BRAHMIN WOOD (MISSION 1): 1.0

You're going to start with Stitch the medic and Farsight the sniper. In combat, Stitch is pretty useless due to his low perception; he will only do any damage when close, and then he will do a lot of damage because of his shotgun. Farsight is good enough at range, although she will miss often. Your character should start with an MP5, a submachine gun which is middling with range, and can do lots up close with a burst. Burst isn't all that accurate at range, however, and burns ammo fast. You'd best get yourself a rifle ASAP if you have good perception (which you ought to if you're a sniper) and work in concert with Farsight to pick off people from afar or middling distances, and have Stitch patch you up when you're hit. One of the best tactics is to duck behind a wall, and on your turn stand up, fire a round or two, and then duck down so you can't be seen. Keep this in mind as I describe the areas below.

You start in a ruin. Go NE and talk to the village elder. Then crouch everyone and move to the bridge, N of you. There are a couple guards NW of you past the rocks, and one NE of you, patrolling, with a dog. Try to engage them one at a time; get into the rocks if you can, and remain crouched because you are harder to hit that way. Also, if you hide behind the rock structure with the firepit in front of it, you can take potshots at the NW guy without being hit (only Farsight has this capability with her rifle).

When done, DON'T FORGET TO RELOAD YOUR WEAPONS. This is done easily by selecting everyone and hitting the 'R' key.

The guy to the NE has a Mauser (a 9mm pistol) and a baseball bat. You want your main character to loot him because the ammo he has is useful for the MP5. The NW one has a zip gun (1-shot, sucks), ammo, and a stimpak, great for healing.

Advance NW to the bunker. There is a guy patrolling the area. Advance on him and cut him down. Then position 2 people (including Farsight) to the SW, against the wall, and put them on agressive attack. Use the 3rd to bait the guy out of the bunker, and your other 2 will ambush him. In a close-quarters fight, you should be ok, especially with stitch's shotgun. Loot the 2 bodies to get a 44 (a good pistol) and an uzi. .44 should go to Farsight, who needs a close weapon, as the rifle can be innaccurate up close. Put it in her 2nd weapon slot and RELOAD.

Head into the bunker to get the chest, wherein you may find a key and rifle ammo, as well as a stimpak (rifle ammo goes to Farsight). Then head SW to the ruin and talk to the shaman. Now go back NE and into the door by the bunker. Make sure you're on agressive (or not, if you intend to sneak) and open the door. There is a guard inside, and hopefully you'll hit him once or twice. Also note the guard outside by the garden, and the dog running around out there.

Crouch inside and use the walls for cover once the initial guy is down and try to hide behind the walls. Stand up, take a shot, and then duck. Don't get too close, though, as he has a shotgun, which sucks for range but does a prodigious amount of damage should it hit. Loot the raider inside and the shelf next to the blue shelf. Also take the booze on the ground. Also loot the shotgun guy for more shells for stitch.

Advance NW to the tent. Loot the shelf inside, then go N to the area with the sleeping people. Put yourself on passive sentry mode and get as close as you dare so as to kill them before they can do anything at all. Getting Stitch near the dogs is a good idea as he can kill them both with one good shot from the shotgun, if you're lucky.

Go through the gate here into the Brahmin pen. Do not injure them. This next part is a bit tricky. You want to make sure not to hit any of the civilians in the tent, and yet there are 2 guards in there who need to be killed. Put stitch at the N entrance and the other 2 at the south entrance. Advance the south team in on agressive to shoot the one guy, and move Stitch around to shoot at the guy who runs in among the kids. Alternately, put your MP5 guy there to try to hit him hard before he runs in among the kids. If you're lucky, nobody will be hurt, but this part is hard. Definitely save beforehand.

Go out the NE door when you're sure the sentry isn't around, and into the tent N of you. Kill the guy inside and take his speargun. Also loot the shelf for shotgun shells and drugs (worth money).

Sentry time. Put the MP5 guy in the tent with the kids, then set all to agressive. You want to ambush the sentry because she has a rifle, which has some serious accuracy bonuses, so you want to hit her fast and hard, at short range, so she won't be able to get away and have the advantage. Put Farsight and Stitch in the N tent, near the door, on agressive, and the MP5 guy in the tent with the hostages (alternately put Stitch there for shotgun power) and wait for her to come around. When dead, give the rifle immediately to the main character and put the MP5 in the 2nd slot.

Now move NW to the next bunker, on crouch. The guy will notice you, but you should be able to kill him quickly with 2 rifles. Unlock the door and go in. Inexplicably, he has both shotgun shells and rifle bullets, which you can split between the two riflemen. Also loot the crate in here.

Head out the next door, across the street, and into the little parking lot that might once have been a basketball field. Beware the guards here and do not make a frontal assault on the bunker. Instead, move down behind the tin wall, killing resistance on the way. You will kill one guy there who wants to ambush you, and also the sentry who moves back and forth. From there, move to the trees in the middle and advance cautiously. Shoot the guards when they activate; hopefully you are close enough to do damage. If not, you'll have to go around the back of the bunker.

Give the 3rd rifle off of the guard here to stitch, for his 2nd slot, and make sure to loot the crate for grenades and first aid. Then carefully move through the hole in the SW wall and to the sniper post (with the ladder). Go up the ladder with your main char on aggressive, ideally with the MP5 selected, on burst. You ought to blow him to smithereens. Once up here you might be able to see other guys and shoot them, so look around with the rifle on, set to aggressive. Before you leave, get the stimpak and rifle bullets in the crate.

Move SE through the next wall, into the next ruined area, this one with wood floors. If you didn't snipe him, there's a guy here with a pistol who you can deal with. Then move SE to the buliding with the burning barrel. There are 2 guys here, waiting in ambush, along with a dog, so be careful.

Move SW into the room with the wood floors and tin walls. There is an uzi-packing thug here that shouldn't cause too much trouble if you're careful. Next move W into the courtyard and take out the 2 sentries there, from cover if you can. Move around the building N (on the east side) and come around to surprise the sentry on the west side.

Once he's gone, you can either get onto the roof to shoot people from there, or go in the front door. The best way to finish this mission is to walk out a single step, fire a shot or two, and then move back behind cover. They won't be able to take a single shot at you. It's pretty easy if you ask me. The only risk is when you take the first step out, as there is a guy on the right side with a machine gun. Either set your MP5 to burst and go on the right side, or do the left side to activate TB combat and then machinegun him on your next turn. Whatever you do, do it crouched.

Killing Horus ought to send you up a level. Put all your points in small guns; I'm not kidding. It will be very hard on you if you don't.

Loot the bodies for stuff. There is also a crate and a box and a locked box. The locked box is tricky to open without extra lockpick points, but contains 2 stimpaks (not earthshattering if you miss them).

Go all the way back and talk to the shaman, who will give you heal powder. Then go back to the Elder and talk to him; he will give you a detonator if no natives died. Then, step on to the green patch nearby to leave.

Head back to the bunker for healing, equipment, and new recruits