Vanguards New Big Map Mode: Arms Race

With the start of Season 2: Reloaded, a lot of new content came into Vanguard and Warzone. Of course, as always, we got a new operator and a new weapon, but there's something much more interesting... a whole new game mode! With vehicles and its own brand-new map. The mode is called "Arms Race" and brings some variety to the boring multiplayer everyday life. Here we explain in detail what Arms Race is and how the new mode works.

What Is Arms Race?

Arms Race is a brand new 12v12 multiplayer mode in Vanguard. It is played on the "Alps" map that was specially introduced for this mode, and allows us to use vehicles in multiplayer for the first time. The mode throws us out the plane onto the largest map in Vanguard and makes us conquer several fortresses while at the same time trying to destroy the fortresses held by the opponents. The first team to acquire all intact fortresses wins.

Welcome to Arms Race, a brand-new 12v12 mode available now in #VanguardCapture Nebula Crates to destroy enemy bases. Defend your base from being captured by rebuilding destructible walls. The first team to own all active bases takes the win! pic.twitter.com/86CKGhc7Qe

— Sledgehammer Games (@SHGames) March 22, 2022

How Does Arms Race Work?

Arms Race is played 12v12. At the beginning of a match, similar to Warzone, we start in a plane over the new map and can decide for ourselves when to jump off. Also, we all start with the same equipment that we can upgrade later. There are a total of 7 fortresses distributed across the map, of which two are randomly selected at the beginning of a match but have already been destroyed. This means that in arms races, there is always a battle for a total of 5 fortresses.After you have landed on the map, the first thing to do is to capture as many fortresses as possible. This works the same as in other modes: go to the fortress and wait for the bar to fill up. If there are opponents in the fortress, they must first be eliminated in order to conquer the fortress. If you have conquered fortresses, you can decide after your death whether you want to spawn again at a fortress or at a squad mate. Each stronghold has destructible walls and gates that can be repaired by the team owning it. There are also several buy stations in each fortress where you can buy new weapons, grenades or killstreaks. You earn money by killing or collecting it from corpses. Once you have bought a new weapon, you keep it even after death.

From now on, it is important to take away the enemy's fortresses or to destroy them. If you manage to overrun a fortress and kill all enemies inside, you can capture the fortress, but you can also destroy enemy fortresses. At regular intervals, crates are dropped which can be taken by both teams. If you manage to bring such a box into one of your fortresses, an enemy base will be destroyed by Nebula V bombs and is therefore out of the game. The aim of arms races is either to take all fortresses or to hold at least one fortress until all opposing fortresses have been destroyed. In the latter case, you have to make sure that the opposing team doesn't get a Nebula box, otherwise your only stronghold will be destroyed, and you've lost.

What vehicles are in Arms Races?

To make things a little more interesting, captured fortresses can be used to buy vehicles as well as weapons and killstreaks. The following vehicles are available to us in Arms Races:

That's all there is to say about the new mode in Vanguard. It's definitely a lot of fun and finally something new. Ranked Play is nice, but definitely not something for everyone, and the same other game modes are slowly losing their appeal.