Guided tutorial: your first campaign

This page walks you through your first hours of Jagged Alliance 2 v1.13, one step at a time: checking that your installation works, picking sensible first-time settings, creating your own mercenary, hiring a starter team, landing in Arulco, and capturing your first town — Drassen. By the end you will have an income, a militia, and a campaign that can stand on its own feet.

It assumes you have already installed the game and the 1.13 mod. If not, start with the installation guide.

Spoiler policy

This tutorial only tells you what the first hours require and avoids story detail wherever possible. If you want more hand-holding beyond Drassen — or full quest detail — switch to the walkthrough, which is allowed to spoil things.

Step 1 — Sanity-check your installation

1. Open your game folder and run ja2.exe. You should reach the main menu.
2. Click Start New Game. A 1.13 installation shows far more options than vanilla JA2 — difficulty, skill traits, inventory system, arsenal size and more (see New Game options). If you only see the handful of vanilla options, the mod is not active — recheck the installation steps.
3. Back out without starting a game for now.

If the game fails to launch, shows a black screen, or the colors are wrong, run cnc-ddraw config.exe in the game folder and see troubleshooting.

The main menu Q key

On the main menu, Q quits the game immediately with no confirmation prompt. Something to know before you start experimenting with keys.

Step 2 — Pick your resolution and display mode

Vanilla JA2 is locked to 640x480. 1.13 supports modern resolutions, configured in Ja2.ini in the game's root folder (next to ja2.exe). Open it with a plain text editor such as Notepad++ and find these settings:

; The screen resolution of the game
SCREEN_RESOLUTION = 8

; 0 ... Full Screen
; 1 ... Windowed Mode
SCREEN_MODE_WINDOWED = 0

SCREEN_RESOLUTION is a number, not a pair of dimensions — the comment block above it in the file lists all choices, from 0 (640x480) through 2 (800x600), 5 (1024x768), 20 (1920x1080) and beyond, up to 25 (custom resolution, which uses the CUSTOM_SCREEN_RESOLUTION_X / CUSTOM_SCREEN_RESOLUTION_Y values). The default 8 is 1366x768.

Pick something at or above 1024x768: your resolution also caps the maximum squad size you can choose when starting a game (640x480 allows squads of 6, 800x600 allows 8, 1024x768 allows 10).

Do not use the bundled INI Editor

The INI Editor.exe shipped with the game is known to cause problems. Edit INI files with a normal text editor instead. See configuration basics for safe-editing advice.

Everything else can wait

Data-1.13\Ja2_Options.INI contains hundreds of gameplay settings. The defaults give you the intended 1.13 experience — resist the urge to tweak before your first campaign. When you are ready, see the Ja2_Options.INI tour and the recommended settings.

Step 3 — Start a new campaign

Run ja2.exe again and click Start New Game. For a first campaign, these choices work well (the New Game options page explains every option in full):

Option	First-run recommendation	Why
Difficulty Level	Experienced	The default, and the baseline the game is balanced around. Difficulty affects starting cash, enemy numbers, elite troops and more — see difficulty levels compared.
Skill Traits	New	The 1.13 trait system. Hover any trait for a tooltip explaining what it does.
Game Style	Sci-Fi or Realistic	Sci-Fi (the default) includes a unique enemy type and some unrealistic weapons; Realistic removes them. Pick Realistic if you want a purely military campaign.
Extra Difficulty	Save Anytime	Iron Man restricts saving to enemy-free sectors — not for a first run.
Inventory / Attachments	New / New	The modern 1.13 experience: LBE gear and the new attachment system.
Progress Speed of Item Choices	Normal	Controls how fast better gear appears for you and the enemy.
Available Arsenal	Tons of Guns	The signature 1.13 arsenal with hundreds of guns. Pick Reduced if that sounds overwhelming.
Max. Squad Size	Highest available	Purely an upper limit on mercs per squad; the options depend on your resolution.
Bobby Ray Quality / Quantity	Defaults (Great)	How good and how plentiful the online gun shop's stock is.

Aiming system: leave it alone for now

Current releases use the classic chance-to-hit system (OCTH) by default; the New Chance to Hit system (NCTH) is an opt-in setting in Ja2_Options.INI. OCTH is more predictable and easier to learn — keep it for your first campaign, and read NCTH explained if you get curious later.

Confirm your choices and the campaign begins — at your laptop.

Step 4 — Meet your laptop

The laptop is your strategic headquarters: e-mail, a web browser, and a personnel manager. Later in the campaign you reach it from the map screen with L, and close it with Esc.

1. Read your e-mail first. Your inbox explains your mission in Arulco and contains a message from Psych Pro Inc. about I.M.P. — the Institute for Mercenary Profiling — with an access code.
2. The Web section is where you hire people: A.I.M. (the mercenary agency), I.M.P. (your custom merc), and later Bobby Ray's online gun shop and the cut-price M.E.R.C. agency, which are not available on day one.

Step 5 — Create your I.M.P. merc

Your I.M.P. character is a custom mercenary you design yourself. Creation costs a flat $3,000, and unlike hired mercs an I.M.P. has no recurring salary — easily the best money you will spend today. This section covers the essentials; the IMP creation guide is the full reference.

1. Open the I.M.P. website from the browser.
2. Enter the access code from the I.M.P. e-mail: XEP624.
3. Fill in a name, an optional nickname, and a gender.
4. Work through the profiling process: attributes, skills and traits, then a portrait and a voice (the current game data ships 20 portraits and 15 voice sets).

In 1.13 the attribute screen is a point-buy system. By default you distribute a 500-point pool across your attributes, each between 35 and 85. Five of the ten attributes (Leadership, Marksmanship, Mechanical, Explosives and Medical) can be dropped below 35 — that sets them straight to 0 in exchange for bonus points. Skipping trait picks earns extra points too, as does taking a disability. 1.13 can also let you pick a background with its own bonuses and penalties.

A solid first I.M.P.

Don't min-max your first character. High Marksmanship, Health, Dexterity and Agility make a dependable frontline shooter — and think twice before dropping a skill to 0 for bonus points, because a merc cannot use a skill they have 0 in. Anything your I.M.P. can't do, you can hire for.

More than one I.M.P.

1.13 supports creating multiple I.M.P. mercs (vanilla allowed only one). One is plenty for this tutorial.

Step 6 — Hire a starter team from A.I.M.

Open the A.I.M. website and browse the mercs (the Mug Shot Index shows everyone at a glance). Click a portrait to see a merc's stats — hovering over the portrait shows their traits. When you hire, you choose a contract length and one of up to five starting gear kits (1 – 5 select a kit).

Your starting cash depends on difficulty and it has to cover several hires, so shop in the budget aisle. A good first team is your I.M.P. plus four or five cheap mercs covering these roles:

Role	Budget picks	Why you need it
Medic	MD, Fox, Spider	Someone must patch bullet holes; two medics is even safer.
Technician	Barry, Vinny	Repairs gear, picks locks, handles explosives (Barry).
Fighters	Igor, Grunty, Buns, Grizzly, Meltdown	People who shoot straight.
Night/stealth (optional)	Spider, Barry, Mouse, Igor	Night fighting is much safer early on.

Don't spend everything

Keep a cash reserve. You will want money for militia training after you take Drassen — more on that in Step 10.

Once your team is hired, close the laptop. Your mercs fly to Arulco and drop by helicopter into sector A9 — the town of Omerta. On the map screen, press Space to toggle time compression and wait for their arrival; the game switches to the tactical screen when they land.

Step 7 — First tactical steps in Omerta

Omerta (sectors A9 and A10, in the far north of Arulco) is a bombed-out husk of a town and the last holdout of the rebellion against Queen Deidranna. A small enemy force has been left behind here, so expect your first fight shortly after landing in A9.

The essentials to get through it — combat is turn-based once enemies are sighted:

Key	What it does
F1 – F10	Select a merc (press again to center on them)
Space	Select the next merc in the squad
D	End your turn (in real time: switch to turn-based)
P / C / S	Go prone / crouch / stand
R	Run mode
L	Turn to face the cursor; press again to raise your weapon
B	Cycle burst/auto (and under-barrel) fire modes
Alt+R	Reload the selected merc's weapon
F	Show info about the tile under the cursor (cover, range, chance to hit…)
J	Vault fences, climb onto or off flat roofs
Z	Toggle stealth mode
Tab	Toggle cursor between ground and roof level
E	Cycle through enemies your merc can see
M	Leave the sector view for the strategic map
Alt+S / Alt+L	Quick save / quick load

This is a tiny slice of the controls — bookmark the complete hotkey reference.

A few habits that win early fights:

• Use cover and low stances. Crouching or prone mercs are harder to see and harder to hit.
• Keep some AP in reserve. A merc who ends the turn with leftover action points has a better chance to interrupt enemies on their turn.
• Aim before you shoot. Right-click on a target to add aim clicks; more aim costs more AP but hits more often.
• Save often. You picked Save Anytime — use it (Alt+S).

Left-click to move, right-click to act

Left-click a tile to move there. With a weapon in hand, the cursor over an enemy becomes an attack cursor. Hold right-click on one of your own mercs to change their assignment, and press H any time for the in-game help window.

Step 8 — Meet Fatima and the rebels

After the sector is clear, look for the civilians in A9 and talk to Fatima — she is your contact for the letter your employer gave you. She leads you to the rebel hideout in the neighboring sector A10, where you deliver the letter and meet what is left of the rebellion: Miguel (the leader), Carlos, Dimitri, and Ira, a scout and medic.

Several rebels can join your team over the course of the campaign — see recruitable NPCs for the details. Ira in particular is a natural early addition to a starter squad.

The rebels point you at your first real objective: Drassen, a town to the southeast with an airport and a mine. Getting the rebels' support fully on your side also involves a food-delivery side quest that starts here — see side quests.

Step 9 — Take Drassen, sector by sector

Leave Omerta via the strategic map (M): select your squad, plot a route to Drassen and confirm. Holding Shift while plotting picks the most direct route instead of the fastest. Compress time with + / - or toggle it with Space, and enter a highlighted sector with Esc when you arrive.

Drassen spans three sectors from north to south: B13 (airport), C13 (residential), D13 (mine). Coming from Omerta you will naturally reach B13 first.

B13 — the airport

The most important sector of the town: once it is yours, Bobby Ray's online gun shop opens and can ship equipment to Drassen. Expect a sizable garrison, though mostly low-grade administrators and police.

• The airport is ringed by a chain-link fence with its only opening in the south — which is exactly where most of the guards watch. Wire cutters get you through the fence elsewhere.
• Entering the sector from the north puts you behind most of the defenders.
• The offices on the west side offer cover and windows to fire through.
• A few enemies usually wait around the aircraft in the northeast.
• After the fight, check the lockers in the ACA building in the southeast for spare equipment.

C13 — the residential district

Poorly trained, poorly armed enemies, but lots of open space. Attack from the west or south, where buildings and rooftops work in your favor, or approach through the trees near the old airfield. There is a side quest here involving a sweatshop — see side quests.

D13 — the mine

Most of Drassen's population lives here, and there are flat rooftops and junk piles to fight from. In 1.13, be wary of enemy reinforcements from nearby patrols joining the battle — they often bring better-armed red- and black-shirted troops.

Once the sector is clear, talk to the head miner in the southwest so the Drassen mine starts working for you — a mine pays nothing until you have spoken to him. Mine income is what funds the rest of your campaign (see money & economy); you can see it on the map screen with the M map filter.

Resupply at Bobby Ray's

With the airport secured, order gear from Bobby Ray's on the laptop and have it shipped to Drassen. Ammunition first; optics and armor next.

Step 10 — Train militia and prepare for the counterattack

Mercs are expensive and cannot be everywhere. Militia are locals you train to defend captured sectors while you move on.

1. Open the map screen (M) and give one of your leaders the militia-training assignment in a Drassen sector (hold right-click on a merc in tactical, or use the assignment column on the map screen). Training costs money ($750 a session by default) and the trainer needs at least 20 Leadership — that reserve from Step 6 has a purpose.
2. Repeat until the town sectors have solid garrisons. You can start training before you hold the entire town. Note that 1.13 militia also draw a small daily upkeep ($10/$20/$30 per green/regular/elite militiaman), so keep some income flowing.
3. See militia for training, moving militia between sectors, and directly commanding them in battle.

Now the warning: in 1.13, taking Drassen provokes a massive enemy counterattack on the town — considerably larger than anything vanilla JA2 sends at you this early. Get ready before you compress time:

• Train (and position) as much militia as you can afford — the play-tested advice is to concentrate it in the mine sector and the sector next to it, so it can reinforce.
• Put your mercs in cover in tactical before accelerating time.
• Mind your weapon ranges; don't expose mercs until they can take a good shot.

The full defense guide is in the walkthrough: the Drassen counterattack.

You can turn the counterattack off

If it is simply too much for a first campaign, set TRIGGER_MASSIVE_ENEMY_COUNTERATTACK_AT_DRASSEN = FALSE in Data-1.13\Ja2_Options.INI (default TRUE). No shame — vanilla JA2 never had it.

Survive that, and you hold a town, an airport, a mine and an income. Your first campaign is truly under way.

Where to go from here

• What's different in 1.13 — a tour of the mod's gameplay changes now that you've seen the basics.
• Starter tips — early-game strategy, first hires, and surviving the counterattack.
• Complete hotkey reference — the full control list; even a handful more keys makes tactical play much smoother.
• Walkthrough — a suggested campaign route beyond Drassen, with early game next up; the first steps page re-covers this tutorial's ground in more depth (with spoilers).
• Configuration — once you know what you'd like to change, 1.13 lets you change almost everything.
• FAQ — quick answers to common early questions.

Sources

• Omerta — Jagged Alliance wiki (Fandom): starting sectors, NPCs, rebel hideout, quests.
• Drassen — Jagged Alliance wiki (Fandom): sector layout, tactics, NPCs, 1.13 notes.
• Institute for Mercenary Profiling — Jagged Alliance wiki (Fandom): I.M.P. access code, cost, creation flow.
• JA2_113_Hotkeys.pdf (r9389, 2022) from the 1.13 game directory — all hotkeys cited on this page.
• Ja2.ini and Data-1.13/Ja2_Options.INI from the current 1dot13/gamedir repository — resolution settings, I.M.P. point-buy values, militia training cost, Leadership requirement and daily upkeep, counterattack setting.
• Data-1.13/TableData/IMPPortraits.xml and IMPVoices.xml from the same repository — I.M.P. portrait and voice counts.
• The previous 1.13 starter documentation (r8741-era): index and play guide — New Game option descriptions, starter merc suggestions, early tactics, counterattack advice.