An Introduction to the 1st Rapid Response Force

Foreword by the Unit Commander

The 1st Rapid Response Force is the result of four years of effort, energy and tears being combined into a well trained and disciplined force that can operate at the highest levels of accomplishment. Whilst we strive to obtain the highest levels of professionalism and simulation it is important that we do not lose sight of the reasons why we chose to dedicate our time and effort to a video game: entertainment.

It is often said within the ARMA community that MILSIM kills fun however we disagree. We believe that MILSIM when executed correctly provides a satisfaction and sense of pride that far exceeds that of simply blasting through a town. Observing the multiple concurrent actions being undertaken to perform a mission is what I believe to be the pinacle of enjoyment that can be obtained from an online game. At the 1st RRF we strive to always find the right balance between achieving the necessary levels of training and camaraderie to execute these succesful missions whilst also not creating a “second fulltime job” for our members.

Finally, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read our documentation and consider our unit. The way we play is not for the faint of heart or those afraid of commitment however if our mission resonates with you then together we can achieve great things.

Our Definition of Military Simulation

The most important thing to understand about the 1st RRF is that we are a Military Simulation unit. In recent years this term has been diluted as the ARMA community has grown and a more diverse array of units offering competing levels of tactical realism and bureaucratic simulation have emerged. At the 1st RRF we firmly believe we are primarily a Tactical Simulation group - we take this to mean that we aim to fully simulate the in game tactics that would be employed by the real military from the leadership level all the way down to the standard infantryman. We do not however believe that this requires increased complexity for the individual player. This means that our environment may make sacrifices such as the use of third person in order to improve the cohesion of the player.

Below are several key factors of our definition of Military Simulation to help you evaluate our playstyle:

Third and First Person camera - For all players.

We do this for a number of reasons. Primarily because we have found over thousands of hours in game that this consistently causes eye straing, motion sickness and fatigue in players over long periods of time. It is unfortunate that as a result of this we lose some tactical relationships however we encourage players to maintain self moderating in their use of third person and we generally discourage the use of tactics that cheapen the overal simulation by abusing third person mechanics ( i.e “wall peeking” ).

Advanced ACE Medical Simulation

A corner stone of our gameplay is the use of an extermely comprehensive medical simulation. We appreciate the depth of simulation that this adds to the game and the way it allows us to establish multiple levels of casualty care in game. We also believe that any specialist role such as medics should be comprehensively trained in their area and this allows us to give our medics a complex and detailed challenge in game.

Realistic Logistics and Equipment

We believe in using standardized and realistic equipment that simulates the load a conventional soldier would carry into combat. We believe in simulation over gameplay and will sacrifice gameplay advantages such as a stronger helmet or larger backpack for the realistic equivalent that would be afforded in combat. One good example of this is thermal sights which we heavily restrict to only the roles that would posses such optics on the real battle field.

No Respawns ( except in the case of glitches or admin issues )

Respawns cheapen the MILSIM experience for everyone by establishing a understanding that their life is expendable. This mentality leads to irresponsible or reckless tactical decision making as opposed to the cautious and considered decisions we want to promote. We believe that a No Respawns policy is the best way to create this sense of danger and promote a great level of tactical employment.

ARMA is however a glitch filled game and we are appreciative that sometimes rocks may not be all they seem. As such admins will allow players to redeploy to their element in the event that they are killed by a super natural or otherwise unrealistic manner. This also applies to AI that spawn or teleport into places that are logically secure. For example on some maps AI can enter buildings through a wall due to a clipping error and this may compromise the security of the element inside. In this instance this would be ruled a glitch death as the element could not have predicted or prevented that occurance and we do not want to force players to predict unrealistic situations.

Infantry Focused Combined Arms

We limit the number of vehicular assets - in particular heavy ground armour - so that we can create a great experience for the infantry.

Quality over Quantity

We focus on recruiting great people to fight with us and training them to the highest level. Many ARMA units focus on getting people in the door regardless of their attitude or alignment with the group. We are interested in people who are going to stick around and learn the tactics and techniques that we use.

Real Life Comes First

We understand that ARMA is just a game and as such you might not always be able to attend. We never want you to be in a position where you are sacrifing your real life activities to meet our requirements and we implement strong redundancy plans at every level of the chain of command so that absence does not affect the wider group.

However we also encourage you to think about the good of the unit when you need to be absent and consider stepping down from your position to take a Leave of Absence in the event that life takes an unforseen turn.