When one team in public ARMA 3 Warlords has air superiority the other team is at a major disadvantage. Aircraft and vehicles are quickly destroyed by air power. Players and squads are regularly wiped out near spawn or in their own sectors. Once air superiority is established it is difficult for the opposing team to regain control.
This article shows you how to take control of the sky back for your team. We’ll cover three methods:
- Tigris / Cheetah Ammo Truck Auto-Reload
- Defender / Radar or Rhea / Radar Missile Systems
- Airfield Camping
The first two are expensive defensive techniques while Airfield Camping (typically at AAC, Central Airbase, or Molos) is offensive and much more cost efficient.
Simply getting jets in to the sky typically isn’t practical because the enemy air team will be destroying jets on takeoff via air power or airfield camping.
My personal preference is to get 3 players together to execute either 1 or 2 and 3 as a coordinated counter-attack. In this way air power is eliminated and the suppressed. The entire team needs communication that an anti-air push is coming so they know when to bring in vehicles and start a hard push on the enemy.
Tigris / Cheetah Ammo Truck Auto-Reload
Good Locations:
- I recommend at least one controlled sector between the enemy and this AA installation
- I like the Bases since they offer some cover from ground attack
Ingredients:
- 2 Cheetah’s or Tigris’s (4000 CP/ea)
- 1 Fuel Truck (750 CP)
- 1 Ammo Truck (3000 CP)
- 2 Infantry Repair Specialists (200 CP/ea)
- 2 Infantry Anti Air (300 CP/ea)
- 1 or 2 Players
Total Cost: 12,750 CP
Setup Steps:
- Call in the Fuel & Ammo trucks and park them right next to each other, side by side, pointing so that the passenger side is unobstructed
- Put a repair specialist in the passenger seat of each truck
- Call in the AA Tanks and put an AA in the Gunner seat as soon as it lands
- In turn, drive the tank next to the front of back of the supply trucks. Turn off the engine and get out.
- Make sure all the AI are in their correct seats and all the engines are off
- Move 20 meters away or so in case they blow up…
Management:
- When the shooting starts, go back and forth between each Tigris to make sure it reloads
- If a vehicle takes damage get one of the truck passengers out to repair it and then get them back in the truck
- If the positition can be attacked by enemy tanks, call in a couple static AT launchers pointing in the at-risk directions or call in a tank and man that as defense from land attack
- Over time the enemy will come try to eliminate the position because this is extremely effective at costing them CP. Have an alternate location in ming and ready to go in case you choose to displace. If you do, leave the Gunners in the AA tanks as you transport so that they can keep shooting!
If you have a 2nd player assisting you there is a choice to be made. Either assign them to fending off ground attack (AT launchers, Machine guns, or a couple tanks) or have them setup a secondary site exactly the same in a different location.
Defender / Rhea + Radar Missile Systems
Next time I set one up in the game I’ll write out this part… stay tuned.
Ingredients:
- Defender / Rhea (27,500 CP)
- Radar (8500 CP)
- Ammo Truck (3000 CP)
- 2 Rifleman (100 CP/ea)
Airfield Camping
Good Locations:
- North of Molos Airfield
- South of AAC Airfield
- South of Central Airbase
- North of Airfield compound
Read the full Molos Camping article.
Read the full AAC Camping article.
Ingredients:
- Transport vic or heli or bum a ride from a pilot
- Launcher boxes (300 CP/ea, I get 3)
- Sniper rifle (Arsenal)
- Laser designation + battery (Arsenal)
- UAV Terminal (Arsenal)
- 2 or 3 Infantry AA soldiers (300 CP/ea)
- 1 or 2 Infantry AT soldiers (300-350 CP/ea)
Total Cost: 3100 CP + Transport
Setup Steps:
- Go in to Arsenal and load thermal gear, sniper rifle, UAV backback
- Setup and send the UAV to the camping location so that you have overwatch capability during travel and while camping
- Get to the camping location via vehicle, helicopter, airdrop, or walking if necessary
- Call in infantry and launcher boxes once you arrive. Mark launcher boxes on the map so you can find them later
- Place AT and AA infantry where they have a view of the area a fire you want to control
Management:
- The most important part of camping is keeping yourself alive. It is better to run and hide when the enemy tries to kill your squad and drop in new soldiers once things cool down than to be killed and lose the position
- Set everyone to Hold Fire until a target is identified that you want them to shoot
- Keep track of the number of missiles remaining for each soldier so that you know when to dismiss them and call in new ones
- Use the sniper rifle to take out players from a distance once they are on to you and trying to take out the squad, but run away soon enough that they don’t kill you! Don’t shoot players until you need to, and then, it may be better to just run away.
Once air power is removed and suppressed it is time to get the pilots in the sky. Make sure they know their opportunity is coming and that they have the CP to bring in their airplanes.