Well thanks GB, you recommended this game a while back and I am finally playing it. I just want to know though if I have to fill the twenty slots available to me or if I can come back later to find a new set of recruits? I picked who I like but I still have like 12 slots left. Or should i just stock up on people and dump them later when if i find better recruits?

Also why do people have to be racist in this game! The better choice for snipers is a "darcen hater"...

EDIT: sooo the game basically forced me to fill all spots and explained itself. my bad!

deerrrrpppp. I found out my answer, I tried to back out and the game is all "you need to have 20 people as part of the tutorial".

my bad.

@super2j: As you play through the game new members will be added to the pool of recruits. No one is removed from the pool until you begin NG+ or until they die in combat and their body is captured by the enemy or not retrieved.

so i can remove these dirty racists when a suitable replacement arrives?

@super2j: Welkin, Alicia, Rosie, Largo, and eventually one other character are in the squad for good. They can't be removed and can't die permanently. Everyone else can be replaced or die.

Should note that the pool that you get to start with is random out of a rather large number and it's entirely possible to get a group of entirely mediocre characters. The game doesn't really tell you who's good and who isn't; I guess the best guideline is the amount of HP they have but you'll have to gamefaqs if you want to find out who winds up scaling the best et cetera (the mandatory infantry characters are all excellent).