9. Weapon Types

The following sections cover the numerous types of weapon systems that are included in the game. This list may expand in the future if new features require new types to be defined for use.

9.1 Anti-Aircraft Gun (AAA)

These are gun systems specialized to engage air targets. These can be cannons or machine guns of various calibers and gun configurations.

9.2 Anti-Radiation Missile (AARM)

These are air-launched missiles designed to find and destroy enemy air search radars and air defense systems.

9.3 Air-Launch Cluster Munition (ACM)

These are free-fall or gliding munitions designed to open over a target area and dispense a large number of submunitions to destroy enemy troops and equipment.

9.4 Aircraft Cannon (ACN)

These are cannons of various calibers used to attack other aircraft or strafe ground targets. These have a limited range of a few kilometers.

9.5 Automatic Grenade Launcher (AGL)

These weapons fire grenades that are 20mm-40mm in caliber and at a range of 2000m or so. They may be either vehicle or tripod-mounted. Single-shot versions are also used by troops.

9.6 Air-Launched Guided Missile (AGM)

These are guided missiles of various sizes that are used to carry out precision strikes on enemy targets. They are commonly called "smart bombs" and usually feature a high-explosive warhead.

9.7 Air-Launched Iron Bomb (AIB)

These are unguided weapons that are dropped from aircraft and that fall or glide to the ground on a basic ballistic path. Less accurate than AGMs, but usually dropped in large numbers to cover a target area.

9.8 Aircraft Machine Gun (AMG)

These are machine guns of various calibers used to attack other aircraft or strafe ground targets. These have a limited range of a few kilometers, but are only effective at closer ranges.

9.9 Air-Launched Rockets (ARK)

These are unguided short-ranged (1-4km) rockets carried in pods on helicopters and aircraft. The pods are fired in volleys to hit soft targets with high explosive (HE)or hard/armored targets with high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warheads.

9.10 Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM)

PGMs are designed to defeat MBTs. Earlier models have lighter warheads and range up to 2000m. Ground units will tend not to shoot these against targets other than tanks. These may be mounted in ground vehicles, helicopters, or employed by dismounted troops.

9.11 Anti-Tank Gun (ATK)

These are small-caliber anti-tank rifles or recoilless rifles used to attack tanks and other armored vehicles. They are smaller than tank cannons and are usually an infantry or crew-served weapon.

9.12 Autocannon (AUCN)

A small caliber (20mm-60mm) cannon that fires quickly. Effective up to 1500 or so meters. Good against everything that is not heavily armored. It can also be used against helicopters.

9.13 Chemical Warhead Non-Persistent (CWN)

This is an NBC (Nuclear/Biological/Chemical) weapon that has a warhead filled with non-persistent chemicals that can kill or incapacitate troops exposed to it. These chemicals are active for only a short time and then dissipate, so the area is safe to travel.

9.14 Chemical Warhead Persistent (CWP)

This is an NBC (Nuclear/Biological/Chemical) weapon that has a warhead filled with persistent chemicals that can kill or incapacitate troops exposed to it. These chemicals stay active for the duration of the battle and render the area unsafe to travel through.

9.15 Explosive Device (EXP)

This type of weapon represents items like grenades, satchel charges, IEDs, and any other troop-used high-explosive devices.

9.16 Field Gun/Artillery (FGN)

These are tube-based guns that fire shells of various sizes and types at a long distance over the battlefield. They can be a towed weapon or placed on a vehicle chassis to be more mobile.

9.17 Flame Weapon (FLM)

These are weapons that use flame as the main ammunition. Mainly flame throwers or some incendiary ammunition from rockets.

9.18 Infantry Support Weapon (ISW)

These are weapons the infantry squads carry for additional firepower. In most cases, these are squad automatic weapons/light machine guns. These weapons allow a squad to put a volume of fire much further than most infantry weapons. These weapons can also take out lightly armored vehicles.

9.19 Machine Gun (MGN)

They are used by infantry and vehicles. The range is usually up to 700 meters. It can be a bit higher with 50 caliber machine guns. Good against everything that is unarmored. More than two of these in a unit can be devastating to dismounted infantry assaulting in open terrain.

9.20 Mortar/Artillery (MTR)

Mortars are another form of tube artillery where the munitions have the propelling charge and warhead in the shell. Most of these weapons are found in infantry units to provide indirect fire support to the line troops. They vary in size from 50mm up to 240mm, and the larger ones are either towed systems or mounted on a tracked or wheeled chassis. The ranges are less than those of field guns.

9.21 Nuclear Warhead (NCW)

While in the game and used rarely, tactical nuclear weapons do exist on the Cold War battlefield and can have devastating results on massed enemy forces. The devices are in the kiloton range and found on surface-to-surface missiles (SSMs) and in some cases carried by aircraft.

9.22 Rocket/Artillery (RKT)

This is the third type of artillery. These are mostly unguided surface-to-surface rockets that can cover large distances, greater than field guns and mortars. They are fired in volleys to hit the target area in a short time for maximum damage. Rockets have high-explosive warheads, but can also be fitted with other types like ICM, chemical, and smoke, to name a few.

9.23 Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG)

They are used by infantry and are effective up to 200 meters. Against heavy armor, infantry will volley fire up to four rounds if more than one is available. They are also used against point-target troops, such as MG teams or other gun crews. They are fired singly at lightly armored targets. Depending on the target aspect, warhead strength, and amount of armor, some IFVs may "earn" a volley of RPGs.

9.24 Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAM)

These are labeled as "SAM" and can be long and short-range. Infantry-based AA missiles are always short-range, i.e., effective up to 5km. Short-range AA missiles may struggle against aircraft with countermeasures. The most powerful SAMs are vehicle-mounted and may have air search radars associated with them (which broadcast a signature) or be passive IR or thermal systems. These are more dangerous to aerial units as they can strike without warning.

9.25 Small Arms (SMA)

The weapons are used by the infantry units in the game and represent everything like pistols, rifles, submachine guns, assault rifles, and sniper rifles. These are the primary ballistic weapons used by infantry units. The range varies between 50 to 1000m in most cases.

9.26 Tank Cannon (TGN)

A large caliber cannon. Effective up to 3000 meters, but can reach about twice that far if a line of fire is available. Good against everything on the ground. Only the largest cannons are effective against heavy armor.

9.27 Vehicle Support Weapon (VSW)

These are primarily machine guns on vehicles used to deal with enemy troops or soft vehicles within 1500m of the unit. In some cases, these could be small cannons or grenade-type launchers. These are generally not anti-air capable due to their fixed mounting on the vehicle.