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Many of our members record our sessions:Highlights Year in Reviews Full Missions After Hours
At Bourbon Warfare, we follow the game-play frame of mind of "Accessible Realism." We define accessible realism as the ability of a casual gamer to competently and confidently take part in our sessions without the need for extensive training sessions. This is achieved through a brief SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) manual which acts as a guide for how we conduct actions in game; including basic tactics, formations, terminology, and proper communication techniques.
Our Co-op missions are structured missions with a command element leading the way. These are the more realistic missions, showcasing what Arma 3 is really capable of. They are real world situations, without the down time. These missions generally run the longest, with planning and recon being down much more thoroughly than with a standard team on team engagements.
Our TVT missions fall between the seriousness of a co-op mission and the relaxed feel of our other missions. These are a fast paced, adrenaline rush. These missions don't last as long as co-op missions but are a lot of fun. These offer a variety of mission types, from being on the ground to in the air.
Fun, one of a kind missions from a tron like race to a bank heist, these missions are unique to Bourbon Warfare. We normally play these in between our co-ops and TVTs for a fun change of pace.
While our focus is ArmA, we are a community that plays many games together.
Click to read moreThis guide is split up into relevant sections and should help new members and potential recruits decide if we are the unit for them based on our play style. Additional guides will be provided for more specialized roles including combat medic, vehicle crew and leadership slots.
Military formations are all built open the organization of smaller elements into more powerful and capable fighting units. With infantry, the smallest level of organization is the Buddy Team. They are the minimum group size that should have specific orders or goals as individuals do not last long in combat and are considered to be entirely ineffective. The reason we cover these four roles in our SOP is that nine times out of ten, a player is going to find himself in one of these roles. Tankers, pilots and specialists are all rare slots in high demand.
A buddy team consists of two soldiers who work together to keep each other alive. If you find yourself alone on the battlefield, find another lone soldier and form a new Buddy Team. While it could be thought that the level of tactics that two men could utilize and employ might seem limited, these tactics lay the groundwork for what larger units do. Buddies check each others backs, cover each other during movement and share target information. They are also responsible for bandaging each other in an emergency should the medic be unavailable. The individual roles are listed below.
The Team Leader (TL), as the name implies, leads the fire team by controlling their fire and movement as well as communicating back to higher leadership. The Team Leader also provides grenade launcher support to the team and is equipped with smoke, flare and HE rounds for flexibility. Initiative at lower levels can often win battles, and was a key element in what made the Germans more effective than other armed forces in WW2. This is known as mission tactics."
The Rifleman Anti-Tank (RAT) moves with the team leader as his buddy, and carries the primary anti-tank weapon of the fire team in the form of a shoulder-launched disposable rocket. Because of the importance of this one shot weapon, the RAT is generally the second most senior member of the team. The RAT primarily operates as a base level rifleman, like the AAR by covering sectors, laying down effective fire and flanking hostiles.
The Automatic Rifleman (AR) provides the fire team with its primary source of anti-infantry firepower in the form of a light machine gun. With a longer, reinforced barrel and fed by either a large belt or box magazine, the Automatic Rifleman provides sustained fire capabilities to the team. It is the ARs job to engage and suppress enemy infantry, winning fire superiority so the team and squad can gain freedom of movement.
The Assistant Automatic Rifleman (AAR) operates as the ARs buddy, feeding him target locations, ammunition and security. Combined this buddy team works as the fire teams primary means of winning long range firefights as the AAR is equipped with a medium range optic to spot for both himself and the AR.
Battle Drill 1&2 are examples of real tactics that Bourbon Warfare uses consistently during our sessions. It is vital that team leaders have a firm understanding of these tactics, while everyone should know the basics in case of casualties involving the leadership. Battle Drill 1 is a simple offensive plan, with our side firing the first shot. Battle Drill 2 is nearly identical, however the enemy initiated the firefight. Battle Drills are simple in both concept and implementation, and can be done with Buddy Teams, or an entire platoon. They are meant to be simple and effective, conditioned into soldiers on the battlefield as muscle memory. Battle Drill 1 takes two teams and designates one as the fire support element, and one as the assaulting element. The support group fixes the target with heavy, accurate shooting, while the assaulting element flanks boldly to the most covered or concealed flank. Speed is life.
The goal is to distract and disrupt the enemy with suppressive fire so that the flanking element can get into a position to destroy the enemy in-close. As the assaulting element closes on the target, they can call for the support element to "shift fire". This means for them to move their suppressing fire to the opposite flank, to avoid friendly fire while keeping the target's heads down. See the last page of the SOP for diagrams.
Standardized smoke signals allow for easy and reliable communications between various elements either in support of or in replace of radio traffic. Being able to wordlessly mark friendly positions and enemy positions in a very visible way allows elements to react faster and with more safety.
| White | Used for concealment almost exclusively. May be used for other effects only if communicated through radio traffic. |
| Green | Used for marking friendly locations for other units to avoid friendly fire incidents. May also be used as a LZ marker if communicated with the pilot. |
| Red | Used to mark enemy positions for fire support. |
| Blue | Used as a LZ marker. |
| Purple | Used by the medic for CASEVAC, concealment or priority support. Always assist the purple smoke! |
Bourbon Warfare uses a set signal code to simplify operations as every member knows what channel to be in at all times. This gives survivability to our radio network; with separate channels per section this keeps the chatter down, but should individual rifleman need to communicate for whatever reason, they know which channels to go to. We also make use of a simplified, standardized template for all communications between different units. This is to reduce the on-air time for each speaker, and to make the most of that time.
It is important that wither you are talking on command net or the section's personal net, you remember the ABCs of radio communication. Accuracy, Brevity and Clarity. If you need to take a few more seconds to think through your message before you send it, do so. Make sure you provide all the important information in as short a message as possible. This really comes into itself when issuing a contact report, which will be described below.
Radio communications via command net have a simple template to follow consisting of four parts that should be said in order. Message Recipient, Message Sender, Message, Ending. This is important, as you only spend the time to communicate your message once you've confirmed the recipient can hear you. For example, if Alpha 1 needs to inform platoon leadership about an enemy vehicle, it would go like this. "Command, Alpha 1. Vehicle contact, over." At this point you would wait for Command to answer your call before continuing. Alternatively, "Command, Alpha 1. Urgent message, over." would work as well.
Communication on the squad level net is much less formal, but should only be used for critical information, or for communication between elements out of vocal range. "Hey Matt, shift your fire left, there's another guy behind the next bush" is perfectly acceptable on the squad net, but not on the command net. Buddy Teams should communicate to each other and the Team Leader through the squad net, leaving command net for more important squad to squad and platoon command needs.
