Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead

Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead

195 ratings
Advanced AI Squad Commanding
By Skeleton Man
Many people have an ambiguous idea at best of how to properly control their AI subordinate's movements. This guide intends to change that.
2
2
   
Award
Favorite
Favorited
Unfavorite
Selecting Squadmates
First of all, if you have any subordinates at all, they should show up on the bottom of your screen, starting from the left.

Each pane represents an individual squad member.
    Portrait
    The portrait shows the appearance of the squad member, dictated by their in-game model. Snipers will show up with ghillie suits, riflemen with ballistic helmets, and marksmen or team leaders will usually have a boonie hat.
    Portrait Color
    The color of the portrait will generally tell you how able a soldier is to fight. A squad member with a red portrait is moderately to severely injured, which hampers their accuracy and movement speed. An orange portrait indicates low or no ammunition remaining in that soldier's inventory. Soldiers will usually report "low ammo" when they have one or two magazines left, and then "no ammo" when they are completely unable to fire. Injured squad members will periodically voice their complaints for you every few minutes they don't recieve aid.
    Squadmember Designations
    In the bottom right, eacn member is designated with a number. These numbers are used to call out a squad member when giving orders. If the number is colored, that indicates the team that unit belongs to (I.E, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, or White).
    Specializations
    Above a soldier's designation will be their specialization, if any. This can range from Medic/Corpsman (red cross, capable of healing squadmembers and sometimes reviving downed squadmembers), Engineer (wirecutters, specializing in defusing or planting explosives and mines as well as repairing vehicles), or indicate particularly high skill or rank (this image's squadlead happens to be Sgt. First class, high skill usually means better combat effectiveness in general).
    Armaments
    The bottom center can hold a black indicator which shows if that soldier possesses any special weapons. It can take the form of a reticue (marksman's and sniper rifles like DMRs, SVDs, AS50/M107, M24/M40A3, ect.), a circle with three bullets (LMGs like the M249/M240/Mk 48/M60, ect.), a rocket warhead (AT launcher, like an RPG7/M136/NLAW/Javelin/SMAW, ect.), a small rounded rocket warhead (AA launcher, like an FIM-92/Strela-2 launcher, ect.), or a rifle grenade (primary weapons equipped with underslung grenade launchers like an M16A4 M203 or an AK-47 GP-25, or primary weapons that are grenade launchers, like the M32, M67, or Mk13).
    Vehicles
    When occupying a vehicle, the bottom-center indicator will change to show what the role of the unit's currently occupied seat is. It will either be a steering wheel (Driver), a reticule (Gunner), or two circles merged together (Commander). If this indicator is absent, then this unit is a passenger in the vehicle they occupy.While in a vehicle, at the bottom-left of the portrait will appear the number of the top authority in the vehicle, which will default to the commander, if any. If a vehicle has no commander, it defaults to the driver. If that unit's squadleader is inside the vehicle, it will default to the squadleader's designation.When a commander is absent, the driver, then gunner, then the first passenger will be used to dictate top authority in the vehicle.
    Combat State
    The top right of a portrait is reserved for the unit's combat state. Only two combat state indicators exist: either a red reticule, indicating the "Danger" combat state (squadmembers cover one another as they move between cover and keep as low as possible), or a blue eye with a slash through it, indicating the "Stealth" combat state (squadmembers cover one another and move slowly while sticking to heavy cover, going prone whenever idle). If no indicator is present, the unit is either in the "Aware" state (at ease but scanning for enemies) or "Safe" state (completely idle, walks slowly to waypoints and ignores cover). Units always default to "Aware" unless directly told to enter "Safe" or another combat mode.
    Fire Mode
    A large red slash going through the entire unit's portrait indicates the unit is holding fire. Units holding fire will only shoot at enemies that are either very close or are firing in their general direction and are thus deemed an immediate threat.
    Actions
    At the top of the portrait can appear text indicating that unit's current action. While following their squadleader, the unit's text will usually be clear, but can read Mount, (attempting to enter a vehicle), Stop, (holding position), Wait, (waiting for squadleader to regroup), Move, (moving to a new location), Engaging (attempting to destroy an enemy unit), Hide (attempting to find cover and disengage), Supporting (helping another unit complete an action), Disembark (exiting a vehicle) and more.
    Selecting Units
    You can highlight any unit by pressing the corresponding Function Key, F1-F12. Pressing F2 selects Unit 2 and so on. If you have more than 10 units, pressing F12 will cycle to the next 10 units, which can be selected the same with F1-F10. F11 will show the previous page.Pressing the Tilde Key (` or ~) once selects all your units that aren't currently executing another action. Pressing it again selects all units if some were executing an action at the time of the first press (Otherwise this will deselect all units). Pressing it a third time deselects all units.You can assign your units a team by selecting the units you want in the team and pressing 9. Then press the number of the color you want that team to be. You can then quick select that team by pressing Shift+FunctionKey. F1 is Red, F2 is Green, F3 is Blue, F4 is Yellow, and F5 is white. You can also select teams by pressing 9, 9, then the color of the team you want to select.This is useful to break up your squad into quickly-selectable groups that you can easily direct without needing to hand-pick the same few units each time. You may want to have armored vehicles in one group with lighter supporting vehicles in another, and your infantry in a third, or you may want to split up your infantry squad between AT, assault troops, and supporting troops.
    Ordering Units
    When ordering a group of units, your character must say the number of each unit they wish to order, followed by the order. If you are selecting all of the units in a squad, your character will simply say "All", shortening the time it takes to vocalize the order. An order will not be carried out until it is fully vocalized by you, so it is important to try and keep your designations curt wherever possible. When selecting a team, for instance, your character will only say "Team Color, perform action" instead of naming each individual member.
Quick Commands
Whenever you select a unit, a Menu appears in the center left of your screen. You can use the Scroll Wheel to navigate the menu and select what you want the unit to do. Some actions are context-sensitive, depending on what your cursor is currently over in the world:
  • Terrain - You have the option to move your units to this location.
  • Empty/Friendly Vehicle - You can give the order for the units to board that vehicle. The units will take the first availible slots, starting with Driver>Commander>Gunner>Passenger.
  • Inside a Friendly Vehicle - You can give the order for the units to mount the vehicle you're in.
  • Enemy Unit - Gives the order to engage that enemy.
  • Squad Member - Allows you to select that unit only, Tell that unit to stop, or tell that unit to hold fire.
  • Cover - A line should appear tethered to that cover. This indicates a hardpoint that the AI will try to stand on for optimal cover should you move the AI to that location.
  • Sky - AI will move to the next mission waypoint, or your custom waypoint if you have set one.
  • Friendly Vehicle with your own units - Allows you to give the order for those units to dismount that vehicle.
  • Freelooking (using alt) - Gives the order to watch that position or give supressive fire at that location.
    In addition, you can give the order for a unit to stop moving or hold fire from this menu. If the unit is currently away, you can give the order to regroup. You can also accsess the team menu from here, as well as Support and Communication commands, if there are any availible.
1 - Movement
These orders are for general positioning of your troops.
  • 1 - Return to Formation
    Orders the selected units to return to your side in formation, depending on your currently selected formation. Units who previously had an Advance, Stay Back, or Flanking order will ignore that order and return to the default locations in formation.
    -------------------------------------------------
  • 2 - Advance
    Units will try to shift their positions in formation about 30-50 meters in front of you. This can be helpful if you want your AI to take an ambush before you do, or if you want to push your assault troops forward while you command from the back.
  • 3 - Stay Back
    Units selected will shift their positions in formation to trail around 30-50 meters behind you. This will help keep your valuable bullet-magnet units (the ever important medics/corpsmen, or units with expensive equipment like AA specialists and Javelin specialists) out of a firefight.
  • 4 - Flank Left
    Units will shift formation left and forward to try and get around the right side of the enemy.
  • 5 - Flank Right
    Units will shift formation right and forward to try and get around the left side of the enemy.
    -------------------------------------------------
  • 6 - Stop
    Units will immediately hold their positions and cancel any action they were doing. Units that are stopped can still engage enemy units from that position if told to do so, which is useful if you want your unit to enter a sentry like mode where they engage anything they can see from that position.
  • 7 - Wait for me
    Units will immediately hold their positions and cancel any action they were doing. Once you return within a reasonable distance of them, they will return to formation.
  • 8 - Find Cover
    Using this command will issue all units a "Danger" state of combat. Units will bound for the nearest cover and cover each other in an attempt to hide from danger, attempting to disengage.
    -------------------------------------------------
  • 9 - Next Waypoint
    Orders your units to move to your Map-placed waypoint. (You can place a waypoint on the map by using Shift+LMB.)
2 - Targets
Selecting an option in this menu will always tell the units selected to change what you've chosen to be their active target. Only a list of currently spotted targets and objects are able to appear.
  • 1 - No Target
    Unit will belay any previous target orders and target units on their own discrescion, unless they are set to a "disengage" state of combat, in which case they'll avoid firing on anything.
  • 2-9 - First avalible Unknown or confirmed-hostile targets.
    Any targets that are not confirmed friendly will appear here. If they take up more than 8 spaces, they continue on the next page. An unknown target can sometimes be confirmed enemy automatically from a distance, usually in the case of spotting enemy units from a long range via binoculars or through aircraft/tank radar IFF signatures. A target showing up here does not mean that you should shoot it all the time, sometimes friendly units are spotted from a distance and labeled as "unknown", in which case telling your units to shoot them will cause teamkills.
  • 0 - More
    Cycles to the next page. Other pages contain static objects, animals, and friendly units that you are free to target.
It is easily possible to target friendly units using this menu. Once you've selected them from this menu, you can use the "Fire" command (3, 3) to force them to open fire onto the friendly unit you selected (if they're within range and have a reasonable shot). Even works using AA launchers on friendly aircraft and AT launchers on friendly tanks.
The best part is that the kill feed will rarely show you as the one who commited fracticide.
3 - Combat State
Combat state deals with how units react to hostiles.
  • 1 - Open Fire (default)
    If the unit has a target and is within range, the unit will attempt to attack the target.
  • 2 - Hold Fire
    The unit will not fire on any targets, unless the target is deemed an immediate threat by being too close or firing in the general direction of your squad.
  • 3 - Fire
    Generally used for commanders of tanks, but can also be used if a target is being held with a hold fire order. This will usually give a one-shot order, at which point the AI will return to whatever state they were in before. It is mainly used for targeting non-hostile structures or vehicles and attacking them. Using 2, you can target certain structures and vehicles without them needing to be enemy.
    -------------------------------------------------
  • 4 - Engage
    Any selected units with a target will break formation and engage said targets. This belays any hold fire orders. If the unit does not have a selected target, they will fire at enemies whilst maintaining formation.
  • 5 - Engage at will
    Any units with this mode will automatically break formation and engage any targets deemed hostile until they are eliminated. This essentially makes the AI combat on its own, however it can be easy for your forces in this state to become disjointed and spread out too far to be effective. Usually, it's safer to manually assign a target to two or more squadmembers at once so they can work together to cover one another and provide supression fire for one another on the target.
  • 6 - Disengage (default)
    Units will hold formation and attack enemy units assigned to them as targets from formation. Units will avoid assigning targets to themselves and move with you as a priority.
    -------------------------------------------------
  • 7 - Scan Horizon
    Units will constantly look 360 degrees at any available horizon to spot incoming units. Good for scouts and lookouts. If the unit has Binoculars or a weapon with a high-powered scope, they will use it to observe areas that are at greater distances.
  • 8 - Watch Direction
    Units will look at a specific area in one of the 8 Cardinal or Orthaginal directions, (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW) chosen by you. If the unit has Binoculars or a weapon with a high-powered scope, they will use it to observe areas that are at great distances. Alternatively, you can select a unit and use freelook (alt) to tell them to watch a particular location from the quick-command menu.
    -------------------------------------------------
  • 9 - Supressive Fire
    If units have a target, they will fire in the general direction of that target in an attempt to force the enemy to take cover. Units will use more ammo and fire more often, even if they don't have a clear shot.
4 - Vehicles
This section will list any nearby empty or friendly vehicles that the unit can board. The first option will always be disembark. The units selected will get out of their vehicles only when it is safe to do so and will get out one by one. Pages can be cycled with 0. Once you select a vehicle, a secondary menu appears:
  • 1 - Anywhere
    The unit will board the first availible seat. If multiple units are selected, they will fill the vehicle, taking priority seats first. Seat priority is Driver>Commander>Gunner>Gunner 2>Passengers.
  • 2 - Driver
    The unit selected will board the driver's seat. If multiple units are selected, the first unit will board the driver's seat and the rest will fill the seats as per "anywhere" seating.
  • 3 - Commander
    The unit selected will board into the commander's seat of the vehicle. The commander will process orders and feed tactical information to the rest of the crew, telling the driver where to move and the gunner what to shoot, as well as spotting targets from his command seat.
  • 4 - Gunner
    The unit selected will board in the first availible gunner's seat. If multiple are selected, the first one will board the gunner's seat while the rest will board anywhere availible.
  • 5 - Ride in Back
    The unit or units selected will ignore all functioning seats and ride as passengers in the vehicle.
If the vehicles is already at capacity or can't hold all the troops ordered to board it, the order will issue to only those that can board it, starting with the lowest number. If no units can board the vehicle, the order will not be issued.
5 - Personal Messages
These messages can be used by you as a squad leader or a subordinate. They communicate information to the rest of your squad and your squad leader, however they have little effect on the AI.
  • 1 - Call Support
    So far i've only seen this usable in warfare. Sends a vocal message to all other squad leaders on the command channel to send the support of your choosing to your current grid coordinates, as well as a "Done" option for some reason. Usually your support request will be immediately met by an AI saying "NEGATIVE".
  • 2 - Fuel Low
    Calls out a warning that you have low fuel to your squad.
  • 3 - Ammo Low
    Calls out a warning that you have low ammunition to your squad.
  • 4 - Injured
    Calls out a warning that you have low health to your squad. Automatically is called out if you suffer a gunshot wound or your health falls below a certain percentage (usually around 75%).
  • 5 - Report Status/Report Position
    If you have no subordinates or are a subordinate yourself, this will ask your squad leader or other squad leaders for their grid positions. An AI squad leader will always respond with their gridref. If you have units selected, it will ask them to report their status. This reset all portaits to green while the unit gives a SITREP. The units will first call out low ammo, health, or fuel, then call out grid positions in ascending order. Groups of units in the same grid will let the lowest number in that grid call out their gridref and will stay silent. Units who fail to answer the SITREP (unless they're in the same grid as another unit who reported) will be reported dead after a short timeout and removed from your hotbar.
  • 6 - I'm under fire
    Warns other units of enemy fire. Sets a "Danger" combat mode for the unit under fire and other units if they also notice the fire.
  • 7 - One Less
    Reports to squad that you've eliminated an enemy, reguardless if you have or not. Is sometimes automatically called out in combat if you spot the body of a target you were assigned.
  • 8 - ...is down
    If a unit is suspected dead, you can manually report them down by selecting them on the hotbar and selecting this option. If the unit is not actually dead, they will report their position and then be re-added to the hotbar.
6 - Action Menu
This tab deals with context-sensitive actions, which can include Opening Doors, looking at a squadmember's gear, assembling and disassembling mounted weapons, picking up/dropping bags, reloading special magazines, saluting, and sitting down.

When opening a squadmember's gear, they'll often try to exchange gear at the nearest object that can hold it, be it a vehicle or a corpse. Once they get there, you can move their gear around as if it were your own. Unfortunately, AI loves to pick very far away locations to access gear, even if there are bodies right next to them they could do it at. Try to ensure the only access point for gear is the only one nearby or else your units might run over the countryside to go grab some magazines.

To make an AI assemble a weapon, you must have a Tripod Bag and a Weapon bag. Tell one AI to drop one of the bags and the other AI to assemble it. It will be assembled at the location of the dropped bag.

Multiple infantry units can be told to sit or salute at the same time. Having all of your units in a file and facing the right direction, saluting, is a good way to confuse other players.

If you have assistant AT or AA specialists in your squad, they have to drop their bags in order for another squadmember to rearm at that bag. Make sure when that squad member is done rearming that the member who dropped the bag picks it back up since they'll attempt to rearm at the bag even if it only contains a smoke grenade.
7 - Stances and Behavior
This tab deals with how units execute move orders.
  • 1 - Stealth
    Units will move slowly and attempt to conceal themselves in any cover they can find, often crouching or going prone in bushes for visual cover. They will move from cover to cover in a bounding fashion. One group will stay behind to cover other members as they advance. Units will always remain crouched when moving and will switch to prone when idle. All radio communication between stealthed units will be hushed if such voice clips are available. Units in this mode actively search for enemy units and keep weapons raised but will avoid engaging enemy units unless told to do so.
  • 2 - Danger
    Similar to Stealth, however chatter is generally distressed, units will advise each other when they are covering, and units will bound from solid cover to solid cover at top possible speed. Units crossing an open or exposed area with no cover will assign a small detatchment to stay a few meters back to cover, then swap roles when the covering squad moves forward, repeating until they make it to solid cover. This slows movement through open areas which may be detrimental, so try to issue orders to make them move as fast as possible. Units using this mode will also cover other units that are advacing through an urban area, keeping units behind cover to watch the advancing unit's 6 o'clock while the advancing unit peeks around the corner. Units in this mode actively search for enemy units and keep weapons raised. This combat mode is automatically issued if a unit is under fire, then automatically returned to whichever state they were in previously after they haven't been under fire for a few minutes.
  • 3 - Aware (default)
    Units lower their weapons and loosely stick to cover, watching for enemy units. Units in this state opt to attempt to stay in formation and try to take the fastest path to their destination.
  • 4 - Safe
    Units lower their weapons and opt to take open paths and roads to get to their location. They will not use cover and will either move quickly to their position if it is a long way away, or walk to their position if it is close by. Units in this mode do not look for enemy units, however they will still notice them if they are directly within their line of sight.
    -------------------------------------------------
  • 6 - Stand Up
    Units will always attempt to stand upright. If given a stealth, danger, or take cover order, they will use their prefered stance until this order is issued again.
  • 7 - Stay Crouched
    Identical to stand up, however the units will remain at a crouch. Useful if you wish to retain a certain degree of concealment but high movement speed.
  • 8 - Go Prone
    Units will immediately lay down and crawl. Useful for stealth and prepping units for an ambush, as well as ensuring units like Marksmen and Machinegunners are getting accurate shots on the enemy.
  • 9 - Copy my stance
    Units attempt to maintain the same stance as you. Once they're close by and in formation, they'll drop to the stance that you are using, but will usually stand up and run or make a crouched run to your position if you start moving at a fast pace. Not as reliable as manually issuing them a stance order but it can fit the bill of you can't be arsed or aren't able to manage your squad that effectively.
8 - Formations
Formations control how units arrange themselves when you call them back to formation. They can be useful to create a larger or smaller base of fire and defend against flanking.
  • 1 - Column
    Units will form a line behind the squadlead, spaced approximately 2 meters apart from each other, in ascending numerical order. Lengthy formation.
  • 2 - Staggered Column
    Units will form two columns behind the squadlead, spaced two meters in either direction, with even numbers on your right side and odd numbers on your left.
  • 3 - Wedge (default)
    Units form a V, with the squadlead at the apex and the units trailing on either side. Even numbered units are on the right whilst odd numbered units are on the left. Well-rounded and the most balanced formation.
  • 4 - Echelon Left
    Units will form the left side of the wedge in ascending numerical order.
  • 5 - Echelon Right
    Units will form the right side of the wedge in ascending numerical order.
  • 6 - Vee
    Forms an inverted wedge, with the squadlead at the apex and the units in front of the squadlead. Even numbers are on the right whilst odd numbers are on the left.
  • 7 - Line
    Units form a horizontal line with the squadlead in the center, spaced about 1.5 meters apart. Even numbers are on the right whilst odd numbers are on the left. Broad formation.
  • 8 - Column (Compact) [File]
    Units form a tight column behind the player, spaced approximately a meter apart in ascending numerical order.
  • 9 - Delta [Diamond]
    Units will form 3 seperate lines behind the player. These take the form of a staggered column formation and a column formation spaced such that the column formation is halfway between each member of the staggered column formation. Most Compact formation.
9 - Teams
Allows you to assign specific units to a team. Whenever this group of units is selected, either with or without using the tools provided, it will be refered to as Team Color, Perform this action. This can help in large groups of units where naming each individual soldier by number can create a delay on your orders, or can help to group your soldiers by class or function.

Remember, you can quick select group Red by pressing Shift+F1, Green with Shift+F2, Blue with Shift+F3, Yellow with Shift+F4, and White with Shift+F5. All units are, by default, a member of team White.

You can also select a team by pressing 9 to open the team window, then 9 again to open the team selection window. Then press 1-5 to select the corresponding team, and then press the key of the type of action you want to do.

Selecting multiple teams will call out each individual member selected, instead of "Team [X] and Team [Y], perform this action.", so it may be faster to just issue the same order to each team seperately in the interest of berevity.
0 - Personal Replies
This section deals with common replies subordinates give to squad leaders. They usually don't have an effect on AI.
  • 1 - Done
    Indicates you are completed with a given order. Sometimes when you die and respawn, your portrait may have a "stop" order issued above it. When this happens your units assume that you're too busy to squadlead and will assign the lowest numbered subordinate to handle orders given to the squad by you, often botching them terribly. Using this command will return the squad to your personal command.
  • 2 - Fail
    Indicates you cannot comply with orders.
  • 3 - Ready to Fire
    Indicates that you have a target within your sights and are ready to shoot him.
  • 4 - Cannot Fire
    Indicates you cannot shoot due to lack of ammo or if you are currently under supression fire.
  • 6 - Repeat
    Asks your squad leader or commander to repeat the last issued command.
  • 7 - Copy
    Signifies understanding of orders or information.
    -------------------------------------------------
  • 8 - Communication
    Mission-Specific Player-to-Player options.
  • 9 - Custom
    Mission-Specific Actions.
Vehicle Command
A vehicle crewed by your subordinates will allow you to command the crew in that vehicle even if you aren't in the commander's seat. This will allow you to "drive" an armored vehicle while gunning (with a slight delay to account for communication between the gunner/driver) or allow an AI gunner to target enemy units while you drive and keep in cover.

Movement
While not in the driver's seat, using the movement keys will issue orders to the driver. Pressing W will issue a command to move forward at a normal pace. The unit will continue moving forward until you give him a new order. Pressing S will issue a stop command, then pressing S again issues a reverse command.
Q and E can be used to tell a unit to drive slow or fast respectively, but using the forward command twice also results in fast movement. A and D can be used while moving to issue left and right turn commands.
Targeting
While in a vehicle, accessing the target menu (2) without selecting any units will automatically transmit the target to your crew instead of your squad in general. This can be used while driving to instruct a gunner to target a specific vehicle or infantry.
Using Ctrl+F will force your gunner to change weapons (using F can do this too unless you are in a seat that also has multiple weapons, like an AH-64). Using Ctrl+Primary Mouse will order the vehicle to hold or cease fire if the weapon is an automatic (like a minigun, 20mm cannon, machinegun, or mounted grenade launcher) or issue a fire order if the weapon is a high-powered single shot (like an M256 main tank gun, TOW launcher, or attack helicopter/aircraft guided missiles). Using the primary mouse button by itself also works, but only if you do not have a weapon yourself to fire.

Some vehicles like tanks and IFVs can change between armor-piercing and high-explosive ammunition. To do this, you must select the main weapon and then use the context menu to select the munition to be loaded. Armor piercing ammunition is for destroying fortified objects and vehicles like bunkers, tanks, and armored cars. High explosive ammunition has a very large blast radius and does extreme damage to lightly armored targets like infantry and light vehicles, capable of taking out entire squads with well placed shots. For tanks, switching between SABOT and HE rounds takes a little more time than it does to load the gun normally. For IFVs, switching between APFSDT-S rounds and HEI-T rounds takes less than half a second.

Manual Fire
Some aircraft and other vehicles have an option for "Manual Fire". This will allow you to directly control what the weapon targets and how it shoots. You'll often notice that AI equiped with automatic weapons likes to only take a shot per second at targets far away, even though they can land many shots in the same spot on fully automatic. Manual fire will let the AI deal with aiming while you hold down left mouse and destroy whatever is aimed at. This also allows you to directly control gunner weapons like hellfire missiles and sidewinder rockets. Remember that pressing tab is a quick way to swap between availible targets, and AI gunners are extremely accurate at hitting anything while you are moving slowly or at a standstill. Rockets need little in the way of guidance to hit targets, but distance is a large factor. Most helicopters equipped with M134 miniguns have a manual fire feature that will allow you to lay down supressive fire on targets from the air without relying on wonky AI to do the shooting, and all attack helicopters allow manual fire.
Interpreting Squad Communications
Your squadmates will generally yabber stuff to each other and you over the radio during an engagement or when asked to do something. Usually this is self explanatory but some stuff can be hazy.
  • Negative, No can do, I can't.
    The unit has failed whatever order you have given them. Usually this can happen when you tell them to board a moving vehicle, or board a vehicle that is locked or unplayable by your team. They will automatically attempt to board a moving vehicle until they loose sight of it.
    This can also happen if you tell the unit to move to a location they can't get to. This usually means the area is blocked by something.
  • I'm at grid XXXXXX.
    The unit is reporting their position in grid coordinates. Grid coordinates are divided into two sets of three numbers. The first three is the horizontal position whilst numbers 4, 5, and 6 indicate vertical position. To put it simply, read coordinates from the top of the map first, then from the side.
  • Enemy at 3 O'Clock, 200 Meters, Enemy, Front, 100 Meters. ect
    • This unit has spotted an enemy unit or a unit with an unknown dispositon to your squad. If the squad member gives the direction in "O'Clock", imagine yourself in the center of a clock. Direclty infront of you is 12 O'Clock, whilst directly behind you is 6 O'Clock. Directly to your left is 9 O'Clock and directly to your right is 3 O'clock. Simply point yourself in the direction of the number the unit calls out as if you were standing on a clock. They also handily estimate the distance.
    • The unit will only call out "Front", "Left", "Right", and "Back" if the squad has been or currently is moving in a single defined direction. When using this notation, squad members will coarsely estimate distances using prepositional terms, such as "Just", "Far", "Way", "Close", "Medium" ect. An example is "Enemy Man, Just Right, Close". This would indicate that the enemy is about to your 1 O'Clock and is usually within 100 meters of your squad.
    • If a unit states that an enemy is "One Klick" or "Half a Klick", refrence that a "Klick" is a millitary term for a Kilometer, which is 1,000 meters. Thus, half of a Klick equals 500 meters.
  • I've Got him!, One Down!, Target Eliminated.
    The unit has confirmed that they killed an enemy. This will always play if you have ordred them to target a specific enemy.
  • Copy, I'm on him. Engaging!
    The unit is breaking formation to engage an enemy target.
  • Status Red!
    This unit is in a vehicle and the vehicle has suffered debilitating damage.
  • Where are you? Report Position!
    This unit has strayed a considerable distance from you. Give them a manual move order to get them back to formation faster.
  • Go! Covering!
    When units are in a "Danger" or "Stealth" state, they will call out to each other. If a unit transmits this, it means they are staying behind to cover other units moving forwards.
  • Under Fire!
    Units in an aware, safe, or stealth state will report if they have any form of ordinance land near them. If in a safe or aware state, they'll swap to a danger state.
  • Clear.
    After a unit that has been under fire doesn't receive any fire for a few minutes, and spots no enemy units around them, they'll automatically report the area clear and swap back to aware or safe, depending on which state they were in when they came under fire. Units manually told to enter a danger state will never swap out of danger on their own.
Setting up an Assassination
A fun part of AI is the ability to eliminate multiple targets at once. To do this you require the following:
  • Enough AI units to quickly dispose of the force you're engaging, ideally a 1:1 ratio.
  • AI with proper ranged capability. MP5's don't tend to perform as well as an M24.
  • A good, unobstructed view of the enemy force.
Getting into position
Before you do ANYTHING, perform the keystrokes ~32. This will tell all of your units to hold fire. This will prevent the AI from spotting a target and immediately firing upon them. You will also want to do ~71 to tell your AI to stealth and keep a low profile. If your AI isn't already, perform ~36 to make them disengage from fights.

You want to set your AI up in a treeline or on the edge of a hill. Once you approach the edge of the treeline, tell your AI to go prone. Get to a proper position and either have you AI move up in formation (Ideally a line, however you can change it based on the shape of the treeline), or you can tell the AI individually to move to different locations. Asking them to move to different locations is preferable as you can surround and the enemy. If you or the AI misses, the enemy won't have many places to run because of your wide coverrage.

Once all units are in their proper places, do ~16 to tell them to all stop, and ~78 to tell them to go prone.

Targeting the Enemy
Once you have your targets, you should select all your AI and tell them to watch the group of soldiers. This will direct their focus to the squad you've pointed at.

You and your AI will automatically call out the soldiers to your squad once they confirm they are hostile. Select 1-2 of your units at a time and assign them a target using 2. Assign each soldier or group of soldiers a different target to maximize the spread of your damage. If your units have a clear veiw, they will report that they are "Ready to Fire."

Engaging
Once everyone has a target and is lined up, do ~31 to tell your units to open fire. They should each shoot their desegnated targets and eliminate the enemies you targeted about 95% of the time. After that, you can either have them stay there and engage any targets they deem they can hit, or you can tell them to all engage at will and move out of cover.
Commanding from the Map
You can still select and give orders via the Map, however you will usually be limited to move orders if the game mode is not on Easy or a variaton thereof.

If the game mode is on easy, last-known positions of enemy and friendly soldiers will be displayed. This will allow you to select units and target enemy units from the map alone by simply selecting the units you want to attack the enemy, mousing over the enemy units, and selecting "Attack".

The map is also useful to give long-distance move orders or observing friendly forces on the map. Hovering over any map object with a unit selected will give you a corresponding quick menu command to execute.
Tips and Tricks
  • If you have a large number of units in a vehicle, while moving at a slow speed you can do ~62 to tell them all to eject at once. This will make them all exit the vehicle at the same time, making unloading a truck much faster than using Disembark, as that command unloads them one by one. Be wary that in helicopters or cramped quaters, the AI can take damage from collisions with the ground, objects, or each other.

  • Remember to tell your units to get back up after you order them to prone. If a unit is unresponsive, tell them to return to formation, give them a new order, or make sure they are standing and not prone.

  • It's ideal to organize mixed squads into teams so you can manage things like an AT squad. This way you can easily tell your AT squad to engage a tank intead of having to select them individually or giving infantry the task of blowing up a tank with a peashooter. You may also want to assign four units (usually a medic, a machinegunner, and the remainder being riflemen/AT riflemen) into a team so you can easily access several balanced teams to send to an objective or location.

  • Multiple units assigned to the same task (such as three or four units assigned to engage an enemy, move to a position, or perform an action) will act as a squad in themselves, with the lowest numbered unit taking point and the remaining units covering and watching different arcs. It can be benificial to send small groups of three to four squad members at a single enemy or objective instead of thinning out your squad by assigning each individual member a different target. This way, your groups of members will stick together and increase each other's longlivety instead of spreading out too far and getting flanked.

  • You can use the Action Menu (6) to tell units to resupply, repair, and refuel at the respective trucks or service points. You can also use this menu to tell Medics to heal soldiers and engineers to repair vehicles or disarm/place explosives. The action menu will also annoyingly contain every door within a hundered or so meters that the AI is capable of opening or closing with little distiction between each.

  • Units ejecting from air vehicles that have considerable altitude will automatically deploy a parachute. If your aircraft gets hit by enemy fire and is in the process of crash landing, using ~62 will likely save most of your units from a firey death in the event you don't successfully crash land or eject yourself.

  • Units can be told to change seats while in some vehicles through the action menu (6).

  • Units that are inside a vehicle with gear can be told to pick up a weapon from inside the vehicle while they are in a seat that would normally be able to access gear.

  • Units will report low ammunition when they have 1-2 magazines left with anything that's not a light machine gun. Units will report that they can't shoot, out of ammo when they have only one magazine left.

  • Units can be told to rearm, resupply, and take weapons from the action menu (6).
Limitations
Arma AI doesn't come without its downfall of being clunky and having obscure limits on how they're able to perform. Many players get frustrated that AI won't do what they tell them to when the player is perfectly capable of doing it. Keep these limitations in mind:

Engagement Distance
Most AI units have a hard limit on how far away they'll attempt to shoot targets from, and will try to avoid shooting at targets if they don't have a stable or clear shot. You can more easily reach their maximum engagement distance if you tell them to go prone and hold position, forcing them to stay still and fire from a secure position.
Maximum engagement distance also depends on what weapon the soldier is carrying, as well as wether or not that soldier can actually see the enemy you're indicating. You can tell if a soldier can't see the enemy if you assign them that enemy as a target and they then begin to scan the area for the target you indicated without actually aiming at them. If you need to direct them to a target, you can select them, hold Alt, and use the "watch position" command to focus their attention on a target or location.
Maximum engagement distance is only 200-250 meters for most submachine guns, 400-500 meters for most assault rifles and light machineguns, and pushing 600 for most sniper rifles. Anti-Tank weapons are all different, but RPGs and M136s usually have a few hundered meter's range, while SMAWs, NLAWs, MAWWS, and other unguided high-tier launchers have a bit extra range. Javelins have about a kilometer and a half of range, while stingers have about two or three kilometers range, though maximum range that a player can use all weapons is much higher.

In vehicles, maximum engagement distance is often much higher, usually around 800 meters for anything that even has a mounted MG on it. In armored vehicles, maximum distance can border on two kilometers. Remember that AI is almost dead-accurate if they can find and fire at a target, so it's almost garunteed death if you can get them to look at an enemy the right way.

AI Pathing
AI has some particulars in pathing around oddly shaped terrain, especially clusters of rocks or steep hills. Notable examples include Gap Golova (The lighthouse between Chernogorsk and Electrozadvosk) and the top of Pik Kozlovoka (The mountain north of Cap Golova). It's usually very difficult to get an AI to walk around these areas (especially Pik Kozlovka) without them blatantly refusing to move there or dying after they walk off a one and a half meter ledge. Best bet can be to find an area that works and then police the harder to reach areas yourself.

AI also has particulars about pathing through towns, most notably using different points as cover around prefab buildings and fences and being able to navigate through urban enviornments while covering one another. They'll also cover one another as they move through the open, slowly in a bounding fashion.
Vehicles will opt to take roads to their destinations, even if they're tracked and wouldn't benefit from the smoother terrain of a road, unless they're directly told to take a path that isn't road-based.
Helicopter pilots, when told to disembark, will slow down and attempt to land nearby wherever they were told to disembark.

AI Equipment
AI is extremely particular about when they use their given equipment. I have never been able to get an AI to throw a smoke grenade for any reason, and they will only use fragmentation grenades when they're within range of an enemy vehicle or structure and have no better option for destroying it. Fortunately the AI treats stones as fragmentation grenades, so you can tell the AI to stone that humvee that won't give you a ride by manually targeting it. AI rarely uses underslung or primary grenade launchers and usually have to be coaxed into using them.

AI will only use stingers or AT launchers if told to target a vehicle or structure (and will only use stingers on aircraft). They'll also handily hammer it with as many rockets as it takes to blow it up, sometimes wasting their entire inventory in the process.
Closing
Adding more information soon.
49 Comments
BananaGirl⁧ ⎝⧹KiTiTy⧸⎠ 2 Mar, 2024 @ 2:04pm 
so much to learn in Arma 2 <3
Art Bell 6 Jan, 2024 @ 1:57pm 
nice:steamthumbsup:
Jean-Maginot 6 Mar, 2022 @ 7:08pm 
Well i'm actually searching but i can't found the mission parameters (i'm actually hosting a local multiplayer), didn't found anything on it. When you talk about mission lobby, you talk about when we are choosing our side and our role before launching ? If is that, i only found a server button, but inside there didn't seem to be anything interesting.
Skeleton Man  [author] 6 Mar, 2022 @ 4:38pm 
its been a long time since i've worked with it but somewhere in the mission parameters there is an option to set the maximum squad size. You will probably have to hunt around for it in the mission lobby before the mission actually starts
Jean-Maginot 6 Mar, 2022 @ 12:09pm 
Hello guy and thank, doesn't know if you can help me, but when i'm playing on warfare mode (classic warfare in the Modules, without mods or external script), my squad is capped at 12, and IA squad is randomly capped from 3 to 12. Someone know why please ? I'm trying to set up a higher limit (like 30 or also no limits)
Skeleton Man  [author] 8 Feb, 2022 @ 4:59pm 
thanks buddy luv u 2
Copperfield [SAC] 8 Feb, 2022 @ 12:29pm 
I felt like this guide need a comment in 2022. also thanks for guide note :D
Skeleton Man  [author] 3 May, 2021 @ 10:18pm 
they're very delicate and misguided creatures
ebefuzz 1337 2 May, 2021 @ 1:58am 
Skeleton Man: spends alot of time for making guide for AI controlling
Ai in the game: There is enemy, lets just stand still and die like a champ
Skeleton Man  [author] 24 Oct, 2020 @ 2:05pm 
who the FUCK commented here and deleted it you better repost it RIGHT NOW