Some things I have seen so far

[Hard Sarge]

don't use the Spirit or Tank for your main killer, use it for scouting and setting up your other troops

yout troops gain Exp by hitting and killing Aliens

set up one or two of your troops to be your killers, let them kill off the damaged Aliens

once you get the Medkit, only use that for Crit damage, and the stimpak for normal damage

try to set up cross fire patterns, inside buildings, these can be fun, you can blow holes in the walls, to open up new lanes of fire, once the enemy is found

anybody else ?

[Village Idiot]

Research, but don't manufacture the Laser Pistol/Rifle/Heavy.
 
Not worth it, as you have to keep continually manufacturing ammunition for them. Your Mechanics are better off spending their time making other stuff.
 
Rifles work almost just as well, and cost less Action Points (later on, I can fire 4-5 Burst Fire per round per soldier, at 50-60% accuracy each).

[Iskandar]

rifles don't work so good on vipons or the big grey melee things. 3-5 rifle hits to take those down vs. 2-3 laser rounds.

oh, use your first 2 level ups on your soldiers to push their accuracy up to 60, and then bring it to 70-75 over the next 2-3, then start dumping points elsewhere. kind of nice having a 60% to hit rate with burst from the other side of the map if you need it. 75 is about as high as you need to go, you can hit 90%+ to hit rate with aimed shot no matter how far away you happen to be.

[dpazuk]

ORIGINAL: Hard Sarge

don't use the Spirit or Tank for your main killer, use it for scouting and setting up your other troops

yout troops gain Exp by hitting and killing Aliens

set up one or two of your troops to be your killers, let them kill off the damaged Aliens

once you get the Medkit, only use that for Crit damage, and the stimpak for normal damage

try to set up cross fire patterns, inside buildings, these can be fun, you can blow holes in the walls, to open up new lanes of fire, once the enemy is found

anybody else ?

While your troops are mending, be sure to strip them of their arms and keep them stored in the base armory. Why you ask? Two words: Base Defense!

I had my base invaded while most of my vets were mending, and all I had to defend the base with were four largely untested rookies. That would have been bad enough, until it was time to equip said rookies.

Most of my quality arms were still left on my mending soldiers. The game only allows you to equip your base forces with what is in the armory at the time of the invasion.

Needless to say, it was game over [:(]

Don't do what I did! [:-] Keep your armory stocked with what you think you will need to adequately defend your base at any given time or at the very least, those soldiers left at the base should be well armed, just in case the aliens decide to pay you a visit.

[GalacticOrigins]

I would use laser rifles for the better soldiers, since they are more accurate and hit harder. Even so, you are correct in that ammo is a (nice) concern and that the other stock weapons are always good to have around.
 
Fire works well against the armored enemies, especially the flamethrower.

[The Gnome]

ORIGINAL: GalacticOrigins

I would use laser rifles for the better soldiers, since they are more accurate and hit harder. Even so, you are correct in that ammo is a (nice) concern and that the other stock weapons are always good to have around.

Fire works well against the armored enemies, especially the flamethrower.

Aye that's exactly what I do with my new soldiers. I work them like fliers in WWI squadrons - You want the latest toys? Get some kills first!

Once my vets get sufficient accuracy and AP's they graduate to the laser rifle. I am avoiding researching the heavy laser because
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I think researching it advances the game level and you start getting nastier critters to face.