ALiVE.OS · ALiVE 3 Development
Custom Military Placement
Hand-place a military objective anywhere on the map and generate a force to hold it.
In development · ALiVE 3
ALiVE 3 is in active development. This briefing describes work in progress, and the behaviour it covers is subject to change as testing continues. Check the changelog at the foot of the page for what has moved recently.
On this page
Overview
What Custom Military Placement does
Drop this module anywhere, even on terrain with no built-up areas, and build a defended objective from scratch. Pick unit counts by type, artillery, air defence, garrison behaviour and scatter objects, then let it spawn a living force.
It is the custom counterpart to standard Military Placement, built for spots the map's own bases and towns do not cover. Faction, size and readiness are all tunable per placement, and the force can sync to an AI Commander for ongoing orders.
Where you place this module matters. The composition is built where you drop this module and lines up with the way you point it, so its spot and its facing on the map are the whole point of it. Vehicle parking is worked out around that same position, so leave room for anything on wheels.
Custom objective
What a Military Placement (Cust. Obj.) places around itself
The module is the middle of the objective, and nearly everything it places starts within Objective size of it. Drawn to scale at the default settings, with groups typed into the count boxes and a composition, AA and artillery switched on.
- Objective sizeThe objective is a circle round the module, with Objective size as its radius: 300 m unless you change it. Helicopters and supply crates only go on helipads and storage buildings inside it. A Military AI Commander weighs it when choosing targets, and held-back groups only wake when a player is within 3 times it by default.
- Patrols start near the middlePatrolling groups start anywhere up to 1.25 times Garrisoned Infantry Radius from the module, so 250 m at the default 200. Objective size has no say in it: on a big objective they still start near the middle.
- GarrisonsGarrison groups hold buildings within 300 m of the module at the defaults: the larger of Garrisoned Infantry Radius and Objective size, with Objective size counting up to 700 m. They're the Garrisoned Infantry Groups Per Objective (1 or 2 at Low, taken out of Infantry Count) and about a quarter of the active infantry, the part Active patrol percent doesn't send on patrol. When a composition is placed, that active share and some of the Garrisoned Infantry Groups hold it instead.
- VehiclesEach vehicle group picks a spot 30 m to 180 m from the module (half the Objective size, plus 30 m) and parks there if it's clear and flat. If it isn't, the group takes the nearest clear roadside, or other open ground, within 400 m of that spot (Objective size plus 100 m, at least 200 m). Active ones patrol from there, cars and trucks up to 800 m away and tanks up to 1 km, by way of nearby towns and roads.
- Helicopters and suppliesPlace helicopters, Yes by default, puts one of the faction's helicopters on each helipad inside the objective. They're empty, unless there's a Military Air Component Commander in the mission, when about 1 in 5 gets a crew. Place supplies puts a crate in about 7 of every 10 storage buildings inside it.
- Counts start at 0Infantry Count and the other count boxes start at 0, and 0 means none: there's no Force Size here to fall back on. A box holding anything that isn't a number counts as 0 as well, and the log names the box, though Spawn AA Units gets no such line.
- Decided at mission startWhat there is and where it starts are worked out once, when the mission starts, and held-back infantry is only placed when it wakes. A mission loaded from a save brings its saved force back instead of placing a new one. As with all ALiVE forces, units only appear in the world when a player comes within spawn range.
- ReservesSet Readiness below 100% and some groups are held back: vehicles wait parked and empty, and infantry don't appear until they're woken. The Reserves diagram below shows when that happens.
- Spawn CompositionTick one or more in Spawn Composition and one of them goes on the module's own spot if the ground is clear, or on clear ground within 50 m, then 150 m, then 300 m of it at the default size. It never goes beyond Objective size, and stays closer in when another placement module is nearby. With Garrison compositions at Yes, the default, part of the garrison holds it.
- Spawn AA UnitsSet Spawn AA Units above 0 and each AA unit goes on clear, open ground about 40 m to 150 m from the module, never beyond Objective size, off buildings, helipads, runways and roads and at least 30 m from the others. A unit with nowhere to go is left out.
- Artillery CountArtillery Count adds batteries that are always active, never held in reserve. The faction's own artillery groups park like other vehicle groups. A faction with guns but no artillery groups gets batteries of Artillery Section Size (guns), 4 by default, on open ground within Objective size of the module (200 m on a smaller objective), at least 25 m apart.
Reserves
How reserves wait and wake
Readiness holds part of a placement's force back as a reserve. The reserve waits at its objective and usually only comes out once the objective has lost groups and a player is close. It works the same way in all four Military Placement modules.
Nothing appears next to a player, and nothing respawns. Woken infantry step out at a building with no player within 80 m and walk to their positions, so nobody appears in a building in front of you. A parked reserve vehicle only crews up with no player within 80 m of it, and its group's other vehicles start at least 250 m from any player near the objective. A reserve is a fixed number of groups set at mission start: nothing refills it, and soldiers who are killed don't come back. With Lock cleared buildings on (the default), a building a player was within 80 m of while a reserve was waking is never used to bring a reserve in again.
- At mission startReadiness sets the share of vehicle groups and of infantry groups that start out on the map. The rest are held back at the objective they were dealt to. Infantry in reserve aren't on the map at all, so the commander can't see or use them. A vehicle group in reserve is its first vehicle, parked empty near the objective and locked by default. Readiness is 100% by default, so nothing is held back until you lower it.
- Players attackEvery 5 seconds the objective checks three things. It has lost at least one of the groups it counts, and the share still standing is at or below Reserve activation threshold (50%). A player is within Reserve engagement radius (3 times the objective's size). And Reserve activation cooldown (30 s) has passed since it last woke one. A group only counts as lost when its last man dies. Garrison groups and groups with guns aren't counted, and an objective where none of the counted groups started out skips the first check.
- The reserve comes outAt most one reserve group wakes per check. Infantry step out within 15 m of the building nearest the objective's centre that has room inside and no player within 80 m, then walk to buildings across the objective and hold it, with one man at most on patrol. A reserve that can't come out yet goes to the back of the queue.
- The next one wakesEach woken group counts as standing, so the next waits until more losses bring the share back down to the threshold. A vehicle reserve is crewed where it's parked once no player is within 80 m of it, and patrols the roads; under a Dug In AI Commander it's parked at its objective instead. The rest of its group's vehicles start 150 to 600 m further out, on the far side from the nearest player and at least 250 m from any player near the objective. Where none of the counted groups started out, a group wakes every cooldown until the reserve is empty. Woken groups take the AI Commander's orders from then on, where one commands their faction.
Never held back. Air groups, any group with a static weapon, mortar or artillery piece, and the Garrisoned Infantry Groups Per Objective always start out, whatever Readiness says. Cust. Obj. has no air groups. Spec Ops can be held back on Mil. Obj. and Cust. Obj., but always start out on Civ. Obj. and Cust. Civ. Obj.
Patrols and lost vehicles. Active patrol percent (75%) only splits the infantry that start out between patrolling and garrisoning; it doesn't change a woken reserve. If a parked reserve vehicle is destroyed before it wakes, Reserve crew with destroyed vehicle decides what happens to its group: Spawn as infantry, the default, brings its crew and foot soldiers out on foot like an infantry reserve, and Drop silently leaves them out.
Capabilities
What it handles
Pick your own force
Set exact counts for infantry, motorised, mechanised, armour and special forces groups, plus artillery sections and air defence units.
No map indexing needed
Works on unindexed terrain, not just recognised bases or towns, so custom objectives can go anywhere the mission needs one.
Scatter scenery and defences
Adds objective scenery objects around the site in clustered, dispersed or perimeter patterns, with one chance roll that decides whether the site gets them at all.
Living defenders, not statues
Guards patrol at a chosen readiness and behaviour, and part of the force can garrison spawned camps, field HQs and buildings.
Plays nicely with AI Commander
Sync to an AI Commander module to inherit its factions automatically (every synced commander's faction that is friendly to the others is used), sync a Custom Faction Compiler to place a faction of your own, or set factions by hand for a standalone objective.
How to use it
Getting started
- Place the Custom Military Placement module at the siteDrop the Military Placement (Cust. Obj.) module anywhere on the map, including empty terrain with no towns or bases, as this module doesn't rely on map indexing.
- Set the faction and sizePick one or more entries under Force Factions, or leave it empty to inherit factions from a synced AI Commander module (or sync a Custom Faction Compiler to use a faction of your own). Set Objective size (m) to the radius the objective should cover and Readiness (%) for the percentage of groups that are active at mission start (type 0 to 100); the rest wait in reserve.
- Choose the force compositionEnter group counts under Infantry Count, Motorised Count, Mechanised Count, Armour Count and SpecOps Count, then set Artillery Count and Spawn AA Units if the site should have supporting units; use Artillery Faction to draw the guns from a different faction on the same side, for example when the main faction has no artillery of its own.
- Set garrison and guard behaviourGarrisoned Infantry Groups Per Objective sets how many of your Infantry Count groups hold the site's buildings (taken from that count, not added). Garrisoned Infantry Radius is the smallest area they search; Garrison Patrol Behaviour and Garrison Patrol Speed set how they move. Garrison compositions (Yes by default) puts part of the guard on spawned camps or Field HQs.
- Sync to an AI Commander (optional)Leave Force Factions empty and sync the module to a Military AI Commander to inherit that Commander's factions. With several commanders synced, only factions that are friends with every faction already kept are used, the first synced first. Factions you pick by hand always win over the Commander's, and a synced Custom Faction Compiler wins over both.
- Preview and enter the mission to testPreview the mission, travel to the placement, and confirm units, artillery, air defence and any objective scenery spawn, patrol and defend the site as configured.
Settings
Every setting, and what it does
These settings build a single military objective by hand at the module's position: who holds it, exactly how many groups of each type, and what gets placed there (camps, HQ, AA, artillery, helicopters, crates and scenery). They also decide how much of that force is awake at the start, how the rest waits in reserve, and how garrisons behave in the buildings around it.
Presets that use this module: Combat support: CAS, transport and artillery on call, Combined arms assault: guns, armour and infantry, Defensive: CSAT invades, NATO holds, Forward bases: build and hold FOBs, Ground convoy: transport, escort and recruits, Hearts and minds: NATO wins over the towns, Hunt the recruiters: NATO against FIA, Insurgency: FIA against NATO, Offensive: NATO attacks CSAT-held ground, Persistent campaign: a war that carries on where you saved, Special operations: a small team against a held town. Place one in the editor to see it set up.
Quick setups
A small infantry outpost that fights back as you close in
- Infantry Count: 4
- Garrisoned Infantry Groups Per Objective: None
- Readiness (%): 50%
- Reserve activation threshold (%): 75%
With no separate guard groups (which would always be awake), two of the four groups start active and two wait unseen in reserve. Once one of the two active groups is wiped out while a player is close, they wake out of sight and walk into the objective's buildings.
A dug-in HQ that the AI Commander treats as a key target
- Create as HQ: Yes
- Spawn Composition: tick an HQ or Field HQ camp
- Infantry Count: 6
The camp is built before the objective is measured, so its HQ structure counts as part of the objective and Create as HQ raises the priority to 1000 when it picks it. A camp from Auto Field HQ is built afterwards and doesn't count.
An artillery battery supporting the objective
- Artillery Count: 1
- Artillery Section Size (guns): 4
One section is placed: the faction's own artillery group if it has one, otherwise a battery of 4 guns built from its artillery vehicles, mobile guns before towed or static ones, set out on open ground within the objective, or within 200 m of the module if the objective is smaller.
A defended air-defence site
- Spawn AA Units: 3
- AA Behaviour: Static
Three AA units are placed on clear ground at least 30 m apart and stay put rather than being moved by the commander.
Guards who stand their posts rather than wander
- Garrisoned Building Patrol (%): 0
- Active patrol percent: 0
Every active infantry group garrisons buildings, and with Garrisoned Building Patrol at 0 no man leaves his post or wanders the objective.
General
5 settings
Choices: Yes / No
Writes this module's diagnostic lines to the log and draws a circle on the map showing the objective's size.
The factions that supply this objective's groups. The first one picked is the main faction, and groups are drawn from all of them in turn. A synced Custom Faction Compiler's faction takes their place. Leave it empty and the module first uses the old single Force Faction if the mission saved one, otherwise the factions of the synced AI Commanders, leaving out any that are enemies of one already taken, and finally NATO.
AffectsAlso decides which factions the artillery falls back to when no Artillery Faction is set.
TryPick two factions from the same side to mix their groups at one objective.
See it inCombat support: CAS, transport and artillery on call (BLU_F), Forward bases: build and hold FOBs (BLU_F), Ground convoy: transport, escort and recruits (BLU_F), Hearts and minds: NATO wins over the towns (BLU_F), Hunt the recruiters: NATO against FIA (BLU_F), Persistent campaign: a war that carries on where you saved (BLU_F), Special operations: a small team against a held town (BLU_F)
How important this objective is. Occupation and Dug In commanders score objectives by size, height, distance and this number. An Assault commander attacks the highest priority first (the nearest among equals), unless the mission lists Assault Targets. Invasion and Asymmetric commanders go by distance and ignore it. Military Logistics ranks objectives by it when choosing where to send reinforcements. Higher values get attention first.
AffectsCreate as HQ raises this to 1000 when the building it picks was already standing inside the Objective size when the objective was set up: a map building or a Spawn Composition camp, but not an Auto Field HQ, which is built afterwards.
TrySet 200 to make this the place an Occupation commander wants to hold or take before ordinary objectives; an Assault commander attacks it first, and an Invasion commander won't notice the change.
The radius in metres of the objective around the module. It sets how far the module searches for spots for compositions, AA and scenery, which buildings count as part of the objective, and how far garrisons may look for buildings.
AffectsReserves use it to work out how close a player must be to wake them (this value times Reserve engagement radius). Artillery batteries built from vehicles look for gun spots across it, or within 200 m of the module if it's smaller.
TryUse 150 for a compact checkpoint so everything spawns tight around the module.
See it inCombat support: CAS, transport and artillery on call (150), Forward bases: build and hold FOBs (200), Ground convoy: transport, escort and recruits (150), Persistent campaign: a war that carries on where you saved (200), Special operations: a small team against a held town (80)
Choices: Yes / No
Whether this objective can be handed to players as an assault or defend task by the C2ISTAR tasking system. No keeps it off the list.
Mission-wide Garrison Rules
5 settings
Choices: Type 0 to 100
The share of each garrison group's men who walk between buildings rather than staying at their posts. 0 keeps every man in position and stops the group wandering the objective at all. This module's value is also compared with every other military placement module, and the smallest one governs garrisons that have no module of their own, such as ones the commander orders during play.
Affects0 here holds all of those module-less garrisons at their posts across the whole mission.
Building types and position numbers this objective's garrisons fill first, written as Classname=indices with entries separated by semicolons or new lines, for example Land_vn_hut_01=1,2,3;Land_vn_bunker_01=0,4. Leave it empty to use the built-in positions.
AffectsUsed by this module's garrisons and its reserve reinforcements; badly written entries are reported once in the log.
Building types no garrison may use, one per line or separated by semicolons or commas. Lists from every placement module are combined and apply to the whole mission, and a blacklisted type wins over Preferred Garrison Buildings.
Names of area markers (rectangles or ellipses) placed in the editor, separated by commas, for example no_garrison_1, no_garrison_2. A building whose centre is inside one is never garrisoned or patrolled, a static weapon inside one is never manned, and a single position inside one is skipped, so a building on the edge keeps the places outside it. Those areas are also left out when sizing an objective's garrison.
AffectsA list on any one placement module applies to the whole mission. It covers garrisons from the placement modules, civilian roadblocks and AI Commander garrison orders; the CQB module isn't affected. Names match in any capitalisation, a marker with alpha 0 still works, and a name with no marker, or a marker that isn't a rectangle or ellipse, is reported in the log.
TryDraw a rectangle over the ground under some stilt huts, name it no_garrison_1, and type that name here. Use it where the Garrison Building Blacklist would ban a building type across the whole map.
The most men a garrison puts in any one building before moving on to the next. Leave it empty or enter 0 for no limit; anything that isn't a whole number is ignored and reported in the log.
AffectsApplies to every garrison in the mission, and where modules set different limits the smallest wins.
TrySet 2 so twelve guards spread over six buildings instead of packing into one.
Force Composition
5 settings
How many infantry groups to place at the objective. 0 places none. Garrisoned infantry groups are taken out of this number, not added on top.
TrySet 4 for a platoon-sized defence.
See it inCombat support: CAS, transport and artillery on call (10), Combined arms assault: guns, armour and infantry (14), Defensive: CSAT invades, NATO holds (16), Forward bases: build and hold FOBs (6), Ground convoy: transport, escort and recruits (8), Hearts and minds: NATO wins over the towns (4), Hunt the recruiters: NATO against FIA (4), Insurgency: FIA against NATO (12), Offensive: NATO attacks CSAT-held ground (16), Persistent campaign: a war that carries on where you saved (10), Special operations: a small team against a held town (2)
How many motorised groups to place. 0 places none. If none of the Force Factions has ordinary motorised groups, a second motorised group list that some factions carry is tried instead.
See it inCombat support: CAS, transport and artillery on call (4), Combined arms assault: guns, armour and infantry (6), Defensive: CSAT invades, NATO holds (5), Forward bases: build and hold FOBs (2), Ground convoy: transport, escort and recruits (3), Hearts and minds: NATO wins over the towns (2), Hunt the recruiters: NATO against FIA (2), Insurgency: FIA against NATO (6), Offensive: NATO attacks CSAT-held ground (6), Persistent campaign: a war that carries on where you saved (4), Special operations: a small team against a held town (1)
How many mechanised groups to place. 0 places none. The factions are tried in turn, so nothing is placed only when none of them has mechanised groups.
See it inCombat support: CAS, transport and artillery on call (2), Combined arms assault: guns, armour and infantry (5), Defensive: CSAT invades, NATO holds (3), Ground convoy: transport, escort and recruits (1), Insurgency: FIA against NATO (4), Offensive: NATO attacks CSAT-held ground (4), Persistent campaign: a war that carries on where you saved (2), Special operations: a small team against a held town (0)
How many armoured groups to place. 0 places none. The factions are tried in turn, so nothing is placed only when none of them has armoured groups.
See it inCombat support: CAS, transport and artillery on call (1), Combined arms assault: guns, armour and infantry (3), Defensive: CSAT invades, NATO holds (2), Offensive: NATO attacks CSAT-held ground (2), Persistent campaign: a war that carries on where you saved (1), Special operations: a small team against a held town (0)
How many special forces groups to place. 0 places none. They join the infantry pool, so Readiness and the patrol settings treat them like any other infantry, and they can be picked as guard groups too.
Garrison Groups
2 settings
Choices: None / Low (1-2 Groups) / Medium-Low (2-3 Groups) / Medium (3-4 Groups) / Medium-High (4-5 Groups) / High (5-6 Groups)
How many infantry groups garrison and patrol the objective's buildings. They're taken from Infantry Count rather than added to it, and the number is rolled at random within the band, so Low gives 1 or 2 groups.
AffectsWith an Infantry Count of 1 no guards are placed; with 2, only 1 is.
TryChoose Medium with an Infantry Count of 6 to put 3 or 4 of the groups into buildings.
Choices: Type a whole number
Type the exact number of infantry groups that garrison each objective. When you fill it in, it replaces the Garrisoned Infantry Groups Per Objective dropdown above. Leave it empty to use the dropdown.
AffectsLike the dropdown, it never gives more groups than the force has, and a force with a single infantry group still gets none.
Garrisons
4 settings
The smallest distance in metres a garrison searches for buildings; on a bigger objective it searches the whole objective anyway, up to 700 m. Garrison guards wander up to a third of it from their post, and the active foot patrols roam up to this distance from the objective. Those foot patrols start within one and a quarter times this distance of the module. Vehicle patrols ignore it and roam 800 m to 1 km on their own.
TryRaise it to 400 to let guards occupy buildings beyond the edge of a small objective; foot patrols will then start up to 500 m out.
Choices: Careless / Safe / Aware / Combat / Stealth
How this objective's garrison groups carry themselves while patrolling between buildings with no enemy in sight. They still react when they spot someone.
TryChoose Aware for guards who patrol with weapons ready.
Choices: Limited (walk) / Normal (jog) / Full (run)
How fast this objective's garrison groups move between buildings when no enemy is in sight.
Choices: Yes / No
Yes sends part of the guard force to man a spawned camp, Field HQ or composition, where they hold their posts and aren't re-tasked by the commander. The share is sized to the composition, never takes every guard, and doesn't change the total.
AffectsAlso sends the active force's own garrison groups, the share Active patrol percent keeps in buildings, to search around the spawned composition instead of the module.
Readiness & Reserves
8 settings
Choices: Type 0 to 100; 1 or less is read as a fraction, so 1 is 100%
The share of the groups that are active at mission start. The rest are held back in reserve and wake later when the objective comes under pressure. It applies to both infantry and vehicle groups.
AffectsWorks with Active patrol percent (which splits the active share) and the Reserve settings (which decide when the rest wake). Guard groups from Garrisoned Infantry Groups Per Objective are always awake and don't count. Artillery, and any group with a mortar or static weapon, always starts active and takes no share.
TryType 50 so half the defenders only appear once a fight starts.
Choices: Type 0 to 100; 1 or less is read as a fraction, so 1 is 100%
Of the infantry that is active at the start, the share that patrols; the rest garrison buildings near the objective. 100% means all active infantry patrols and 0% means all of it garrisons.
AffectsOnly the active infantry; vehicles always patrol and reserves aren't touched.
TryType 25 for a defence that mostly waits inside buildings.
Choices: Yes / No
Yes locks the parked, empty reserve vehicles so players can't steal them before their crews arrive; the lock lifts when a crew takes them. No leaves them open for players to take.
AffectsThe active force's vehicles carry the same setting, so if one loses its crew and is later brought back in empty, it locks too. One that spawns with its crew isn't locked, so players can take it once they've killed the crew.
TryChoose No for a mission where players sneak into the motor pool and drive off.
Choices: Type 0 to 100; 1 or less is read as a fraction, so 1 is 100%
Reserves stay asleep while the surviving share of the starting active force is above this level, and start waking once losses bring it down to it. 25% waits until the defence is badly beaten; 75% wakes on the first loss for a force of four groups or fewer. 100% wakes them on the first group lost.
AffectsA player must also be within the reserve engagement radius. If every group started in reserve, this check is skipped and only player distance matters.
TryType 100 so the reserves come out as soon as the defence loses its first group while a player is within the reserve engagement radius.
The shortest gap in seconds between two reserve wake-ups at this objective, so reserves trickle in rather than all appearing at once. A reserve crew dropped because its vehicle was destroyed also restarts the gap.
TrySet 90 for slow, steady reinforcement during a long assault.
Choices: 1.5x cluster / 2x cluster / 3x cluster / 4x cluster / 6x cluster
How close a player must be for reserves to wake, as a multiple of Objective size. With the default 3x, a 150 m objective wakes reserves when a player is within 450 m.
TryChoose 1.5x cluster so reserves only appear once players are right on the objective.
Choices: Yes / No
Yes means any building found within 80 m of a player whenever the module looks for somewhere to put reserves is never used for reserves again, so they won't appear beside a building you've cleared, though once awake they may still walk into it. No lets those buildings host reserves again once players move away. It only concerns infantry reserves; reserve vehicles are already parked where their crews will find them.
TryChoose No if you want the objective to keep refilling as players push through it.
Choices: Spawn as infantry / Drop silently
What happens to a reserve crew whose vehicle was destroyed before it woke. Spawn as infantry brings the crew and the group's foot soldiers in on foot, with no vehicle, beside a nearby building; Drop silently removes them, so destroying vehicles thins the reserve.
AI Artillery
4 settings
How many artillery sections to place. The faction's own artillery groups are used where they exist and patrol like other vehicle groups. Otherwise batteries are built from its artillery vehicles (mobile guns before towed or static), set on open ground within the Objective size, or within 200 m of the module if smaller, at least 25 m apart. On maps under about 10 km, rocket artillery groups are swapped for these built batteries.
TrySet 1 for a single supporting battery.
See it inCombined arms assault: guns, armour and infantry (2)
Draws the artillery from this faction instead of the Force Factions, for example a sister branch's guns supporting infantry. It must fight on the same side as the objective; if it doesn't, the choice is ignored and the Force Factions are used.
Choices: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 6 / 8
How many guns go in each battery when a battery has to be built from vehicles. It makes no difference when the faction has its own artillery groups, which keep their own size.
TryChoose 2 for a light mortar pair.
Choices: Any (self-propelled first) / Mortars / Towed guns / Self-propelled
What kind of guns the placed artillery batteries use. Any keeps the old choice: the faction's artillery groups where it has them, otherwise batteries built from its artillery vehicles, self-propelled first. Mortars, Towed guns and Self-propelled use the faction's artillery groups of that kind, and where there is none, build the battery from its vehicles of that kind with crews.
AffectsIf the faction has no guns of the chosen kind, the module places what it has, as Any, and writes one line saying so in the RPT. Mortar and towed batteries can't move once placed. With an attached artillery faction, every battery is built from that faction's vehicles of the chosen kind.
TrySet Mortars on a vanilla faction and look for Mk6 mortar tubes at the objective; with RHS loaded, Towed guns places D-30s and Self-propelled places BM-21s.
Anti-Air
3 settings
How many anti-air units to place at the objective, as a whole number; 0 places none. Each one is put on clear, flat ground away from roads, runways and buildings, between about 40 and 150 m from the module and never beyond the Objective size, and at least 30 m from the others.
TrySet 2 to give an airfield some cover against enemy aircraft.
Choices: Static / Roaming
Static keeps the AA where it was placed and the AI Commander won't move it. Roaming lets the commander move it with the rest of its forces.
The AA vehicles or static launchers to choose from. Leave it empty to use the faction's own default AA list; anything picked here always replaces that list.
AffectsOnly used when Spawn AA Units is above 0.
HQ & Placed Assets
6 settings
The camps or structures that may be built at the objective. The ticked ones are tried in random order at growing distances from the module (50 m, 150 m, 300 m, then out to the Objective size) and the first one that fits the ground is spawned. Leave it empty for no composition.
TryTick three or four camps so a cramped site can still fit one of them.
Choices: Yes / No
Looks for an HQ building in the objective, an existing map building or a large object from a spawned composition, and remembers it as the headquarters. It doesn't spawn anything itself; the camp comes from Spawn Composition or Auto Field HQ. Nothing else reads the chosen building, so its real effect is the priority change below.
AffectsIf the building it picks was already inside the objective when the objective was measured (a map building or a Spawn Composition structure, but not one from an Auto Field HQ camp, which is built afterwards), Objective priority is raised to 1000.
Choices: Yes / No
When Spawn Composition is left empty, Yes spawns a random Field HQ camp near the module, trying 50 m, 200 m and 500 m out. If anything is picked in Spawn Composition this is ignored, even if none of the picks fitted. On an airfield the Field HQ can go on the airfield's own ground and aprons, but still keeps off the runway, taxiways and helipads.
See it inCombat support: CAS, transport and artillery on call (true), Combined arms assault: guns, armour and infantry (true), Defensive: CSAT invades, NATO holds (true), Hearts and minds: NATO wins over the towns (true), Hunt the recruiters: NATO against FIA (true), Insurgency: FIA against NATO (true), Offensive: NATO attacks CSAT-held ground (true), Persistent campaign: a war that carries on where you saved (true)
Choices: None / Low / Medium / High
Parks extra empty vehicles at the parking-type buildings inside the objective to make it look busier. Each building rolls its own chance, and higher levels raise it; the chance per building also falls as the objective holds more buildings, so a big base doesn't end up with a vehicle at every door. They're uncrewed and just sit there.
TryChoose Medium for a motor pool that looks lived in.
Choices: Yes / No
Places the faction's helicopters on helipads inside the objective. Nothing appears if the objective has no helipads. They're parked empty: an air commander (MACC) in the mission takes them over and puts a crew aboard when it sends one out.
Choices: Yes / No
Places the faction's supply crates in storage buildings inside the objective, with a 70% chance for each building. They're just crates and play no part in AI resupply.
Objective Objects
4 settings
How many scenery objects, such as jammers or radar dishes, to place at the objective, picked at random from Objective Objects. 0 places none, and a small list with a high count gives duplicates.
TrySet 3 with a couple of antennas picked to dress up a comms site.
The chance that this objective gets its scenery objects at all. It's one roll for the whole objective: pass and you get the full count, fail and you get none. 100 always places them.
TrySet 30 when copying this module across several sites so only some carry the special objects.
Choices: Clustered / Dispersed / Perimeter
How the scenery objects are spread across the objective: Clustered keeps them near the centre, Dispersed spreads them across the area, and Perimeter puts them near the edge. Roads, runways, buildings, water and steep slopes are always avoided.
AffectsThe area is the Objective size, kept between 50 m and 400 m.
The pool of scenery objects to pick from, such as jammers, radars, antennas and signal panels. Each object placed is chosen at random from this list.
AffectsNothing is placed unless Objective Objects Count is above 0.
On Spawn Hook
2 settings
Your own script, run on the server whenever a unit from this module spawns: guards, the active force, reserves and the crews of its AA units and artillery batteries built from vehicles. Inside it _this is [unit, profile ID, side, faction]. Because it runs on the server, hints and player commands in it won't be seen by players.
Choices: Yes / No
Yes runs your code on the group's first spawn only: when the group comes back from being virtual it isn't run again. No runs it every time the group spawns, which keeps anything it adds to the soldiers, such as event handlers or a loadout, in place, because the soldiers are made afresh each time.
AffectsOnly matters when On unit spawn has a script in it.
Recent work
What's changed lately
- Percentages are typed inReadiness (%), Active patrol percent, Reserve activation threshold (%) and Garrisoned Building Patrol (%) are boxes you type 0 to 100 into. Missions saved with the old dropdowns load as before. Garrisoned Infantry Groups, exact is a new box that overrides the dropdown, and Objective size now shows (m).
- A Field HQ can go on an airfieldWith Create Field HQ on, a module put on an airfield used to get no Field HQ at all, because every apron counts as road. The search now allows the airfield's own ground and aprons, still keeping off the runway, taxiways and helipads. At Stratis Air Base the Combat support preset now gets 44 objects where only its 6 support vehicles stood before.
- Reserves survive a save and reloadReserves that hadn't woken yet used to be lost on every persistent reload, and a parked reserve vehicle stayed empty for good. On Stratis, 11 reserves waiting at 5 objectives were back after a save and reload.
- The right factions are placedA synced Custom Faction Compiler now picks the faction, ahead of Force Factions. With Force Factions empty, the factions of every synced AI Commander are used if they're friends, so NATO and a friendly AAF place together, while NATO with CSAT places NATO alone and the log names the ones left out.
- A Cust. Obj. by the sea keeps its troopsA group whose start spot fell in the water used to be skipped, so a module just offshore lost much of its force. The nearest dry ground within the objective is now found and the group goes there. At a spot 290 m from land, all 8 requested groups were placed on land, against 3 and 4 before. Guards with no dry ground are left out and counted in the log.
- Guards man custom compositionsGuards used to patrol around a custom or modded composition made of props ALiVE doesn't recognise. Its containers, bunkers and walls now get guard posts around them, as tents and camo nets already did.
Status
Where it stands
Full force and defence customisation
Unit type counts, artillery, air defence, garrison behaviour, objective scenery and an on-spawn scripting hook are all in place.
Reserve pool support
Shares the reserve activation system with standard Military Placement, holding back troops until the site is threatened.
Faction inheritance refinement
Leave Force Factions empty and a synced AI Commander hands the objective every faction it commands, not just the first. Missions that only ever set the older single Force Faction keep that choice, and a mission still carrying the old default in that hidden field inherits from the Commander instead of being stuck on it.
Placement in difficult spots
A Field HQ can be built on an airfield, troops move onto land when the module sits by the sea, and two custom objectives whose coordinates add up the same keep their own settings.
Testing
How you can help
Place the module anywhere on the map, including terrain with no towns or bases, set a force composition and size, then check units spawn, patrol and defend the site as configured.
Spotted a problem? Please report it on the ALiVE issue tracker on GitHub, with the map, rough location and what the units were doing so it can be reproduced.
Changelog
Updates to this page
- 2026-11-02A Custom Military Objective saved before the faction list existed no longer places CSAT by mistake. Its old OPF_F value now counts as the default, so the AI Commander it is synced to decides the faction. The log says which faction each objective placed and why.
- 2026-11-01In Eden the garrison settings sit under a new Garrison Groups header that only shows with more than one infantry group, and patrol behaviour and speed wait for a building patrol above 0.
- 2026-11-01The Objective priority tooltip now says Occupation, Dug In and Assault commanders use it. It said only Occupation.
- 2026-11-01New setting Garrison Area Blacklist: area markers no garrison uses. A building whose centre is inside one isn't garrisoned or patrolled, and a gun inside one isn't manned.
- 2026-10-29The fix that keeps a Field HQ off Altis's dirt airstrips now applies only to placing compositions, so a Field HQ, roadblock or AA site still keeps off a dirt strip while aircraft park on paved aprons as before.
- 2026-10-29In Outbreak mode this module can field zombies: a faction listed as zombies on the Virtual AI System goes on the zombie side, and the faction list offers civilian factions, marked (as zombies). See Zombie Outbreak.
- 2026-10-29A Field HQ stays off Altis's dirt airstrips such as the AAC strip. Those strips are built from invisible road pieces, which now count as runway, so compositions keep clear of them; Altis International's runway is unchanged.
- 2026-10-27In Eden this module's settings now sit under shorter headers, at most 8 settings in a group, and the Settings section here follows the same headers. Every setting keeps its name and default, so saved missions load as before.
- 2026-10-26New Artillery type setting: Any, Mortars, Towed guns or Self-propelled picks the kind of guns the module's artillery batteries use. Any places what it did before. Mortars now count as artillery, so a faction whose only artillery is mortars gets mortar batteries, and on a small map where the rest is rocket artillery Any uses the mortars.
- 2026-10-19Readiness, Active patrol percent, Reserve activation threshold and Garrisoned Building Patrol are typed 0 to 100; older missions' values still read the same. A new Garrisoned Infantry Groups, exact box overrides the dropdown, and Objective size now shows (m).
- 2026-10-12Create Field HQ works on an airfield: the Field HQ can go on the airfield's own ground and aprons, still off the runway, taxiways and helipads. Before, a module on an airfield never got one.
- 2026-10-11Guards man a custom or modded composition made of props ALiVE does not recognise, taking posts around its containers, bunkers and walls instead of patrolling around it.
- 2026-10-10Groups that share a name across categories now spawn as the one drawn, not their namesake.
- 2026-10-09Reserves that haven't woken yet now survive a persistent save and reload. They used to be lost on every reload, and a parked reserve vehicle stayed empty for good. Fresh start, save and reload on Stratis: 11 reserves waiting at 5 objectives, one of them a parked Qilin, and the same 11 came back.
- 2026-10-03The Run once per group tooltip now says what the setting does: the spawn code runs on every spawn either way, which keeps any event handlers it adds in place.
- 2026-10-03A Cust. Obj. module made by script now starts from the editor's settings: size 300, no ambient vehicles, helicopters and supplies placed, and the default anti-air list.
- 2026-09-29Placed helicopters are now always parked empty. With an air commander in the mission, about 1 in 5 used to have a crew sitting in it on the pad.
- 2026-09-28Spawn AA Units now logs what it read when the box holds something other than a plain number, as the group count boxes do: two places none, and 2-4 reads as 2.
- 2026-09-28The Readiness tooltip now says which groups don't count toward the active force: air groups, Garrisoned Infantry Groups and groups with a gun.
- 2026-09-28Woken reserve infantry now walk into the objective from a spot at least 80 m from every player. They used to be put straight into buildings anywhere in it, sometimes right beside a player.
- 2026-09-28A parked reserve vehicle now only gets its crew once no player is within 80 m of it, so nobody sees a crew appear in the seats.
- 2026-09-28Reserve crew with destroyed vehicle on Spawn as infantry now brings the crew and the group's foot soldiers out on foot. It used to rebuild the destroyed vehicle as well.
- 2026-09-28The Reserve activation threshold, Reserve crew with destroyed vehicle and Lock cleared buildings tooltips now say how reserves wake.
- 2026-09-28A faction with guns but no artillery groups now gets its whole battery on open ground: 4 guns of 4, where only the first was placed.
- 2026-09-28A reserve with vehicles now wakes with all of them, each with its own crew, where it used to bring only the first. On 100% a reserve waits for the first group lost instead of waking while the force is whole, and it wakes in the safe building nearest the objective's centre, not the furthest.
- 2026-09-28A Cust. Obj. by the sea now puts its troops on land, and a synced Faction Compiler picks its faction. With Force Factions empty, synced commanders' factions no longer mix enemy sides. Crewed objective objects fight on the module's side, mortars and artillery always start crewed, and On unit spawn code reaches the AA, battery and helicopter crews.
- 2026-09-27Active foot patrols now start within the guard radius and a quarter again. They were starting up to 5 guard radii out, 1 km from an objective with a 200 m guard radius.
- 2026-09-25Spawn Objective Units is now Objective Objects Count. 9 settings, including Objective priority, Create as HQ and Readiness, have tooltips that now match what they do.
- 2026-09-03New Garrison Building Occupancy Limit caps how many men a garrison puts in any one building, so a group spreads across a camp instead of filling the first building it reaches. Leave it empty and nothing changes.
- 2026-09-03Garrisoned Infantry Radius now sets the smallest area a garrison searches, not the whole of it. Guards scattered across a big camp reach the buildings in the middle instead of standing in the open. Objectives smaller than the radius behave as before.
- 2026-09-01New Preferred Garrison Buildings setting names which buildings a garrison fills first, and which positions inside them. Leave it empty and nothing changes. The new Class Picker module builds the list for you in preview and writes it back here.
- 2026-08-15The module description no longer tells you to type custom factions into a text box that isn't there. Custom factions reach these modules by syncing a Custom Faction Compiler, and the wording now says so in all seven languages.
- 2026-08-14Artillery batteries place far more cheaply, and the guns come out spread across the ground rather than sitting on rings. Measured on a battery of eight: one ground search per gun, down from up to thirty six.
- 2026-08-14The Run Once On Each Spawn setting now takes effect. It was being overwritten with its own default, so it could never take.
- 2026-08-13Starts considerably quicker on wooded terrain, since position checks were turning down ground they should have accepted. Air defence placement is deliberately unchanged. Worth confirming air defence still appears in the same places and quantities.
- 2026-08-13The ambient garrison amount list gains Medium-Low (2 to 3 groups) and Medium-High (4 to 5). Existing values and the default are unchanged.
- 2026-07-27Page first published.