Home » SIRTECH CLASSICS » Jagged Alliance 2 » War Correspondent » Ironman's field notes (1.13 build 4870, no mods)
| Ironman's field notes (1.13 build 4870, no mods)[message #299128]
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Thu, 16 February 2012 12:18 
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 Fins_T |
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Messages:89
Registered:January 2012
Location: Russia |
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This topic will be used to post notes which i am creating, primarily for myself, while playing Jagged Alliance 2, with 1.13 mod installed (build 4870), no other mods present.
First, i'll describe in detail which settings i use to play the game. [color:#777777]Note: please, understand that i do not "recommend" anything in any way, but only describe my settings and habits IF someone else would want to get challenge and results which are similar to what i get in the game. 1.13 is so massively customizable that it is easily possible to "ruin" the game by setting things too difficult or too easy; i tried to avoid that when possible by tweaking game's settings, having in mind that i'll be playing Ironman mode.[/color]
PERSONAL CHOICES AND HABITS
- for this Ironman game, i decided not to hire anyone from A.I.M. at all. Only 2xIMP characters, "free" hireables and MERC mercenaries are used for this game. I am planning to make well-rounded and fully capable team nonetheless. 
- i do not bother to time my assaults to be day or night missions, rain or clean skies. Whenever team is done with previous activities (militia training, repairs, etc) and ready to move on, they move on, prepared to fight in any conditions. This adds unpredictability, variability and replayability, all of which is good (to me).
- i am quite a munchkin, so "active training" such as punching/healing militia is used shamelessly and massively. [color:#777777]It is important, because active training raises stats and level of mercenaries quickly, which in turn dramatically affect gameplay, especially combat. If reader does not like "wasting time" to do that "active training", but would want to have highest-stats mercenaries nonetheless, then it might be a good idea to increase starting stat poitns for IMP mercenaries to 800 or even higher, and increase max number of IMP mercenaries at least to four. If reader would like to let things go on their own, and is ok with mercenaries' stats being "as is" (and slowly raising "naturally"), - then it might be a good idea to make some combat settings easier if Ironman mode is used: massive frustration from being unable to beat some sector despite many attempts to do it - is not exactly what we play this game mode for. [/color]
INITIAL GAME SETTINGS
- game difficulty setting: expert, Ironman;
- max possible IMP characters: 2; [color:#777777]//default 6 makes the game significantly easier money-wise - 6 "free" mercenaries of top quality is a major saving of daily expenses. Yet, going with just 1 is too vanilla, at least for my liking.[/color]
- weapons caches: all; [color:#777777]//it's always a pleasure to find something useful in piles of usual crap; more weapon caches = more chances for such pleasure.[/color]
- terrorists: all; [color:#777777]//dealing with special characters, with their own stories and random locations, is always good. I see no reasons to have less of it.[/color]
- game mode: SCI-FI;
- the rest are default settings.
OPTIONS
; default 500
IMP_INITIAL_POINTS = 600
[color:#666666]//bunch of AIM mercenaries have more than 700 stat points total! Having 500 for IMP ones is too low for my taste.[/color]
;default 85
IMP_MAX_ATTRIBUTE = 90
[color:#666666]//again, some AIM mercs have starting values at 95+ for several stats. Call me jealous, i don't care.  [/color]
;default TRUE
MERCS_CAN_DIE_ON_ASSIGNMENT = FALSE
[color:#666666]//ain't no fun to waste half a campaign completed because some desired merc died.[/color]
;default FALSE
SLAY_STAYS_FOREVER = TRUE
[color:#666666]//luv snipers.[/color]
;default 10
SELL_ITEMS_PRICE_MODIFIER = 5
[color:#666666]//that's selling for 20% of nominal cost instead of 10%. I think couple of guys with big guns can convince locals to pay at least 20%, even if said guys are rather polite.[/color]
;default 30
DEAD_LOCK_DELAY = 10
[color:#666666]//having fast quad core here, see no point to have it at 30.[/color]
;defaults 1.0
ENEMY_TURN_SPEED_UP_FACTOR = 0.2
MILITIA_TURN_SPEED_UP_FACTOR = 0.2
CIVILIAN_TURN_SPEED_UP_FACTOR = 0.2
;defaults FALSE
AUTOMATICALLY_FLAG_MINES_WHEN_SPOTTED = TRUE
MINES_SPOTTED_NO_TALK = TRUE
ITEMS_SPOTTED_NO_TALK = TRUE
;defaults FALSE ?
USE_AIMED_BURST = TRUE
ALLOW_WEAR_SUPPRESSOR = TRUE
ALLOW_LAZY_CIVILIANS = TRUE
;default 100
CHANCE_SAY_ANNOYING_PHRASE = 25
[color:#666666]//now 4 times less annoying, eh.[/color]
;default FALSE
NEW_AI_TACTICAL = TRUE
[color:#666666]//couldn't be much worse than old one i guess, as old one was rather primitive anyways.[/color]
;default ?
SHOOT_UNSEEN_PENALTY = 10
[color:#666666]//don't remember what's default, have put it to 10 percent to let Deidranna troops to be much better at shooting behind their visual range when using non-scoped or weakly-scoped weapons; myself, i use 7x and 8x scopes only for all gun fighters, and these provide enough range to see what my team needs to see.[/color]
;vanilla JA2 default 2, 1.13 default 1.
CAN_MILITIA_BECOME_HOSTILE = 1
[color:#666666]//it is important to leave it at 1, if active training by punching militia is desirable feature. Initial idea of preventing militia becoming hostile after accidental hit is also sound.[/color]
;default 75 ?
SPECIAL_NPCS_STRONGER = 120
[color:#666666]//these are few and they worth some effort to kill them; they are "special" after all.[/color]
;default TRUE
AIM_LEVELS_DEPEND_ON_DISTANCE = FALSE
[color:#666666]//both of my IMP characters are getting "sniper" trait. It increases damage for additional aiming. See no reason to restrict it based on distance; if sniper can hit especially vulnerable spot 300 yards away, why exactly can't he do it 5 years away?[/color]
;default 18
VERY_HIGH_POWER_SCOPE_AIM_THRESHOLD = 16
[color:#666666]//I guess that this includes PSO-3 into "sniper scope" category, but leaves 7x scope out of it. SVD is a sniper rifle, always was and always will be - and its best scope is PSO-3. [/color]
;default 30
VISUAL_DISTANCE_DECREASE_PER_RAIN_INTENSITY = 15
[color:#666666]//still want to have visibility changed significantly when it's raining around, but want to avoid situations when everyone can't see further than a few tiles. Guess this will do.[/color]
;default 25
BREATH_GAIN_REDUCTION_PER_RAIN_INTENSITY = 10
[color:#666666]//25 _per_ intensity? Sounds like everyone suffer major water-phobia with that much, really. 10 will do.[/color]
;default 70
GAME_PROGRESS_IGGY_AVAILABLE = 40
[color:#666666]//My favorite HW expert. 70% of game progress without one of my favorites is too much.[/color]
;default FALSE
ALLOW_REINFORCEMENTS_ONLY_IN_CITIES = TRUE
[color:#666666]//I changed this right after i first installed 1.13, back then i had no idea how much changes with this. Only later had i figured out that this little change completely solves famous "deadly Drassen counter-attack", by breaking attacking forces into several smaller groups which attack separately and thus are much easier to deal with. I don't mind keeping this at "true" for Ironman game, but will definitely try this at "false" with non-ironman one later.[/color]
;default 2.0
AUTORESOLVE_LUCK_FACTOR = 1.5
[color:#666666]//i think skills are more important than pure luck for nearly all military activities. Luck is still a factor though. Thus, 1.5.[/color]
;default 0
GREEN_MILITIA_AUTORESOLVE_STRENGTH_BONUS = -80
[color:#666666]//Major penalty to compensate autoresolve toughness of green militia given by next one.[/color]
;default 0
GREEN_MILITIA_DAMAGE_RESISTANCE = 80
[color:#666666]//since i won't be leaving any green militia to defend anything on their own (without help from my mercenaries), i decided to change their damage resistance that much to make them much better "punch dummies" for times when i'll be going to actively practice strength, dexterity, agility, level and medical skill of my mercenaries. This proved to be quite optimal number for said goal. As for autoresolve strength, net effect of this and previous parameter is slightly negative - i.e., green militia become abit less capable overall as a result of these changes. For example, 60 green militia vs 18 regular enemies is likely to end without a single enemy getting killed:[/color]
[color:#FF4400]click on the picture if you want to see it in full 1024x768 resolution[/color]
Few other options i changed and didn't write down initial (default) values. Among them are:
- large increase of maximum possible interval between lightnings [color:#666666](minimal interval left at default, though - i like unpredictability)[/color];
- large decrease of lightning frequency during turn-based mode [color:#666666]- i don't like to get unpleasant surprises too often[/color];
- increase of Deidranna reaction time from 1..5 hours to 1..9 hours on Expert difficulty [color:#666666](don't wanna to ruin her sleep hours i guess )[/color];
- minor decrease of number of troops initially available and number of troops added to queen's reserve when it becomes empty - both for Expert difficulties, both still higher than corresponding default values for Experienced difficulty mode;
- minor boosts for damage resistance of elite and regular enemies;
- probably few other cosmetic changes i forgot. >< Nothing too important though.
IMP CHARACTERS
Two created:
- named as Jim Raynor and Sarah Kerrigan;
- have basic cloth, skin and hair colors roughly similar to usual outfits of these two as displayed here and here. [color:#666666]Oh, and while we're at it, this one is too epic to not mention it. Be sure to watch these in HD, it's worth it;[/color]
- both have "Sniper" and "Stealthy" traits;
- Jim also have "athletics" trait, while Sarah also have "Scout" trait;
- both are non-swimmers;
- Jim is "assertive", Sarah is "show-off";
- beginning stats are identical for both. Values: Health 90, AGI 90, DEX 80, STR 35, LDR 90, WIS 90, LVL 1, MRK 90, EXP 35, MEC 90, MED 35.
[color:#666666]//explanatory notes about stat choices. Health at 90, as it is slow to boost in-game. AGI also, though less so, besides good 70 iirc are forced onto snipers anyways. Dex 80 is also forced. Str 35 because i don't have points for more, and because it is easily boosted by punching things (i prefer militia for this, yep), and because it is not really needed for the beginning of the game. LDR 90 as i need it high at least on one of IMP mercs for "leader" role - speaking to people. Another just gets it because it is slow to raise in-game and i have points for it anyways. WIS 90 is a must. High MRK is forced on snipers and i have few poitns to make it 90 for easier start anyways. MEC 90 because it is slow to raise in-game (apart from picking locks but this is somewhat limited - or annoying, - method to raise it), and because i want them to be able to handle guns with skill and repair their items, if needed, fast. EXP and MED 35 and not 0 because i have these 30 points left for it, and because i'd like to avoid long training through 0...30 range for EXP and lots of inefficiently wasted 1st-aid and doctor packs for MED. All that said, this all is purely personal choices (perhaps apart from high WIS). Your mileage may vary, especially if you set total number of IMP stat points not to 600, like i did, but to something much different. By the way, when i was setting it to 600, i had no idea this will be enough to get all i wanted and not any much more. Even 80 - not 90, - DEX is perfectly fine, as DEX raises much faster than AGI when punching things, and reaches 100 from 80 faster than AGI reaches 100 from 90). [/color]
Well, this concludes description of various game's settings i am using for this Ironman game. Notes themselves now, starting next post.
[Updated on: Thu, 16 February 2012 20:19] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
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Corporal 1st Class
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| Re: Ironman's field notes (1.13 build 4870, no mods)[message #299129]
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Thu, 16 February 2012 12:21 
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| Fins_T |
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Messages:89
Registered:January 2012
Location: Russia |
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Format:
day/time when completed - sector - number of failed attempts - injuries suffered during successful attempt (mercs_injured.total_health_damage) - number of enemies defeated ("r" for "red shirts", "e" for "elites")
//Text notes (if any)
Arrival.
01.07:04 - A9 -- 0 - 0.0 - 6
//Enemies are weak. Both characters took prone position right at the drop point, and managed to take out all but 1 enemy from this point. Used single shots only, taking shots as soon as chance to hit becomes some 10% or higher. Kept an eye on the building to the east in the process, and indeed one of enemies came from there. Last enemy was in south part of the map. Both were given KAC PDW as a starting weapon, and it cannot mount pistol supressors (which both characters were also given) - this weapon demands AR supressors instead. That, plus rather limited range of 18, and rare caliber 6x35mm, - guns are quite a disappointment. The only good news is that both were given 3 reserve magazines each - total ammo count is 240 bullets, which allows for some supress and/or burst fire, if need be.
01.12:32 - B12 - 2 - 0.0 - 8
//Patrol in sector with farm, 8 enemies. Entering from west side. Most viable tactic seem to be to sneak along north edge of the sector (through the field of crops), and get onto the roof of the northmost building. Jim and Sarah went there, leaving Ira behind - her gun is a laugh. Spotted one enemy few moments after both characters went out of crops. Luckily he was looking away; sneaked forward, behind the corner of the building, unnoticed. Hopped with both characters onto the roof. Step or two to the southern edge of the roof, and enemy was spotted. Few more steps further (already in turn-based) revealed two more. Took positions, started to fire bursts. One down, two injured. Second turn of the combat, 3 more enemies appeared. Tough. Kept firing bursts, prioritizing to wound whomever is in reach and not wounded yet. All 8 of them were eventually killed from that same rooftop. They managed to make a couple of shots during the fight, but their weapons and positions were inferior; they all missed. Price is, spent some 50+ bullets in this fight. Quite alot for just 8 dead enemies. Will get 90 minutes of rest to shape up, then will go get that airport.
Taking Drassen.
01.15:39 - B13 - 2 - 1.6 - 18+ 
//Drassen airport, 18 enemies, plus some reinforcements joining the fun from C13. Sarah took cover behind two trees in eastern part of the sector, ones near the corner of the fense, outside fenced territory (see the picture below). She quickly took out one lonely elite north-east of us with just one lucky burst, and used her bunoculars to see who's around. As expected, enemies we incoming. Heavy attack from south-east by their main forces. It was crucial to hold the line, Sarah being behind these two trees, Jim proning some dozen or so tiles south-west of it, and Ira between the two (and a bit in a back). One of enemies got real brave, ran in into pistol range and managed to shoot Jim - twice. Don't know what gun he used, something weak, kevlar vest was able to stop both bullets rather well. Dropped him with aimed burst into his guts. And, it was right to worry about ammo: after killing everyone who was trying to advance to team's position, there were 5 enemies still alive in the sector, but only 13 6x35mmbullets left - 6 in Jim's gun, 7 in Sarah's. Jim gave 6 which he had to Sarah, then scavenged Spas-12 shotgun from fallen foes, along with 28 slugs for it. Range 21 with slugs loaded, 74% condition, not too bad. Only other non-pistol gun - benelli shotgun - was half-broken, so no choice anyways. Used that Spas-12 to carefully take out 5 remaining enemies, one by one. These cowards actually had the chance to win, if theese 5 would join the main wave. But now they got no chance. Sarah assisted with few aimed shots and her binoculars, to spot foes from afar. When last foe fell down, only 4 bullets were left in her gun - all what's left from 240 6x35 rounds team had jsut 8 hours ago. I just hope i'll manage to hold this sector until equipment from Bobby Ray's arrives - just got the e-mail about it, says it's back in business. Now, to fill these order forms.
Click on the picture to see it in full 1024x768. Note, this one was taken not right away, but after next fight.
02.09:17 - B13 - 3 - 0.0 - 22 
//Some yellow shirts, some red shirts and few elites, 22 in total, tried to take back Drasen Airport. Good timing by Deidranna: weapons bought from Bobby Ray's are still not delivered, only package with gas masks, night vision googles etc was delivered at 9 AM. Night was spent for healing, training 10 militia and resting. Tactic for the fight was rather simple: kill everything which can be shot even with minimal hit chance from the roof of ACA building, using pistols for softer and closer targets, shotgun and 4 last 6x35 SMG rounds for elites and some further-away targets; then go down to ground level and help militia to finish last few ones off. One green militia earned dark-blue shirt in this fight. Lucky fella.
02.11:14 - C13 - 1 - 0.0 - 20 
//At 11:00, main package from Bobby Ray's got delivered. Worth 15k, this package is a key to taking and (later) defending Drassen. Package included: used FN FAL OSW at 50% (which is poor) condition - not instantly usable itself, however useful later when repaired, and, in addition, providing Reflex Sight and Foregrip. Next gun was brand new Colt Commando, to which Reflex Sight and Foregrip from previous gun were transferred (for now). Third and last gun in this package - Aug Para with its default 2x scope. I attached one of starting-game pistol supressors to this gun. Package also had two flash supressors and two 2x scopes, to be used with Colt Commando and FN. 300 rounds of 5.56x45mm ammo, 360 rounds of 9x19mm Match ammo in 24 pistol clips, 40 rounds of 7.62x51mm Match ammo for future use were also in the package. Equipped and dangerous, the team went to conquer the rest of Drassen, starting C13.
Entering from north, safe thing is to enter in north-east part of C13. Securing area "this side" of the long fence was easy - Sarah quicky sniped 2 soldiers from afar, retreated back to north-east corner, waited a while - all quiet. Next, all 3 moved through the gateway, going south towards Doreen's factory. Spotted one soldier to the west, took him out by Jim's silenced Aug Para. Luckily noone noticed. Then went, in stealth, towards the middle of the north-east wall of Doreen's, climbed up. Sarah took her binoculars out, moved forward and spotted nice party - 12 enemies, 3 of them elites. They probably came in to find out what happened with their fella who was silently sniped by Jim few moments before. Jim and Sarah, staying near the edge of the roof, took them all out by burst fire, before they could get too close to hit the two. Ira was watching backwards, though noone came in from behind. 5 remaining soldiers were scattered to the east of Doreen's place. Easy prey, they were found and taken out one by one by Jim's silent gun.
02.11:25 - D13 - 0 - 1.5 - 12r
//Decided to take them head on: the team climbed onto small roof in the middle of the northern part of the sector, and occupied each corner of it (except northern one). 10 out of 12 soldiers died while trying to approach the roof. One of them was lucky to hit Sarah, but her kevlar vest prevented serious injury. Easy fight, used single shots only to save ammo. Speaking of ammo, 32 kills during last two fights consumed 83 shots total (of which only 31 5.56mm rounds). Less than 3 shots per kill - that's including misses. Rather good ratio.
Defending Drassen.
02.17:22 - D13 - 0 - 0.0 - 10r
02.21:06 - D13 - 5 - 1.9 - 10e+10r
//They had at least 2 snipers. Came from the east. To beat them, 5 mercenatires took position on the roof of the central building, fairly close to its center - Jim, Sarah, Ira, Gumpy and Haywire. Its advantage at night is not only elevating of the roof itself, but also the fact that nearly all surrounding areas are well lit, thus exposing enemies early. Ira was using KP M/31 SMG looted 2 fights ago (FN rifle is in too poor condition, repair kits are still not delivered). Gumpy was using Agram 2000 in some 55% or so condition, - next best after that Ira's Suomi SMG. Gasket was hiding right below, in the closet. Simply didn't have anything automatic for him. The team started the fight crouching, in the middle of the fight went prone. Best sharpshooter - Sarah, - kept taking out attackers from south-east and east. Firing 3 or 4 bullets volleys she was able to down 2 foes per turn most of the time. Still it was not enough - they kept coming from south-west. Gumpy assisted there, placing long (8...12 bullets) volleys to suppress and occasionally hit them. Second best shooter, which is Jim, kept and eye on east. Not to many enemies, but their sniper was a pain. After he missed JIm second time, he decided to back off a bit and help Ira with north-east. When 17 of them killed and 2 more wounded, they finally decided to back off. I sent Haywire to look around a bit, that's when he caught a bullet. About loot: some elites came with assault rifles, some of them dropped russian 7.62 and 5.45 ammo, but only notable weapon looted after this fight was mini-uzi at 91% condition; that, and few dozens of 12 gauge slugs for that Spas-12 which was found earlier and was out of ammo already. Sigh.
03.10:51 - C13 - 0 - 0.0 - 2e+9r
//Only notable thing about this one is looted Mac-10 with extender and in good condition. Good for supressive fire.
03.18:31 - D13 - 0 - 0.0 - 14r
04.12:05 - D13 - 0 - 1.3 - 10e+10r
//10 elites, 10 red shirts. This time, though, i couldn't move militia away, - no place to, all 60 slots filled, mostly with greens. This time enemy came from west, which means they enter the sector in two batches, one in south-west corner, other in north-west one. So i placed Jim on the roof near the latter, and Sarah on the roof near the former. Was rather safe and fast fight, in no small part thanks to additional upgrades bought from Bobby Ray's and installed on weapons: scopes 7x, trigger groups, reflex sight for Jim (bought another used FN FAL OSW). I was able to hit their heads with some good bursts. Works well even with some misses; often, 2 hits to the head are more damaging than 3 to the body, so it's good to estimate hit chances accordingly.
 //Few hours later, went to "discipline" them militias for the first time. Good news are, added damage resistance of green ones is indeed excellent to make them proportionally more durable as a punch-dummy. Bad news are, it's similarly "good" in burning 1st-aid kits when patching them up. Good news are, the latter seem to proportionally boost the rate of medical skill increases. Oh well, seems i'll spend quite a bit of money buying 1st-aid kits from Bobby Ray's... ___pic7
04.19:45 - C13 - 0 - 0.0 - 9r
Sky Rider and 1st SAM
06.09:41 - E13 - 0 - 0.0 - 10e+10r
//Moving out with all 6 mercs (Jim, Sarah, Ira, Haywire, Gumpy, Gusket) to find Sky Rider and capture eastern SAM. Leaving about 40 regular and 20 green militia in Drassen, they'll manage to hold it, at least fir a while. E13 turned out to be a very easy fight. Primitive tactic: entering into NW corner, crouching in stealth, spotting nearest enemies, sniping them out. Then move forward if nobody comes in anymore, rinse and repeat towards trees to the north from the bridge. Did that by outranging them with Jim's FN carbine at 25...40 tiles, and dropping down ones who manage to get closer than 30 tiles with burst fire from Sarah's Commando. Level 5->7 experience boost which Jim and Sarah got while punching green militia in Drassen really helps - they get lots of interrupts. As a result of all that, only one enemy managed to fire his weapon. Once. Turned out that was a sniper rifle - Steyr Scout dropped from him. Other goons dropped 2 repair kits, some usable armor items (including one spectra helmet) and some good ammo (5.56, 7.62), which all helps. Few dozens minutes after this fight, another 10+10 attacked D13. My forces were 1 green, 38 regular and 1 veteran defending it. Lost 5 in total, 3 were promoted to veterans. Green one didn't make it... Poor fella.
06.17:02 - D15 - 0 - 2.36 - 15 
//starting in south-west corner, spotted one elite right away. Killed him at once. Then moved north-east a little and then east, without waiting for turn-based mode to end. Running near the corpse, Jim detected that that elite dropped SVDS - good thing he didn't have a chance to start shooting. Great weapon to add to the team. Took positions behind trees with good field of view towards north-east, killed some goons approaching from that direction. One of them spotted Sarah, and then one of their snipers who was inside fenced area injured Sarah for -22 health and -4 DEX. Managed to spot him next turn, and then Jim took him out with two aimed shots. Another elite managed to get into visible range hiding behind a group of trees to the east, injured Ira. Overall, for this fight, using as many spotters as possible is very helpful, to have both flanks covered with some mercs observing it all the time through binoculars (or raised scopes). Last 3 enemies were holding their ground near the center of the SAM, one of them well camuflaged, good thing i was advancing carefully. These kills, as well as majority of kills during this and previous fight, were made with enemies being out of their visible range to my team by Jim's FN FAL OSW, performance of which i am really pleased with; fully aimed shot from crouch position have some 70%+ chance to hit standing foe, without any obstacles between Jim and a foe, distance being 40 tiles (using match ammunition - bought 27x5 of it in addition to the first bunch). As for damage, most enemies (and quite often even elites) die from 2 hits to the torso. Though, note that Jim and Sarah both have Sniper trait, which increases damage and accuracy of aimed shots significantly. So, don't expect so good performance if you use characters without it. Overall, FN FAL OSW is quite awesome weapon for this stage of the game in sniper's hands, and this is nice bonus to the fact that buying FN FAL OSW provides Reflex Sights and Foregrips much earlier than when they become available as a separate buy and in loot. If to use default "excellent" Bobby Ray setting, FN FAL OSW is likely to be available in "used" gear right away, and also becomes available brand new (and in some numbers) once game progress reaches 10% (which is usually soon after taking Drassen).
08.11:13 - D15 - 0 - 0.0 - 10e
//Took them long enough to arrive. The only difficulty about this fight was not forgetting to order Gumpy to herd militia away - 10 veterans and 10 regulars trained to this moment. Didn't want to loose any one, so sniped these elites myself.
08.19:45 - C15 - 0 - 0.0 - 11r
//Completed training 20 veteran militia in SAM sector, and decided to take nearby pack of enemies out before heading back into Drassen. Entered on the shore, slowly moved in with 2 main characters going different routes, making sure i have any possible direction under crossfire. Lots of tress and thus cover (for me). Had no need for additional spotters.
Back in Drassen.
11.08:51 - D13 - 1 - 1.3 - 4e+12r 
//They came from south. My goal was to win while keeping militia safe. So i moved militia away with Gumpy repeatedly casting "all come to me" while staying at the north edge of the map shortly before the fight. Decided two main characters would be enough to fight this group, but improper choice of positions doomed 1st try. Then i moved Sarah onto the nearby roof to spot and burst enemies who (mainly) were trying to get to Jim, who was closer to them, but used corner of the building to hide. He used 2 pineapples to break zerg rush enemies tried to do, killing one and wounding many. By the time militia managed to get involved, only 3 enemies - two bleeding and one dying - were alive. Not for any long, of course. Mission accomplished, militia casualties: 0.0!
Road to Cambria.
11.16:53 - A9 - 0 - 0.0 - 18r
//Before going to Cambria, i thought it'd be good to take out goons who holed down in Omerta. Entered from east right on the road with all 6 mercs, maintained 180
[Updated on: Sat, 18 February 2012 16:46] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
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Corporal 1st Class
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| Re: Ironman's field notes (1.13 build 4870, no mods)[message #299130]
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Thu, 16 February 2012 12:22
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| Fins_T |
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Messages:89
Registered:January 2012
Location: Russia |
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Cambria
12.01:35 - F9 - 1 - 0.0 - 10r
//First truly covert fight - completed with silenced Aug Para (Jim), and silenced mini-Uzi (Sarah). 1st try failed: Jim and Sarah went onto the roof and shot a bunch of goons from it, mostly from western edge of it. Checked all the roof before starting shooting goons below, roof was clear. Didn't put anybody to watch their back, relying on extended ears to warn me in case someone would climb onto the roof and try to get behind me. Failed at that, one enemy shot Jim from behind rather badly. Didn't hear a thing from that direction. So, it seems that even regular goons can be rather stealthy (and don't mind to spend some extra time to climb onto a roof if that helps to get behind). 2nd try, went around the fence/buildings, not even trying to get onto the roof. Killed them all easily, one by one. In the process, spotted M79 grenade launcher, which just lies on the ground in southern part of fenced teritory waiting to be found. Badly damaged, though.
12.02:13 - G9 - 0 - 0.0 - 12r
//Using roofs of nothmost buildings proved to be an excellent idea in this sector.
12.02:26 - G8 - 0 - 0.0 - 4e+8r
//Sneaked along the south edge of the sector to the only climbable roof. Took out 2 goons in the process, without alerting others. Climbed up with 3 mercs, silently took out one more on the street, took positions and switched to loud guns to lure them in. Worked well. Still have to go out to find last 3 of them, though.
12.02:33 - H8 - 2 - 1.1 - 3e+9r
//Going loud is a bad idea in this one. They got flares and assault rifles. Going around picking them one by one and retreating if surviving ones get the idea where attackers are - works well. Just don't go west side where mine is, too little space there. East side is much better. Notable loot: spring dropped by goons, and rod found in small building's crates. Both are first to be found during this campaign. Nice coincedence.
12.02:49 - F8 - 0 - 0.0 - 1e+9r
//Took out one near the main entrance, silently. Went around to north-east part of the sector, shot couple of goons there, made sure noone alive is outside, went into the hospital through the back door to complete cleaning of Cambria. Noone even had a chance to aim at my guys during whole fight. Easy.
12.13:16 - F8 - 0 - 0.0 - 11r
//Their first, and rather pityful, attempt to take back Cambria. Two snipers on the hospital's roof = win.
12.17:04 - H8 - 1 - 0.0 - 2e+6r
//Camping behind boulders in south-east corner of the sector, sniped 'em all out with no problems. 3 x50 5.7mm magazines in the loot, cool.
12.19:54 - H8 - 0 - 1.3 - 5e+9r
13.09:36 - H8 - 1 - 1.7 - 10e 
//Mean fellows with mean weapons. Took positions on the larger roof with 2 main characters and Hamous (met him previous day 2 sectors above Cambria when i sent two guys to pick up some supplies left behind earlier, and i am sure he wasn't there when party was going from Drassen to Cambria; this means Hamous is indeed driving around, therefore in some games it indeed could be possible to eventually check all sectors he may be found in and still not to spot him, cause he moves). Back to this fight, if i'd be more careful then i could avoid the injury altogether. Good thing armor worked, 7 HP is not a big deal. Drop was excellent - 7.62x51 LMG with rod&spring, nice Benelli shotgun with barrel extender, and most importantly, Galil AR with Rod&Spring, at 91% condition - instant upgrade of main weapon for Jim, got it set up and equipped at once. Fully tweaked Galil AR is an excellent weapon, especially for this early in the game. Able to shoot up to 3 bursts per round in close quarter combat, able to use glazer ammo when desired, able to make 2 fully aimed shots per turn while having weapon range comparable to average sniper rifle, Galil AR is pretty universal gun. And, it does not need match ammo to hit targets several dozens of tiles away - can do with regular ammo rather well, and regular 7.62 NATO is dropped aplenty by enemies. So it's economical, too.
13.20:07 - F9 - 0 - 1.5 - 13r
//Was abit reckless, playin' commando style; Sarah got hit twice, but fortunately, her armor managed to render both bullets nearly harmless. Enemies dropped Colt Commando - the first one to be found in loot, so far. I wonder, are those two events related in some strange, mysterious way?
14.07:59 - G9 - 0 - 0.0 - 3e+6r
//They came from south, Fins and Sarah were waiting on the roof in south-west corner of the sector. Easy fight. Notable loot is spectra helmet and zylon pants. By the way, there are reasons why i find zylon pants to be very good, for many combat roles even best there could be. First, penalties are only -3 AP, lowest possible for leg armor; second, coverage is 90%, which is high; third, they weigh less than any other, because they offer +20% camo. Sounds strange? Thing is, they allow to skip using gillie pants altogether (and gillie pants are rather heavy for a piece of cloth, some 1.5kg or something like that) - and still have 100% camo from equipment, if wearing russian 106 vest and gillie pieces for chest and helmet. Other pants without camo bonus would most likely end up having gillie pants attached, and thus would become much more heavy than Zylon ones without gillie piece. Disadvantages of Zylon pants are two: mediocre protection value of 23 (and it can't be boosted by compound 18, no idea why), and weak durability (25% deterioration). But then, ask yourself: how often it happens that your mercenaries are hit in legs? For me, it's really rare event. So, i'll live with slightly deeper wound due to lower protection value, but i want them pants to give good coverage to have best chances to avoid really serious wound and its implications. Zylon does exactly that, and at low AP penalty. As for low durability, it's not important, because legs are rarily hit; besides, "repair often" is completely doable thing anyways. So in the end, Zylon pants have 3 benefits and zero drawbacks, and are best for majority of soldiers - generally for all except ones who will get that end-game anti-explosive armor set. P.S. Fouth advantage Zylon pants have: it's the color. These pants' color is quite proper to camuflage signs of shit - useful for times if some of them mercs happen to shit themselves in battle.
14.21:36 - G8 - 1 - 0.0 - 2e+7r
15.10:26 - F8 - 0 - 0.0 - 4e+12r
15.12:27 - G9 - 0 - 0.0 - 2e+7r
15.15:59 - G9 - 0 - 0.0 - 2e+6r
15.21:11 - G8 - 1 - 0.0 - 2e+6r
//Quite a pattern here for last 5 fights - six 2+6 or 2+7 groups, 2nd and 3rd attacking together that is. And total number of enemes is 50 - round number. Funny.
15.17:59 - I8 - 1 - 2.13 - 8e+5r
//Central SAM. Frontal assault, sniper combat. They got at least one sniper too, safe thing is to advance with care and use spoters from different directions. Note: of course, it's possible to cut through fence to gain tactical advantage; i, however, try to avoid cutting holes in fences if at all possible, for a simple reason that later, when defending the sector, such holes become a weakness. And it's only required to take a sector once, but often it will be needed to defend it multiple times.
17.17:29 - H8 - 1 - 0.0 - 11e 
//Jim with SVDS and Galil AR was sent to handle this. Before the fight, he called militia to gather near east edge of the sector, and ordered them to hold position. Then he climbed smaller roof, took prone position and set his SVDS ready. After 1st enemy was spotted, he didn't open fire, but waited for an interrupt, during which he took out first elite who went along western rocks, with a single headshot. Few turns and 8 shots later, 6 of 11 elites were dead, 3 more wounded, and militia started to fire at remaining enemies. It didn't take long to finish them off. Notable loot is Groza OC-14-4A-01 with Rod&Spring, some good weapon attachments, ammo, and armor items. I could skip this fight by letting 37 regular and 3 veteran militia to kill these 11 in auto-resolve, but good thing i didn't: equipment collected worth the effort.
18.14:30 - I6 - 3 - 0.0 - 4e+8r
//Hired Mad Dog, went to talk with Skipper, and was about to give him something to get that key when enemies appeared. Funny. Tried to hold the roof, didn't work. Tried to hold the ground further north, didn't work. Tried to stay inside fenced area, interrupting enemies as they try to get in - didn't work, during one of the turns 9 enemies went in, killed 7 with interrupts, last 2 managed to get in and do major harm. 4th try, again tried to stay inside fenced area, but this time Mad Dog also helping to defend it. It worked. Phew. P.S. Shotguns sux indeed. If there'd be 5th try, would give Mad Dog sniper rifle instead.
19.12:24 - E11 - 0 - 0.0 - 12r
//Nice open place to start with, sniped them all without any retaliation. One of them was carrying SVD, luckily he appeared exactly in Sarah's scope raising his gun. She didn't miss, instant kill with M24 headshot. He dropped that SVD, and it's in excellent condition - instant upgrade to Jim's SVDS. Weapon cache, on the opposite, didn't have anything interesting.
19.14:29 - F12 - 0 - 0.0 - 18r
19.15:11 - G12 - 0 - 0.0 - 2e+7r
20.19:00 - H8 - 0 - 0.0 - 6e+11r 
//When enemies attack this sector from west, and they usually do that, then for large groups (10+) it is not enough to just hold smaller roof with a sniper or two. Having some good rifleman or sniper to flank advancing enemies, and having him holding fire until enemies are starting to enter visible range with main forces on the roof - is very helpful. If enemies react to flank fire and start to run to the side, retreating and/or using good cover for side force in time - is a good idea. If enemies then switch back to roof assault, side force can get intimate again. During this fight, i did this "side lure" two times, wasting lots of enemy energy for running sideways, helping my forces to hold the roof safely (without being shot at), spending all available time to fire from prone position with excellent efficiency. In this particular case, this tactic resulted in all 17 goons killed in medium-size area south-west from the roof, so all their corpses fit into screenshot together with Fins, Sarah and Mad Dog end-fight positions (only used these 3 to do this fight), Ira was herding militia in north-east part of the sector. Initial Sarah's position for this fight was near south-east corner of the screenshot.
23.15:07 - F10 - 0 - 0.0 - dozen+ noobs, Darrel and Daryl.
//Hicks. As it happened to be daytime, they don't attack on sight. I felt a little uncomfortable about starting shooting on sight too with no provocation from them. So, i sent 4 mercs onto northmost roof, and i sent Jim into Daryl's room, closing the door from inside. Talked with him, direct-direct-threat. He said he got guns, too. Who he thinks he is, huh? Ended conversation, took out Jim's knife and demonstrated on Daryl's neck that guns are not the only way. Turn-based mode started after 1st hit, during 1st turn had Jim to prone right under the window in stealth mode, facing the door with P90 in hands, and started sniping other hicks with snipers on the roof (this mission is Slay's debut, could have hired him earlier, but it'll do as it is). Sniped most of them from the roof, had one of them climbing onto the roof from below - just to be interrupted and instantly killed by headshot of Ira's Steyr scout (proving once again it is always smart to have someone watching team's back). Then Slay jumped down and carefully killed few remaining ones. During whole fight, noone entered Daryl's room. Jim was staying there without moving - providing useful recon with his extended ear, indicating where remaining hicks are. Quite proud about this operation - feared (by people of Cambria) Hicks didn't even make a single shot (didn't give them any chance to). Proving once again how wrong Daryl was talking about his guns, eh.
//Screenshot: Mad Dog become explosives expert, raising his wisdom and level all in the same time (what a coincedence) during a session of active training. 
Going to Chitzena.
23.18:06 - G7 - 1 - 0.0 - 3e+6r
//Failed to monitor one flank, miserably. They seriously wounded Mad Dog with a surprise attack. Note to myself: keep covering flanks no matter how small opposing force is.
23.18:43 - G6 - 2 - 0.0 - 3e+9r
//Entering from east, this sector is quite a trap, especially if to place the team onto/near the road. Better choice is to enter into north-east corner of the sector, kill nearby enemy (if spotted) with silent weapons, and anyhow take defensive positions behind trees right away, spreading to the sides somewhat to provide some cross fire. Having at least 2 mercs constantly looking through scopes / binoculars to the south, and at least 2 more - to south-west, i guaranteed noone is going to sneak into machinegun range. And good guess - 4x100 7.62 NATO ammo boxes dropped. Mad Dog with his Galil AR is extatic, i bet - now he has enough ammo to spray without any 2nd thought. But in this fight, like in many others, snipers' fully aimed headshots from prone position at max distance were the main weapon of the team.
23.20:13 - G3 - 1 - 0.0 - 2e+7r
//Few minutes after arrival to this sector, one more group of enemies - about 17 of them, - arrived from F3, while the team was still fighting this one. When this new group arrived, the team was in the north part of the sector, with all but Gumpy and Mad Dog watching somewhat or exactly southwards. About dozen of enemies spotted the team instantly. Mad Dog interrupted, and managed to kill one and wound 3 more with 3 bursts from his Galil AR. Response to that was HE mortar shell nearly killing Gumpy and wounding others. What can i say, massive fail. 2nd time i went along south edge of the sector, and managed to kill these 9 fast enough to complete the fight before arrival of 2nd group. If they will carry that mortar with HE shells, i may have problems.
23.20:16 - G3 - 0 - 0.0 - 17r
//No mortar, no elites. Means probably some elite from previous bunch was the one with the mortar. Anyhows, piece of cake, dropped them all by holding the line in south-west corner of the sector, wide open space there is ideal for sniping.
Next stop: Chitzena.
[Updated on: Tue, 21 February 2012 10:20] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
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Corporal 1st Class
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| Re: Ironman's field notes (1.13 build 4870, no mods)[message #299131]
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Thu, 16 February 2012 12:23
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| Fins_T |
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Messages:89
Registered:January 2012
Location: Russia |
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Reserving the post for: Chitzena.
- to be edited -
- reserved for notes. Status of notes: raw version completed, to be corrected and posted here in a few days after i am done with translating some parts of game's text for possible future release -
[Updated on: Sun, 11 March 2012 16:01] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
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Corporal 1st Class
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| Re: Ironman's field notes (1.13 build 4870, no mods)[message #299132]
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Thu, 16 February 2012 12:24
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| Fins_T |
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Messages:89
Registered:January 2012
Location: Russia |
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Reserving the post for: Grumm.
- to be edited -
- reserved for notes. Status of notes: raw version completed, to be corrected and posted here after Chitzena ones. Naturally, yeah. -
[Updated on: Sun, 11 March 2012 16:03] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
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Corporal 1st Class
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| Re: Ironman's field notes (1.13 build 4870, no mods)[message #299133]
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Thu, 16 February 2012 12:24
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| Fins_T |
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Messages:89
Registered:January 2012
Location: Russia |
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Reserving the post for: Alma.
- to be edited -
- reserved for notes. Status of notes: in progress, precise date of completion: unknown -
[Updated on: Sun, 11 March 2012 15:58] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
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Corporal 1st Class
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| Re: Ironman's field notes (1.13 build 4870, no mods)[message #300101]
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Thu, 23 February 2012 19:08
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| Fins_T |
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Messages:89
Registered:January 2012
Location: Russia |
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RyftDon't you find punching militia for training purposes tedious?
... Wisdom is still almost impossible to reasonably develop, except on characters that are already prone to having high marks there (leaders, doctors).
Nope, i don't. Alas, it depends on how you do it. If, like me, you enjoy listening to some good music in some good headphones, and can do it while punching them militia or defusing them bombs with JA2 sound effects on low and speech and music switched off, and if, like me, you do use militia commands like "all come to me" and "all get down" to make punching faster and easier, then perhaps you won't find it too tedious. And if, like me, you change green militia damage resistance to 80% (and weaken them in auto-resolve for -80% to compensate), then it becomes pretty tolerable way to raise at least 2 of 3 "punchable" stats of your mercs to the max. Also, if you are not so much munchkin as me, you won't need that much punching either; i'd say some 10 minutes per character would give them enough of Str, some good Dex boost, few Agi points and, perhaps, some +1 level or so of experience - which is not too bad for 10 minutes spent, is it.
Reasonable reduction in sub-points needed is also a way to make it less tedious, sure. But more than halving it - imho means gameplay imbalance of stat raising, and should be avoided.
As for wisdom, it's entirely possible to develop all the way to 100 in some 15 minutes, if done properly. What you need is: at least level 4, at least 95 explosives, 1 C1 (or something similar), 1 detonator attached to it (remote preferable, but usual will do too), and quick and precise mouse/hand. Plant and defuse repeatedly on a tile occupied by merc himself, don't forget to save regularly (sometimes it explodes, you know ), and you'll get their wisdom high with reasonable pace. Just one note though: the lower initial wisdom is, the more often it'll boom initially - because wisdom, it seems, takes part in calculation of chances for demolition-related actions. And, i never did this with initial wisdom lower than 55; could be difficult, and/or higher initial level would be required.
Just to give you an idea of how often C1 explodes while boosting wisdom, i can tell you that in this game of mine, i boosted Mad Dog's Wisdom to 91, starting boosting it when he was level 5 and trained up his explosives skill to 99 on mines. And he got that special trait which gives penalty to planting/defusing explosives, too. Well, initially he was exploding his C1 quite often; but once he managed to get 70 wisdom, he only exploded once (1 single time!) for all the way to 91 (and that was, since i play default subpoints, about 200+ plants/defuses of C1).
P.S. Oh, and, of course, you gotta use a mine to raise explosives before starting to boost wisdom - simply planting and defusing it, saving inbetween; mines are much, much easier to handle than C1 and alike. Even before mines, though, you gotta teach your merc(s) - using "trainer+student" assignments in-game - to have explosives not less than 35 (i prefer not less than 50), because with too low of it, they'll explode themselves TOO often while trying to plant/defuse a mine. So, teaching -> mines -> dynamites is the way to become wiseman. Who could know that, huh?
[Updated on: Thu, 23 February 2012 19:23] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
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Corporal 1st Class
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| Re: Ironman's field notes (1.13 build 4870, no mods)[message #300165]
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Fri, 24 February 2012 05:48
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| Ryft |
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Messages:278
Registered:June 2009 |
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Hey man, all the more power to you, I guess. Ten minutes for one merc is too much time spent for me, especially by the time I apply that to 20 mercs.
As for gameplay imbalance of stat raising... basically it amounts to the same thing that you're doing. In essence we're both finding a way to get the stats that we want to play with, by the end of a campaign. Just my way attains them more gradually, and I don't really have to work for them especially hard. When the group stops to train militia and repair items, the rest usually train agility, which increases a bit slower than other stats for my gaming style. Sometimes I have a teacher for marksmanship to bring up mercs like Ira faster in the shooting department. Otherwise I pretty much just... get in gunfights, and the rest follows.
As an example of my progression:
I've captured Chitzena, Drassen, Cambria, and half of Alma by day 45 in my current campaign. Hitman was one of my initial hires, and he's currently on a team of 11 mercs (the team size is important, because it determines how many opportunities in combat each merc has).
Comparing his current stats to his stats in a game where I've not hired him at all, he's gained health from 74 to 94. My mercs tend to gain health pretty rapidly from all the crouched stalking that they do. Agility... huh, that's somehow a point lower. Not sure how that happens. Uh, Dexterity went from 40 to 67, as he's actively training that particularly low stat when he's not training militia. Dexterity also gains naturally with ample gunplay. Strength went from 78 to 81... would be several points higher by now if I overloaded him above 100%, but he's already the guy who sleeps more than anyone else on my team, so I've let him off easy. Leadership has gone from 52-78, and Wisdom from 77-97, both decent increases since he actively trains militia in the cities that I conquer. Experience level has increased from 4 to 6, which isn't bad for progress level 100 and probably 75% through a full map clear. Marksmanship has only increased from 88-90... I didn't lower the subpoints needed on that one, because I already spend a ton of time shooting. He also doesn't get as many interrupt chances in combat as other mercs (partially because his dexterity makes me use him on a flank, as opposed to a front line), so his advancement in this area is somewhat slower. Mechanical... huh, again, a point lower. From 12 down to 11. Same with explosives and medical... 40 to 39, and 4 down to 3, respectively. Is there actually stat entropy in this game if you don't actively use an ability? I've never noticed it before, but this seems to indicate that there is.
Anyways, by the time I finish Alma, and get Balime and Grumm under my belt, I figure Hitman will have a leadership in the mid-80s, maybe low 90s if I train lots of mobile militia. Dexterity will be maybe mid 70s... a long way from where he started, but not exactly high tier. Other stats will have shown significant growth from where he started, but I'm not going to be marching on Meduna with super mercs that have maxed out 100s in everything.
For reference, that's with 5 subpoints needed for a stat raise on abilities, and 25 on skills. That's a significant amount lower than what the default is. I plan to compensate significantly for my playstyle on my next campaign. I'm going to raise health and dexterity to 7 or 8 each, and probably raise mechanical to 35. I might lower explosives and medical some more, or I might leave them the same, I dunno. I don't really use either very often, so raising them isn't really a priority for me. I hire a proper doctor or explosives expert for the team, and that gets me by. Other members just need enough medical for first aid, and I don't make training either of those skills a priority, at all.
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Ironman's field notes (1.13 build 4870, no mods)[message #300288]
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Sat, 25 February 2012 11:35
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| Fins_T |
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Messages:89
Registered:January 2012
Location: Russia |
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Ryft...
As for gameplay imbalance of stat raising... basically it amounts to the same thing that you're doing. In essence we're both finding a way to get the stats that we want to play with, by the end of a campaign. Just my way attains them more gradually, and I don't really have to work for them especially hard. ...
In one sense, yes, i see, indeed it's a same thing. But in the other, no, it is not. I mean the one you pointed out yourself: you don't have to work to raise 'em stats especially hard. That's part of game's balance too; kidn of "if you want to get high stats for some merc(s), you gotta spend some time doing it", which leads to choices regarding more/less in-game training (teacher-student style), more or less facility usage (which is really nice feature of 1.13 which you'd largely miss your way), and more or less difference between mercs (my way, i only have ones which i want to be "super" soldiers being ones, but your way, to some degree, you have them all becoming such).
And, of course, you lose that munchkin's feeling that your super-able ones are "fairly" trained ones, result of you spending some time to make them that good. But this one is only important to munchkins, obviously; i am one, at least to some degree, and thus, for me, this one is also part of game's balance. I surely understand this is not so for many other players out there, though... =)
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Corporal 1st Class
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| Re: Ironman's field notes (1.13 build 4870, no mods)[message #300311]
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Sat, 25 February 2012 16:27
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| Ryft |
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Messages:278
Registered:June 2009 |
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Quote:I mean the one you pointed out yourself: you don't have to work to raise 'em stats especially hard. That's part of game's balance too; kidn of "if you want to get high stats for some merc(s), you gotta spend some time doing it"
Depends. If I have to spend ten minutes idly clicking at something, I don't want to do it. That's not a game anymore... that's work. I play games to *escape* tedium. Making a decision in combat or on the strategic map, that's what this game is about to me. Once I've degenerated to repeatedly arming and disarming the same bomb, or punching a militia guy in the face when he won't fight back... that's no longer decision making, it's not longer fun to me. So I just won't do it.
Quote:choices regarding more/less in-game training (teacher-student style), more or less facility usage (which is really nice feature of 1.13 which you'd largely miss your way), and more or less difference between mercs (my way, i only have ones which i want to be "super" soldiers being ones, but your way, to some degree, you have them all becoming such).
Training with the drop down menu in the strategic map is fine... that happens without real effort. I only make use of it when I'm already in time advancement mode for other reasons, like training militia or repairing equipment, though.
I've never really made use of facilities... they honestly don't seem to do very much at all. Mostly looks just like a parallel to training, from what I've seen, and other uses of them seem like sub-optimal time wasters. If I have a teacher available to train a particular merc, I usually use them unless the teacher themselves require considerable training.
I don't consider my guys super soldiers, at all. Most of them still have various drawbacks at the end of the game that are the same stat drawbacks that they had in the beginning. When a stat like agility starts ten points lower in one merc than in another merc, by the end of the game it's still going to be approximately a ten point difference. And there's no reason I shouldn't have decent stats on my mercs at game end, because after hedging in Meduna I could always park my mercs in a militia fortified town, set them to train in time advancement mode, and walk away for a while. And the game penalizes you not at all for doing that, really. What I do is mostly cut out even that step. I use time advancement training mostly to make up for stats that are significantly lower than other stats a merc might have.
Admittedly, I do require some more tweaking. My current settings do tend to produce 100 dexterity rather rapidly in mercs that I use for equipment repair, and having 100 in everything is really not my aim. Even having 100 in *something* feels sort of strange, truth be told.
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Ironman's field notes (1.13 build 4870, no mods)[message #300426]
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Mon, 27 February 2012 18:06
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| Fins_T |
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Messages:89
Registered:January 2012
Location: Russia |
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Feels strange only because there are almost no 100s in initial merc stats, may be. Or, may be it's entirely about being munchkin or something like that (seems to me you're not one of). Munchkins are indeed strange people, if to think about it. They spend ridiculous amounts of time to change few pixels which form few numbers somewhere, and non-munchkins are usually unable to understand "what's the point" at all.
Truth be told, opposite is also often true: non-munchkins are rather strange in munchkins' opinion. Though in my case, i understand you rather well. You play mainly to relax, and it certainly shapes the way you do. It's not a sport to you, not in any significant form, i guess.
We can only thank 1.13 creators for flexibility which allows so different players to enjoy the game, by changing few dozen parameters to fit their personal needs and desires. So,
dear 1.13 creators, :THANKS:!
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Corporal 1st Class
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| Re: Ironman's field notes (1.13 build 4870, no mods)[message #300578]
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Wed, 29 February 2012 10:56
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| Fins_T |
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Messages:89
Registered:January 2012
Location: Russia |
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Well, this one is one part of the definition i am in least agreement with; from what i know, many munchkins are "limited" munchkins, and would not sacrifice too much of role-playing, storyline, logic/fairness and others' fun to get more power.
As for solo playing, obviously other players's fun is not involved, but the rest still applies at least to some extent. For example, Mad Dog has that trait which says he got penalties to handling explosives, and he got rather low wisdom. His character is quite indicative that he never should be good with explosives. So it is against role-playing (if any is assumed by the player) to raise his explosives skill to 100 and wisdom to 90+ (which i did in this playthrough). Role-playing non-munchkin player would never do that; yet average munchkin does it, as JA2 is not really much role-playing game by definition, as it is mainly tactical combat game, not an RPG per se.
Another example is "storyline". In JA2, Chivaldori becomes unhappy if player does not progress for extended periods of time. It is expected from the player to hear him when he sends increasingly motivating e-mails, and move on with offensive. Yet, munchkin, if he finds himself willing to spend even more time for some "boosting" activity (such as training of mercs), would have no second thoughts ignoring Enrico's messages. Non-munchkin player could also do so, true, but not for munchkin's reason of "i need more time to pump up my mercs' stats".
And, of course, munchkinism is not "black and white" issue; it's all shades of gray. Some people are a bit of a munchkin, others somewhat "episodic" munchkins, yet others are showing munchkin's features only when some other, "more important" for them, criterias are not involved (call it "secondary munchkinism" if you like). Etc etc. There is even an opinion that every player is a munchkin at least to some degree, and personally, i agree with it.
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Corporal 1st Class
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| Re: Ironman's field notes (1.13 build 4870, no mods)[message #300697]
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Thu, 01 March 2012 19:06
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| Ryft |
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Messages:278
Registered:June 2009 |
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I see where you're coming from.
That said, you should definitely check out the card game. It's a hilarious take on munchkin tabletop gaming. It's all about getting to level 10 the fastest while throwing the other players under the bus when possible, and tweaking your character out with absurd stunts like multiple classes, races, or ridiculous gear choices. Plus things like DM bribery or outright cheating.
It's fun for a laugh now and again.
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Master Sergeant
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