Armor and Penetration in Broken Arrow: KE vs HE explained

Directional armor

Every armored unit in Broken Arrow has four armor facings — front, side, rear and top — and each is rated separately. Front armor is the thickest; rear and top are the weakest. This is why flanking and top-attack weapons are so dangerous.

Position matters: a tank that is strong head-on can be destroyed quickly from the side or rear. Keep your frontal arc toward the threat and use terrain to protect flanks.

KE vs HE

Armor and penetration are both split into two channels. KE (kinetic) is the sabot-style, velocity-based damage from tank guns and autocannons. HE (explosive) is chemical-energy damage from ATGMs, HEAT and artillery.

A unit can be tough against one channel and soft against the other. Reactive armor packages often help most against HE, while sheer plate thickness resists KE. Read both values before you commit to an engagement.

Not the Wargame model

If you come from Wargame or WARNO, forget soft / hard / air attack. Broken Arrow does not use that system. Penetration is Kinetic or Explosive, and it is compared against the matching directional armor value at the point of impact.

Practical tips

Angle your hull to add effective thickness. Lead with the unit whose frontal armor best resists the enemy's primary damage type. Save ATGM and top-attack assets for flanks and heavy frontal armor where kinetic rounds struggle.

Use our unit database to check the exact front/side/rear KE and HE values before building your deck.