ArmA 3 Guide - Grid Lines, Grid References, & Compass Bearings

[seethingword]

Hey everyone!

In this guide, I’m going to be showing you how to read grid lines, grid reference, and compass bearings!

WARNING: This guide can get a little in-depth on how to read these things so you might have to really pay attention.

Grid Lines:

Grid lines are lines placed on the side of a map to help with navigation and positioning while in the battlefield. They can be used for many things like finding your position on a map, finding friendly positions, and calling out target locations.

Here is an example of grid lines:

https://i.gyazo.com/7e2136234cf7166c47976f84b3726a3f.jpg [Example 1.1]

As you can see on the picture, grid lines have numbers across the bottom and left side of the picture. These lines span across the whole map and allow you ease in navigating the battlefield if used correctly.

In order to use grid lines correctly, you need to learn what a grid reference is.

Grid Reference:

A grid reference is a four, six, or eight number sequence used to determine a position on a map. All grid references are read horizontally, then vertically. Refer to example 2.1 for more information.

https://i.gyazo.com/077c2dd2f7dfc5ff02a99e18877ccc52.jpg [Example 2.1]

I am going to show you an example on reading a position of a friendly soldier on a map.

In order to find the position of the friendly soldier, we are first going to read the numbers horizontally in order to determine the horizontal grid they are in. Refer to example 2.2 for more information.

https://i.gyazo.com/b3695273368ec9cc516b818794bb2257.jpg [Example 2.2]

Alright. Now that we know the friendly player is in Horizontal Grid 035, we are now going to find out the Vertical Grid of the player.

In order to find the Vertical Grid, we need to follow the Grid Lines up from where we stopped on the Horizontal Grid, all the way up to the grid that the player is in. Refer to example 2.3 for more information.

https://i.gyazo.com/5ff776e1cf0f343d5ae6363b5c66bff4.jpg [Example 2.3]

Now we know the Horizontal Grid (035) and the Vertical Grid (048), we can figure out what the friendly players Grid Reference is. As I said earlier, all grid references are read horizontally, then vertically. So, with that in mind, The Grid Reference of the friendly player is 035048.



So now we are going to be finding out positions of enemy emplacements that we know are for sure in positions 1, 2, and 3. Refer to example 2.4 for more information.

https://i.gyazo.com/e20ea36238ddd5b63aa3e405a8be4ca3.jpg [Example 2.4]


In order to find the Grid Reference of position 1, We will need to read the grid numbers horizontally, then vertically. Refer to example 2.5 for more information.

https://i.gyazo.com/89b6d21e6e0e29d3968c66a7706a6977.png [Example 2.5]

As you can see in the picture, enemy emplacement #1's grid reference is 028046.

https://i.gyazo.com/da4d679e3a1eaebd3e26b7017c57fb63.png [Example 2.6]

As you can see in the picture, enemy emplacement #2's grid reference is 029049.

https://i.gyazo.com/d492411b8df43cd859a6ac69a118a38c.jpg [Example 2.7]

As you can see in the picture, enemy emplacement #3's grid reference is 033047.

Compass Bearings:

Compass Bearings are the numbers on a compass to determine the direction something is in comparison to yourself. Compass bearings can range from 000 to 359. Here is a picture of a compass with bearings on it.

http://www.modernmysteryschoolint.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/digital-compass.png [Example 3.1]

And here is a picture of a compass while in-game ArmA 3.

https://i.gyazo.com/2a9224a8c75c1d5a3399b561ebebe7ed.jpg [Example 3.2]

Compass bearings are pretty easy to understand once you know what they are. If someone yells out, "Contact, East, bearing 105", The you would bring up your compass and turn until the red line in the center of the compass is over the 105 line. Refer to example 3.2 for more information.

https://i.gyazo.com/fa7e7e7317bd185d1ce4278968d3cb67.jpg [Example 3.2]

There really isn’t much more to reading compass bearings.



Alright! That wraps it up for this guide. Check back in again for more guides soon to come!

If this guide helped you at all, make sure to leave a comment!

-seethingword