Last year’s SOG Prairie Fire was one of the most entertaining pieces of DLC to come out for Arma 3 in years, but it left single-player Arma fans with little to do. To take on Prairie Fire’s Vietnam War-era missions, you needed a squad – and a squad that could communicate and follow orders. Fortunately, there’s an Arma 3 mod available now that adds some clever AI to SOG Prairie Fire, and you can use it throughout the rest of the military simulation game, too.
Stealth is key in SOG Prairie Fire, and the SOG AI mod, created by John ‘Johnnyboy’ Ueckert, adds a smart command wheel based on infantry hand signals. You can select the kind of squad you want to deploy on each mission, picking from MACV-SOG teams, SEALs, long-range reconnaissance patrols, Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and more.
Your AI buddies will maintain stealth, and will move quickly while under fire. They’ll use infantry leapfrogging tactics, covering each other’s advances or retreats, and they’ll revive fallen teammates – including you. They’ll also use craters intelligently, taking cover by getting into prone positions once they’ve entered.
Here’s a demonstration of how the squad commands work when setting up a stealth ambush. As Johnnyboy illustrates, SOG AI makes it possible to have only your soldiers with suppressed weapons fire when enemies draw near.
Again, SOG Prairie Fire is some of the best fun you can have in Arma 3, and SOG AI makes it possible to play solo – perfect for players who aren’t keen on jumping into voice comms with other players or who have unstable internet connections.
SOG AI also works in other Arma 3 content, Johnnyboy says, so you can play Escape and Combat Patrol missions on Altis, Stratis, Tanoa, Malden, and Livonia using the command wheel added in the mod.
You can find SOG AI over on the Steam Workshop. If you’d like my thoughts on the DLC, check out the SOG Prairie Fire review on Wargamer. For more of the best co-op games, we’ve got you covered.