I've just finished Xenonauts on Veteran / Ironman for the first time. There were quite a few abortive attempts before my successful run (see here[herringsfishbait.com]for an example of one of my many disasters) but by the late-game I had a good handle on things and everything was fairly straight-forward (until the last mission...).

This is classic XCOM; controlling the chaos as people run around with their hair on fire for the first few months; crush the slimy alien invaders once people have calmed down and had a cup of tea.

This is where your game is won and lost as shooting down the aliens is key to boosting your funding levels and keeping you in the game. One of the key things I discovered was that it doesn't matter how successful your ground-game is; as long as you keep downing the alien ships you're going to be fine (even if you air-strike most of crash sites).

However it is also key not to over-stretch and run out of money. The countries of the world refuse to spend any extra money even in the face of a humanity-ending threat (unrealistic, I know) so you always want to just be staying on top of the alien UFOs tech.


This is going to be your main source of income, crash-sites and UFO defence. Priorities;

• Pick a site where you cover as much land as possible with your radar so you get more access to crash-sites.
  
• Cover as many countries as possible so you get maximum reputation for your intercepts.
  
• Build 2 x Radar, 1 x Living Quarters, 1 x Med Lab immediately.
  
• Longer-term you want a 2nd Lab, 2nd Workshop and Garage.
  
• Build up to 4 hangars total quite quickly (for Charlie, 1 x Condors and 2x Foxtrot).
  
• Get up to 5 or 6 hangars before your 2nd base is online so you can build additional planes before transferring them to your other bases.

I chose North Africa for my game which worked well.

• Don't worry about covering land; I only ever sent a ground mission to another continent once and that wasn't necessary. Cover as many countries as you can with each base.
  
• 3 bases total is enough. I got a 4th near the end of the game but that was just because I had so much money :)
  
• The long-term plan is 3 hangars and 3 radars at each base but prioritise getting a 3rd base up before fully expanding your 2nd base's radar.
  
• 2nd base should be built month 2, 3rd base month 3 (start saving money at the end of month 2).
  
• Get 1 x Condor and 2 x Foxtrots at each base.

Mexico and North Australia / Pacific are good choices. I went with North America which was a poor choice; I never used it for ground missions and I ended up losing Mexico and South America (my only two lost areas).

You can build AA guns at each base if you like; I did but I never used them.

Get 5 scientists at the game start and 5 more engineers when the living quarters at your first base are complete. Gradually increase both of these throughout the game (I started ramping up as my 3rd base came online).

I finished with 30 scientists and 30 engineers, all at my main base. I had at least 3 Marauders at each of my 3 bases.

Only do ground missions close to your first base (air-strike the rest) and also time your drop-ship flight so you engage in the day. If you're not going to be able to make it, air-strike it and wait for a better set-up.

The priority list I used;

1. Unlock the Foxtrot immediately.
   
2. Prioritise unlocking Wolf armour. Skip Jackal (it's expensive and mostly useless).
   
3. Next research the aliens to unlock stun technology. Gas grenades are a god-send and if you give stun-sticks to some of your assaults you might be able to grab some advanced aliens where you need to.
   
4. Skip researching the Corsair; you won't need it.
   
5. After the above, always unlock weapons-tech to improve your interceptors.
   
6. Get Marauders as soon as they become available. They're the game-changer as far as air intercepts go. Once you've unlocked them get 3 at your main base and 2-3 at each of the others. You're set to take on anything in the air then.
   
7. Upgrade your drop-ship when the tech becomes available.
   
8. Research the Alien Base Upgrade tech as soon as you get it (big bonus to research and manufacture)
   
9. Get Predator armour and then Sentinel when you can.
   
10. If you're not progressing on any of the above, move forward on ground weapons-tech.
    
11. Get Improved ground-shields.
    
12. Get the best ground tank (I only used it for the last missions but it was pretty useful)

Normally most of the above will flow together; for example you'll get laser weapons on the way to interceptor laser-cannons.

Generally speaking plasma weapons are 'good enough' for almost everything in the game, but MAGs make things a lot easier.

A good Tech tree is is here;

Tech Tree

Here's where I differed quite a bit from the defaults. I tended to implement the old XCOM idea of 'if they can see you, you're probably dead' and I so split my squaddies between Assaults with shields and Snipers, with a couple of Heavy-Weapons.

The Assaults and Snipers get Sentinel armour when available, your Heavies get Predator.

Normally only your Assaults will have casualties. They're mainly used for scouting and reaction fire so getting rookies in for replacements won't kill your game. If you lose a Heavy or Sniper, swap in a good Assault and replace with a good rookie.

For new hires, prioritise Bravery and Reflexes but try not to hire anyone with any totally god-awful stats.

By the end of the game your Heavies will have 100 Time Units and will be able to move a considerable distance before firing full auto. You're pretty set at that point :)

• 3 Assaults with Shields, Pistols, stun equipment and medkits.
  
• 2 Heavy weapons guys
  
• 3 Snipers.

The Assaults had a range of grenades (higher priority to flash-bangs / gas grenades) and the snipers tended to favour smoke grenades.

• 3 Assaults
  
• 3 Heavy-Weapons
  
• 4 Snipers

• As above + a tank

This is a judgement call; but you want Foxtrots (and Marauders when they become available) at each base ASAP.

After that intersperse churning out Interceptors with getting kit to your guys. When I got a new ground weapons tech I tended to go in the following order;

• Pistols : Quick upgrade and you want reaction shots to be lethal when there's a Reaper running at you.
  
• Sniper Rifles
  
• Heavy Weapons

The Heavies are expensive and take ages to make but they're pretty much your key weapon for ship / base clears near the end.

I got a fully upgraded tank for the final missions which was pretty nice; the extra scouting range and cover destruction is nice. I don't think this is 100% required though. I just didn't want to lose my soldiers.

Pro-Tip; always remember to put the soldiers standing directly in front of Heavy-Weapons guys into a crouch. I constantly forgot and constantly sent people to the med-bay / morgue.

Send the Assaults to scout ahead while using their shields as best as they're able. The Snipers stay way back (out of range) while the Heavy-Weapons stay near the Assaults but out of Line-Of-Sight. When an alien is spotted the Heavies duck into LOS, cut lose and then duck out again.

I tended to save the Assaults' Time Units for reaction fire. This helped train them up and was a god-send later in the game when you get nasties coming suddenly into the middle of your men or meet Aliens with a ridiculous amount of movement points

(not mentioning any names)

Approach downed alien ships with caution. Send the Heavies and an Assault to the side of the doors while keeping the other Assaults at medium range in front and Snipers a way further back. The Assaults will provide snap-shots if something pops up. Send a lone Assault to open the door then lob in Stun gas or blast away as necessary (remember to close the door and move back into cover as appropriate).

Only ever scout ahead with 1 Assault at a time, keeping most units ready for reaction fire (or to eliminate anything he sees).

Don't forget to pop smoke if something gets the drop on you. It's an absolute life-saver (even against AoE weapons). Obviously don't bother against Sebillians or melee-range enemies :)

Once you've got a decent selection of tech to research don't worry about going crazy with explosives if you need to; the money loss isn't the end of the world and isn't worth a dead squaddie.

Ideally by the end you'll have 10-12 squaddies with MAG weapons and a mix of Sentinel and Predator armour. There's nothing in the last few missions that is particularly evil, just be cautious and only expose troopers when you're guaranteed a kill.

Marauders are more than capable of taking down the biggest alien ships as long as you've been keeping up with missile tech upgrades; even 3 Foxtrots do the job in a pinch though you might not get them all out of the combat zone...

The last mission is a gauntlet with some very nasty, well equipped aliens but just try and minimise your attrition and you'll be fine. The extra sight range of the tanks came in very handy however.

Enjoy saving humanity :)