Matrix Games

Welcome back, Commander. I hope you had time to go over our last lesson several times, as your grasp on the basics of Broken Arrow is essential if you want to learn how to apply those principles in actual combat. If you need a quick refresher, here’s the rundown: we took a look at what Broken Arrow is, how it plays, what unique mechanics it has to simulate the challenges real-life commanders face on the battlefield, what kind of units are at your disposal, and what Broken Arrow’s “Speciality” system entails. You can review the class materials here (LINK).

Today, we are going to go over the following topics:

• Tips and Tricks For Beginners
• Victory Conditions - How Do They Work
• Strategies to Win: Learning From Experience

Take your notebook out and pay attention, Commander. This is where it gets serious.

Tips and Tricks For Beginners

As you now know, Broken Arrow, the highly anticipated large-scale real-time strategy and real-time tactics game, features a host of unique mechanics that set it apart from other titles in the genre, particulary given its modern warfare setting. Let's dive into 10 essential Tips and Tricks for beginners I've compiled, exploring each in detail. Hopefully, by the end of this section, you'll start to get an idea of how all of these come together to give you an edge on the field.

1. Pause Often: In single-player missions, Commanders can pause or slow down time. We know how challenging it can be to manage everything on a dynamic battlefield, which is why Broken Arrow includes an active pause feature for single-player missions where you can still give out orders, even when paused. Use this mode to strategize your unit deployment, properly position them, and study the terrain before committing to the fight. Leverage this feature to get comfortable with the game's mechanics and learn without unnecessary stress.
2. Use the Terrain: Broken Arrow maps are far from flat. Rolling hills, depressions, forests, and urban environments are all integral parts of the game, and each can be used to your advantage. Utilize high ground to station recon units that will relay vital information on enemy movement, or to establish deadly fields of fire overlooking key areas of the map. Use depressions in the terrain to conceal troop movement and safely reposition your units; however, be aware that the enemy can exploit surrounding high ground to pin you down. Small and large patches of forests and urban areas are perfect for hiding infantry and catching unsuspecting enemy convoys off guard. Crucially, the terrain is also the determining factor for our next topic: Line of Sight.
3. Make Ample Use of the Line of Sight Tool: By pressing ALT on your keyboard, the game’s dynamic Line of Sight tool instantly becomes available, allowing you to see exactly what your units can observe from any given position. Never underestimate the utility of this tool, as it automatically adapts to the optics of the selected units; always be on the lookout for new and superior firing positions for your units. In Broken Arrow, units don’t immediately open fire on the enemy; depending on the unit, they might require a few seconds to develop a firing solution before engaging. This means it's not enough to simply place units where they have a clear field of view of the enemy; their position must also afford them enough time to engage and destroy the target.
4. Recon Often and Strike First: Modern military weapon systems are extremely deadly, and Broken Arrow is no exception. It should therefore come as no surprise to astute Commanders like yourself that the first to fire holds a massive advantage. Use your recon units to pinpoint enemy force locations, ascertain their composition, and predict their movements. This intelligence is essential for effective decision-making; even the best troops are of no use if they're not fighting in the right places. Furthermore, utilize reconnaissance defensively to avoid being caught offguard by flanking maneuvers.
5. Use Infantry: While Broken Arrow's arsenal might tempt you to field a plethora of powerful tanks, advanced fighter jets, and gunships, you'll still need boots on the ground to secure victory. This vital role can only be achieved by the "Queen of the Battlefield": your infantry units. They play an essential role in the game's dense urban environments, as they are the only units capable of securing buildings. Even destroyed buildings can garrison infantry, so always keep an eye on opportunities for hiding infantry in defensive positions within buildings to ambush unsupported armor. It's incredibly difficult to defeat a well-garrisoned building simply by firing at it, especially if your forces are exposed in the open. Fortunately, in Broken Arrow, infantry can assault enemy-occupied buildings, but to do that successfully, you'll need to learn all about what comes next.
6. Learn How to Master Active Abilities: Every unit in Broken Arrow is unique, offering far more tactical depth than simply a collection of hidden stats. Commanders have direct access to a range of active abilities, allowing them to precisely influence unit behavior on the battlefield. For instance, Infantry is equipped with "Smoke Grenades" and "Sprint," invaluable for rapidly traversing open ground to minimize casualties or breaking line of sight when under heavy enemy fire. Planes and Helicopters utilize flares and can dynamically adjust their altitudes to counter enemy anti-air defense systems (missiles are more effective against high-altitude aircraft, while anti-air guns excel against low-flying ones). Similarly, Tanks and Infantry Fighting Vehicles deploy smoke and utilize APS (Active Protection Systems) to break enemy line of sight and protect themselves from anti-tank weaponry.
7. Fix and Flank: Broken Arrow features robust suppression systems and mechanics, which you must master. Infantry units under heavy fire won't be as effective as those operating under normal circumstances; they can become disrupted and even face destruction. Use this to your advantage: wisely suppress enemy infantry squads with overwhelming firepower while simultaneously advancing on their flanks to deliver the finishing blow. This principle extends to every unit type, as vehicles also boast modular damage models. This means you can immobilize them by destroying their tracks or engines, rendering them unable to operate and making them easy targets for long-range artillery or airstrikes.
8. Supplies Are Essential: The old adage, "An army marches on its stomach," highlights that logistics are as critical to an army's performance as its morale and equipment. While Broken Arrow, a fast-paced real-time strategy and tactics game focused on tactical operations, doesn't simulate consumables like food and water, that doesn't diminish the importance of supplies. Commanders must constantly monitor their supply levels and seek out ammo storage. These vital resources are used not only to rearm and resupply your troops but also to provide your support teams with the necessary means to repair damaged vehicles. As previously mentioned, vehicles feature modular damage; if a tank gets "tracked" and immobilized, you'll need to repaiit, a task accomplished by placing supplies near the affected vehicle.
9. Don’t Let Your Men Die: Unlike other games in the genre, Broken Arrow emphasizes the vital importance of preserving your forces. While it's an undeniable reality of war that units will be lost in battle, that doesn't mean every squad and vehicle should fight until they're completely exhausted and out of ammo. Commanders are rewarded for taking care of their men: you'll receive extra requisition points if a squad successfully exfiltrates from the battle. Is a vehicle too damaged and far from supplies? Send it back to base. Is an infantry squad depleted and at risk of being overrun? Sprint them back to safety and send them to the rear. In Broken Arrow, every requisition point can make a massive difference in even the most balanced battle.
10. Overwhelming firepower: In our first lesson, I mentioned that Broken Arrow centers on modern military and combined operations. In practical terms, this means achieving tactical superiority by bringing every military branch together to employ overwhelming firepower. Combine the devastating armored thrust of tanks with fast-moving Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs), all under the cover of artillery and airstrikes, to pin down your enemies and move in for the decisive blow. Combined Operations isn't about fighting fair; it's about bringing every gun you can to bear on the enemy to win decisively and with minimal losses. Remember, ammo can also be replenished, so don't hold back.

Victory Conditions: How Do They Work?

Commander, there are several ways to achieve victory in Broken Arrow, depending on the mission or match you're playing. Let's start with the single-player campaign.

Singleplayer Campaign

In the game’s massive campaign, which places you at the helm of both US and Russian forces as they battle for the fate of the Baltic States, your victory conditions are dictated by your senior commander. Later in this guide, we will delve into two specific missions, offering practical examples where you'll learn to apply all the tips and tricks explained above to their full potential.

War Goals Multiplayer 

The War Goals is the multiplayer mode of Broken Arrow, and it is played in three distinct 15-minute phases. During each phase, six War Goals are active:

• Three Conquest Goals: These require you to capture more objectives than the enemy.
• Three Annihilation Goals: These focus on inflicting maximum damage by destroying more enemy units.

At the end of each 15-minute phase, the number of goals won is tallied and added to the overall score. Points for each phase increase gradually:

• Phase 1: Each objective won is worth 1 point.
• Phase 2: Each objective won is worth 2 points.
• Phase 3: Each objective won is worth 3 points.

The team that has earned the most victory points at the end of the third phase wins the match. However, it’s also possible to end the match earlier by capturing and holding all the objectives at once. It is called Sudden Death.

Strategies To Use- Learning From Experience

Commander, we're now going to examine a couple of scenarios that we've already successfully simulated and won. However, in a real-world conflict, you'd be fighting these at the very start of the war.

Pay close attention to the maps, force compositions, and the movements we executed during these simulated engagements. You'll now witness two distinct battles unfold: one from the perspective of the United States Army on its advance toward Kaliningrad, and the other from the perspective of a Russian battalion HQ near the city of Narva.

While these missions may be drawn from the single-player campaign, the fundamental principles you'll learn here will be equally invaluable in a multiplayer environment against human combatant.

Mission 1 - Tracked and Furious 

Location: Highway to Kaliningrad, Russia.

Objectives: Capture the highway strong points on the way to Kaliningrad and protect the armored brigade convoy.

Forces: 4 M1A2 Abrams tanks, 6 Bradley IFVs armed with APS, and 6 infantry squads. Players can requisition the needed units as needed. Airpower is available later in the mission.

Tactics: Strike fast and decisively using armor on the highway, and use the high ground on the sides to flank the enemy using the Bradleys and infantry squads to move quickly. Use mortars to support the advance and use helicopters to defend the convoy as it moves along the highway