Arica Harbor

Arica Harbor is a multiplayer map featured in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Arica is a city in northern Chile that lies 18 km south of the Peruvian border, in the northern part of the world's driest desert, the Atacama. The port area was subject to the Battle for Arica Harbor.

Description
"Following the results of the armor assault at Atacama, U.S Command insists on a similar action to capture the port of Arica. The assault group will launch a "break through" action directly at the Russian base. If the fight dictates, the Battle Group will cut directly through the town located on the axis of advance. Collateral damage is of no consequence. The Russian base must be destroyed in order to cross the desert and reach the port. Heavy casualties are expected on both sides."

Rush
The attackers have 75 reinforcement tickets available to them, which will replenish upon taking another base from the defenders. The map has five sets of M-COM Stations, making it one of the longest Rush maps in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The only other maps to feature as many sets are Valparaiso, Laguna Presa, Oasis, and Harvest Day.

Equipment
This map starts out very vehicle centric, but as it progresses, it focuses more and more on infantry combat for both teams while vehicles take more of a support role.

Bases
There are a total of six bases on this map, with five of them holding two M-COM Stations each that the Defenders must hold in order to win, while the Attackers must destroy in order to win. With 12 players on each team on a vast map, the flanks of both teams are extremely vunerable. A player can sneak behind enemy lines almost at will. One or two players behind enemy lines engaging in tactics such as placing C4 on vehicles, stealing tanks, knifing UAV operators, killing snipers, and firing upon rallying/massing positions are extremely effective. When used in tandem with 10 players defending the MCOM stations the attackers will quickly run out of tickets.

Attackers Deployment
The Attackers Deployment is the starting base for the U.S. Army. The base is located at the end of a long highway leading to the first set of M-COMs and the defending Russians' first base, the Border Control outpost. The attacking players' spawn has little cover in the middle of the highway, but many damaged cars and buses are strewn about the side of the road, making for many great places for Recon players to set up shop and cover the advance of the rest of the team. Closer towards the Defenders' base are more destroyed vehicles, as well as the addition of destroyed and flaming M1A2 Abrams tanks and destroyed HMMWVs from a previous, unsuccessful assault. A noteworthy but relatively unused structure is a guard tower about two thirds down the highway near the Russian base. The ladder is on the far side, but this tower provides a decent overview and has a KORD HMG pointed towards the enemy base. However, the tower doesn't have much cover and is very blatantly placed. Occupants could easily draw attention to snipers, especially while climbing the ladder.

Two A-10 Thunderbolts will strafe the road near the Border Control about a minute into the start of the game. They cannot damage any players, but they may blow up any Anti-Tank Mines placed by the Defenders if they hit any in their path.

With open sight lines all the way to the Border Control outpost, the best way for the Attackers to travel to the enemy base to destroy the objectives would be by vehicle, as many spawn at the base. Beware, though, of enemy TOW missiles and anti-tank mines. The open sight lines also give way to a tactic that can be considered cheap towards the defenders, as any player may simply use the High Power Optics Package once unlocked and fire the main gun of the Abrams at the M-COM stations, as both can be seen from the Attackers Deployment. It may take some time to get the correct height adjustment, but once a player finds it, they can fire away until both of the objectives are destroyed. Alpha can be destroyed by hitting the large office building's walls until it collapses, but Bravo will need to be taken out by constant fire as it is in barracks than cannot collapse.

Note, though, that because the base is very open, any player in a tank is fairly exposed, meaning they can be taken out by a mortar strike or rockets if they are not paying attention. Defenders should be aware of this weakness and by any means necessary try and stop the Attackers from hitting the M-COMs by destroying all of the Abrams tanks as fast as possible, as it only takes a few hits from the main cannon to destroy an M-COM station.

US Control
Under US control, this base will regularly spawn: three M1A2 Abrams; two HMMWVs; one Quad Bike; and one UAV-1, all of which are along the highway and in somewhat of a formation with the quad bike in front, then the HMMWVs and then the Abrams tanks.

Border Control
The Border Control outpost is the first line of defense for the Russian Army Defenders of Arica Harbor. It is located down a highway from the US Army's Attackers Deployment and is situated between a hill to the right of the base, commonly used by attacking US snipers, a hill in the front that is rarely used in a similar way, a wall towards the Town outpost, and a fence in the rear just before a cliff along the coastline that is inaccessible.

Objective Alpha is located in an office building and can be destroyed using Destruction 2.0 as it commonly is. Objective Bravo is located in the middle barracks of three off to the left, and cannot be destroyed using Destruction 2.0. It is either armed by the attackers, or destroyed by "tank snipers" - enemy tanks with the High Powered Optics Package equipped. There are three guard towers, with two mounting two KORD HMGs each - one facing the Border Control and one facing the Town - along the wall towards the Town, and one at the back-right corner of the base on the hill; it does not have any mounted KORD HMGs however.

As the Attackers Deployment has a straight shot to this base, the Attackers will be coming in through one, albeit large, way. The Defenders should make use of the two 9M133 Kornets located along the road that leads through the outpost, as well as place Anti-Tank Mines either along the road or off to the front-left area beyond the chain-link fence. The two T-90s given to the defenders should be used defensively, with Engineers keeping them in working order while they keep the enemy vehicles at bay.

The hill along the left side is a common sniper location for the Attackers and should be made a note of, as at least one enemy Recon player will snipe from here, and if their squad is smart, they will follow suit and spawn on the player. The rock cliffs around the vantage point the enemy has can be accessed by going towards the rear guard tower and then moving along the cliffs to flush out the enemies located there. The hill in front of the base is rarely used by the Attackers, and if a Russian Army Recon player can get on top of the trees located at the top of the hill through use of the adjacent rocks, they will be able to see clearly into the enemy deployment, allowing them to spot vehicles and infantry traveling along the highway for the rest of the team, as well as taking out a few along the way. The problem with this spot is that any player up there is very exposed, but not entirely visible as they will be wearing a ghillie suit.

Russian Control
Under RU control, this base will regularly spawn: two T-90s at the back-left corner; five KORDs - four on the left side guard towers, one on the guard tower closer to the Attackers Deployment; and three 9M133 Kornets - two situated on the main road, one closer to the Attackers than the other, and one behind the T-90 spawns in the absolute rear left corner.

US Control
Under US control, this base will regularly spawn: one M1A2 Abrams next to the road where the T-90s previously spawned; one HMMWV near the new Abrams; and one UAV-1 near the three barracks located in the rear (now left side) of the base. The emplacements leftover by the Russians will stay until they have been destroyed.

Town
The Town outpost is unlocked after the Border Control outpost is taken by the Attackers. It is located just down a hill past the gate leading out from the Border Control. This area has many one- and two-story houses to take cover in, as well as three buildings under construction, one in front of the town on the hill, and two on the lower right side. These construction sites have ample cover within them, making them great for Recon players to utilize. The forward construction site of the two rear ones has a shielded KORD and 9M133 Kornet on top, but being on the top level, they can be easily hit by a mortar strike. The red two-story house in the rear of the base next to the raised terrace is another good place to snipe from, as it has a clear shot to anywhere along the side of the mountain that is at the left side of the Town. Another red two-story sits just beyond the front construction site on the hill and can act as a forward defense outpost as the attacking US Army will be pouring over the hill in front of it. The green and beige two-story next to it is another decent place to hold the line, but a water tower obstructs much of the view of the hillside; it can however be destroyed with explosives. A third red two-story house sits in the front right corner, about midway between both construction sites. it poses a as a good place for cover against any enemy infantry proceeding through the rocks along the right side of the road out in front of the Town, and also has a view towards the Border Control.

Objective Alpha is concealed inside a building alongside the road and a garage door must be destroyed in order to reach the M-COM Station. Once the Attackers get in, it is very hard to disarm even after pounding it with grenades. Objective Bravo is located in a green and beige two-story house alongside the road towards the rear and can be destroyed using Destruction 2.0; it has a shielded KORD on top of it that is semi-useful to suppress the enemy. It is best to try and hold Alpha as long as possible since if the Attackers kept their Abrams from the assault on the Border Control, they will easily be able to destroy the house containing Bravo. The Defenders should always keep a medic near Alpha or even in the garage it is located so that they can heal or revive anyone else defending there, as well as using suppressing fire to keep enemies out.

Anti-Tank Mines come to great use again as the Abrams will generally travel along the road towards the Town, meaning the road should have some along it. Other good spots for these are the path between the red two-story and the green and beige two-story, as the HMMWV can try to go through there to flank the base; the last spot would be between the red two-story in the front-right and the rocks along the road, for the same reasons. With the only emplacements the Russians have for this base being exposed to mortar fire, the T-90 should be used to try and keep the enemy at bay with the High Powered Optics Package so it can sit in back, or with the Active Armor Upgrade so it can hunt down enemy tanks but still take a beating. The attackers will also try to take the upper section of the town viciously, as they come down the mountain and end up there. The Defenders should still keep troops located around the base to watch for infiltrators, but their main focus should be the hillside out in front.

Russian Control
Under RU control, this base will regularly spawn: one T-90 next to the raised terrace in back; two shielded KORDs, on top of the construction site in the back, covering the approach to the town and one on top of the building objective bravo is located in; and 9M133 Kornet next to the KORD on the construction building.

US Control
Under US control, this base will regularly spawn: one M1A2 Abrams next to the road and the red one-story house on the lower side; one HMMWV in front of the Abrams; and one UAV-1 in the rubble pile near the Abrams and HMMWV. The emplacements leftover by the Russians will stay until they have been destroyed, but they are generally useless as they face the wrong way.

Bridge
The Bridge outpost is unlocked after the Town outpost falls to the Attackers. The US is now put in a good position to lay down some fire as this base has much less cover for the Russians. There are two one-story houses along the left of the road with fences and walls around them with trees for additional cover. There are some large containers about the area, as well as rocks, but there it little much else other than the makeshift locations of the objectives in the destroyed bus and the train car. The road bridge has a shielded KORD with some sandbags and the train bridge has box cars from a derailed train that can be opened up with explosives. The two A-10 Thunderbolts will return and strafe a warehouse along the river in back, completely removing its walls and roof, effectively making it useless for cover. The office building nearby and just barely out of bounds except for its stairs to the roof, however, may pose as a good sniper position as the tree in front of the stairs provides good cover. It is also rarely used, but covers the slope from the terrace effectively, and the red two-story. Attacking snipers will tend to hide out in the two story barracks building behind the blue fence (which can be open to being flanked), on the construction site of the town or in the two story red house. More advanced attacking snipers (usually with the 12X scope) will retreat behind the town onto the large ridge (which is not longer out of bounds after taking the 'Town' as a base) gaining a view of practically the bridge and some of the harbour.

Objective Alpha is inside the destroyed bus which is very open and has a decent amount of cover along it, with the doors being closer to where the Attackers will be coming from on the hill by the two one-story houses. Objective Bravo is inside a train cart and the US Army must use explosives to reach inside to the objective. The attackers will generally try to come through the construction site or back by the raised terrace. The red two-story behind the terrace is now a good vantage point for them, as is the construction site, but a two-story barracks closer to the Bridge outpost obstructs some of its view and is commonly used as well. The slope coming down from the terrace down to the one-stories has a decent amount of cover with wooden fences and trees protecting the Attackers as they advance.

The Defenders should keep tabs on the M1A2 as it can be used to great effect to destroy the M-COM Stations if it is placed near the construction site or just around the corner of the road in the Town before the road turns towards the Bridge outpost. The HMMWV can pose a threat too as a mobile emplacement, but it is either rarely used or destroyed quickly with a rocket or mines. Anti-Tank Mines should be placed on the road however, as the enemy tank will sometimes come in close as a distraction so the team can try to infiltrate from the side while the Defenders are busy.

Russian Control
Under RU control, this base will regularly spawn only a KORD on the bridge to the next base.

US Control
Under US control, this base will regularly spawn: one M1A2 Abrams on the road, close to the one-story houses; and one UAV-1 in the construction site near the two-story barracks. The KORD leftover by the Russians will stay until it gets destroyed, but it will now face the wrong way and is usually run over by the Abrams moving along the bridge.

Harbor
The Harbor outpost is the fourth line of defense for the defending Russian Army. By this point in the game, the odds switch to favor the Russians as this base is hard to take without blowing up the objectives with explosives or the tank rather than arming them. Being a harbor, there are warehouses and large container crates scattered about, with a few office buildings as well, and two large cranes in back. There is also a semi-sunken and damaged container ship docked at the Harbor, but it is inaccessible. closer to the bridges, there is little cover other than the train cars and a large green dumpster under the train bridge, as well as the bridge supports. There are three main crossings for the Attackers to get across the river, with two being the bridges and the third being an are between the sea walls that can be crossed on foot or by vehicle. A less commonly used route is to flank the defenders by swimming along the river using the very last ladder to gain a tactical advantage. The Defenders have a few emplacements across the bridge for cover, but they are exposed without a roof to cover them, meaning they can be easily mortared.

Objective Alpha is inside a over-turned train cart and attackers must use explosives to reach it or blow up the red explosive barrel on its far side from the Bridge outpost. Two large concrete blocks are in the train car, providing cover for anyone in there. The side of the cart - now technically the roof - can be blown out by explosives, but it is surprisingly hard for mortar strikes to kill anyone in the car as they are generally inaccurate as is. It is generally a good idea for a defender to set up a firing position from inside the last box-car. The advantage for this tactic is that the attackers generally over-run this point and are easy targets to engage and destroy. A couple of players behind enemy lines can cause mass chaos and frusteration for the attacking/defending players.

Objective Bravo is located in a small warehouse and cannot be destroyed using Destruction 2.0, but is surrounded by piles of lumber for cover. It is best to try and keep both objectives'structures intact as, if they are destroyed, it will be hard for both teams to arm or disarm the objective without the use of smoke grenades from Assault Kit wielders or the UAV-1 if the operator has the Smoke Countermeasures Package.

The M1A2 Abrams the Attackers have comes to less use here, as the river crossing and road bridge are usually mined by the defenders - either on them or at the end of them. If it does penetrate defenses, the Defenders should take it out quickly with either rockets, C4, more mines, ore the 9M133 Kornet located where the road splits to follow the rail line and heads into the Harbor outpost a bit after the road bridge. The shielded KORD there can also help to defend against enemy infantry that may try to take the small hill with rock outcroppings flanking the Kornet and KORD.

Russian Control
Under RU control, this base will regularly spawn: one KORD and one 9M133 Kornet past the two bridges, out in the front left corner of the base; another Kornet also spawns in a box car at the rear left corner of the base near the office building, but the sides of the car must be blown out to reveal it.

US Control
Under US control, this base will regularly spawn: one M1A2 Abrams on the road, close to the double-stack of containers and the warehouse where Bravo was; and one UAV-1 near the office building. The emplacements leftover by the Russians will stay until they are destroyed, but they will pose little use as they are far from the next outpost and all face the wrong way.

Last Stand
The Last Stand is unlocked for the defending Russian Army after the Harbor outpost - renamed the Last Push, as it is the last base for the Attackers - is taken by the US Army. The Russians mainly spawn very close to the base - as it is their last before they lose - just behind it in the hill with rocks on it. There is a two-story barracks just behind the main construction site where the objectives are located. There is a large warehouse and another two-story barracks next to the rail yard that can be used defensively - the barracks has a KORD mounted in one of the windows - but the main focus of the Russians should be the construction site as the fiercest fighting will come to play here. The Russians should be mindful of these areas, as infiltrators may try to come through here to hit the construction site from the side, but the brunt of the attack will come between the cranes, container crates, and other clutter between the Last Push outpost and the Last Stand outpost.

Objectives Alpha and Bravo are both located in a construction site of two buildings put together and are not vulnerable to Destruction 2.0. Objective Alpha is on the first floor in the front and Bravo is on the second floor in the back. Both objectives are incredibly important for the Russians to hold as this is their last chance to hold out against the US Army. If either objective is armed, they will need to be quickly disarmed and have the attackers flushed out from the area or else the Russians will surely lose if the US can gain control of the site. The KORD and 9M133 Kornet on the front of the construction site can be useful to keep the enemy at bay, but only for a while before the operators are killed and the emplacements destroyed.

As always, mines should be placed on the road, as the Abrams may try to close in on the base as it is less effective further back with the construction site having many walls defending it, obstructing the view of the tank driver and/or gunner. The tank may also go behind the large warehouse to try and snipe Bravo from there as Alpha will be covered by containers within the warehouse. Smoke grenades and shotguns can come to great use here for both teams, and motion sensors for each will be useful as well to asses enemy positions. Medics will also play a vital role as the need to keep your team alive. When defending at least one medic in the squad should stay within the construction complex (the third floor provides cover from mortar strikes and distant snipers) to revive and heal people as once armed it is very difficult to disarm if one is outside the complex charging in. With the defenders spawning on the hill directly behind the base, they may place a few snipers there to cover the approach to the construction site but in general snipers will find it difficult to find good cover. The Attackers have some decent spots, from as close as the roof of the building in front of the office complex to in some rare cases, the mountain all the way back between the Town and Border Control outposts for those snipers who enjoy extreme ranges.

Russian Control
Under RU control, this base will regularly spawn: two KORDs, one on the second level of the construction site and one in a window of the two-story barracks facing the construction site from across the road; and two 9M133 Kornets, one on the left side of the front of the construction site on the second level and the other just next to the road and the two-story barracks behind the construction site.

Squad Deathmatch
The Squad Deathmatch variant of this map takes place in the city, between the bridge towards the port and Border Control outpost. A M3A3 Bradley spawns in the middle of the map, just off the main road next to a green and beige two-story house. Much of the random spawn points are on the outskirts of the map, with some in the main construction site, some by the raised terrace and red two-story house at the end of the road before it turns, the construction site on the hill, and the lower hills near the coastline, as well as everywhere in between.

Combat here will constantly shift as the four teams move about this city, with the main fighting occurring in the central area of the town between the upper and lower sections. There are also many sniping locations on this map, with the large mountain in the back of the town with scattered trees and rocks for cover, and the construction site near the coast to just name a few. Control over the Bradley can be very helpful in achieving victory if the entire squad is in the vehicle, with at least two players as Engineers and one as a Medic and all players having varied specializations to keep both the tank and the players alive. When possible, all players should stay inside the tank to cover it from all angles as opposing players could be taken out before they get off too many RPG shots or destroy the tank with C4. The downside to this strategy is that the vehicle becomes a major target and it may cause other teams to work together just to take it out as the players in it are a much greater threat since they won't be able to be killed as easy. Good spots to bring the IFV are the main road and the back hill towards the Border Control outpost in Rush mode.

Conquest
"Take to the streets and put your infantry skills to the test! Capture strategic town positions as Arica Harbor is enhanced with Conquest Mode."

The Conquest variant of this map is included in VIP Map Pack 2, which was released on 30 March 2010. The area available to players is the same size and location as the Squad Deathmatch variant of the map, but there is additional cover located in key areas; mainly the road leading through the town and the cliff near the upper construction site. Each side is given 350 tickets rather than the usual 250 tickets. It is a very small map, with just 100m separating the three bases (A, B and C), making it very lively and full of action.

Equipment
The Conquest variant of this map is very infantry-oriented, with only one Quad Bike spawning at each team's base after a few minutes from the game's start and a UAV-1 station spawning at control point Bravo once it is captured.

RU Deployment
The RU Deployment is located at the Bridge outpost and is nearest to Alpha. A Quad Bike will spawn here a few minutes into the game to prevent it from being used too early as it is very fast and would be cheap to use and obtain all of the control points before the game gets going. Spawns generally are near the bridges and up towards the construction site on the right of the road and the two one-story houses on the left of the road. Because the RU Deployment has many ways in and out, it is very hard to spawn camp if the Russians are pushed back this far since they can go a number of ways to get around the US Army

A: Town Near Bridge
The control point is located at the end of the road, right where it turns to go past the construction site towards the Bridge. Common areas to try and capture this point include the garage below the red two-story house, the house itself, and just next to the raised terrace where a T-90 would spawn in Rush. Players will generally spawn near the red house or the construction site in back. The Russians generally spawn behind the terrace or near the construction site while the US spawns near the one-story house or the red two-story house on the upper half of the town.

B: Town Center
The control point is located between a destroyed M1A2 Abrams and a destroyed M939 Truck. This control point has a very large capture area as it can be captured in the area of four houses around the point, including the garage in the wall if the doors are blown out. Players can spawn anywhere from the lower construction site to the UAV-1 station that spawns near the cliffs. The Russians mainly spawn in the construction site closer to the two-story barracks just along the wall while the US generally spawns near the UAV station.

C: Town Outskirts
The control point is right next to the ECM Radar station. It can be captured by standing anywhere between the brick wall near the cliffs to the red two-story house closer to the coast. Players generally spawn near the red house or back towards the construction site and the beige and green two-story house. Russians tend to spawn near the coast between the green and beige house and the red house while the US spawns along the cliffs near the upper construction site.

US Deployment
The US Deployment is located just outside of the Town at the Border Control outpost, only half of it being open to players of either team. A Quad Bike will spawn here a few minutes into the game to prevent it from being used too early as it is very fast.

Rush

 * When playing as the Russians at the start of the game, Anti-Tank Mines should be placed on the road. This will make sure that enemy Abrams' take a different route where there might be a trap like a launcher or more anti-tank mines. This will refuse the enemy armor support and will make taking the first base difficult for them. Additionally, sending a small sniper team toward the enemy base along the flanks will allow UAV-1 controllers to be killed.
 * On the second outpost, the Town, there is an HMG on top of one of the buildings that appear to be under construction. If a player was to man it, the enemy advance could be slowed down or halted completely, due to the convenient position overlooking the town. The player, however, is in danger of being killed by an RPG, tank shell, or mortar, but defender deaths ultimately do not matter as they have unlimited respawns, when the Attackers have 75.
 * At the Last Stand outpost, the use of a shotgun is very effective. As an attacker, it would also be advisable to be an Engineer and equip a rocket launcher, as these can be useful against the defenders' armored KORD machine guns.
 * On Last Stand as an Attacker, one can swim under the bridge and swim around the edge of the Harbor, where there are ladders they can use to climb up in to the enemies' spawn and make a quick run to objective Bravo.

Conquest

 * If control point Alpha is under attack, one should drop some C4 at the entrance to the garage by the flag and go in the far corner of the garage and wait. If an enemy pops out, they only need to hit the detonator.
 * With many destructible buildings on this map, it is very possible to score some Destruction 2.0 kills. The same goes for when this section is moved to in Rush or one is playing Squad Deathmatch.

Russian Victory
Heavy Russian defenses cause massive U.S. casualties and the American Forces retreat as Russian tanks are seen chasing after them, leaving the Harbor in Russian hands.

US Victory
U.S Tanks arrive to secure the Harbor, causing the Russians to lose an important supply port to the Americans. and U.S forces standby for following orders.

Squad Rush
An overview of the Town is shown, with the same messages played for either a win or loss in the normal victories depending on which team the player was on.

Trivia

 * On the road between the Attackers Deployment and the Border Control bases there is a large sign saying "Welcome to Chile" in Spanish.
 * In the PlayStation 3 Beta, M-COM Station Alpha at the Harbor outpost used to be difficult to reach because there was a metal bar along the overturned train car at about chest height, making it hard for either team to get into the box car once the side was blown off, even if they were crouching under it. After many complaints from the community, DICE decided to remove the metal bar from the train car for the retail version.
 * Before the game's release, many players mistakenly thought that instead of being named Arica Harbor, the map was named Africa Harbor, and took place in the Sahara Desert rather than in Chile.

Videos
Video:Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Arica Harbor. Conquest|Gameplay on Arica Harbor in Conquest mode. Video:Bad Company 2: Arica Harbor Loading Theme|Arica Harbor loading theme Video:Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Arica Harbor. Rush - Attacker|Gameplay on Arica Harbor in Rush mode as the Attackers.