*****US Army Sniper Field Manual*****

THIS IS A GUIDE AND FAQ TO EXPLAIN SOME ASPECTS AND FEATURES IN CAMPAIGN

Firstly, thank you for playing and supporting this campaign, it means a lot to me and
inspires me to contribute more content to the community.
This campaign tries to focus on realism, and hence it might be very difficult in the
beginning for you if you are not comfortable with sniping in ACE.
Here are some guides to look into on understanding sniping in ACE, as well as
improving your skill with the deadliest weapon a marksman can hold.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQny-ehnXHc - Basics of taking the shot in ACE
http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=12346 - Sniper Operations Manual for ACE
http://ace.dev-heaven.net/wagn/Guides#Introduction. - Marksmanship guide

R - Rangefinder
shift+spacebar - use bipod
shift+V - adjust scope
shift+K - see wind direction

********************explanation of features:
note: currently only the sniper has access to the radio commands (this will be fixed in
future version)

*******radio 0-0-1 to 0-0-2 (Disable AI Movement ON/OFF)************
- When this is toggled on, your AI teammate will become immobile, and will not move
until this is toggled off.
- This is particularly useful for certain situations where an enemy patrol is likely to
walk by your position (assuming you are well hidden behind a tree or bush) as it stops
your spotter AI from moving and rotating and thus concealing your position (however
he will still like to switch between binoculars and his weapon, so be aware).
- Another use for this is when you want to move your units into specific positions
(hiding spots behind trees/Setting up Spotting Scope) as the AI will be immobile and
free to your bidding.

*******radio 0-0-3 to 0-0-4 (AI Never Fire ON/OFF)*****************
- when this is toggled on, both units will have a red slash through their picture,
indicating they will never fire. Useful for when you want to teamswitch without
engaging the AI, as well as setting up the spotting scope with/out spotting mode,
getting your spotter unstuck in pathing, and generally more freedom controlling your
units without having to worry about your stealth being compromised

*******radio 0-0-5 to 0-0-6 (Spotting Mode ON/OFF)****************
- when this is toggled on, your spotter will immediately freeze and become immobile.
If you as the sniper fire a shot while in this mode, you will instantly team switch to
your spotter and will be looking down the scope of his weapon/spotting scope. This is
a good helper in those long range shots where you might not be able to see the dust
from the bullet if it misses, allowing you the possibility to recalculate your shot much
more accurately.

***********************************************************
- To properly set up spotting mode (as it was designed and intended)
1. First make sure you have your target you are going to be shooting at and that you
have your firing position already setup. Recommended positioning is having the
spotter right beside the sniper at waist length (spotters head at snipers waist or
shoulder) as close as possible
Note: Its recommended you turn on AI never fire here, so that the AI doesn't engage
when you switch
2. Switch to your spotter, and with the ace action menu place the spotting scope
down, and get in it. (the spotting scope should be about the waist/shoulder of the
sniper, firmly tucked in and hugging him as close as you can) this ensures that you
are positioned in such a way that the spotting scope and the scope of the sniper rifle
will follow the same line of trajectory. Ensuring the most accurate follow through on
your shot.
3. Adjust yourself in the spotting scope so that you have visual of your target, as well
as a good visual of the area around the target (to watch for dust trails).
4. switch back to your sniper
5. use the radio command (0-0-5) to enable spotting mode
6. Prep yourself for the shot
7. Fire
8. Team switch again to retake your shot
Result: The moment you fire, you will instantly team switch to your spotter, and will
be staring down the sights of the spotting scope. This gives you a much better visual
for long range shots, allowing you to correct your adjustments and quickly follow up
with a second shot.
- To disable spotting mode, make sure you are the sniper unit (so that the radio
commands are available), and use 0-0-6 to turn it off. Your spotter will become mobile
again, allowing you to control him and give him orders

******Scroll Action - "Range Me"******************
- When this action is used, a side chat will come up giving you the range to whatever
you may be pointing at in meters limitations of this feature:
- You cannot use it on open ground, it will not provide a reading, or give you an
absurd reading (like 14000m)
- You can use it on buildings, provided you are aware of that the buildings are there
(player knows about)

- If you are pointing at a target (vehicle, man) and a proper range doesn't come up
like the example above, it is because the player AI (that keeps track of contacts)
doesn't know someone is there. You must first reveal the object in order for the range
me action to work properly. Otherwise the AI thinks you are pointing at the ground.

******radio 0-0-7 (Player Behavior Stealth)***********
- This action changes the behavior of the sniper back to stealth, in case the behavior
was changed and you want the player ai to behave in stealth mode and whisper in
radio comms.

=============FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS===============
1. In mission Three (Becoming a HOG), i am not issued a weapon when the mission
starts.
A. It is because the gear is available at the briefing screen, you need to go to units,
and click on gear to select your load out. All missions after 3 work this way.
2. In Mission Five (Red October), the plane doesn t drop any bombs when I am lasing
the target and leaves the area?
A. This is a problem that resides with AI pilots and laser targets, sometimes they will
drop bombs, other times, do nothing. However there are some solutions to getting this
to work:
a) When first using air support, click somewhere "below" where you want the bombs
to drop. The plane always flies in from the south, so marking the location a little bit
south of where you want it will allow the aircraft to complete its waypoint first, and
then be more likely to drop the bombs on the laser target.
b) Depending on where you are pointing the laser, and the aircrafts direction, any
large terrain or objects may block Line of sight between the laser target and the pilot.
Make sure that the laser target is in an area where the pilot will be able to lock on to it
and drop his payload.
c) if all else fails, there are a few satchels and c4 available in the crate to deal with the
pilots stupidity



Marksmanship
Introduction.
For some players there is no better thrill than making a long-range kill with one shot.
Yet surprisingly many gamers have no idea how it's done. They'll waste an entire
magazine of ammunition, watching dust kick up everywhere around the target but
never connecting. After enough failures they may even suspect anyone who can make
such shots uses some kind of hack. In fact, some knowledge of marksmanship and the
features ACE2 offers will make you a better shooter than any cheat could provide. Plus
there is no risk of kicks or bans, you just are shooting well.
ACE2 incorporates features to Armed Assault 2 that both help and hinder the long
range shooter as a result of the enhancements to the reality of the game. While not
perfect, the game model under ACE2 does require a gamer to start using the same
techniques that real sharpshooters use for targets at distance.
First off, not all guns behave the same under ACE2. Each weapon has it's own rating
for muzzle velocity and allowed ammunition. So it's vital you become familiar with one
class of weapon at a time before skipping onto another. Weapon caliber has significant
trade-offs. While the .50 caliber ( 12.7mm ) round has longer reach, the rifles and
ammo are very heavy. Additionally those weapons are somewhat slow to bring to bear
and can be difficult to carry in tight areas like inside buildings due to their bulk. In
urban environments a lighter rifle's ease of handling will often more than compensate
for it's shorter range.
The fatigue issue is not to brushed off lightly. Long before you start passing out your
accuracy will decline if you overexert yourself. Taking a heavy sniper rifle means you
either carry very limited ammo, move rarely if at all, or use vehicles to change
locations and store supplies. If you select a heavy rifle and 6+ magazines of
ammunition don't blame ACE2 if you pass out easily. You're lugging 27 kg of weapon
and ammo. Add a laser marker, a battery or two, maybe some night-vision googles
can get you close to 40kg and that does not count helmet, pack or body armor.
Proportionally you're hauling more weight than most mules would tolerate.

Terminology.
BC Ballistic Coefficient. How well an object resists slowing down as it moves through
air or other fluids. See Wikipedia article on Ballistic Coefficients for more detail. Note
well - ArmA2 and ACE2 models of ammunition do not currently include individual BC
values for different classes of ammunition. Mil A milliradian. - 1/(2000*Pi) mils in a
complete circle. Most military organizations round the value slightly. NATO uses a
6400 mil scale, former WARSAW pact used 6000 mil. Using NATO units 1 mil subtends
1 meter at 1 kilometer. You can estimate mils using your extended hand. MOA Minute
of arc or sometimes minute of angle. 1/60th of a degree. Popular unit used by scope
makers and rifle marksmen. 1 MOA represents 1 inch at 100 yards, or approximately
2.91 centimeters at 100 meters. To convert between MOA and mils, 1 mil = 3.438
MOA. Having 20/20 vision basically means you can resolve objects to 1 MOA without
use of external aids.

The Standard Drill.
Assuming you have found a good location and found a target, now what?
1. Determine the range. Also the elevation difference if you have the tools.
2. Get wind direction and speed data.
3. Adjust your sights to zero your weapon as close a possible.
4. Steady your weapon.
5. Estimate any additional hold-off using the targeting reticle's cross-hair and/or
other markings to guide your aim-point.
6. Control breathing and aim.
7. Take your shot.
8. Evaluate the bullet strike.
9. Repeat this drill if needed.

Determining Range and Elevation.
A laser range finder is extremely handy. Just point at the target and lase it briefly.
You'll get back your azimuth ( bearing to target in mils ), elevation difference and
range to target. If working in two-man teams it's ideal for your spotter to carry one of
these instead of binoculars. Just be sure to carry a spare battery or two.
While it may seem arcane, reading the map can get you a fair estimation of range.
ArmA2 grid size depends how much you have zoomed in on it. The larger scale is
marked in kilometers, the finer one in 100m increments. Count the grids both left-
right and up-down between you and the target. Apply the rule of triangles c
2
= a
2
+
b
2
and add some fudge factor for any relative difference in position on the grids for
you and that target. With a little practice you should be able to reliably estimate range
within a 50m spread good enough for many shots. Also note on the map the contour
lines you and the target occupy. From that you can glean elevation info.
On many sniper scopes the reticle itself can serve as a range finder. The details vary
but all use the same principal of stadiametrics. That is, if you know the size of the
target and how big it appears you can calculate the range.
The system used by Russian weapons like the SVD and T-90 tanks uses a horizontal
line and a curved line above it calibrated to either human or tank-sized targets. You
just slide the sight about until the target just barely touches both the horizontal and
curved lines and then read off the number from the scale ( in hundreds of meters ).
It's quick, but not super precise.
Other weapons often use the mil-dot system. Along the cross-hairs are a series of
round or elliptical dots spaced at 1-mil increments. By using the shape and various
standardized relationships between the various edges and centers you can estimate
the image size to an accuracy of 0.1 mil. Then using the formula distance =
target_size * 1000 / image_size, you'll get your range in meters. Soldiers typically are
1.7 - 1.8 meters tall. Further information on mil-dot systems can be found at
the Sniper Paradisewebsite.

Get Wind Direction and Speed Data
If you were smart or lucky you have a wind meter like the Kestrel 4500 in your gear.
If not it's time to wet your finger. Either method is activated by using the measure
wind action, default key bind is SHIFT-K.
If you don't have the meter you'd see an arrow indicating wind direction and color
coding to indicate approximate wind speed.
If you do have the meter, calibrate it and then take a reading.
The crosswind speed is the important number. Use that number in combination with
your range card to estimate the amount of windage offset to dial in.

Adjust Your Zero.
Each weapon has a range where the center of the sight and range exactly match. That
is the zero-point. In ACE2 you can adjust that zero via the SHIFT-V combination to
bring up a control panel. This simulates the ability to shift a weapon's sights, typically
knobs on top and right of a rifle scope. In the upper left is a quick adjustment that
just takes the range to target. Finer adjustments would be the control below it to
directly set the MOA offset. Be sure to set your windage offset also. ACE2 does have
wind drift, you shots will be off unless you correct for it. Another use is offsetting the
sight to compensate for a walking or running target. Very handy if you take the time
to learn how.

Steady Your Weapon.
You should already know that stance has a big effect on how steady your aim is.
Standing is the worse, crouching ok, and prone the best. Additionally in ACE2 you can
rest your weapon on a wall or vehicle if close enough using SHIFT-SPACE combination.
And if prone you can activate your weapon's bipod using the same sequence if it has
one you'll see a message telling you so if it does. Activating these mods limits the
amount you can alter your aim so be close to on-target first. Moving too much or
changing stance will deactivate these modes, just hit the key combo again once
settled in.

Estimate Hold-off.
Your range might be just a guess, the reticle can only be adjusted to within 1 MOA vs
1/4-1/8 MOA in real scopes, the target is shifting about. So you have to do a little
Kentucky windage, especially if the wind is shift a lot. Pick a mark on the scope and
hold on that vs the center of the reticle. Real shooters do this all the time. It takes
practice to perfect and the major reason you really need to know how your weapon
handles. This is also where you use your elevation data. If the elevation difference
between you and your target is significant you need to aim lower. How much depend
on the angle. At 20 degrees of slope you'd have to knock off about 34m at 500m.

Control Your Breathing.
Right before you shoot always hold your breath ( default Right Mouse Button ) in order
to steady your weapon even more. But only do this for a short time, otherwise you'll
get into trouble with worse aim.

Take your shot.
Wait for it. If not perfectly steady or the target is moving just let the image drift into
your mark. Fighting any wiggle only makes things worse. If your technique is good
you should know where the round will strike even before you see the hit.

Evaluate Your Strike.
High and left? Where was the dust? Always try to spot the hit yourself or via your
spotter. You might have just winged or scared the willies out of him. Always check to
make sure your target is really down for the count.

Repeat If Needed.
The target might be panicking, might be shooting back. But you need to keep your
cool and not rush. Use the info from earlier shots for your follow-up. This is when your
Kentucky windage skills will shine since most often you won't have time to re-zero
your weapon.

Things To Do That Will Help You Shoot Better.
Stick to just a couple of favorites. I use just two rifles for sniping, one for urban and
medium range, the other for special situations. Which ones you should chose is very
individualistic. Just keep the list short so you can focus on mastering that weapon.
Practice. Sounds obvious, but many players don't. It's very easy to build a simple
target range using the mission editor. I used a runway and added some pop-up
targets at various ranges. Up and working in single-player mode in less than 15
minutes when I was a total novice to mission building. Even now I use a slightly more
sophisticated range on days when just feel like plinking or can't find a good public
server.
Keep a range card. Real snipers do this. Take a laser rangefinder and light up some
targets to get the true range. Any object roughly man-sized will do. Then practice
estimating distance using your scope and taking shots. Write down the results at
various ranges. When you have a good list, make a note card of the numbers and post
it next to your monitor. If using a mil-dot, just make a table of mils, ranges and hold-
off numbers.
Consider other training aids. I bought a program that helps you train for long range
shooting after playing with the demo online and being very impressed with the model
used for ballistics.