What kind of country could a Jagged Alliance 4 be set in?

[Modron]

Always felt JA2 was too big in scope with fighting an entire (micro)nation, incongruent that you'd do that with a mercenary company of a dozen guys.

Executive Outcomes was probably the biggest inspiration for the series and they took back full sized nations with a roster of 300 men. Just pretend it's to scale.

 

[mondblut]

South Africa in a civil war in the 80s/90s would be cool. Not an African tinpot dictatorship but a relatively modern country in an African setting with an apartheid-like situation, mercenaries and factions all around and guns, lots of guns.

Would be cool to find Blood fighting with the ANC on one side and Cliff with the whiteys on the other side.

Because we're clearly in serious lack of stories about poor oppressed dindus fighting for muh diversity, equality and inclusion against evil whitey.

 

[Johannes]

South Africa in a civil war in the 80s/90s would be cool. Not an African tinpot dictatorship but a relatively modern country in an African setting with an apartheid-like situation, mercenaries and factions all around and guns, lots of guns.

Would be cool to find Blood fighting with the ANC on one side and Cliff with the whiteys on the other side.

Because we're clearly in serious lack of stories about poor oppressed dindus fighting for muh diversity, equality and inclusion against evil whitey.

I'm imagining a Nethergate style game set in Africa, with the small difference that the fairies the blacks are making a deal with, don't actually exist.

 

[Strig]

Always felt JA2 was too big in scope with fighting an entire (micro)nation, incongruent that you'd do that with a mercenary company of a dozen guys.

Executive Outcomes was probably the biggest inspiration for the series and they took back full sized nations with a roster of 300 men. Just pretend it's to scale.

Bob Denard launched coups in Comoros with 30-40 men. Usually mercenary companies weren't that big.

Personally, I'm interested more in the era the new game would be set in than the place. Unfortunately, they need their legacy characters, so there's very little wiggle room for time shifts. But it would be great to see an entry in the series set in the '60s. Iconic guns with wooden furniture (peak gun aesthetic no question) and still a lot of carry over from WWII. The ensemble of mercenaries would definitely be colourful, former Wehrmacht and SS soldiers, members of the Foreign Legions, generally vets of the last war like Mad Mike Hoare, Congo Müller or younger lads who really hated commies like Rafał Gan-Ganowicz. The most interesting thing they could do, however, is to dive headfirst into the reality of a conflict that usually needs mercenaries. Jagged Alliance was always pretty bad at that, operating on action movie logic more than anything else. The game needs factions with different ideologies and backing. Communists (you could even have one faction backed by the Soviets and one by China like ZIPRA and ZANLA in Zimbabwe), separatists, nationalists, monarchists, UN, former local colonial powers, private companies wanting to secure their interests. Not only would it be awesome, but the replayability would be insane.

 

[geno]

Las Vegas occupied by a foreign force. We had enough tropical enviroments.

 

[Jacob]

american midwest

 

[Froila]

Greyhawk or Krynn. For maximum 80-90s vibes.

 

[lightbane]

Spain/Europe in 2030 or so. It will be thirdlworldian for sure by then.

 

[Johannes]

Spain/Europe in 2030 or so. It will be thirdlworldian for sure by then.

It will also be under water by then due to global warming.


But gonna be cool playing in underwater cities

 

[Stoned Ape]

Near future post-election US with militia uprisings vs rioting gangs vs national guard/feds.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Make it X-Com like geoscape, doing black black ops missions all over the globe with private jets and add choosing sides.

 

[Haba]

Near future post-election US with militia uprisings vs rioting gangs vs national guard/feds.

Antifa, raving packs of trannies, fentanyl zombies...

 

[vota DC]

Chop/Chaz would be epic. You are ordered to shoot against the ambulance, then you are ordered to punish the hospitals because they don't send ambulances in Seattle autonomous zone.

 

[zool]

https://www.reuters.com/world/afric...my-says-it-stopped-attempted-coup-2024-05-19/

White mercs. Congo it is then.

 

[Johannes]

https://www.reuters.com/world/afric...my-says-it-stopped-attempted-coup-2024-05-19/

White mercs. Congo it is then.

Where'd you parse that they were white from? US citizen or not, Christian Malanga doesn't sound white to me

 

[Mig]

Wakanda

 

[zool]

https://www.reuters.com/world/afric...my-says-it-stopped-attempted-coup-2024-05-19/

White mercs. Congo it is then.

Where'd you parse that they were white from? US citizen or not, Christian Malanga doesn't sound white to me

https://x.com/africansinnews/status/1792146815439065269

The guy's middle name is Reuben. You can't make that shit up

 

[Hoodoo]

Dont see why you couldnt have a mix of international locations as you do missions for different people. Start off small doing local near criminal type stuff before you get noticed by spook types and are doing a variety of international operations. Have your HQ out of a bar or something in a nieghborhood you can interact with. Depending which missions you take etc one of the missions could be you sitting the bar when a hit-squad walks in and next minute your fighting your way out of your neighborhood. Have side-quests where you can get involved in the personal lives of the mercs you use. Missions where you need to use violence but not necessarily deadly force.

Otherwise a story that deals with the rise of corporations like Blackwater could be interesting.

Otherwise Zimbabwe. Those guys exemplify the feel you get when playing JA to me.

 

[Johannes]

Dont see why you couldnt have a mix of international locations as you do missions for different people. Start off small doing local near criminal type stuff before you get noticed by spook types and are doing a variety of international operations. Have your HQ out of a bar or something in a nieghborhood you can interact with. Depending which missions you take etc one of the missions could be you sitting the bar when a hit-squad walks in and next minute your fighting your way out of your neighborhood. Have side-quests where you can get involved in the personal lives of the mercs you use. Missions where you need to use violence but not necessarily deadly force.

Otherwise a story that deals with the rise of corporations like Blackwater could be interesting.

Otherwise Zimbabwe. Those guys exemplify the feel you get when playing JA to me.

In Jagged Alliance games honestly I'd keep it to these smallish locations where the bigger scale is moving on a single strategic map.

 

[Hoodoo]

I get where your coming from I think but I mean perhaps the strategic map would be the world and you would have smaller strategic maps nestled inside depending on what contracts you choose. Would allow for more variety in terrains/enemies/etc I think. Get offered a cold climate mission with a well armed but small group of people guarding a facility. Short and pays really well but dangerous and equipment investment. Take a run of the mill oil tanker guard thing instead. Or be part of a longer operation working for some warlord- less pay and longer but easier enemies and you don't need to get cold gear. Maybe the mercenaries you don't choose end up in other companies and you cross paths with them as well. Allow for more twists and turns in the story as you work for / piss off certain factions in the world at large. Something like that but implemented better than I'm telling it could be cool.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Dont see why you couldnt have a mix of international locations as you do missions for different people. Start off small doing local near criminal type stuff before you get noticed by spook types and are doing a variety of international operations. Have your HQ out of a bar or something in a nieghborhood you can interact with. Depending which missions you take etc one of the missions could be you sitting the bar when a hit-squad walks in and next minute your fighting your way out of your neighborhood. Have side-quests where you can get involved in the personal lives of the mercs you use. Missions where you need to use violence but not necessarily deadly force.

I get where your coming from I think but I mean perhaps the strategic map would be the world and you would have smaller strategic maps nestled inside depending on what contracts you choose. Would allow for more variety in terrains/enemies/etc I think. Get offered a cold climate mission with a well armed but small group of people guarding a facility. Short and pays really well but dangerous and equipment investment. Take a run of the mill oil tanker guard thing instead. Or be part of a longer operation working for some warlord- less pay and longer but easier enemies and you don't need to get cold gear. Maybe the mercenaries you don't choose end up in other companies and you cross paths with them as well. Allow for more twists and turns in the story as you work for / piss off certain factions in the world at large. Something like that but implemented better than I'm telling it could be cool.

This could be interesting design for a squad-based tactics game with a strategic layer, but it would be a departure from the Jagged Alliance model which is dependent on the player's forces gradually extending control over one single region while defending liberated territory from counterattacks.