The Charge of the Super Heavy Brigade

By Paolo Paglianti

Since arrived, we’ve seen four new books coming in place of the “old” (still valid) ones. Every new book has some sort of new equipment (as the BMP3 for the Soviets or the Warrior for the British), maybe some new formations (like the Gebirgsjager Brigade for Germans). But the new leading stars are definitely the new super heavy tanks. Each of the four new books has a new super-tank we can field, with armor so strong they can face almost any unfriendly attention without worrying to be killed. Are they worth their price?

First of all, let’s see these new four tanks. Here is the Challenger ROMOR, the new Boss tank for the UK army. You can take these boys in Germany for a picnic anywhere in the Fulda Gap, and almost nobody will even try to disturb you. Even the strongest Russian gun, the 125mm aA46, can’t penetrate its armor. It’s AT 22 Vs Armor 21, so at long distance you can only scratch the ROMOR. At short, if you roll the unlucky “1”, the USSR Bear can only hope to bail you out, and with Remount 3+ should be that huge problem.

The ROMOR version comes with a cost: 13 points per vehicle, and you can take troops of 2 or 3 tanks. With the morale rule, forcing you to test each turn if your troop is only 1 tank in good shape, and with courage/morale 4+, you won’t take less than three. The flanks are fragile: armor 10, but with Chobham Armor  it becomes 16 vs HEAT weapons. Just remember you will stay still: the British gun are ROF 2 when stationary, but ROF 1 if they move. Find a gentle hill to go hull down, or a decent wood to hide into, and stay there shooting twice everything moves too close.

Also, keep in mind the Cross is 3+, so you will statistically leave one tank behind if you move into or out of difficult terrain. However, the Queen spent all money we needed for this tank: while most of the British Vehicles has only IR visors, the Challenger can enjoy the Thermal Imaging to fight effectively after dusk.

Having spoken of the Russian Bear, here comes the T-80 in the “Shock Battalion” version – it’s like a NATO tank, as it is hit on 4+. Comrades, this Russian boy is the Tsar of all Commie Tanks. It has a frontal armor of 20 (much better than the once-the-king T-64, with 17), and with a side armor of 10 (augmented by ERA armor to 16). Armor 20 is not the top of the class, and can be holed by the strongest missiles if you roll 1-3 on the dice, but it’s still damn good protection. T-80’s gun can shoot only ROF 1, so you can either stand back in cover or charge to assault, and it won’t change the volume of fire.

They cost (circa) 10 points per tank, so it’s the cheaper of the super-Tanks, and you can also upgrade them with the AT-11 sniper missile (same AT 22 of the main gun, but doesn’t suffer distance and has “Tandem Warhead”, so ignores ERA flank armors). It’s also a fast tank, with 35 cm of tactical movement. With Cross 2+, Morale, and Remounts of 3+, you can go anywhere with this beast, from the woods outside Frankfurt to the city debris in West Berlin, to squash any Capitalists resistance. It’s interesting to note you can also field the “normal crew” T-80 Company: the stats are downgraded – you can hit them on 3+, and have skill and assault at 5+ – but they cost circa 8 points. A real bargain!

Can the US be second in anything? The M1 Abrams, probably one of the best tanks in Team Yankee V1.0, with the new version of the US book has received a huge upgrade. You can choose two upgrades: to MA1A and further to M1A1 HC. These tanks have everything a commander could wish, full optional. The awesome frontal armor, with 21; very resistant flanks, with 11 + Chobham Armour.

Thermal Imaging, to hunt the enemy down even night time. And the most powerful gun, the improved M256 120mm gun, with AT23 and ROF 2 even in movement. The only thing missing is Brutal, something British and Russian have but Americans forgot at home. The M1A1 is pretty fast – 35 cm of Tactical speed – and Cross 2+. The crew is true elite in remounting (2+) – and this is important since most of the opponent weapons will be able only to bail you out and with extreme luck. However, they have all other stats to 4+, meaning you won’t recover the morale well. All this comes with a price: a single M1A1 HC Abrams costs 18 points, the same as 18 T-55 AM, the most pricey tank around.

Finally, the West Germans, with the new book. The Leopard 2 was a respectable and expensive tank, but now the German player can choose the new super-tank Leopard 2A5. It has a frontal armor of 22, and flanks of 13 + Chobam Armor, the bests one around and beating the US M1A1 HC. The gun is the 120mm L44, with AT22 with ROF 2 in movement. You’ll pay 17 points per Leopard 2A5, with platoons from 2 to 4. The crew is very motivated: Morale, Skill and Remount 3+, the other stats 4+. Like the Challenger, the Leo 2A5 is a tank you want to keep behind, standing still in cover and shooting around. It is still a fast heavy tank (35 cm of tactical speed, with cross 2+).

So, these are the heavy tanks we’ve met so far. They are titans on the battlefields, but will they worth their cost?

The first consideration is you won’t spend too many Dollars (or Euros, or Rubles) since you can’t field that many. We normally play 100 or 120 points, and full Leopard 2A5 Zug with four tanks will cost 68 points. The usually exaggerated US will cost 72 points per platoon of four M1A1 HC, while the more restrained British will ask for 39 points per 3 tank-platoon. The Russian T-80 “elite” 3-tanks will be 29 points, the most affordable. Good news for your wallet, as you can almost build a 100 point force with 3 or 4 tanks, but you need to carefully choose how to support it.

A four platoon M1A1 HC can shoot eight times per turn, and easily kill 4 tanks. However, it can’t survive against a swarm of low-tech tanks, like T-55s or massed Chieftain under the Iranian flag. Sooner or later, they will get on the flank, and their still solid gun will shatter the heavy tank’s fragile flank. And you also need to cover from the sky: every attack plane or helicopter will fire at your back or flank, and easily hole it like a gruviera cheese. I can think of these super-heavy tanks only in really friendly games, where the two opponents will agree to both use them at maybe 200 points, or in campaigns. For tournaments and competitive games, they are too much similar to the old quote about all eggs in the same, vulnerable basket.

The only super tanks I would field in a tournament could be the T-80 in the “normal” Battalion, where you can field three Companies (ie Western Platoons) of 3 tanks each at 22 per platoon. Since the Russian Battalion is full of options, if you get the three T-80 Companies (3 tanks each, 74 points with the HQ), an infantry Company on BTR60 (15 points for the biggest company), the ZSU23 (4 points for 4 tanks) and the SA-9 Gaskin (2 points for 4 tanks) to keep the sky clear, a BDRM recon Platoon to scout around and on flanks (2 points), and a 2S1 Carnation battery (3 tanks/5 points), you will have a really huge and solid Company to face any opponent, with the diamond spearhead of 10 tanks with 20 frontal armor at 102 points, with 18 more points for a Storm 2 platoon (4 points) and 4 Hinds AT-9 (12 points) and an observer. Paris is just in sight!