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NOTE: This article is about the titular campaign of ArmA 3's Apex expansion pack. For a walkthrough on the campaign's sixth mission, see Apex Protocol (mission).


ArmA 3's Apex Protocol campaign has players take control of a four-man team of CTRG operatives. It was added with the release of the Apex DLC.

A tsunami caused by a mysterious subsea earthquake has devastated Tanoa, a province in the South Pacific island nation of the Horizon Islands. CTRG has been deployed to the island in search of answers following an insurgent uprising, and to discover the origins of the unusual tsunami strike.

Summary[]

Take on the role of a NATO CTRG special operator in the 1-4 player "Apex Protocol" co-op campaign. It consists of highly replayable missions, featuring a drop-in / drop-out multiplayer structure, and the difficulty scales up or down based on the number of players.

Arma3-campaign-apex-01

Insurgents freely roam and terrorise the province's citizens.

The South Pacific island nation of the Horizon Islands suffers a major disaster when a tsunami devastates the islands, displacing thousands in the process. An organised faction of criminals known only as the "Syndikat", have taken advantage of the chaos to terrorise locals and run rampant throughout the Tanoa province, greatly expanding its control over the islands.

One of Syndikat's key leaders is a former member of the "Red Tiger" group named Solomon Maru, codenamed "Warlock", who attempted to topple a North African government through a coup almost a decade ago.

With the situation turning into a humanitarian disaster, NATO forces are soon sent in to assist with the crisis and take part in the "Safe Horizon" joint exercise with the local authorities. In reality, this exercise is being used as a cover for CTRG's Group 15 to conduct its clandestine operations, attempting to discover the source of the Syndikat's disproportionally large quantity of military-grade equipment.

Arma3-campaign-apex-03

CTRG proceed to the safehouse where "Warlock" is presumably located.

With the assistance of a HUMINT asset known as "Blue Cap", CTRG teams Raider 1 and Raider 2 are able to disrupt Syndikat operations by destroying ammunition caches along with ambushing a convoy en route to attack a civilian village.

Eventually, enough actionable intelligence is gathered and Warlock is revealed to be arranging a meeting at one of his safehouses in the village of Namuvaka. CTRG raids the safehouse but only discover the bloodied and bruised corpse of Blue Cap.

Suddenly, what appears to be a platoon of Chinese black ops ambush the operatives. Fortunately, they manage to repel the attackers and successfully escape from the ambush, carving their way through more Syndikat reinforcements attempting to intercept them.

Arma3-campaign-apex-00

Raider 1 in position to breach the hideout where Keystone is being held.

Following the attack, both Raider teams locate and rescue their primary objective; callsign Keystone, who turns out to be Captain Scott Miller of Group 14. Previously thought to have perished in the aftermath of the failed operation on Altis, it is revealed that his main mission was to retrieve a seismic device being developed by CSAT scientists, codenamed "Project Eastwind".

Miller's investigation uncovered that the same Chinese operatives who ambushed Raider 1 and 2 were a part of a CSAT SOF unit named "Viper Team". They intentionally armed Eastwind on Tanoa and were the ones responsible for causing the subsea earthquake which triggered the tsunami. All of this was being carried out as part of CSAT's so-called "Apex Protocol" strategy, a series of plans aimed at destabilising countries friendly to the West.

CTRG attempt to extract Miller via helicopters, but are ambushed as the arriving helicopter takes heavy fire and is forced to abort its landing. All the while, Viper continues to hunt down the operatives. Eventually, they manage to extract successfully on boats.

Arma3-campaign-apex-04

CTRG commence their assault on Sosovu Island.

Following his rescue, Raider elements proceed to assault the "black site" being used by Viper somewhere on Sosovu Island. Fighting they way through each village one by one, Raider 2 finally secures the primary site and discover that Syndikat has double-crossed CSAT. They intend to hold Eastwind as ransom in order to blackmail CSAT.

Both Raider 1 and 2 track the Eastwind device to the Blue Pearl Industrial Port where Syndikat are arming the device to cause yet another earthquake. With time running short and seismic activity increasing, both Raider elements attack the port by first disabling the main power to the area, and then finding and assassinating "Warlock" and his senior lieutenant once and for all.

Arma3-campaign-apex-05

Viper launch a last-ditch counterattack against CTRG.

Raider 1 manages to secure the secondary code while Raider 2 obtains the primary codes, all the while fighting through the remaining insurgents. Raider 2 then manages to locate the Eastwind device where they, along with Raider 1 and Capt. Miller, are forced to hold off against waves of Viper who launch one desperate all-out assault on their position.

Luckily, they are repelled with the aid of Group 14's members, and both Raider teams are eventually extracted with the Eastwind in tow - now finally "in safe hands".

Timeline[]

Warm Welcome (11th August, 2035)[]

« Group 15 is deployed to ambush a Syndikat convoy en route to Tanoan village. »

With the intelligence provided by a local asset named "Blue Cap", CTRG's Raider teams ambush and destroy a Syndikat convoy that was en-route to raid a village before destroying ammo, fuel and multiple supply caches filled with military-grade CSAT weaponry.

Firestarter (12th August, 2035)[]

« Following Syndikat's unchecked aggression towards the citizens of Tanoa, Group 15 launch an operation to draw out their leadership. »

In a bid to draw out Warlock, Group 15 is sent to destroy a Syndikat weapons depot.

Heart of Darkness (13th August, 2035)[]

« Recently acquired intel sends Group 15 on a mission to kill or capture Warlock. »

Raider 1 and 2 are sent to obtain intel from "Blue Cap" but run into a surprise ambush by Viper Team.

Extraction (14th August, 2035)[]

« Deep in enemy territory and vastly outnumbered, Group 15 race to get Keystone to safety. »

24 hours after rescuing Captain Miller, CTRG teams Raider 1 and Raider 2 fall back for extraction.

Apex Protocol (16th August, 2035)[]

« Acting on intel uncovered by Captain Miller, Group 15 are sent to a former WW2 outpost in search of Viper. »

Raider elements attack a small black site on Sosovu Island being used by Viper Team as their base of operations.

End Game (18th August, 2035)[]

« Syndikat have occupied the Blue Pearl Industrial Port with the intent of ransoming the Eastwind Device. With enemies on all sides, Group 15 are deployed to end this once and for all. »

Raiders 1 and 2 find the Eastwind device at one of the island's main ports where Syndikat is arming it to use.

Achievements[]

  • Arma3-achievement-thebiggerpicture
    The Bigger Picture
    • Finish all missions, including the "intro" mission. Can be done either solo or with human allies (they do not have to be the same players).
    • Note that it is not actually necessary to complete all missions in chronological order. The only requirement is to beat every single mission in the campaign.
  • Arma3-achievement-lonewolf
    Lone Wolf
    • Complete the entire campaign solo without help from human players. It does not have to be chronologically completed; you can select any mission in whichever order you prefer.
  • Arma3-achievement-betterwithfriends
    Better With Friends
    • Beat all six missions - including the "intro" mission, Keystone, cooperatively with two or more human players. It does not have to be performed in chronological order nor with the same team of players.

Trivia[]

  • It is the first and only multiplayer-oriented campaign in ArmA 3.
  • Apex Protocol takes place exactly one day after the ending of The East Wind and at the same time during the events of Remnants of War.[1]
    • It is mentioned by Miller himself that he has been on Tanoa for at least four weeks prior to the start of the campaign investigating CSAT's activities in the region (where he was eventually captured by the Syndikat).[2] This seemingly contradicts the events of The East Wind, as even if Miller left the Republic of Altis and Stratis immediately following Nikos' rescue in Attention Deficit and the NATO counter invasion on Altis (Beyond Recognition), he would have at most been on Tanoa for only ten days; not including travel time.[1]
  • An offline singleplayer version was planned by the developers but was later scrapped for logistical reasons. The development team has officially stated that there are no plans to revive the singleplayer version.[3]
The information below details unused, pre-release or removed content.
  • According to an OPREP published after the expansion was released, Apex Protocol was intended to have featured a mission involving the gunship configuration of the Blackfish VTOL.[4]
    • Presumably, the Blackfish (either AI or player-controlled) would have provided fire support for the players on the ground as they progressed through the mission.
    • Arma3-campaign-apex-13

      E3 2016 trailer with (presumably) a depiction of the cut mission.

      A scene depicted briefly towards the end of Apex's teaser trailer further reinforces its existence, as it shows the players pushing through a Syndikat stronghold while a loitering Blackfish provides support.[5]
    • Although it is not known as to which mission specifically that the developers were referring to, a likely candidate would have been Extraction, as the mission's setting (loosely) matches the scenario described in the OPREP.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Mořický, K et al. 2011, Armaverse Timeline, Bohemia Interactive Community Wiki, viewed 18 July 2023, <https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Armaverse_Timeline>.
  2. ARMA 3: Apex 2016 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., Apex Protocol, Extraction, "Over the past 4 weeks I've been on the ground and - in the last 4 days - focused on the Northern Division."
  3. Kovařič, V 2018, SITREP #00217, Arma 3, viewed 19 December 2020, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/sitrep-00217>.
  4. Ryan, T 2016, OPREP - APEX PROTOCOL REFINEMENTS, Arma 3, viewed 15 November 2021, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/oprep-apex-protocol-refinements>.
  5. Arma Platform 2016, Arma 3 Apex - E3 2016 Teaser Trailer, 14 June, viewed 18 July 2023, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0He3-UH09PI>.

See also[]

Campaigns
Cold War Assault Resistance (1982)Cold War Crisis (1985)
Armed Assault Armed Assault (2006)Rahmadi Conflict (2006)Royal Flush (2007)
ArmA 2 Harvest Red (2009) [ Eagle Wing ] • Silver Lion (2010-2012)Operation Arrowhead (2012)Operation Crimson Lance (2012)Operation Black Gauntlet (2013)
Tactics Operation Tempest (201X)Operation No Deal (201X)
ArmA 3 Beyond Hope (2026)Prologue (2034)The East Wind (2035) [ Survive, Stepping Stone, Adapt, Win, Steel Pegasus, Altis Requiem ] • Remnants of War (2034/2035)Apex Protocol (2035)Old Man (2038)First Contact (2039)
Mobile Ops Liberator of Lignos (20XX)
Entries are listed in canonical order from left-to-right.
[Brackets] denote campaigns taking place concurrently within the same time period.
Italics denote spin-off or non-canon campaigns.
Multiplayer missions in ArmA 3

Altis

Firing From VehiclesCombat PatrolTanksEnd GameEscapeWarlordsSupportVanguardZeusRace on Altis

Stratis

HeadhuntersCombined ArmsCombat PatrolEscapeWarlordsSupportZeusRace on Stratis

Malden 2035

Combat PatrolEscapeWarlordsVanguardZeus

Tanoa

Apex Protocol* • Combat PatrolEnd GameEscapeWarlordsVanguardZeus

Livonia

Combat PatrolWarlordsZeus

Virtual Reality

Zeus
* is a standalone campaign.
Karts DLC | Helicopters DLC | Marksmen DLC | Apex DLC | Tanks DLC | Contact DLC
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