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T-34

2022-03-12T07:50:08Z

2607:FB90:387B:306:584C:940A:20E2:696C: /* In Real Life */

{{topquote|Quantity has a quality of its own.|Joseph Stalin}}
A legendary tank, and one of the most iconic of the Second World War. The T-34 is the posterchild of the Soviet Union, the glorious tank of the proletariat, and the most versatile platform available to you as a Red Army commander. Cheap, simple, but capable, the T-34 became the most produced tank of the war at 80,000 units and was one of the only tanks to serve all the way through the war from the start of Operation Barbarossa in 1941 to the Victory parade in 1945. In 1943 after the Battle of Kursk the T-34 was up gunned with an 85mm cannon to help it deal with heavier German armor and in this guise it pushed all the way from Leningrad to Berlin.

Produced in enormous numbers and destroyed in equally-vast numbers, the T-34 is the second-most widely-produced tank of all time (second only to its successor, the T-54/T-55), and the most destroyed tank of all time, with over 40,000 T-34's lost on the Eastern Front in World War II. Though completely outclassed by modern armor, the T-34 remains as tough as ever and soldiers stubbornly on into the 21st century with a handful still in active service, and at least one has been seen in action in Yemen.

==Flames of War==
In game, the T-34 is a solid medium tank with a few interesting features that make it difficult to play in most situations but also help drive the price down. It is exceptionally mobile with a 2+ cross check and a 12" tactical move, but have a -1 to hit on the move. They have good armor for a medium tank, but are aggressive at best. They only have penetration 9 on the main gun, meaning they struggle against even German medium armor in late war. Fortunately, Late War players have access to the T-34/85, which pretty much resolves all these issues while keeping the strengths of the previous model. When used right, you can drown your opponents in a tide of glorious stalinium. When used clumsily, however, you'll simply waste lives and bring shame to your country.

===Mid War===
====T-34/76====
The Mid-War T-34/76 is the best tank anywhere on the Eastern Front, and arguably the best tank anywhere in the world at that time. It comes in two variants, Regular and Hero, affecting crew skill and morale. Axis players will surely enjoy seeing their PaK-36 guns get crushed under its treads after their shells bounce off, and their Panzer II's would be better off starting the game already discarded to save time. The Panzer III is able to do better, but it still fought at a disadvantage. The Soviet Union may have been losing the war by a wide margin in 1941-1942, but the Mid War T-34/76 has no equal.

===Late War===
====T-34/76====
The T-34/76 is an interesting beast in Late War. Just like in Midwar, it comes in 2 flavors: Regular and Hero. Here the T-34 has a lot more predators, with a plethora of AT11+ guns making short work of your front armor of 6 and FA6+ tanks giving your AT9 cannon pause. This makes your tanks exceptionally cheap though at around 3 points per tank. Just make sure to bring something a little heavier to help take care of the heavier enemy tanks.

The Regular T-34s are crewed by illiterate conscripts with a 5+ skill but a last stand of 3+, but they at least have a 3+ to hit, representing lessons learned by the Red Army in the furnaces of Kursk and Stalingrad. These tanks can be taken in companies of 5 to 10; massive Napoleonic blocks of Soviet engineering that are durable for the sheer number of hulls they bring. Roll your tanks up to the enemy, park, and start blasting. Your overworked trait makes it hard to be super lethal on the move, and your low skill makes it hard to use movement orders to overcome this or protect your tanks, but your mobility helps you get into position quickly. Interestingly enough, T-34/85s can be sprinkled in among your regular T-34/76s to help mitigate this, though you'll get a bit better value out of a full T-34/85 company.

The Hero T-34s represent your hardened veterans of some of the most brutal fighting of the war. They lose the 3+ last stand, but have 4+ skill and a 3+ tactics. This, combined with the T-34s 2+ cross and mobility, means that they can better use terrain to help protect their their low numbers. They only come in units of 3 or 4, with the option to switch out up to half their tanks for T-34/85s. These formations are a lot easier to maneuver and use, being a lot more similar to traditional units in other armies.

====OT-34====
A specialized variant of the T-34/76 and T-34/85, the OT-34 takes its name from ''Ognemet'', the Russian word for "Flamethrower." A cheerful wartime gift from the USSR to the Nazi invaders, the OT-34 has had its hull-mounted machine gun replaced with an ATO-41 (or later on, ATO-42) flamethrower to allow it to burn Nazis to death as well as shoot them, blow them up, and run them over. While the flamethrower's range is considerably shorter than that of any machine gun (100m or so), it is far more terrifying and extremely lethal.

OT-34 tanks were rare (a grand total of less than 1500 were made between the 76 and 85 variants), intended for specialist roles when tough opposition in hardened structures or well-defended buildings needed the cleansing power of working-class flame. Because one of its machine guns has been swapped out and not its main cannon, the OT-34's range is less than a larger, heavier flamethrower could offer, but the OT-34 is also able to fight overall just the same as any other T-34 tank. It just has the bonus ability of getting good and close to help the Fascists out with their struggle against the Russian cold.

Because only the hull-mounted machine gun is replaced, most any 15mm-scale T-34 could be designated as an OT-34 for gameplay purposes, but for complete accuracy, a different model is required, distinguished by the wider barrel of its flamethrower.

====T-34/85====
The T-34/85 is the final evolution of the T-34 tank. It mounts a powerful AT12 fp 3+ cannon in a 3 man turret that gives it the ability to deal with enemy medium tanks far more reliably as well as shoot more accurately on the move. This really unlocks the T-34s full potential as a fast, brutal knife fighting tank that excels at exploiting breakthroughs and flanking enemy positions.

The Regular T-34/85 tank company suffers from the same poor skill and survivability as its weaker T-34/76 equivalent, but maintains the same mobility and improves greatly on the firepower. The 3 man turret and improved firepower combined with that mobility give you great alpha strike potential. Help mitigate your casualties by blocking enemy line of sight with terrain, then pushing up and hitting with everything you have.

The Hero T-34/85 tank company benefits from the same exceptional tactics and improved skill as their T-34/76 cousins. Use the skill to help increase your alpha strike ability and use your smaller companies to take advantage of cover and concealment. Maneuver is key here, you need to mass your tanks against the enemy and deal as much damage as possible up front that your enemy won't have a good chance to recover his footing. This will protect your relatively small numbers of tanks from enemy fire and help your tanks hit well above their weight.

== Bolt Action ==
The T-34 appears in its 76 and 85 variants in Bolt Action, the main difference with Flames of War being that armor and infantry forces are both fielded much more at the platoon level, versus the often company-scale forces players send in with Flames of War.

==In Real Life==
The T-34 was one of the most advanced tanks in the world when it first hit the battlefield. Incorporating lessons learned from the tank battles at Lake Khasan and Khalkhin Gol, the T-34 had better armour, mobility, and firepower than many of its contemporaries, and was an ''extremely'' rude surprise for the Germans who first encountered it in Operation Barbarossa, banking on their master race technological superiority against the Russians and finding that their ''only'' real advantage against the T-34 was that poorly trained and inexperienced Russian crews of conscripts often didn't know how to take full advantage of the T-34's strengths.

Not to say the T-34 was perfect, though. Initial batches and variants were plagued with many issues, like poor mechanical reliability to bad steel quality, and a two man turret, meaning the commander had to also load the gun while also leading, but as the war progressed, many of these issues were ''ironed'' out. By 1943, with the introduction of heavy German Tiger and Panther tanks (the latter being made in direct response to the T-34) resulted in the outdating of the base T-34. Interestingly, Soviet mechanized infantry were oftentimes just dudes with guns that sat on the top of T-34s, which while efficient, was also an understandably costly method of troop deployment compared to trucks or Half-tracks.

After sobering up from designing the KV-2, they up gunned the T-34s with a new turret and 85mm gun, dubbed the T-34-85. This variant was capable of penetrating the Tiger and Panther tanks at reasonable distances, and the addition of a third crewmember in the turret finally allowed the commander to do his job efficiently. While still not a one on one match to the newer German designs, the T-34-85 was far more cost effective, with production figures of 1200 tanks per month, compared to the total production of 6557 Panthers, and so Soviet tanks would routinely enjoy numerical superiority in battle.

After the war, T-34s were sold or given to many friendly powers around the world, from China and North Korea in the Korean War, to the MPLA during the Angolan Civil War. Virtually every Warsaw Pact member used the T-34 at first, including Poland and East Germany. Most were refurbished with new engines, tracks, and additional equipment, and some militaries like North Korea and Vietnam still have them in service.

{{Soviet Forces in Flames of War}}

T-70

2022-03-12T07:39:10Z

2607:FB90:387B:306:584C:940A:20E2:696C:

The T-70 is probably the cutest tank available to the Soviets in WW2, mounting a 45mm cannon and 45mm of armor on a chassis that didn't even quite reach 10 tons. It effectively was the Soviet version of the Tetrarch or Stuart. Designed as a scout tank to keep up with the newer [[T-34]] and infantry tank for supporting troops that smaller factories could produce, the T-70 was powered by twin truck engines and given a 2 man crew to limit its size and weight, with production starting in 1942 and ending in 1943, but with a respectable 8226 produced, owing to its simple design. In most wargames, it appears as a cheap light tank, mostly used to support infantry.

==Flames of War==
In game, it's exceptionally cheap and relatively impotent, but it can still prove to be a useful addition in ways other than raw damage potential.

===Mid War===

===Late War===
The T-70 in late war is a frankly pitiful beast, with its 45mm gun being almost completely impotent, its armor being mostly irrelevant, and it's mobility being rather poor. The 45mm gun is touting AT7 in an era where armor 6 is considered relatively weak, made even worse by the fact that it is RoF 1/1 and ''overworked.'' The mobility isn't terrible, but the 4+ cross means woods present almost as much of a threat to you as German AT guns. Armor 4 will take hits from autocannons and lighter AT guns, but even German long 50mms will go through it relatively consistently.

So what is the point of this tank? You probably guessed it: trolling! This thing costs but a mere ''one point per tank'' in late war. On top of that, it's still a tank with an MG and armor! While this thing is next to completely impotent by itself, it is next to completely expendable, giving you next to limitless options with it. You can take a company or 2 on the attack to block ambushing units. Try putting them next to your infantry to give them unpinnable MGs to repel enemy infantry assaults. Escort your tanks and use the 45mm gun to get rid of enemy light vehicles so the big tanks can do their job. Use their dead bodies as cover for more important units. Hunt enemy medium tanks, killing one is absolutely hilarious and will probably give you your points back instantaneously.

This is a tank that goes almost completely unnoticed much of the time, but can still find its place as a low investment unit for freeing up your larger tanks for heavier work. Use it well and you can be a thorn in your opponents side. Used poorly, you really don't lose that much!

==In Real Life==
In 1942, most of the Red Army's light tanks were obsolete, too slow to keep up with the T-34, and too poorly armed to deal with newer German designs. The T-70 was devised to replace the obsolete T-60 scout tank and the advanced but complicated T-50 infantry tank. Unfortunately, this design too suffered issues, its one man turret meant that platoon commanders found coordinating tanks difficult, and its combat effectiveness was questionable even at the best of times, but, its greatest achievement was ambushing and knocking out 2 German Panther tanks, a feat that earned its commander the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The T-70 was later modified into the SU-76 SPG, armed with a larger 76.2mm divisional gun, which was more versatile and far better at the infantry support role. A final attempt in 1943 to improve it with a 2 man turret was made, designated the T-80 (no, not that one), but by then, Lend-lease tank deliveries were more than able to fulfil the scout roles, and all production was stopped. For these reasons, the T-70 was left largely forgotten.

{{Soviet Forces in Flames of War}}

25-Pounder Field Troop

2022-03-12T07:21:25Z

2607:FB90:387B:306:584C:940A:20E2:696C: Created page with "The 25 pounder field troop is a unit available in Flames of War. It is armed with the British QF-25 pounder Howitzer, the most common Howitzer in the Commonwealth arsenal. ==..."

The 25 pounder field troop is a unit available in Flames of War. It is armed with the British QF-25 pounder Howitzer, the most common Howitzer in the Commonwealth arsenal.

==IRL==
The 25-pounder Howitzer started out as a new design post WWI for a new Howitzer. While the design had been finished, it was slow to be introduced due to a lack of funding, because peace and shit. It could fling 8.76 cm (~3+ in shells) well over 2 miles. Unique compared to most Howitzers, it had a plate strapped to the bottom of it that the wheels could be rolled onto to allow a smooth flat surface for quick rotation of the gun.

After Hitler started <s>the Great Crusade</s> World War II: electric boogaloo, the QF was organized into Field Artillery batteries of approximately 24 guns, with each gun commanded by a Sergeant and operated by 5 junior soldiers. The British were extremely well trained in their use, and by 1944-1945 the Germans fully believed that the Bings had developed an automatic version of the weapon.

The Aussies developed a lighter version of the weapon that could be transported by air, as well as having the advantage of being light enough to be dragged by a Jeep or manhandled up difficult terrain, all traits that made it invaluable in the jungle heavy mountains of Burma.

There were also experiments in mounting the weapon in a turret atop a Valentine Chassis they called the Bishop. It has all the problems of the KV-2 with none of the benefits and was quickly abandoned for the Priest.

The Weapon served as far as 1980 in training units, and even today the Pakistanis are still making ammo for the damn things, mostly because Russia doesn't like them as much as they like India.

{{Template:British Forces in Flames of War}}