Now, I don't know if you suddenly realized you don't know what the hell to do the moment you saw a tank or if you just really, really want to get off to a good start when you first play it, but always remember this: you currently probably suck at it.

First thing you wanna do, hire more mercs. A lot more. And then give them all 2-4 things to specialize in. Sharpshooting, medical, door-making explosives handling, room sweeping spray-and-pray, the guy who always gets spotted and used as bait, pack mule. All the usual jobs. Don't be an idiot, though, so don't hang your medic out to dry in the name of pulling a couple enemies into an ambush.

Second thing you wanna do, BUY SO MUCH AMMO. SO MUCH.

Third thing, develop your own next gen strats. Test them. If they don't work almost always, and be brutally honest on that, then toss them out and try another one.

Fourth thing, reread things 1 through 3. At least once.

Never get three mercs initially. Always get one medium one, or two cheap as Montana dirt ones. But have a bare minimum of $10,000 for one soldier or $8,000 - $15,000 for two soldiers in extra cash for equipment, which at this early stage should always (with maybe a couple exceptions) be guns and ammo. Maybe gun mods.

There are two things that will only ever give you victory. Save/Load, and the space bar. When you achieve anything, when you're in a safe spot or have a good setup with your soldier's positioning, ammo, etc., save. Whenever something goes south real fast-like and you have an injured or dead soldier or used up all of your ammo against a couple enemies, load your most recent save/autosave and try that again without the failure. As for the space bar, use that for EVERYTHING. Figuring out where enemies are and where they're facing, pausing, seeing your options, etc.

You're gonna have to clear two areas before you can pass time (which is very important), so play for the long run. Avoid damage like the frickin' plague, even if you have a medic. Never take it, try not to risk it, kill every enemy you can without incurring any immediate wrath.

NEVER be the one to pop your head up. Your mercs should rarely if ever have combat started on them. Always start combat with an ambush, ALWAYS: hide around corners, hills, rooftops, whatever you can, out of sight until the enemy walks into YOUR gun, with you getting the shot off first. Every millisecond counts. I'm not even joking there.

Guns guns guns, guns guns, guns guns guns guns guns guns. Guns. Guns guns. Seriously. I'm not guns kidding.

You're one of two people. A power maniac or a nostalgia hunter. So, you're either looking for the most expensive, straight up damage dealing guns, or you just want your mercs to look nice and have more sentimental value than anything else. Well, unless your idea of childhood memories involves automatic rocket rifles and Israeli bullpup rifles, knock it off.

The best guns all around are gonna be mid to long range assault rifles and LMGs. You really should have shotguns and snipers as extra weapons to use in specific situations, but never as primaries. Pistols suck save for the Deagle and Automag, SMGs are useless unless you're hip firing at really close range on burst mode, shotguns same as SMGs but more useful, snipers take too long to aim to be useful in a firefight. Assault rifles and LMGs, homie. Best things.

There are two guns you want right away. The RPK-74 and the NF-FAL. They use fairly common ammo and they have very impressive range + damage. The RPK-74 is the better of the two in all ways except weight, it is pretty bulky. The NF-FAL is something you want to give to a medic or demolitionist, somebody who won't be heading the fight, but supporting it. The reason you shouldn't get everybody the same gun (or the reason you absolutely should, depending entirely on you) is that ammo you find will likely not be for your gun. So, two mercs who take different kinds of ammo can double the possibility your squad as a whole gets ammo they need from the battlefield. At the same time, you can buy one type en masse and have it be sharable between everybody.

Short range, you're gonna want either a Mac-10 or an automatic shotgun of some sort. Bear in mind durability, because you'll want to not have to use repair kits frequently. Which is why the RPK-74 is so great. Friggin' 120. Incredible.

Gun mods are pretty simple. SMGs and pistols get silencers, everything else gets sights. Reflex sights and x4 sights are for chumps, so let's focus on their direct upgrades: Holo sights and x12 scopes. Holo sights let your mercs aquire and fire at targets faster. Not the actual fire rate, but the rate at which they can pull the trigger again without having to spray and pray. The x12 scope, however, makes your mercs more accurate. While not increasing the range, it solidifies your current range just as extra insurance that you won't miss a Certain To Hit and get sprayed down by a shirtless dude with a Tec-9 in the split second it takes to recover.

As for armor, you're gonna need to replace it often. Spare nothing for good helmets and leggings+boots, but keep it cheap for chest armor and shirts. They'll be the most frequently replaced, so don't make it a burden on your wallet until endgame.

Abuse grenades. Abuse them. Keep plenty of different types of medkits and at least two mercs with medical skills. Have all manners of tools handy, explosives, repairs, door opening, that stuff. Have night-vision and sunglasses available to wear depending on the time of day.

Late game, when you have tons of cash, you're gonna want to either spend it near-consistently or save up for a giant spending run. Get lots of ammo, lots of mercs, lots of items and armor, a pack mule merc per squad, and maybe even guns for the locals.

Have squads defend the more frequently attacked locations, have them hit and run locations to slowly drain them of soldiers and then storm them, wait on roads for enemy squads, and, like you should, have a single person squad run supplies from the harbor to the front line. Don't be afraid of losing locations from time to time if it means keeping some mercs alive. Never lose the military base once you get it. Get soldiers' Dexterity and Marksmanship up first, then everything else. This does not apply to specialists (explosives/repairs or medics). Sell a lot, buy a lot. One great squad is better than two meh squads. You can sneak behind enemy lines and take a location cutting off another or gun down enemy squads before they're even visible by your locations.

When you can afford it, start getting specialty squads as a direct upgrade to specialty individual mercs. Squads that come swooping in to save the day from tanks, squads that sneak through to grab some things or take out specific units that cause upset for your grunts, small tasks that benefit you a lot.

And for the love of all that is holy, lay down always unless you can't.