Okay, I finally beat Fallout Tactics today. I played it on "continuous turn-based" and the "hard" difficulty, so I may have had a tougher go at it than some other people.

It's a great game, though there are some things that really confuse me about it. It has a nice variety of weapons, though several of them are already obsolete when you find them. I was thrilled to find the Tommy Gun because I thought I'd finally be able to use the .45 ammo I'd been hoarding, but it was junk compared to the gobs of other automatics I'd found up to that point (like the Steyr or Ruger AC556). Same thing applies to the Browning Automatic Rifle. Another thing: Early on your snipers depend heavily on the Hunting Rifle. When I found the M16A1 I thought I'd be able to finally replace it, because the M16A1 listed higher damage and better range in single-shot mode, but my players actually had worse chance to hit with it. Apparently there may be some factors built into the weapons that aren't listed when you examine them. The other thing that bothered me was the fact that a vehicle you drive to a mission isn't available in the mission. This means that your equipment is limited to what you carry, and the items you scavenge are also limtied to what you carry. And scavenging is too important to neglect.

My suggestions to anyone playing the game: diversify your skills. Weapon skills are of course vital, but first aid, doctor, sneak, bartering, repair, science, and lockpick are terribly important to getting through the game. Skill at throwing, gambling, and outdoorsman will make your life a whoooole lot easier.

Don't ignore your Big Guns and Energy Weapons skills. Though these kinds of weapons aren't available until later on in the game, they'll be very important to you because your enemies are increasingly tougher and better armored. Energy weapons will be key to defeating robots because the other weapons simply don't have the penetration you'll need... except for the Gauss weapons, which you won't find until near the end of the game. They use the Small Arms skill (or Big Guns skill for the Gauss Minigun) and even though they aren't as good as energy weapons, they do let you ignore the Energy Weapons skill on some characters while still making use of them. The .50 cal machineguns are amazing death-dealers, if you've got the 9 strength necessary to use them.

You'll definitely need to scavenge in order to get the stuff you need. Though it may not seem as important after the very beginning, since the Brotherhood only sells stuff after you find it, later on you'll need to buy your own Power Armor with the cash you get from selling junk. Even though you don't usually get your vehicle in the mission with you, you can still gather everything on a level by doing the following: after you've accomplished all of the objectives, leave one of your party in the exit zone and be sure to keep the rest of the group out of it. The remaining characters can then collect the equipment from the level and bring it back to the one person in the exit zone (be careful that at least some of your characters stay out of the exit zone when transferring equipment). That one "mule" will quickly become encumbered and immobile, but that's okay because you'll still be able to return to the bunker. Once you've cleaned out the level, have everyone step into the exit zone. Back at the bunker, have your characters run equipment back and forth to quartermaster (or just dump it all into your vehicle if you have one). Take everything you can because in later levels you'll really be strapped for cash (power armor and 2mm EC ammo are expensive!).