of 8 vets, then flesh out the remaining 4-6 with rookies/squaddies and a rotating scout/bomber (always gets killed!).

 

What do you guys think?

 

LMr.

[Jman4117]

For me it's more:

1 - Rocket Launcher, 4 large rockets, Laser pistol

2 - Auto cannon/Heavy cannon, 2 HE clips, Laser pistol

6 - Laser rifle, 2 prox. grenades, 1 frag. grenade

1 - Laser pistol, lots-o-nades

1 - Laser/Rocket tank

 

I prefer to use the tank as a scout and have a high reaction trooper with a laser pistol enter doors first. A 60+ reaction guy is extremly valuable when entering a medium scout. Tends to save those rookie suicide bombers also.

[NKF]

That's a good strategy for distributing the experience. It's also good because it means you'll have plenty of soldiers to guard the base in case you get a visit from a battleship while your main squad is out on a mission.

 

I generally have up to two or four veterans on board to keep an eye on the rookies. The rookies get swapped after every mission to evenly distribute the experience (except the ones that didn't get as single hit). The veterans, often distinguished by their power armour and wacky/specialised weapon loadouts, hang back and provide cover fire while the rookies try to be the best they can be.

 

- NKF.

[Bomb Bloke]

I usually have ten soldiers, only eight of which I send on missions (usually with a tank). I send a couple of heavy weapons to begin with(as they start off in your stores), but usually end up equiping every unit the same way.