In combat, Do defending subunits also initiate regular attack on attacker or only counter attack?

[coldiceEVO]

I have been reading about this part in the manual, but I can't say I can see how exactly everything when down in battle report. And said report I can only see them when in offensive battle, not the defensive ones.
most of the combat I have seen the recon is too low to see the enemy actions in report. Its filled with (?) on enemies side. So I don't really have a full picture of detail.

[zgrssd]

Yes, units do shoot when in defensive combat. Indeed, most units shoot better in defensive combat (around x2; x4 for MG's).
Both sides use counter attacks. But if you got poor recon, your units will propably mostly fail anyway.

If you want full data, get more recon on the hex. Wich means:
- more units in nearby hexes
- actuall recon unis of buggies or bikers
- enough Spies to get the max Recon on all Zone Hexes

[demiare]

Yes, zgrssd is right - recon is important as it increase your performance in combat a lot. With little recon even attacking tanks will mostly repel enemies and force them to retreat, while with large recon you will usually get a lot of kills.

It affect not only counter-attacks but efficiency of attacker too.