— Marlowe, during the opening cut-scene
Welcome to Bad Company is the first mission in the singleplayer campaign of Battlefield: Bad Company. It introduces the player to the character they control, Preston Marlowe, and also introduces the player to the rest of their squad, Bravo One Charlie, which consists of Sergeant Samuel Redford, Private Terrence Sweetwater, and Private George Haggard. This mission is primarily a tutorial for players, teaching them the game mechanics, and how to use vehicles. It also introduces the player to the main story line.
The level is also the setting for the singleplayer portion of the Battlefield: Bad Company demo, which takes place after the destruction of the AA guns, and replicates certain events that occur before in the main game, such as the healing of the player using an auto-injector, the acquisition of an RPG to destroy a BMD-3, and certain pieces of speech for acquiring different weapons.
Synopsis and Walkthrough[]
This section contains spoilers for Battlefield: Bad Company.
Tutorial[]
The mission opens with Marlowe arriving on a UH-60 Black Hawk to the front lines, after having just been transferred to the B-Company of the 222nd Army Battalion. Nicknamed "Bad Company", as it is where "all the insubordinates, hell-raisers and troublemakers that won't fit in any other unit" end up, the company is known to have the highest mortality rate out of any unit in the entire Army.
Marlowe meets Sergeant Redford, to which he finds out the unit is also much less formal than others as after saluting Redford, who tells Marlowe to "cut out that 'Sir, yes sir!' crap [as he is] a Sergeant, not the god-damned President". Redford introduces Marlowe to Sweetwater and Haggard, who both welcome him to the unit. They move towards an M939 truck to ride with the convoy, joking about how Marlowe is new. He questions which unit he belongs in and Redford responds that he "can ride with [them], new guy". Marlowe accepts his new nickname and joins them.
At this point, the player gains control of Marlowe, but can only look around and listen to the squad's conversation as they tell a little about themselves. Redford says he is going home in three days and says Marlowe should get to know Haggard and Sweetwater instead. He tells Marlowe that Haggard is a demolitions expert, to which Haggard responds that he "just like[s] it when stuff blows up". Sweetwater then remarks that he should make sure its the enemy's stuff he blows up. Redford then tells Marlowe about how Sweetwater tends to talk to much. Sweetwater disagrees, just as Mike-One-Juliet comes on to give the squad orders, Sweetwater remarks that Miss July, as he calls her, has "a beautiful voice". Redford quiets him down and listens for their orders. She tells Bravo-One Charlie to scout the terrain ahead of the convoy and that she will have further orders soon. Just then, two AH-64 Apaches fly overhead, away from the front. Sweetwater notes that they are always flying away as the squad moves in. They all then hear distant artillery firing, Sweetwater hoping that it is their artillery. Unfortunately, it is enemy artillery and it hits the convoy. Haggard remarks how calm Marlowe is, but as he is saying so, the truck gets hit with a shell and Marlowe blacks out.
As Marlowe regains consciousness in a ditch near the destroyed truck, Haggard and Sweetwater think he is already dead. Redford assures them he is not as the player gains control of Marlowe again. Redford then tells the player to look up and down to make sure if they want an inverted joystick or not. Sweetwater then tells the player to get to him, to which they must jump over a boulder and crouch under the car. While doing so, Sweetwater remarks how Marlowe doesn't smell good anymore and officially welcomes him to "Bad Company". He then notes that Marlowe looks like a mess and should use the LIFE-2 Auto Injector to heal himself. Redford notes that it looks like Marlowe's M416 took a beating as well and has the player shoot three red barrels. The player is then told to restock their ammunition at the nearby ammo box, as Redford notes that they should use all that they can get their hands on. Haggard then has the player switch to their M203 and fire a 40mm grenade at the nearby house, showing off to the player the Frostbite Engine's Destruction. Redford tells the player to find a power tool to fix the nearby HMMWV so the squad can move to towards their objective, and the player can find the tool in the house they just blew a hole into. Once it is fixed, Miss July tells the squad to take an artillery battery just east of their position up the dirt road, the player's first objective. The player needs to only drive the jeep there.
Stop the Artillery Shelling[]
Along the way there in the jeep, Sweetwater questions Redford how they plan to assault the encampment. Haggard suggests they "just blow it to teeny, tiny pieces". Redford rebukes this, saying they should stay in cover the entire way. When the path is blocked by tank traps, the player should get out of the HMMWV and proceed on foot. Redford tells Sweetwater to keep quiet, and he and Haggard get into an argument about how Sweetwater hasn't said anything yet, to which Redford yells at both of them to shut up. The squad advances until they reach a small depression with two houses in the center and many explosive objects, guarded by a few Russian soldiers.
The soldiers are armed with a mix of S20K's and AEK971's and will start to attack, but the player can stay in the cover of the road along the stone wall and pop up to take them out. If the player is hit, they should only use the LIFE-2 if their health drops below 50 as it has a cooldown of about 10 seconds. Once these Russians are down, the squad advances through a small gorge behind a house. A group of four Russians try to stop the player, but they can easily be defeated by a 40mm grenade. Once the player reaches the first artillery gun, they should pick up an S20K in the area to take out the remaining soldiers at close range. The Russians will usually be armed with AEK's, and as such, are at a disadvantage in close combat when compared to the S20K. Once they are dead, the player will receive their next objective after regrouping with the squad
Protect the Convoy[]
Mike-One-Juliet comes on the radio to the radio and questions Redford if the enemy guns are usable. Redford says they are and asks if she wants one of them to use one against the Russians. She confirms this, saying that Juneau Convoy has run into some trouble at the bridge and needs covering fire. She also warns that in using the guns that friendlies are in the target area. Sweetwater and Redford look at Haggard, to which he says that if he mans the gun, they will yell at him if he hits any of their guys. He nominates Marlowe to use the gun and they both agree. Redford orders Marlowe to man the gun to take out the incoming Russian Vodniks attacking the convoy.
This section is relatively easy and gives the player a feel of what the artillery is like in Bad Company as it has been a staple of the series since Battlefield 1942. The Vodniks will always travel down the same road to the convoy, and operating the artillery is as simple as point-and-click on the satellite view-assisted targeting screen. The Vodniks will come in three waves: one two-car wave, and two four-car waves. The four-car waves should be taken out quickly, as they can cause heavy damage to the convoy if they reach it. Once they are all destroyed, Marlowe will exit the gun and Miss July will give the squad their next objective.
Objective Ram[]
Juneau convoy cannot cross the river at the bridge as it had been destroyed earlier when the squad was in the first convoy. Miss July tells the squad they need to secure a river crossing west of their position. Sweetwater then notes how he is tired of walking and that they should find a vehicle to reach the objective. Haggard comically suggests they should take a Truckasaurus Rex to which Sweetwater is dumbfounded by the thought. A HMMWV can be found off of a pathway leading towards the bridge, but as the player reaches it, a Vodnik will arrive. The player may choose to destroy it or just grab the jeep and drive off as it will not follow them. Along the dirt road, the squad sees a suspicious house billowing smoke along the way, to which Sweetwater and Haggard wish to check out. Redford is reluctant at first, but after being convinced by Sweetwater, sends Marlowe to check it out - Haggard feels this is unfair, however. Inside, there is a collectible XM8 at the "X" on the map. The player may switch back to their previous weapon, but they must at least get out and pick up the XM8 before proceeding in the HMMWV to the crossing. When the player returns to the vehicle, Haggard remarks how the weapon "looks slightly less crappy that the one [Marlowe] had before".
Upon approaching the river crossing, Sweetwater sees a Mi-24 Hind take off and hopes it did not see the squad. It flies away as they arrive. The player may shoot this Mi-24 with the XM312 mounted on the HMMWV if one wishes to do so, without having to worry about the helicopter retaliate back. The river crossing itself is defended with Russian soldiers armed with AEK's and S20K's. Upon reaching the gate, the Russians move an M939 to block the road from the squad passing right through. Once the main infantry at the crossing are killed off, more will come down the hill across the way. Redford tells the player to man an HMG, which can easily make short work of the soldiers. Soon after, a BMD-3 shows up as Miss July says that Juneau Convoy is approaching. The player should retreat once they see it, as it will be destroyed by an AH-64 Apache shortly. The player then only needs to regroup at the red smoke across the river and wait for their next objective. Redford updates Mike-One-Juliet that the crossing is taken, as Haggard waves to the approaching convoy. She tells them she has a new job for them and sends them to Objective Mustang, as Sweetwater tries to butt in, asking him to tell Miss July that Sweetwater says hi. Redford tells the squad that the objective is a farm that is possibly controlled by Russian Forces, and that they will head in to clear out any hostiles.
Objective Mustang[]
The farm lies to the northeast of the river crossing on the map, and the player can take a vehicle and follow the road to get there. On the map, a path is shown leading towards some unoccupied light vehicles and an "X". If the player chooses to take the path, they will find house with a Vodnik and M939 out front, with three Russian soldiers guarding the area. Once they are killed, the player will find a collectible 870MCS inside the house. Haggard will then tell Marlowe that the weapon reminds him of his first shotgun he received when he was just four years old saying he was the happiest kid in the neighborhood. He then also asks if Marlowe was wondering how they all ended up in "Bad Company". Sweetwater then proceeds to tell how Haggard ended up here "for blowing up the biggest ammo dump east of Paris". Sweetwater than says he himself ended up her "for accidentally upload[ing] a virus to the Army's secure network," and lets Redford explain why he is here personally. Redford says he requested a transfer to this unit out of a deal to cut his term of service short. Sweetwater says that the catch to that is that the company has the highest death rate out of any unit in the entire US Army, commenting how Redford is taking a huge chance in doing so. Redford adds that he only has three days left and plans to go fishing as soon as he is out.
The farm itself is blocked off from the main road access, meaning the player will have to leave their vehicle again. An another Mi-24 appears here, hovering above the ground in front of the barn. Once again, the player may shoot the helicopter if one wishes to do so without having to worry about any retaliation, but the player must shoot it from a distance, since approaching too close to the farm and it takes off from the area as Russian soldiers begin to attack the squad. Armed with their usual load-outs the soldiers also have a mounted KORD turret at the rear barn up on the second floor. Once the player takes out all of the enemies, the squad will regroup at the red smoke. Haggard says he hears a sound - to which Sweetwater takes it as another poke at his tendency to talk. Redford confirms hearing the noise, and says it sounds like it is coming from the barn's lower garage. The sound turns out to be a BMD-3 that was hiding, as it ambushes the squad. Redford tells the player to see if they can find something to destroy the tank, and there is an RPG7 in the front of the other barn that can do the job. Haggard will fire a shot every so often at the BMD with his AT4, but he usually misses. This pretty much leave the player to destroy it themselves. The vehicle will circle about the lower barn once and stay around the entrance to the upper barn's garage, shooting at the player. Two well-placed rockets, or one to the rear of the tank and a few 40mm grenades will destroy it. Haggard remarks the joy in blowing up the tank, recalling when he destroyed his first one.
As soon as it is destroyed, the squad will regroup at the red smoke again as Miss July sends an extraction chopper to pick them up with the call sign Super Six Five. Unfortunately, they witness it being destroyed just as it approaches the farm by a nearby anti-air battery which Mike-One-Juliet informs will be the squad's next objective, and that they will have to work a little more before they are extracted. Redford tells the squad to gear up and head towards the battery.
Objective Impala[]
The anti-air battery is located southeast of the farm on the map. The player can take a vehicle and follow the road out to the east of the farm to get there. As the squad heads there, Sweetwater contemplates what Miss July would like to do for a weekend getaway. Redford tells him they are fighting a war and don't get weekends off. Sweetwater then says that the war will end eventually, to which Haggard tells him to "wash [his] mouth out with soap", suggesting that Haggard enjoys fighting in the war. If the player heads behind the battery towards the destroyed bridge from earlier in the level, the L-shaped house with an "X" contains the collectible SCAR, which can be useful to take out enemies without them knowing the player's location as it has an attached silencer and 60 rounds to spray at close range.
Once the squad arrives at the site, Mike-One-Juliet asks if they has a visual of the area. Redford responds, saying that multiple supply trucks and support troops are in the area. Multiple Russian soldiers will attack the squad with AEK's and S20K's as usual, but also with shielded KORD turrets as well. Haggard instructs the player to look for one of the DTN-4 packs located around the battery which can be used to destroy the ZU-23-2's. Once the player picks up a pack Haggard tells Marlowe to be careful with it when planting, as it is quite powerful. However, if the player still has their RPG7, they can use that to destroy the anti-air guns instead, but they must at least pick up the C4. Once all three guns are destroyed, the squad will regroup and Juneau convoy will arrive again. Miss July informs Bravo-One that the trucks they spotted earlier are headed to a nearby farm that may be used as a supply dump. She orders them to move there and take it out. Redford tells the squad that they need to take this last farm before he can go on that fishing trip.
Objective Bronco[]
The paved road leads right towards the next farm; the player can grab a vehicle and head there. Haggard asks Marlowe if he has any money on him that he could borrow, to which Sweetwater advises Marlowe to not give Haggard any as he'll just keep it as he expects Marlowe to die. Haggard then shows his horrible arithmetic skills as he figures that if he makes 10 dollars off of 100 rookies, then he will have 10,000 dollars towards his retirement fund. Along the way to the farm, three patrols are moving about. They can be driven past as they will not be able to do much damage to the vehicle, or the player can stop and take them out. Once the squad arrives at the farm, multiple Russians defending the area attack them, including a shielded KORD on the second floor of the barn. The player must take them out and find a good place to watch the intersection near the bridge, as reinforcements will arrive soon in Vodniks and M939's. C4 can come in handy to lay traps for the vehicles as they approach. Sweetwater remarks how they seem to be doing this entire offensive alone as he also notes that the US Army used to be in the area. Redford assures him that they are on their way.
During the second wave of reinforcements, another BMD-3 shows up and sticks around the intersection. If the player does not have a rocket launcher, they can get one in the house across the street from the barn in the attic. They can try to blow up the tank with C4 as it will only take one block, but the launcher is safer to use and has more chance of success without the player dying.
Once the BMD is destroyed, the squad will regroup again as Juneau convoy arrives. Sweetwater comments how they took quite a while to show up. The squad is to then follow the convoy to its objective in a vehicle, as Haggard raises the question of whether the Truckasaurus Rex or a Russian tank would win in a fight describing both of their strengths, showing his love for demolition derbies.
Just after the bend in the road, the convoy is hit by another artillery strike, to which Haggard says it has the worst of luck. Many of the vehicles are destroyed instantly, while the remaining ones try to quickly retreat across the farm. The player is told to regroup off the side of the road just by the pond as the shells explode all around. Redford informs Miss July about the artillery, to which she says an air-strike has been called in to take care of it. However, radar jammers are at the location and they become the next objective before the artillery can be destroyed.
Objective Taurus[]
The player must proceed with their squad through the trenches up to the radar jammers, avoiding incoming shells and taking out Russian soldiers along the way. The soldiers are armed with their usual weapons, but the outer two watchtowers have mounted KORD's up top. Once they are eliminated and the player finds the jammers, they must destroy the trailers with the nearby C4 or their rocket launcher if they still have it. A single pack of C4 or rocket each will destroy the two jammers. As soon as that happens, they regroup and watch two F/A-18's drop some heavy ordinance on the valley behind the trailers containing the artillery battery that hit the convoy. Haggard remarks how he should have joined the Air Force as he is surprised at the explosion.
Mike-One-Juliet orders the squad to clear out any remaining hostiles in the area as the smoke from the destroyed artillery and bombs clouds the area in a dense fog. Both Haggard and Sweetwater have a feeling that the remaining soldiers are not Russians. The player can man the KORD turret overlooking the valley to kill the hostiles or move through the trenches and clear them out.
The soldiers in this area are in fact not Russian soldiers as Sweetwater and Haggard believed, but they are Legionnaire Mercenaries, armed with XM8 assault rifles. They are much more aggressive, more accurate, and better armored than the Russian soldiers the player has been fighting before. These soldiers will flank the player and close in on them, giving them barely enough time to heal or reload, making usage of cover key in this area. Fortunately, there is more than enough around. There are around eight or nine mercenaries in the trenches and one on a KORD in the destroyed barracks at the base.
Once every mercenary is dead and the player reaches the bombed-out barracks on the other side of the valley, Redford will inform Miss July that they cleared out the base. She makes sure everyone is still there, and Marlowe tells Redford he thinks they lost Sweetwater. Miss July asks for a repeat of that, to which Redford tells her to ignore it and calls out for Sweetwater. He responds, saying he's in the barracks and that they should see what he found. Haggard asks to make sure if Sweetwater is OK, saying how he doesn't want Sweetwater to be shipped home so Haggard is stuck with Marlowe. Sweetwater tells them to look at the body he found, that of a Legionnaire Mercenary. Haggard had thought they were a myth, but Sweetwater says the faction is real and is headed by a man, named only the Legionnaire, whose personal army is said to be the deadliest in the world. He also notes that their symbol, "acta, non verba", means "action, not words". Haggard feels he's seen that at the Taco Emporium and believes it to be Spanish. Redford then tells Sweetwater his motto should be "verba non acta", since he never shuts up, and tells them to move out. Sweetwater then informs them all that the Legionnaire always pays his soldiers in gold bars. This excites Haggard, as he rushes to the body and searches "for a pulse in [its] pockets". Haggard finds a gold bar on the mercenary and Sweetwater asks to see it. Haggard and Sweetwater argue over who should have it, forcing Redford to take it while Marlowe narrates that Redford said the gold belonged to the army as "agreed", seeing as they were still arguing, and moved out.
Transcript[]
See Welcome to Bad Company/Transcript.
Walkthrough[]
Related Achievements and Trophies[]
The following achievements/trophies can be completed on this mission.
| Image | Name | Criteria | Gamerscore | Trophy type |
|
Always get paid in gold bars | Complete Welcome to Bad Company on normal | 15 G | Bronze |
|
Action, not words! | Complete Welcome to Bad Company on hard | 25 G | Bronze |
|
Killer on the loose | Killed 25 enemies | 25 G | Silver |
|
Staying Alive | Complete one mission without dying (any difficulty) | 15 G | Bronze |
|
You found it you keep it | Found 5 unique collectables | 15 G | Bronze |
|
Manic lumberjack | Knocked down a small forest | 15 G | Bronze |
Trivia[]
- According to the description for the Battlefield: Bad Company Demo Trailer, the mission was originally supposed to be called "Green Acres".
- All the objectives are named after certain car types: Dodge Ram, Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Impala, Ford Bronco and Ford Taurus specifically.
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