XCOM Road to Ironman: It's been a while

 When I wake up-

So it has definitely been a while, and you might be wondering why exactly that is. Well, to be honest I've been finding it very hard to get back aboard the Road To Ironman after that last screw up, for how spectacular it was. Which isn't to say my last reported failure marked the last session I had attempting this challenge, just that I haven't managed to get anywhere near that in my time since and it's left me feeling down about the whole affair. To think about how effortlessly I scored Ironman for the previous two difficulties, and how troublesome it's proving for Classic, it just drives me loopy. But I've taken the requisite time off from my own failure, and spent most of that time not far enough from games like XCOM. I played the entire Baldur's Gate series, (Struggling to get through an incredibly unoptimized Early Access build of 3 right now) cleaned off Original Sin and started 2, played Pillars of Eternity 2 to completion, dived deep into Pathfinder Kingmaker and even popped in with Chimera Squad in the mean time. All games that revolve around having a computer who calculates your odds based on factors seemingly out of your control. Thus formed my training.

Of course, you could look at that list again and go "Only Chimera Squad really counts for anything and even then that game is so different from XCOM Enemy Unknown that it isn't a great help either." But remember that this was fuelled by my desire to clear my head, the somewhat similar styles of games I flirted with in my off time was just a coincidence. But now my infidelity has ceased, I've sworn to be a better man and I have to attack Iron Man XCOM again, but later this week as I'm very busy for the next few days and my schedule is full. But that just gives me the time to work my way up to things, go over the notes I wrote myself and prepare for the next step of my XCOM journey to self mutilation, followed by depression, a steadily dissolution of self worth and probably a spectacular mental break from reality impending.

The first thing is less of a lesson that needs to be learnt and more of a mindset that I need to adopt, namely I need to come to terms with the fact that 'everyone dies'. And no, I don't mean that in some existential meta sense. (I've come to terms with death, and been hoping to die, for nigh on 2 years now.) No, this is something that as a commander of a bunch of blind, deaf and dumb soldiers, I need to accept at a base level. Sometimes people are going to die simply because there's nothing I can do on my end to stop it. I can play the perfect game, do all the right moves, and the cold winds of fate just won't be with me that day. (Heck, fate is never really with me.) So, me, don't lose your head when everything goes sideways, just practice on getting the mission done. Although, that is in itself a pretty annoying happenstance; that you need to complete every mission to even have a chance of winning at Classic or higher. Failure really isn't an option at any point.

This is a big one right here, because I need to remember to think about every single encounter like a chess match. Only, if I was actually any good at chess. (Or anything) What I mean by that should be simple for everyone else out there, but I'm tactically challenged so I need to actively engage this part of my mind in order for it to take any sort of effect. Predicting the moves of the enemy is essential, I need to be two steps ahead at the very least, playing reactionary is a route to imminent death and I don't have the luxury of being that callous today or any other day really. Above all this means that I need to lead the enemies into traps, such as retreating just far enough screen to draw them into poor cover before then jumping back at them and taking advantage of their poor tactical decisions. (Whilst keeping abreast of the fact that Sectoids are capable of planning and executing an attack on people that are off screen at the beginning of that round, as crappy as that is.) 

Coming to the metagame isn't such a huge deal, because if you've ever completed a game of XCom before you pretty much know what you need to be doing in order to win and how your base should look. This game isn't so punishing that making the odd wrong room here or there is going to sink you, so you can screw up a little. Of course there comes a limit to that, because the early game is classically the hardest the game has to offer and thus making sure those first two months are appropriately stocked with the right facilities is kind of a must-have. What actually makes the 'right facilities' is a matter of some debate, but it links to a later golden rule I need to remember so I'll touch on that in a bit. The core of it is thus, however, I need to get an officer Training School up as soon as I can, and some early research staff would do wonders, but I'm not sure if a research facility is worth it. (I may consult someone else's guide on the matter, I'm undecided.)

And, obviously, I need to be up to date with the challenge rules if I'm going to be taking it. Now, of course, this is an Ironman run which means it's a game of XCOM where you only have one save game that automatically saves therefore if anyone dies they're dead for good. I've got some second wave choices that I pick in order to make things more interesting, and they're thus; New Economy, which randomises country payout so my order of satellite construction gets just that bit more interesting. Not Created Equally so that rookie stats are also randomised and characters feel more unique. Hidden Potential randomises stat growth and thus contributes to the same goal stated above and Absolutely Critical guarantees a critical hit on a flanked shot. Which really feels like the way the game should be played anyway, if you ask me. So those are the parameters, take them to heart. 

Finally comes the most important piece of advice, and this one goes beyond just a petty little Ironman playthrough and extends to anyone playing this game. Heck, this could go on to be words to live by. Don't cheat, but exploit as much as humanely possible. What I mean by that, basically, is to screw around with satellites and deployment times so that you can play games with the world's governments without them gaining enough due-cause to drop the XCom program. Keep Satellites that you deploy only on the last days of the month, (because their benefit goes active before the satellite itself launches)  feel free to save big main mission jobs that will knock down global panic until that last possible moment. (Just, you know, make sure you don't screw them up from there.) If you can get to grips with this part of the game, then the rest becomes a management job purely at your own pace, wherein you are no longer racing to keep the world happy and can instead focus on becoming the best you can be. It might even be worth grinding everyone to Colonel at that point.

The last thing we can do is get to wishing me luck, because the early game really is the make or break and unfortunately that make or break is mostly luck based. I may ultimately decide to do some casual no Ironman runs, although with those second wave options of course, just to put me back into the swing of things, and maybe watching some Ironman playthroughs will help me out a bit. (Although I don't know of anyone who does one with a particularly informative style. I'd ask for recommendations, but no one ever comments on this blog aside from bots so I might just not bother with the visual research.) But this is basically my commitment to sticking with this, I absolutely will conquer it, nothing on this earth can stop me. (Beings from the stars, however... I mean they've got plasma guns from day one, what am I supposed to do?)