Terror from the Deep (repurposed).

[GreenGoo]

I should have mentioned earlier, there are distinct differences in how I play X-com and Terror. Of particular note is that I will often set up fire traps where I rely on opportunity shots to take down aliens who peek out of cover. Since 1 shot is often very likely to take out all but the toughest aliens, I can get away with it.

In Terror, if I leave anyone exposed when I hit "end turn" they die. End of story. Sure they might get a shot off. Hell, they might get two (or a second shot from a supporting 'naut) and still not kill the alien, thus assuring their own destruction.

X-com = Rely on opportunity fire
Terror = End turn in cover or die (unless it's an all out blitz where I bring all my 'nauts out in an effort to kill everything before the turn ends)

Also, if for example, I rushed a 'naut up to an alien, attempting to stun it with the Thermal Tazer, and fail, and don't have enough TU's to get away, I will crouch. I have noticed a significant decrease in alien accuracy vs crouching targets as compared to standing targets. So not only does crouching increase your team's accuracy, it decreases their chances of being hit. This is almost never needed in X-com, but I find myself doing it quite a lot in Terror.

[dbt1949]

Hand grenades are you friend. You can time some of them to go off at the end of the aliens turn and hopefully expose them.
I usually set up a fire base of at least four guys. Then I send out scouts. They always end their turn in cover. They're not used for shooting. That's what the fire base is for. Really works well late in the game when you have the flying suits and guided missiles.

[NickAragua]

Yeah, just don't try to send the missiles straight up or straight down, they'll go flying off in a random direction instead.

I also wound up playing this game so much that I remember all the likely alien hiding spots, and just nuke them without even bothering to check. For example, that little spiral underground bunker in the "seaside resort" terror site. Hate that damn thing so much.

[GreenGoo]

I shy away from explosives since they tend to destroy valuable equipment and bodies that I want to bring home. Still, I use grenades far more often in Terror than I ever did in X-com (which was pretty much never).

Another thing I do is aimed shots in Terror whereas it's all Auto shot in X-com.

First, ammo is scarce in Terror. Second, the clips are smaller. 3rd, I need to HIT the target (yes, mathematically auto is better, but small clips make this less viable). Fourth, a lot of weapons don't even have auto shot in Terror.

Terror = aimed shots. Snap shots when no choice or need extra TU to reach cover afterward.
X-Com = auto shot. Especially when equipped with Laser rifles, since they have unlimited ammo.

[Bakhtosh]

I've never seen explosives destroy stuff that's on a living alien. Yeah, going overboard on the number of grenades will lose you that lobsterman corpse, but it's better than being dinner for a crustacean.

I would also research that stun bubble launcher ASAP. IIRC, two of those will take down a lobsterman.

[GreenGoo]

I've never seen explosives destroy stuff that's on a living alien. Yeah, going overboard on the number of grenades will lose you that lobsterman corpse, but it's better than being dinner for a crustacean.

I would also research that stun bubble launcher ASAP. IIRC, two of those will take down a lobsterman.

No, but they tend to die at different times, so throwing a grenade at a living alien will often destroy any dead aliens in the blast radius + equipment on them.

Explosives are better than dying, but in X-com I could always get away without using them (I assume I was subject to the beginner difficulty bug, which made things easier).

[Bakhtosh]

Before Blaster Bombs, grenades were my Oh Crap! weapon of choice. I don't know how many times they've saved lives by killing an alien that had a clear shot at one of my guys, but the thrower didn't have LOS.

One of my most fond memories of x-com is a game I played with a buddy (he drove the mouse - I did strategy). We had a guy with some amazing throw skills...named him Nolan Ryan. Everyone was out of moves...no one had LOS on this alien, and he had a couple of our guys dead to rights. Nolan primes an alien grenade and chunks it so far that it arcs up to the third level of the map, lands right at the alien's feet and blows him to kingdom come. It was one of those moves that had us jumping around screaming about how awesome it was. To this day, when we talk about x-com, that's the first thing we remember.

It's funny how we have different priorities. I've never worried about equipment or bodies. There were always plenty of each. The only time I've ever hesitated using explosives is if there's an unconscious alien nearby that I need to research. And of course, you have to be careful around the power core of the alien ships.

[Shinjin]

A recent game had me neglecting a research base other than to stock it with some soldiers and some supply overflow. Naturally it was targeted for a base assault and for kicks I decided to see how my ~10 rookies would do armed with nothing but the alien grenades that happened to be present.

The invaders were the green mutants accompanied by the pink globular things. And it always takes more than one grenade blast to down the mutants. But in the process I managed to snag some dropped plasma weapons to augment my meager arsenal. That helped a lot.

I did win the scenario, with something like 2 survivors. My original plan was to restore to an earlier save and transfer some weapons to the base, but after that heroic save I just had to keep going with successful base defense. It felt awesome.

[GreenGoo]

Nothing too exciting to update. Finished the top level of the Base, by peeling each mental weakling off from the main herd, disarming them and returning them to the sub. The spent at least 20 turns being panicked, berzerked and MC'd, but were unable to do any harm to themselves and others.

After the last MC'er died, I re-equipped everyone in preparation for part 2. I believe the underground level is populated solely by Lobstermen, so even the crappy 'nauts will have a chance to be useful down there.

Sonic Cannons do have a significant effect on Lobstermen, even though they are resistant to sonic weapons, so I don't anticipate any problems.

In Part 1, the central chamber was filled with Tentaculats and Tasoth soldiers. Since I left it for last, all the soldiers were already panicking and had dropped their weapons (there were at least 20 aliens in part 1), but the tentaculats required some fancy foot work to draw off the ledges down where I could get a clean shot at them, while at the same time staying out of range so as not to turn into zombies.

At least 6, possibly more 'nauts will have to either be sacked or left for base defense only. Taking them on missions has been pretty much a death sentence themselves and others.

[Bakhtosh]

One thing to remember - any of those blacklisted naughts that have rank should be sacked to make room for your active crew to advance (plus I never really had much use for base defnders anyway).

[GreenGoo]

One thing to remember - any of those blacklisted naughts that have rank should be sacked to make room for your active crew to advance (plus I never really had much use for base defnders anyway).

This is a good point, I hadn't thought of that. I had planned to keep them around in a mistaken case of loyalty. These guys got me where I am right now. To nuke them because they have weak minds seems...heartless.

And even more strangely, I tend to send the sack-worthy on MC training to verify their terrible numbers before kicking them to the curb, even though I know they suck beforehand. Not sure why I do that.

[dbt1949]

Before the MC labs I can anybody who gets mind controlled or panics due to mind control attempt..
After the MC lab I use 80 as my minimum for the final assault squad altho I will keep those in the 70s.

[GreenGoo]

Before the MC labs I can anybody who gets mind controlled or panics due to mind control attempt..
After the MC lab I use 80 as my minimum for the final assault squad altho I will keep those in the 70s.

It makes sense and it is easy to tell. Several of my guys have gone from 100 morale to MC'd in 1 attempt. Now that is a weak mind. I still have loyalty to them. I have no idea why. Partly roleplaying mentality I think.

[The Rocketman]

I too have been inspired by this fun thread to retry Terror From the Deep. I've played it a lot when it came out, and a bit later on, but never actually completed it. When things start going wrong I find myself losing interest. My goal will therefore be to finally finish the game!

My rules:
*Ironman as much as possible - which I know will be excruciating, since even the smallest mistake (or sometimes, no mistake) can result in an early submarine grave.
*Medium (3rd) difficulty
*Mod: X-com util:
a) to remove bugs;
b) to improve the Magna-Pack Explosive to be able to blast a hole in an alien hull. I feel this is allowed in the spirit of the game.
c) Improved dye (= smoke) grenade. It now works a lot better. Again, I feel this is isn’t cheating, but more in line of what it should be.
d) to use x-com util to find (or kill) the last alien on a bug hunt which has been going on for too long. Otherwise I might lose interest and quit the game early. I will not use this too much, since it IS basically cheating. However, GreenGoo's thoughts seem to mimic mine for this game, and some missions are just too long. It is after all a game, and the point is to have fun.

Here's my first month:
Build my first base ("Troy", after the legendary city) in Northern Europe, since that's where I live I also have nice coverage of Europe, Africa and the USA from here.

January 1: Intercept small scouting uso. 1 lone aquatoid is taken care of without trouble. A good start!

January 19: Intercepted and shot down another small uso. 2 aquatoids this time, again they’re dispatched easily. Confidence grows, I’ve still got what it takes!

Research of Sonic Pulsers (alien grenades) complete. These alien grenades will give my troops a good fighting chance until the good rifles start to appear.

January 25: A long chase with a small uso, resulting in both my interceptors taking shots at the uso, but it keeps evading. After a long dogfight it finally lands in the sea, probably for repairs. Both my interceptors limp home, badly damaged. Let this be a warning for those cocky pilots!
My recovery team starts it’s assault on the unsuspecting sub. Outside I find 3 aquatoids, and they pose no problem. Expecting to find 1 or 2 aliens in the sub, I advance towards it’s airlock a bit too fast. The aliens take advantage of this and kill my first aquanaut who’s caught out in the open. A huge shootout ensues between my aquanauts in cover, and the aliens hiding in the uso. I kill plenty, but more aliens keep popping out. Unfortunately, my marine carrying the auto-cannon (with explosive shells) kills himself in an auto-shot accident.
In the end I make an extra hole in the sub with my Improved Magna-Pack Explosive, and surprise the aliens from the side.
Final tally: 10 aliens killed, 2 aquanauts lost! I never imagined there’d be that many aliens in such a small vessel, but I consider this a fair warning.

I hope to ride out the month on a good note, having killed 13 aliens and lost only 2 men. Unfortunately, it’s not to be, and the aliens launch a surprise attack before the month’s end.

January 26: aliens attack a port in Africa. The Battle of Accra begins.
I load out 12 aquanauts instead of my standard 8. My men safely exit the sub, and seem to face gillmen and deep ones. 1 Gillman survives a grenade blast, and runs away. One of my rookies reacts to this, and fires his jet harpoon right in the back of the head of a friendly. The aquanaut can limp back to the sub to receive medical attention. From now on Lyudmilla will be known as “Gillhead”, and Gunter as “Medic”. Nikolai, who mistook her for a gillman, will be known as “FF” (for friendly fire).
Other than this incident, my men advance steadily. The final alien bastion is a large warehouse, packed with gillmen. Again, I assume there’s only 1 left, and my men pay the cost. 1 of them (Greg something) receives fire from a direction I didn’t suspect, resulting in 3 health left, and 3 fatal wounds. He will be dead next turn, unless… He tosses his medikit to the closest squad member nearby, and runs towards him. The squad member picks it up, and is able to heal all 3 chest wounds. He will live, hurrah! 2 Turns later the gillman shoots again, killing Greg. You will be remembered Greg… Something.
Ultimately 2 other squaddies die. 1 in a grenade tossing accident (I misclicked!), and 1 when he assaults the warehouse.
Final tally: 15 aliens killed, 10 civvies killed (5 saved), 4 aquanauts killed. Rating: POOR.

The montly report is a positive one luckily, except for Africa who somehow isn’t happy with the way I handled that terror site.

So far everything’s going as planned. I wonder how I’ll be able to capture live aliens (other than by accident) since I don’t really like melee combat in this game. We’ll see.

My aquanaut load-out so far has been the gas cannon loaded with explosive shells, except for the weak aquanauts who get a jet harpoon. All carry sonic pulsers, standard magna-blast grenades and a dye grenade. Most kills are made with grenades. Against aquatoids, gillmen and deep ones this works so far.

[GreenGoo]

Good stuff Rocketman, thanks for sharing. Always fun to read about others' experiences.

For the record, my game is still going, although I'm playing it less avidly than is my norm. Progress is still being made and I'm doing a final sweep of the bottom levels of the alien colony. I will report back when I have finished.

While I was hoping to play this game in a somewhat Ironman fashion like Rocketman, at this stage we have gone full half circle and am saving religiously. I kind of hate that I am too weak willed to let my 'nauts die when they deserve to. Oh well.

[dbt1949]

Ironman is tough. I've done it once and swore never to do it again. I mean how can I lead my men when I get killed early in the game?
So my spirit came back into another grunt and I was reborn!
6 times.

[Sandpuppy]

I would save my X-COM games about every five turns or so, in case of a crash, and always before attempting to use a grenade, as I'd always get tired of "Unable to throw there" or "Out of range" for instances that looked pretty doable to me.

XCOMUtil is great for those missions where the last lobsterman is hiding in a cruise ship toilet or you've got the final alien trapped in the upper floor of a house/warehouse that's unreachable from the ground due to damage.

[dbt1949]

With both Xcom and TFTD later in the game when I get the guided missiles and the flying suits I like to blow a hole in the top of the ships and send in guys that way.
It really screws with the aliens. Panic everywhere!

[Shinjin]

Or have two soldiers armed with the guided missiles and crack open the ship at two levels and invade multiple levels simultaneously from the side.

My last XCom game I got 'stuck' trying to get a base commander. After ~5 alien base attacks I had finally stunned an floater base commander. The following round another floater lobbed a grenade onto the commander's corpse. I was playing "ironman" (with the exception of before launching a guided missile, since they sometimes are bugged and blow up in your face rather than follow the route). Two more followup base attacks failed to produce commanders. It was annoying since I was well past ready to head for Mars.

[GreenGoo]

Good lord, this is getting a bit tedious.

To the best of my knowledge, I took a methodical approach and cleared out every level of the Alien Colony. Assault on the main reactor room went better than expected, and I currently have 2 live Lobsterman Commanders in people's backpacks.

The problem now is that there is at least 1 Lobsterman Navigator out there that I missed somehow. Unfortunately, since I've already cleared all fog of war, that means I have to re-clear the entire base until I find him. I've made several attempts but my heart just isn't in it. I went slowly and methodically at the beginning to avoid exactly this. Faced with doing it again for 1 measly navigator is pissing me off.

On the plus side, I found a live tentaculat during my continued searching, so maybe there are more than the 1 lobsterman lurking about. Still, I'm annoyed, and so I play very short sessions and then leave it until the next day.

Yes, I could gather everyone up and head to the lift pads now that the reactor thingy is down, but from the get go I decided to do a full clear rather than beeline to the reactor room to end it quick. If I leave now, all that effort will have been for naught. Not to mention I'm not sure how the game handles the loot when you evacuate vs. clear all aliens.

So yes, I'm still playing, and yes, I'm still in the same god awful colony. Almost done with this, then I can sack the weakminded and hopefully make a little more progress.

[Bruce]

I picked up the steam bargain but am struggling to find out how to run xcomutil on the Steam version of the game.

Where does one setup the files to work correctly?

[Bakhtosh]

Goo, what I'd do in this situation is fan out, sending guys to every corner of the base to locate the bug. You may get lucky and kill him, or you may have to reload and send in more guys to take him down.

[dbt1949]

If you have destroyed the command center and you're not interested in the navigator for research purposes just load everybody back up into the exit points and hit abort.
You still get all the equipment you can put on the exit points and the captives and credit for destroying the alien base. You just don't get all the loot from the first part of the mission. Make sure to keep the captives in your backpacks or they'll end up dead.
Later in the game you can get a hold of a lobsterman navigator by shooting down one of their craft the cruiser size or bigger. My favorite ploy is to find an alien base and wait for the them to resupply and then attack.
Later in the game you can build a base unit that will tell you what kind of craft the aliens have and what kind of crew and what their mission is.

[The Rocketman]

I picked up the steam bargain but am struggling to find out how to run xcomutil on the Steam version of the game.

Where does one setup the files to work correctly?

I installed xcomutil for terror from the deep (also from Steam), and I had to place it in Program Files\Steam\Steamapps\common\xcom terror from the deep\tfd

However, this is from memory, so I may be off somewhere... Maybe this will get you started: http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=XcomUtil" target="_blank

[The Rocketman]

Good lord, this is getting a bit tedious.
The problem now is that there is at least 1 Lobsterman Navigator out there that I missed somehow. Unfortunately, since I've already cleared all fog of war, that means I have to re-clear the entire base until I find him. I've made several attempts but my heart just isn't in it.

I would highly suggest running xcomutil to find the last alien. There's no point in playing a game you're not enjoying.

[dbt1949]

Actually in TFTD I seldom hunt down and kill all the aliens in the colonies or the "radar" bases (or whatever they are)unless I'm strapped for money. You destroy the base by destroying certain devices not for killing off all the aliens.
That is especially true early in the game when you're weak. Later in the game I used mind control and position the aliens where I can get a good shot or to use them for scouts. Especially lobstermen.

[The Rocketman]

February report

Feb 13 Shot down a very small sub, killed the single occupant.

Feb 15 Research of Sonic Blasta rifle complete! Now for the clip... I skipped the gauss line, and I think this was a smart choice if I see Goo's problems with facing the lobstermen later on.

Feb 21 Blasta clip complete! My 'nauts killing power has probably tripled now.
Also a new USO sighting, with a long chase. It lands, and my interceptors have to return because they're low on fuel. While my triton is on the way, the uso lifts off again and escapes. Darn.

Later that month
- Particle sensor researched, which I read here may give me some cash in producing and selling it.
- I keep sending patrols to Eurasia, because that's where all the activity apparantly is, but my frequent patrols pick up nothing.
- Research on Deep One complete

End of February Rating good, but funds are down because Eurasia is unhappy with my progress. I noticed there had been activity, but my base (which is nearby) and my barracuda patrols never picked up anything. Nothing more I could do really.

All in all a very slow month, which is always nice when you're researching important stuff. But it does make you suspicious that you're missing the fleet that's massing just outside your sensor range...

[The Rocketman]

March report

Mar 1 Uso lands, but takes off again before I get to it.

Mar 2 Terror site: the aliens attack the port of San Francisco. Looks like the calm period of February has already passed.
The mission goes smoothly, the sonic blasta rifles prove their worth. But then the first Molecular Control combat begins. Greg Bell is quickly controlled by the aliens, and unfortunately holds a rear position covering a large area of friendlies. Holding a gas cannon armed with explosive bolts, the carnage is quick and total, and he kills 4 former comrades.
Somehow he's able to snap out of the alien control (or has the aquatoid responsible been killed?), and he's quickly disarmed and left in the triton. The rest of the mission is a mop-up, but the high death toll (all by 1 turned aquanaut) shows the aliens' fearsome prowess in this field. Greg Bell is nicknamed "Traitor", and will be recovering in sick bay the rest of the month, due to some wounds suffered while he was under alien control.

Mar 7 A lot of USO activity, including large and very large ships. I manage to sneak up to a small landed uso, and a recovery mission initiates.
Again I've made a mistake: it's darker that I anticipated when I left, and I didn't bring any flares. 3 of the 8 aquanauts get sniped without seeing their adversaries (by gillmen, I later find out), and the going is slow and tense. I can't see them, but they take potshots at my advancing men. In the end, using particle sensors and an abundance of grenades, the mission ends with 5 gillmen dead. A high toll for an easy target like a small uso.

Mar 9 Watching the graphs, I notice Iceland is still under heavy USO activity. After sending patrols, I pick up an alien colony there. I decide to leave it for now, having no MC defense whatsoever. My research does complete for aqua armour, so research is still going strong.

Mar 12 Another day full of dogfighting. Conclusion: 1 interceptor limping heavily damaged back to base, and 1 out of fuel. I do manage to down the small uso, and when sending out my team (in broad daylight this time) I can score a flawless victory, at last (Aliens 0 - Aquanauts 5)

And then nothing happens for the rest of the month. After a hectic start, it's calm again. My Long range scanner at my 2nd base in the antarctic (Base Zebra) is completed, so I now cover 2 sides of the globe.

Monthly rating Good, but again I lose funding. This time it's China and Eurasia who think I'm spending too much of their money.

[Bruce]

Found it - didn't notice the "TFD" directory and was trying work one level higher at "x-com terror from the deep"

[GreenGoo]

I picked up the steam bargain but am struggling to find out how to run xcomutil on the Steam version of the game.

Where does one setup the files to work correctly?

Good stuff. While I have used Xcomutil extensively in the past, going so far as to make a somewhat complicated naming convention file, this time around I decided to skip it and see how it went.

Glad you got it working for you though, it has a bunch of cool tools.

I'm unsure how Xcomutil can find my last Lobster. I didn't think it had that functionality. Can someone confirm? I may throw it on just for that.

[GreenGoo]

Rocketman, I'm reading and enjoying your AAR, just so you know, even if I don't comment directly every time.

[Sandpuppy]

I'm unsure how Xcomutil can find my last Lobster. I didn't think it had that functionality. Can someone confirm? I may throw it on just for that.

It's the VIS parameter. Type xcomutil game_# vis wrt and then load that saved game. The entire map and all occupants will become visible. They can become unseen again the next turn, though the entire map is still revealed.

[GreenGoo]

I'm unsure how Xcomutil can find my last Lobster. I didn't think it had that functionality. Can someone confirm? I may throw it on just for that.

It's the VIS parameter. Type xcomutil game_# vis wrt and then load that saved game. The entire map and all occupants will become visible. They can become unseen again the next turn, though the entire map is still revealed.

Guess I'm installing Xcomutil tonight then. The map isn't an issue, since it's already completely revealed, which was part of the problem, in that I have 4 levels and no clues as to where this Lobster might be found, leaving me with the task of completely sweeping the base a second time. Which took all the enjoyment and wind out of my sails, so to speak.

Thanks.

[El Guapo]

no clues as to where this Lobster might be found

[dbt1949]

I assume you've used your overhead minimap.
Given that I'd put one of the guys in a shooting mode and aim and every block one at a time. Sooner or later you'll see his outline in the target reticule.

[GreenGoo]

I assume you've used your overhead minimap.
Given that I'd put one of the guys in a shooting mode and aim and every block one at a time. Sooner or later you'll see his outline in the target reticule.

Oh shit, are you saying the reticule will change colour if an alien occupies a square, even if the alien isn't visible? And of course you are, because that's exactly how it works for a shooter who can't see an alien but I know he's there from the LoS of another 'naut.

Since I'm playing with none of the bug fixes from Xcomutil, I'm also a little worried he's in an unreachable location on the map.

Also, there have been times when an alien has been invisible while being in the same room as some of my 'nauts with LoS. not sure what is happening there except for some sort of graphics glitch. Since I knew he was there (from before he disappeared) I just shot the square and killed him anyway. I've done that about 3 times now in this game. Hopefully the Lobster is not invisible, that would make it an extra pain in the ass to find.

[GreenGoo]

Well, got home last night and installed Xcomutil. I actually had some trouble figuring out how to install it with the Steam Dosbox version. I spent a lot of time reading a lot of threads and readme's and Faq's and none of them had just straight forward steps, which surprised me. I had to piece it all together from multiple sources and snippets. Not that it was hard in the end, but without being sure I didn't want to mess it up.

So I run the vis flag and take a look. 1 tentaculat that I knew was there, and 1 lobster navigator, which I also knew existed since it panicked at one point, but I had no idea where it was. Well, it turns out it was about 4 squares and around a corner behind one of my 'nauts, who was facing the other way, and moving away as well. How they could be so close without knowing he was there I have no idea.

So, shoot the Navigator with 1 round from the large sonic cannon and down it goes. But it's alive. Next the tentaculat drops fairly easily since it was in a large room with lots of firing angles available. Mission ends.

With an ungodly amount of saving, all 14 'nauts leave the remnants of the alien colony alive. 38 Aliens dead. A pile of aliens captured, including 2 lobster commanders and a tentaculat (which can be tough to capture alive due to their scariness). And obscene amount of loot, although no sonic rifle cartridges, which kind of sucks, since the rifle doesn't eat so many TU's. I like to have a mix of heavy hitters and more mobile medium hitters. I also left the colony with 12! tracking bomb thrower thingies and piles of ammo for them. As I said though, I'm kind of adverse to explosives, so I don't know how much use I'll get out of them.

Total Score: 2265 pts for the entire colony mission. Pretty insane.

So now I can get back in the game. Put the weak minded in a sealed room, never to see live mission action again. Re-equip and re-organize team members. Look into ramping up production and research.

Hopefully I can start making some decent progress, because I've been moving so slowly lately that it felt like moving backwards.

Onward!

[GreenGoo]

For some reason that even I don't understand, I like to send my guys on MC training before sacking them, even though I know the weak minded already from watching them in combat.

1 of my soon to be sacked guys came out of MC training with an MC Strength of 0. If an alien even looked in his direction, he immediately flipped sides.

Ugh. That's bad.

Now, one of my top performers, high accuracy, high stamina, high TU came out of MC training with a Strength of 88. Nice to see I have at least 1 all star on the team already.

[The Rocketman]

I know the type. I too have some guys who after just one MC attack are turned into vicious murderers. Bastards.

I'll post my april AAR soon, but I'll already confess I reloaded a bit. Ironman is breaking-my-balls-tough! I keep the spirit of Ironman, but now sometimes reload when I feel I was cheated by the game.

And I find myself in just such a situation right now: I'm on a terror mission (cargo ship) and I think everyone's dead on the upper deck, except 2 bio-drones (or what do you call those brains in their little flying saucer?). The problem is those drones don't move anymore, and are holed up in small rooms. Aquanaut opens the door, drone fires and kills him. I shoot, don't kill it, it reaction fires and kills my naut. I move towards it, it fires, kills my naut. Aaargh!

It seems as if the game is forcing me to use Zapp Brannigan's tactic of sending waves and waves of men at the killbots, until their kill limit is reached... (http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/Killbots" target="_blank)

Silly drones, with their high reflexes and incredible accuracy. And deadliness.

[GreenGoo]

Definitely bio-drones. I just watched the killbot episode last night as it turns out.

I have no real advice, as bio-drones seem to have very high reactions. You might try to have a 'naut open the door, then move out of LoS, then have another(s) throw grenades into the room.

I'm not much for explosives but this would be an instance I would use them. Of course after I lost 5 guys trying to do things the old fashioned day. I might also sacrifice 2 guys and then hope my 3rd guy could reach it with a stun rod. Early on stun rods are my best friend. I use them extensively in both X-com and Terror.

Anyway, if you're going to reload, try the grenade thing.

You can also try to open a new door in a wall using explosives/shots. Possibly one behind the bio-drone, if it is facing the actual door.