Mission Planning Notes by Matt Helm, Team Leader,
The Wrecking Crew
version date 15 April 2001
Section One: Introduction
Greetings, Recruit. I assume that you have completed the prerequisite
Tutorial exercises and that you were paying attention to the instructor.
If not, do so before reading any more of this document.
Survival in the Wasteland
Your decisions as a Team Leader will mean the difference between rising
in rank and privileges and being skullfucked by a mutant. This guide
will provide you with effective plans for approaching your missions
but will not give you a step-by-step guide. Your initiative, imagination,
and courage will be required.
Rules for Wasteland Living:
1) Open all doors
2) Look in all rooms
3) Look in all containers
4) Talk to everyone who doesn't take a shot at you
5) Kill everyone who does
6) Loot all bodies
(These rules, especially 1, 2, & 3 are of paramount importance.
From asking yourself "where are the damn glasses?" to "where
is that damn suit of APA?", if you follow these rules you will
save yourself a lot of frustration).
Skills
You will need a variety of skills to succeed in your objectives. Besides
being able to shoot a gun (Small Guns), someone in your team will eventually
need to know the following skills:
· Sneak: I have 2 troops trained in this skill
well enough to operate despite armour penalties.
· First Aid: See Healing Notes, below.
· Doctor: See Healing Notes, below.
· Pilot: You only need one driver. You can buy books for this
skill from the mechanics in the bunkers so you don't need to spend experience
points on it.
· Repair: You need one mechanic once you get vehicles, and you
will need to carry toolkits. There are books for this skill (Called
Deans Electronics, it none the less covers all repair chores).
· Traps: A high perception trooper should learn this skill. There
are a few books available for this skill but you will need to spend
experience points as well. A trapper should know the Sneak skill so
he can place explosives without being seen.
· Big Guns: I have half my team carrying heavy weapons. You will
get access to light machine-guns when you encounter Super Mutants.
· Energy Weapons: These become available about half way through
the game and are an essential tool for killing robots. 4 troopers on
my team carry energy weapons, and by then end of the game all 6 should
know the skill.
· Science: I have read that this skill is required at the end
of the game so only one trooper will need this skill. The patch promises
to add effectiveness to criticals against robots. There are a lot of
books for this skill so it needs only a little experience points spent
on it to reach what I have read is a recommended level of 150.
· Outdoorsmanship: This skill helps you avoid the cascade of
stupid encounters when you travel and also helps find special encounters.
There are some books around for this skill but you will need to spend
experience points as well. My Team Leader is trained in this skill.
· Lockpicking: One trooper needs to know this skill. There are
a number of locked containers you will want to open, but bear in mind
that any locked gate or door that is part of the mission objectives
cannot be opened with this skill and require you to find a specific
key or method to open. Use of a Lock Pick Kit enhances your skill, and
the deluxe versions enhances the skill even more.
Combat and Weapons
Recruits often ask me; "What's the best way to kill my opponent?"
My answer is always; "From as far away as possible." This
means engage the enemy with your longest-range weapons and pick them
apart while they try to get in range to return fire. Sniping is a very
effective way of conducting combat and I have 2 dedicated snipers (who
are also cross training into Energy Weapon skill) and Team Leader who
is a part-time sniper (the Team Leader should eventually be trained
in all three ranged weapons skills). If you choose your weapons carefully
you will find that you can usually out-range your opponents and have
the advantage.
I arm my team for total war, and I use different arms for different circumstances. In general each troop carries a long-range weapon in one hand and a burst fire weapon or shotgun in the other hand (in my opinion the pump shotgun is useless, I only use the 470 Beretta double barrel shotgun firing both barrels for greatest destructive effect until I can get an autofire shotgun). After each mission you will scavenge weapons from the dead and will upgrade your firepower as you go. Your early weapons will be Hunting Rifles and Uzis, then Hunting Rifles and AK47s. The AK47 uses 7.62mm ammunition, the same round you're going to need later in the game for light machine-guns and miniguns, so don't get enthusiastic with burst fire. Use the Hunting Rifles from long range to pick apart your enemies. Use the various 9mm machine pistols you find instead of the AK47, you will have plenty of 9mm ammo available and you will need bigger guns by the middle of the game and the 9mm will just gather dust. I also use 9mm machine pistols for vehicle defense when on the way to or from a mission, 4 people sniping with Hunting Rifles or Sniper Rifles and 2 ready to fire bursts into any enemy who gets close to the vehicle. If you are frugal with ammo you can end each mission with more than you started with. Someone should carry a rocket launcher and know how to use it; sometimes it is just the thing for getting a one-shot kill on a Super Mutant or blowing up a crowd of enemies.
Take the time to plan your mission when you get to the insertion point. Look at your Pipboy map, it shows your objective points and the buildings and terrain you encounter.
I cannot stress enough the advantages of Not Being Seen. Those who are not seen are not shot at. This does not require a team that is all trained in Sneak, however. If one or two troops are trained for this, they can scout ahead and the rest of the team can follow behind. At all times, if you are trying to not be seen, remain prone if possible and crawl. This greatly enhances your chance to not be seen, even if you do not know the Sneak skill. Also, if you conduct your operations at night you will have a greater chance of remaining unseen.
I can't really go into tactics in this document except briefly. Crawl and sneak carefully and try to get the first shot. Attack where the enemy is weak. As an example, if faced with a line of defenders behind sandbags facing west, sneak to the south or north and attack them from the end of the line. If faced with a bunker or gun pit surrounded by sandbags, try to sneak around to attack from behind where it is open and undefended.
Do not take the well-travelled path. Use alleys, empty fields, and ruined buildings before taking the clearly marked road. If there is a big front door, look around back for another door or breach in the wall. Use the edge of the map for travel as it is usually not being observed by the enemy. Basically, if there is a big, obvious means of approach, don't use it; find another way (unless, of course, there is only one path available).
As a rule, do not release any prisoners you find during a mission until you have killed all the defenders or you risk the escaping prisoner being killed.
When acquiring information from civilians encountered in the field, be sure to question them multiple times to be sure you have learned everything they might have to tell you.
Vehicles and Travel
Vehicles are sometimes available for your missions. Vehicles allow you
to store extra weapons and ammunition and offer protection and mobility
in combat. Vehicles are armoured and will absorb more or less damage
(depending on type) before the occupants are exposed to damage. Passengers
in a vehicle can shoot in any direction and do not have to worry about
cross-fire/friendly fire. Vehicles are repaired with Repair skill and
a tool kit, and can be repaired from the inside. You cannot perform
First Aid or Doctor skill in a vehicle. Use your vehicle as a mobile
fighting platform in assaults and let it take the bullets meant for
you.
Exploring can be profitable if you are up to the task. You can get in fights and meet interesting people out in the wilderness. Once you have the APC and some decent heavy weapons you can head west and hunt mutants. I once drove west as far as I could go, killing mutants as I went. I returned with over $65K of captured weapons and gear and earned almost another level of experience as well. Be sure to watch ammo consumption and primarily use sniper rifles and one SAW.
Healing
Healing is a complicated subject. You can use First Aid (and a First
Aid Kit) to heal a damage sustained by a character until enough points
have been healed that they are flagged as "Bandaged" and the
skill will no longer work. The only way to remove the "Bandaged"
flag is to use Doctor skill to heal them when they are wounded.
Thus a character that is "Bandaged" but has no current HP
damage cannot be helped with Doctor skill. The Doctor skill also cures
being "Winded", "Concussed", and "Crippled".
The use of Doctor skill requires a Doctors Kit. You also have various
Stimpaks that can instantly heal a character but use them sparingly
as you will need them later in the game. First Aid and Doctor Kits take
a long time (in tactical terms) to use, Stimpaks are quick to use but
of limited supply. A wise commander uses both to maximum advantage.
Section Two: The Missions
Refer to your Pipboy mission map while reading the notes for you upcoming
mission.
Brahmin Woods
This mission does not offer any real options. Each area you move into
will only have one way out to the next area. Be sure to search all bodies
and containers for the keys you will need to open the doors that are
ahead of you. By the end of this mission you should have several Hunting
Rifles, these will be a mainstay of your arsenal for many missions.
Freeport
You will have some recruits to choose from to fill out your team when
you return to Bunker Alpha prior to this mission. I recommend Rebecca
(if available, she is trained in Lock Picking and Science), Jo (she
will be your driver and know Big Guns skill), and Trevor (he is strong
and can eventually use the M2 .50 caliber machine-gun). Bear in mind
that my recommendations are coloured by the fact that I played with
the Recruit Pool Bug that could strip away experience, levels and equipment
when a trooper was put back into the pool and later taken out, thus
my team became totally self-sufficient on skills and all original team
members remained on duty throughout the all the missions so far accomplished.
Equip as many as possible with Hunting Rifles and Uzi's or Beretta 470s.
This mission should be done as a night operation. From the insertion point you should plan to crawl south, keeping as far as possible from patrols, until you can see the southern stairs up to the compound. Move towards the stairs and have your long-range shooters engage the southern guards while the rest go up the stairs. After dealing with the southern guards locate the informant and get his information. You now have the option of engaging and eliminating the outside guards and patrols before proceeding inside. You can gain entrance either by going east from where the informant is to be found or north along the outside of the compound to the entrance by the still. Use cover and stealth as you crawl through the compound eliminating enemies as you encounter them. Locate the Elder and assist in his escape after you have killed all the defenders.
Rock Falls
This mission offers you several options in how you can achieve your
objectives. It is your option to assault the gates, although I do not
recommend it. Along the south wall of the "castle", near the
cliffs, is a hole in the walls (this is mentioned on the map in your
Pipboy). You should crawl south and east from the insertion point, eliminating
any enemies you encounter, until you come to some ruins across the street
from the sheet metal "castle". These ruined buildings are
guarded. Once past the guards crawl to the hole in the wall and look
for any guards. Eliminate any if found and crawl through. Be careful,
there may be antipersonnel mines here. From here you will see the gates
to the "inner keep" to the north and an open courtyard to
the west. It is recommended that you clear all buildings inside the
walls before going into the "inner keep". Once in the "inner
keep" you should sneak around until you find a ladder up to the
top of the walls as they overlook several key areas. Eliminate any enemies
you see from the walls and then proceed to the building in the "inner
keep". There are stairs up the side of this building and it may
be easier to work from top to bottom. Once this building is taken you
can eliminate the guards outside the main gates from behind.
Macomb
You will need a driver for this mission and someone to repair the Hummer
(don't forget to bring a toolkit). This is a fairly straightforward
mission and should be done during daylight. You have few options available
to you. Put your team in the Hummer and ready your Hunting Rifles and
one AK47. Drive up and down the streets until everyone shooting from
the rooftops is dead, then send someone up to finish off any survivors
and pick up loot. Check the condition of the Hummer and repair as required.
Open the gate, rinse, and repeat. Bear in mind that barricades are mined,
so shoot a few bursts into them to blow them up and remove them from
your path.
Preoria
You will be entering an abandoned underground installation to search
for fusion batteries. This installation is likely to contain automatic
defense turrets, which are almost immune to small arms fire and expensive
to destroy in any case. The turrets have a slow fire cycle and it is
possible to just run past them quickly (in CTB) and evade them.
Any old installation is also presents the risks of radioactive contamination,
so keep your RadX and Rad-Away handy.
Quincy
This is a delicate mission, best done at night. After making contact
with the mayor's assistant you can infiltrate your team into the town
with the basketball court as your first objective. From there it is
possible to send one or two stealthy troopers to the south wall of the
house the mayor is held in and access the roof. From there you can descend
to the second floor veranda, eliminate the commander rumoured to occupy
the room near the mayor and then find the mayor. Be sure to sneak and
crawl. Our analysis of their alarm systems indicates that the central
alarm in the mayor's house is the only wide area alarm, and a switch
on the roof of the mayor's house controls the central alarm. Any other
alarms alert only their immediate local defenders. From the mayors house
it is easy to crawl unnoticed to the power generators and rescue the
hostages. The town hall is across the street from the power plant so
it makes the next target, although the number of guards may make an
assault necessary. From the town hall you can move to either the brothel
to the east or the barracks to the north. Be aware that the Brotherhood
wants these people as allies so try to save as many civilians as you
can.
Mardin
This mission involves going into a dungeon, however there are enemies
scattered all over the surface above the tunnels. This mission is best
done during the daylight for good visibility. Moving slowly and sniping
enemies while outside their effective weapon range is recommended. The
Beastlords don't wear much armour so you can use 9mm weapons and other
lower-effectiveness methods and still do sufficient damage to your target.
Be careful of the pools of green radioactive toxic waste and be sure
to carry and use RadX and Rad-Away. If you eliminate all surface guards
it is your option to use any of three entrances to the underground.
Clear the underground and look to your mission objectives.
Springfield
This mission requires you to clear the west side of the town before
moving to save the mayor. Intelligence reports indicate that you may
have the opportunity to steal a Raider Buggy. This mission is a basic
sweep and clear. The town square has a gate going east to the town hall
that cannot be opened from the outside, you will have to go south and
find a way through the marketplace. Just south of the town hall is a
church with a tall tower, analysis of this tower indicates it is placed
poorly to help with the assault on the town hall, but YMMV. Use the
roof of the church to allow your snipers to shoot down at any defenders
in front of the town hall.
St. Louis
You will be given an APC for this mission. Use it, it will protect you
from the heavy weapons of the mutants and it can drive across most of
the trenches. (As you will (or should be) driving most of the time
this is a good mission to play in CTB). You should also have three
team members trained to use Big Guns, as you will likely capture some
here. An extra tool kit and other supplies are on the table in the building
with the APC for your use. Examine your Pipboy map carefully and investigate
all buildings and bunkers you see there. When you drive out with the
APC you will see a bridge, arm your troops with long range weapons (except
for one with a burst fire weapon for close defense) and cross the bridge
slowly. Engage at the mutants across the bridge at long range and then
collect their weapons. Drive eastwards and stay south of the hills until
you are stopped by ruined buildings and then turn north and west to
circle around to where Fang Squad was last reported (coming from behind
any mutants that might be waiting there). From there go northwest to
investigate the bunker nearby. From here you can go north to the riverbed
and turn east to approach the easternmost bridge from the side of the
defenses there so as to take the measure of any defenders there. From
here go back around the hill and approach the easternmost bridge straight
on and finish any defenders you find. Be careful of mines. The road
to Talon Squad has been blocked by a rock fall so it will be necessary
to turn west and then north, passing along the east edge of the mutant
fortifications. Arm some of your troops with long-range weapons and
the rest with captured SAWs and clear out the eastern trenches as you
pass them. The bunker that is to the north contains enemies keeping
Talon Squad pinned down so eliminate them. Go to Talons Squads location,
see to providing medical attention to them and then take them back to
the building where you picked up the APC. After dropping off Talon Squad
drive north to the trenches, clear them, and look for the General. You
are not authorized to assault the hill, but if you do so an effective
way is to drive along the edge of the toxic waste moat and engage and
eliminate any perimeter defenders before pulling up to the bridge and
using long range fire to engage the defenders up the path. A final infiltration
and assault on foot will be required as the APC will not fit across
the bridge.
Jefferson
This mission is fairly simple, although it does require a bit of maneuvering.
There is a BOS Scouter available at the insertion point for your use.
The mutants have set up guard points and roadblocks at important intersections
so make a rule to avoid moving along the roads, move through alleys,
demolished buildings, and open fields instead. The first objective should
be the large 2 story building on the west edge of the map (just south
of the insertion point). Sneak south across the street and behind the
building and look for access. Intelligence reports indicate that the
building entrances are protected with mines so be ready to disarm and
remove them. Clear the lower floors and then the roof so you can use
this building as a sniper platform. The mutants have fortified a train
station to the north of Generator 1 that is overlooked by the northeast
corner of the large 2 story building, the southeast corner offers an
opportunity to look for patrols and observe the area around Generator
1. Try to ambush any patrols with a combination of heavy gunners on
the ground and snipers on the southeast corner rooftop. Clear the rest
of the buildings on that block and then move across the street and storm
Generator 1 (avoid engaging the guard point to the southeast). From
here move north and clear the train station and guard point at the corner.
The eastern roof of the train station offer an observation/sniper post
that overlooks Generator 2. If this generator yard has any gates, an
attack from the east side would bring you behind any defenders. There
appears to be a path north through the junkyard just west of Generator
2 that allows you to get behind the generator yard. After destroying
Generator 2 clear the building immediately to the east and use it to
observe the Storage Facility below it and the courtyard containing Generator
3 and the Factory just to the east. From this vantage point eliminate
any guards you observe in the Storage Facility, then send down the Scouter
with the passenger shooting a SAW and clear out the area around the
Storage Facility. It appears there may be access to the Factory courtyard
from this area, try all options to gain entrance this way rather than
forcing your whole team to crawl through toxic waste. Remember, your
objectives are the four generators, don't destroy anything else that
might be useful. After the last two generators are destroyed clear the
buildings to the south and send a few troopers in environmental armour
through the tunnel in case anything is hiding down there (take some
RadX).
Kansas City
This is a defensive mission and the mutants are expected to attack almost
immediately, so don't waste time talking to anyone. You will need to
quickly divide you team to cover the three gates. From intelligence
reports the major threat is to the south gate. It is recommended that
you send one trooper to the north gate and one (with a SAW) to the west
gate and the remaining four to the south gate. The south gate can be
defended by putting a sniper and a heavy weapons gunner on the wall
(the one with the rocket launcher), another sniper standing just inside
the gate and a heavy weapons gunner (with a SAW and M2) just outside
the gate behind sandbags with a clear field of fire. Suppress any mutants
carrying heavy weapons with sniper fire and use rockets to break up
any groups that get close. Be careful, of course, not to hit any ghoul
allies. Be ready to reinforce the west gate if necessary (once the south
attack is breaking up and almost defeated you might want to shift someone
from the south to the west gate). Once the attacks are defeated, start
hunting any remaining mutants in the north and sweep south until you
have eliminated their commanders.
Osceolla
This mission is best done at night. You have several options in how
to approach your objectives. One way is to infiltrate the ruins immediately
north and east of the insertion point and ambush the patrols (you can
place mines for the patrols if you have a sneaking trapper). Engage
the gate guards with sniper fire, advance carefully into the compound,
and eliminate all the mutants on the surface. Another tactic is to sneak
around to the back of the compound (crawling at night as far as possible
from the mutants), neutralize the minefield, seize the sniper tower,
crawl in through the unguarded back gate, and surprise them by attacking
from the rear. No matter how you do it, eliminate all surface defenders
and then enjoy the thrills of clearing the underground in some carefree
room-to-room fighting. Be sure to pick up any and all loot you will
want before you go underground because the squads moving in to mop up
behind you may take any loot on the ground.
Junction City
This mission calls for diplomatic and investigative skills (don't worry,
you get to kill things too). Before you do anything get some troopers
on the walls and look for Reavers. Position your team in case of attack
(the walls offer a good vantage point to defend the town). Once that
is done you must discover who has the robot parts and convince them
to give them to you so be prepared to talk to every person in town.
Explore the town thoroughly and remember the Rules for Wasteland Living,
listed above. There are rumours of tunnels below the town that you should
check out.
Coldwater
You will have to search the town tier-by-tier and room-by-room. Try
to learn what you can from the locals but expect ambushes and fortified
guard posts. This mission should offer lots of carefree, in your face,
room-to-room action. Be sure to check with the Quartermaster for new
armour when you return to Bunker Delta.
Great Bend
This will be your first of a series of missions against Robots. By now
you should have at least 4 Energy Weapons users with either Sunbeam
Laser Rifles or Plasma Rifles. Your heavy gunners should be using Vindicators
or M2s. SAWs do light damage and Sniper Rifles almost none. Grenade
launchers, plasma grenades, rockets, and shotgun slugs are all good
weapons to use against robots. Energy weapons, however, are the best
and most consistent weapon to use against them. Expect to see an increase
in stimpak use as you encounter the robots. Any robot installation will
include turrets, even one that has recently fallen under their control.
This town is divided, north from south, by a dry canal. There is one bridge at the east end of the canal. You need to conduct yet another room-by-room search, working west to east through the buildings and ruins north of the canal. Once you get to the bridge, work back east to west through the factory.
Newton
This rescue mission takes you back into an urban warren with lots
of room-to-room clearing. A near-derelict tank is waiting for you, but
it is in serious need of repair so take a toolkit or two (some tank
cannon shells would be a good idea too). The Reavers have collected
a lot of useful things and this may be the mission that you want to
carefully consider number 1, 2, and 3 of the Rules for Wasteland Living
(above).
You will have to see each Reaver Elder to safety individually, they won't travel together.
All contents copyright 2001 by Cary Martin