Establish Base
Your first priority is to establish a financial base--seize the first mine at Drassen as soon as possible. To this end, it is worth your money to blow $10,000 to $15,000 on a top-of-the-line mercenary on a one-day contract. Choose someone with a long-range rifle and excellent marksmanship. Remember, you get to keep his equipment at the end of the day.

Produce Money
Don't forget--to get a mine to produce money for you, you must find the mine foreman and make him happy. Seizing the town the mine is in is not enough.

Government Patrols
Do not seek out combat with government patrols until you have stocked up on long-range weapons. Also, any group of more than four or five enemy soldiers will split up and flank your position, so prepare your own ambush.

Exploding Heads
This code shows blood and gore and should not be attempted to those who are weak against the viewing of violence. But for those who choose to read on, here is the code:

To get the blasting heads, stay away from the enemy from 4-6 squares. Get a mercenary who has an 87 on marksmanship and has a good, powerful weapon that has at least a 25+ damage and 20+ range. If all goes well, his head should blast.

Improving Mercenary's Skills
To improve your mercenary's dexterity and strength, you should perform hand-to-hand combat with the enemy (This is risky).

To improve your mercenary's marksmanship, perform long range shots at easy-to-kill areas (heads, body, etc.).

To improve your mercenary's medical skill, have the mercenary heal the other mercenarys repeatedly.

To improve your mercenary's leadership skill, have the mercenary train a militia.