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!

The Quick And Simple Counter To NATO Uber Tanks That The Soviets Never Got!

A fellow Team Yankee comrade over at Reddit has a cool KA-50 model and wants to play in in TY. Although its a late development for a standard 1985 timeline, it would fit into an expanded timeline and be a hoot for friendly house games. 

The Kamov KA-50 was designed for the Soviet army, but did not enter service until 1995, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Based on what we now know of the helicopters development, it could have easily entered production years earlier if the need presented itself. 

Intended to fulfill the role of a pure attack helicopter without the Hinds limited transport capability, the KA-50 is often considered it vastly superior to the American Cobras and the Soviet equivalent to the Apache attack chopper. In its primary role as an anti-tank hunter killer, the KA-50 dramatically increases the capability of the Soviet (Russian) forces. The KA-50 is an excellent counter to M1, Chieftain and Leopard 2 MBTs. 

CAPABILITIES: The KA-50 is definitely a hunter killer and is known to be equipped with a full suite of enhanced thermal imaging. The chopper has armor almost equal to the MI-24, but has additional defensive systems that far exceed the Hind. It seemed reasonable to assign a save of 4+. 

WEAPONS: The are a multitude of possible weapons load-outs for the KA-50. The ATGM/rocket pod configuration is one of the most common. The Spiral-2 specifics are based on a review of published data and comparison to other in-game ATGMs. The Spiral-2 has a Thermobaric variant and a common load-out would have 2 of these resulting in Brutal special rule.

POINTS: The MI-24 has a point value of 2.5 points. After reviewing the capability of other choppers, I assigned the KA-50 a point value of 4 points. The main reason for the increase is the HUNTER KILLER ability. However, this ability is mitigated by the base hit number of 3+. Before using this unit in your game, discuss it with your opponent and get their agreement. Vary the points of this unit as you and your opponent see fit. If you cannot agree on a point value, don’t use this unit. 

This unit is intended for non-competitive house games and is home brewed by http://siberianreds.blogspot.com/ which makes no legal claims to Team Yankee and all that lawyer stuff. This is just for fun.  

      

When pigs fly: Team Yankee Alternate A-10 that plays and feels more like the real thing.

Full disclosure (for those that haven't figured it out): I play Soviets in Team Yankee. So somehow, I feel like I am helping the wrong team and ultimately cutting my own own throat, but so be it! When it comes to gaming, I am good at making bad decisions. 

Here we go.....The Team Yankee A-10 SUCKS!  

This is a plane built around a bad ass 7-barrel 30mm gun that shoots up to 4200 depleted uranium rounds per minute and sounds like gawd almighty breaking wind when it does, but in Team Yankee, it is pretty much just another 30mm gun. Yes, it has a little more ROF and penetration, but most players will decline gun-play and elect to use the far more effective (in game) Maverick. We need to up gun this pig!

The second issue of pain is the lack of armor on the TY A-10. It gets 1 (3+) better save than an SU-25. As an American taxpayer, I simply find this unacceptable! It needs some way to show its resistance to small arms yet still be vulnerable to large SAMs. 

The Third and final point of dissatisfaction is the number of A-10 on the battlefield. A flight of four A-10s on a TY sized battlefield is beyond the ridiculousness of 20 pounds of bovine feces in a 10 pound bag. Four gimped out A-10s won't unbalance the game, but a 100-150 point battlefield shouldn't be seeing 4 real A-10s. Flight size needs to be reduced and they need to operate solo or in pairs without running away.

Take a look at Siberian Reds' Alternate A-10 Warthog. 

Try it out for your friendly home games and let me know what needs tweaking. Leave your comments below.

Also, let me know what planes you would like to see in Team Yankee.