Commanding (showcase)

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Get to grips with Arma 3's squad commanding. Regroup with your team and defend a village against an enemy assault. Mission Description

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Commanding
Time	05:40 PM
Date	06-07-2035
Location	Off the coast of Stratis, Republic of Altis and Stratis

Commanding is a playable showcase mission in ArmA 3.

Overview

The player controls U.S. Army infantryman Corporal Bennett, callsign Bravo. Stratis has been invaded by CSAT forces, and they have managed to seize control of the airbase, the Kamino Firing Range, and other vital facilities on the island.

They are now pushing into the south and are attempting to capture the village of Girna. Bennett must link up with its survivors, take charge of the defence, and repel CSAT's assault at all costs to prevent the western flank from collapsing.

Role/class:

• Infantry / Team Leader

Default loadout:

• Primary weapon: MX 3GL (6× magazines)
  • RCO
  • IR Laser Pointer
• Secondary weapon: P07 (3× magazines)
  • No attachments fitted
• Equipment: Binoculars, NV Goggles (Sand), RGN (2×), Smoke Shell (White) (1×), Smoke Shell (Blue) (1×), Smoke Shell (Green) (1×), Smoke Shell (Orange) (1×), Chemlight (Green) (1×), 40 mm 1Rnd HE Grenade (5×), Smoke Round (White) (2×), Smoke Round (Blue) (1×), Smoke Round (Green) (1×), Smoke Round (Orange) (1×)
• Backpack: None

There are no alternate pieces of equipment to choose from.

Objectives

Primary

• (1) Return to Stratis
• (2) Regroup with Foxtrot
• (3) Hold the Village

Optional

• (4) Retreat to the South

Mandatory

• Bennett must survive
• Your combined squad's manpower must be not be reduced to 3 or less units
• Avoid collateral damage/friendly fire
• Remain within the combat area

Walkthrough

NOTE:

• Be sure to familiarise yourself on how to command subordinates and have your hotkeys set to whichever buttons you deem appropriate.
• Consider lowering your profile's difficulty settings before playing the showcase (changes made mid-game will not make a difference).

Primary 1: Return to Stratis

You'll start off on the benches of a friendly helicopter. Disembark once you arrive at the beach LZ. The two soldiers waiting for you next to the parked truck will auto-join your squad.

Primary 2: Regroup with Foxtrot

Get into the truck and tell the rest of your fireteam to do the same. You now have five minutes to reach the village before the assault begins.

Drive up the road and head north straight to Girna. Do not deviate from the road or else you'll take forever to get there. Be sure to utilise the Vehicle Turbo hotkey to speed things up when driving up hills. Upon arrival, the survivors of Foxtrot will immediate join you, meaning you should now have a combined squad of seven subordinates.

Primary 3: Hold the Village

LEGEND
Red: Enemy squad spawn points
Pink: Enemy attack routes (AI-dependent)
Teal: Foxtrot's minefield
Orange: Enemy boat holding position
Blue: Recommended overwatch position (You)

Now that you've linked up with the defenders, you will have to prepare for the village's defence. The attackers that you'll be pitted against comprises of the following forces:

• Two five-man rifle squads
• One four-man fireteam
• One attack boat that patrols along the western coast

As for defending the village, there are several viable positions where you can position your AI subordinates. However, one fairly straightforward vantage point is at grid 021-027, along the top of the southern ridgeline.

Position your subordinates behind the cluster of rocks and as close as possible to the trees. Those taking cover behind rocks should be using a crouch stance or else they won't be able to see/shoot properly.

Manually order individual member into a suitable spot and ensure that all of them are watching NORTH (Hotkeys: 3-8-1). Don't forget to have everyone transition to COMBAT mode and optionally, ENGAGE AT WILL (if they aren't holding position). Finally, get back into the truck that you arrived in and park it to the west of your squad. Make sure it fully covers your entire squad; this is extremely important as the truck will act as a vision barrier that'll prevent the attack boat's gunner from "seeing" your squad.

When you feel that you're ready to begin or time has run out and Hawkeye has reported their arrival, inform Papa Bear and send a SITREP via the Supports Menu. Hawkeye will follow by reporting more movement, followed by the sound of explosions in the distance shortly after, indicating that your enemies will only be a minute or so away. Luckily, since the four-man fireteam will always walk into Foxtrot's minefield to the village's north, at least one or potentially more of their members will always be killed by the mines, though the rest of the squads will not be affected.

As for the assault itself, provided that your men are not placed in a bad spot, they will be highly effective at targeting and mowing down each enemy as they emerge from the forest. You can try spamming the REVEAL TARGET key on each hostile so that Bennett will automatically call out enemy positions to his subordinates and therefore make it easier for the AI to channel their fire.

Furthermore, pay close attention to grid 022-029 as one of the enemy squads will break off east and attempt to attack from this direction. You may need to take care of these hostiles by yourself as your squad will most likely be too busy engaging the ones from 019-028 (west).

Lastly, watch out for the CSAT attack boat that will arrive shortly after the assault begins and come to a halt at grid 018-026. You do not have to kill the crew to finish the mission. So long as everyone is safely hidden behind the truck, they will never fire upon your position as they cannot "see" your squad.

Once all hostiles have been killed, the showcase will automatically end in victory. Alternately, if there are five or less enemies remaining and two minutes have passed since this threshold was reached, the showcase will also end in victory.

Optional 4: Retreat to the South

If your squad suffers more than three deaths, Girna will be considered to be overrun and you will be ordered to retreat to grid 019-024. This essentially results in mission failure, so do not neglect the wellbeing of your squad members.

Tips

• Your squad's designated marksman (Campbell) and automatic rifleman (Martinez) will be crucial for the defence. Prioritise their safety whenever possible (though obviously not at the cost of your own).
  • Unlike the other members of the squad (aside from Bennett), their rifles are fitted with RCOs by default which means that they can attack much further and with less dispersion than the other AI members.
  • Make sure both are positioned well to get the most out of them as they will probably be doing most of the killing.
• The boat's destruction is not required for a successful completion of the showcase. Stay behind the truck and avoid provoking its ire unless you're confident that you can snipe the gunner and commander fast enough.

Trivia

• Commanding was not originally available in the Alpha and was only added after the release of Game Update 0.70.
• Disabling the truck or immobilising it by crashing into rocks before arriving at Girna will result in extra dialogue.
• Despite the size of the ellipse marker, Foxtrot's minefield is actually much smaller than its shape would suggest and is only placed right on top of the four-man fireteam's movement waypoint.
• Due to the random nature of AI pathfinding, it is entirely possible for all four soldiers in the four-man fireteam to be killed by landmines depending on your playthrough.
• The ending will differ depending on whether the player managed to not lose a single member of their squad, lost at least two members, or lost up to three members and only just barely managed to not fail the defence.
• The showcase was first featured in the E3 2012 Stage Demo. Former Bohemia Interactive developer, Jay Crowe, briefly presented footage of project lead Joris-Jan van 't Land playing through the showcase.