There are no alternate pieces of equipment for either character to choose from.
Infantry[]
Objectives[]
Primary[]
(1) Seize Houdan
(2) Supply Point
(3) Seize Dourdan
(4) Defend Dourdan
Optional[]
(5) Retreat
Mandatory[]
Spender must survive
Your squad must have at least more than three subordinates alive
Allied tanks and APCs must not be destroyed
Do not harm any prisoners or civilians
Avoid collateral damage/friendly fire
Remain within the AO
Walkthrough[]
Primary 1: Seize Houdan[]
You'll start off inside an APC. You can take the opportunity to customise you and your squad's loadout with the weapons/ammo stored inside the vehicle, but there's not much to pick aside from the anti-vehicle launchers or swapping their rifles with an MX SW.
Once the convoy comes under fire near Point Katmai, you'll be forced to disembark just outside of the town. Push forward alongside Bravo squad. You'll be supported by the friendly tank so take your time clearing each street.
The home in front of where you dismounted has a CSAT squad protecting it and will usually be inside the alleyway just behind the garage. Toss grenades in their direction or go in guns blazing - either method will suffice. Do not bother destroying the MRAPs or IFVs. The tank will be taking care of them shortly after it moves forward.
Do take special care to watch for the second floor windows of houses. Some may have snipers providing overwatch of the main street, so proceed slowly and avoid the temptation to run out in the open. If you're not confident with urban fighting, wait for Bravo squad or the tank to push ahead. Lobbing a few UGL rounds into the windows can also get rid of them safely.
Once all enemy forces have been cleared and a white flag gets hoisted over the church, the objective will be marked as complete.
The CSAT HQ in front of the church.
Do note that after clearing the town, you can head upstairs in the white building just south of the church.
A CSAT HQ is located on the second floor which you can secure and notify high command about. It's not required to do this, but since you'll probably be near the church at the time of the objective's completion, you may as well head there anyway.
Primary 2: Supply Point[]
You must now secure the CSAT supply dump at Point Carlsbad to the east of Houdan. Move through the groves to the east and push through the blue house with an offroad parked outside it. Several soldiers are garrisoned by its windows, so proceed through with caution.
The cowering civilian.
If you intend on clearing the home and don't want to wait for Bravo to tackle them, be careful of the unarmed civilian crouched behind a sofa chair on the second floor.
There's a soldier taking cover behind a toppled table in front of him and he's already pointing in your direction. Try to shoot through the walls or dump your magazine in his direction (but away from the civilian at the back). Do not use grenades or you'll end up killing the civilian.
Once the home's been emptied of threats, move north-east until you see trucks parked outside a stone house. Eliminate the squad protecting the dump; you can lob a couple of UGL rounds in their direction to get rid of them quickly. Once they've been killed off, the objective will be finished.
Primary 3: Seize Dourdan[]
Before regrouping with Echo's APC, you may want to resupply from the crates. Restock your UGL rounds if necessary (the smaller boxes contain highly useful 3-round HE grenade stacks) and have any members of your squad wielding a backpack take an RPG-42 with them (load up on the AT rounds).
Once you're prepared, the friendly APC will be assigned to your command. Mount up and assume the driver's seat. Now you must clear the way through to Point Yellowstone along the coastal trail:
You can make use of the nearby mountaintop which provides a nice vantage point overlooking the town, and is an ideal location for you to snipe the garrisoned troops inside Dourdan.
However, the route is guarded by two static anti-tank fortifications along the way. The APC's gunner should usually be able to snipe them from afar, but it's risky and can be dangerous if your entire squad is riding inside it.
Since there are roaming CSAT patrols protecting the launchers, you may want to have half the squad escort the APC dismounted while you man the gunner position and take out the launchers before getting into range. Don't forget to switch to Line formation so that your dismounted squad members can engage without the APC obstructing their line of sight.
The hidden HMG nest.
At the end of the route just after you cut around the hill is a machine gun nest concealed by a camouflaged net cover. There's an RPG-equipped gunner along with the HMG turret itself; both of which will make short work of your APC and your dismounted squad members (respectively).
Make sure you get everyone back inside the vehicle first and edge around the corner carefully. You'll always be able to pre-empt the AT soldier with a bullet to the skull unless he's been alerted to your presence first. As for the HMG turret, it won't even scratch your APC so as long as your squad is mounted up.
Once you get to the town itself (Point Zion), Dourdan will essentially be a repeat of Houdan so take your time clearing each street. As before, watch out for the windows as some buildings will be garrisoned by the occasional sniper. Once all vehicles and infantry are wiped out, the town will be secured.
Primary 4: Defend Dourdan[]
You must now fight off an armoured counterattack consisting of three tanks and one IFV. Unfortunately, you don't have much fire support at your disposal so you'll have to make do with whatever AT assets you have at hand.
Fortunately, the friendly tank should still be around and Bravo squad will also lend their support. If needed, you can take the Titan launcher from your squad's heavy AT gunner and bombard the incoming tanks from the other side of Dourdan. Resupply from the APC as needed, but be wary of the enemy tanks' coaxial MG fire and avoid standing out in the open to attract their attention.
Once all enemy vehicles have been destroyed, both the objective and mission will be over. Mini-campaign complete!
Optional 5: Retreat[]
If both APCs and the friendly tank are destroyed and your squad has less than three members alive, you will be forced to pull back to Camp Noe, resulting in a mission failure.
Special Forces[]
Objectives[]
Primary[]
(1) Destroy AT Threats
(2) Ambush Reinforcements
(3) Seize Houdan
(4) Guard Prisoners
(5) Seize Dourdan
(6) UAV Terminal
(7) Connect to UAV
(8) Defend Dourdan
Optional[]
(9) Retreat
Mandatory[]
Sturrock must survive
Your team must survive
Allied vehicles must not be destroyed
Do not harm any prisoners or civilians
Avoid collateral damage/friendly fire
Remain within the AO
Walkthrough[]
Primary 1: Destroy AT Threats[]
You will randomly start off in one of either two locations: in a forest to the south of Houdan (close to Point Arches), or along the mountain range to the west of Point Acadia.
Regardless, lead your team in the direction of either objective until you're a couple hundred metres away from them. Don't forget to order your team to Open Fire and Engage At Will (Combat mode is optional):
If starting near Point Acadia:
You will have to watch out for a fireteam of CSAT soldiers patrolling around the home. Be sure to prioritise taking out the team leader and autorifleman first as they can suppress your team quickly if you're not careful.
If starting near Point Arches:
Point Arches is also guarded by a fireteam of enemy soldiers, though it has the added threat of a grenadier included amongst them. As with Point Acadia, take out the team leader/autorifleman first (along with the grenadier).
Once the target areas have been cleared, continue pushing north through the forest. There are at least two fireteams patrolling the surrounding area at Point Denali and Point Congaree. Don't rush this - the enemies lack significant body armour and are easy targets for your team to pick off from afar. Move slowly through the forest and wait for your stamina to recover after each engagement to minimise weapon sway.
The hidden CSAT tank.
Your primary targets - the static missile launchers, can be neutralised with two to three shots to the launch tube, or by simply killing the gunners manning the turrets themselves.
However, the launchers are not the sole AT threats in this area. A camouflaged tank is tucked between Denali and Congaree; you might not see it if you attack Denali, but it won't be hard to miss if you decided to attack Congaree first. Either way, once the tank has been spotted, wait for Guardian to authorise you to call in artillery on the tank. Just be careful not to be within proximity of the tank when the shells arrive.
But, if for whatever reason the shells missed or you used the artillery strike on something else, you will have to destroy the tank by hand. Fortunately, Congaree and Denali have ammo crates with plentiful amounts of Titan ATGMs and RPG grenades inside. A few hits with either weapon will be sufficient to blow up the tank.
Primary 2: Ambush Reinforcements[]
After the launchers and tank have been disabled, move northwest towards the Guran estate west of Houdan (at Point Everglades). A squad of motorised infantry are protecting the target.
As tempting as it might be, avoid a frontal assault as there's insufficient cover and you have poor vision of the estate itself. Some of the soldiers are similarly garrisoned at the windows and can pin your team down if given the chance. Rather, opt to assault from the west. It's a short climb up the hill and you can snipe the guards outside of the building one by one from its vantage point. Don't forget to mount your AMS rifle scope to get a better view of your targets, then swap back to the ERCO once the area's been cleared.
Once all enemy forces have been eliminated, this objective will be completed.
Primary 3: Seize Houdan[]
Now you will need to support the attack on Houdan itself (Point Katmai). Thankfully, you're not alone; give the greenlight for Alpha, Bravo and the tanks/APCs to move in (select 0-8 from the Supports menu). There are several motorised infantry squads and an IFV protecting the town. Take it slowly and leave the armoured targets for the allied tank to knock out. As always, prioritise the enemy autoriflemen, grenadiers and AT gunners.
Once all of the CSAT forces in Houdan have been taken out, a white flag will be hoisted atop the church in the centre of town and the objective will be marked as complete.
Primary 4: Guard Prisoners[]
Head to the church and move inside. You'll see a CSAT officer and his adjutant inside with their hands in the air. You only have to wait until a truck with a reinforcing squad arrives to collect them.
The CSAT HQ in front of the church.
Note that while waiting for backup to arrive, you can use this time to search the white house directly in front of the church.
Go up to the second floor and you'll see a stack of computers rigged with demo charges. Don't worry - they won't be detonating anytime soon. Simply collect the intel and report your finding back to command.
Primary 5: Seize Dourdan[]
While you're still guarding the prisoners, allied forces will continue pushing north towards Dourdan. You don't have to join them in the attack. Just stay at the church and wait for the truck to arrive. Dourdan will eventually be cleared after Alpha, Bravo and the tanks/APCs secure the town.
Primary 6: UAV Terminal[]
After overhearing the CSAT officer chatter to his adjutant about an impending counterattack, you'll be given the order to retrieve a UAV Terminal from the truck heading your way. Once it arrives, collect the terminal from the truck and toggle its interface.
Primary 7: Connect to UAV[]
An allied UCAV has been dispatched to support ground forces at Dourdan. Assume manual control of the drone and be sure to switch to Manual Fire.
Make sure you're careful not to crash the drone as it's critical for the next objective.
Primary 8: Defend Dourdan[]
The enemy reinforcements consist of three tanks and one IFV. They're way too much for ground troops to tackle on their own, so you will need to support them from the air with the UCAV. Thankfully, the drone's Skalpel ATGMs can one shot every one of the vehicles, so all you have to do is lock-on and fire away. As before, watch your altitude and don't fly too low.
Once all of the vehicles have been destroyed, the counterattack will be repelled and the objective checked off. Mission complete!
Optional 9: Retreat[]
If the allied vehicles/squads and your team take too many casualties during the attack on Houdan/Dourdan, you will be ordered to fall back to Camp Noe in the south. This results in a mission failure so it isn't actually an "objective" in the conventional sense.
Trivia[]
Attempting to pick up a weapon from the corpse of enemies whilst in proximity of any of Sturrock's team members will cause them to sarcastically quip about him "making friends" with the dead soldier.[2]
Prior to the release of the Tanks DLC, standing within 10 metres of the allied Slammer when it fired would cause Spender to complain about the noise.
However, because of the DLC's update refactoring the tank's main gun from a 105 mm gun to a 120 mm smoothbore cannon, this dialogue doesn't trigger since the script condition will never be fulfilled.
Executing the prisoners at the church, regardless of whether the player is playing the Infantry or Special Forces roles, will result in a series of dialogue lines where the player is chided for committing a war crime before the mission ends in failure.
«
Fahim: Don't panic, Corporal. The Americans don't know what they've gotten themselves into. I received a communique. Reinforcements will be arriving from La Trinité. If we can keep them here as long as we have, our Chinese friends will-- Sturrock: Wait, what? Fahim: Nothing. Sturrock: Reinforcements?
Translated dialogue
»
During the Special Forces objective to keep watch over the prisoners, the North African CSAT officer who surrenders mentions reinforcements coming in from La Trinité (oblivious to the fact that that Sturrock understood French).
He also mentions that the Chinese were mobilising to save them despite the Chinese government officially stating that they would ground their aircraft, and that they would not participate in the ongoing hostilities. It is unclear if the officer was aware of this fact, however.
Before the release of Game Update 1.84, a serious bug could occur whereby the player (as Infantry) could instantly fail the mission after Houdan was seized if any NATO vehicles had been destroyed prior to the objective being completed.[3]
The information below details unused, pre-release or removed content.
«
Sturrock: Guardian, we're getting played. Some of these CSAT guys are Chinese not African, over. Guardian: Are you certain, Pariah? Sturrock: I'm as sure as shit-fire, there's a dead tank crew, they're Asian. Guardian: Okay, Pariah, we'll pass that on to INSCOM. Out.
Unused dialogue lines (if identifying the nationality of the crews as Special Forces)
»
«
Spender: Alpha to Guardian. Something doesn't quite add up. Gotta dead CSAT tank crew - they're Asian, not African. Over. Guardian: That's good intel, Alpha, we'll get it to INSCOM. Out.
Unused dialogue lines (if identifying the nationality of the crews as Infantry)
»
Unused subtitles and dialogue lines suggests that the counterattacking force was originally meant to be crewed by Chinese soldiers. This would then result in extra dialogue whereupon either Spender or Sturrock would comment on this discovery and report their findings back to Guardian.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
«
China denied any direct involvement in hostilities. But evidence suggested otherwise.
Cut epilogue lines
»
The epilogue would also include extra lines which state that the Chinese government officially denied any involvement in the fighting, despite NATO forces discovering hard evidence that proved the opposite.[10][11]
↑ARMA 3:Tac-Ops [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., Stepping Stone, Disintegration Point, "KULANSKY: You making friends there, Sarge...? STURROCK: Yeah... well, I get more sense from him than you."
