2 March 2021

WW3: Team Yankee - Faction Focus: Soviet - Part 1: Formations

Hi all it's Neil here back after a bit of break for more WW3: Team Yankee with a look at the new Soviet book.  This post will be part 1 where I will take a look at the formations and their main combat units, while in part 2 I will look at the support units such as AA, artillery and aircraft.  I'm still a fairly new player so I wouldn't be looking at competitiveness for tournament play rather my impressions of the book and units as a newer player.  I hope this might be useful for those who are also new-ish to the game and maybe a nice read if you're a veteran to see a new players point of view.  If you are a new player I have looked at the rules in general over here.  In this post I will look at the formations and their core units while Part 2 will be to look at the supporting units such as artillery, AA vehicles, recon and aircraft.

This is my first look at a Warsaw Pact book, and it comes with 9 different Formations you can use for form your force from.  The formations are called Battalions rather than the Companies in the NATO books I've read so far, which are made up of Companies for the units which are much larger than the NATO units.  There is one exception to this in the Soviet book which is a Company and I'll look at later in the post.  The Soviet companies can be split into two board camps of 6 Tank Formations and 3 Infantry Formations.  For the "soft stats" the Soviets generally have a Courage of 4+ and Skill of 5+ which may look to be lower than the general NATO but they do get a 3+ to the Morale and Remount sub part of Courage meaning they will often stick around and get going again easier than their NATO counterparts while finding it harder to pull off most of the Orders.  The Soviets are also hit on a 3+ rather than a 4+ like most of their NATO opponents.

Looking at the Tank formations, they can be divided into two broad camps kind of defined in the book, the Front Line Tanks and the Second Line Tanks.  All of these share the same basic set up with the compulsory parts being a single HQ tank and 2 units of the tank then you can add another tank unit, a mechanized infantry unit, a recon unit, a 2S1 Carnation SP Howitzer artillery unit, a gun based AA unit and a missile based AA unit.  The Second Line Tanks are the T-55AM and the T-62M, which are not bad tanks but wouldn't be standing up to the likes of a Leopard 2 or Chieftain tank in a fair fight let alone the latest M1A1 Abrams or Challenger so in the background these are deployed away from the main front often or as the following wave for the main attack.  The main weakness of these two tanks are not really in firepower but in armour which is vulnerable to the older NATO tanks and most of their infantry carried anti-tank missiles.  This is made up for by being reletively cheap for tanks so you will be able to deploy them in numbers to help absorb the losses inflicted.

The T-55AM is the oldest of the Soviet tank designs with a 100 mm gun which has an anti-tank rating of 18 which is enough to overpower the armour of IFVs or the likes of Leopard 1s or AMX-30s with their lighter armour and is protected by armour of 14/9/2 on the Front/Rear/Top so can take autocannon fire but are vulnerable to heavier firepower.  The T-55AM can be equipped with the AT-10 Stabber missile to improve its firepower which has anti-tank of 21 to threaten heavier vehicles.  The units of these tanks are minimum of 5 upto a max of 10 tanks, and are very cheap so allowing for good numbers.  The formation's infantry can be mounted in the older BMP-1 IFVs or in the BTR-60 APCs so they bring less firepower of their own but add to the formation's ability to take and hold objectives.  The recon units can be mounted in BRDM-2s, BMP-1s or BMP-2s which can spearhead to help push your tanks up early for reasonable low points.  The AA choices available are one unit of Shilka vehicles, which are armed with rapid firing AA guns that can shread infantry as easily as aircraft, along with the choice of either SA-9 Gaskin or SA-14 Gopher SAM units both armed with AA missiles.  This integrated AA assets means that it could be possible to field a fearsome array of units able to take down NATO helicopters and strike aircraft.

The T-62M is basically the T-55AM with a bigger gun giving them anti-tank 21 as standard, with the same option for the missile to give it the same firepower at a longer range.  The T-62M are reasonably more expensive than the T-55AM because of their extra basic firepower.  For the T-62M units they start at 3 tanks with 10 tanks being the maximum for a single unit.  The formation has the same options as the T-55AM formation though the infantry may ride in BMP-2s as well as the BTR-60s and BMP-1s.

The Front Line Tanks, the T-72, T-64 and T-80, are the best the Soviet arsenal and are good rivals to the latest NATO tanks.  The formations for these tanks have the same compulsory and optional choice general options as the Second Line Tank formations though they get access to the newest vehicles for the supporting choices to match these newest tanks.  These Front Line Tanks come in units of 3 to 10 allowing for their use in smaller games as well as enough in large games to have enough numbers to push on objectives.

The T-72 is the weakest of the Front Line Tanks, its has an anti-tank 22 gun which is a threat to all but the best armoured NATO tanks still but has the lowest armour with 16/8/2 so is vulnerable to return fire from the current NATO generation of tanks.  They have no access to a missile for their gun unlike all other soviet tanks and are not cheap in points like the Second Lines tanks but aren't exactly too expensive as to severely limit numbers on the table.  The T-72 formation can mount its infantry in the latest BMP-3 IFV and can have its recon mounted in these BMP-3s as well, along with all the same options as for the T-55AM and T-62M.  The formation also gets access to a second options for gun AA vehicle which is an alternative option to the Shilka.  This is the Tunguska which mounts both a pair of 30 mm AA guns capable of taking out aircraft, infantry and even light vehicles with anti-tank 10 alongside AA missiles allowing for engaging aircraft in both player's turns if wanted to.  The are twice as expensive as the Shilkas for this increase in firepower though.

The T-64 is a slight improvement over the T-72 which gains an extra point of front armour as well as access to an anti-tank 21 missile allowing for engagement at long range with the same effectiveness as the main gun.  The T-64 does pay a few more points but its priced enough to still take a good number onto the table.

The T-80 is the newest tank in the Soviet battleline and a real contender against the latest NATO tanks, with an anti-tank 22 gun and optional missile with the same backed up by armour 20/10/2 that can take all but the deadliest incoming fire with little worry.  It also has ERA to improve that side armour to 16 against HEAT weapons making it very durable.  It is a very expensive tank with a full unit leaving very little space in a standard 100 point game for anything else, so you're going to only take a smaller number of these tanks but they're going to prove hard to deal with for the enemy.

Both the T-64 and T-80 formations are the same as the T-72 with the same options for all the supporting units.  These formations are nearly fully contained armies each bringing armour, infantry, recon, artillery and AA to be able to conduct full combined arms operations without any other units, the only thing missing from the formation would be air power but it has everything else.  To me there are two kind of stand out options for formations, the first being the T-64 as it balances individual power with the ability to take a reasonable number of the tanks and the best options for the supporting units in the formation too.  The second is the T-62M as it's main gun is a decent threat plus it has the numbers to flank less numerous foe and get at their softer side armour.  If you've been counting you'll have noticed that I've missed one tank formation out from this so far, this is because it's a bit different to the rest of the Soviet formations so I'll take a look at it at the end.

For the infantry formations they can be split into two sets, the first is mechanized and the second is air assault.  The mechanized formations are the BMP Motor Rifle Battalion and the BTR-60 Motor Rifle Battalion.  These two mechanized formations are similar to the tank formations I've talked about just before in that they have the same layout of units in the formation.  These mechanized formations have a compulsory HQ of 1 infantry stand and 1 transport plus 2 compulsory infantry units mounted in transports then the optional choices are another mounted infantry unit, a tank unit, a recon unit, a gun AA unit, a missile AA unit, a Spandrel Anti-Tank Platoon and a 2S1 Carnation SP Howitzer Battery.  This gives the formations good options to deal with a lot of situations within the formation itself like the soviet tank formations.

The first mechanized formation is the BMP Motor Rifle Battalion which has its infantry units mounted in the BMP-1, BMP-2 and BMP-3 IFVs.  The infantry units that form the core of the formation start at 7 infantry stands with 4 of the BMP transports all the way upto 23 stands with 14 BMPs at the largest.  The major difference between the options for these infantry units are the transports themselves.  The BMP-1 is the cheapest with armour 2/2/1 and an anti-tank 12 gun with a missile with anti-tank 19 as well so they're able to deal with lighter vehicles and are proof against small arms.  The BMP-2 is an upgrade to the BMP-2 which swaps its weapons for an anti-tank 10 autocannon with anti-helicopter and a better missile with anti-tank 21.  The last option is the BMP-3 which gets improved armour of 5/3/1 to give more protection against autocannons than the BMP-1 & -2s.  Its weapons change again, getting an anti-tank 5 gun with brutal so excellent for dealing with unarmoured targets such as infantry, in addition to the missile and autocannon of the BMP-2.  The costs of these options do increase so that the BMP-3 option is about 50% more expensive than the BMP-1 but you do get superior firepower and armour.  The choice of which BMP is best comes down to plan, if you're wanting to swarm the enemy then the BMP-1 is the one for you, the BMP-3 gives better anti-infantry guns for dealing with NATO infantry while the BMP-2 sits in the middle giving more options for dealing damage than the BMP-1 but in more numbers than the BMP-3.

The optional units for the BMP formation are a good mix of both cheaper options and the newest and more expensive kit.  For the tank unit you can take T-62Ms, T-72s, T-64s and T-80s to boost your anti-armour punch to support the infantry.  To help push your infantry up the board you can take a single recon unit which can be mounted in BRDM-2s, BMP-1s, BMP-2s or BMP-3s which bring varying degrees of firepower and suvivability to the table, if you want a cheap option just to get the spearhead bonus then the BRDMs are a good idea while the BMPs can be a fighting unit of their own.  For anti aircraft they can add one unit of either Shilkas or Tunguskas plus either a unit of Gaskins or Gophers like the Front Line Tank formations giving a good AA cover for your infantry.  The artillery is the same 2S1 Carnations as for the tank formations, which I'll look at in the next post about support units.

The other mechanized infantry formation is the BTR-60 Motor Rifle Battalion which is nearly identical to the BMP formation but you lose the option for the BMP-3 Recon and the Tunguska AA while being able to take a T-55AM unit as the optional tank unit.  This is a cheaper option for bringing infantry to the table though you do lose out on the guns of the BMPs which are all much better than the BTR-60s which is just armed with machine guns and only has armour 1/0/0 so much more vulnerable even to the enemies machine guns.  This formation is more fragile and has less firepower than the BMP but if you're going to rely more on the infantry then you can get a decent amount more using this formation.

The last infantry formation is the Air Assault Battalion, which is a bit leaner on possible units with only two options alongside the infantry stand HQ.  These are the Air Assault Company which are the infantry units with about the same make up as those in the mechanized but lacking the transports.  You must take 2 of these unit with options for a third.  These infantry get better than average for Soviet soft stats with improved Courage of 3+ and improved Skill of 4+ so you can use more of the orders and rely on them better.  The other option is why this is an air assault battalion, MI-21 Hind Assault Helicopter Companies, which consist of 2 or 4 Mi-24 Hind helicopters.  These helicopters are able to carry a couple of infantry stands each and are armed with rocket launchers able to launch salvos for hitting infantry and unarmoured vehicles, a gatling gun for shooting down enemy helicopters and destroying light vehicles with its anti-tank 5 and either a AT-6 Spiral or AT-9 Spiral-2 missile which can threaten any tanks with anti-tank 23 and 24 respectively.  These units give a big mobile punch to the formation to take the fight to the enemy.  The formation must have two of these units and can take a third. The Air Assault Battalion is a way to bring a lot of helicopters in your soviet force which are a strong answer to the newest generation of NATO tanks being able to easily circumvent their tough front armour and get to the weaker side armour to crack them open.

The last formation to talk about is different to the others which have all been Battalions made up of Companies as the units whereas this one is a Company made up of Platoon as is the case for the NATO armies.  This formation is the T-80 Shock Tank Company which combines the best of the soviet gear with soft stats that look like NATO numbers so they can more reliability do the Tactics with Skill of 3+ being standard for the Shock units.  The formation has a single T-80 as its HQ unit then the compulsory units are 2 T-80 Shock Tank Platoons.  These tank platoons are made up of 2 to 3 T-80s which do cost more than the T-80s in the Tank Battalion discussed earlier because of their better soft stats.  For the optional units you get another T-80 Shock Tank Platoon, a BMP Shock Motor Rifle Company, a BMP-3 Shock Recon Platoon, a gun AA unit, a missile AA unit and a unit of 2S1 Carnation artillery.  Only the choices with "Shock" in the name benefit from the improved soft stats while the others are the standard units with the normal Soviet soft stats.  The BMP Shock Motor Rifle Company is a smaller infantry unit with between 7 and 14 infantry stands which can be transported either in BMP-3s or BMP-2s, giving a decent size unit that is more capable than their regular counterparts.  The Recon Platoon is either 2 or 3 BMP-3s able to get your T-80s closer to your objectives and then give a bit of fire support.  For its AA units, the formation get one of a unit of Shilkas or Tunguskas again as well as one of either Gaskin or Gopher similar to many other formations.

This formation looks like to me the easiest way to get into the Soviets as it requires less commitment model wise and brings a lot of tough equipment to allow you to be aggressive like any good Soviet commander should be.  All of these formations look as if they want to played aggressively getting in the face of your enemy and flanking anything you can't take from the front.  Each formation can bring a good suite of units to help it with staying power on the table and to help deal with threats from aircraft and pin enemy infantry to be ready to be assaulted by your tanks and infantry.

This has been a look through the various formations available to the Soviets in their new book for any interested player either to field them or for those players looking to see what they might face from Soviet players.  Coming soon will be part 2 of this look at the Soviet book where I will look at the supporting units such as AA vehicles, artillery, recon units and aircraft that can support your core combat units  I hope that this has been interesting even if its been quite a long read.  See you again soon for more Team Yankee posts!  If you're interested in seeing WIP pictures of any models I'm currently painting you can check out my Instagram.

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