Thin Man (EU2012)

The Thin Men are agile, quick, and elusive alien creatures. Designed to look human so that they can successfully infiltrate society, Thin Men are responsible for handling the more secrative operations of the alien invasion. (Though some aren't exactly subtle, such as planting huge alien bombs in the middle of urban centres.)

XCOM commanders won't have much trouble finding them however, as they are usually caught in the act of whatever their mission may be.

Thin Man Armaments

Weapon	Damage	Critical Chance	Terrain Damage	Range	Reaction Angle	Reaction Range	Size	Abilities
Thin Man Plasma Light Rifle	4	10	125	27	200	NA	Large	Suppression 20%

Abduction Missions

In standard abduction missions, they will rush for cover when discovered. Their great mobility can be quite annoying as they will often be able to run right up to your troops before firing. Their overall accuracy is quite poor though and their health is nothing remarkable. Beware of their poison spit though, this will decrease your soldier's aim and steadily remove health by one point each turn. Keep a medkit handy where you can as this will remove the poison. Also beware of their leap ability. Keep snipers supported by other XCOM troops so they are not caught with no action points when a Thin Man leaps up to them.

V.I.P. Escort

In V.I.P. escort missions Thin Men will aim for the target you are trying to extract, regardless of whether or not there is an XCOM escort soldier at their side. They will often drop out of the sky (presumably from the top of taller, inaccessible structures) and go into overwatch. Be sure to kill them with other soldiers before moving the V.I.P. back to the Skyranger, the entire mission will be a bust if the V.I.P. dies.

Bomb Disposal

In bomb disposal operations, it is not rare to see an entire alien force consisting of purely Thin Men. Some thin men will venture away from the main bomb and protect it's power sources but you will find the highest concentration of Thin Men protecting the bomb in a large group. Heavies can blast a huge group of them away with their rockets for a very satisfying effect, just be sure to quickly dispatch the Thin Men before the bomb goes off and deactivate it. More Thin Men will usually drop down from the sky trying to rearm the bomb but as long as you have a sufficient force protecting the bomb the Thin Men usually won't get very far.

Abilities

• Poison Spit: The Thin Man spits a poisonous glob that decreases the aim of your soldiers by 20% and damages their health by one point each turn. Can be cured by medkit. Fades away after a while.

• Leap: Allows the Thin Man to jump incredibly high, allowing it to scale entire buildings and take up an elevated position. Very dangerous against Snipers who are unable to fire.

• Last Gasp: The Thin Man explodes, leaving a poisonous cloud that will poison any soldiers that move within it, can void a small area of cover. Only activates when Thin Man dies.

Notes

• The Thin Men are one of the few aliens in Enemy Unknown 2012 that do not have a direct 1994 equivalent. However, their reptilian eyes, fangs, scales around the neck and wrists, autopsy reports, and use of poison suggest a strong conceptual link to the Snakemen.
• Thin Men are caricatures of Sid Meier, head of Firaxis. He has a history of showing up in games by Firaxis.