JA2 Tactical Doctrine - Early Game¶
Jagged Alliance 2 is built around a non-linear campaign structure. The player can create a custom mercenary (the Alter Ego), recruit from dozens of different mercs, and choose how — and in what order — Arulco is conquered.
Because of this, the early game is not a fixed opening sequence. It is the phase where you define the doctrine that will shape the entire campaign.
1. Creating Your Custom Mercenary¶
Many guides emphasize the classic combination of Stealthy + Night Ops + high Marksmanship. This build is extremely effective: it allows night assaults, rooftop control, and safe elimination of enemies from stealth.
However, it is not the only viable doctrine.
JA2 provides more than a dozen skills and a wide range of attribute combinations, allowing radically different play styles. For example:
- Hand-to-hand + high Strength — brutal close-combat fighters
- Knifing + Stealthy + high Agility — silent killers and ambushers
- Throwing + high Explosives — grenadiers and demolitionist
- Lock picking + Electronics + high Mechanical — infiltration and sabotage specialists
Your custom merc does not need to be perfect at everything. The real strength of JA2 comes from squad composition: other mercenaries can fill gaps, amplify strengths, or support specialized roles.
One critical rule applies to all builds:
All attributes can be trained and improved later — except Wisdom and Experience Level. Wisdom affects how fast all other attributes and level grow.
For this reason, investing generously in Wisdom at character creation is always optimal.
2. Building Squads¶
The player can control up to 18 mercenaries, which allows 3–9 active squads depending on size.
Each squad should be built around complementary roles, not identical soldiers. Examples:
- Assault rifle + sniper + medic + mule
- Two snipers + medic + mule
- Heavy weapon + grenadier + medic
- Knife fighter + stealth scout + medic
- and your style...
Some example squad concepts:
- Rebel squad: A balanced early-game force with strong loyalty bonuses.
- Ira
- Dimitri
- Maddog
- Grizzly
- Custom doctrine squad: Designed for aggressive infiltration, explosives, and rapid assaults.
- Shadow
- Dynamo
- Vince
- Hamous
The early game is where these doctrines are tested and refined.
3. Town Capture and Campaign Direction¶
Contrary to many guides:
Omerta does not have to be your first town.
Because JA2 is non-linear, the early campaign can follow radically different strategic paths.
Below are three proven doctrines.
Doctrine A – Guerrilla War¶
A slow but powerful approach focused on building elite mercs.
Route example: Estoni → Maddog → Tixa → Dynamo → Maddog
The goal is to:
- Capture sectors with manageable resistance
- Train attributes until key mercs reach 85+
- Repeatedly raid and defend sectors to gain experience
This produces extremely powerful squads that can attack almost any sector later.
Doctrine B – Control of Arulco¶
Instead of rushing the endgame, you focus on conquering the entire country.
- (in v1.12) Capture all towns and all mines, and NOT kill the queen, all town loyalty drops to 0
- (in wildfire) Capture all towns and all mines except Meduna and the M2, M3, M4, M5, N6 sectors. Loyalty is preserved, making this doctrine especially powerful there.
This transforms the game into a long-term strategic sandbox.
Doctrine C – Fastest Victory¶
This doctrine prioritizes speed over stability.
Core principles:
- Stealthy + Night Ops mercs
- Night assaults only
- Capture sectors (such as Grumm G2) with high-value loot
- Avoid unnecessary fights
Once strong gear is acquired, attack Meduna directly — often with elite mercs like Shadow — and end the war quickly.
Closing¶
The early game in JA2 is not about "the correct path". It is about choosing how you want to fight this war.
JA2 and Wildfire reward experimentation, and many of the most interesting play styles only emerge after hundreds of hours of testing different doctrines.
This is what makes the game endlessly replay-able — and why the early phase is the most important one to master.