Season of the Soviets: Team Yankee Soviets Reviewed

Not too long ago we came to you with a lot of information about the book from Well, the Soviets are still in the spotlight but now we are looking at their WWIII forces for Team Yankee and this book is one I am very excited about. The Soviets get some great upgrades much as we have seen with the British and the USA and as a Soviet player, I now have some great lists to combat these upgraded NATO forces. What WWIII Soviets gives you is one single sourcebook for all of the Soviet forces in Team Yankee, which combines the inaugural book the follow-on book Red Thunder and other forces such as the T-62 list which came out as a PDF. In addition to this, you get some new forces such as the T-80 battalion, T-55 battalion, and the BMP-3 mounted rifle battalion. The T-80 is a welcome addition to the Soviet line up and I previously wrote about it and the BMP-3 in a previous when the starter kit came out.
Looking at the whole line up you will also see that now you can take a “black box” platoon from any formation which gives a new option when creating your force. While a player can still make up a list from books such as Red Thunder some of the new units are only available in the new book and some of them are too good to ignore so in many ways this book really puts Red Thunder out to pasture.

Tanks
The heart of the red horde are the tank formations. You will see little change from the older T-72, T64, and T-62 formations other than some of the support changes you can take.
Above is a picture of the T-64 unit from Red Thunder and below is the same formation from the new book.

The two new tank formations are opposites of one another. You have the very pricey but deadly T-80 unit which is one I am very excited for. You can shoot its AT 22 missile on the move which is a huge buff for any tank.

You also get a T-55 formation which was not in any of the previous books available for the Soviets This T-55 is an upgrade from the one that you found in the books that covered the other Warsaw Pact formations. The tank can now shoot the Stabber missile, which at an 21 AT rating gives the T-55 a chance to kill some big NATO armor.

With the new black box option, a T-80 player can take the cheaper T-55s to augment a small T-80 list.

More Hordes
For infantry support, you get infantry mounted in three different types of BMPs and the BTR-60s. The BMP-3 is a big upgrade for the rifles. It has better armor than the two previous models of the BMP in the game and the BMP-3 can shoot its AT21 missile on the move. The Afghansty is also in the new book and players who love the Hind can still flood the table with scores of the rotary-winged beasts.

In the past you had to pick to either move your BMPs or shoot its missile, well that is no longer a limitation. While you pay an additional two points for the BMP-3, you get much more capability in return.

Infantry also gets a bonus by taking the RPG-7VR, which has a better AT and takes advantage of the new Tandem Warhead special rule which negates the protection ERA provides for a tank.

Support
For artillery, you get some neat additional rocket units.
The Hurricane and the TOS-1 gives your unit some great support options. The Hurricane has better range and an AT4 template while the TOS-1 has shorter legs and no smoke bombardment, but it hits with the Brutal special rule and has an Auto firepower.

Players will have to decide which unit suits their style of play and what unit fits within their unit’s point structure.

The other new weapon is the Tunguska AAA vehicle which can shoot both its guns and SAMs at enemy aircraft. The gun is much better than the one on the Shilka due to its increased AT and ROF and the missile is much like the one on the Gecko albeit with a shorter range.

The Tunguska is not available on every list and is not a force support option, so units like the T-62 and T-55 will not have them available.

Shock Me

One thing Soviet players may like is the T-80 Shock Battalion. Unlike all other Soviet formations, this one is hit on a 4+ and has better ratings such as skill level.

However, this unit is not cheap, and the tank platoons max out at three vehicles each. The Shock Battalion does give the Soviet player the ability to see what NATO players have been going through in the past few years.

Others
Players also now can also get BRDMs in plastic kits that give them the ability to build all the different variants in one box.

You also get the usual narrative missions and the painting guides like all the other books in the past.

Overall

When I first started Team Yankee, I collected a West German and a Soviet army. Even as my collection grew, I found myself playing with my Soviets or Poles more than any of my other forces. It was partly because I liked their “horde” nature and the fact that they complimented my playing style.

With all of the new forces coming out I made the decision a few months ago to focus on one faction for the game and having seen the WWIII Soviet book while it was in production my choice was simple and I decided to stick with the Soviets and their Warsaw Pact allies.

Now the Soviets have a monster tank that can rival the new M1A1, Challenger, and the Leopard 2A5 on the table. The T-80 is a vast improvement over the other Soviet tanks with its armor, gun, and missile ability.

I never played with the T-64 very much which is the Soviet tank that is most comparable to the T-80 because I felt its cost was not worth the points, however, the T-80 is such a better vehicle and I am planning on playing with it to see how they do. I feel they will play much differently than the other Soviet tanks and due to their cost, you will not see them in “horde” mode.

The BMP-3 is also a big jump over its predecessors and brings some great capabilities to the table and much like the T-80, these too will also play differently.
Will we see a different style of play based on these two new weapons is something that remains to be seen, but I feel that die-hard Soviet players will have to adjust their tactics in order to be successful.

While support options (other than the Canadian ADATS) never factor into picking a faction, the new rocket units and the Tunguska are huge attractions for me. I think Soviet players will love this book and maybe NATO players will grow to hate it.

Stay tuned for more articles that will go in-depth with all of the lists and units in the new WWIII Soviet book.