Bases (Apocalypse)

X-COM bases are constructed from a variety of component units designed to perform different functions. The construction of a new base requires a bare minimum of living quarters and storage facilities. Beyond these requirements a base is designed to accommodate research, training and vehicle repair facilities. Bases will also need to be defended against aggression using well equipped Agents and security stations.  From: Apocalypse Ufopaedia

An X-Com Base is the headquarters of operations for dealing with the alien menace in Mega-Primus.

Important: Each building has a home cell. It is a 1x1 cityscape tile in the shape of a grey box which looks like a car-port or parking garage. This is the heart of the building where road vehicles park, employees stay, facilities are built etc. If this tile is destroyed, all units within will be killed, road vehicles damaged or destroyed and it may destroy the base if the whole building structure is also damaged.

Purpose

A base is a collection of facilities constructed within the basement of a building. An X-Com base contains facilities that are utilized to maximise operational efficiency. At minimum, a base must contain:

• A place to barrack troops.
• An area to store items.
  

Facilities are available to enable customisation of a base to optimise a particular requirement. In general (and completely optional), some operational priorties are:

• A strike base.
• A biology research base.
• A quantum physics research base.
• A manufacturing base.
  

Other facilities may further enhance such operational priorities to include:

• Emergency medical care.
• Combat training.
• Pionics training.
• Craft repair.
• Alien lifeform containment.
• Internal defense.
  

X-Com has limits on how many units are possible across all bases:

• Total quantity of units of any type = 180.
• Sub-total of any single type of technical personel = 50.
• Sub-total amount of any agent type = 100.
• Other unit limits depend on the ratio of agents to technical personel, which can automatically change unexpectedly.

Start Base

At game start, a fully functional X-Com base is provided for free, including funds, troops and equipment, scientists and engineers, and a small collection of vehicles. The location of the start base is randomly chosen according to the game difficulty from the available buildings owned by the Government: you either get a warehouse or a slum building.
The start base has no operational priority. The facilities provided are in random areas. The shape of the layout may hinder efficient use of defense, living space, or other requirements.
Caution: A certain Superhuman Difficulty cityscape building is structurally unsound. (restart the game until a more suitable place is provided).

Base Purchase

X-Com starts with one randomly designed base. Additional bases may be purchased (via the building+crane icon) at any time, funds permitting. The priority of choosing a new base:

• The resistance to damage of the top-side structure (warehouse=strong or slum=weak) that will hide an X-Com base within the basement.
• Location of the access lift for defence and isolation.
• Layout of the corridors for future expansion.
• Surrounding area to shield your building from stray weapon impacts.
• Price.
  

A further consideration is the amount of launch tubes, however, since basic air vehicles can be parked at any building without using fuel, tube quantity is not important regarding how many air craft can be launched quickly.
Note: the layout of corridors is permanent and cannot be altered.

Base Defense

An undefended X-Com base will be destroyed immediately when attacked by hostile ground forces (alien craft infiltration or raid). Move/Fly armed agent(s) to the building immediately after purchase - living quarters does not need to be completed since they are visitors. If the new base is under attack and no facilities have been placed, a base defense battlescape will only contain the bare corridors and the access lift.

• A new base should immediately have at least one (basic) security station being constructed next to the access lift to assist the visiting defenders.
• Damaged facilities are always repaired at successful conclusion.
• If a base is lost, the layout disappears from the 'base slot'. The now unused base-slot will be used for the next base built, if any are available.
• If any Technical Personel escaped from the battlescape, they will automatically return upon successful defence of the base.

Base Designs

These are suggestions, it is your choice how you build them.
A single base has a limit of six small and four large laboratory/workshop facilities, all others types have no limits. Only three security stations (twelve base defence turrets in total) will be active during a base defence mission. If one station is completely destroyed, others beyond the original three, do not become active.
Certain layouts will influence the final operational design such as:

• Access lift location to funnel invaders through multiple security stations.
• Placement of vehicle repair bays next to an access lift to encourage invaders to escape.
• Corridors which allow multiple large facilities.
• Choke-points to ambush invaders who made it past base defence turrets.
• Disecting a base to have important facilities far from outside access points seperated by a line of security stations.

Design Ideas

All base designs should use up to three security stations of any type if space allows.

Strike Base

also known as Main base.

• Houses X-Com combat agents (training, psi, medical etc.).
• Home of all vehicles.
• Large stores.
• Isolated repair bays next to the lift and security stations.
• Alien containment is optional.

Research Base(s)

also known as: Bio base or Quan base if specialized, or just Lab base if not.

• Contains a single type (or mix) of laboratories.
• Multiple 2x2 corridors for later expansion to larger labs.
• Alien containment.
• No strike base functions.

Manufacturing Base

also known as: Workshop base.

• Similiar to Research Base designs.
• Stores instead of alien containment.
  

Warning: A base designed to have a specialized purpose will eliminate that functionality if it is lost. To prevent losing such a base and if funds permit, each base should be multi-functional.

Unconventional Tactics

If alien containment is not used at your strike base to save room:
Transporting lifeforms only:

• land at strike base, message:'keep on board', take off and go land at your bio base, return to strike base.
  

Exotic items recovered:

• land at quan base, message:'keep on board', take off and go land at your bio base, return to strike base, transfer known recovered items at quan base to strike base, if needed.
  

Transtellar is hostile:

• Transfers are not available. The easiest way to move known (researched) items is to sell them at the wrong base and then buy them at the correct base. A sell/re-buy 'instant transfer' method!
  

Note: The 'keep on board' option is only available once per landing if the bio-transport module is in use.

Buy And Sell

If any researched items are moved using the sell-rebuy option, any items re-bought will immediately appear at the buy base without having to use a Transtellar Airtrans delivery vehicle ...limiting exposure to Megapol enemy attacks. This may be an option to use always since it speeds up movement of known alien items. It does not work for standard market items since these will always be delivered from the respective company-owned buildings using the airtrans vehicles (which Megapol may attack if they are hostile to that organisation).

Equipment Transfers

If Transtellar is hostile, transfer is not possible for standard equipment from one base to another. Manually moving equipment and craft items is possible by:

• Sell the standard items at the wrong base and buy more at the correct base if the seller is not hostile.
• Land or Move attack vehicles to the wrong base to re-arm weapons with elerium, missiles, etc. and to re-fuel fusionfuel, return craft to correct base when ready. (They can remain at the wrong base if not needing repairs)
  

If any organisation (and Transtellar) is hostile, moving standard items with the sell/re-buy method is not possible, severely limiting options. The only way to move standard equipment is tedious:

• Land a large squad of empty agents at the wrong base and load them up with bulk, mixed equipment to be moved to the correct base. Once arrived, un-equip all agents. Walking between bases is also possible if people tubes are intact since over-encumbered agents are not slowed.
• Craft modules, weapons and devices are easily moved using vehicles to ferry items as the same method for agents.
  

Note: Agents delivered to a new base via an X-Com vehicle will be automatically transferred if living quarters space is available however, if they moved on foot to the base, they will be visiting regardless of available living space. Technical personel cannot be transferred in any fashion without using Transtellar. If any unit is sacked, they disappear from the hire screen.

See Also

• Base Defence
• Base Facilities
• Base Locations
• Base Layouts