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96-417: The Jagged Alliance games center on strategically controlling mercenary squads, on and off the field, who complete various missions such as freeing countries from oppressive dictators . The games feature a mix of turn-based battle simulation, 4X (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate) elements and role-playing . Humour via spoken character comments is a trademark of the series. The personalities of

192-411: A private military company (PMC) which does not supply any fighters but is used to export military training services. It realised a profit of €222 million in 2019. It is an offence "to recruit" German citizens "for military duty in a military or military-like facility in support of a foreign power" ( §109h StGB ). Furthermore, a German citizen who enlists in the armed forces of a state they are also

288-536: A 3D combat engine. On July 20, 2006, Game Factory Interactive announced that MiST Land South was being dissolved, as of August 1, 2006. In August 2006, SFI withdrew the rights to JA3D as well. GFI claimed that the game simply did not fit within SFI's plans. SFI, on the other hand, stated that JA3D was in an incomplete state and not ready for the scheduled release date. It was obvious that SFI, having faced years of development without any progress, had finally given up on

384-541: A citizen of risks the loss of their citizenship ( §28 StAG ). In 1998, South Africa passed the Foreign Military Assistance Act that banned citizens and residents from any involvement in foreign wars, except for humanitarian operations, unless a government committee approved deployment. In 2005, the legislation was reviewed by the government because: As of 2010, South Africa forbids citizens from fighting in foreign wars unless they are under

480-515: A city called Daedala or Daidala ( Ancient Greek : Δαίδαλα ) in India, which he called Indo-Cretan, most probably because it was a settlement of Cretan mercenaries. In the late Roman Empire , it became increasingly difficult for Emperors and generals to raise military units from the citizenry for various reasons: lack of manpower, lack of time available for training, lack of materials, and, inevitably, political considerations. Therefore, beginning in

576-631: A custom mercenary as well. Mercs can talk to one another during missions, usually spouting one-liners and other comments to each other. In June 2005, Pocket PC Studios and Strategy First announced a conversion of Jagged Alliance 2 Gold for the Nintendo DS . This was never released. JA2 has been extensively modded by fans of the series. Most notable include, but are not limited to: v1.13 , Urban Chaos , Deidranna Lives , Renegade Republic . and JA2-Stracciatella . Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business , alternatively known as Jagged Alliance 2.5 ,

672-406: A hospital, surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites, a swamp and a junkyard. The weapons arsenal has grown considerably to include a variety of weapons based on real-life counterparts (such as automatic weapons , shotguns , rocket launchers ) and also fictional weapons like an auto firing rocket rifle. There are some more role-playing elements like specialty professions and the possibility to create

768-409: A member of any other official military . Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather than for political interests. Beginning in the 20th century, mercenaries have increasingly come to be seen as less entitled to protection by rules of war than non-mercenaries. The Geneva Conventions declare that mercenaries are not recognized as legitimate combatants and do not have to be granted

864-510: A mercenary-themed plot, turn-based gameplay, and a familiar game interface. Strategy First intended to produce Jagged Alliance 3 internally, with head developer Thiessen promising a much more open experience than any other Jagged Alliance game. There were expected to be five separate factions to fight in JA3 , instead of a single enemy. Characters were said to have their own agendas and allegiances in addition to randomization of various settings of

960-677: A mercenary. While mercenaries do not enjoy the same protection as prisoners of war do, they must still be treated humanely according to the rules of the Protocol and they may not be punished without a trial. On 4 December 1989, the United Nations passed resolution 44/34, the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries. It entered into force on 20 October 2001 and

1056-434: A missile base in the nearby country of Tracona, demanding the mines are returned to them. They destroy Arulco's now-empty Tixa prison as an example of what happens if their demands are not met. The player must put a team of mercenaries together to infiltrate Tracona and disable the missile base. Jagged Alliance 2: Gold Pack was published by Strategy First on August 6, 2002 and adds the improvements of Unfinished Business to

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1152-652: A mod. The focus was instead directed into designing revamped environments, new items and stronger enemies. This presents players with a more challenging campaign, however the goals and progression remain the same. In terms of gameplay features, the game remains almost unchanged. Soon after release, i-Deal Games terminated relations with Strategy First stating "...SF fulfilled none of it's [ sic ] obligation of contract and paid no single cent to i-Deal Games..." . Consequently, WF5 remains largely unpatched, only minor hotfixes were published. I-Deal Games also stated that buggy version were released by Strategy First. After

1248-455: A one-time fee rather than the time-based pay of the original. Conversation trees with NPCs have been replaced with linear "talk or stop talking" dialogue. Humorous cut-scenes featuring the exploits of the Queen have also been removed. Mercenary A mercenary , is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not

1344-411: A part of the publisher for the first game, Sir-Tech Software, Inc. , along with a transfer of IP. The second game, Jagged Alliance 2 , was also started by Sir-Tech. When Sir-Tech's publishing arm went bankrupt, the game rights were transferred to its development house Sir-Tech Canada and published by TalonSoft . By the time Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business was released, Sir-Tech's publishing arm

1440-467: A profit, by either providing services involving the potential exercise of [armed] force in a systematic way and by military means, and/or by the transfer of that potential to clients through training and other practices, such as logistics support, equipment procurement, and intelligence gathering". Private paramilitary forces are functionally mercenary armies, though they may serve as security guards or military advisors; however, national governments reserve

1536-498: A surplus of experienced soldiers. Also, Colombian soldiers are much cheaper than soldiers from developed countries . PMCs from several Middle Eastern countries have signed contracts with the Colombian Defense Ministry to carry out security or military activities. The United Nations questions whether PMC soldiers are sufficiently accountable for their war zone actions. A common argument for using PMCs (used by

1632-733: A tactical-strategy game published by SFI in North America. The two companies already had a relationship, and it was felt the JA3D project could be mutually beneficial. From statements made by both Strategy First and Game Factory Interactive, it is apparent that GFI assumed the costs for the development, with SFI providing the intellectual property and the overall vision for the project. This arrangement proved to be very cumbersome, and prone to misunderstandings and confusion. SFI, naturally enough, had very ambitious goals for JA3D while GFI sought to control development costs and time. The initial plan

1728-661: A videotaped attack; the killings and subsequent dismemberments were a cause for the First Battle of Fallujah . Afghan war operations also boosted the business. The United States has made extensive use of PMCs in Afghanistan since 2001, mostly in a defensive role. PMC teams have been used to guard bases and to protect VIPs from Taliban assassins, but almost never in offensive operations. One mercenary stated about his work in Afghanistan: "We are there purely to protect

1824-466: Is a DOS sequel to the original game. It features a different format, however, and is considered by some to be more of a spin-off than a sequel. This game features the same engine and top-down perspective as the original game. This game was released in 1999 for Windows and was later ported to Linux by Tribsoft . The mission of this second official game of the series is to free the country of Arulco from its evil dictator Queen Deidranna. Deidranna married

1920-553: Is a short, mission-based standalone sequel released by Sir-Tech in 2000. This release adds some tweaks to the combat engine, as well as a scenario editor, yet the gameplay remains largely unchanged. It allows importing of the character created for JA2 with his or her final stats; the improved stats of other mercenaries will then be imported too. A new plot is introduced in Unfinished Business . The original owners of Arulco's lucrative mines have returned and established

2016-582: Is inaccurate and demeaning to men and women who put their lives on the line to protect people and facilities every day." Tamil poems described the Greek soldiers who served as mercenaries for Indian kings as: "The valiant-eyed Yavanas (Greeks), whose bodies were strong and of terrible aspect". Alfred Charles Auguste Foucher said that some of the troops of Mara in the Gandhara sculptures may represent Greek mercenaries. Stephanus of Byzantium wrote about

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2112-533: Is more problematic than v6, the version released through Zuxxez and others by the developer since the incident. Strategy First and Game Factory Interactive announced in June 2004 that Russian developer MiST Land South would develop the next two games in the Jagged Alliance series: Jagged Alliance 3D (JA3D) and Jagged Alliance 3 (JA3). Jagged Alliance 3D was envisioned as "JA2 in 3D", or basically

2208-660: Is not endorsed by some countries, including the United States. The Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts ( Protocol I ), 8 June 1977 states: Art 47. Mercenaries All the criteria, as listed in 2(a) through 2(f), must be met, according to the Geneva Convention, for a combatant to be considered

2304-527: Is that this authorized contractors to engage in combat on behalf of the US government. It is the combatant commander's responsibility to ensure that private security contract mission statements do not authorize performance of inherently governmental military functions, i.e. preemptive attacks, assaults, or raids, etc. On 18 August 2006, the US Comptroller General rejected bid protest arguments that

2400-604: Is usually known as the UN Mercenary Convention . Article 1 of the UN Mercenary Convention contains the definition of a mercenary. Article 1.1 is similar to Article 47 of Protocol I. Article 1.2 broadens the definition to include a non-national recruited to overthrow a "Government or otherwise undermin[e] the constitutional order of a State; or Undermin[e] the territorial integrity of a State"; and "Is motivated to take part therein essentially by

2496-563: The condottiero was a military chief offering his troops, the condottieri , to Italian city-states . The condottieri were extensively used by the Italian city-states in their wars against one another. At times, the condottieri seized control of the state, as one condottiero , Francesco Sforza , made himself the Duke of Milan in 1450. During the ages of the Taifa kingdoms of

2592-684: The Duchy of Athens . The Great Company ruled much of central and southern Greece until 1388–1390 when a rival mercenary company, the Navarrese Company were hired to oust them. Catalan and German mercenaries also had prominent role in the Serbian victory over Bulgarians in the Battle of Velbuzd in 1330. During the later Middle Ages, Free Companies (or Free Lances ) were formed, consisting of companies of mercenary troops. Nation-states lacked

2688-473: The Polish bodybuilder. "Buns", a Danish markswoman, hates "Fox", a medic with centerfold looks. In contrast, "Fox" loves working with "Grizzly," on whom she has something of a crush. The mercenaries may be out on various assignments, determined randomly, so that the available pool of characters is never the same for each game. The player has to maintain a level of reputation in the Jagged Alliance games. If

2784-595: The United States Army contracts violated the Anti-Pinkerton Act by requiring that contractors provide armed convoy escort vehicles and labor, weapons, and equipment for internal security operations at Victory Base Complex in Iraq. The Comptroller General reasoned the act was unviolated because the contracts did not require contractors to provide quasi-military forces as strikebreakers. In 2007,

2880-754: The 7 June 1978 Letter to the heads of Federal Departments and Agencies, the Comptroller General interpreted this decision in a way that carved out an exemption for "Guard and Protective Services". A United States Department of Defense (DoD) interim rule revised DoD Instruction 3020.41 to authorize contractors, other than private security contractors, to use deadly force against enemy armed forces only in self-defense (71 Fed. Reg. 34826), effective 16 June 2006. Per that interim rule, private security contractors were authorized to use deadly force when protecting their client's assets and persons, consistent with their contract's mission statement . One interpretation

2976-536: The Act and the legislative history reveal that an organization was "similar" to the Pinkerton Detective Agency only if it offered for hire mercenary, quasi-military forces as strikebreakers and armed guards. It had the secondary effect of deterring any other organization from providing such services lest it be branded a "similar organization." The legislative history supports this view and no other. In

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3072-413: The Anti-Pinkerton Act as forbidding the U.S. government from employing companies offering "mercenary, quasi-military forces" for hire (United States ex rel. Weinberger v. Equifax , 557 F.2d 456, 462 (5th Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1035 (1978)). There is disagreement over whether this proscription is limited to strikebreakers only, because Weinberger v. Equifax states the following: The purpose of

3168-820: The Big Companies and French Companies and placed a decisive role in putting Enrique on the Castilian throne in 1369, who styled himself King Enrique II, the first Castilian monarch of the House of Trastámara. The White Company commanded by Sir John Hawkwood is the best known English Free Company of the 14th century. Between the 13th and 17th centuries the Gallowglass fought within the Islands of Britain and also mainland Europe. A Welshman Owain Lawgoch (Owain of

3264-752: The British Army (specifically units that are administered by the Brigade of Gurkhas ) and the Indian Army. Although they are nationals of Nepal, a country that is not part of the Commonwealth, they still swear allegiance (either to the Crown or the Constitution of India ) and abide by the rules and regulations under which all British or Indian soldiers serve. French Foreign Legionnaires serve in

3360-738: The Foreign Enlistment Act. It was unclear whether or not the Greek rebels constituted a 'state', but the law was later clarified to indicate that they were. The British government considered using the Act against British subjects fighting for the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War and the FNLA in the Angolan Civil War , but on both occasions chose not to do so. Civilians with

3456-637: The French Crown lacked the necessary military and economic strength to put an end to their activities. To rid France of the rampaging mercenaries and to overthrow the pro-English King Pedro the Cruel of Castile, Marshal Bertrand du Guesclin was directed by King Charles V of France to take the Free Companies into Castile with the orders to put the pro-French Enrique de Trastámara on the Castilian throne. Guesclin's mercanaries were organized into

3552-609: The French Foreign Legion, which deploys and fights as an organized unit of the French Army . This means that as members of the armed forces of Britain, India, and France these soldiers are not classed as mercenary soldiers per APGC77 Art 47.e and 47.f . Volunteers for the Ukraine Foreign legion have three-year contracts, and are eligible for Ukrainian citizenship (the probation period being the duration of

3648-743: The Iberian peninsula, Christian knights like El Cid could fight for a Muslim ruler against his Christian or Muslim enemies. The Almogavars originally fought for the counts of Barcelona and kings of Aragon , but as the Catalan Company , they followed Roger de Flor in the service of the Byzantine Empire . In 1311, the Catalan Great Company defeated at the Battle of Halmyros their former employer, Walter V, Count of Brienne , after he refused to pay them, and took over

3744-725: The Italian Wars. They were known for cutting off the heads of dead or captured enemies, and according to Commines they were paid by their leaders one ducat per head. 1996 in video gaming 1996 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Super Mario 64 , Duke Nukem 3D , Street Fighter Alpha 2 , Super Mario RPG , King's Field III , Virtua Fighter 3 , along with new titles such as Blazing Heroes , NiGHTS into Dreams... , Crash Bandicoot , Pokémon Red/Green/Blue , Resident Evil , Dead or Alive , Soul Edge , Quake and Tomb Raider . The year's best-selling video game console worldwide

3840-670: The PMCs themselves), is that PMCs may be able to help combat genocide and civilian slaughter where the UN or other countries are unwilling or unable to intervene. Yet, after considering using PMCs to support UN operations, Kofi Annan , the Secretary-General of the United Nations , decided against it. In October 2007, the United Nations released a two-year study that stated, that although hired as "security guards", private contractors were performing military duties. The report found that

3936-765: The Red Hand) formed a free company and fought for the French against the English during the Hundred Years' War , before being assassinated by a Scot named Jon Lamb, under the orders of the English Crown, during the siege of Mortagne in 1378. Swiss mercenaries were sought during the late 15th and early 16th centuries as being an effective fighting force, until their somewhat rigid battle formations became vulnerable to arquebuses and artillery being developed at

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4032-684: The Roman practice and contracted foreigners especially for their personal corps guard called the Varangian Guard . They were chosen among war-prone peoples, of whom the Varangians (Norsemen) were preferred. Their mission was to protect the Emperor and Empire and since they did not have links to the Greeks, they were expected to be ready to suppress rebellions. One of the most famous guards was

4128-608: The Stratioti were mostly Albanians. According to a study by a Greek author, around 80% of the listed names attributed to the stradioti were of Albanian origin while most of the remaining ones, especially those of officers, were of Greek origin; a small minority were of South Slavic origin. Among their leaders there were also members of some old Byzantine Greek noble families such as the Palaiologoi and Comneni . The stratioti were pioneers of light cavalry tactics during this era. In

4224-715: The Third Infantry Division charged with Baghdad security after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, said of DynCorp and other PMCs: These guys run loose in this country and do stupid stuff. There's no authority over them, so you can't come down on them hard when they escalate force... They shoot people, and someone else has to deal with the aftermath. It happens all over the place. In 2004, the US and Coalition governments hired PMCs for security in Iraq. In March 2004, four Blackwater employees escorting food supplies and other equipment were attacked and killed in Fallujah in

4320-664: The US Armed Forces lose their law of war protection from direct attack if, and for such time as, they directly participate in hostilities. The Anti-Pinkerton Act of 1893 ( 5 U.S.C.   § 3108 ) forbids the US government from using Pinkerton National Detective Agency employees or similar private police companies. In 1977, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit interpreted

4416-653: The US Army was temporarily barred from awarding a $ 475 million security contract in Iraq, the largest one at that time, because of a lawsuit filed by a US citizen alleging violation of the Anti-Pinkerton Act of 1893. Three of the candidates under final consideration for the contract (to include intelligence services and security for reconstruction work by the United States Army Corps of Engineers ) included British firms Aegis Defence Services and Erinys Iraq , as well as Blackwater of North Carolina. The case

4512-755: The Varangians ceased to be in the service of the Roman Empire remains unclear. In England at the time of the Norman Conquest , Flemings (natives of Flanders ) formed a substantial mercenary element in the forces of William the Conqueror with many remaining in England as settlers under the Normans . Contingents of mercenary Flemish soldiers were to form significant forces in England throughout

4608-412: The Year awards for 1996. Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews. The following video game releases in 1996 entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40. In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1996. In the United States, the following titles were

4704-405: The battleground. The terrain has two height levels (ground and rooftops) for player / enemy sprites and a basic physics engine for thrown objects and ballistics. It also features "destructible terrain" in that players are able to blow open walls and buildings with explosives. The game also takes place across diverse and rather imaginative locations, including a multi-level prison facility, a school,

4800-446: The changes GFI planned to make to JA3D was the introduction of a strategic layer. In November 2007 Game Factory Interactive released Hired Guns: The Jagged Edge . The game does not have any storyline or characters in common with JA2 , as GFI lost the rights to use any of the intellectual property of Strategy First. Still, it is seen as a spiritual successor ; the game is structurally similar to Jagged Alliance series and features

4896-418: The democratically elected King of Arulco, then launched a coup d'état eight years ago, deposing her husband and taking power for herself. The player is "hired" by the exiled king, Enrico Chivaldori, to free his homeland of Deidranna's dictatorial regime. Gameplay is similar to the original grand adventure style of Jagged Alliance , but features higher-resolution graphics and an isometric pseudo-3D view of

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4992-462: The desire for significant private gain and is prompted by the promise or payment of material compensation". Under Article 1.2, a person does not have to take a direct part in the hostilities in a planned coup d'état to be a mercenary. If a person is proven to have worked as a mercenary for any other country while retaining Austrian citizenship, their Austrian citizenship will be revoked. In 2003, France criminalized mercenary activities, as defined by

5088-400: The direct control of their own national armed forces. In the United Kingdom, the Foreign Enlistment Act 1819 and the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870 make it unlawful for British subjects to join the armed forces of any state warring with another state at peace with Britain. During the Greek War of Independence , British volunteers fought with the Greek rebels, which could have been unlawful per

5184-445: The early 16th century heavy cavalry in the European armies was principally remodeled after Albanian stradioti of the Venetian army, Hungarian hussars and German mercenary cavalry units (Schwarzreitern). They employed hit-and-run tactics, ambushes, feigned retreats and other complex maneuvers. In some ways, these tactics echoed those of the Ottoman sipahis and akinci. They had some notable successes also against French heavy cavalry during

5280-641: The falling out with Strategy First, i-Deal Games developed another version of Wildfire , identified as "version 6", with Zuxxez Entertainment (now TopWare Interactive AG) as distributor. WF6 contains changed source code , a tweaked graphics engine that allows for a higher resolution, introduces new mercenaries and increases squad size from 6 to 10. It can be patched up to version 6.04 (for English version), up to 6.06 (for German version), or up to 6.08 (for Russian version). WF5 can not be upgraded to WF6 and patches for WF6 can not be applied. See Digital distribution for further details. Jagged Alliance 2 Wildfire (v5)

5376-461: The final release of Jagged Alliance 2 . Unfinished Business and a scenario editor are also included in the package. Gold Pack introduces notable changes to the difficulty setting. The player choosing an advanced difficulty level may also decide to make the player turns timed and whether to disallow saving during combat, as opposed to the original Jagged Alliance 2 , which set these settings automatically. Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire , version 5,

5472-420: The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1996. In the United States, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1996. In Europe, the following titles were the best-selling home video games of 1996. In addition to the PlayStation games listed above, the following titles were the year's best-selling Sega Saturn and PC games in the United Kingdom. In

5568-399: The former US Ambassador to Colombia Myles Frechette has said: "Congress and the American people don't want any servicemen killed overseas. So it makes sense that if contractors want to risk their lives, they get the job". Not only have foreign PMCs worked in Colombia, but a disproportionate number of the mercenaries with PMCs are Colombian, as Colombia's long history of civil war has led to

5664-462: The funds needed to maintain standing forces, so they tended to hire free companies to serve in their armies during wartime. Such companies typically formed at the ends of periods of conflict, when men-at-arms were no longer needed by their respective governments. The veteran soldiers thus looked for other forms of employment, often becoming mercenaries. Free Companies would often specialize in forms of combat that required longer periods of training that

5760-455: The future king Harald III of Norway , also known as Harald Hardrada ("Hard-counsel"), who arrived in Constantinople in 1035 and was employed as a Varangian Guard. He participated in eighteen battles and was promoted to akolythos , the commander of the Guard, before returning home in 1043. He was killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 when his army was defeated by an English army commanded by King Harold Godwinson . The point at which

5856-465: The game has been delayed again, and Akella's website was displaying a release date of Q1 2010. This delay was likely due to publishers demand to improve graphics. On December 21, 2009, a German language game site reported that Akella had stopped development on Jagged Alliance 3 . Strategy First had made no statement on the future of the Jagged Alliance series. On March 9, 2010, German outfit bitComposer Games (now bitComposer Interactive ) picked up

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5952-475: The game upon startup in order to make it less predictable; a character who was allied with the player in one game could be their enemy in the next. Player actions were also said to influence how the characters of the world react to them. In December 2006, Strategy First outsourced Jagged Alliance 3 again. The publisher, along with Russian developers Akella and F3games, were to create the game, setting an approximate release date of late 2008. As of October 2008

6048-458: The highest-grossing arcade video games of 1996. On Australia's Timezone monthly arcade charts published in the March 1996 issue of Leisure Line magazine, Sega 's Manx TT Super Bike was the top-grossing dedicated arcade cabinet and Namco 's Point Blank was the top-grossing arcade conversion kit. The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games ( console games or computer games ) worldwide in 1996. In Japan,

6144-455: The individual mercenaries range from mildly eccentric to disturbed. This contrasts the games' setting which is otherwise closely linked to such subjects as war and death . Each mercenary is an individual with their own traits. Part of the strategy was the player's freedom to select a multi-faceted team to win the game in different ways. Not all teams would work; for example, Ivan and his nephew Igor, who work well together, are hated by Steroid,

6240-479: The kind of risks that can turn the tide of a battle, but may cost them their lives. He also noted that a mercenary who failed was obviously no good, but one who succeeded may be even more dangerous. He astutely pointed out that a successful mercenary army no longer needs its employer if it is more militarily powerful than its supposed superior. This explained the frequent, violent betrayals that characterized mercenary/client relations in Italy, because neither side trusted

6336-400: The late 4th century, the empire often contracted whole bands of barbarians either within the legions or as autonomous foederati . The barbarians were Romanized and surviving veterans were established in areas requiring population. The Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Empire is the best known formation made up of barbarian mercenaries (see next section). Byzantine emperors followed

6432-427: The offensive and clear more sectors of enemies. This game features a top-down perspective of the game field for battles, with character portraits framing the view on the left and right sides. A separate map view shows the entire country broken up into distinct conquerable sectors. In May 2009, a Nintendo DS Jagged Alliance game was released, based on the original Jagged Alliance . Released in 1996 , Deadly Games

6528-533: The other. He believed that citizens with a real attachment to their home country will be more motivated to defend it and thus make much better soldiers. The Stratioti or Stradioti (Italian: Stradioti or Stradiotti; Greek: Στρατιώτες, Stratiotes) were mercenary units from the Balkans recruited mainly by states of southern and central Europe from the 15th until the middle of the 18th century. The stradioti were recruited in Albania , Greece, Dalmatia , Serbia and later Cyprus . Most modern historians have indicated that

6624-656: The player gets their troops killed often, regularly hires and dismisses members or generally is insensitive (such as not paying for deceased merc body shipments back home), their reputation will lower. Bad player's reputation affects all mercenaries. Mercs may demand a significant pay raise to consider working for the player. Hired mercenaries may quit unless the player discreetly pays them a bonus. And only desperate-for-work mercs will agree to work for really notorious players. The intellectual property (IP) for Jagged Alliance has been exchanged between many companies. The series and IP were created by Mad Labs Software, who later became

6720-418: The player made strategic movement decisions, and initiated attacks on a map. Instead, the game would be structured like Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games , with a series of missions, which were essentially combat-only levels. SFI was resistant to the idea, but agreed to it, feeling this would shorten the development time. Besides, JA3D was always intended as a bridge between JA2 and JA3, so it was acceptable that it

6816-420: The principals and get them out, we're not there to get into huge firefights with the bad guys". One team from DynCorp provided bodyguards for President Hamid Karzai . In 2006, a US congressional report listed a number of PMCs and other enterprises that have signed contracts to carry out anti-narcotics operations and related activities as part of Plan Colombia . Referring to the use of American PMCs in Colombia,

6912-430: The project. This left GFI with no rights to use any of the intellectual property of JA3D , including characters and story line. GFI announced plans to rework the characters and story to remove Jagged Alliance -specific details and publish the game under a different name. In a September 3, 2006 post on its discussion boards, GFI claimed that SFI owed it money, but this was denied by SFI without further elaboration. One of

7008-599: The protocol to the Geneva convention for French citizens, permanent residents, and legal entities (Penal Code, L436-1 , L436-2 , L436-3 , L436-4 , L436-5 ). This law does not prevent French citizens from serving as volunteers in foreign forces. The law applies to military activities with a specifically mercenary motive or with a mercenary level of remuneration. However, due to jurisdictional loopholes several French companies provide mercenary services. The French state owns 50% of Défense conseil international , which it founded,

7104-680: The right to control the number, nature, and armaments of such private armies , arguing that, provided they are not pro-actively employed in front-line combat, they are not mercenaries. In February 2002, a British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) report about PMCs noted that the demands of the military service from the UN and international civil organizations might mean that it is cheaper to pay PMCs than use soldiers. PMC "civilian contractors" tend to have poor reputations among professional government soldiers and officers—the U.S. Military Command has questioned their war zone behavior. In September 2005, Brigadier General Karl Horst, deputy commander of

7200-504: The rights to the PC strategy series, and started "preliminary development" on the third full game for release in 2011. In August 2015, Nordic Games (now THQ Nordic ) acquired the rights from bitComposer. “The decision to acquire Jagged Alliance was an absolute no-brainer for us”, commented Reinhard Pollice, Business & Product Development Director at Nordic Games, although no immediate announcement has been made regarding their specific plans for

7296-414: The same game as Jagged Alliance 2 but using a 3D engine. Jagged Alliance 3 would be the "true sequel" to JA2, a full-fledged game in the same spirit as JA2, and using the engine developed for JA3D. JA3D would come out quickly, within a year or two of the release of the generally successful Wildfire mod, and be followed by Jagged Alliance 3 . SFI choose GFI because GFI had already released Cops 2170 ,

7392-488: The same legal protections as captured service personnel of the armed forces. In practice, whether or not a person is a mercenary may be a matter of degree, as financial and political interests may overlap. Protocol Additional GC 1977 (APGC77) is a 1977 amendment protocol to the Geneva Conventions . Article 47 of the protocol provides the most widely accepted international definition of a mercenary, though it

7488-716: The same time. The Swiss Guard in particular were employed by the Papal States from 1506 (continuing to serve today as the military of Vatican City ). It was then that the German landsknechts , colourful mercenaries with a redoubtable reputation, took over the Swiss forces' legacy and became the most formidable force of the late 15th and throughout the 16th century, being hired by all the powers in Europe and often fighting at opposite sides. Sir Thomas More in his Utopia advocated

7584-493: The series tasks the player with freeing the fictional island of Metavira from the greedy Santino. The player must recruit mercenaries as they explore, capture, and hold new territory. The natives harvest the valuable trees from which a revolutionary medicine can be extracted; a result of the island having been used as a nuclear testing ground in 1952. The more trees the player holds, the more income they make. Income can be used to hire native guards and hire more mercenaries to take

7680-517: The series. On September 17, 2021, during the THQ Nordic 10th Anniversary Digital Showcase Jagged Alliance 3 was announced for PC, now in development by Haemimont Games . It was released on July 14, 2023. On August 20, 2010, bitComposer Games announced Jagged Alliance: Back in Action , a full-scale remake of Jagged Alliance 2 . It was originally titled Jagged Alliance: Reloaded . The game

7776-636: The time of the Norman and early Plantagenet dynasties (11th and 12th centuries). A prominent example of these were the Flemings who fought during the English civil wars, known as the Anarchy or the Nineteen-Year Winter (AD 1135 to 1154), under the command of William of Ypres , who was King Stephen 's chief lieutenant from 1139 to 1154 and who was made Earl of Kent by Stephen. In Italy,

7872-563: The use of contractors such as Blackwater was a "new form of mercenary activity" and illegal under international law . Most countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, are not signatories to the 1989 United Nations Mercenary Convention banning the use of mercenaries. A spokesman for the U.S. Mission to U.N. denied that Blackwater security guards were mercenaries, saying "Accusations that U.S. government-contracted security guards, of whatever nationality, are mercenaries

7968-471: The use of mercenaries in preference to citizens. The barbarian mercenaries employed by the Utopians are thought to be inspired by the Swiss mercenaries. At approximately the same period, Niccolò Machiavelli argued against the use of mercenary armies in his book of political advice The Prince . His rationale was that since the sole motivation of mercenaries is their pay, they will not be inclined to take

8064-475: The war). The private military company (PMC) is a private company providing armed combat or security services for financial gain. PMCs refer to their personnel as security contractors or private military contractors. PMC contractors are civilians (in governmental, international, and civil organizations) authorized to accompany an army to the field; thus, the term civilian contractor . PMCs may use armed force, defined as: "legally established enterprises that make

8160-587: Was a major reason why most fans stayed with the game. This announcement was a surprise to Strategy First, and was very quickly vetoed by Richard Therrien, VP product development of SFI. In September 2005, SFI withdrew the rights for Jagged Alliance 3 from GFI, leaving them with the JA3D license only. A pre-beta version of JA3D was shown at the 2006 E3 convention, and received a generally favorable reception. The gameplay appeared to be very similar to Jagged Alliance 2 , with updated and improved graphics, as well as

8256-600: Was delisted by NASDAQ . It is unclear what effect this will have on future games using the Jagged Alliance IP, though in the final SEC filing before being delisted Silverstar stated that it had reached a settlement of some issues with Russia-based Akella : "Akella and 3A Entertainment have the option to acquire certain intellectual property rights for the Jagged Alliance and Disciples franchises for an additional $ 100,000". The first Jagged Alliance game

8352-407: Was demonstrated at GDC 2011 and released on February 9, 2012. The stated goal of the remake was to improve the original game concept as well as the visual weaknesses of the original. The story and content are noticeably different from the original as well, with key strategic elements such as boardable vehicles and training of militia removed. Mercenaries are easier to train and permanently hired for

8448-520: Was developed by MadLab Software, Montreal. Qc, the following three games were developed by Sir-Tech Development based in Ottawa, Ontario. Ian Currie, Shaun Lyng and Linda Currie were the lead designers on the Jagged Alliance series. MadLab was absorbed by Sir-Tech Canada but the company shut down in late 2003. Nordic Games acquired the rights for Jagged Alliance in 2015 after bitComposer 's bankruptcy. Released in 1995 for MS-DOS , this first game of

8544-406: Was distributed electronically by Strategy First. Jagged Alliance 2 Wildfire (v6) was distributed electronically by Zuxxez Entertainment . Two versions of the same game ( Wildfire ) exist due to the game's publisher Strategy First, Inc. falling out after a disagreement with the game's developer, I-Deal Games Studios concerning expenses. Version 5 is the version published by SF before this spat and so

8640-573: Was for GFI to use a modified Cops 2170 engine to quickly produce JA3D. However, GFI already had a second strategy game in production, ALFA: Anti-terror , and they made the decision to use this engine for both games. GFI planned to set the game in Africa, which was fine with SFI. However, GFI ran into trouble with the strategic layer for Jagged Alliance. They proposed a mission-based structure for JA3D instead. There would be no free-flowing strategic layer, as in Jagged Alliance and Jagged Alliance 2 where

8736-921: Was later dismissed. The better-known combat units in which foreign nationals serve in another country's armed forces are the Gurkha regiments of the British Army and Indian Army , the French Foreign Legion , the Spanish Legion and the Ukraine Foreign Legion . Recruits from countries of the Commonwealth of Nations in the British Army swear allegiance to the British monarch and are liable to operate in any unit. Gurkhas, however, operate in dedicated Gurkha units of

8832-485: Was not a "full game". In 2004, initial screenshots of the new engine were released, showing a somewhat primitive 3D engine with familiar Jagged Alliance characters, such as Shadow. In May 2005, the MiST Land South developers announced they would be discarding the turn-based combat system in favor of real-time combat. The turn-based combat had been a hallmark of Jagged Alliance from the very beginning, and it

8928-500: Was not available in the form of a mobilized militia. The Routiers formed a distinctive subculture in medieval France who alternated between serving as mercenaries in wartime and bandits in peacetime. The routiers were very destructive and became a significant social problem. After the Treaty of Brétigny ended the war between England and France in 1360, the French countryside was overrun by Free Companies of routiers while

9024-483: Was out of business and the game was released by Interplay . Subsequently TalonSoft went bankrupt. At the moment Strategy First owns the IP and has published Jagged Alliance: Wildfire . Strategy First made several attempts to extend the series with Jagged Alliance 3D and Jagged Alliance 3 , both of which never saw the light of day. Strategy First was acquired by Silverstar Holdings, which then ran into financial problems and

9120-436: Was programmed by i-Deal Games and published by Strategy First in 2004 as an official expansion pack . The game's sourcecode was also published in the package, albeit under license . The project had started as a hobby add-on by Serge "WildFire" Popoff, who decided to make it commercial since version 4. Compared to the original Jagged Alliance 2 , Wildfire 5 has not altered the game engine or controls and can be considered

9216-753: Was the PlayStation , while the best-selling consoles in Japan were the Game Boy and Sega Saturn . The year's best-selling home video game worldwide was Super Mario 64 , while highest-grossing arcade games in Japan were Street Fighter Zero 2 ( Street Fighter Alpha 2 ) and Virtua Fighter 2 . 1996 saw a major shakeup in the crowded home console market, with the Virtual Boy , Atari Jaguar , 3DO Interactive Multiplayer , Sega CD , 32X , and CD-i all being discontinued. The following titles won Game of

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