As promised, here is my Soviet Airforce for Team Yankee. At the moment they will provide a vital element of air support to my Soviet Tankovy Batallion, although they did not perform well in the first game... Later on, the helicopters will also serve as the main heavy hitters for my Afgantsy Air Assault Batallion, as well.
First up, a flight of 4 Suchoi SU-25 'Frogfoot' or 'Gratsch' (rook), as the Soviets called them:
These strike aircraft can hit the enemy pretty hard, being armed with a GSh-30-2 30mm Autocannon, four mighty Kh-23/AS-7 anti-tank missiles with an AT-value of 27 (!) and four small unguided rocket pods for one fatal salvo bombardment against infantry.
Sadly, they don't perform well against American Vulcan Anti-Air gatling guns, so eliminate the AA prior to their deployment! The three-tone camo scheme is rather nice and the light green markings make these models stand out on the battlefield.
Here are the feared, mighty Mil Mi-24 Hind gunships, four of them at the moment. Two more are under construction and they will be expanded to a total of 10-12 for the Afgantsy.
These models by Battlefront are beautiful and rather sturdy for a plastic helicopter. The flight stands fit in well and have good balance and the magnetized, removable rotors make transportation easier. The ochre/green camo scheme is very appealing to the eyes and fun to paint.
These bulky flying tanks are every NATO commander's nightmare! Rather cheap with 2,5 points per Hind, a flight of up to 6 can wreck havoc amongst western ground troops. Armed with the flexible 12,7 mm YAK gatling gun, four AT-6 Spiral/ 'Shturm' anti-tank missiles and rocket pods, they offer a solution to everything.
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| Close-up of a beautiful Hind Helicopter paint job |
And finally, the Red Air Force's secret weapon: the Kamov Ka-50 Hokum 'Black Shark'.
This one-seated hunter-killer attack helicopter, with contra-rotating co-axial rotors, had its first flight in 1982, but, due to the economic downfall of the late Soviet Union, serial production was postponed. Therefore, the Hokum only entered service in the Russian Army in 1997, but it COULD have been available in 1985 for Team Yankee!
These models are produced by the Revell company from Germany as the so-called 'EasyKit'. They do not need to be glued, just clicked together, and come pre-painted (!) with nice shark faces and Soviet 'Black Shark' markings.
I will play them as an experimental unit of two with these rules, kindly developed by Siberian Reds.
Last, but not least, I made an objective for my Soviets to fight over: a heavy URAL truck by Zvezda:
The aircraft look great! I like how you did the canopies glass on the SU-25.
ReplyDeleteThanks mate. It was actually quite simple. Just grey lines on black underground and a layer of gloss vanish afterwards. Looks even more real than on the photos.
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