LW: Phoenix Coilguns any good?

[Doing gens, you?]

I wanted to to a Gauss rush on my campaign, which should be fine in the tactical battles since i can give my soldiers alloy jacketed rounds to compensate for the lack of laser damage. But I'm worried that skipping Laser Cannons would be too much of a penalty, even if I got Coilguns. Thoughts?

[draxthewickedone]

When upgraded to Coilgun, Phoenix is very good and it is not much different from Laser Cannon.
It has advantage over Laser Cannon in terms of much more downed UFOs, instead of destroyed in air (which happens more often with Lasers against smaller UFOs). So it translate into more salvage.
But then again, Coilguns lack range of Lasers, so you will more often end up with damaged Interceptors, due to the time they need to close up in order to open fire on UFO.
Personally i go for Lasers most of the time, since +15% chance to hit is a MASSIVE bonus to overlook imo. Especially with inexperienced pilots. Overkill problem with Lasers can be solved with Wingtip Sparrowhawks project once you can afford it, since it is not cheap.

[Fadeway]

The issue of gauss rush is that it barely saves you anything. By skipping laser you'll only get to gauss like a week earlier, which is nothing. Not building a full set of beam weapons saves you around 50 alloys and 350 cash, which, again, is very little compared to gauss weapon costs [and outright cheaper if you find it necessary to put down a foundry early for alloy rounds]..

Regarding your question, coilguns are decent but they have a nasty hitch that you won't notice until you've completed the rush. The upgrade requires 50 engineers. You will NOT have that many in time.

There are other reasons to avoid a gauss rush that I won't list. If you want to be fancy and skip laser, go for a mec rush, that one is actually worthwhile.

[szmind]

Well, first of all - this is Looong War. Why should you rush anything :) Laser cannons are great for trainining new pilots!

[TheShark]

TBH I prefer France/Jaeger Rush

[Doing gens, you?]

Originally posted by TheShark:

TBH I prefer France/Jaeger Rush

go on...

[TheShark]

Originally posted by smol catto:

Originally posted by TheShark:

TBH I prefer France/Jaeger Rush

go on...

Well basically you use France to grind up money, scientists and engies quickly. You can get meld quickly if you prioritize it on tac maps. You can make MECs by the first week of June.

I followed this guide but have had MUCH more success by chopping early snipers to MECs (cause you get ITZ so early) instead of engie/assaults that the author does.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Xcom/comments/3q7445/a_detailed_guide_to_my_france_mec_rush/?st=iywakh15&sh=ca475972