Getting to the first town?

[Bernie]

Okay, so unlike a lot of you I didn't seem to have any issues getting the game installed and running on my Win 7 machine. I'm not really sure why I didn't have issues, but suspect it may be because I'm using a "plain vanilla" version of JA2, without the unofficial 1.13 patch.

Anyway, my problem is in getting to the first town. No matter how many times I try my squad simply doesn't seem able to make it past the patrols. I've tried stealth and crawling past them, and I've tried putting together progressively stronger (and more expensive) squads and fighting my way through, but I just can't seem to do it. Only once have I been able to defeat the enemy squad in the first sector (first sector outside the helicopter crash area), but it cost two of my mercs and all my med kits and first aid supplies to do it, and I then wasn't able to sneak past the enemy in the next sector.

So, what the heck am I doing wrong? I'm playing on the "novice" level. It's shouldn't be this hard, should it?

[Ishbane]

A cheap way to make it past occupied sectors is leaving and entering them again.

An example: You're on your way to Drassen and enter a sector from the west. Place all mercs at the south end of the map and immediately make them leave to the south. Back on the map change your mercs' course back towards the sector to enter from the south and place all mercs on its east end.

Do note that retreating from a fight will hurt your mercs' morale and lower the loyalty of cities.


General hints for early engagements:

Always fight at night! Can't do anything about enemies attacking during the day, but if you're engaging do so past 9 PM (21:00). Early guns won't allow you to fight effectively at range and encountering less enemies at a time during a fight takes advantage of a certain JA2 vanilla quirk: All shots fired got a minimum chance to hit of 1 %. So if everyone's a crapshoot ad targets out of range, the side firing more bullet statistically wins.

If you want to really play cheap on urban maps, play the interrupt game. Make multiple mercs crouch around a corner, face said corner and fire a shot to draw in enemies. There's a good chance one of your guys will interrupt the poor sap taking a peek as well as the next dozen ones until there's a big pile of corpses.

Don't forget that cover is a very real thing, the game treats the map as a 3D-environment, so ducking behind a rock does offer protection.

[Bernie]

Good general advice, and I appreciate it. I was hoping for something a bit more specific though.

After a few dozen restarts I finally managed to get a team all the way to the west end of town (entering from the north center) relatively intact. They've got a helluvan assortment of weapons they've collected along the way, that I'm hoping to find a way to sell because I used all $40k putting this team together. They managed to pick up some cash in their travels, but I don't think $600 is going to go very far.

[Ishbane]

Specific in what way? As in what route to take to a certain town?

You can buy and sell guns in San Mona, which is a neutral town where you can take a breather.

[Bernie]

Originally posted by Ishbane:

Specific in what way? As in what route to take to a certain town?

You can buy and sell guns in San Mona, which is a neutral town where you can take a breather.

I don't think we're talking about the same game. I'm talking about JA2:UB, you sound like you're talking about JA2

[Ishbane]

Ooooh, yeah, that's totally different. I failed to notice which forum i'm in.

It was my first Jagged Alliance as well and kicked my ass just as hard. Since it's funneling you from the start there's no evading and it takes some sectors until you can take a breather.

After taking the first sector (H8) bandage up and rest until nightfall. Don't forget to pick up a certain someone in H10!

[Bernie]

Originally posted by Ishbane:

Ooooh, yeah, that's totally different. I failed to notice which forum i'm in.

It was my first Jagged Alliance as well and kicked my ass just as hard. Since it's funneling you from the start there's no evading and it takes some sectors until you can take a breather.

After taking the first sector (H8) bandage up and rest until nightfall. Don't forget to pick up a certain someone in H10!

Maybe I should look for the manual and read it... Might help. xD

[KSB]

Comb the sector, talk to the NPC and rec him. Go to the town and talk to the ♥♥♥ lady and kill the wildcats to sell junk to her for $

[Panther]

Wer are using Vanilla, and that seems to be the problem. If you are using a 32bit version of windows that is probably why it works for you.

Install the mod with bug fixes to make it work.

[uncus2]

Can you clarify "mod with bug fixes", please? I tried to install 1.13, which worked with JA2, but I cannot get it to work with this version of JA2UB.

Also, Does the ctrl-gabbi cheat no longer work with UB?

[frobisher]

No the cheat does not work. JA2UB is very much harder than JA2 and much shorter too. I only beat it once and I don't remember how I did it. It is really too hard to be fun at least for me.