T55AM2
"When the T-34 first appeared, it was very intimidating, and then we realized the Soviets couldn't shoot or drive for shit."
- – Anonymous Wehrmacht soldier, Company of Heroes 2
The feared muscle behind the Warsaw Pact during the 50s and 60s, the T-55 is an aged tank in 1985. The T-55AM2 however, represents a comprehensive upgrade program to attempt to bring the chassis to the modern era or at least make the crew feel somewhat less like cannon fodder. The glacis plate was thickened, a distinctive "horseshoe" brow armour was added to the turret front, and a smoke launcher was added to increase survivability. A laser rangefinder, wind sensor and a ballistic computer were added to increase gun accuracy. Finally, new gunner optics were added to enable missiles to be fired from the D10T 100mm gun. The T-55AM2 upgrades were the first prong in East Germany's plan to modernize the Panzer of the Volksarmee (the second being further procurement of T-72M).
T-55AM
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union book introduces the T-55AM Battalion to Soviet forces. Whereas the AM2 is slow firing and has an AT of only 17, the AM has an AT of 18 and no slow firing. Even better, the AM can take Stabber missiles – meaning access to an AT of 21. This significantly increases their threat level, especially towards more modern NATO tanks – and for only 2pts across the entire platoon.
T-55AM2
East German
While the T-72M began phasing-in to replace the aging T-54/T-55 in the 1970s, the majority of East German tankers were still riding in these old things in 1985. Of those men, only the luckiest got the T-55AM2; it's estimated that out of over 2,000 T-54/T-55s in the 1980s East German arsenal, a mere 300 were upgraded to be T-55AM2's.
The T-55AM2 combines sturdy armour and a moderately powerful gun with bargain basement point cost. While NATO tanks and ATGMs can penetrate the T-55AM2, most other enemy assets on the battlefield cannot, this makes the T-55AM2 a priority target as they close the distance with the enemy, tying up enemy anti-tank assets that may otherwise be shooting at something else. The D10T 100mm can't frontally penetrate the NATO MBTs but can be dangerous if you can enter a melee where the gun can be brought to bear against side armour. The slow firing rule discourages firing on the move, once your T-55s have reached an advantageous position you'll want them to keep them stationary to fire. Dash mobility and Cross-Rating is sub par, however the poor cross can be mitigated using Movement Orders which synergizes with the NVA's superior skill rating over the Russians.
Two schools of thought have emerged when including T-55AM2s in a Volksarmee force. The more instinctive approach for horde force players is to take multiple large companies of tanks to push down the field in a wave of guns and steel in a display of might that would make the Astra Militarum proud. Simply providing more targets than the NATO opposition can hope to kill, until you can enter a messy melee fight or tie up objectives all game. But alternatively, due to a quirk in points costing, a minimum strength T-55AM2 Battalion of 10 tanks (1+3+3+3) can be taken for 7 points, making each tank cost less than a single point. While these small companies can be erased by NATO tanks in a single salvo, they can operate independently (rather than an unwieldy mess of a 10 tank parking lot) and, when taking multiple minimum strength T-55AM2 Battalions provide extra command tanks to issue more orders.
East German armies make take T-55AM2 Kompanies ranging in size from 3 tanks to 10 tanks, starting out at 2 points and topping out at 16. Basically every time you add a tank to the original 3, tack on an additional 2 points. And yes, this does mean that you can take 10 tanks where a US Player could only take 2 Abrams (and base Abrams at that).
With the new Warsaw Pact book coming out, DDR T55AM2s can be outfitted with AT-10 Stabber missiles now, putting them roughly on par with Soviet T55AMs.
Polish
Just like in East Germany, the T-54/55 was the workhorse of Polish tank forces well into the 1980s, and while the T-55AM2 is currently the only official variant featured on Europe's battlefields, the majority of Polish T-54/55s had not been upgraded to that version in 1985. The Polish People's Republic really liked these things, producing some 10,000 T-54/55 tanks between 1956 and 1979. They sold many of them to foreign customers, including (ironically) East Germany.
The Polish T-55AM 'Merida' is Poland's locally-upgraded T-55, the best obsolete tank the Polish People's Republic has to offer. Its crews are brave and well-trained, and they'll need both to overcome the far better tanks the capitalist dogs NATO forces to the West are using. Unlike the East German version, which is affordable enough to fill the role of a spam tank even in multiple small units, the Polish version is designed to make you take large tank units: unlike the East Germans, your smallest company size begins at 5.
As with any version of the T-55 used by any country, the 'Merida' is a cheap old tank that is really good at exploding. Unfortunately, the Polish profile favours units which can survive a beating: 3+ remount and rally help you get back in the fight after getting pinned or bailed, but the T-55 is guaranteed to explode when touched by most dedicated anti-tank weapons. Your Polish T-55 crews won't live that long once NATO gunners start going after them, so their skill and courage is almost irrelevant. ATGMs, tank cannons and even man-portable anti-tank weapons like the Carl Gustav and the RPG-7 will punch through your front 50% of the time, and a 105mm or 120mm shot from a NATO main battle tank will mean instant death. There is little reason to invest in the Polish T-55 unless you are a fluff player: the points you spend for stats which will never be used with the exception of mine-clearing could be better spent on additional weapon systems. The Polish T-55AM2 is nonetheless devilishly cheap for what it can do if given a chance, so if you're a Pact player, it might be worth trying out sometime.
The Poles may take 5 tanks for 6 points, up to 10 tanks for 17 points.
Czech
The T-55AM2 'Dyna' is the Czech version of the modernized T-55 platform and is arguably the best T-55AM2 variant of the PACT countries for a competitive player.
Where the Polish profile excels on the defensive, the Czechs are unmatched on the offensive where firepower decides the success or failure of your attack. For a significant discount, you can bring about 30% more units to the field. The reason that the Czechs are suited for this role is the simple fact that T-55s will never survive any fire whatsoever. Aside from autocannons, the majority of anti-armour weapons will go through your front without any issue whatsoever and you have just enough armour there to attract their attention. The Czech 5+ remount becomes irrelevant in this case, as anything which hits you is probably going to result in a kill and not a bail.
The Czech point costs make T-55 hordes more appealing than the other lists since your discount in comparison to the East Germans and Poles only grows the more tanks you take. Taking entire ten tank companies makes it more difficult for your opponent to claim a kill point or to force your unit to run away, but once any terrain becomes involved you may find your unwieldy ten tank parking lots blocking their own movement and shots more often than not.
Do note that with units larger than five tanks your sixth, seventh, and tenth tank cost two points instead of a single point. So assuming you aren't playing at some ridiculous point level and have run out of slots you will find that taking as many small units of T-55s as you can will maximize the number of tanks you can bring. Unfortunately you are only saving a single point per unit compared to East German and Polish lists also bringing five tank units. East Germans can actually bring more thanks than you if they take them as three tank units and don't run out of slots. You will be giving up kill points more easily this way, but your alpha strike will be stronger and you will likely have an easier time spreading your tanks out and keeping them out of each other's way.
When building a Czech T-55 spam list. your 4+ skill is far less terrifying than the sheer numbers you can bring to the field.
Keep in mind when building your list that you are still spamming T-55s: these are not units which can take objectives unsupported. 5+ courage means that minefields will stop your companies dead in their tracks Your cowardly czechs can run gleefully through mines now, and you do not have Brutal to shred through entrenched infantry. If you are lucky or play well, you might kill a couple of Leopards or Abrams', but will need to rely on your infantry to close in for the objective.
The Czechs may take 5 points for 5 tanks to 13 points for 10 tanks. Interestingly, tank battalions may also bring one company of the other version (T-72M or T-55AM2) in your third company slot.
T-55
Featuring none of the weapons or armor upgrades of the T-55AM2, the standard T-55 is the weapon of choice for real gamers. It loses 1 frontal armour, 1 anti-tank (in for the Iraqi/Iranian variants), and the laser rangefinder on the main gun, and bazooka skirts. While it may start struggling to reliably punch through the front of the MBTs of yesteryear, a 100mm tank cannon will still turn an Abrams inside out if hit from the sides. The plastic T55AM2 kit comes with the parts to build them as strait t55s so don't fret where you can get your hands on some.
More vulnerable to light anti-armor without bazooka skirts, RPG-18s and LAWs have a somewhat higher chance to bail aT-55 in close range, given the numbers infantry fight in.
Now available in Czech, DDR, and Pollak versions.
East German
13 points for 10
Polish
Czechoslovakian
11 points for 10
Iraqi
Given the Soviet Union's none-too-friendly attitude toward Israel and Jews in general, the USSR was plenty willing to sell T-55 tanks to Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Not only did the Hussein regime hate Israel with a burning passion, they hated the United States about as much. The Soviets only got so generous with Iraq, however; the modernized T-55AM2 never made it to the Middle East and Saddam Hussein's men had to make do with the original "vanilla" T-55. It served with the Iraqi Army (not the Republican Guard; they got the good stuff), providing commanders with a fire support unit that might not penetrate anything tougher than a Frenchman on treads, but remains a deadly foe against enemy armour and infantry without heavier anti-tank weapons.
Compared to the T-62, the T-55 is identical except for the cannon. Its main gun has an AT16 FP2+ round with slow firing and lacks brutal. The armour might be paper thin against even the weakest of ATGMs, but it gives you enough protection from HEAT shells and autocannons to engage and destroy enemy IFVs without taking too many losses.
While you probably won't be taking a T-55 battalion, a single company for your infantry can serve as a VERY cheap source of fire support, and a wall of armour headed for your opponent's rear-line may distract them from your heavier weapons.
The Iraqi T-55 battalion is incredibly cheap, making it a very viable choice for spam lists. Starting at 5 points for 5 tanks, a company tops out at 10 tanks for 11 points. Additionally, you may purchase bazooka skirts for an ENTIRE company for only one point.
Iranian
The Iranians use T-55s captured from those cowardly Iraqis, as well as Chinese rip-offs. The biggest weakness of the T-55 in Iranian lists is how hard it is to take any meaningful amount. They can only be taken as a single group of 3 per formation for 3 points, attached only to the T-62 Company, Mech Company and Basij Battalion. 3 Tanks per group with front armour 13 will melt and only one group per formation, they are hard to spam: which is their only strength being cheap. Its worth spending another point to upgrade the group to T-62s, gaining brutal and AT 19 (up from 16). Not an inherently bad unit, just a bit pointless.
IRL
If the original T-54/55 is the AK-47 of tanks, the T-55AM2 is an AKM with some nice accessories. The T-55, like all Soviet tanks, is never going to look good if you judge it by Western standards. The T-55, like the AK-47, was designed as a cheap, extremely tough workhorse for an army largely composed of short-term conscripts with little to no education to speak of. It needed to be easily comprehensible to guys who had quite possibly never seen so much as a tractor before being voluntold for service to Mother Russia. The idea was that if you used enough of these at once, the superior quality of the enemy's tanks would be drowned out by the thunder of a million cheap tanks being driven by angry peasants heroic Soviet soldiers. And if you think that sounds ridiculous, it sure worked for the Soviets on the Eastern Front.
That said, the T-54/55 was not a bad tank at its debut. In fact, it was a rather nasty shock to NATO when it showed up, and they were quite grateful when Hungarian rebels drove one into the British embassy in their country during the 1950s revolt. Presented with a powerful 100mm main cannon, good armor, and solid maneuverability in a tank that the USSR could easily produce in mass numbers, the British concluded that their then-standard 20-pounder gun was incapable of defeating it, while the Americans decided the M48 Patton was not enough either and began development of the M60. It has not aged well as a main-line tank after the better part of 100 years, but in its prime, the T-54/55 gave NATO lots to be afraid of.
The T-54/55 series is also the most widely-produced tank of all time, with numerous copies being circulated around the world and total production estimates ranging from 86,000 to 100,000 units. The People's Republic of China started their line of tanks with a copy of the T-54, the Type 59, and still maintains a massive arsenal of them today. This might be a cramped, noisy, inefficient piece of junk, but it works, and it's so cheap even the most pitifully broke nations on Earth can get one easily.
All this may still leave you wondering why the T-55 was still hanging around in the 1980s, long after newer, better models like the T-72 had been tested and put into production. See, the thing about the Soviet Union is that when you're large enough to reach from one hemisphere to another, equipping all those soldiers can be a pain in the ass. As such, the Soviet Union tried to keep its old equipment in service for as long as humanly possible and just passed them down to less important units as the newer, better stuff arrived to replace the old gear. Russia proper got the good shit, second-line units older equipment, Warsaw Pact nations got stuff a generation behind, and so on. This is why the East Germans, Polish, and Czechoslovakians in Team Yankee use the obsolete T55AM2 while the Soviets proper don't. The USSR also took a long time to retire equipment that still worked. This is why when you look up Soviet equipment you sometimes find lists of at least five different types of machine all doing the same thing.
The T55AM2 was an attempt to get more life out of the aging T-55, to give it at least some chance against the then-modern NATO tanks like the M1 Abrams and Chieftain MBT, which by that point it was something like two tank generations behind. It was a valiant effort to do the impossible- to give a very old tank a chance on the modern battlefield- but it wasn't enough. Any army fielding these against NATO in Team Tankee will likely take heavy casualties, especially against NATO heavy armor. Against light and medium armor and infantry, it will do better, but losses will still be significant simply because the T-54/55 is no longer able to stand up against the firepower of NATO anti-tank weapons the way it could have in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Slow Firing rule on this tank is because of its small size. This is NOT a big tank by any standards, and the domed turret restricts movement significantly for the three crewmen inside. The loadout of 70-pound shells is in all manner of places, meaning no ability to perform the same motions and gain the benefit of muscle memory as the loader. Additionally, ventilation is bad, the fume extractor (which the T-54 doesn't have, only the T-55 comes and goes depending on who is building the tank and who they are building it for, the actual difference between the two is the presence of the NBC system) does not work well, and the loader must shove the base of each shell into the breech with his left hand due to the positioning of the gun. Loading this thing's gun is difficult at best and a nightmare at worst, such as under sustained firing as noxious fumes fill the inside of the tank.
If you want fun facts about the T-55, there are at least two. First, since it was one of the first vehicles with multifuel engine, no one really knew how far it could be pushed. With WW3 involving a nuclear apocalypse being a real possibility, it was kinda important to know. So someone in the high command asked: "Can we use crude oil directly from a Comecon Pipeline?", and instead of calling him a madman everyone just went along with it. The test itself was one of the most metal things on this Earth: the oil didn't burn completely in the cylinders once the engine was started, so the still-burning mix created a thick cloud of grey smoke which quickly turned black when flames half a meter long started coming from the exhaust pipes. During acceleration, those flames extended up to one and half meters, visually giving the T-55 wings of fire, (Something similar happens if you thrash a diesel engine, particularly on the large unit's used on trains if you want a visual for how that might look). Of course, both speed and acceleration suffered quite a bit, but not as much as expected: average speed was still 36 km/h (that's roughly 22 miles per football field for barbarians denying metric system) with crude oil vs 41 km/h (25,5) on diesel. What's even more curious, the test was conducted for 20 hours straight and after that, despite the fuel filter requiring cleaning every 2 hours, it was concluded that: yes, the T-55 can use crude oil as a fuel, and no, the engine wasn't fucked up beyond repair by the experience and could be cleaned by the crew and continue working on diesel even if performance suffered.
Second, when Soviet engineers were tasked with designing Lunokhod_1, the first drafts were made with T-55's chassis as a base. Unfortunately, it was abandoned the moment specifications became clear due to being outlandishly big and heavy. However, it hooked Korolev with the right people to do the job. But there is a parallel universe where Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were greeted by a sight of T-55 tread marks after leaving the Lunar Module.
If you play 40k and think this thing looks a bit familiar, you're not entirely wrong. The bubble top turret from the T-55 and T-62 tanks was likely an influence on the forge world "Deimos pattern Predator" tanks. It's also the tank James Bond drives in GoldenEye, albeit dolled up to look a bit like a T-80 and equipped with rubber tracks so it could be filmed in the city.
Lastly: these things are showing up in Ukraine. Yes seriously: a 70 year old tank is being deployed into a modern war and no this is not a case of M-55S or T-55AGM where it's based on a T-55 but is still a modern tank with a modern gun and modern systems: but no it's just straight t55's with no ERA or anything on them being rolled out. What's make this really stupid, is that modern MBTs and IFV can fire while on the move with laser guided munitions. While the T55 can't, it is also too slow to run away and lacks the technology. So after killing the Russian front lines, Ukrainian armor can drive into their optimal firing range, circle around and fire with little retaliation after spotting T55s with drones. The Bradley's 25mm ammo also cuts through their armor like a hot knife through butter and that's if not their destroyed by advanced ATMs or Land Mines first. For these reasons the best guess anyone has as to what kind of crack somebody slipped into the Russians Vodka is that the T-55's are suppose to be used as Artillery since Russia might be straining the barrel life of some of their guns. It is a technique and method the Russians and other tankers train for so it's not totally irrational but it is still a very dire sign of the state the Russian Army is in.
| Soviet Forces in Team Yankee | |
|---|---|
| Tanks: | T55AM2 - T-62M - T-64 - T-72 - T-80 - T-72B - T-64BV |
| Transports: | BTR-60 - BMP-1 - BMP-2 - BMP-3 -BMD-1 - BMD-2 - BTR-D |
| Troops: | Motor Rifle Company - Hind Assault Landing Company - Afghansty Air Assault Company - BMP Shock Motor Rifle Company - BMD Air Assault Company - Afghansty BMD Air Assault Platoon |
| Artillery: | 2S1 Carnation - 2S3 Acacia - BM-21 Hail - TOS-1 Buratino - BM-27 Uragan - 2S9 Nona - BM-37 82mm mortar platoon |
| Anti-Aircraft: | ZSU 23-4 Shilka - SA-13 Gopher - SA-9 Gaskin - SA-8 Gecko - 2S6 Tunguska - BTR-ZD |
| Tank Hunters: | Spandrel - Storm - BTR-RD - ASU-85 |
| Recon: | BMP-1 OP - BRDM-2 |
| Aircraft: | SU-22 Fitter - SU-25 Frogfoot - MI-24 Hind |
| East German Forces in Team Yankee | |
|---|---|
| Tanks: | T-55 - T55AM2 - T-72M - T-72B |
| Transports: | BTR-60 - BMP-1 - BMP-2 |
| Troops: | Mot-Schützen Kompanie - Hind Assault Landing Company |
| Artillery: | 2S1 Carnation - BM-21 Hail - RM-70 - 2S3 Acacia |
| Anti-Aircraft: | ZSU 23-4 Shilka - SA-13 Gopher - SA9 Gaskin - SA-8 Gecko |
| Tank Hunters: | Spandrel |
| Recon: | BMP-1 OP - BRDM-2 |
| Aircraft: | MI-24 Hind - SU-22 Fitter |
| Soviet Support: | SU-25 Frogfoot |
| Polish Forces in Team Yankee | |
|---|---|
| Tanks: | T-55 - T55AM2 - T-72M - T-72B |
| Transports: | SKOT-2A - BMP-1 - BMP-2 |
| Troops: | Zmotory Kompania - Hind Assault Landing Company |
| Artillery: | Dana SpGH - BM-21 Hail |
| Anti-Aircraft: | ZSU 23-4 Shilka - SA-13 Gopher -SA-8 Gecko |
| Tank Hunters: | Spandrel |
| Recon: | BMP-1 OP - BRDM-2 |
| Aircraft: | MI-24 Hind - SU-22 Fitter |
| Soviet Support: | SU-25 Frogfoot |
| Czech Forces in Team Yankee | |
|---|---|
| Tanks: | T-55 - T55AM2 - T-72M - T-72B |
| Transports: | OT-64 - BMP-1 - BMP-2 |
| Troops: | Motostrelci |
| Artillery: | 2S1 Carnation - Dana SpGH - RM-70 |
| Anti-Aircraft: | ZSU 23-4 Shilka - SA-8 Gecko - SA9 Gaskin - SA-13 Gopher - M53/59 Praga |
| Tank Hunters: | Spandrel |
| Recon: | BMP-1 OP - BRDM-2 |
| Aircraft: | MI-24 Hind - SU-25 Frogfoot - SU-22 Fitter |
| Iraqi Forces in Team Yankee | |
|---|---|
| Tanks: | T-55 - T-62 - T-72M |
| Transports: | BTR-60 - OT-64 - AMX-10P - BMP-1 |
| Troops: | Motor Rifle Company |
| Artillery: | 2S1 Carnation - 2S3 Acacia - AMX Auf1 - BM-21 Hail |
| Anti-Aircraft: | ZSU 23-4 Shilka - SA-13 Gopher - SA9 Gaskin - SA-8 Gecko - Roland AA |
| Tank Hunters: | Spandrel - VCR/TH |
| Recon: | BRDM-2 - BTR-60 OP |
| Aircraft: | MI-24 Hind - Gazelle HOT |
| US Support: | A-10 Warthog - AV-8 Harrier |
| Iranian Forces in Team Yankee | |
|---|---|
| Tanks: | T-55 - T-62 - M60 Patton - Chieftain |
| Transports: | M113 Armored Personnel Carrier - BTR-60 - BMP-1 |
| Troops: | Iranian Mechanized Platoon - Basij Infantry Company |
| Artillery: | M109 Howitzer - BM-21 Hail - M125 81mm |
| Anti-Aircraft: | ZSU 23-4 Shilka - ZSU-57-2 - SA-8 Gecko |
| Tank Hunters: | Jeep TOW - Jeep 106mm Recoilless - M113 106mm Recoilless |
| Recon: | Scorpion |
| Aircraft: | AH-1 Cobra Attack Helicopter |
| Soviet Support: | SU-25 Frogfoot |