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A-10 Warthog

2018-05-05T21:37:04Z

2607:FB90:99B0:1DB3:0:1F:4F1E:AB01: Content

[[File:A-10.jpg|300px|right|thumb|You are sooooooooo fucked]]
{{Topquote|You can shoot down every MiG the Soviets employ, but if you return to base and the lead Soviet tank commander is eating breakfast in your snack bar, Jack, you've lost the war|Anonymous A-10 Pilot, USAF}}

Officially called the A-10 Thunderbolt 2, the Warthog is a brutal ground attack aircraft used by the US military. The A-10 was designed with one purpose in mind, destroying anything and everything that could possibly stand between the US and total victory. [[Dakka|This thing was basically built around the GAU-8 30mm Avenger Gatling Cannon, which fires depleted uranium rounds at up to 4,200 RPM.]] The recoil from which is so powerful that it basically [[Awesome|halves the forward thrust of the two engines while firing.]] If the seven barrels of GAU-8 weren't enough for you, the A-10 also can mount a staggering amount of ordinance on its wing rails, ranging from the devastating Maverick missile, to CBU-52 cluster bombs, to AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles for dealing with Helicopters.

The A-10 is also extraordinarily tough. Almost every system has a back up, and the A-10 is quite capable of flight with only one engine and half its tail. The pilot is protected with a "Titanium Bathtub" that encompasses the cockpit and shields against all but the heaviest ground fire.

==In Team Yankee==
[[File:A-10 Stat Card.jpg|300px|left|thumb|The Stat Card]]
Whoo boy, this thing is epic. The A-10 is, hands down, the best ground attack aircraft in the game (ignoring the cost anyway).The GAU-8 Avenger alone is almost enough to warrant this status. With a Rate of fire of 4, you can BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR at exposed infantry and APCs like an airborne [[M163 VADS|VADs]]. With an AT value of 11, the Avenger Cannon is suitable for destroying cheap tanks like the T-55AM2 from the side; and is simply overkill for transports. Also, since the GAU-8 Avenger doesn't have the HEAT Special rule, BDD armor and Bazooka Skirts don't effect the armor value you are rolling against. Sadly, the mediocre 5+ FP also makes it a rather unreliable choice for killing, but a decent option to force bails. As an added bonus, its also anti-helicopter, so those Hinds the Soviets like to spam are suddenly looking a lot less secure.

For dealing with more robust things like Main battle tanks, the A-10 packs the Maverick missile. An AT 27(!) firepower 2+ tank buster, the Maverick is ridiculously good at tearing armored vehicles a new one. Its also got the special rule "Brutal"" which means successful saves (for unarmored vehicles) must be rerolled (sweet). The other two rules, "Guided" and "HEAT" are great as shooting at targets with the Maverick basically ignores the penalties for firing at long range, So you can snipe things from well outside AA range. However there are some downsides like the 8 inch dead zone, BDD armor effecting your rolls (wow, side armour 13 sure is tough!) and the fact that it cannot shoot infantry if they have not moved (but why would you use a maverick on infantry?).

Speaking of infantry you also get a one use Template in the form of the CBU-52 cluster bomb, though the range is even shorter than that of the Avenger. With a 6+ Firepower, this bomb will devastate infantry in the open but is next to worthless against entrenched infantry.

The A-10s legendary Durability is reflected in-game as its 3+ aircraft save is the strongest of any strike aircraft.

You can buy a Squadron of 2 A-10s for you American army for 10 points, and a squadron of 4 for 20.

==IRL==
[[File:A-10 irl.jpg|300px|right|thumb|BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT]]

The A-10 was first developed by the US Air Force as a response the US Army's development of the AH 56 Cheyenne. The Army had come to the conclusion that Nuclear Armed Tactical aircraft aren't all that helpful in a conventional war and had begun to come up with its ground support airframes. The Air Force took one look at the Army's plan and immediately had visions of the Army dominating the close air support niche (and subsequent control of the air support budget), and that would just not do, no sir. When the A-10 was rolled out, the general consensus from the Army was "This is just what we wanted! That wasn't so hard now was it?" the Air Force then grit its teeth and has since tried to get rid of the A-10 at every opportunity.

The Warthog has served in multiple conflicts, like the Gulf War, the Balkans Conflict, The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and most recently in the War on Terror. Originally, there was a plan to retire the A-10 by the year 2022 and replace it with the F-35. But the defense committee in Congress put the kibosh on the USAFs attempts to retire it. They concluded that while the F-35 is nice and all that and even though the GAU-8 is no longer the ultimate tank killer gun, some times all you need is a platform that can deliver a butt load of ordinance at once. So the A-10 is now slated to remain a part of the US Inventory "for the foreseeable future".

The A-10 is also the source of multiple [[memes]], whether it's the sound it makes (BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT) or the fact that "it's not a plane with a gun strapped to it, it's a gun with a plane strapped to it." Beyond the joke, the latter statement holds a lot of truth as the A-10 would simply tip over onto its tail if the GAU-8 was removed, and the gun is so powerful (it produces 5 tons of recoil where the engines produce 4 tons of thrust each) the forward landing gear had to be specially adapted and put on the side of the gun instead of the plane's centreline because there was less risk of that breaking in the case of a rough landing than the airplane damaging itself if the recoil wasn't perfectly in line with the engine thrust.

{{US Forces in Team Yankee}}

[[Category:Team Yankee]]

M1 Abrams

2018-05-05T21:18:23Z

2607:FB90:99B0:1DB3:0:1F:4F1E:AB01: Add content

[[File:M1 Abrams Picture.jpg|300px|right|thumb|70 Tons of Pure American FREEDOM!]]
[[File:IMP1 Abrams.png|300px|right|thumb|The IPM1 version; with Neon camo upgrades.]]
''"Its never very crowded at the front." ~ Gen. Creighton Abrams''

The M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank is the premier armored fighting vehicle in the United States Arsenal. The first totally new tank developed by the United States after the end of the Second World War, the Abrams is a force to be reckoned with by those who wish to tear down democracy and oppress those who are weaker than themselves. It is armed with a stabilized M68 105mm rifled cannon, a .50cal machinegun for the Commander, and a pair of .30cal machineguns, one for the loader and one mounted coaxially with the main gun. The M1 Abrams is protected by not so secret anymore Chobham Armour plating, said to be as difficult to penetrate as 2 meters of solid steel. It is constructed of high hardness ceramic and steel, with air gaps.

While the Abrams primary mission is to destroy enemy armor, the protection of the crew has not been neglected in the design. The ready-use ammunition is mounted in the rear of the turret in a specially designed compartment. If the ammunition is hit, purpose-built blowout panels direct the explosion up and away from the crew compartment, ensuring the survival of the crew even if the ammo begins to cook off.

If you don't have a raging freedom boner right now, something is seriously wrong.

==In Team Yankee==
[[File:Abrams Card with IMP1 Stats.png|300px|left|thumb|The Stat Card]]

While the overwhelming hype of the Abrams is a bit blown out of proportion, it is nonetheless a very solid tank in Team Yankee.

The Front Armor is tied with the Leopard 2 and the Chieftain Stillbrew with the second strongest in the game at 18, and the side armor is an impressive 8. In addition, with the Release of the ''Stripes'' Book, you may now upgrade any and all of the Abrams in a platoon the IPM1 Abrams (the IP standing for "Improved Performance") for a Point Each. The IPM1 boasts an extra point of armor all around, with ''the'' strongest frontal armor in the game at a value of 19 and a side armor of 10. The Chobham Armor package also bumps the side armor up to 16 against HEAT weapons, ie. most guided missiles.

The Abrams M68 105mm Gun is a pretty decent damage dealer, with a ROF of 2 both whiles halted and moving meaning that no matter what, you will always have 2 dice to roll. The M68 is improved by an Advanced Stabilizer, so you can hall ass both toward and away from the foe at full Tactical Speed and suffer no penalties. As well as the M68 the Abrams carries a trio of machine guns, two of which, the .50 and one of the.30s, are AA.

You can take the Abrams in Platoons of up to four Tanks, with a minimum of two tanks in a platoon. Each Abrams Costs 8 points.

===IPM1 VS. M1===
For those who are a little in the dark on the difference between an M1 and an IPM1 Abrams, the M1 Abrams is the first model of the Abrams to see service, while the IPM1 is a slightly uparmored version made to bridge the gap between the M1 and the M1A1 Abrams, having the armor of the latter but the Firepower of the Former. Does this mean that someday we will see a M1A1 in game with the armor of the IPM1 and the firepower of the Leopard 2? No one really knows even though the model package has all the parts for an M1A1! Hell by 1985 the US had deployed half of all M1A1s to Western Europe team.

Now, I bet that you are wondering why you would ever take a plain M1 now that the IPM1 is available (beside the fact that you bought them before ''Stripes'' came out and didn't know it was possible to have any other Abrams variant. <s>Screw you too Battlefront</s>). As a lot of things in wargaming, it all comes down to numbers. If you are running a force with a lot of Abrams the extra point is going to add up quickly. For an example, lets say you are running a maxed out Abrams Combat Team. Starting of you have 2 tanks in your command squad. Well an extra two points isn't to bad so lets add more. The requisite 2 Abrams platoons have 4 tanks each, so now were at an additional 10 points, and the final platoon tacks on an extra 4 points, for a grand total of 14 points.

For reference, that is two whole [[US Mech Platoon|Mechanized Platoons]] that you could have taken instead. Also, since the IPM1 does not have a increase in firepower over the M1 you haven't gotten any better at dealing with the enemy, just better at tanking (heh) their fire, which isn't even that great of an issue since the M1 is already pretty fantastic at taking fire with its Front armor of 18, and if you lose a tank you have 17 more to avenge its loss.

Instead, you should take the IMP1 in lists where you are limited to small numbers of tanks like the Mechanized Team. Since you have fewer tanks, it becomes imperative that you do everything in your power to keep them in the fight for as long as possible, and the cost increase of, at max, 4 is significantly more manageable.

TL;DR:

M1 ===> Good with lots of Tanks

IPM1 ===> Good with Few Tanks

==IRL==
[[File:M1A1 irl.jpg|300px|right|thumb|An M1A1 in Iraq]]

In the 1960s the US Army began to search for a replacement for the [[M60 Patton]]. In this effort, they joined forces with West Germany in development of the MBT-70, an innovative design which featured the entire crew situated in the Turret and sporting a 152mm Gun/missile launcher similar to that of the [[M551 Sheridan]]. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on who you ask) the MBT-70 Program was canceled before the vehicle was ready for production due to excessive costs. It was not a total failure, however, as the West Germans took the lessons learned from the project and created the [[Leopard 2]] and the Americans took their data and created the M1 Abrams.

The M1 Abrams and its subsequent variants have been in service with the US Military for close to 40 Years. First introduced in 1980, the Abrams has gone through several updates to keep pace with the requirements of the modern battlefield. The first major update was in 1985 the M1A1 which swapped out the 105mm gun for a 120mm Smoothbore (which by the way is included in the Abrams kit). The latest iteration is the M1A2, which has been upgraded with more advanced targeting equipment and improved defense systems from lessons learned fighting insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. The M1A2 SEPV4 is currently in development and slated to begin deployment in 2020, containing all the wonders of modern technology including but not limited to: Multi-purpose shells that can defeat the T-14 Armata, improved view sights that are in color, improved computer networks, data links, improved laser range finders, danger indicators, and improved meteorological sensors. A M1A3 variant is currently in development to design a lighter tank that may one day be air transportable.

The one noteworthy addition will be the long overdue Active Protection system (Trophy System). They bought Trophy system from Israel because <s>the [[Derp|American Military Industrial Complex actually sucks at making weapons and upgrades for them.]]</s> it's a more battle-tested system than the Quick Kill system (US development). The US's own Quick Kill system, similar to Trophy, accomplishes the same job. Plans to use both for the latest Abrams by 2020.

{{US Forces in Team Yankee}}