Man, this Long War mod is awesome. And looooong.
Seems that going for lasers early plus keeping a weather eye on your air defence is pretty much optimum for this game (lasers needed early not just for ground stuff, but laser cannon for interceptors seems to be very important to get as soon as possible). Satellite rush is no longer quite so crucial, but satellites are still fairly important and will have to be constantly built because in the early game you’ll get a fair few shot down because your interceptors won’t be able to cope, or will be being repaired just at that moment.
I really like the new class mix. The Scout (signature Lightning Reflexes) and Assault (signature Run and Gun) roles have been split, and the Scout is very useful for “breaking” the enemy’s overwatch, luring them into Overwatch traps, etc. Assault is still my favourite class, though, there’s no better risk/reward in the game than your Assault getting in something’s face, blasting it, and your hero saying his little phrase and doing that “kachink” reload animation :)
Engineers are great - Sappers are quite mighty, being able to wield 6 grenades, and perks to match (longer throwing range/more damage), but there’s also an option for an uber smoke-weilding Engineer. The Infantry is a big surprise - solid dps class, as they have 2 shots by default, and many more possible with things like Opportunist perk and others, and also able to do extra Suppression if needed (I find an Infantry with Suppression gives room to bring rookies on easier abduction missions). The Gunner class is the expert Suppressionist though, and as a lover of Suppression from my previous playthroughs, the LMG, having some element of Squadsight and long range, is a great weapon for them to carry.
The only disappointment is the Rocketeer. He seems really, really shit at first because he misses a lot - until you get the hang of playing him properly (need to pump accuracy, need to constantly steady weapon, not fire after a move unless perked, etc.)
A thing I particularly like is having the somewhat randomized stats (they’re randomized within limits) and the tradeoffs between armor, run distance and dps, they make setting up your squad a more thoughtful experience (i.e. you have to carefully min-max, sometimes pumping what’s best, sometimes compensating for weaknesses). It also gives your little guys more individual flavour (e.g. you might have a Gunner who has quite a long run distance, or a particularly weedy Rocketeer who you have to nurse).
Generally, the mod has embettered the game in many areas and moves the game somewhat more towards sim and somewhat away from board game, which I do like, although I can see some people preferring the tight simplicity of the vanilla abstraction.
But mainly, the extra difficulty and sheer number of bread-and-butter abduction missions is just what the doctor ordered. Endless games of chess with aliens ftw.
