Games PC JAGGED ALLIANCE 2 User Manual

Welcome to Arulco ..........................................................1

Tutorial ...............................................................2

Part One: Assemble a Team.............................................2

Part Two: Travel to Interesting Places................4

Part Three: Meet Interesting People .....................5

Part Four: And Kill Them...............................................6

Reference ............................................................9

Logistics: The Laptop .......................................................9

Hiring Mercs.................................................................9

Shopping at Bobby Ray’s ............................................13

Getting Information ...................................................13

Table of contents

Reconaissance: The Tactical Screen ......................14

Mercenary Portraits ....................................................14

Movement ...................................................................15

Inventory .....................................................................20

Items and Interaction .................................................23

Meeting Non-Player Characters ................................26

Tactics: Fighting the Enemy .......................................27

Firing Weapons...........................................................27

Hand-to-Hand Combat..............................................29

Interrupts and Action Points......................................29

Explosives and Grenades ............................................30

Wounds and Bandaging..............................................31

Ending a Turn .............................................................32

Ending Combat...........................................................32

Advanced Tactics:The Rules of War .........................32

Strategy: The Map Screen ............................................35

Merc Assignments ......................................................35

Sleep ............................................................................38

Renewing Contracts and Firing Mercs......................38

Using the Map.............................................................38

Other Map Features....................................................40

Travel via the Map Screen ..........................................41

Town Loyalty...............................................................43

Militias ........................................................................43

Game Options .......................................................................44

Appendices..........................................................47

Keyboard Commands ........................................................47

Frequently Asked Questions ......................................50

Index......................................................................54

Table of contents

Welcome to Arulco

You hold a nation’s fate in your hands. Enrico Chivaldori, deposed ruler of
the war-torn country of Arulco, has hired you to return him to power. It’s not
an easy task. You’ll need the strategic insight of a general, the negotiating skills
of a diplomat, the financial savvy of a CEO—and a squad of some of the
deadliest mercenaries to ever hit the streets.

This is Jagged Alliance 2, an exciting mix of strategy and role-playing that puts
you in charge of a nation’s fight for freedom. You’ll hire a core group of skilled
professionals through A.I.M., the Association of International Mercenaries.
You’ll win the local population over to your side by displaying courage and
loyalty. You’ll train your men around the clock, then send them into danger­ous missions and lethal firefights. You’ll conquer the depths of underground
mines, reap their riches, and discover their secrets.

Each success will bring you closer to total victory; each failure must be over­come with iron determination. In the end you will prevail, if you remember a
few things. Stay focused on your goal. Keep your men well supplied with
both ammunition and inspiration. And keep the cash flowing–there’s noth­ing, nothing, nastier than a mercenary whose paycheck just bounced.

To jump into the game, just turn the page. The Tutorial will walk you through
your first exploits in Arulco. The rest of the manual contains detailed infor­mation on strategy and tactics that you’ll need in the rest of your campaign.
The battle for Arulco is about to begin.

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JAGGED ALLIANCE 2

Tutorial

Tutorial

This brief tutorial will help you jump-start your mercenary career. It explains
the basics of recruiting mercenaries, exploring the world, and fighting battles.
It doesn’t cover everything, though. For detailed information on strategy and
tactics, consult the comprehensive Reference section that follows.

Part One: Assemble a Team …

When the Initial Game Settings screen appears, click on OK to accept the
default settings. (Warning: If you’re already familiar with Jagged Alliance or
similar games, you may want to try Experienced mode instead of Novice.
You’ll find the full details on these settings in the Reference section.)

After viewing the intro­duction, you’ll open your
trusty laptop computer,
ready to read some im­portant e-mail that has
just arrived. To read it,
click on the E-mail but­ton on the left side of the
screen. Several messages
are waiting for you. Most
are from your employer,
Enrico, while the last is
from the mysterious
“Psych Pro Inc.” This
company’s personality
profiling service allows you to create a custom mercenary, for a small fee. Jot
down the access code, XEP624. (It’s in the second part of the e-mail message:
click on the right arrow button to see the second part.)

It’s time to pay a visit to
I.M.P., the Institute for
Mercenary Profiling. Click
on the Web button and se­lect I.M.P. from the menu
of bookmarks. Once at the
I.M.P. site, enter XEP624 as
the access code and press
the Enter key.

To start character creation,
click on the Begin button.
Enter your character’s full
name (e.g. “Herman

Noodleman”), plus your character’s cool nickname (like “Flayer”). You also
select the character’s gender at this stage.

The next task is to complete the character’s personality profile. While some
of the questions are a bit, um, unusual, your answers will determine the
personality of your creation. Be sure to answer the way you feel your merc
would.

After outlining his quirks and oddities, you will allocate attribute points to
your character. These determine the character’s strengths and weaknesses in
important areas such as Health and Agility. While allocating your points,
keep in mind that a skill of 0 can never be improved. After deciding on your
attributes, choose a portrait and style of voice that fits your character.

After creating your custom
character, you’ll want to
hire some more firepower.
Return to the Web menu
and select “A.I.M.” This
takes you to the Website of
the Association of Interna­tional Mercenaries, where
you’ll hire your first merce­naries. A good initial team
is Blood, Buns, and
Hitman, but keep in mind
that they might not be
available. Regardless of

whom you do hire, keep
some money on hand to renew their contracts in the future. It may be a while
before you find a steady source of income for your team.

While using the Laptop,
you may want to make
quick visits to some of
the other sites available
from A.I.M.’s links page.
Also take the time to
read the overview of
Arulco contained in your
file manager. It’s useful
background material on
Arulco, the country
you’re about to visit.

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3

Tutorial Tutorial

When you’re ready to head out into the field, select “Shut Down” on the
laptop. The Map Screen will now appear. The Map Screen contains all sorts
of cool functions and features. For now, though, concentrate on the lower
right section of the screen. Click on the small arrow to the right of the word
“Paused.” It’s time to head to Arulco.

Part Two: …Travel to Interesting Places…

The next thing you’ll see is your mercenaries being dropped into the town of
Omerta. Once they’re all off the helicopter, you’ll be able to give them
commands.

Before you can give a mercenary an order, you must select him. To select a
merc, either left-click once on the merc’s figure on the main screen, or left-
click on the merc’s portrait at the bottom of the screen.

To make a selected merc
move, just left-click on a
destination. The merc will
begin to make his way
over. (Of course, this
won’t work if there’s an­other merc or an obstacle
in the way. Hey, your
mercs may go through hell
for you, but they’re not
about to walk smack dab
into a wall just so you can
have a cheap laugh.) If
you’re in a hurry, double-
click on the target to make
him run there instead.

Often, you’ll want to move several mercs at once. To select a group of mercs,
left-click on the ground and drag the mouse to draw a box around the mercs
you wish to select. This “rubber band” method lets you select some or all of
your mercs at once. You can also ALT-left-click on an individual merc’s body
to add him to the selected group. (If a merc is already part of the selected
group, ALT-left-click will remove him from the selected group.)

Note that different mercenaries move at different speeds, so you may have to
wait a bit for the slowpokes in the group to shuffle over to their goal. Also
note that group movement does not work during turn-based combat. You’ll
definitely want to handle one merc at a time in the midst of a shoot-out.

And make no mistake, a shoot-out is about to begin. You’ll encounter hostile
troops shortly after your team lands. When one of your mercs sees an enemy,
turn-based combat will begin. In combat, you control each merc individually;

group movement and selection modes are no longer active. In turn-based
mode, every mercenary has action points which decide how much he can do
in a single round of combat. Faster, more agile mercs might be able to shoot
multiple times or run great distances, while slow mercs may have difficulty just
getting off one shot in a given round.

To fire at an enemy in your mercs’ visual range, hold the cursor over the ene­my. A targeting crosshairs will appear. Left-click to fire the gun. For more
advanced combat options, such as refining your aim, throwing grenades, and
hand-to-hand combat, see the Tactics section of this manual.

Any merc standing bolt upright in battle is begging for death, and the enemy
will be happy to give it to him. Your mercs can stand, crouch, or lie prone,and
they’ll need to do a combination of these if they want to survive. To make a
merc change stance, hold the mouse cursor over the selected merc. You’ll see
one arrow pointing up and one arrow pointing down. While holding down
the left mouse button, drag the mouse up or down, depending on the way
you want to change the merc’s stance. Standing and lying prone are two
arrows apart, while standing and crouching are one arrow apart.

The puny enemy forces in this sector are no match for your team. You should
be able to defeat them with only minor casualties. If you have a merc with
medical knowledge and equipment on your squad, you’ll be given the option
to automatically bandage the injured after the battle ends. (You did hire a
medic, didn’t you?)

Part Three: …Meet Interesting People…

Take a look around after you win the
battle. You’ll find a young boy
named Pacos just south of where
you landed.

If you move the cursor over Pacos, a
‘moving lips’ icon will appear. This
is the symbol for the Talk com-
mand. The cursor in Jagged
Alliance 2 will automatically change
to the most logical option in many

situations. If you put the cursor over
someone you can speak to, it will change to a pair of lips; if you put it over an
enemy, it will turn into a crosshairs; if you move it over a closed door, it will
change to a hand, and so on.

Left-click the Talk cursor on Pacos. A box appears, offering different stances
describing your attitude toward the boy. However, Pacos’s mother has told
him not to talk to strangers–especially strangers with guns! He’ll eventually
run away no matter what you say to him. Follow him into the building.

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Tutorial Tutorial

Pacos will lead you to his mother, Fatima. Talk to Fatima using the “friendly”
stance. She’ll listen to your mercs, but she’s skeptical. You can convince her of
your credentials by giving her a letter you received from Enrico Chivaldori.

Right-click on the face of the first merc in your team, the one on
the far left of the bottom of the screen. This will bring up that
mercenary’s Inventory Panel. There you’ll see an outline of your
team member and pictures of his equipment. One of these items is
the letter. Left-click on the letter to pick it up, and then left-click
on Fatima to give it to her.

Fatima will lead your team towards the rebel headquarters after she
reads the letter. Eventually, she’ll leave the sector, exiting off the
right side of the screen. To follow her, move your mercs to the edge
of the sector, then bring your cursor all the way over to the eastern
side of the screen. As long as everyone is within a few spaces of the edge of
the sector, the cursor will change to an exit sign. Make sure all your mercs are
nearby, then left-click with the exit cursor showing. An options box will
appear. Click “OK” and your squad will travel to the next sector (sector A10).

Once you make it inside rebel HQ, listen to everything that Miguel, the rebel
leader says. When he’s done talking, try to Recruit him. (You’ll find the
Recruit option in the conversation window.) You’ll be directed to recruit Ira,
another member of the rebels’ team. Once you have been given a mission and
a new team member, you’ll leave the rebels’ basement hideout.

Part Four: …And Kill Them.

Your mission is to travel to
the city of Drassen. To
plan your journey, enter
the Map Screen by either
left-clicking the triangle
button, or by pressing the
M key.

Before you get into any
more trouble, it’s a good
idea to save your game.
First, either left-click on
the big button with a pic­ture of a compact disc on

it, or press O. This brings
up the Options Screen. Now click on the button labeled “Save Game” to save
your game. You’ll enter a screen with a list of slots in which to save your game.
Just left-click on the second slot, and enter an appropriate description (like
“Showing Deidranna Who’s Boss”). The first slot is reserved for the Quick
Save feature, explained in the Reference section.

After your game is saved, you’ll return to the Map Screen. There’s a lot of
information here, but you can safely ignore most of it for now. It’s time to tell
your team to head to Drassen. In the top-left section of the screen you’ll
notice a list of all of your mercenaries. To begin plotting your trip, click in the
column marked DEST for any of your mercenaries. Now turn your atten­tion to the map itself, and click twice on sector B13, the top sector of the town
of Drassen. This will start your squad off on their expedition.

There’s just one small catch.Your mercs won’t move because time has stopped.
No, the world hasn’t ended—it’s just that the game automatically goes into
Pause mode when you enter the Map Screen. To get things moving again,
take a look at the time controls in the bottom right corner of the Map Screen.
These controls compress time, so that you can get events moving at just the
speed you prefer. Click on the small arrow to the right of the blinking word
“pause” to speed up time and start your party walking. Each time you click
that button, time moves faster. It takes about 8 game hours to get to Drassen,
so the fast “60 min.” setting is best.

You’ll see your team, rep­resented as a yellow arrow,
being their journey. If you
don’t run into some ene­mies along the way, you
definitely will once you
reach Drassen. When you
encounter hostile forces
while traveling, a warning
box will appear with three
buttons: “Auto-resolve,”
“Go to sector,” and “Re­treat mercs.” Don’t wimp
out—pick “Go to sector”
to begin a battle.

Upon entering the sector,
you’ll encounter a screen al­lowing you to strategically
place your mercenaries
along the edge of the sector.
For now, just left-click
“Group,” and place your
mercs with the cursor. Left-
click “Done” once you’re
ready. You’ll be taken down
to the battle.

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Tutorial

Reference

This bunch is tougher than the crew you mowed down back in Omerta. Take
some time to plan your strategy. Remember, your mercenaries are in this for
the long haul. You don’t want them shot to pieces in the first few hours of
your campaign.

With the battle for Drassen begun, you’ve taken the first vital steps in
liberating Arulco. Consult the “Reference” section which follows for more
detailed information about the game. Or, just press the H key at any time to
get instant help on the game’s features.

Good luck! Between Queen Deidranna and the even more sinister forces that
lurk in the countryside, you’re going to need it.

The Reference section contains in-depth information on specific game func­tions. Here you’ll find information on:

• Logistics: The laptop, dealing with A.I.M. and hiring mercenaries.

• Reconnaissance: Exploring Arulco, talking to its inhabitants, and

using items.

• Tactics: Everything you need to know about combat.

• Strategy: Using the Map Screen, changing merc assignments, and

traveling long distances.

• Game Options: How to configure the game to your liking.

Logistics: The Laptop Screen

Hiring Mercs

The first step in acquiring some good hired guns is contacting the Association
of International Mercenaries (A.I.M.). A.I.M. acts as the employment
agency for the best of the best in the merc community. To contact them, use
your laptop. From the Web button on the left side of the screen, selectA.I.M.
from your bookmarks.

On the A.I.M. home page,
you’ll find buttons leading
to Members, Policy, His-
tory, and Links. Policy
and History will give you
some background infor­mation, while Links leads
to Web sites such as Bobby
Ray’s Guns and Things.
The Members section is
where you find the real
meat of the A.I.M. site: re­viewing and hiring merce­naries.

A.I.M. Roster: The options available in the A.I.M. Members section allow
you to view available mercs. You can sort the merc roster by Price, Experience,
Marksmanship, Medical, Explosive, and Mechanical—very handy for making
your employment decisions. You can also view the mug shot index, read
individual mercenary files, and read about A.I.M. alumni.

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Reference Logistics

Click on M to view the Mug shot index. This brings up the picture of every
merc in A.I.M. If you sorted in descending order, then the mercenaries with
the highest attribute will be at the top left hand side of the map. Sometimes
(particularly when dealing with price) you may be searching for lower
attributes. In this case, simply sort in ascending order or look at the bottom
of the list. Once you click on a mug shot, you’ll get all the necessary informa­tion on that merc. Clicking on F goes right to the mercenary File, which
provides you with detailed information on individual mercenaries. A will take
you to the Alumni roster, containing the stories of the many old-time A.I.M.
veterans who have since left the mercenary business.

Mercenary Files: These pack a lot of information into one screen. Left-click
on the merc’s portrait to offer him a job, and Right-click on the portrait to
return to the mug shot index. Next to the portrait are attributes and skills
(described below).

On the far-right side of
the File screen is contract
information. This tells you
the fees for hiring the merc
for one day, one week, and
two weeks, as well as the
merc’s medical deposit. To
find out more about mer­cenaries, their skills, and
their quirks, read their
background information.
Finally, near the bottom of
the screen, is the Optional
Items section. The merc
joins your team with this
equipment, if you choose
to pay the additional cost.

Mercenary Statistics: Take a close look at a mercenary’s statistics while
viewing his file. A mercenary’s statistics represents his overall ability in
various areas. Each statistic ranges from 0 to 100, with 0 being pathetic and
100 being top of the line. Some mercenaries can improve their statistics by
training and field missions. As a mercenary’s statistics increase, he becomes
more valuable, and therefore demands a higher . . .

Salary is the amount a merc charges for his services. A merc charges
differing amounts depending on whether the contract is for a day, a
week, or two weeks. A merc’s salary comes directly out of your main
bank account, and must be paid in advance. (A.I.M. Mercs operate
on a strictly cash-up-front basis, for obvious reasons.) Don’t blow
your entire wad on expensive mercs until you can afford their
exceptional talents.

Health represents both the physical well-being of a mercenary and
the amount of damage he can take before death. A mercenary with
100 health is in perfect physical condition. A mercenary with 10
health could be killed by a stubbed toe. Health also influences the
overall performance of a mercenary and the effectiveness of other
statistics and skills. After all, it’s hard to perform any job well when
your arm is falling off.

Agility measures how well a mercenary reacts physically to a new
situation, whether it’s a shotgun blast or a pesky mosquito. Agility
affects the speed, coordination and control a merc displays while
recognizing and reacting to an event, as well as the merc’s traveling
speed.

Dexterity measures a mercenary’s ability to perform delicate or
precise movements correctly. For certain skills, like medical talents,
a high dexterity is very important. Having read all the books does­n’t do much good if your hands shake during surgery.

Strength represents a mercenary’s muscle and brawn. You’ll find it
particularly important in hand-to-hand combat and forcing things
open.

Wisdom affects a mercenary’s ability to learn from experience and
training. Naturally, it also affects his interpretation of things. Highly
intelligent mercs have no difficulty mastering the inner workings of
complex military items. Those not so mentally blessed take more
time to absorb the intricacies of a skill or action. (Hey guys! Look at
the funny metal pineapple with the pin in it!)

Leadership measures charm, respect, and presence. Leadership
affects your mercs’ performance in the field and their interactions
with non-player characters.

Mercenary Skills: In addition to statistics, everyone on your team has four
basic skills that lie at the heart of the mercenary trade. Like statistics, skills
range from zero to 100 and may increase with practice. A skill of zero, how­ever, will never improve. Some people just aren’t cut out to be doctors or
mechanics.

Medical: Since they seldom get into firefights near hospitals, injured
mercs must rely on one another for treatment. A member’s medical
skill represents his current medical knowledge and ability to heal the
wounded. A mercenary with a high medical skill could perform brain
surgery with a can opener and a sewing kit, while a low skilled
mercenary would have trouble applying a Band-Aid correctly.

Explosives: A member’s explosives skill determines his ability to cre­ate, use, and disarm explosives without blowing himself sky-high.

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Reference Logistics

A highly skilled merc could disarm the most complex bomb without
breaking a sweat, while an unskilled merc might destroy the building
just by trying to light a sparkler.

Mechanical: Mercenaries use all sorts of gadgets—their weapons,
radios, locks, and so on. Mechanical skill rates a merc’s ability to
repair damaged, worn-out or broken items or equipment (such as
vehicles), jimmy locks, and to combine existing objects to form new
ones.

Marksmanship: A keen eye and a steady hand contribute to the
sought-after talents of the marksman. A mercenary’s marksmanship
skill reflects his ability to hit, precisely, any given target with a
firearm.

Experience Level is the most important mercenary trait. It reflects
the sum of their abilities: their years in A.I.M., the amount of com­bat they’ve seen, and how knowledgeable they are in the field. As
mercenaries gain in experience class, they also gain certain benefits:

• Their ability to detect boobytraps and ambushes improves.

• They become sneakier and their stealth increases.

• They are able to focus their sights on an enemy target more

quickly and accurately.

• They become more effective at interrupting enemies (and
avoiding being interrupted themselves.)

• Their overall proficiency in field operations increases.

• Their salary increases (mind you, it’s a benefit to them.)

Hiring: After reviewing the files, you’ll be ready to assemble a team. Left-
click on a merc’s portrait to hire him. This brings up a series of dialog boxes.

The first box has the options Hire and Hang up. The next box is much more
detailed. Choose whether to hire a merc for one day, one week, or two weeks,
and whether to leave the merc naked and defenseless, or buy his optional
equipment. You may have to wait several game hours for your new hires to
catch the next chopper to Arulco. (Some mercs may be not be available
when you try to hire them. Leave them a message to find out when they are
available.)

Newly hired mercs will initially be dropped off in the town of Omerta. If
you like, you can have them dropped off at other locations. See the descrip­tion of the Airspace Filter in the Map Screen section of the manual for more
information.

Medical Deposit: Some mercenaries require medical deposits. The medical
deposit is compensation for the merc putting their life and livelihood on the
line while working for you. If a mercenary leaves your service unscathed, you’ll

get this deposit back. If he’s injured, you may be able to get a partial refund.
If, however, the mercenary leaves your employ in a pine coffin, the medical
deposit is forfeit.

Insurance: Insurance is a good way to protect your “investment” in
mercenaries. For a small premium up front, you can be guaranteed a refund
for every day that a dead merc has left in his contract. For instance: suppose
you hire a merc for one week at $1000 per day, and that merc dies on day
three. With insurance, you’ll get $4000 back which otherwise would have
been lost. The full details are on Malleus, Incus, & Staple’s Web site (there’s
a link to it on A.I.M.’s site).

Shopping at Bobby Ray’s

You’ll find a link to Bobby Ray’s Gubs ‘n Things on the Links page of the
A.I.M. Web site. It takes a while for Bobby Ray to open up his shop, but
when he does you’ll find he sells just about everything on your wish list.

Once in Bobby Ray’s, just left-click on the items you want to put them in
your shopping cart. To remove an item from your shopping cart, right-click
its picture instead. After you have selected the appropriate items, go to the
Order Form page. Here you’ll find an inventory of the items you’re ordering.
Select a destination for your goods, and a method of shipping.Then click on
the Order Button.

Your weapons will be delivered to the destination town in a few days.
Meduna and Drassen are the only two towns with airports in all of Arulco,
so expect to pick up your order in one of those two sites. The enemy holds
these towns at the beginning of the game, so you’ll have to do some fighting
before you can pick up your deliveries.

Note: Bobby Ray’s isn’t the only place you can stock up on new items. You
can also buy and sell from characters you’ll meet in Arulco. Though they
might not have the selection, you won’t have to pay hundreds of dollars in
shipping charges or wait several days for your goods to arrive.

Getting Information

The laptop contains all sorts of other useful information. Consult the laptop
frequently to check your e-mail, monitor your mercs’ performance, and read
essential reconnaissance files.

E-mail: If you have new e-mail when you start up your laptop, you’ll be
notified. Select E-mail from the list on the left, and the new messages will
be bolded to set them apart from the rest. Besides giving you information,
some e-mail will give you new Web sites to visit, which then appear as book­marks in your Web browser.

Personnel Manager: The personnel manager provides detailed information

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ReconnaissanceReference

on your mercs and their accomplishments. The main screen is made up of an
index of mercs. You can view the statistics and inventory of each
mercenary. The statistics section compares the attributes and skills of all your
mercs. It also contains miscellaneous personal information on your mercs,
such as the number of kills they have, and information on their contracts and
prices. This information can be essential for deciding who to retain and who
to give the old heave-ho.

File Viewer: Over the course of your liberation of Arulco, you’ll acquire
computer files which can be read in this viewer. Initially, the only file present
is a reconnaissance report on Arulco.

Reconnaissance: The Tactical Screen

To complete your liberation campaign, you must explore Arulco thoroughly
and interact with its inhabitants. You’ll accomplish these missions from the
Tactical Screen. From the Tactical Screen you can move your mercs, obtain
information about them, and use the items you find in Arulco. As the name

Selected

Merc

End Turn

New

Merc

Portrait

suggests, the Tactical Screen is also where you’ll do your fighting.

Map

Screen

Squad

Mercenary Portraits

Along with your surroundings, the Tactical Screen also displays some of your

Sector

Info

mercs’ portraits, along with their vital
statistics.

Portrait: Left-click on a merc’s
portrait to select him; right-click to
bring up his Inventory Panel.

Name: During combat, the amount of
action points a mercenary has left is
displayed to the right of the merc’s
name.

Indicator Bars: These track the current level of three important mercenary
statistics, Health, Energy, and Morale.

Health: The red bar tracks the mercenary’s current physical state. If a
mercenary is wounded, the health bar drops to reflect the damage and leaves
an “injury tracker” in its place. Injuries left untreated are shown in yellow,
while treated injuries show pink. Untreated, injuries have the potential to
permanently lower a mercenary’s health rating.

Energy: The blue bar tracks a character’s breathing rate and energy. The bar
will fall as the merc performs activities, and rise when the character rests.
How quickly a merc regains energy depends on the member’s well-being and
how tired he was in the first place. Sleep (or lack thereof) can greatly affect a
merc’s available energy. A merc who hasn’t been sleeping will have his
potential energy decrease as well, and will eventually collapse from exhaustion.

Morale: Morale is a measurement of how a merc is feeling. A normal merc
is at the morale midpoint, stable. The higher the morale bar, the happier the
merc is. Though your mercs probably won’t quit on you if they’re unhappy,
their performance may suffer, or they may refuse to renew their contracts.

The Main Hand and the Secondary Hand: The items a merc has in his hands
are displayed here. To swap an item from the Secondary Hand to the Main
Hand, right-click on the Secondary Hand. For more information, see the sec­tion on the Inventory Panel.

Health

Energy

Morale

Attachment

Main Hand

Secondary
Hand

Movement

Selecting Mercs: To get a mercenary to follow your orders, you must first select
him. Mercenaries may be selected by left-clicking on their portraits, pressing
F1 through F6, or by left-clicking on their figures on the playing field. A
selected merc’s panel is highlighted.

Getting a Clearer View: If trees are blocking your view, you can get a better
view by pressing the T key to toggle Treetops on and off. (If you toggle
Treetops off, the trees are still there, but only their stumps show on screen.)

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Reference Reconnaissance

The W key (for Wireframe buildings) serves a similar function for buildings.
For an overhead view of the entire sector, either press the INSERT key or

right-click on the small map in the lower right corner of the Tactical Screen.
Walking Around: In real-time mode, the normal destination cursor is a

square. Left-click with this cursor on the destination, and the currently
selected mercenary will attempt to travel there. A mercenary’s movement
speed depends on their physique, energy level, and the type of terrain. In
combat, it also depends on the number of action points a merc has. For more
information, see the section on action points later in this manual. You can also
make a merc run to his destination by double-clicking there.

Mercs will avoid obstacles in their path and generally choose the easiest and
shortest route. Of course, what a merc considers the best route may not be the
one you would have chosen! To plan a precise route, hold down the SHIFT
key while choosing your destination. The SHIF T key displays the exact path
your mercenary will take. It also makes the cursor “hug the ground.” This is
helpful in close quarters, where walls or other obstacles may block the way.

Group Movement: As explained in the Tutorial, you may select a group of
mercenaries by left-clicking and dragging to draw a box around them. You
may also ALT-left-click on an individual merc’s body to add him to the
selected group. (If the merc is already part of the selected group, ALT-left-
click will remove him from the selected group.)

Sometimes you want all mercs in a squad to gather together at one location.
Jagged Alliance 2 provides a convenient way to move all of your mercs to the
same destination:

• Left-click on the destination and hold the mouse button down. A
red square will appear.

• Press down on the right mouse button. Another red square will
appear inside the first red square. (To make the mercs run instead of
walk, click the right button twice.)

• Now release both mouse buttons. All squad members will walk
towards that destination.

Note that the group movement modes don’t work during turn-based combat.
Ambling along in a nice ordered line is the last thing your mercs are going to
want to do when they’re surrounded by hostile forces.

CONTinuing an Action: During turn-based combat, your merc may pause
while en route to a destination and report on something he’s seen. To make
the merc continue on his way, click on the merc’s portrait or press the END
key. The word CONT on a merc’s portrait indicates he was interrupted in
mid-action.

Movement Modes: Normally, your mercs just saunter along. However, just
sauntering along in a battlefield will get you your head blown off,which is why
Jagged Alliance 2 offers you several additional movement modes.

• Stand/Run: When you have the need for speed. Running is the
fastest way to move, but it also depletes the blue Energy bar the
fastest. Running mercs are less perceptive and more likely to make
noise.

• Stand/Walk: The typical way to travel.

• Crouch/Squat: Makes mercs less visible and safer from enemy fire.

• Prone/Crawl: Hugging the ground is the safest way to travel under

heavy fire. It’s also the slowest, and quite exhausting to boot.

There are a number of ways to change your movement mode:

1. The Cursor: Place the cursor over the merc. An arrow will appear.

2. The Merc Options Panel: Right-click and hold. The Merc

To make a standing merc crouch, left-click and hold, then pull the
mouse cursor down. To make the crouching merc lie prone, repeat
the process. You can make a crouching character stand up by holding
the cursor over the merc, left-clicking and holding, and then pulling
up instead of down. If you drag up or down far enough to see two
arrows, you can go directly from standing to lying prone, or vice
versa.

Options Panel will appear, allowing you to change your movement
mode.

Run

Look/
Turn

Use

Talk

Hand

Walk

Crouch

Prone

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