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Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #299725] Tue, 21 February 2012 17:45 Go to next message
delray is currently offline delray

 
Messages:12
Registered:February 2012
There's something Drassen, Cambria and San Mona together with all the smaller locations around them have in common. Early in the game, on Day 1, they are all defended very poorly and you can sweep them all immediately, provided you choose right mercenaries and know of a few tricks. After you do this, you will have a very strong team of 6 mercenaries, a few free/cheaply hired mercs for defence/convoy tasks and will be able to defend from counter-attacks while cash accumulates and allows you to purchase weapons and armor to take heavier defended locations around Alma and Grumm.

Here goes:

1. Choose your team wisely. Some people, most JA2 veterans, go with just one elite mercenary like Raven able to headshot her way through most trouble, but this approach isn't suitable for a rush at three cities since there's only as much as poor Raven can carry. Most newbies go with three cheap mercenaries, choosing better or worse from among Fox, Grunty, MD, Igor, Malice, Barry and such. They start strong, but then their momentum disappears as they start encountering regulars.

Most vets of JABIA pick a 2-men team approach, allowing to pick two strong mercenaries with the starting money, able to heal and cover each other, which is a very solid compromise between the two above approaches. This guide and this rush are both meant for this last approach.

You can stare all you want at the list of the mercenaries, but the bottom line is that being outnumbered 5:1 means you need to pick good combat troops or you will perish. Against the starting enemies, hill-billies, you will fight in two ways. One is a fight at a medium or long range, where 5.56mm rifles and good Dexterity+Marksmanship plays the biggest role. And another is close quarter combat where it'll be up to quick shots from the hip using shotguns and SMGs to deal with enemy before he deals with you. Your starting pair of mercs should excel at both of those tasks!

But not just that. You are going to kill around 80 enemies before the first day ends, and each of them will be shooting back, you will be wounded, sometimes even gunned down, and having a medic is crucial in such cases. Your mercs need to be able to patch up each other, if not with the Medium Medkit (which removes injuries, requiring 50 medical), then at least with Bandage (which requires 40). Your guns will wear down and will start jamming around 100th enemy, so at least a basic mechanic will be priceless, he will also be able to fix the pistols you give to militia for a lot of free XP.

So... who do you pick? First look at shooting skills for mercenaries costing around 20k with equipment. Then look for those with good shooting skills. Then look at additional traits, looking for weapon expertise (assault, SMG, shotgun) and other useful traits (gunslinger, melee expert), and pick your pair.

Any pair of two chosen from the mercs below can do the sweep, I ranked them by versatility and overall strength, but really, they are all worth your cash, even if they drop out of the main team, they will be very strong defenders:

Wolf: Awesome with shotgun (in running stance!), medic and mechanic with solid combat skills and stats. Perfect for squad leader. Keep him at shotgun duty, he's the best merc in the game to kick a door in, but don't be shy to give him a rifle to switch to for longer range combat.

Thor: A proper medic (70 skill) with great base stats and good shooting skills. Bring him up to 80 Med quickly to be able to use largest medkits. You will need to replace his Desert Eagle with a rifle very quickly, after that he can double for a sniper throughout the first week.

Sidney: A cheap sniper with basic medical skills, and a very powerful Gunslinger trait and an awesome Enfield rifle. Perfect to cover Wolf's shotgun rushes, capable of headshots at medium range but also able to gun enemies down shooting rapidly from his hip. Versatile, powerful, and a gentleman.

Blood: Melee Expert, able to easily dispatch to god's kingdom any guy with an axe, even when hitting with the butt of his weapon, excellent stats, basic medical skills so he can patch your medic if your medic gets shot. No need to keep a knife on him, you can as well tell him to use his weapon as a club and he will slaughter easier enemies without much hassle. With a machete, as long as it's a 1vs1 fight, very few enemies can scratch him before they die, so don't hesitate to tell him to close down, just provide him some covering fire and... as soon as he gets close to the guy, there will be blood. His Runner trait is useful outside combat when you run from house to house ransacking them.

Meltdown: She's an explosives expert, starting with a bazooka (don't sell it! missiles aren't that expensive since all grenade launchers, rocket rifles and LAWs in the game use the same ammo (lol)). She has good stats and is a solid shooter. She prefers to work alone (very good morale when alone in a squad), and is great at defending sectors after the initial rush is done because she can lay some minefields around, or just use her LAW to blow up the entire enemy unit. A very unpleasant lady, but noone kills groups of mobs faster than her.

Barry: Another explosives guy with good basic stats but a poor shooter, a lot of people pick him for their teams of three, but he can function in a pair just as well, so you can quickly catch up with his mechanical skills. Poor man's Wolf.

Malice: A very cheap mercenary with excellent shooting skills, good for covering fire, but not much else. Poor man's Sidney.

Fox: I know, I know. But she can Sneak very well, is a solid medic and an SMG expert, which means you can give her a silenced MP5 or UZI, tell her to sneak to flank enemies and then as your main merc attacks them, tell her to quickly stand up and start spraying them with cheap and common 9mm ammo from her hip, which makes short work of even bigger clusters of opponents. Improve her shooting skills or she won't be of much use against regular army.

2. Count every step. Time doesn't advance on tactical level, enemies get stronger as days pass so you want to do the first sweep in as short a time brack as humanly possible. If you don't want to meet any armored riflemen in the first three cities, you need to move quickly, especially that there will be a counter attack on Day 2 and you need to be back in Drassen by then or you might lose the mine and 10 grand of cash in incomes.

So when going to the world map, make sure on the tactical level you're as close to the edge of your future march's direction as possible. If you clear the airport, walk all the way to the south on the tactical level before going to the world map, and on the world map you'll immediately be in Drassen. Do this on all maps, especially Cambria.

3. Free order of the first day! When you clear the airport, don't go to the world map just yet. Open your laptop, go to Bobby Ray's and order some shotgun and 5.56mm ammo (those are most useful early on), maybe even a rifle if you can, and ask Bobby for an express delivery before checking out. Then go to the world map, and voila "order arrived!", immediately reload Drassen Airport map (right click) and you can restock your most needed ammunition for the rush, saving yourself an entire day of waiting for delivery.

4. Other freebie items. DLC rifles and armors can be all sold to purchase additional mercenaries. You can do it on Day 1 (will cost some time of the rush since they arrive at 4 AM), but allows for an easier hiring of a merc for sector defence in the east if you care). They aren't very good, and you'll quickly find good replacements (AK-47s, M-16s and whatnot) even if your mercenaries didn't start with good stuff. You will receive a diamond for freeing the mine, you will receive 50k for freeing San Mona. On The Farm west of Cambria you can find a crashed chopper with diamonds worth quite a pile of money as well as quite a few great rifles. On the Water Pump map there's a miners' building where even more expensive pile of diamonds is hidden. You need the last two diamonds for quests, but those quests don't reward you much, and you can as well buy those diamonds back later. Early on it's best to cash them in in stores of San Mona and Cambria to hire extra people.

5. Cities and locations.

- Drassen airport shouldn't be much of a problem provided you picked the right team for the job, make sure you walk out of it with a shotgun and a new set of armor if your mercenary didn't start with any decent equipment. Plunder and sell everything else so you can order ammo from Bobby's, best fight close range since all mercs only start with one clip of ammo. A melee expert like Blood can clear this map on his own, using buildings as cover and rushing enemies with his knife as they are missing cover of their buddies.

- Drassen itself doesn't pose much threat either, just walk from house to house, stay silent, try to take out enemies one by one and don't waste too much of your more precious shotgun and 5.56mm ammo at long range gun fights. Guys with pistols won't scratch you much, and if they do, you can heal and get XP as a reward, which is always useful.

- Water Pump, Road Block, Mine, all of these are weakly defended by a bunch of hillbillies with pistols and axes and two good mercs can do a short work of them. You should leave each of those areas and come back to them immediately to equip spawned militia (even if it's just 2-3 of them) with looted pistols. Make sure you walk out with diamonds from the Mine and the Pump. Don't attack the SAM site yet, it has regular army defence and will cost a lot of ammo (they wear kevlar) and work.

- Cambria. Looks big, doesn't it, but it isn't hard and it will make you quite rich. Mobs are in three locations, Prison (can find a good Colt 5.56mm rifle here), General's house in the north of the map and the Bar. Sneak from corner to corner, then raise to running stance and use quick fire from the hip to win duels against enemies and you can clear this place under 5 minutes (Sidney or Wolf as Gunslingers excel here, but Blood with a machete or an axe will get bloody too). After you take it, remember no time progression on tactical level, ransack all houses (Wolf with lockpick becomes useful), especially the garage in the south, where you will find some toolkits to repair militia's guns for a lot of XP. Then walk to the north of the map to be able to immediately progress to the next map.

- Cambria Hostpital and University. This two locations are bunched together and can be done in one sweep. They test your close quarter combat skills like no other place. Remember, running stance, shooting from the hip, melee if you have an expert, and watch for guys with axes. Loot is good, a lot of medkits to pick up, you can buy a STEYR from one of students at the Uni, it's expensive though and you probably have a comparable 5.56mm rifle by now (Sidney's Enfield or the Colt from Cambria Prison) and you will soon loot some AKs and G41s. Guns you loot here should be used to arm militia in Cambria proper, this two locations won't get attacked. Don't talk to NPCs here and don't accept quests, both hospital quests have 30 day timeline and are very hard to pull of unless you rush your way through the entire game (want to finish under a month). Best take them when you've already met conditions (taken Grumm, secured all three SAM sites).

- The Farm west of Cambria. Priest from Drassen sends you to clear this den of redneck cannibalism and incest. They are hard, have Rugers and Shotguns and the last part (basement) will test all your close quarter skills, but they aren't armored and with enough tactical prowess (or reloads) every rifle/shotgun-armed player should be able to deal with them. Don't forget to loot the crashed chopper here and of course grab all the rifles you can carry from their underground arsenal (I take lighter guns for militia and for sale, leave AKs for Dimitri, Ira and Miguel when I hire them to defend sectors later in the game).

- Miguel's Hideout west of the Farm. Take quest to talk to the kingpin in Mona here, grab all the loot you can carry, admire his high-level professional army militia and head north.

- Kingpin's Mansion. South of Mona there's your future employer. He doesn't have much guard on Day 1, less than a dozen. Flank the door from a side and proceed slowly inside, this isn't a big fight and you can proceed to attacking the city itself right away without going to the world map (which you should do, or you'll be late to defend Drassen in the morning of Day 2).

- San Mona. This place is your final destination of the day. You will get access to two great stores here, get a lot of money and a great free mercenary (Iggy). Enemies should still be standard rednecks, although there's quite a few with shotguns, so don't rush it if you don't have to, watch out to not get outflanked near the big bar. After they are done (aim torso and keep your head low), pick up a quest from the bar to search for a lesbo magazine (it's in the brothel, but you might keep the one from Drassen airport if you care, to use here), hire Iggy (the only useful free merc) in the same bar and loot the entire city carrying everything to the store (can always rebuy later, nothing disappears so you won't loose any quest items). Depending on your starting mechanic, you will or won't be able to break into the main weapons arsenal (can return later with Magic or Trevor though), make sure you arm militia thoroughly, sell all the other crap you found.

- East of San Mona, the Farm, the Hideout. There are two places in the north which serve drug dealers, a pot farm and a small smuggler port. They are defended by a dozen of weak enemies each on Day 1, on further days they receive armored riflemen reinforcement and will be harder to deal with. If you decide to spend the rest of your day on clearing both, you will find yourself close to Drassen and able to intercept a counter-attack at that city or the mines, and also able to quickly pick up mercenaries you hired using all the cash looted in Mona. This is a very good move, bringing your main squad much closer to the frontlines.

- West of San Mona there's a junkyard defended by a few snipers and a minefield. If you picked one of explosives guys and if you feel lucky (do you, punk?), you can attempt to clear this place, but it'll be a chore for just two mercs and Iggy, even if you picked the good ones. It's doable (I can do it:-p), you should at least try before you head back east. If you win here, you will most likely get a Dragunov or at least a Vintorez and will prevent a counter-attack on Mona on Day 2, so you'll be able to take Iggy back with you rather than leaving him to help militia defend the city.

6. Strategy advice:

- Grumm, Estoni, Alma. All those cities get proper defence right away and can't be rushed, you should regroup and rearm after the above rush is done. Buy scopes, buy at least one (better two) solid sniper rifle (m29, barrett, ares), upgrade your squad to 7.62mm rifles, and on experts make sure to have secondary weapons of their preference (shotguns, SMGs, melee). Also don't be shy to give them all some grenades (always handy), restock medkits and toolkits, equip some defuse devices (minefields are common from this point on) and of course order a few crates worth of ammo for all your guns. At this point you need to create a proper assault team of 6 great mercenaries as your main squad, and they better like each other, they will fight against regular troops from now on, and a lot of them at once.

- Unlike in JA2, you want to post cheaper and free mercs in cities to defend them alongside militia. There's no wages here, you can pick up guns from the ground and hire new militia with them right after combat (not doable if it's autoresolved), and of course you'll always be certain to win. To defend you can use free mercs who are a tad crappy otherwise (Miguel, Dimitri, Ira, Maddog), leave Iggy behind, or hire smaller squads of cheaper mercs who like each other to ensure good morale, it's good to pick basic mechanics for this jobs. Or alternatively, you can hire Meltdown and Fidel, who are Loners and can lay an infinite amount of devastation with their mines, grenades and bazookas to protect San Mona and Cambria.

7. Tactics advice.

- Don't go "all sniper", don't always use scopes (take them off when fighting at medium range aiming torsos), don't always prone. When you are close to an enemy, time to aim becomes more important than anything, so assume running stance and shoot from the hip (gunslingers and gun experts are very accurate at that so pick their weapons accordingly) and don't be afraid to go around a corner and blast the enemy in the face. Pay attention to "Time to Aim" in different stances.

- Don't overextend. Grumm and Alma, Estoni and SAM sites (everything basically I didn't mention above) and such, all have proper army defence and you need to rearm to heavier rifles and fill your team before you attempt to take them. You can easily hold the towns you took as long as you left someone to protect them, so don't worry about them much.

- As soon as enemies get armor, you want to be using 7.62mm rifles, shotguns (great at destroying armor) and caseless ammo SMGs (P90!). Forget 9mm guns, they are cool but they shoot needles. Also quickly give up on 5.56mm guns if you can, they don't offer enough penetration.

- In defence enemies will always attack the same spot (Bar in Cambria), you can mine their route there (Meltdown, Fidel, Barry), or you can post a cheaper sniper on a nearby roof to take pot shots at them while they are busy dealing with militia (Malice for example). If you pick one of cheaper mechanics, he can run around fix everyone's weapons after a fight for XP, or your main squad can visit every once in a while to do the same. Always repair guns before you give them to militia, bastards jam and a "red" pistol is as good as a fist. You get XP and you get better militia.

- Don't be afraid to sell junk, and don't purchase too much guns. You will find a pile of rifles in every location from now on, enough to arm some heavy militia (they are best with assault rifles and shotguns) and new mercs (7.62mm NATO or WP rifles are my preference for solo guys). It takes ages for a merc to get to Arulco, so it's better to hire him earlier rather than later.

- Make sure there's no "red" locations around your main money-making spots, loyalty grows faster when neighbouring only green sectors and this means more money from the mines, farms and cities. After the rush you want to go back and clean up sectors around your cities for that very reason.

If you have doubts, just ask here. Good luck. Smile

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Private
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #299738] Tue, 21 February 2012 20:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Sam Hotte

 
Messages:1966
Registered:March 2009
Location: Middle of Germany
Small correction if you allow:
(At least in game version 1.06) the "main" quest of Cambria (Doc Willis) is not a timed one; you could accept this right away, tho this has no immediate use since the dealer there won't talk to you until later.

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Sergeant Major
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300467] Tue, 28 February 2012 07:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Nater is currently offline Nater

 
Messages:10
Registered:February 2005
Good tips, Delray. I tried to follow your guide, but forgot the water pump... now I have to start all over.

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Private
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300475] Tue, 28 February 2012 09:19 Go to previous messageGo to next message
delray is currently offline delray

 
Messages:12
Registered:February 2012
If you follow my guide, you will be done in the north by 14:00 (just walk to the edge of the tactical map every time, in the direction of the next target), will defend twice around the mine and Cambria and then will still be able to do the Pump on day one.

If you sell diamonds and some guns (rocket rifle, some other junk from Mona and Farm arsenals), you can have 10 mercs ordered on that day too, and I don't mean crappy ones but top row guys.

Personally I play "Team Ice" (Ice, Magic, Blood, Lynx, Thor, Wolf), where everyone likes someone else, and so they all have very good morale, and I have them all signed up before the first day ends, and then hire some cheaplings (MD+Grunty+Igor) to be mules and defenders.

Don't really hire freebie mercs aside from Iggy these days, waste of space.

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Private
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300503] Tue, 28 February 2012 15:52 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Fozzie is currently offline Fozzie

 
Messages:183
Registered:April 2010
Location: Germany
14:00? That sounds ridiculous. Don't mercs tire when moving over the map or something? (I only played the demo) Not that I doubt your advice, rather I question the game's balance if two mercs are sufficient to conquer three cities before afternoon tea...

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Staff Sergeant
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300507] Tue, 28 February 2012 17:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DepressivesBrot is currently offline DepressivesBrot

 
Messages:3658
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As long as you are in tactical view, time doesn't advance and you only lose breath which is quickly regained. And as maps form a patchwork carpet (similar to smeag's big map project, if you've ever seen one of those overview shots), you can cut a lot of travel time by walking to the edge of tactical before going strategic and then only moving to the closest 'interest zone' (those green or red shaded areas). Basically, move as much as possible in tactical view.

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Captain

Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300513] Tue, 28 February 2012 18:37 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Fozzie is currently offline Fozzie

 
Messages:183
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Course, I got that - still ludicrous, though.
Also, what about Chitzena? Did they actually leave it out, cause on some preview screenshots of the map it wasn't exactly clear if it just hadn't been "discovered" yet or was missing entirely.

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Staff Sergeant
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300514] Tue, 28 February 2012 18:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DepressivesBrot is currently offline DepressivesBrot

 
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There's a scrapyard with 5 enemies up there, that's all. No NW SAM-site either, you can only head down to Grumm.

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Captain

Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300556] Wed, 29 February 2012 05:47 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Flak is currently offline Flak

 
Messages:18
Registered:June 2009
Yeah, no chitzena.

Actually you don't have to go all sniper. Thor's suppressed desert eagle is quite useful early on. Combined with his good sneak, he can silent kill many enemies.

Don't forget Igor, his AKS-74U outranges almost all enemies early game, though ammo can be hard to find before Cambria. His Pathfinder ability also allow your squad to move at much faster speed.

DO NOT sell the diamonds from the water pump, unless you do not want Miguel!!!
However, if you have Wolf or just managed to increase the Mechanical skill for Barry or some others, you can lockpick/crowbar the door of that shack. There is some weapons and other items inside, including an M14 and some ammo.

[Updated on: Wed, 29 February 2012 05:51] by Moderator

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Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300569] Wed, 29 February 2012 08:32 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Fozzie is currently offline Fozzie

 
Messages:183
Registered:April 2010
Location: Germany
No Chitzena, that's a bummer. But San Mona is now occupied by the royal guard, did I understand that correctly? What about Balime and the chalice, are those still in the game?

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Staff Sergeant
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300571] Wed, 29 February 2012 08:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DepressivesBrot is currently offline DepressivesBrot

 
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I haven't found any reference to the chalice. There's a new fetch quest though that starts with Eldin and involves some other shiny items (not sure what it was). PS: Poor Eldin has worse mental problems than MadDog now.

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Captain

Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300619] Wed, 29 February 2012 21:52 Go to previous messageGo to next message
HopeIsDead is currently offline HopeIsDead

Messages:4
Registered:February 2012
Location: Czech republic, Ostrava
Well there is some kind of an museum in Balime and warden miss an ring and an crown .. which are in Maze

[Updated on: Wed, 29 February 2012 21:54] by Moderator

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Civilian
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300621] Wed, 29 February 2012 22:24 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Sam Hotte

 
Messages:1966
Registered:March 2009
Location: Middle of Germany
Flak
DO NOT sell the diamonds from the water pump, unless you do not want Miguel!!!


You can use some sort of exploit to sell those diamonds for early money and still recruit Miguel later on:
Toggle Spoiler

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Sergeant Major
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300660] Thu, 01 March 2012 08:47 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Fozzie is currently offline Fozzie

 
Messages:183
Registered:April 2010
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Ah, so Balime is still in. I already assumed judging from some screenshot showing a swimming pool - that would fit. But then again, thou shalt not assume, so I rather asked Smile

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Staff Sergeant
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300669] Thu, 01 March 2012 10:37 Go to previous messageGo to next message
delray is currently offline delray

 
Messages:12
Registered:February 2012
It's silly to not sell those diamonds. It takes ages to fly mercs to Arulco (28-36h), so if you don't order your squad on day one, you will spend eternity waiting for them while tied to defence combat. While at the same time you need to push your defences all the way to Meduna to hold enemy patrols from there, while your main squads clear the map without a need to worry about militia and whatnot.

This is a run thing, it's about speed and ease of conquest, if you want to blitz the map, you need to order new people on day one. And there's only one way to do that.

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Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300670] Thu, 01 March 2012 11:27 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DepressivesBrot is currently offline DepressivesBrot

 
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Fozzie
Ah, so Balime is still in. I already assumed judging from some screenshot showing a swimming pool - that would fit. But then again, thou shalt not assume, so I rather asked Smile
Mister Klaus also has a privet pool now Wink But alright, Balime is still in. There's even two maps: The southern shore for the rich folks and a slum north of it on the boarder to the desert.

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Captain

Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300674] Thu, 01 March 2012 12:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Fozzie is currently offline Fozzie

 
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A privet pool? Well, everybody needs a hobby even if it's something as strange as having a swim in flowers... Wink

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Staff Sergeant
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300676] Thu, 01 March 2012 12:42 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DepressivesBrot is currently offline DepressivesBrot

 
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Yes, those privet hedges provide a lot of privacy Razz

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Captain

Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300736] Fri, 02 March 2012 07:57 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Fozzie is currently offline Fozzie

 
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To get (kind of) back to topic: how long does it take to occupy the lower half of the map, then?

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Staff Sergeant
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300740] Fri, 02 March 2012 10:51 Go to previous messageGo to next message
delray is currently offline delray

 
Messages:12
Registered:February 2012
The fastest I think I did it, was inside three or four game days. Could possibly be faster, but after you're established and your towns secured, there's really no rush there, can take your time and experiment a bit with teams and equipment.

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Private
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300742] Fri, 02 March 2012 11:03 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Fozzie is currently offline Fozzie

 
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Wow, that's ridiculously fast...

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Staff Sergeant
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300753] Fri, 02 March 2012 13:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Radegast is currently offline Radegast

 
Messages:9
Registered:March 2012
Location: Arulco
Thank you for this invaluable strategy guide. I have olny one suggestion. You should have mention that after liberating Drassen and the Mine we should return to Ira and take the quest for finding Miguel in his hideout. Without doing that Miguel's quests will not trigger.

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Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300774] Fri, 02 March 2012 18:23 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Sam Hotte

 
Messages:1966
Registered:March 2009
Location: Middle of Germany
It seems that arrival of newly hired mercs is at fixed dates (like "next day at 1 PM") so you can have lower travel time well below 24h. But it will probably never be the same day you made contract so "the earlier the better" holds true as far as hiring is concerned.

And if you are willing to limit yourself to the cheaper mercs you can order like 8 to 10 mercs (in total) on the first day without selling the quest related diamonds.

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Sergeant Major
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300806] Fri, 02 March 2012 22:45 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Nater is currently offline Nater

 
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Radegast
Thank you for this invaluable strategy guide. I have olny one suggestion. You should have mention that after liberating Drassen and the Mine we should return to Ira and take the quest for finding Miguel in his hideout. Without doing that Miguel's quests will not trigger.


Hmmm. What about the pump? Can you clear that before taking the quest w/o breaking it?

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Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300807] Fri, 02 March 2012 22:48 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DepressivesBrot is currently offline DepressivesBrot

 
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Yes.

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Captain

Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300814] Sat, 03 March 2012 00:36 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Radegast is currently offline Radegast

 
Messages:9
Registered:March 2012
Location: Arulco
Taking over the Pump is just necessary to recruit Ira.

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Private
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300818] Sat, 03 March 2012 01:57 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Shanga is currently offline Shanga

 
Messages:3482
Registered:January 2000
Location: Danubia
Top half of the map is quick, but after that come the counter-attacks. And boy they're furious. They seem to have two main targets, Cambria and Grumm (actually Hamous' beach esplanada). I think I killed at least 20 waves on Cambria. And each time they became smarter. Like first waves were rushing blindly up to bar stairs. Turkey shoot for my two HMG guys. Then they started coming around to flank me. Then I got attacked from 3 different directions.

One thing I figured out. In a city counter, they will always go for the "green dots", the main locations so their path is easy to predict. Like bar, house, prison in Cambria. If you hide they'll even ignore you for a while, which is good in a tight situation when you need to regroup.

And btw, useless or not, get rockets for Balime. One word:

[Updated on: Sat, 03 March 2012 01:57] by Moderator

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Captain
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300837] Sat, 03 March 2012 09:28 Go to previous messageGo to next message
delray is currently offline delray

 
Messages:12
Registered:February 2012
1. You don't need to get back to Ira to get the kingpin quest from Miguel. I never do. I don't even have Ira now, because she sucks.

2. Grenades ---> Tanks.

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Private
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300845] Sat, 03 March 2012 11:34 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DepressivesBrot is currently offline DepressivesBrot

 
Messages:3658
Registered:July 2009
Shanga
[spoiler]
Haven't seen any, you sure about Balime?

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Captain

Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300850] Sat, 03 March 2012 13:02 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Shanga is currently offline Shanga

 
Messages:3482
Registered:January 2000
Location: Danubia
Yep, I am not sure if they're time-related, but on my game they were there, in "rich kid" district of balime. Two of them.

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Captain
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300860] Sat, 03 March 2012 14:49 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Sam Hotte

 
Messages:1966
Registered:March 2009
Location: Middle of Germany
The quest of finding the rebel's hideout is not given by Ira; it's given directly on game start like the 'liberate Arulco' quest.
(It's probably the replacement of the letter to Miguel thingie in JA2)

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Sergeant Major
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #300865] Sat, 03 March 2012 18:56 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Radegast is currently offline Radegast

 
Messages:9
Registered:March 2012
Location: Arulco
I am sorry for my misleading comment. Of course talking to Ira is not neccessary to find Miguel neither for starting his Kingpin quest. I have forgotten the fact that the quest mark over his head shows only when mercs approach him.
Seems that all quests can be completed without talking to quest givers beforehand which is obviously very convenient.
On the other hand I reckon that there is no need to actually take any quests at all. Especially taking into account that this guide was meant as a Blitz strategy. Wink

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Private
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #301002] Mon, 05 March 2012 12:10 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Flak is currently offline Flak

 
Messages:18
Registered:June 2009
The problem with rushing is that you will immediately be spread too thin. The counterattacks will come hard and fast soon enough, and in increasing intensity. There are 2 sources of invasion forces I think, the Alma barracks and from Meduna itself. Once you get Cambria and San Mona, there will be 3 routes of possible counterattacks that you have to defend against:

Left side, from Meduna to Grumm and San Mona.

Center, from Meduna following the road through Grumm and Estoni, going to Cambria. If you have captured Estoni or Grumm, then they will instead go through the center road through the Gas Station and head straight to Cambria through the desert.

Right side, either from Alma barracks, following the road, usually heading to Drassen, or from Meduna through the center road, but instead of going to Cambria, they head to Alma following the road.

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Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #301005] Mon, 05 March 2012 12:46 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Shadow21 is currently offline Shadow21

 
Messages:328
Registered:November 2001
Location: on route to San Hermanos
In my game i didnt rush anything but right now own cambria san mona and balime plus a couple of those roadblock sectors and 2 sam sites. i have yet to be attacked in any place othe than cambria. i had a squad plus a huge amount of mines stationed in san mona in case of an attack but after around 10 days in game the attack never came. during that time there were several attacks on cambria - alltough some of them were ment for the central sam site yet the route lead the attackes straight through cambria where they died a painful death in my minefield...

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Master Sergeant
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #301009] Mon, 05 March 2012 14:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Sam Hotte

 
Messages:1966
Registered:March 2009
Location: Middle of Germany
Following the "guide" of this thread (and adding recruiting freebies to it) you can have at least 6 mercs when night of day 1 falls and another squad already in transit.
Defending the northeastern part (Cambria <-> Drassen) is generally not very difficult because of it's close network of "points of interest" (tactical maps) that allow for early spotting of incoming enemy patrols and fast travel of your defenders.
You can go from e.g. Cambria City over Hospital/University, Mine, Roadblock to Drassen (and vice versa) within one hour or so by "map hopping"; at least a lot faster than incoming patrol can arrive at e.g. the roadblock.
So you can shift your defenders to and fro according to your needs.

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Sergeant Major
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #304126] Tue, 01 May 2012 11:20 Go to previous messageGo to next message
SacredVow is currently offline SacredVow

 
Messages:11
Registered:January 2010
Guess most of this doesn't work anymore with the new 1.13 patch now that moving on the tactical map reduces stamina

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Private
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #304132] Tue, 01 May 2012 17:25 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Sam Hotte

 
Messages:1966
Registered:March 2009
Location: Middle of Germany
Dunno. But since those tips were related to version 1.06 and below, in which the zones you could enter a hotspot were smaller (meaning that you still had to travel on strategical loosing stamina, it could still apply tho.

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Sergeant Major
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #304390] Sat, 05 May 2012 17:09 Go to previous messageGo to next message
maccoy-shiva is currently offline maccoy-shiva
Messages:1
Registered:May 2012
Hello guys,

I am dutch so sorry for my bad englisch :crazy:

I followed this guide a bit but tried to take more in day 1.
Instead of moving back and defending the 1st wave I just continued to move further.

I didn't attack the 2 road blocks near waterpump to save some time.
After san mona I took junk yard and farm, then moved via hospital south using 'map hopping' (also recruited 9 ppl with rifles/shotguns)
I took the hideout, crashed truck and then Alma + prison. But that's not all. I moved further south.

Via roadblock, stakeout post I could intercept the 2 attack waves at Tixa prison. This was a close call because they were almost off the map.
1 other wave went for Cambria, but that was well defended. be sure to free Dynamo and shank.

it's 17.53 day 1 and I already got balime slum (and Devin! make sure you got the items needed to recruit him!).

my next step is to take over Balime.
Too bad none of my mercenaries has good mechanical so I can't trade the limited edition for 1.000.000 dollar Sad

Maybe that was possible if I leveled in mechanical instead of marksmanship. But I didn't expect to get this fast.
Any1 know what mechanical + strength or agility is needed to open the door with crowbar/ lockpick?

I already ordered those mercenaries:

MD, Igor, Barry for defending / mules. (they will pick up Ira too)

My A-team will get thor, trevor and Ivan. (I started with blood and Wolf)
Dynamo will be nr 6. Or maybe I put the weaker Igor in my A-team for increased speed.

In Balima slum there is a guy who sell nice gear. Maybe its possible to defeat tha bitch with that gear day 1.
I don't think so, but will try anyways Smile With the new mercenaries it should be possible to kill her day 2.

Greets, Maccoy

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Civilian
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #305265] Mon, 28 May 2012 16:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Cyk0 is currently offline Cyk0

 
Messages:5
Registered:February 2012
I don't get the quick order to work from bobby ray.... well sort of but when i try to do it the way you explained the order arrives at 16:00 rather than as soon as I leave the airport, is this new for 1.13?

I am asking because the Vintorez is total ownage when the enemy lacks body armor as they do day one and the 9mm ammo is plentiful to, but I don't really want to stand around waiting for it either...

[Updated on: Mon, 28 May 2012 16:40] by Moderator

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Private
Re: Run on Mona, Day 1 conquest guide to the top half of the map[message #305267] Mon, 28 May 2012 17:30 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Sam Hotte

 
Messages:1966
Registered:March 2009
Location: Middle of Germany
AFAICS this "quick order" exploit as described in the guide does not work since v1.06 or so.

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Sergeant Major
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