This behemoth is the strongest and largest [[UFO (UFO Defense)|UFO]] of the alien fleet. Great care should be taken while engaging one - be it a ground assault or recovery, or aerial interception. Battleships always show up as Very Large on a radar profile, and often maintain very high cruising speeds.

== [[Alien Missions]] ==
Battleships are normally associated with Alien Retaliation and Alien Infiltration missions, however, unlike Terran Battleships the alien battleship can fulfill a very diverse set of mission profiles. Unlike [[Supply Ship]]s, [[Terror Ship]]s, [[Harvester]]s, or [[Abductor]]s, a Battleship's presence does not lend itself to one or two specific [[Alien Missions|alien missions]]. For an [[X-COM]] Commander tracking a Battleship using radar, he or she must observe the Battleship's movement patterns in order to guess its mission. The Commander must then take appropriate measures to deal with the battleship. He or she may even choose to ignore the Battleship, as their heavy firepower and large crew size may make them too risky to intercept or assault at the moment.

Battleships can be involved in the following missions:

'''[[Alien Base]]''' - The construction of [[alien bases]] are marked by heavy UFO activity in rural areas. In addition to the scouts and Supply Ships sent by the aliens, a Battleship is also sent to escort the valuable [[Alien Commander]] to the base. It is possible to capture the commander at this time, while it is vunerable, although it is as yet unconfirmed as to whether these commanders are experienced enough to yield useful information or not.

''[Alitorious: I've heard both that it works and doesn't work, so I'm not sure if you can interrogate these commanders or not. Maybe it depends on the version of the game?]''

At any rate, it is much easier to find the commander on the bridge of a Battleship than inside the maze of an Alien Base.
If a Battleship lands in a rural area as part of a large force, then it is likely to be on an Alien Base mission. If all ships of an Alien Base construction force are shot down or assaulted, then the Alien Base has no chance to be built.

''[Alitorious: I might be wrong about that, actually.]''

'''[[Alien Infiltration]]''' - Two Battleships are always the primary component in the final phase of an infiltration. The Battleships are part of a large force of ships sent, much like in Alien Base missions. However, ships involved in an Alien Infiltration mission will instead land in urban locations. Battleships contain the alien "diplomats" who will attempt to persuade one of Earth's countries to cease funding X-COM, and form a [[pact]] with the aliens. The alien "diplomats" leave the ship immediately after landing, however, and continue their goal of signing a pact with one of Earth's countries regardless of what happens to their base ship. This means that a ground assault on the UFO will not prevent the aliens from accomplishing their mission. The only possible way to prevent a pact-signing would be to shoot down the Battleships before they can reach their target city.

Battleships are most often seen on this type of mission. When two Battleships, and usually a force of smaller craft, are in the same region, then it is most likely on an Alien Infiltration mission. This can be confirmed when the craft land near or in the cities and no [[Terror Mission]] begins.

'''[[Alien Retaliation]]''' - Alien Retaliation missions have two main components: Search, and Destroy. The Battleship quite often fulfills the "destroy" component for obvious reasons. The heavy firepower of a Battleship is required to breach any barricaded underground [[Hangar]]s or [[Access Lift]]s, and they contain the troops, weapons, and terror units for the subsequent assault on any [[X-COM Base]] itself.

After unloading its troops, a Battleship on a retaliatory mission will return to space immediately. It is thus impossible to assault the Battleship itself after the base has been defended.

Any Battleship that is going to attack your base will head on a direct path for the base at near-maximum speed. It is impossible to shoot down the Battleship except with Alien-Terran Hybrid ships, or with base defenses. If a Very Large craft is detected on a direct course for one of your bases, then start [[Base Defense|base defense]] preparations immediately.

If [[Crafts (UFO Defense)|X-COM craft]] are successful at downing all alien scout craft on a retaliatory operation, then the Battleship itself must search for your base. Despite the Battleship's formidable strength, one thing it does seem to lack is scanning and sensing equipment. It is rare that a Battleship searching for your base will ever find it, so these Battleships can be safely ignored.

Battleship movement on an Alien Retaliation mission is characterized by either a fast, direct course for one of your bases, or a repeated "weaving" pattern around where many UFOs have been downed recently. They will only land to attack your base. A Battleship searching for your base will eventually give up and head for space.

'''[[Alien Harvest]]''' - It seems that if X-COM forces are successful in downing or assaulting many [[Harvester]]s, then the aliens will send their glorious Battleships to do the dirty work in the hopes that X-COM does not have the resources to attack them.

Battleships on harvest missions will fly and land in rural areas. Sometimes they work in pairs.

'''[[Alien Abduction]]''' - It is unconfirmed whether or not Battleships partake in the insidious practise of abduction. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if they do.

== Intercepting Battleships ==
Despite being the largest class of ships, alien Battleships have four powerful [[Elerium-115]] [[UFO Power Source|power sources]], and as such can travel through Earth's atmosphere at a surprisingly high speed - they have been known to travel at over five thousand knots during reentry and orbital insertion. Because of this, it is very difficult for [[Crafts (UFO Defense)|X-COM craft]] to intercept a Battleship during these phases of its flight. X-COM Commanders must usually wait for the Battleship to slow down as they approach their mission zone in order to intercept it.

Even when X-COM forces have engaged a Battleship, the commander and pilots must be extra cautious. The battleship's primary weapons have a range of sixty five kilometres - greater than that of long-range [[Avalanche]]s.

Do not send [[Interceptor]]s to attack a Battleship or heavy losses will be expected. A direct hit from a Battleship's primary weapons are enough to incinerate an Interceptor in one hit. Even the heavily armoured [[Skyranger]] will only surve a few hits. It is recommended that commanders only intercept Battleships using Alien-Terran Hybrid craft.

A Battleship is also incredibly well armoured. Native terran technology - [[Cannon]], [[Stingray]]s, and [[Avalanche]]s - have little chance of downing a battleship unless used in high quantity. Again, only advanced [[Laser Cannon]]s and Hybrid technologies are effective.

Although it may be possible to eventually design a hybrid craft that can go toe-to-toe with a Battleship, it is recommended that any aerial assault be undertaken with multiple craft , and with maximum avaliable firepower.

''Addendum: The Alien-Terran Hybrid craft class [[Avenger]] is capable of one-on-one engagement with a Battleship. However, very heavy damage will be inflicted on the Avenger, which must be repaired prior to further flights. Considering the complexity of the craft, however, repair times are extensive and border on the time taken to manufacture a new Avenger. Multiple Avengers, with [[Firestorm]]s or [[Lightning]]s as support if avaliable, are still recommended in order to assault a Battleship.''

In conclusion, choosing aerial engagement of an alien battleship is a very high-risk. If a commander does not have sufficient or well-equipped craft to deal with this threat, it is recommended that he or she instead wait until the Battleship lands and assault it with ground forces if possible. The weapons systems of a Battleship are not activated while it is not in flight, so the transport faces little threat of return fire.

== Assaulting/Recovering Battleships ==
Assaulting a landed or downed Battleship with ground forces is a dangerous operation. However, a success is well worth it. A Battleship has four [[UFO Power Source|power sources]], worth a quarter of a million dollars each, and two hundred units of [[Elerium-115]], which is priceless. On top of that, Battleships carry many [[Alien Entertainment]] and [[UFO Navigation]] units, and vast quantities of [[Alien Alloys]]. Because the crew size is so large, one can find large amounts of alien [[Weapons (UFO Defense)|weapons]] and ammo, including deadly [[Blaster Bomb]]s. In addition, every rank of alien can be found on a Battleship, including commanders if the Battleship is on an [[Alien Base]] mission.

The Battleship carries a large crew compliment. These are often equipped with [[Heavy Plasma]]s and [[Alien Grenade]]s, which pose a large threat. In addition to the regular alien species, their asoociated [[Terror Unit]]s accompany them on Battleships. Last but not least, some officers on a Battleship are armed with the dreaded [[Blaster Launcher]]. Squad leaders must be careful in their deployment of personnel on the battlefield.

The Battleship itself consists of three levels. The ground level has five "legs," one on each corner and one in the center. The corner legs cannot be entered from the outside, as they house the valuable elerium power sources. The center leg has two doors that give accesss to a wide central lift. The doors are large enough to allow passage of [[Cyberdisc]]s, [[Reaper]]s, and [[Sectopod]]s, so they can also be used to allow [[Heavy Weapons Platforms (UFO Defense)|Heavy Weapons Platforms]] access to the UFO. This pair of doors is the only access point in or out of the Battleship, therefore a siege is very effective here. However, a siege may attract hostile blaster bombs, so use the tactic with discretion. Alien [[Engineer]]s can sometimes be found taking care of the power sources in one of the outer legs.

The second level has four major hallways (or two, if you look at it that way). Each leads to a small lift that accesses the four outer pods holding the Power Sources. A large portion of this level is dedicated to the [[Alien Entertainment]] room.

The central lift also extends to the third and topmost level of the Battleship. Unlike the level below it, the lift on this level is in a small room. This level of the UFO has lots of smaller rooms and tight corridors, making it very dangerous. There are also multiple [[UFO Navigation]] rooms for redundancy. This level is where X-COM forces are most likely to find any alien officers or leaders, or the commander if applicable.

Forced entry using a Blaster Bomb is a viable tactic. The four corner legs can be one point, although the elerium could be damaged from such an entry. If [[Flying Suit]]s are avaliable, then an entry from the third level is also an effective tactic which minimizes the risk of damaging the elerium. A pincer movement, with two or more fireteams working from multiple entry points, is very effective while assaulting a Battleship.

Small Scout

2005-08-16T21:21:49Z

Alitorious:

First off, its got no armament, so anything can shoot it down, with enough ammo. Assuming, of course, that you can catch up to it to shoot it, as its top speed is better than your interceptors.

It carries ONE alien in it. The ship itself yields one unit of Alien Alloys, has no navigation, power source, or whatever. It resembles a Lunar Lander on legs; to enter, you have to walk under it and ascend a gravlift. No real reason to enter it though, there's usually nothing interesting there. The only thing that could be there is that one alien, and you can just shoot up the gravlift to kill him. Plus you can't ascend if he's there, since there's no room for 2 of you...

If, for some reason, you wish to shoot it down and not blow it out of the sky, you cannot use anything more powerful than, erm, someone help me out here, please? I know an Avalanche will blow it into pieces, and craft cannons will keep it intact.

Battleship

2005-08-16T21:16:45Z

Alitorious: Alien Battleships - Missions and tactics

This behemoth is the strongest and largest [[UFO (UFO Defense)|UFO]] of the alien fleet. Great care should be taken while engaging one - be it a ground assault or recovery, or aerial interception. Battleships always show up as Very Large on a radar profile, and often maintain very high cruising speeds.

== [[Alien Missions]] ==
Battleships are normally associated with Alien Retaliation and Alien Infiltration missions, however, unlike Terran Battleships the alien battleship can fulfill a very diverse set of mission profiles. Unlike [[Supply Ship]]s, [[Terror Ship]]s, [[Harvester]]s, or [[Abductor]]s, a Battleship's presence does not lend itself to one or two specific [[Alien Missions|alien missions]]. For an [[X-COM]] Commander tracking a Battleship using radar, he or she must observe the Battleship's movement patterns in order to guess its mission. The Commander must then take appropriate measures to deal with the battleship. He or she may even choose to ignore the Battleship, as their heavy firepower and large crew size may make them too risky to intercept or assault at the moment.

Battleships can be involved in the following missions:

'''[[Alien Base]]''' - The construction of [[alien bases]] are marked by heavy UFO activity in rural areas. In addition to the scouts and Supply Ships sent by the aliens, a Battleship is also sent to escort the valuable [[Alien Commander]] to the base. It is possible to capture the commander at this time, while it is vunerable, although it is as yet unconfirmed as to whether these commanders are experienced enough to yield useful information or not.

''[Alitorious: I've heard both that it works and doesn't work, so I'm not sure if you can interrogate these commanders or not. Maybe it depends on the version of the game?]''

At any rate, it is much easier to find the commander on the bridge of a Battleship than inside the maze of an Alien Base.
If a Battleship lands in a rural area as part of a large force, then it is likely to be on an Alien Base mission. If all ships of an Alien Base construction force are shot down or assaulted, then the Alien Base has no chance to be built.

''[Alitorious: I might be wrong about that, actually.]''

'''[[Alien Infiltration]]''' - Two Battleships are always the primary component in the final phase of an infiltration. The Battleships are part of a large force of ships sent, much like in Alien Base missions. However, ships involved in an Alien Infiltration mission will instead land in urban locations. Battleships contain the alien "diplomats" who will attempt to persuade one of Earth's countries to cease funding X-COM, and form a [[pact]] with the aliens. The alien "diplomats" leave the ship immediately after landing, however, and continue their goal of signing a pact with one of Earth's countries regardless of what happens to their base ship. This means that a ground assault on the UFO will not prevent the aliens from accomplishing their mission. The only possible way to prevent a pact-signing would be to shoot down the Battleships before they can reach their target city.

Battleships are most often seen on this type of mission. When two Battleships, and usually a force of smaller craft, are in the same region, then it is most likely on an Alien Infiltration mission. This can be confirmed when the craft land near or in the cities and no [[Terror Mission]] begins.

'''[[Alien Retaliation]]''' - Alien Retaliation missions have two main components: Search, and Destroy. The Battleship quite often fulfills the "destroy" component for obvious reasons. The heavy firepower of a Battleship is required to breach any barricaded underground [[Hangar]]s or [[Access Lift]]s, and they contain the troops, weapons, and terror units for the subsequent assault on any [[X-COM Base]] itself.

After unloading its troops, a Battleship on a retaliatory mission will return to space immediately. It is thus impossible to assault the Battleship itself after the base has been defended.

Any Battleship that is going to attack your base will head on a direct path for the base at near-maximum speed. It is impossible to shoot down the Battleship except with Alien-Terran Hybrid ships, or with base defenses. If a Very Large craft is detected on a direct course for one of your bases, then start [[Base Defense|base defense]] preparations immediately.

If [[Crafts (UFO Defense)|X-COM craft]] are successful at downing all alien scout craft on a retaliatory operation, then the Battleship itself must search for your base. Despite the Battleship's formidable strength, one thing it does seem to lack is scanning and sensing equipment. It is rare that a Battleship searching for your base will ever find it, so these Battleships can be safely ignored.

Battleship movement on an Alien Retaliation mission is characterized by either a fast, direct course for one of your bases, or a repeated "weaving" pattern around where many UFOs have been downed recently. They will only land to attack your base. A Battleship searching for your base will eventually give up and head for space.

'''[[Alien Harvest]]''' - It seems that if X-COM forces are successful in downing or assaulting many [[Harvester]]s, then the aliens will send their glorious Battleships to do the dirty work in the hopes that X-COM does not have the resources to attack them.

Battleships on harvest missions will fly and land in rural areas. Sometimes they work in pairs.

'''[[Alien Abduction]]''' - It is unconfirmed whether or not Battleships partake in the insidious practise of abduction. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if they do.

== Intercepting Battleships ==
Despite being the largest class of ships, alien Battleships have four powerful [[Elerium-115]] [[UFO Power Source|power sources]], and as such can travel through Earth's atmosphere at a surprisingly high speed - they have been known to travel at over five thousand knots during reentry and orbital insertion. Because of this, it is very difficult for [[Crafts (UFO Defense)|X-COM craft]] to intercept a Battleship during these phases of its flight. X-COM Commanders must usually wait for the Battleship to slow down as they approach their mission zone in order to intercept it.

Even when X-COM forces have engaged a Battleship, the commander and pilots must be extra cautious. The battleship's primary weapons have a range of sixty five kilometres - greater than that of long-range [[Avalanche]]s.

Do not send [[Interceptor]]s to attack a Battleship or heavy losses will be expected. A direct hit from a Battleship's primary weapons are enough to incinerate an Interceptor in one hit. Even the heavily armoured [[Skyranger]] will only surve a few hits. It is recommended that commanders only intercept Battleships using Alien-Terran Hybrid craft.

A Battleship is also incredibly well armoured. Native terran technology - [[Cannon]], [[Stingray]]s, and [[Avalanche]]s - have little chance of downing a battleship unless used in high quantity. Again, only advanced [[Laser Cannon]]s and Hybrid technologies are effective.

Although it may be possible to eventually design a hybrid craft that can go toe-to-toe with a Battleship, it is recommended that any aerial assault be undertaken with multiple craft , and with maximum avaliable firepower.

''Addendum: The Alien-Terran Hybrid craft class [[Avenger]] is capable of one-on-one engagement with a Battleship. However, very heavy damage will be inflicted on the Avenger, which must be repaired prior to further flights. Considering the complexity of the craft, however, repair times are extensive and border on the time taken to manufacture a new Avenger. Multiple Avengers, with [[Firestorm]]s or [[Lightning]]s as support if avaliable, are still recommended in order to assault a Battleship.''

In conclusion, choosing aerial engagement of an alien battleship is a very high-risk. If a commander does not have sufficient or well-equipped craft to deal with this threat, it is recommended that he or she instead wait until the Battleship lands and assault it with ground forces if possible. The weapons systems of a Battleship are not activated while it is not in flight, so the transport faces little threat of return fire.

== Assaulting/Recovering Battleships ==
Assaulting a landed or downed Battleship with ground forces is a dangerous operation. However, a success is well worth it. A Battleship has four [[UFO Power Source|power sources]], worth a quarter of a million dollars each, and two hundred units of [[Elerium-115]], which is priceless. On top of that, Battleships carry many [[Alien Entertainment]] and [[UFO Navigation]] units, and vast quantities of [[Alien Alloys]]. Because the crew size is so large, one can find large amounts of alien [[Weapons (UFO Defense)|weapons]] and ammo, including deadly [[Blaster Bomb]]s. In addition, every rank of alien can be found on a Battleship, including commanders if the Battleship is on an [[Alien Base]] mission.

The Battleship carries a large crew compliment. These are often equipped with [[Heavy Plasma]]s and [[Alien Grenade]]s, which pose a large threat. In addition to the regular alien species, their asoociated [[Terror Unit]]s accompany them on Battleships. Last but not least, some officers on a Battleship are armed with the dreaded [[Blaster Launcher]]. Squad leaders must be careful in their deployment of personnel on the battlefield.

The Battleship itself consists of three levels. The ground level has five "legs," one on each corner and one in the center. The corner legs cannot be entered from the outside, as they house the valuable elerium power sources. The center leg has two doors that give accesss to a wide central lift. The doors are large enough to allow passage of [[Cyberdisc]]s, [[Reaper]]s, and [[Sectopod]]s, so they can also be used to allow [[Field Manual: HWP|Heavy Weapons Platforms]] access to the UFO. This pair of doors is the only access point in or out of the Battleship, therefore a siege is very effective here. However, a siege may attract hostile blaster bombs, so use the tactic with discretion. Alien [[Engineer]]s can sometimes be found taking care of the power sources in one of the outer legs.

The second level has four major hallways (or two, if you look at it that way). Each leads to a small lift that accesses the four outer pods holding the Power Sources. A large portion of this level is dedicated to the [[Alien Entertainment]] room.

The central lift also extends to the third and topmost level of the Battleship. Unlike the level below it, the lift on this level is in a small room. This level of the UFO has lots of smaller rooms and tight corridors, making it very dangerous. There are also multiple [[UFO Navigation]] rooms for redundancy. This level is where X-COM forces are most likely to find any alien officers or leaders, or the commander if applicable.

Forced entry using a Blaster Bomb is a viable tactic. The four corner legs can be one point, although the elerium could be damaged from such an entry. If [[Flying Suit]]s are avaliable, then an entry from the third level is also an effective tactic which minimizes the risk of damaging the elerium. A pincer movement, with two or more fireteams working from multiple entry points, is very effective while assaulting a Battleship.