Hey guys.
I'm having a rough time playing the first Jagged Alliance, both because I reload like mad whenever my merc gets hit SO bad that his stats lower and because the game i genuinely hard as hell. As such - I've been trying to think of a way not to ragequit after a fantastic playthrough gets ruined by a single douchebag with a grenade... and I figured I could stream it live.
If you're willing to spare a few minutes - please drop by and offer some (spoiler-free) advice, (more or less) constructive criticism or simply lol @ how much I fail.
Also - I think we all should share our playthroughs with the world as much as possible, not only because it's a great way to promote GOG (which it certainly is) but classic titles as well.

lol you suck!

Why did you leave 1 of the crates unopened at the start of the video?
Don't use mercs who are pretty much useless like the 2 women in your team.
If I remember correctly Hector didn't start out too good either.
By using mercs with relatively low markmanship, you waste a lot of ammo.
They're good to use as mules, but keep them away from the fire fights.
It's adviceable to take cover behind trees and bushes.
Although you have 8 slots, it doesn't mean you have to start with 8 mercs.
Personally I don't think JA is that hard, with exception of the 1st few days and sector 1.
Keep in mind that starting from day 2 you should always have 1 merc staying behind to repair stuff.
That merc will need a 5 pocket vest very soon.
Keep in mind that the main access fo all areas is by land.
If you look at the map you'll see the island is more or less divided in parts.
Conquer it part by part as it's the easiest way to secure the islands and get a steady cashflow.

I my loop ? It's empty, I've opened those crates a billion times...
Let's face it - I need 8 people. This was one of the few ways not to go bankrupt instantly.
Ivan, Ice, Hector and Snake are my main shooters - their agility is crazy high, so they can shoot around corners, run a lot, etc...
Fidel is my explosives guy - he disarms stuff.
Jimmy takes care of repairs.
Fox and Beth are field medics.
More often than not - people get hurt and end up getting healed back in the base. That's why I need two medics... Besides - the girls know their stuff - I have at least one video where the rest of the group fires blindly around the target, until finally the medic scores a kill...
Besides - I think they're cute... and nothing beats the innocent and light-hearted giggle when Fox scores a kill ;D.
Up to this point - there's plenty of ammo for everyone so... Hell - why not ? They'll learn... I hope.
I usually do that... and the enemy does the same. We end up firing at each other for hours -_-'.
I thought about splitting the team into two groups and flanking the enemy, if possible... Doesn't always work but seems like a nice plan.
Unless I have 8 people - I'm pretty much screwed if they get seriously hurt during battle. I need to be able to send one medic + 2 guys to heal + 1 guy to do repairs... That leaves me with max 4 people, which is quite little on its own.
Hopefully - I'll soon get past those "first few days" ;).
Yeah, I figured as much... Planning isn't much of an issue - I simply hate it when suddenly things go wrong in the middle of the battle and I'm inclined to restart more often than not...

You know... It's funny - I used to take him in my first few attempts, but later realized that he IS useless on the battlefield and I wanted everyone to be at least a fair gunslinger...
At this point - I've decided to leave Jimmy at the base every other day for repairs and the rest of the time to use him on the battlefield to pick locks and shoot at stuff...
One thing I make #1 priority is EXTREMELY high agility on everyone - this means they'll run like the wind... at least - until they get shot, at which point they're basically crawling -_-'. Still - a lot of action points seems like a really nice thing.
Also - I intend to change Jimmy to someone else
Damnit... Yeah, I COULD hire Speck from the start and keep him at the base 24/7, while Jimmy handles the ops outside... Still - I'd much rather have a single guy go on occasional repair frenzies...
As such - I thought of hiring Boss (2950 80/76/84/71 9/53/99/84 3) or Vicky (2850 79/85/72/85 16/28/90/80 3) as soon as (s)he's available (and I have the cash)... I might even hire both and have one pick locks while the other one handles the repairs more often than not...
The funny thing is - I had both of them competing for the spot Ice has ATM :>.
So, you suggest:
Ivan - got him
Ice - got him
Fidel - got him
Jimmy - for picking locks - got him
Speck - for repairs - don't want the slow bastard
Elio - useless mule
Fox is (515 77/85/100/76 60/8/15/54 1) and Beth is (330 77/90/36/80 44/0/22/55 1), they cost 845 TOGETHER, while giving me either two skilled field medics or a single medic and a doctor @ base. While you suggest I don't have to have 8 people at start, they're relatively cheap and offer some protection against any damage caused by enemy fire...
If I don't have a dedicated field medic, I basically use one of my unskilled men to do help his teammate. This has one basic flaw - people tend to get hurt mostly by enemy fire and need help while under said fire (or they lose HP even further). If I use a teammate to patch them up - I have to wait longer for him to finish AND I that time is lost, because he's not firing at the enemy, 'cause he's busy. Things can get nasty pretty fast, especially if the make-shift 'medic' gets shot. A qualified medic, on the other hand, can get the job done relatively fast, not get shot and get back to being a support scout/shooter.
Also - if I'm healing my guys at the base , I REALLY don't want it to take any longer than i is absolutely necessary, and, in my book, that means one day to heal 2 people + 1 medic. Trying stuff like that without a medic would be painstaking at best...
You suggest having a dedicated mechanic (or even two), an explosives guy and dedicated shooters... Why not have dedicated medics that are also somewhat skilled in use of firearms ? If you're going to point out that medics are usually expensive - there are some that are not: Fox, Beth and Hurl (and Hurl can't be mixed with Fidel, so).
It's not really that I would mind restarting AGAIN that much... I simply think that I've figured out a viable play style (let's be honest - there's a lot of mercs to choose from EXACTLY because there are a lot of meaningful ways to compose a group and play the game, right ?). The only unsettling thing is not having a secondary mechanic, but I hope to fix this by getting an awesome one (Boss, Vicky) as soon as I have the cash...
I know it's a bit hardcore, but I'd rather have some extra mercs which I then might change for some better ones. Sure - having less people is cheap but you generally are more vulnerable to any damage and take sectors a lot slower (in turn - gaining income a lot slower)...
It's not such a bit deal, since my guys usually have really high agility and as such - can always retreat if things get too tough... But - sure - I'll keep the groups relatively close.

With the team I described, you can take 3-4 sectors a day assuming no one get hurt really bad.
You could use a descent medic to patch up wounded and use as doctor.
I can't remember which 1, but either Beth or Fox is really annoying.
There's a male doctor who's rather cheap from the start.
Don't remember his name nor his skills.
At some point, rather early I think, you're going to need a 24/7 mechanic.
Better have that 1 from day 1, so you can use him/her as mule during day 1.
There's plenty of stuff in your starting sector at day 1.
That repair guy doesn't need any combat skills as he's repairing all day every day.
Especially once you come across heavily damaged items like disarmed explosives, grenades, etc.
IMO Speck is both the most skilled and cheapest for that job.
Firing mercs doesn't do your reputation any good with your team and with mercs you want to hire.
Some mercs don't get along well, while others do.
Magic/Ice is a good combo.
My starting team from day 1:
Ivan
Fidel
Speck
Ice or Wolf
Jimmy
(in that order in the list of hired mercs)
Somewhere at the end at least Mike and Magic join, sometimes Scully too.
I actually use Elio for muling purposes only.

If you mean Hurl - he REALLY doesn't get along well with Fidel... And Needle, while cheap, apparently will never improve in the shooting department... Which is a shame, really.
Yay, I figured that out by myself ^^'. Then again - it was awkward to walk into MY room (with the laptop, calender, etc) as my mercs and take my own stuff ;P.
/me sighs.
Either that, or I'll have to alternate between more productive (full team) and barely productive (3 people healing, 1 guy repairing) days. As much as I'm really tempted to start over AGAIN, I guess I'll at least TRY to play through 2-3 more days will the team I have to see if things are as hopeless as you suggest :(.
Right now - I'm basically pushing west to capture a second refinery, rather than getting the entire northern part of the map and having more trees than I can process... As much as I'm disappointed by not being able to pick locks and repair stuff at my base at the same time, I'll try to live with that for a while... Either that or...
* * *
Well, good job, dude. You just made me spend a HUGE chunk of the evening browsing the chart, skimming through the AIM and generally going mad while trying to pick the best darn starting team I can come up with... while only using you recommendation as much as my pride lets me ;P. Hope you're happy... 'cause I sure as hell am ^^'.
This is my idea:
1* Ivan (as we both agree - the guy's a nice shooter)
2* Fidel (the only explosives expert anyone really needs)
3* Wolf (his medical skill is *44* ! That's EXACTLY as much as Beth has ! Then again - I avoided this guy FOR A REASON - his agility is only *73*, while Beth's is *90*. That's a LOT, when you consider the fact that a field medic has to reach the wounded ASAP :\. Then again - Wolf has 87 HP as opposed to Beth's 77. Also - Beth costs 330, while Wolf is 1850. Yikes ! Still - he IS a better shooter [74 versus 55] and that's his selling point)
4* Ice (90/88/87/71 and 86 in marksmanship. He's 'cool')
5* Snake (with Agility @ 89, he's a part of my good 'ol "speed > everything else" philosophy. Health @ 65 makes him pretty easy to mess up, though, so this guy will mostly be used for hit-and-run... and will probably visit Dr. Fox more often than I'd like him to)
6* Jimmy (good enough for picking locks and a nice backup shooter... Hope he improves in the shooting department FAST, though)
7* Speck (OK, OK... I'll give the geek a chance.)
8* Fox (she's cheap as hell and usually only takes a single day to treat herself and two other guys at my base)
I don't even want to know how much these guys will cost me... I'm going to make sure I get my money's worth.
Also - when Fox won't be busy patching people up back at the base, the two teams will be: Ivan-Wolf-Jimmy and Ice-Snake-Fidel-Fox ^^.
Sure - I'll try to avoid it. I was hoping for a few nice replacements somewhere down the road but it's not something I can't live without...
I REALLY hope I won't make a wrong match, because it's not so obvious...
As much as I hate spoilers, I googled to see if Wolf+Fox is as much of a bad idea as it sounds... and it IS'NT ^^'.
Magic is a level 4 merc that costs 1/8 of my starting money per day... Then again - I'll trade Jimmy for him as soon as I'll be able to :>.
And, if I'll EVER be able to afford it - I'll go with Mike and Scully instead of Wolf and Fidel.
As lame as you might think she is - Fox stays with me from day 2 (damn girl needs to see how awesome I can be ;P) 'till the end...
Does this sound fair enough ?

It sounds like a nice team.
Money is the reason I never started with a full team.
Snake is a nice guy to start with too.
I think the doctor I meant is called Eli.
Fidel levels up nicely.
You're better of trading Snake for Mike or Scully (never liked that character, don't know why) and keeping Fidel around.
Even though he likes to be left alone when he's busy.
Magic and Ice go along well.
Save before firing people.
If you get bad blood because of firing people, reload and let the obsolete merc(s) swim with the snakes.
Without any gear off course.
Pushing west might be nice in order to secure a plant,but it has advantages and disadvantages:
Pro:
Enemy sectors which are blocked from access over land, cannot be resupplied by the enemy. This means that if you get attacked from such sectors, it will lower the enemy count in those sectors. Either because you lost a sector which is now occupied or because your guards defeated the enemy.
Con:
It will most likely cost you extra guards. If you can't afford much because you're team is too large, it might get you in troubles.

Yay ^^.
Speaking of Snake - any ideas on what I can and should do with his camouflage kit ? Never tried it, because I'm not sure how it works...
Eli's stats: 1400 81/73/58/77 70/0/65/49 2
Fox's stats: 515 77/85/100/76 60/8/15/54 1
Fox is the only character to have 100 Dexterity. She's got it 6 points higher than Mike, FFS !
Eli has quite high mechanical skill but that's not enough to replace Jimmy... Besides - with THIS new starting team, Fox is most likely the cheapest Merc I have, being @ $515/day...
I LOLed... Yeah, Fidel is sure OCD as hell. I'll rethink who to keep and who to fire once I actually have to chance to do so ;P.
It kind of unsettling if you think about it - people might get upset if you fire someone, but arranging "an accident" is the way to go...
I REALLY hope it won't come to this. Also - Fox will be upset. IIRC - she'll quit if more than one merc dies...
To be honest - guards are cheap as hell. Also - It'll be a SINGLE costly day, it things end up well, because once the second refinery is secured, I'll storm through the north, the more trees and reap the benefits ^^'.
There's one thing I REALLY need to know, though - which sectors do I need to protect - if a sector (59, IIRC) has water to the left and a guarded sector (49) to the north - do I need to guard it as well (is it possible that the enemy might sneek past my guards @ 49 or use a chopper/boat to get them from the west) ?
Do I need to protect sectors that are guarded from all sides (let's suppose I have guards @ 59, 49 and 50 - do I need to place guards @ 60) ?
If I had guards in sectors 9, 19, 29, 39, 49 and 59 - would I still need guards at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 or 60 ?

Use the camo kit on their body and you'll see it on the vest that's on their body, not the one used for carrying items.
If Fox is your cheapest merc, you haven't hired Speck.
He start at $365 a day.
You can swim to other sectors, so can the enemy.
So you need to protect those sectors as well.
I always used an 8/4 setting.
The sectors next to enemy sectors are guarded by 8 guards.
The sector behind it has 4 guards to replace guards lost when the sector is attacked.
Sectors sometimes get attacked 2 or even 3 times during a day.
Having some replacements come in handy than.
This excludes my plans for the day, as I might be in need of more guards for that day.
So if I have all *9 and *0 sectors, I place 8 guards in all *9 sectors and 4 in all *0 sectors.
In case I go for the factory, I have 8 guards in the sectors east of it as I need to protect conquered sectors.

Permanently 0_o ?
I was just guessing, I'm merely planning ATM ;].
Yeah, but can the enemy break through a guarded sector without killing all (or attacking any) of the guards ? If not - I simply need a line connected by the sides +/- the backup in sectors I otherwise don't have to worry about.

The camo wears off.
How long depends on the percentage of camo they get.
When the enemy enters your sector they always fight your guards.

Damnit, I swear I once saw them attack sector 50, while 40, 49 and 59 were guarded 0_o.
Oh, well... I guess I must've missed something or my memory is playing tricks on me...

would you recommend JA1 then? im playing the second installment at the moment and am kinda interested in where it all began. cheers