Upcoming Soviet Goodies

The new era of Team Yankee version 2 is upon us. The Americans and Brits have already got their new stuff and it looks great. Later this year, BF will be showing the Soviets some love with some awesome new vehicles.

  

The first new Soviet vehicle is the long awaited T-80. Like all Soviet MBTs, this is expected to have decent stats, but likely not worth the point value assigned by the counter-revolutionary Bourgeoisie at BF. I believe the model is supposed to be a T-80U. The expected armor is FA20, SA10, TA2 and reportedly the first TY unit with ERA. The AT-11 Sniper missile is expected as an upgrade option.

  

The long awaited BMP-3 with three weapons systems (100mm gun, AT-10 Stabber and 30mm autocannon) will likely expand Soviet MRD capabilities if it is reasonably priced as its predecessors. This should be a fun vehicle, but likely not a game changer.

  

The less well known, but absolutely awesome TOS-1 Buratino fills the previously unoccupied niche of short-ranged rocket artillery. An impressive ordinance load of thirty 220mm thermobaric rockets allows this vehicle to literally rain down Hell. Based on the T-72 hull, this is likely the most heavily armored artillery in the game and it will need this protection due to the short (3500m) range of the 220mm rockets. The TOS-1 should significantly outperform the US MLRS in all categories except range. The TOS-1 has the capability to launch 2.5 as many rockets as the MLRS and each TOS-1 rocket is estimated to have a warhead 3-4 times the size of MLRS. This would result in a TOS-1 salvo having 9 times the power of an MLRS (although at a significantly shorter range). The TOS-1 could easily have an anti-tank value of 5 and a firepower of 2+ or 3+. Expect these guys to be expensive (even with Soviet 5+ skill) and limited in numbers.       

Here is the TOS-1 in real life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q91yFP9E9Yg

The Tunguska 2K22 tracked anti-aircraft vehicle is a long time favorite and welcomed addition to TY. It is the Soviet equivalent of a Gepard and Roland on a single chassis. The 30mm guns provide more punch than the 23mm guns of the ZSU-23/4 and the missile system is somewhat comparable to the SA-13. These should be fun, but don't expect any drastic increase in capability by deploying these instead of the typical ZSU/SA-13 mix     

Here is a video that shows the Tunguska along with ZSU-23/4 and SA-13:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVPsBxkDLi0

Filling the role of an upgraded, heavier and modernized BM-21, BM-27 Uragan will likely be comparable to U.S. MLRS with inferior Soviet skill of 5+. As with BMP-3 and Tunguska, this is unlikely to be a game changer, but still fun to play. It will be interesting to see the actual model when released by BF. 

Mi-8 Hip enables Soviet players to play full scale VDV rather than the Afghansty (AKA VDV lite) units carried solely in Mi-24s. Hopefully, a gunship version is also available. This new chopper has the potential to really expand Red Army capabilities in TY. With a real life capacity of 24 troops (compared to the Hind's 8 troop capacity), the Mi-8 will hopefully have a 6 stand capacity thus allowing significant heliborne operations.     

Overall, these 6 new additions to the TY Soviet arsenal will be fun. If the point values are accurate, these vehicles should allow the Red Army some competitiveness in V2.  

Hopefully, other Pact nations will get some of these new vehicles...Lets see!