Hind Assault Landing Company
In Team Yankee[edit]
Soviet riflemen are armed with an impressive array of weaponry including the classic AK-74 assault rifle, disposable RPG-18 anti-tank rockets, and the renowned RPG-7 anti-tank rocket launcher. Small squads of troops can ride into battle in the Mi-24D Hind helicopter, giving Soviet commanders great flexibility.
The Assault Landing Company is identical to their BTR and BMP mounted cousins. Lacking the heavy weapons of true VDV troops, the company are deployed purely with small arms and rockets. With their massive cost-inefficiency at 1 point for a squad (A base of riflemen and an RPG team) compared to BTR-mounted infantry, they should be used as a mobile reserve with your Hinds to create new fronts against your foe to justify their investment. While they lack any 'special' weapons, 6- 12 bases of infantry still pose a significant threat, magnified if they manage to dig-in or get the first shot in.
A passable choice, if your opponent gives you two turns to unload the Gopnik hordes. Otherwise, NO.
Warsaw Pact variants[edit]
While it suffers from the same historical inaccuracy, these companies are a little more respectable in the PACT nations with their 4+ skill. The only way that the Afghansty veterans are any better, is their RPG-18s and 4s for Assault. You may not be transporting them using your hinds, but they are a cheap way to bring small groups of infantry that you can use on the defensive.
In Real Life[edit]
Apparently (based on stats and provided pictures), the Landing Company is meant to represent a company of Soviet Army infantry being airlifted. By SOVIET AIR FORCE HINDS. While helicopter regiments were attached to Divisions as needed especially for Guards Divisions or Shock Armies, Hinds have typically been organized under the Soviet Air Force or the Airborne Troops, a component of the Air Force like the US Marines to the Navy. Soviet frontline infantry were trained to comparatively poor standards to the west but the same cannot be said for specialist infantry like the Airborne, Naval Infantry and unsurprisingly, Spetsnaz. With their tactics discouraging independent action, bravery and obedience were far more important than rubbish like tactics and initiative.
Trained to a significantly higher standard, the VDV was expected to serve as the first combat troops to enter Europe via air assault or parachuting, depending on the regiment. As described in the book, they would hold out until relieved by the Red Army. Unlike the shock armies who could afford to throw companies of men against the defenders, the VDV would have to rely on the man next to them which encouraged tactics far more similar to NATO than PACT doctrine.
Similarly, the Polish and Czechs were famous for the superior training of their airborne forces: the bulk of the conscript force would be send into the motor-rifle divisions as undertrained cannon fodder, but the Czech Vysadkari and Poland’s Air Assault Division were typically composed of regulars and the best of the conscripts who (usually) volunteered for service in the airborne.
The East Germans did not maintain an extensive airborne force, focusing on conventional armoured warfare instead. They did maintain a battalion, later expanded to a regiment, of airborne/air assault troops in Luftsturmregiment 40 (40th Air Assault Regiment) but functioned as a special forces type unit rather than frontline troops jumping from planes. Similar to East Germany, the Czechs and Poles operated their own volunteer-only airborne units as the army's spearhead. What their Hind landing company represents is anyone’s guess: line infantry trained for operations in mechanized vehicles are NOT qualified for heliborne operations, and special forces are rarely rubbish enough to be totally indistinguishable from regular infantry.
Battlefront, PLEASE fix. As of Red Dawn - Still useless.
| 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 |