Just got around to playing this and I wonder if anyone ever managed to finish the game WITHOUT losing any country? I'm not even midway yet and I lost 3 countries on my second month. My run through XCOM EU had 2 countries leaving as well. I've worked hard enough to get my squad to this level with no deaths so I think I'll push through for now but I just might re-do the game to see if I can keep all countries from leaving.

I think once you hit the higher difficulty levels, classic and impossible, it is virtually guaranteed to lose 1-3 countries in the first two months. Until you can get the satellites up to cover them.
My Classic Ironman campaign I've been playing I managed to stabilize it with 9 countries left, one away from losing lol.

Yeah, I'm playing Classic difficulty.

All you elitist. I play normal...one below classic and I lose countries.


Grumble, Grumble...ironman classic...grumble, grumble...gd showoffs

Yes, it is possible to win without losing any countries but it is luck of the draw;

1. Start on Africa for the extra money
2. Have steam on the first level to reduce power cost
3. Wait until just before Council reports to launch satellites
4. Play the tough missions in high panic continents as panic will raise for every country on the continent
5. Hope you do not get jumped by three squads of snakemen. (wishes for a head trophy mod for every snakemen I kill)

no joke, my worst squad wipe was my second terror mission, cyberdiscs showed up and my entire elite squad with 2 colonels several majors and a bunch of Lts all got killed but for one sniper colonel who I had to run out screaming, almost trashed the campaign then, but managed to pull it back together by being conservative.

LOL, I'd just reload the mission!

DaBBQ, what annoys me about the base layout is that it is very much "luck of the draw" as you say. I've seen layouts without steam, others had them in the corners.... based on my last XCOM EU game, I'll manage with 2-3 steam vents, but I need them to be quickly accessible. Unfortunately, for me to get a good layout, I have to play one intro mission... if it's not good, exit, play another mission, and then see if the RNG has given a better roll. It seems that saving just before the mission ends gives the same layout anyway, so the mission does need to be scrapped and a new game started. Maybe the base layout is also determined at the start so simply reloading the mission will not change the base layout.

Ironman dude, no reloads, there was much consternation.

Ouch! If I played Ironman, my entire soldier population would be dead!

Enemy within is a must. Nothing like good ol' mechs!

Hmm...that does it. I'm off to buy it on Amazon.

I play classic, just so I can re-load in the event of catastrophic manuevers on my behalf. But combining Mechs with fully decked out genetic Soldiers, are fantastic setups for successful ops.

Also, with the latest update, if you have issues getting it to start, try "-windowed" in your opening options area. You can then span to full screen.

Not gotten to use the MELD stuff just yet!