I said nothing about realism, it just doesn’t work narratively. As Yokes puts it
Not the battlefield, you don’t. You control the game menu, saving and reloading, which is different.
But of course I care! Also @mcarver2000 my guys & gals are anything but ‘cannon fodder’ to me.
That’s the whole point - I care, but I can’t control who lives and who dies.
That’s the story. It’s not masochism, it’s drama.
That’s what the whole genre is about, imo. You have a strategic objective you have to achieve through a long series of short tactical engagements. No way all your troops are going to pull through, many of them will die, some in meaningful sacrifice, others due to your mistakes, because you took a gamble that didn’t pay off, etc. The player makes the characters come alive, forms an emotional bond with them and suffers when they die. That’s XCOM, X-Com, Phoenix Point. That’s the damn experience I’m signing up for when playing a game like this!!
(@Yokes I had the same experience in Firaxcoms: I sometimes had 20+ fatalities on a playthrough)
Edit: typos