Arma 3 Server: mod suggestions

Give us your mod reviews!!! what do you all like? what looked awesome but failed abysmally? (looking at you tactical beard!) Post up what you have found!

 

If you package everything up, and update the package when you update the server, I'll download whatever

 

That seems like an excellent idea Gihz!

 

Even with flying and working on aircraft for a living I still enjoy them in games as well so heres a list of the flight mods I've used and sometimes enjoyed in arma3

Fixed Wing:
Wings of Peace (can't find where I downloaded it from, might have been an arma2 that I managed to get working which could explain why it does what it does)
Let me get this one out of the way, Pros: lots of vintage russian aircraft, Cons: much like the current condition of those aforementioned vintage russian aircraft nothing works. Well thats not entirely true a couple or the aircraft work but most bug out when you try to fly them directly. It does have a ton of aircraft that were ported in so if you are using the Dynamic Altis Airports mod I suspect that you could make use of them for keeping the air traffic varied. Good if you want some aging aircraft sitting around especially commercial aircraft.

Dynamic Altis Airports
I've downloaded and had it as an active mod but not specifically run it. Basically it sets up an entire aviation world with flights going all over the place. If you are into aviation or want to do a bigger storyline involving aircraft or want to really increase the immersiveness of the world then its tough to pass up. Recently updated to function with the US AirForce pack, exception being the KC-135.

United States Air Force
Get this mod!! While just out in its v1.0 form with a few rough spots its better than a number of other updated mods.
The C5 is huge, the flight model is decent, and best of all both front and back ramps open for loading up trucks and tanks, also makes for an awesome obstacle to drive through for the borg driving tests. The rest of the aircraft in the mod are cool but I've not done much with them because...
AC-130!! this thing is a beast, three gun stations and can be flown and operated single pilot with an autopilot system that will fly orbits over a point once you manually fly to the location letting you go into the back and rain down lots of freedom on the bad guys. (Not sure if its a conflict with SoS but standing on the ground within say 500m of the GAU's target makes you think that armageddon and ragnorok just decided to duke it out, hopefully it will be toned down a little bit or it could be just an issue on my end)

C-130J
This is a great mod with two really detailed C-130J models, there is a cargo version and a troop transport so you can carry and drop cargo or paratroopers. Its a better more fully modeled aircraft than the AC-130 above, hopefully the AC-130 will get to this level with updates.

Boeing C-17
Cool aircraft, its a smaller mod and makes for some fun times if you want to fly a C-17 or carry vehicles too large for the C-130 but don't want to break out a C-5

STI A-10
gives you a GAU-8 to fly around with, hard to go wrong with this.

Ivory Aircraft
This is a series of related aircraft mods including a Yak-42D, F-15/C Eagle, T-6/A Texan II, and the MiG-29K Fulcrum-D
Highlights: the Yak is the best modeled civilian airliner I've seen so far, the texan is a fun plane to goof off in, the mig is also a fun one to fly and finally the F-15 has the best afterburner effects I've seen yet in the game (great flame cone coming from the tail pipes, sadly not really visible at night when it should be even more impressive) The Ivory group have been doing good high quality models, you will not regret these.

F/A-18 Super Hornet
It comes with a pilot's manual, hard to get more serious than this. Awesome E and F models, you can load out the aircraft and select different paint schemes to your hearts content, for a real challenge try setting up one aircraft as a tanker with a buddy pod and then use others to refuel off of it. Its great to use with the USS Nimitz mod fully functioning with the arresting gear and catapults.
One thing that should be mentioned is the RealSound F18 Mod for this mod, just like SoS is for the basic game, RS does the same for this particular mod.

USS Nimitz
What is a ship doing in my reviews of aircraft?
there is only one thing more satisfying than making a cat shot of this ship, successfully catching a wire on landing!
While it is a slightly reworked port of the Arma2 Nimitz it has been improved on and makes for a good time, also gives mission planners a great deal of flexibility with doing insertions and scenarios. Do you have a target that needs to be rescued? Load up a couple of helos with players to go insert, but what if someone wants to fly cover, well no problem toss them in a F/A-18, only then they will need refueling so either they have to go back and make a trap on deck or someone else has to fly a tanker up to them, then you can add in some enemy fighters to keep them busy and let the ground forces carry more of the load, really the options are as endless as your imagination.

 

Part 2

Hellenic Armed Forces MOD (HAFM) - Aircraft
This one is a great way to add in aircraft that would actually be used in the Greek Islands. It features four different airframes with several load outs for each. A-7H Corsair II ground attack (lot of fun), Mirage 2000-C, F-16C (RealSound in the works), and the venerable F-4E Phantom II which has a great RealSound mod for it. This gives more variety and current day equipment to play around with and can be used to simulate the real world air forces from the Iranians with old F-4's to the Belgians with F-16's.

Speaking of sound packs, just discovered the A-164 Wipeout Soundmod
The creator just joined RealSound but had previously done this one mixing the game sounds for the wipeout with the sounds from an A-10 to give a bit more of the feel of the older A-10 noise.

Swedish Forces Pack
Its Swedish!! gives some different vehicles and aircraft along with ships and weapons to the game. Con: it's a big download at 1200MB, on the positive side it gives you equipment from the 1980's-2035. While the repaints of the arma3 helicopters and c-130j aren't anything super special the vehicles brought over from arma2 are a nice change of pace. I've really enjoyed the AN-14 stol airplane (carries 6 total so can be a useful small insertion aircraft) and the bomb version is great if you are doing a insurgency campaign. The Bo-105 helicopter is fun, it is similar to the MH-6/9 and the tow version is an interesting spin on a small light attack helicopter. Also HIND!!!!! I've been really wishing there was one in game and now there is with a port from Arma2.
There is a fully functioning coastal patrol boat with cruise missiles that has multiple stations and is a bit larger than the fishing boats we were playing around with the other night. At last bumper boats is an option!
I'm not sure that this is worth putting on the server just yet, it does have a nice variety and lets face it the borg does have some scandinavian leanings, but the download size is the big down fall. A lot of the size I'm sure comes from the map and all the custom buildings that come with the mod but there is no getting around it.

Cessna 185
I had to get this since I was recently flying a 185 in mountain training and really enjoyed the aircraft. Its fun its definitely something different, it isn't super well modeled, the takeoff should be much shorter for instance and it doesn't like to slow down very well. It could be a great option if you are doing an insurgency type of mission/campaign. More of a kinda cool side note than something that is a must have.

SMD Assets Vehicles (aka the Magnum PI Hughes 500D)
Sure it may just be a MH-9 with a fancy paint job, but that paint job!!!! It may cause a need for bright hawaiian shirts and epic mustaches for those that ride with you. I grew up watching Magnum PI and this chopper forever is etched into my childhood so I love it. others results may vary.
Since its a repaint and gives a MH-9 to the civilian side it is only 1mb and isn't exactly going to break the bank when it comes to download size which is nice.

Arma2 US Helicopter import
While Gihzmo really wants his Apache, my love here is the UH-1H. There is just something so sexy about that whomping sound. I grew up with hueys flying at treetop level over my house around the training areas so its another one of those childhood things that just can't be described.
Really my other reason for this is to give something else for transporting a squad other than the Ghosthawk which I think everyone knows my stance on. The two Hueys are good, and while not a super performer the blackhawks are good familiar birds. I'll be honest I really was looking forward to the CH-47, and while it isn't the best handling bird out there, man can it carry a load.
Totally recomend for the server, one note is that this mod is NOT compatible if you have the ACES unit Pack. The CH-47 from the pack I think is what causes all of the arma 2 us helicopters to disappear from the editor.

NATO Hellcats
Fun repaints of the hellcat (AW159) for the BluFor

Blu Mohawk
Because the BluFor does need a larger transport helicopter and I have found this chopper my second fave to fly behind the AH/MH-9 family
Just a repaint of the existing CH-49 Mohawk in the game and adding it to the NATO side.

Littlebird Extension
Just unlocks the additional helicopter paintjobs and faction assignments that were in the game files already. Also adds a ramp control script for the CH-49

Additional mods I run
A3MP
This is the big download, but gives you the maps from arma 2 and operation arrowhead. There is a small patch to help if you get a config error with Zeus
A3MP-AP
Helps some of the arma 2 maps work better with A3MP

ASDG_Attachments
Tweaks to the ASDG Rails mod we run on the server

RH Pistol Pack
Adds a bunch of different pistols and smg's to the game with some good sound files. I've been meaning to get some more of the RH weapons packs to try out as well. Lets face it the couple of pistols that come with the game files can be a bit lacking for variety.

I have been running all these mods simultaneously with the current Das Server mod set and haven't noted any specific compatibility issues.


I've also tried out a few of the Shack Tactical mods
Dslyecxi's 'Paper Doll' Gear Menu
lets you pick and choose uniforms and equipment loadouts while being able to look around at your character, also lets you see what the thermal image will be.

There are several other mods they have for group indicators and hu
Their current server mod list can be found here
The descriptions for their mods can be found here

 

I'm having a milsim orgasm