For me, Invade and Annex was my first experience with Arma 3. Getting a loadout and heading in a cramped helicopter with friends. Hiding out, sniping, and coordinating CAS, good times. Invade and Annex has a deeply connected history with the Golden Legion. Quicksilver, a developer of Invade and Annex, was friends with the founders of Golden Legion. But what is Invade and Annex?
Invade and Annex is a cooperative capture the island game mode where enemies will spawn in a given area. This area is shown and marked clearly on the map. Different objectives are placed depending on the parameters.
Where to get it
While there are many versions of I&A out there, only two are good and up to date. The first is the main branch from Quicksilver. I could consider this the main branch, it has the most features for a PvE server.
Link: https://github.com/auQuiksilver/Apex-Framework
The other branch is the Evannex branch. This branch is the AI vs AI mode. For less populated servers or even single player, you will have helping squads and a way to get into the battlefield. You can download the Evannex version here:
Link: https://github.com/Bradenm1/Evannex
In both versions, there are premade forces for major versions. So you can run a modded version or a vanilla version.
In the Apex version, by Quicksilver, you start with all assets. As you lose assets, they respawn after a time. The Evannex version is different, there are assets to transport troops. But any vehicle you want needs to be spawned in. It has a menu to spawn anything you want in, but only one person at a time can spawn in something.
For that reason the Apex version is better for large group of players while the Evannex is better for a lower player count, testing and trying out all the equipment and vehicles.
Where Invade and Annex shines
Invade and Annex attempts to force cooperative play by restricting roles and forcing everyone into one area. So AT launchers can only be carried by AT soldiers, Medical equipment by medics, and sniper rifles are restricted to the sniper or marksmen class. This includes tank crews and CAS pilots.
The other upside is there’s something for everyone. There’s always some targets for CAS, marksmen have something to do and Medics should keep busy. With one operating area at a time it keeps everyone together and hopefully working together.
Downsides
The downsides of Invade and Annex is the repetition. Besides some side missions, each of the objectives will be the same, just in a slightly different area on the map. Once you complete each objective, a new area spawns in. Unless you have some good team dynamics, this quickly gets boring.
History
Over the years, there have been many versions of Invade and Annex. The primary branch was developed by Ahoy World & Quicksilver. He was pretty talented and could put in any feature requested. The last update looks to be last year.
When I say Golden Legion was connected with Invade and Annex, this was mostly the officers and Quicksilver working together. Over time, we moved onto other communities. We still have fond memories of I&A.