Hello. I've been playing a couple of days of JA2 with Stracciatella. Here I have a few questions:

1. AP carryover to the next turn: the manual says "If you don't use all of your action points in a turn..., up to five points will roll over to the next turn." (p. 30) However, it doesn't seem that way to me in the game. If a merc starts combat in a turn with 22AP, then use up all but 1AP, he'll start the next turn with startAP-(5-leftoverAP) [22-(5-1)=18], instead of startAP+leftoverAP[max5] [22+1=23]. This happens without getting shot or using energy, which I believe reduces AP. If I end a turn with the merc having 5 or more AP, he starts the next turn with the full 22AP. Is the manual wrong? Am I misunderstanding this? Are there other factors I'm not aware of?

2. When a merc is on assignment, what do the numbers on the character portrait mean?

3. Is it possible to have a merc aim at a point without shooting? To get ready for an ambush, for example. I know I can change facing, but I want the merc to raise his weapon so he doesn't spend AP doing that when there's a bad guy.

4. A couple of AIM mercs died on other assignments, so I can't hire them anymore. If I'm tardy, will more mercs eventually die before I can hire them? Will they run out of mercs?

5. Similarly, if I take too long lounging about in Drassen, will Deidranna eventually send tougher soldiers or attack more frequently?

6. Is it safe to leave my crap on the floor of Drassen airport (or anywhere else)? Deidranna's people already stole my stuff when they retook the airport, so I know they're thieves (but I killed them so it's okay). I don't know if my militia people or those others guys hanging out at the airport are kleptomaniacs as well.

Thank you and haffa gud tay askool.

Edit: I suck at math.

Haven't tried Stracciatella so far, so my answers may be off a bit.

1) Absolutely no idea. Can't recall it from vanilla, can't recall it from the code, so this is one thing that I can't help you with :(

2) Current Effectiveness/Maximum Effectiveness. Should be also in the manual.

3) Vanilla JA2 doesn't have a raise weapon, 1.13 uses the 'look' command to do so. If Stracciatella works as 1.13, turn to face the direction you want to shoot towards, then look towards that direction again. Merc should raise the weapon.

4) As I recall, there is a specific number of AIM Mercs that may die per difficulty level. 1.13 has that option in JA2_Options.ini, not sure about Stracciatella. By default, 1.13 has 1/2/3/4 for Novice/Experienced/Expert/Insane.

5) Deidrianna has a pool of troops that is increased each day by a number, if you don't deal with them, there will be more groups coming your way. Not sure if they will be too much to handle, but you can always take your time.

6) If there is a combat going on in the sector, and a militia sees a loaded weapon that is better than what he's currently carrying, he will try to pick it up. Same deal with Steel Helmets (and maybe armor in general). Be sure to leave any weapons unloaded, or try one of the following. A) Drop the stuff in a mine, they won't get stolen from there. B) Drop the stuff in a container, and close the container, a pain to do, especially if you go through those items regularly. C) Don't let Drassen Airport get attacked ;)

Should you have any more questions, ask either here or over at The Bear's Pit. Enjoy your game.

Awesome. Thanks, JMich! What determines effectiveness? Stuff like item condition for doctor/repair or wisdom for training skills, maybe?

Current energy level as well, leadership for militia training, and probably a few more. Code has the answers, can try to find the relevant parts if you'd like, but again, it will be based on 1.13, not stracciatella. There might also be a "How Does It Work" article by HR on the pit, but not really sure about it.

From memory. The amount of AP left determines the amount you have the next turn. Not sure about the numbers though. Keep in mind that physical condition influences this amount too. Wounded and tired mercs have less AP. As far as I know you can't go over your character's max. AP, although I never used steroids on my mercs.

1. The manual is correct that they carry over, however your AP is not consistent per turn, it is dependent on the amount of energy your character has. As a result if you spent those 21AP using a crowbar or punching someone (or picking up something that overloads your max weight), you'll get 1 carried over, plus perhaps lose a few for having less energy. Getting shot costs you energy (the blue bar).

2, 3, 4, 6. See JMich's answer

5. I sometimes hung around in Drassen for a while, however if you go a certain amount of time without a victory, you'll suddenly get massively reduced loyalty, and probably won't be able to train new mitia.

Hmm... when I tested my merc's AP, I just had him sitting in a corner wasting his AP reloading his gun, and that's how I got the numbers in my first post. Everything else being the same, I always got consistent results.

But maybe I'm thinking of this all wrong. Maybe that 22AP I see at the start of combat is actually baseAP+5 (i.e. his base is 17AP and he gets a bonus 5AP for start of combat). So when he uses all but 1AP, he gets that 1AP carried-over so he gets 17AP+1AP. That would be the same as the example I had in the first post, but AP does carry over. Right?

Yep, you'll see it very clearly when you get more into it. I think you're right that you get the starting +5, I seem to remember beginning the turn with 25 AP. It will become apparent when you encounter a situation where your lead guy has bumped into a group, he's running hell for leather to get back to the team, and they're laying down fire (the team - laying down the fire).

One more question. :D

How can I tell whether a character is armoured? I see "strong" for some characters. Does that mean armoured? (If so, when they go down to "healthy", are they still armoured, or is their armour destroyed?) I've so far been using my hollow points/armour piercing ammo mostly randomly because I haven't been paying attention to the armoured-ness of enemies. I think my mercs would prefer to use their ammo appropriately. :D

In vanilla there isn't a way to know if a target is wearing armour. The "strong" and "healthy" tags are simply indications to roughly how much health they have. With 1.13 you can hold down alt while mousing over a target to show various stats and info about that target, from current health points, and action points to weapons, armour and gear. You can configure everything that is and isn't shown with alt in JA2_Options.ini

Ah. That's a shame. I'm looking forward to playing 1.13 on a second playthrough.

Thanks, Lenriak!