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!).
