The only time I did this mission it was over before it even began.
The enemies were deployed so tightly and so close to my team that I had no choice but to kill nearly all of them on my first turn (and I played with all sorts of restrictions to prevent myself from doing precisely that).
That experience prompted me to start this thread About enemy deployment
I see now there is another side to this too, because of all the friendly defenders. Of course in my playthrough I only got to see them running aimlessly around panicked Pandas, displaying all the smarts of a Rictus Erectus…