They do have a toggle, it's called "don't pick that map"

I'm sorry that you don't enjoy them, but your experience is not universal - "they're just not fun from a gameplay perspective" may be true for you but I genuinely enjoy these.

Not sure how you're having so much trouble blocking a few spawns here and there to keep that swarm down.

Originally posted by Maplewood:

They do have a toggle, it's called "don't pick that map"

I'm sorry that you don't enjoy them, but your experience is not universal - "they're just not fun from a gameplay perspective" may be true for you but I genuinely enjoy these.

Not sure how you're having so much trouble blocking a few spawns here and there to keep that swarm down.

the map has chokepoints, you cant always avoid quests, trust me i make sure to not pick the train mission as blitzrieg

The worst one is the mission where you have to freeze two robots and keep them safe. You almost always have to take unavoidable grid damage because the tank doesn't have enough mobility to freeze anything on turn 1... Or maybe it's just my luck.

I like that the game forces you to take the lesser of two evils at times. When you have puzzled over a turn to figure out the cleanest response but then find that you need to sacrifice a skyscraper or two to earn a perfect island. Kern even has a quote to that effect if there is a lot of loss in a round where you get all the stars and bolts.

Having to sometimes choose between two non-ideal missions and decide on a strategy on something you're not great at is part of the intended game design and, in fact, is pretty brilliantly designed IMO.

I don't like those missions either. Some of them can be disabled by disabling the advanced edition stuff. Anything scaled beyond avoiding a volatile vek is just egregious and usually not fun.

Originally posted by Maplewood:

They do have a toggle, it's called "don't pick that map"

I'm sorry that you don't enjoy them, but your experience is not universal - "they're just not fun from a gameplay perspective" may be true for you but I genuinely enjoy these.

Not sure how you're having so much trouble blocking a few spawns here and there to keep that swarm down.

I'm getting pretty tired of seeing these types of apologist replies in every game hub. Do you really not comprehend that what you just stated is implicit? This isn't elementary school buddy, we all know people are different. So you can skip over that framing (and ignore conditioning stimulus encouraging such things in the future, don't pander to the lowest common denominator). Implicitly, the discussion is about feasibility and trying to get at an underlying absolute. I also doubt you "genuinely enjoy" them in all cases. Even someone who will bend their mind to manufacture depth, utility, meaning, and enjoyment out of just about any situation, has limits. Whether they admit it or not.

And no, "don't pick that map" is not a "toggle". You're projecting the psychosocial heuristics you use in daily life onto a game with a finite and contrived ruleset. Totally irrelevant. And before you complain (ie respond to superficial tone), I'm simply mimicking you. I've taken what you do indirectly, implicitly, covertly, and mirrored it back to you overtly. Take a real good look.

Originally posted by Triage:

I like that the game forces you to take the lesser of two evils at times. When you have puzzled over a turn to figure out the cleanest response but then find that you need to sacrifice a skyscraper or two to earn a perfect island. Kern even has a quote to that effect if there is a lot of loss in a round where you get all the stars and bolts.

There is definitely some satisfaction in realizing a mission is more about managing loss, what to sacrifice and what to fortify. Or avoiding it entirely if it isn't suitable for your squad. However there is something to what the OP is describing, some of the secondary missions or aspects are just so lopsided and arbitrary that I either avoid or disable them where possible, and even in the best cases they're not fun or satisfying, they just add complexity (in a boring, chore-like way). It's not really a mix it up scenario, where you have to approach from a different angle. Usually just sucks. Like a chore. Hard to put it in any other way.