Who

Clear Backblast! is a gaming group focused on Arma 3. We live right here on reddit at /r/clearbackblast.

We have an IRC channel here. Feel free to join and say hello, we’d be happy to meet you and answer any questions you might have.

What

We focus on medium-scale (20-40 player) primarily cooperative missions created by members of the community. Our playstyle is a sort of moderate milsim thing: we try to follow real tactics and command structures in missions, but we have no rank system in or out of game, we don’t try to emulate any particular military unit or structure, and we don't restrict ourselves to one particular style of play.

We also recognize that we're playing a videogame for fun; if we really wanted to simulate the military we'd go find a First Sergeant to yell at us or a Major to demand we refill their coffee. When Arma's janky weirdness happens we're laid back enough to enjoy it. For example: a spontaneous briefing about How Do Chairs Work. Chairs, it turns out, are remarkably complicated. Embracing this occasional ridiculousness is very much a part our style.

When not training on basic home furniture, players are encouraged to try a variety of roles from basic infantry, all manner of leadership roles, and specialized things such as vehicle crew or pilots. We’re happy to teach people whatever they want to learn; all we ask is that players make an effort to learn what their role requires. Mission makers are similarly encouraged to try new ideas and use whatever factions and toys they think would make for an interesting game.

We do use community mods. The core is ACRE2 for voice communication and a combination of AGM and CSE for gameplay overhauls. (We'll switch to ACE3 when that reaches 1.0.) We make particular use of Red Hammer Studio’s US and Russian content packs as well as an assortment of other community content, including our own. The mod collection is handled through the Play withSix software to make installation and updates easy.

We have no specific age requirement. We simply expect everyone to be respectful to their fellow players as they’re all playing a game for fun in their leisure time. It isn’t as formal, but it works well for us.

When

Our big event is every Saturday at 2100UTC. (Late evening Europe, late Afternoon North America, Sunday morning Oceania.) Here is an example link to automatically find out when the game is in your timezone.

Our community is global, with members from Australia, Finland, Germany, USA, New Zealand, Canada, the UK and more. As such, the time is a compromise between all of these regions.

Each week there's a post on the subreddit listing the game for that weekend and what slots it will feature: like this week's post. We then pile into the thread and sign up for whatever interests us, generally on a first-come first-served basis. We pick the low-quantity high demand slots (pilots, armor crews, etc.) from a random drawing a few days later to be fair to people who are busy during the week or might know their schedule in advance.

Other unscheduled or impromptu games are common, including non-Arma-games. They're mostly spontaneous and won’t usually get a post on the subreddit; the best way to find out about these is the IRC channel here.

Why

We think we’ve struck a special balance between having fun playing a videogame together and tackling the sort of realistic military challenges that Arma can create. Above all, we strive to be an open and friendly community where we can share that unique game experience with everyone else.

Obligatory Sample/Example Videos

A nicely produced and edited collection from some of our 2014 missions. Humor, explosions, and just the right amount of good-natured incompetence that makes for a fun time. Note: while most of this is Arma 2 footage and we’ve since switched to Arma 3, the general style and scenarios remain the same.

The parachute is the most cowardly of Back Garments. Sometimes things get a little silly. But then, the parachute really is the coward's way to the ground.

Multi-perspective compilation of a tank commander and gunner from a mechanized assault. A good sample of coordinated teamworky gameplay in cooperation with other vehicles and infantry in a mission.