Before we get started in the thick of things, it's time to assemble the team who will take the job.
For that, I will need volunteers, codexers willing to brave the tropical country's military.
There will be no IMP character in this play through, so volunteers instead get to claim one mercenary.
I will make use of a savegame editor to change the nickname of the mercenaries chosen.
More recruiting options will become available later, so if you want to wait, that's fine. You can also reserve characters you know about, but I make no promise about being able to hire them. I will only use claimed characters, and will do my best to hire them all or rotate them as often as possible.
If you don't know much about Jagged Alliance, here's a description of what information can be found the profiles :
At the top, stands the mercenary's name, and his statistics.
Health is how many hit points the mercenary has.
Agility governs how many action points a mercenary can spend each turn.
Dexterity helps with many skills, improves the odds of performing special tasks.
Strength lets mercenaries carry more equipment.
Leadership is used to teach and train more effectively.
Wisdom is how fast the mercenary learns or improves in his trade.
The Experience Level determines many things, and helps in most tasks.
Marksmanship is how accurate the mercenary is.
Mechanical is used to repair broken equipment and pick locks.
Explosive experts handle explosives and can disarm traps.
Medical skill is involved when healing injuries.
To the right, is the financial details, with the amount needed to hire the mercenary for one day, one week and two weeks. Note that choosing a longer duration provides a discount. Parallel to that is the required medical deposit, reimbursed at the end of the contract in an amount depending on the leaving mercenary's health.
It is important to note that Fees increase by about 25% at each level up.
Then, some details about the mercenary can be found out in the biography and additional info. These give hints as to what each merc is skilled at, but I will provide the exact skills of each person. Each specialty can have two level, proficient and expert, and are chosen from the pool below :
Heavy Weapons : handles and uses rocket launchers and mortars more effectively.
Stealth : able to hide and conceal himself better to avoid detection
Lockpicking : enhances mechanical skill to pick locks more easily
Knifing : handles blades and melee weapons with deadly efficiency
Roof Bonus : fires guns more accurately when standing on a roof
Camouflaged : further enhances stealth by becoming harder to spot
Auto Weapons : burst weapons are more accurate and effective while in the hands of such an expert
Teaching : being a good teacher enhances leadership when training others
Night Ops : mercenaries with this skill see further in the dark, and make best use of the night vision goggles.
Ambidextrous : can fire two one-handed guns at once with less penalties
Throwing : increases range and accuracy of thrown weapons, like knives and grenades
Hand to Hand : helps dealing damaging blows with bare hands.
Martial Arts : gives bonus when fighting with fists and allows to perform special kicks.
Finally, at the bottom, we can see the price and the gear the merc can bring with him in battle. Some come with good weapons, others with armor or utility equipment like lockpicks.
Enough details, time for the list.
First come, first served.
Gus Tarballs is a very expensive, but very effective merc. He comes with a very good gun, and is an expert at Heavy Weapons. He can fill pretty much any role, but can only do one at once, so less expensive specialists are more advantageous.
Magic is another very expensive merc. His equipment is pretty good, and he is skilled at Stealth and Lockpicking. Few locks will pose him trouble. His silencer can help deal with enemies without attracting attention.
Scully is an excellent shot with good secondary abilities and a pretty useful gun. He is also an expert in Knifing. He is however expensive.
Reaper is an excellent sniper, is Stealthy and has a Bonus Chance-To-Hit while on a roof.
Shadow is an top scout, being both Stealthy and Camouflaged. He can avoid enemy detection and spot ambushes before they see him. He also does not need camouflage supplies.
Ivan is a very good sharpshooter, but his price is steep and his gear is sub par. He is skilled in Auto Weapons and Heavy Weapons.
Scope is one of the best mercenary when it comes to marksmanship. Her gear selection isn't optimal but give her a rifle with a sniper scope and watch her pop heads. Her skills lie in Night Ops and Teaching. She is expensive, so best reserved for later hiring.
Lynx is another almost perfect sniper. He is very similar to Scope, being skilled in Night Ops and Electronics. His low mechanical prevents the latter from being too useful though, but he makes a decent explosive expert. He comes with a Mini-14, a gun with good range and accuracy, so he's a good candidate for early recruitment.
Trevor is one of the best mechanical and explosive experts, combined with a decent shooter. He is skilled in Electronics and Lockpicking, meaning few things will be too much for him to handle. Trevor's major drawback is his low level, which makes it hard for him to detect traps, and also means his salary will increase a lot if he's used often.
Static is a good mechanic and a pretty good shot. Being skilled in Electronics helps, but he doesn't have Lockpicking making him less useful that specialized mercenaries. He is skilled in Night Ops, making for a good fighter, and carries an automatic shotgun.
Len is high level and isn't too expensive, which means his salary won't increase too much. He's a very good trainer with his high leadership, further enhanced by his skill in Teaching. He's also trained in the use of Auto Weapons, which paired with his good accuracy makes him a very good soldier in and out of the field.
Vicki is a good mechanic that however lacks either Electronics or Lockpicking, being instead Ambidextrous and skilled in Throwing. She's a good soldier, useful for repairing things and delivering explosives in the heart of an enemy's group.
Sidney is a very good marksman that also has expert Throwing skills. Delivers mustard gas and stun grenades with stunning precision.
Buzz is an excellent shooter, and is skilled in Heavy Weapon and Auto Weapons. She is however a little unstable, and tends to use burst fire without notice. Her health is also on the low side, and her dexterity is very bad. She hates Lynx and won't stand working with him.
Raider is the most experienced group leader available on AIM, and is an expert at Teaching as well. He's also a very good shot.
Raven is one of best at marksmanship, but comes with disappointing short range equipment. Give her a good gun and she shines. Her skills in Night Ops and Auto Weapons make her extremely deadly. Like a few others, her high starting price combined with her low level means her Fee will skyrocket if employed too much.
Cliff is a good doctor and a good marksman, but he has no special skill. He can be useful to quickly save a mercenary from death on the field.
Stephen is a decent shot, skilled in Night Ops. His mid range leadership and Teaching skills make him a good trainer also.
Thor is a good doc, skilled in Hand to Hand and Stealth. His silencer can be very useful.
Nails is skilled at Lockpicking, but his low mechanical makes him a rather average thief. He is however a good shot, and a good explosive expert.
Fidel is one of the best explosive experts, and come packing with a charge of powerful C1. He's also skilled in Hand to Hand, and has pretty good accuracy.
Ice is skilled at Teaching, but his low leadership impairs him somewhat in this area. He is good with Auto Weapons, and combined with his good marksmanship he makes for a rather inexpensive yet good soldier.
Danny's an excellent doc. He's very agile and Ambidextrous, but his very low marksmanship means he should concentrate on healing rather than handling weapons.
Wolf is skilled in Teaching and Night Ops. His low leadership makes Teaching rather useless, but Night Ops people are always useful, especially when they pack an automatic shotgun.
Dr Q is yet another good doctor but poor shooter. He is skilled in Martial Arts and Night Ops, so he can take down enemies silently during night missions and relieve them of their weapons with ease.
Malice is a soldier skilled in Knifing and Hand to Hand. He's also a rather good shot.
Hitman has rather average physical stats, but good accuracy. He's skilled in Throwing and Teaching, and his good leadership makes him a good and inexpensive trainer.
Red is another Teacher with poor leadership. His other skill lies in Electronics, but his poor mechanical makes him useless at bypassing electronic locks. He's a top explosive expert though, and a cheap one at that.
Blood is a melee fighter, skilled in Martial Arts and Throwing and with very good agility. He can also act as a back up medic, and is cheap.
Spider is a excellent doc, but she's a poor shot. She is skilled in Night Ops and Stealth, but her poor agility makes it hard for her to catch up and ambush people during the night.
Steroid is a very good marksman for the price he requires, and comes skilled with both Electronics, Lockpicking and high mechanical to deal with locks. His agility is rather low, and his poor dexterity prevents him from excelling at lockpicking.
Meltdown is Ambidextrous and skilled with Heavy Weapons, and is a pretty good shot for one below the $1k/day price range.
Buns is a decent doctor, has very good accuracy and very good stats. Being an expert at Teaching somewhat compensates her low leadership, and she's very cheap. She however seems to have the most trouble fitting in with other mercenaries. She hates half the roster, and the other half hates her in return.
Fox is a good nurse, Ambidextrous and with very high dexterity. She's also skilled at Teaching, but as many others lacks the leadership to use it effectively. Her poor aim makes her pretty bad in a fight.
Grunty is a decent shot, skilled in Night Ops and Heavy Weapons. He has no real weakness but also doesn't really shine in any area. His high level will ensure he remains inexpensive throughout the assignment.
Grizzly is a good soldier, with decent accuracy but poor dexterity. He's skilled in Hand to Hand and Heavy Weapons, and can carry loads of equipment with his high strength.
Barry is skilled in Electronics and Lockpicking, and has high dexterity, so he would make a very good lock picker if his mechanical score was higher. Luckily, he also has high wisdom which means he can improve quickly. In a fight, his poor aim and average agility prevents him from being too useful.
Igor is cheap and a good soldier all around. He's Stealthy, which is always useful, and has decent marksmanship coupled with above average stats.
MD is a cheap doctor, with good skills as a healer but rather poor ones at dishing out pain. He' skilled in Knifing and Teaching, but the former is useless with so low an agility, and the latter fails to compensate his abysmal Leadership. His high wisdom can however turn him into much more than he starts out to be, provided he survives.
Bull is a brawler, expert at Hand to hand, with amazing strength and health. His other stats leave a lot to be desired, but if it's a melee expert you need, Bull's the cheapest and the best.
Ira is next to useless in a fight as she is. She has high wisdom and can therefore make up for the poor starting abilities. She's an expert teacher, so having her train her leadership can lead to good results. She also provides some details about the various locations we will visit.