Jagged Alliance 3 Speedrun 1h40m Solo Ironman Melee

Jagged Alliance 3 speedrun done in 1h40m with a single melee merc on the highest difficulty.

Difficulty: Mission Impossible
Game Rules: Dead is Dead, To The Bitter End, Lethal Weapons, (Active Pause)
Mercs: IMP
Timed using the game's internal playtime shown in the "[AUTOSAVE] ENDGAME" save file created after talking with Corazon.

The melee build used in the run took inspiration from ‪@hexxatgaming‬'s fantastic guide (without the 90+ health req. perks).

Requirements to finish the game:
1) Deal with the Major
2) Kill Colonel Faucheux and clear the sector
3) Deal with Corazon Santiago

The run:
Ernie island is all about not getting hit (much) while ranking up enough XP for a level up. Enemies using AKs can very easily take you out even before getting out of the island. Even the pistol enemies are super lethal for a single melee merc.

After Ernie it's all about finding a Machete, or just trying to push through to Ille Morat to get the Composite Machete from Wlad. I got VERY lucky finding it straight away from Pantagruel Outskirts (D6). Sure, you could clear Major with a knife, but it's much safer with a bit beefier melee weapon.

Protip: Accept cookies from your grandma! 👵🍪

[40:40] A20 The Eagle's Nest / Major
You have 3 instances where you can get yourself in a pickle here: You have to get 3 non-MISHAP Mustard Gas Grenade throws. After one runs out you have to throw another one to keep enemies flowing down the ledge. If you don't have anything smoking on top of the ledge enemies will just stand there and shoot you from above.

You can even save the president by doing this!

[59:50] K16 Colonel Faucheux
This is always a bit more messier sector than A20, as sometimes enemies get alerted too often. I do a bit sector-hopping here to reset enemies until there is enough free space to go and pick the leftovers without alerting everyone around you. It got a bit toasty in the second floor of Faucheux's bunker with multiple melee Troopers around... Their machetes hit HARD.

[1:31:10] H4U Corazon Santiago
(success after retries at [1:43:03])
Loading the autosave before placing your merc will set enemies in a specific triangle-like-pattern. Otherwise they'd sit behind the sandbags making your life difficult. The last sector was a bit of a mess, because the enemy AI didn't act like they usually do in the second "long room". Usually they just sit down for a couple of turns (for some reason 🤷‍♂️) so you have time to clear most of them out before they can even react. That's why I had to reload a few times before the save file got overridden by the game rules set in the beginning.

I got surprised how many enemies showed up for Corazon, but a well-placed Mustard Gas Grenade did the job!

Alternative route: get blessed by RNG for a crowbar, get The Thing and only then head for Major, Faucheux and Corazon.