My first impressions

[hunter5988]

Initial impressions: Graphics are nice, interface is fine, program options are sufficient

At 5 minutes: Setup of a game is easy, fairly self-explanatory. Sufficient explanations for each level of difficulty. Sufficient tooltips and tutorial tips when starting a game and moving units.

At 30 minutes: So far, most of the factions have been hostile to me. Perhaps it is my choice of faction (Imperium), but still, I was surprised at how quickly after I met them 3 different factions demanded tribute and 2 declared war on me. This was on medium difficulty. I was also worried by the tactics displayed by one of the factions. Initially, the AI rushed me with single units against my well defended city, and it was clear they were vastly overmatched. Yet, the AI did this several times, after which I went on the offensive, and then it began to deploy units in groups against me. Also, the combat system feels a bit unclear; I'm not sure how it decides which unit in a group is being attacked, and thus is likely to die. The buffer troops I add to the group to act like meat shields are constantly left alone, while the troops I'm trying to protect keep dying.

At 1 hour: I've settled into a routine with my cities, but the aliens are really coming down hard on me. I don't know if it is by design, but it felt like they came after me with better tactics than the human factions I fought against. I was attacked on multiple fronts by Devourers, Xenomorph troops, and a Galeth. Also, I'm unclear as to how some of the tech I've unlocked works, such as the xenomorph pheropod. I've added it to a number of units, but there doesn't seem to be an option to use it on the unit command pad, and every unit with it that goes into combat either dies, or kills the aliens, never converts. Otherwise, the game plays well, and feels fairly well explained.