ArmA Theatre of War

ArmA: Theater of War (ArmA-ToW or AToW) is a mature ArmA community dedicated to providing a large, persistent, multiplayer campaign. The campaign focuses on some of the larger cities on the Sahrani island. A linked objective system and forward spawning mean that the combat is always focused. Infantry rarely have to wait for a transport, and there is always action to be had just over the horizon!

The Teams

There are two teams in ArmA-ToW: the Unites States Marine Corps and the Russian Army. The USMC and the Russians are further subdivided into Infantry, Armor, Air, and Recon units.

United States Marine Corps

The USMC team borrows it's command structure from the real life 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. The ranks go from Private to Lieutenant General. The Marine players are not very fussed over ranks, though, and they are used primarily to inform other players of their proficiency on the battlefield.

The United Nations

The united nations is a third "team", comprising only a couple of members. Their job is to watch over the battle, and make sure there is no fowl play.

Campaigns, Tours, and Battles

The main competition takes place during a "Campaign". Each campaign is fought in two "Tours". Each tour is seven to twelve "Battles". The sides switch positions on the island between tours.

As of June, the Tournament is about to begin it's second Campaign.

Objectives

ArmA: Theater of War splits the Sahrani island up into 5 objectives: Eponia, Bagango, Corazol, Dolores, and Cayo. Each town is further subdivided into a main objective "bubble" and four satellite objectives. Furthermore, between each town there are two "Linking Objectives".

Capturing a town is a drawn out process. First, at least one Linking Objective between a friendly town and the enemy town must be taken. Then two satellite objectives in the enemy town must be captured. Only then can your team move on to the main bubble.

The dynamics of capturing objectives is a bit complicated, and will not be explained in detail here, however it takes a number of men several minutes to capture each objective, and these objectives are the center of most of the fighting!

Forward Spawning and MHQs

In order to keep soldiers in the thick of the fighting, each army is allowed to purchase a number of Mobile Headquarters vehicles. These allow soldiers to "Forward Spawn" into them. They are very expensive, however, so they must be well looked after.

If all of a sides MHQs have been destroyed, then they must resort to spawning to friendly towns. Only towns sufficiently removed from the front line allow forward spawning, however.

Resources and Equipment

Holding on to objectives gives each army Resources in the forms of Man Power, Fuel and Ammo. These are counted up as the armies hold possession of the objectives. At the end of the battle the amount of resources is tallied up, and each teams Commander uses these resources to purchase equipment for the next battle.

The team that holds the most territory for longest, and is most careful with their equipment, will soon see more resources than there enemy, giving them an advantage on the battlefield. It is this AToW specific Objective System which puts a value on all items used for combat and helps immerse the individual soldier in the war. Earning resources through the objective system can only be accomplished through team work. No individual soldier wins a war and the AToW Objective System assures the army with the best overall teamwork is victorious at the end of a Campaign.

Links

ArmA: Theater of War Website
The Battle Map, as of the end of Campaign 1, Tour 2

Notes

At the time of writing, ArmA-ToW is between campaigns, which means that much of the above information will change, and some of it will be obsolete.