KV-3

In Flames of War

Have you ever wanted to field the IS-2, but in Midwar?

No?

This paintjob is... questionable, to say the least

Well too bad, here you go!

The KV-3 is one of the new Soviet paper super heavies introduced with the Mid War Eastern Front compilation book. Essentially an IS-2 lite, it still maintains the armor and penetration, making it a force to be reckoned with in an era where AT 10 is considered pretty good. While it is a juggernaut, it is no Tiger, and one would be smart to remember that.

We'll start with the most impressive aspect: survivability. The KV-3 is armor 10/8/2, enough to make you invulnerable to pretty much every medium tank, AT gun, infantry weapon, and tank destroyer in Mid War(even on the sides much of the time). You even get a pretty solid save against German 88s (except, of course, the German dick compensators). There is a chink in your armor though: you are Reckless (2+ to hit). What this means for you, the Soviet field commander, is that like the other Soviet heavies you're invulnerable until you're suddenly very vulnerable. The moment that you get in a position where the enemy can penetrate you, you'll lose tanks fast. Fortunately, there isn't much that can penetrate you!

The second most impressive aspect of the KV-3 is its firepower. It packs 4 MG shots, but thats not what we care about! Its primary weapon is a 107mm ZiS-6 cannon with a 32" range (better than the IS-2!), penetration 14, and firepower 2+. In Midwar this hits like a freight train, easily pulverising enemy medium armor at any range and doing decent work against dug in gun teams. If you hit, it'll even handle Tigers and panthers with some level of consistency! The astute readers probably noticed the caveat though: if you hit. The cannon is RoF 1 and overworked, meaning that you're throwing down half the shots of the competition and really struggling to hit on the move. The consolation being that if you hit, you'll probably kill!

The cannon isn't the only bite this cat killer has, though. With a 3+ Counterattack, 4+ assault, side armor 8, and top armor 2, this is a somewhat potent assault tank, especially in an era before (most) rocket launchers. Don't hesitate to throw these things directly at the nearest platoon of infantry or AT Guns and laugh at their screams as you crush them under tread.

The last aspect is the least impressive: mobility. Not are you as tough and as hard hitting as a bunker, you're about as mobile too! The movement is 8"/10"/14"/14", no faster than the KV-1. This will leave you lagging behind the way faster medium and light tanks in your force and make it rather hard to outmaneuver your opponent. On top of that, you boast a pitiful 4+ cross, meaning woods and other difficult terrain are best avoided as well. You're not meant to move much with these things, so don't.

Overall, this thing plays exactly like one would expect a heavy tank to, and the weaknesses make it surprisingly cheap at 13 points per vehicle! On the offense, crawl up the board, slowly but inevitably, smashing everything in your way, then finally assault the enemy off the objective and win. Also, try and avoid or deal with any heavy AT your opponent may have with faster and more numerous tanks, infantry, or artillery. On the defense, 3 of these makes a near perfect reserve of 39 points. Use them to come in and save your infantry and AT guns or to counterattack and push your opponent back from a particularly vulnerable objective. In all cases, your opponent probably won't have more than 1 unit that can actually deal with these things, but you'll need to carefully watch where those weapons are and deploy your tanks accordingly.

IRL

If you think the KV-3 is just a KV-1 with more armor and a bigger gun, then you're exactly right. Soon after the KV went into production, the Soviets wanted to upgrade it to have more armor and better guns, which was a daunting task given how even the KV-1's already heavy armor was limiting its viability.

Work began in 1941 and multiple prototypes were made under different designations (T-150, T-220, etc.), and with different armaments. The Flames of War version of the KV-3 represents the culmination of those efforts, being essentially a KV-1 upgraded to be longer, harder, and armed with a heavy 107mm field-gun. It was just a prototype, however, with only a few of each type being built as proof-of-concepts (and some being sent to the front because they were there), and the entire project would be scrapped in favor of lighter, quicker, and more reliable designs.

Soviet Forces in Flames of War
Tanks:	T-70 - Valentine - M5/M3 Stuart - M3 Lee - T-34 - KV - Churchill - IS-2 - Captured Tank Platoon - T-28 - BT-7 - KV-2 - T-26
Transports:	M3 Scout Car - Universal Carrier - SdKfz 251
Infantry:	Rifles - Motor Rifles - Penal Company - Storm Group - SMG Company - Engineer Sapper Company
Artillery:	Katyusha - 152mm Artillery - 122mm Artillery - 76mm Artillery - 120mm Mortars - 82mm mortars
Tank Destroyers and Assault Guns:	45mm Anti Tank - 57mm Anti Tank - 76mm Anti Tank - 100mm Anti Tank - SU-76 - SU-85 - SU-100 - SU-122 - SU-152 - ISU-122/ISU-152
Recon:	Scout Platoon - BA-64 Platoon - Armored Reconnaissance Platoon - Reconnaissance Platoon
Aircraft:	Il-2 Sturmovik
Anti-Aircraft:	ZSU M17 - DShK AA MG Platoon
Midwar Monsters:	KV-3 - KV-5 - T-43