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Jagged Alliance 3

I have great memory on Jagged Alliance 2 playing it intensively 20 years ago. I still think it is a fantastic game.
Jagged Alliance 3 looks great!
 
I've spent a modest amount of time with this now, but basically still in the tutorial stage until I get off the island my
mercs start on. So, a couple of quick impressions.
Pros:
- Fun to play and looks terrific.
- The Steam "Workshop" is starting to crank out mods and looking forward to playing around with those.
Cons: Yes, and these are "picky".
- Cannot rename mercs. Uh, isn't that kind of standard fare in 3A RPGS now? Sure it's not hard to do.
- When adding new apparel items they do not show on the character page. Uh, why not? See above.
- Lots of clicking, at least to start with. Maybe a "me" problem as I've been able to improve that with experience.
- Tutorial does a poor job explaining how merc stat categories effect details in performance. Example. A mercs
mechanical stat claims to affect his ability to fix things, like repair weapons. Except it doesn't as far as I can
discern. At least it didn't for me...so far. To repair weapons the merc must actually have that as his specialization.
- A lot of NPCs you can interact with, except the large % of them are a waste of time. Why?
Yeah, minor stuff, but what I've learned so far is enough to make me realize I should restart and do some serious research
into setting up my initial team of mercs as that seems more important than I realized. Not so far into the game that it will
be a burden, but not looking forward to it much either.
 
Cons: Revisited
- Clicking. A me problem. Managed to reduce it considerably by using more hot keys. I usually
don't use all that many because I luv my mouse. However, there are soo many commands in play
that not using them slows things down unnecessarily. As a result clicking has been much reduced.
- Skills. Now I'm just confused. I'm a little ways past where I left off in my first game and have a better
handle on the UI. However, when I do things such as heal mercs and repair equipment I am frequently
given the option to also use mercs with points in medical or mechanical other than just those who have a
specialization in that category. WTF? I can only guess that last time, even though a merc had pts in those
categories there weren't enough pts to activate the skill? Or...if you have one available with the specialization
the game allows you to use others to speed up the process if they have sufficient pts? Either way I'm playing
it safe and making sure I have at least one merc to cover all the necessary specializations.
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My 2nd start included hiring 5 mercs instead of just 4. Can afford it. While that has been helpful in spots I'm
wondering if the game is doing scaling this early? I ask because I just finished a firefight where I was outnumbered
2-1! That was a bit tense.
While my mercs get shot a lot they are a pretty hardy bunch. Unless they are killed outright they can all recover 100%
with post battle Dr treatment. That can use up med supplies quickly so caution is still the word. When you are walking
around you will find plant leaves. Pick them ALL up as they turn into med supplies.
I fought that last battle and two of my guys ran out of ammo. That is a bad thing. I'm hoping post-battle looting
of the field/bodies will help or I am in a spot of trouble next fight. There are merchants in the game and have not
seen any yet so hoping...
If you don't have lock picks you can break open locked containers if someone has a crowbar.
Don't sell any diamonds you run into. They can be better used for barter later on.
This is still fun.
 
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Whew. Found an underground bunker. Killed everyone and took the weapons and ammo. In pretty good shape all
things considered.
Just one more sector to go on this damn island and then I can get in a boat, cross over to the mainland and try to
capture a diamond mine. Those will be my main sources of income and none too soon. Mercs expect to get paid.
Not to sure why I am working so hard to improve my current mercs. As soon as I get enough money it's likely I'll non-
renew their contracts and hire a better, and more expensive ones, to take their place.
I've found several AK-47s, but only kept a couple. As longer range rifles they kinda suck (realistic). Some bolt action
rifles I've got are waay more accurate at range and AK's fire 3-round bursts when using op-fire. Cannot adjust that (not
realistic) and it just rips through my ammo. Nice to have in a close quarters fight though (realistic).
I wasn't too impressed with with my explosives merc...until I was. He has a high <wisdom> rating which allows him to
see stuff on the ground like mines and traps which he can disarm w/ease. He is the perfect scout and is loaded with
grenades and other things that go "boom". If you play be sure to have at least one good one on your team.
 
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Finally! Took down the last sector on Ernie Island. Yes, that really is the name of the island. :rolleyes:
Since last report I've picked up a lot of loot including more ammo then I actually can shoot ATM. I'm thinking
this may be the <doofus> level of difficulty I'm playing at finally kicking in, although I've also read scarce ammo
is just kind of just a thing at the beginning of the game. I'm just thankful.
Loot includes a large quantity of guns. Unfortunately, they have all been SMG's. My only long range rifle remains
the Gewehr 98 my team started with. It is MUCH more accurate at range and causes up to 28 D (damage) w/its
7.62 round in a single shot as the (mostly) 9mm rounds for the SMG's x3 round burst at 7-11 D per round. At range
I'm lucky to hit 1 in 3 times.
$ continues to be a problem, but my team is now on the mainland and in a sector that contains a diamond mine so
things are looking up on that front as well.
The mercs have a very limited backpack storage based on their strength rating. There is something called "Squad
Storage" that allows for storage of ammo and repair parts/scrap. What I did not know (until just now} is that they
can reload their weapons straight out of the ammo in Squad Storage so it doesn't have to be in their individual
backpacks. This frees up a LOT of storage in their BPs's. Doh!
I took a quick peek at my current sector and could see little (it's night) except the entire landscape looks to be desert.
That means long range weapons will be at a premium. Hmm.
 
Doing well, I think.
Have captured a diamond mine that provides $19,250/week. That goes a long way towards my mercs' weekly salary.
Quite some distance further North along the coast is another mine and my next objective. It pays $26,250/wk which will
actually put me in the black and give me some options about hiring at least one more merc and perhaps others with better,
well everything to begin replacing some of my starters.
I've been able to gather enough materials to start upgrading (modding) weapons. All my rifles have silencers. No idea if they
work yet, but will know shortly. Even my MP-40 has one. LOL
Steam Workshop has an increasing amount of mods and they are very easy to understand and install. I usually just use ones
that help the UI or graphics, but I did put one in that expands the mercs' backpack space. Yeah, it's a bit of a cheat, but there
is nothing more frustrating when playing an RPG like this and you are unable to add some loot because of lack of carry space.
There is no real way (yet) to sell stuff so the only other option is to scrap it. Hey, it's game and that's the way I roll. I'm supposed
to be able to adjust the amount of extra space, but haven't figured out how yet. I would like to dial it back a bit.
It's going to be a slog and a struggle to get to that next mine. Will advise.
 
No surprise, mostly. Went North along the coast until I got to the target diamond mine. Got my mercs prepped and moved into
the mine location. Promptly got my head handed to me. Was outnumbered 2-1, but more then that they had three guys with
HE rockets and a suicide knifer that was all over me before I could even slow him down. Rockets!? I have since looted 5 rounds,
but then I was just terribly outclassed. So, went back down to the other mine when I got intel there were bad guys on the move
to take it back.
They didn't, even though three more of their guys had rockets! What I had was stealth and patience. Stealth mode, silenced weapons
and cover made the fight almost easy. From now on doing everything I can to stay hidden is the tactic du jour.
Hired 1 new merc and she's a tier higher than my starters. Excellent shot with great perception for scouting.
Still need better weapons as the Legion has them. At least I need to loot some bad weapons so I can break them down for parts to
allow for more weapon modding. They've been scarce lately. :(
Wow, Steam modding community is really hard at it. They've already added a large number of new mercs and they look a lot better
(visually) than the vanilla set.
 
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Caught myself thinking "Well this is becoming a bit o' grind now isn't it"? As usual, these kind of thoughts
can be found when looking into the "me" category of gaming issues. What I'd been doing is trying to build
a bit of an "Alamo" to try to fortify the area I'd landed on when traversing the the sea from my original
island starting point. And I was just going too bloody slow with the whole plan and doing very little to actually
get some missions accomplished. Change of strategy in order, thank you very much.
The Legion makes constant diamond "runs" and when I catch one it is a quick $12,000. While that is no guaranteed,
regular income it is a healthy chunk of change, and I think I can be more aggressive in how I go about spending it. To
give me a more reliable source of income I must get me another diamond mine under my control. This will allow me
complete freedom when deciding to upgrade my merc force. That is now priority #1.
Along the way I have found a couple of better weapons, such as the Dragunov sniper rifle. Oh, my that is fun. This also
includes my continuing to upgrade the weapons w/mods as well as the armor. Game keeps a tight control over this
practice by making some parts hard to come by so it is great fun to fine stuff that you need to do that.
I'm also more conscious about target selection as those explosive guys, if not quickly placed in the "dead" category can
cause your team serious grief.
Have to do it so, "Diamond mine or bust"!
 
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Managed to get that 2nd diamond mine and for the moment I am flush with cash!
I've made enough to replace two of my original mercs with ones that have improved stats and the
change is significant.
ATM there is one large town in my way and my recon tells me it has 14 defenders! Since my squad
is still only 6 this is going to require some serious concentration.
Spare parts/materials for up upgrading weapons/armor are still some what scarce, but ammo is adequate
for now.
"Let's go squad, you want to live forever"?
 
Things are going pretty well. Ammo continues to be an issue. I did not realize Warsaw Pact 7.62 rounds
would not be compatible with NATO 7.62 weapons. I only found out recently when I tried to reload a
NATO assault rifle in the middle of a firefight. Oops.
I found a place that will let me make ammo, given the right ingredients. So, in the long run pretty sure a
little ammo discipline will probably resolve the problem.
I have a LOT of money, but hiring better mercs can/is EXPENSIVE. What I need to do is find another diamond
mine that will provide a regular/dependable monthly income. That plus the raids on the Legion's diamond
convoys should allow for merc expansion.
I'm still grinding but have come to realize it is just part of the game. There are soo many side quests! I'm not
even sure which ones are main or side quests anymore. Just a LOT to do in all those sectors controlled by
Legion forces. Fortunately, the player has the option to let the AI fight a battle if he wishes and I usually do
if the projected outcome is a <decisive win>. That does reduce the repetitiveness quite a bit.
Sniper rifles rule.
 
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