Home » SIRTECH CLASSICS » Jagged Alliance 2 » The A.I.M. Library » How do you handle support mercs? Throw them in fight or keep them back?
| How do you handle support mercs? Throw them in fight or keep them back?[message #264476]
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Fri, 08 October 2010 01:50 
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 Saibot |
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Messages:198
Registered:September 2009 |
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I usually have my dedicated doctors and mechs holed up somewhere and don't have them fight even in defense. I still remember the one kill Gasket got in my game I almost finished. Drassen, the sector with the child labor shop(mine? middle?). Anyway, I was getting everyone out, and he had been in there since I basically converted it into a hospital/warehouse. And when he came out there was a redshirt waiting. 2 shots to the chest over 2 turns with his standard Colt and he was officially on the scoreboard with the most memorable kill that game, simply because of who got it lol.
[Updated on: Fri, 08 October 2010 01:51] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
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Staff Sergeant
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| Re: How do you handle support mercs? Throw them in fight or keep them back?[message #264494]
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Fri, 08 October 2010 08:41 
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| usrbid |
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Messages:1506
Registered:December 2008 |
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Hi Saibot, If you let soldiers like Gasket etc. gain levels, they will do their work faster, so there is a good reason to have them participate.
Soldiers with very low APs and very low MRK (Gasket, Flo, Biff, Shank etc.) can still use a bolt action sniper rifle once every other round (unelss you use HAM extra aim click AP increase feature).
In the beginning these soldiers might need to aim at the torso to get a hit, a little later they can try for head shots. Even if they get 1-2 hits per combat, after 10-20 combats they will gain a level and be able to repair, train, medic etc. a little faster.
Bolt action sniper rifles give an aim bonus of ~12 while semi auto sniper rifles give ~6. As far as I know the aim bonus gets added to each aim click. At 8 aim clicks this give +48 to your to hit calculation, which gives even low MRK guys a decent chance to hit.
For these soldiers I like the Steyr Scout Tactical as it has a build in bipod and allows a sniper scope attachment. It is also relatively light which helps as most of the "bad" mercs don't have high STR.
Usually the support staff will be in sectors with buildings. This means I can position the "bad" mercs on top of roof tops, which give them an additional bonus to hit (it really makes a difference).
If you play on harder levels (Insane), then you may get 32 or 64 enemies. If you have only one main squad and a support team in the sector the combat will be tough if you don't use the support team to help out.
I have done sector defenses with just the support squad by themselves. It is possible if there are not too many enemies coming in. In that case it is useful to have a backup weapon in case the enemies climb on top of the roof.
A machine pistol or assault rifle is sufficient. A single support soldier can kill a single enemy by spending all APs on full auto. A couple of grenades and chemical break lights can be occasionally useful as well, but are not mandatory.
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| Re: How do you handle support mercs? Throw them in fight or keep them back?[message #264527]
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Fri, 08 October 2010 17:36
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| Buns |
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Messages:655
Registered:September 2010 |
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I don't realy have support mercs, simply because I don't have much use for them.
Medics:
I usually go for Cambria as the second city, and as soon as the SAM-site is secured I fly anyone badly wounded back to the hospital. The field-medics, of which each squad has one, are mostly used to bandage seriously wounded mercs during battle (in particular those shot down to "dieing") and to heal woundeds whenever it either is not needed or not possible to call for Skyrider.
In any case the field-medic has to be part of the assault team and wouldn't be of much use when sitting in some far away base. That way being a medic is only his secondary role, first of all he is a fighter.
Repairers:
I train each merc to have at least 20 points in MEC, means he is at least able to "clean" his weapon. When returning to the base everyone graps a tool kit (provided I have enough) and does "weaponary cleaning". That way the entire equippement currently used by the team should be fixed in two or three hours.
I am also not in such a desperate hurry and always spent occasional "repair & care"-days in which some are trained (trainer/recruit) while others fix additional stuff, such as spare breaklights or grenades. In case of this kind of stuff it's anyways more economical to buy it new at BR than to pay mercs hundreds of $$ each day for no other purpose than repairing it.
And for broken things you don't need now but might need later, there still is Perko.
Trainers:
Militia usually is trained after having conquered something. That way the first grade, A-team assaulters are there anyways - and cannot realy move on because the sector is undefended. So training militia is best to be done by those that have taken the sector.
I hardly have to re-train militia because I do not leave a town or SAM before I have 20 blue militias there and always try to intercept enemy troops before they can reach my cities. With the system of reinforcements in 1.13 enemy patrols are not able to realy harm militias in cities (for example, in Cambria each sector, save for the mine, is defended by 60 militias!). In case the enemy was able to butcher the militia in a SAM site he mostly also has conquered it and I have to sent a squad anyways.
So, not much to do for full-time militia trainers either.
When I realy have a lot of mercs, and save for some city sectors you hardly ever need more than 12, I form a specific "Estoni Squad". This one is commanded by Conrad and composed of local volounteers like Maddog, Hamous, Shank, Vince, and Dynamo. Their primary task is to intercept all those enemy patrols passing through Estoni and, because this doesn't happen every day, do all the training they still need.
They also act as air-mobile alarm squad in case the enemy threatens a city or SAM and the others cannot get there in time. They are also the reserve, and as that need to and always have, a lot of combat experience.
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First Sergeant
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| Re: How do you handle support mercs? Throw them in fight or keep them back?[message #264754]
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Tue, 12 October 2010 16:50
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| Buns |
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Messages:655
Registered:September 2010 |
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There also is a RPC/NPC editor around with which you can change that fairly easy. I have changed the rebels so that I can, if I like to, hire them all when arriving in Omerta.
Interestingly when I try to hire Dimitri that way he refuses to and says he needs to wait for Miguel's decision. But when I have Miguel in the team Dimitri is willing to join too.
When I hire Ira she will leave the cellar with my team regardless what.
When I give them two-handed weapons all but Miguel will lose them when talking. They are clearly pointing with them when I enter the cellar, but as soon as Miguel starts talking the weapons will disappear from their hands, and they don't have them in their inventory afterwards despite having enough room. This does not apply to Miguel or to one-handed weapons.
I have read that all of them have lines for at least some towns, but so far I have only heard those from Dimitri and Ira. But Miguel and Carlos do have individual texts after talking to Pablo.
[Updated on: Tue, 12 October 2010 16:51] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
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First Sergeant
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| Re: How do you handle support mercs? Throw them in fight or keep them back?[message #265206]
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Wed, 20 October 2010 14:13
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| FelixDrake |
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Messages:33
Registered:September 2008 |
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For me, if their AP is torpid, I avoid them mostly. Some support comes with, some does not.
Barry:Comes with. His physicals are solid (though not exceptional), his wis lets his mrks go up quickly, and if he fixes everything in the field while the rest of the team is recruiting militia, he can pick any lock in the game on site. Works best with a sniper rifle, say a knight or an M21.
Ira:recruits, recruits, and recruits. If there is REALLY nothing left to recruit, she gets a sniper rifle.
Fox:other than str, her physicals are solid, and she has ambidextrous. She is my first main doctor, and an integral part of my day ops team.
Razor:cheap, good stats, comes with the team and learns to shoot eventually... usually... unless there are just that many guns to lug to tony.
Bull:stays in san mona beating up people for prize money all game.
Dmitri, gasket, haywire, MD, gumpy, anyone else with drek stats or huge weaknesses:
item ferrying, MD will support medical (since I'm on iron man, significant injuries often happen), but not on site. Some militia work.
Other doctors:Danny and Dr. Q are who I use, if I need more docs... both go front lines all the way.
Other mechanics... everyone with about 30 mechanical ability or more chips in to repair when needed. No dedicated back line mechanics. Sometimes REALLY early game, I will hire gasket to repair and (maybe) teach mechanical.
Other freebies:Maddog... usually just repairs or gun running. Tixa rescues:item ferrying if I keep them at all.
Hamous:wanders off to explore the wilds. Usually get shot or eaten sometime during that process.
Mileage may vary, but that's what I do with most of my mercs that are strong in support, or just plain weak in a fight.
Oh ya... support sometimes fills up to a 6 man team by taking stun grenades and a Kasket grenade launcher with bouncing grenades. Nothing shows you care like gratuitous explosive ordinance.
FREE mercs, I throw into combat if there's room.
CHEAP mercs, I avoid combat with unless they have a chance to become A list material (like Razor) and just use them as warm bodies with cheap hire rates.
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Private 1st Class
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| Re: How do you handle support mercs? Throw them in fight or keep them back?[message #301030]
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Mon, 05 March 2012 18:41
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| Kovax |
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Messages:18
Registered:December 2006
Location: Pennsylvania |
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I regularly use a couple of support personnel with each team, but most of them are "dual role". Buns serves as a combination long-range shooter and medic, assisting the front line from a short distance back, then patching up injuries. Wolf and Barry Unger are similar, providing fire support from just behind the front line, or on it when things get rough, then repairing everyone's stuff (and in Barry's case, looting any locked containers) while the team leader (and/or Buns) recruits militia. All three of them have decent Wisdom, and can become reasonably effective after a few battles, for a very affordable price at the start when you don't have cash to spare.
Then there are the "maintainance" teams, like Ira and Flo, who do nothing other than "top off" the militia long after the main team has left for another city (unless you marry off Flo to the Hicks). Their main purpose is to force the game to use tactical mode for combat, which leaves you with all of the dropped loot afterwards, where on Auto-resolve it simply never exists. Over the weekend, I had Ira helping the militia defend Drassen at night, and she personally scored one outright "kill" and put two other Queen's Army soldiers from "Healthy" to "Critical" by making interrupts with a shotgun when the gun flashes revealed them.
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Private
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| Re: How do you handle support mercs? Throw them in fight or keep them back?[message #301411]
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Fri, 09 March 2012 20:13
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| CyberRaptor |
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Messages:9
Registered:January 2012 |
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For the tougher fights, I keep the support mercs back. Once there are enough powerful weapons to go around and after a bit of training, I send them in at the flanks for most battles. I've found it really helps to put them on a roof. Always a good defensive choice, rooftops allow even mercs like Gasket to blow someone's head off.
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Private
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