Quote:
Originally Posted by 43Supporter
This is why they dig trenches, or lay trees, across the road (and the smart ones [cough :) ] extend those barricades *beyond* the road edges) -- and why I prefer to go *over* them.
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I mean use a different road entirely. Use your intel (AADA incident reports), a cheap aircraft (but spotting from the air is a challenge if they use even rudimentary camouflage) or just a guy on a bike running ahead of the convoy to identify where they are operating and go another way. Avoid any jurisdictions that provide un-patrolled roads, especially ones where you are forced to use a particular route frequently.
This will force the baddies to re-site frequently (often after a single sting). That reduces the effort they can invest in any single site (less ditches, mines, tree-felling and the like). Generally this means it will be less expensive to you should you decide to engage.
This will encourage them to run leaner. This means they will be more likely to chose targets at the lower end of the spectrum (bikes, solo cars etc. who frankly should know better) or set their tolls lower to incentivise a pay-out rather than a challenge.
By constantly moving around they are more likely to be caught out when they are most vulnerable (before they have turned the terrain to their advantage). They will also have more difficulty establishing safe markets or cooperative relationships with locals (particularly law enforcement).
If you do decide to engage you need to ensure you will profit by it.
This can mean a good deed (which hopefully will result in the favour of local law-enforcement, the AADA or the Brotherhood).
It can mean salvage, but remember the most valuable equipment owned by low level bandits is often their body armour (and you will have shredded that before you could even wound them). The higher the level of bandit, generally the more repair and replacement costs you will incur.
It can mean bounties, but in this case the bandits should be either hard to kill or hard to find. They will also have earned a rep. Local enforcement won't offer more in reward than it would cost them to do the job themselves and they can take weeks to plan an efficient operation, you will probably be improvising and expending resources less efficiently.
Of course if you meet two yokels who have towed a log across a road, you may feel a few rounds rapid to be in order. Chances are however that they are either supported by the local community or will have concealed their actions from it. When you roll into town having killed Zeke and Jake you may find the locals reaction less positive than you hoped. "Zeke would never have done that, sounds like you killed 'em in cold blood then made up this hooey to justify yourself - get the sheriff!"