Well, my APCs recovered themselves after a while. I don't know how it works but stuck or semi-stuck vehicles seem to reappear at the base if they've been out for a long time. I'd still be interested in that legendary indistructable road map
I use APCs, those trusty pieces of hardware, as it makes it somewhat easier to oversee troop deployment. I use 24 soldiers now split into alpha and beta (Standard assault squads of 6) and charlie (Specialists and heavy duty equipment, the likes of psionics and rocket launchers, also some hand-to-hand fighters which are eagerly awaiting the development of pers shields, plasma swords, teleporters and disruptor armour but currently equipped with stunners and heavy explosives in case they won't make it out of a hand to hand engagement
)
Each squad has its own apc so I always know where which squad is and where it's going just by checking what the apc is doing. This is especially useful since beta is just a replacement squad for alpha. My troops spend most of their time in sickbay in a near-death state so it helps to have a backup squad ready. Charlie, unfortunately, just has to cope. Poor sods..
I can't afford to use airborne transports yet, though. The APCs save me having to reassign troopers every time I need to intercept enemy craft. While the battle is still raging the APCs go to the alien beam sites (so I don't forget where they are
) and if UFOs need recovery I have to reequip my hawk anyway when it returns to my base (with passenger modules it can just about carry 18 people plus cargo and bio modules) and then pick up the soldiers in one of the buildings.
My fat years are over, I'm nearly broke, half the city hates me due to stray shots or a peculiar incident AFTER a dog fight when a building collapsed nearly burying my Hawk and ripping down a few billion dollars worth of highways and tubes etc. And Transtellar wants a mere 105k $ just to be 'unfriendly' again*... well, I've got the five ^^
*It didn't help that I had to do a clearance job there killing more guards than aliens....