Hello!

In case you missed the big news: we have revealed the spiritual successor to the Wargame series today! Get ready to deploy into our next-gen World War III battle simulator, WARNO! You don’t have to wait long. This coming January 20th when we will launch into Steam Early Access!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1611600/WARNO/

WARNO results from months and years of hard work from our talented (but small) team at Eugen Systems. Our new real-time strategy and simulation game will focus on an escalating conflict between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces in Western Europe in 1989.

In case you missed it, be sure to check out WARNO’s reveal trailer.



We took most of the exciting, fun gameplay of Wargame and added all the best elements of our Steel Division series to the mix. And voila, WARNO was born. What does this mean? For instance, in WARNO you’ll be able to play our Army General campaigns depicting a devastating World War III in West Germany, gain access to the new division-based battlegroup building system, and get to play with Rules of Engagement and Smart Orders - and much much more.

Most of the information you can read on the WARNO’s Steam store page, but we wanted to highlight that the full version of WARNO will contain over 600 units, six different nations, four massive turn-based Army General campaigns, scripted Operations, a host of quality-of-life updates and enhancements, etc.



The Early Access launch of WARNO is scheduled for the 20th of January. You will be able to play with the arsenals of two nations (U.S. and Soviet Union) on Skirmish maps either solo or online (up to 10v10 matches). This is just the start. After the Early Access release, our aim is to update WARNO continuously. So expect frequent updates, content drops, new nations, units, Army General campaigns, scenarios!

We hope you will join us on our new journey. Be sure to wishlist WARNO (if you haven’t done so) as you get ready for action on the 20th of January! If you want to keep up to date, don’t forget to check out our dedicated Discord server or WARNO’s own Steam forums.

Before we sign off: from the whole team at Eugen Systems, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year. See you soon!

Strap in manne, today is the big day!

Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa is now available!

Get ready to unleash South African Defence Force’s arsenal on the battlefield!

What will the South Africa Nation Pack bring?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1575820/Wargame_Red_Dragon__Nation_Pack_South_Africa
Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa features:

• Close to 90 new SADF units, including 20 brand-new vehicle models, as well as many new variants. All feature Afrikaans and South African-accented English voice-overs.
  
• These include the ubiquitous Casspir and Ratel APCs (in numerous variants, from IFV, recon, command, mortar, and even SAM), the Rooikat wheeled tank (including variants and prototypes), Eland (license-produced French AML), Cactus (French Crotale), the only tracked Olifant MBT, many armed versions of locally made SAMIL trucks (Ystervark and Bosvark SPAAG, Valkiri and Bateleur MLRS), to the iconic G6 Renoster self-propelled howitzer.
  
• The Air Force includes old Buccaneer, Vampire and Impala as close-air support, and several French Mirage variants and the local Cheetah as fighter and multirole aircraft. Furthermore, you will find the Atlas Carver, the first full South African prototype plane design (which never left the drawing board).
  
• Helicopters include the French Alouette III, Puma, Super Frelon and their domestically produced versions and prototypes such as the K-Car, Oryx and XTP-1 Beta. You’ll also be able to deploy South Africa’s very own attack helicopter design, the badass-looking Rooivalk.
  
• Infantry will include Bokkop regular riflemen, Parabat paratroopers, SASF special forces, and many more units such as militia, recon, MANPADS, engineers. You will find Portuguese-speaking Angolan UNITA squads, as well as SADF’s own 32 Battalion (the Buffalos) as a veteran light infantry formation.
  
• SADF weaponry features imported or locally built R1 and R4 rifles, SS-77 and Mini-SS MG, LRAC and APILAS LAW, but also the more original HK-21, FT5, Inflict and, of course, the iconic Y2 grenade-launcher and NTW-20.

Want to know more?

In case you’ve missed it, we have published a series of deep dives into the South African arsenal featured in the Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa. Read them in the following posts:

• We put a spotlight on the all-important grunt: SADF Infantry. Read all about it here. And if you want to know how these forces appear in-game, check out this detailed gameplay deep dive here.
  
• We also looked at the SADF Armor force, which you can read more about here. Curious how these units look in-game? Check out this gameplay post here.
  
• The flyboys claim all the glory in our SAAF Air Force article, which you can read here. To read more about the planes in-game, be sure to read this post here.
  
• Hugging the earth, SADF’s rotorcraft fleet get special treatment in our Helicopter showcase, which you can read here. To read more about the choppers in-game, be sure to read this gameplay post here.

That’s not all

Together with the new Nation Pack, we’ve also released a major balance patch for Wargame: Red Dragon bringing a host of fixes, improvements, and updates. Find below the list of changes:

FIXES:

• fixed Soviet Mi-24VP’s autocannon HE’s stabilizer to match that of the AP one
  
• fixed Soviet T-62M, M1 & obr. 75's HE guns which hadn't the same range as AP one
  
• fixed Soviet PT-90's excessive ammo consumption
  
• fixed Soviet & Polish ASU-85's HE gun's aiming time which was to low
  
• fixed Polish PT-91 Twardy’s HE gun’s RoF to match that of the AP one
  
• fixed Czech. T-72M2 Moderna's autocannon's HE stats to match that of the AP one
  
• fixed Chinese ZTZ-80, 88A & 88B's HE gun’s RoF & accuracy to match that of their respective AP one
  
• fixed N-Korean Gongbobyong's MG to Shock stats
  
• fixed N-Korean Ch'onma-Ho V's main gun's supply cost
  
• fixed Finnish T-72M1MOD & T-72M1PÄIV’s HE gun's stats to match that of the AP one
  
• fixed Danish Lynx AH.7 20mm's HE to match that of the AP one
  
• fixed Danish Fennec 20mm's HE to match that of the AP one
  
• fixed Swedish A-32A Lansen accuracy/stabilizer
  
• fixed Swedish Norrlandsjägare RCL's FX
  
• fixed HS.820 autocannon HE accuracy to match that of the AP one

BLUE:

• increased Commonwealth deck's coalition availability from 0 to 10%
  
• standardized all M40 RCL jeeps (jeeps, Rover, Ram, ...) loadout to 10 rounds
  
• standardised M621 autocannon at 5% stabiliser for both HE and AP
  
  
• increased American EF-111 Raven’s price from 140 to 160
  
• decreased American M60A1 ERA's price from 65 to 60
  
• decreased American LAV-25 FSV's price from 25 to 20
  
• decreased American M728 CEV's aiming time
  
• decreased American M48A5 USMC's price from 25 to 20
  
  
• decreased British Centurion AVRE's aiming time
  
• decreased British Challenger Mk.2's price from 120 to 115
  
• changed British Challenger 2's availability pattern from 0/3/2/0/0 to 0/2/0/1/0
  
• decreased British Challenger 1 Mk.2’s HE RoF (fixing the gun on the same stats as the AP one)
  
• increased British Chieftain Mk.2's autonomy from 300 to 400km
  
• increased British Challenger Marksman's availability to 0/5/4/0/0
  
• increased British Stormer HVM's air optics
  
• decreased British FV107 Scimitar's price from 20 to 15
  
• increased British Tracked Rapier & Tracked Rapied FSA's speed from 35 to 50km/h
  
• changed British Harrier GR.7's availability pattern from 0/2/0/0/1 to 0/0/0/2/0
  
• decreased British SAS' price from 35 to 30 + get access to Alvis Stalwart & Saxon transport
  
• changed British Gurkhas ‘90 availability pattern from 0/10/7/0/0 to 0/12/8/0/0
  
• changed British Saxon‘s MG from M2HB to GPMG to match the model
  
• increased British Lynx AH.7's price from 30 to 35
  
• increased British Lynx AH.3's air optics increase on par with other SAM helo
  
  
• changed French Leclerc's availability pattern from 0/3/2/0/0 to 0/2/0/1/0
  
• increased French Panther's price from 30 to 35
  
• increased French M270 LRM's price from 120 to 140 + supply cost increased
  
• removed French M270 MLRS from Mechanized deck
  
• increased French AMX-10RC's price from 30 to 40
  
• set French Commando Para's MG ammo at 1500
  
  
• increased W-German PAH-2 Tiger's price from 120 to 140
  
• decreased W-German F-4F Peace Rhine’s number of cards from 2 to 1
  
• increased W-German PzMrs HS.30’s price from 30 to 35
  
• decreased W-German Jaguar 2 from 45 to 40
  
• decreased W-German KPZ. M48A2G's price from 25 to 20 + availability changed to 0/24/18/0/0
  
  
• decreased Canadian Highlanders ‘75’s price from 20 to 15
  
• decreased Canadian Highlanders ‘90’s price from 25 to 20
  
• increased Canadian Pathfinders’ MG accuracy from 40/20% to 50/30%
  
• changed Canadian EF-101B Electric Voodoo’s availability pattern from 2/0/0/1/0 to 2/0/0/0/1
  
• decreased Canadian Bison 81mm's price from 35 to 30
  
• increased Canadian Bison's availability by one step
  
• increased Canadian Leopard C2 MEXAS price from 80 to 85 & availability decreased to 0/8/6/0/0
  
  
• increased Danish M/113A1 TOW-1 from 55 to 50
  
• increased Danish Livgarden '85's availability to 0/0/14/10/0
  
  
• decreased Swedish IKV-91 from 25 to 20
  
• increased Swedish Kustjägare '90's AT12T's accuracy from 45 to 50%
  
  
• decreased Norwegian XA-186NO KPV's price decreased from 140 to 125
  
• decreased Norvegian M48A1's price from 20 to 15
  
  
• decreased ANZAC Ferret ENTAC’s size from Normal to Small
  
• changed ANZAC ASLAV-C's MG with an M2HB to match its model
  
• decreased ANZAC ASLAV-C's price decreased from 140 to 125
  
• increased ANZAC Tracked Rapier & Tracked Rapied FSA's speed from 35 to 50km/h
  
• decreased ANZAC M108's price from 50 to 40 & availability increased to 0/8/6/0/0
  
• decreased ANZAC ASLAV-25 FSV's price from 25 to 20
  
• increased ANZAC M113 30/50's availability by one step
  
• increased ANZAC ASLAV-PC's availability by one step
  
  
• added S-Korean K1 to Marine deck
  
• increased S-Korean K1's price from 90 to 95
  
• increased S-Korean K1's availability pattern changed from 0/10/7/0/0 to 0/8/6/0/0 to match other tanks in that price category
  
• decreased S-Korean K136 Kooryong's price from 80 to 70 + supply cost decreased
  
• changed S-Korean K200 APC’s availability to match that of the KM113
  
• decreased S-Korean M48A3's price from 25 to 20
  
• decreased S-Korean K242's price from 45 to 40
  
• decreased S-Korean CL.13B SABRE Mk 6's price from 65 to 55
  
• S-Korean Bonbu given access to Bell 205 & UH-60P
  
  
• fixed Japanese KŪTEI’s SMG’s accuracy display bug fixed
  
• increased Japanese Nana-Yon Shiki G's optics
  
• decreased Japanese 105 SP's price from 50 to 40 & availability increased to 0/8/6/0/0
  
• decreased Japanese F-15J's price from 145 to 140 + availability changed to 3/0/0/2/0
  
  
• removed Dutch STOOTTROEPEN '75’s LMG’s STAT trait
  
• reclassified Dutch AMX-13 FL-15 as Cavalry Tank
  
  
• increased Israeli KURNASS’ price from 135 to 150
  
• increased Israeli ANAFA’s price from 15 to 20 to match that of other twin-engine Hueys
  
• increased Israeli MAG'ACH 7C GIMEL's price from 95 to 100
  
• decreased Isreali Spike LR missile's acceleration from 1000 to 700

RED:

• increased NSWP deck's coalition availability from 0 to 10%
  
• decreased Baltic Front deck's coalition availability from 10 to 0%
  
• decreased all basic T-72's price from 45 to 40
  
• decreased all BM-21 (HE loadout)'s price from 75 to 65 + supply cost decreased
  
• decreased S-5M rocket pods' reload time
  
• increased RPO-Rys' HE damages from 4 to 5
  
• increased Metys & Metys-M's speed on par with the MILAN's one
  
• increased 9M37 (=Strela-10) missile's HE damages from 5 to 6
  
  
• decreased Soviet Gornostrelki's price from 20 to 15
  
• increased Soviet T-62M & T-62M1’s speed to match those from other nations
  
• increased Soviet 9K33 OSA’s air optics to match other Osa
  
• increased Soviet Mi-24V's air optics on par with other SAM helo
  
• increased Soviet BM-27 Uragan's price from 120 to 140 + supply cost increased
  
• decreased Soviet T-64B's price from 70 to 65 + availability changed to 0/12/8/0/0
  
• decreased Soviet Gornostrelki '90's price from 30 to 25
  
• decreased Soviet Su-25's price from 140 to 130
  
• increased Soviet Mi-8MTV's price from 30 to 35
  
• increased Sapery '85's availability to 0/12/8/0/0
  
  
• decreased Polish STRZELCY PODHALAŃSCY's price from 20 to 15
  
• increased Polish T-72M1 WILK's price from 85 to 90
  
• increased Polish Strzala-2's availability on par with other Strela-2 teams
  
• increased Polish Mi-17's price from 30 to 35
  
  
• changed CSSR OT-62 Vydra-II APC’s availability to match that of the Vydra-I
  
• changed CSSR Su-25K’s availability pattern to 0/2/0/0/1 to match its USSR clone
  
• decreased CSSR Su-25K's price from 140 to 130
  
• increased CSSR Mi-17's price from 30 to 35
  
  
• decreased E-German SPz BMP-1 SP-1's price from 15 to 10
  
• changed E-German Leichte Schützen's availability pattern on par with other Shock Light Inf. ones
  
• changed E-German MiG-23B’s availability from 0/2/0/0/0 to 0/3/0/0/0
  
• increased E-German FJB-40 & LStR-40’s air optics
  
• added E-German LStR-40 to Mechanized deck
  
  
• decreased Chinese ZTQ-62-I's price from 30 to 25
  
• decreased Chinese PTZ-59's price from 50 to 40
  
• decreased Chinese ZDF-89's price from 50 to 55
  
• increased Chinese ZTZ-59IIA's price from 45 to 50
  
• increased Chinese ZZC-55's optics on par with other recon transport
  
• decreased Chinese ZBD-86's reload time
  
• decreased Chinese BJ212 HJ-8's reload time
  
• decreased Chinese Q-5I's price from 65 to 55
  
• decreased Chinese Lù Zhànduì ‘75’s price from 20 to 15, RPG ammo decreased from 8 at 6
  
• changed Chinese Tǎnkè Shāshǒu ‘85’s availability pattern from 0/12/8/0/0 to 0/16/12/0/0
  
• set Chinese Lie Ren's MG ammo at 1500
  
• increased Chinese BY5020TSL availability from 4 to 6 to match all other jeep CVs
  
  
• giving N-Korean Ban-Tank Fagot 's access to the VTT-323 line of transports
  
• decreased N-Korean Type 59-I’s price from 40 to 30
  
• decreased N-Korean Type 59-IB’s price from 45 to 40
  
• decreased N-Korean T-72M's price from 65 to 60
  
• changed N-Korean B-5’s availability from two cards of 1 to one card of 2
  
  
• increased Finnish T-55 Pionpsv's price from 65 to 75
  
• increased Finnish MiG-29 9.13’s price from 110 to 125
  
• changed Finnish MiG-29 9.13’s availability to 3/0/0/2/0to be consistent with other ASFs in its new price range
  
• increased Finnish XA-185KT's price from 15 to 20
  
• decreased Finnish Mi-8T KT & Mi-8T's speed from 280km/h to 250km/h to match other Mi-8s
  
• increased Finnish Mi-8T KT autocannon aim time from 0.2s to 1s to match other helos’ guns
  
• increased Finnish Super Puma’s price increased from 20 to 25
  
• increased Finnish RAKH 91's price from 120 to 140 + supply cost increased
  
• decreased Finnish Spike MR missile's acceleration from 1000 to 700
  
• increased Finnish Erikoisrajajääkäri’s air optics
  
  
• decreased Yugoslav M-84 tank series' rate of fire from 9rpm to 8rpm
  
• decreased Yugoslav M-84's price from 75 to 70
  
• decreased Yugoslav N-62M Super Galeb’s speed from 900 to 750km/h
  
• changed Yugoslav Hi-42 Hera 2’s availability pattern from 0/12/8/0/0 to 0/8/6/0/0
  
• decreased Yugoslav FAP 2832-A's availability from 6 to 5
  
• increased Yugolslav SVLR M-94 Plamen-S' price from 90 to 100 + supply cost increased
  
• decreased Yugolslav M47's price from 20 to 15
  
• Yugolslav Nora-B can now fire smoke rounds

What happens next?

From the whole Eugen team, we’d like to thank you - our community - for their continued support! We truly hope you enjoy Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa.

Stay in touch, check out our Eugen forums, or (Facebook page and Twitter)!

Until next time!

Good news, everyone!

We will release Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa on Thursday, September 30th. The wait is almost over!

Itching to get back into the fight with the South African Defence Force’s unique Cold War arsenal? Keep reading for the latest details on the new Nation Pack.

What’s on offer?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1575820/Wargame_Red_Dragon__Nation_Pack_South_Africa

Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa will be available for $9.99 / 9,99€ (or the equivalent in your local currency). The reason for this price is multifold. First, keep in mind that this Nation Pack is the first in many years, with the number and quality of (new) models exceeding those featured in previous DLC. Not only that, the amount of work required for this expansion was substantial - game development is neither cheap nor straightforward, especially resuming work on a game as complex as Wargame: Red Dragon.

To lessen the wait until September 30th, Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa can now be freely streamed by our VIP testers. Keep your eyes peeled on your favorite channels to see when this hot stuff drops!

What will the South Africa Nation Pack bring?

Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa will feature:

• Close to 90 new SADF units, including 20 brand-new vehicle models, as well as many new variants. All feature new Afrikaans and South African-accented English voice-overs.
  
• These include the ubiquitous Casspir and Ratel APCs (in numerous variants, from IFV, recon, command, mortar, and even SAM), the Rooikat wheeled tank (including variants and prototypes), Eland (license-produced French AML), Cactus (French Crotale), the only tracked Olifant MBT, many armed variants of locally made SAMIL trucks (Ystervark and Bosvark SPAAG, Valkiri and Bateleur MLRS), to the iconic G6 Renoster self-propelled howitzer.
  
• The Air Force includes old Buccaneer, Vampire and Impala as close-air support, and several French Mirage variants and the local Cheetah as fighter and multirole aircraft. Furthermore, you will find the Atlas Carver prototype, the first full South African prototype plane design (which never left the drawing board).
  
• Helicopters include the French Alouette III, Puma, Super Frelon and their domestically produced versions and prototypes such as the K-Car, Oryx and XTP-1 Beta. You’ll also be able to deploy South Africa’s very own attack helicopter design, the badass-looking Rooivalk.
  
• Infantry will include Bokkop regular riflemen, Parabat paratroopers, SASF special forces, and many more units such as militia, recon, MANPADS, engineers. You will find Portuguese-speaking Angolan UNITA squads, as well as SADF’s own 32 Battalion (the Buffalos) as a veteran light infantry formation.
  
• SADF weaponry features imported or locally built R1 and R4 rifles, SS-77 and Mini-SS MG, LRAC and APILAS LAW, but also the more original HK-21, FT5, Inflict and, of course, the iconic Y2 grenade-launcher and NTW-20.

Want to know more?

In case you’ve missed it, we have published a series of deep dives into the South African arsenal featured in the Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa. Read them in the following posts:

• We put a spotlight on the all-important grunt: SADF Infantry. Read all about it here. And if you want to know how these forces appear in-game, check out this detailed gameplay deep dive here.
  
• We also looked at the SADF Armor force, which you can read more about here. Curious how these units look in-game? Check out this gameplay post here.
  
• The flyboys claim all the glory in our SAAF Air Force article, which you can read here. To read more about the planes in-game, be sure to read this post here.
  
• Hugging the earth, SADF’s rotorcraft fleet get special treatment in our Helicopter showcase, which you can read here. To read more about the choppers in-game, be sure to read this gameplay post here.

To stay in touch, check out our Eugen forums, or (Facebook page and Twitter)!
See you soon!

Hello there, we are back again!

Now, you might wonder what we have been up to in August. Not sitting quietly, that’s for sure.

The release of our new Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa DLC is getting closer. But before we get there, we wanted to highlight what we have been working on.

Active development

A special team has been chipping away and testing the Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa for a month. Thanks to their hard work and dedication, we have rebalanced and tweaked the SADF forces in-game, and made sure the new arsenal is as polished as can be. Such as?

Some of the plane load-outs have been changed compared to ones detailed in our [url=https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/251060/view/2993187041046213532
]South African Air Force Gameplay[/url] post.

We have reworked some of the models and we are continuing our balancing efforts. This also means that the balance patch we previously promised for the base game has grown significantly in size and scope.



There is more, though!

New units

Based on the team’s feedback, we have added two new units to the roster.

• Ratel 90 FSV. An additional Ratel 90 version. A non-transport variant classified as a fire support vehicle in the VHC tab.
  
• A new Cheetah variant, bringing the total to four: C, D, D2, and E. This will replace one of the previous Mirage models, which happened to be incorrect (Mirage IIIE2Z).

What will the South Africa Nation Pack bring?

Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa will feature:

• Close to 90 new SADF units, including 20 brand-new vehicle models, as well as many new variants. All feature new Afrikaans and South African-accented English voice-overs.
  
• These include the ubiquitous Casspir and Ratel APCs (in numerous variants, from IFV, recon, command, mortar, and even SAM), the Rooikat wheeled tank (including variants and prototypes), Eland (license-produced French AML), Cactus (French Crotale), the only tracked Olifant MBT, many armed variants of locally made SAMIL trucks (Ystervark and Bosvark SPAAG, Valkiri and Bateleur MLRS), to the iconic G6 Renoster self-propelled howitzer.
  
• The Air Force includes old Buccaneer, Vampire and Impala as close-air support, and several French Mirage variants and the local Cheetah as fighter and multirole aircraft. Furthermore, you will find the Atlas Carver prototype, the first full South African prototype plane design (which never left the drawing board).
  
• Helicopters include the French Alouette III, Puma, Super Frelon and their domestically produced versions and prototypes such as the K-Car, Oryx and XTP-1 Beta. You’ll also be able to deploy South Africa’s very own attack helicopter design, the badass-looking Rooivalk.
  
• Infantry will include Bokkop regular riflemen, Parabat paratroopers, SASF special forces, and many more units such as militia, recon, MANPADS, engineers. You will find Portuguese-speaking Angolan UNITA squads, as well as SADF’s own 32 Battalion (the Buffalos) as a veteran light infantry formation.
  
• SADF weaponry features imported or locally built R1 and R4 rifles, SS-77 and Mini-SS MG, LRAC and APILAS LAW, but also the more original HK-21, FT5, Inflict and, of course, the iconic Y2 grenade-launcher and NTW-20.

What happens next?

For now, that’s it. We hope to come back to you shortly with a release date for our new DLC. Hang in tight!

To stay in touch, check out our Eugen forums, or (Facebook page and Twitter)!

See you soon!

Hello!

We are back with a much-needed update about our upcoming
Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa DLC. We know you are longing to play our new Nation Pack, but we are still some ways off before our upcoming expansion is ready to be released.

What? Why? When?



Keep reading to find out.

A mea culpa

Game development is hard, and the way to any kind of launch is beset with roadblocks and detours. We know that some of you were hoping for a release soon - as in next week soon - or alternatively sometime in August. That is, unfortunately, not going to happen.

We still need more time with Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa. Even though unit balancing is done, as most of the unit models, there is plenty of work left. Not only that, August is a very quiet month in which everything slows down. We try to avoid releasing anything in the deepest part of the summer holidays.



There is more: next to Wargame: Red Dragon, we are also working concurrently on two new expansions for or our other popular strategy game (you might have heard about it here or there) Steel Division 2. In all fairness, we bit off more than we could chew, and coupled with the small delays that are always encountered, a post-August launch of the Nation Pack seems ever more likely. Our apologies!

An updated roadmap

When we get close to the launch, we’ll let you know. Until then, we don’t want to leave you completely empty-handed. Some new details:

• Most models are now done. You can see new preview screens of several major units - many of them we haven’t shown previously!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• A silver lining to the delay is that we will be able to organize a beta testing session later in the summer. We will gather dedicated players to make sure all in-game units and forces are well priced and balanced. Keep an eye out for more news!
  
• Together with the new Nation Pack, we’ve also been hard at work at some general balance changes to Wargame: Red Dragon. You can find all the proposed updates in the patch log further below.

BLUE:

• increased Commonwealth deck's coalition availability from 0 to 10%
  
• standardized all M40 RCL jeeps (jeeps, Rover, Ram, ...) loadout to 10 rounds
  
• increased American EF-111 Raven’s price from 140 to 160
  
• changed British Harrier GR.7's availability pattern from 0/2/0/0/1 to 0/0/0/2/0
  
• changed British Challenger 2's availability pattern from 0/3/2/0/0 to 0/2/0/1/0
  
• decreased British Challenger 1 Mk.2’s HE RoF (fixing the gun on the same stats as the AP one)
  
• decreased British Challenger 1 Mk.2’s price from 120 to 110
  
• decreased British SAS' price from 35 to 30 + get access to Alvis Stalwart & Saxon transport
  
• changed French Leclerc's availability pattern from 0/3/2/0/0 to 0/2/0/1/0
  
• removed French M270 MLRS from Mechanized deck
  
• increased French AMX-10RC's price from 30 to 40
  
• increased Kurnass’ price from 135 to 150
  
• decreased ANZAC Ferret ENTAC’s size from Normal to Small
  
• increased W-German PAH-2 Tiger's price from 120 to 140
  
• decreased W-German F-4F Peace Rhine’s cards from 2 to 1
  
• increased W-German PzMrs HS.30’s price from 30 to 35
  
• added S-Korean K1 to Marine deck
  
• changed S-Korean K200 APC’s availability to match that of the KM113

RED:

• increased NSWP deck's coalition availability from 0 to 10%
  
• decreased Baltic Front deck's coalition availability from 10 to 0%
  
• decreased all basic T-72's price from 45 to 40
  
• increased Metys-M's speed on par with the MILAN's one
  
• decreased Soviet Gornostrelki's price from 20 to 15
  
• decreased Polish STRZELCY PODHALAŃSCY's price from 20 to 15
  
• changed Czech. OT-62 Vydra-II APC’s availability to match that of the Vydra-I
  
• decreased E-German SPz BMP-1 SP-1's price from 15 to 10
  
• changed E-German Leichte Schützen's availability pattern on par with other Shock Light Inf. ones
  
• added E-German LStR-40 to Mechanized deck
  
• changed E-German MiG-23B’s availability from 0/2/0/0/0 to 0/3/0/0/0
  
• decreased Chinese ZTQ-62's price from 20 to 15
  
• decreased Chinese ZTQ-62-I's price from 35 to 25
  
• decreased Chinese PTZ-59's price from 50 to 40
  
• giving N-Korean Ban-Tank Fagot's access to the VTT-323 line of transports
  
• fixed N-Korean Gongbobyong's MG to Shock stats
  
• decreased N-Korean Type 59-I’s price from 40 to 30
  
• decreased N-Korean Type 59-IB’s price from 45 to 40
  
• changed N-Korean B-5’s availability from two cards of 1 to one card of 2
  
• increased Finnish T-55 Pionpsv's price from 65 to 75
  
• increased Finnish MiG-29 9.13’s price from 110 to 125
  
• changed Finnish MiG-29 9.13’s availability to 3/0/0/2/0to be consistent with other ASFs in its new price range
  
• increased Finnish XA-185KT's price from 15 to 20
  
• decreased Yugoslavian M-84 tank series' rate of fire from 9rpm to 8rpm
  
• decreased Yugoslavian N-62M Super Galeb’s speed from 900 to 750km/h

Nation Pack: South Africa in detail

In case you’ve missed it, we’ve already covered the combat arms historical context of this upcoming Nation Pack:

• We have put a spotlight on the all-important grunt: SADF Infantry. Read all about it here. And if you want to know how these forces appear in-game, check out this detailed gameplay deep dive here.
  
• We also looked at the SADF Armor force, which you can read more about here. Curious how these units look in-game? Check out this gameplay post here.
  
• The flyboys claim all the glory in our SAAF Air Force article, which you can read here. To read more about the planes in-game, be sure to read this gameplay post here.
  
• Hugging the earth, SADF’s rotorcraft fleet get special treatment in our Helicopter showcase, which you can read here. To read more about the choppers in-game, be sure to read this gameplay post here.

What will the South Africa Nation Pack bring?

Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa will feature:

• Close to 90 new SADF units, including 20 brand-new vehicle models, as well as many new variants. All feature new Afrikaans and South African-accented English voice-overs.
  
• These include the ubiquitous Casspir and Ratel APCs (in numerous variants, from IFV, recon, command, mortar, and even SAM), the Rooikat wheeled tank (including variants and prototypes), Eland (license-produced French AML), Cactus (French Crotale), the only tracked Olifant MBT, many armed variants of locally made SAMIL trucks (Ystervark and Bosvark SPAAG, Valkiri and Bateleur MLRS), to the iconic G6 Renoster self-propelled howitzer.
  
• The Air Force includes old Buccaneer, Vampire and Impala as close-air support, and several French Mirage variants and the locally modified Cheetah as fighter and multirole aircraft. Furthermore, you will find the Atlas Carver prototype, the first full South African prototype plane design (which never left the drawing board).
  
• Helicopters include the French Alouette III, Puma, Super Frelon and their locally produced versions and prototypes such as the K-Car, Oryx and XTP-1 Beta. You’ll also be able to deploy South Africa’s very own attack helicopter design, the badass-looking Rooivalk.
  
• Infantry will include Bokkop regular riflemen, Parabat paratroopers, SASF special forces, and many more units such as militia, recon, MANPADS, engineers. You will find Portuguese-speaking Angolan UNITA squads, as well as SADF’s own 32 Battalion (the Buffalos) as a veteran light infantry formation.
  
• SADF weaponry features imported or locally built R1 and R4 rifles, SS-77 and Mini-SS MG, LRAC and APILAS LAW, but also the more original HK-21, FT5, Inflict and, of course, the iconic Y2 grenade-launcher and NTW-20.

What happens next?

That’s it for today. We’ll be back at the end of August with hopefully some interesting news to share. If you want to stay in touch: check out our Eugen forums, or (Facebook page and Twitter)!

Hello!

Welcome back to what is currently our last in-depth look at the upcoming Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa DLC. We will give you a detailed insight into the gameplay and in-game load-outs of the South African Air Force’s (SAAF) rotorcraft in today’s post.

As always, everything you read is work in progress and is subject to change. Much like in our previous Air Force Gameplay post, keep in mind that the modeling for each helo’s ammunition and ordnance load-out is not final.

We are getting closer to releasing Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa, but we are still some ways off. When the time is right, we’ll let you know. Hang tight!

Supply

Our first unit is a true SAAF workhorse. Since 1967, SAAF’s heavy hauler is the French SA.321 Super Frelon. In-game, this cargo helicopter will be in the same category as the American CH-53E or the Soviet Mi-6.

Recon

Two dedicated helicopters will be available in this section, presented as part of a single family:

• The good ol’ Alouette III, SAAF’s oldest and sturdiest flying helo. Available from 1961, this chopper is unarmed.
  
• The prototype light XH-1 Alpha (1985). Although historically used as a testbed for a new generation of attack helicopters, in-game the unit has been repurposed as an armed recon chopper with Exceptional optics.

Transport

Going from A to B - fast! There will be two units in this category that are, once again, featured within a single family.

• First up is the mainstay SA.330H Puma (1973), armed with a side-door MAG 7,62mm machine gun.
  
• The domestically built Oryx (1987), which features the same armament, but with improved speed and hit points.

These transport rotorcraft will be available in-game to move Bokkop, Buffalos, Kommandant, Inflict, MILAN, Parabat, Para Pathfinders, Sappers, SASF (both), Strela and Trackers squads and units.

Attack

Rain fire from above with the SAAFs devastating arsenal of attack helicopters. These units are divided into two distinct families:

• The singular Alouette K-Car (1973) as light support chopper. Armed with a side-door 20mm autocannon in much the same configuration as the French Puma Pirate.

The second family is made up of a pure brand of attack helos, all prototypes, starting with the XTP-1 Beta. This unit was tested with a lot of different weapons in various configurations. We have distilled them into two separate variants.

• XTP-1 Beta ’87 (1987) features the original support and AA configuration, with a 20mm in the nose, four 18-tube pods of 68mm SNEB rockets, and two V3B Kukri short-range air-to-air missiles.
  
  
  
  
• XTP-1 Beta ’90 (1990) was used to test a new indigenous ATGM, making this variant a pure ground attack chopper. It retains the nose 20mm cannon and rocket pods but switches the Kukri A2A missiles for no less than eight Zingwe ATGMs. The latter weapon is an improved version of the Swift missile featured on the ground-based Ratel ZT3-A1, with more range and AP.
  
• And at last, the classy and deadly looking Rooivalk (1994). Faster, sturdier, and more agile than the XTP-1 Beta, it keeps the ’90 variant’s 20mm nose canon and eight Zingwe, but drops the rocket pods in favor of four Mistral A2A missiles.

Just to make it clear. The above attack family is organized in such a way that in order of appearance, there is one anti-infantry/anti-air unit, one anti-infantry/anti-tank unit, and one anti-tank/anti-air helicopter.

Nation Pack: South Africa in detail

In case you’ve missed it, we’ve already covered the combat arms historical context of this upcoming Nation Pack:

• We have put a spotlight on the all-important grunt: SADF Infantry. Read all about it here. And if you want to know how these forces appear in-game, check out this detailed gameplay deep dive here.
  
• We also looked at the SADF Armor force, which you can read more about here. Curious how these units look in-game? Check out this gameplay post here.
  
• The flyboys claim all the glory in our SAAF Air Force article, which you can read here. To read more about the planes in-game, be sure to read this gameplay post here.
  
• Hugging the earth, SADF’s rotorcraft fleet get special treatment in our Helicopter showcase, which you can read here. To read more about the choppers in-game, be sure to read this gameplay post here.

What will the South Africa Nation Pack bring?

Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa will feature:

• Close to 90 new SADF units, including 20 brand-new vehicle models, as well as many new variants. All feature new Afrikaans and South African-accented English voice-overs.
  
• These include the ubiquitous Casspir and Ratel APCs (in numerous variants, from IFV, recon, command, mortar, and even SAM), the Rooikat wheeled tank (including variants and prototypes), Eland (license-produced French AML), Cactus (French Crotale), the only tracked Olifant MBT, many armed variants of locally made SAMIL trucks (Ystervark and Bosvark SPAAG, Valkiri and Bateleur MLRS), to the iconic G6 Renoster self-propelled howitzer.
  
• The Air Force includes old Buccaneer, Vampire and Impala as close-air support, and several French Mirage variants and the locally modified Cheetah as fighter and multirole aircraft. Furthermore, you will find the Atlas Carver prototype, the first full South African prototype plane design (which never left the drawing board).
  
• Helicopters include the French Alouette III, Puma, Super Frelon and their locally produced versions and prototypes such as the K-Car, Oryx and XTP-1 Beta. You’ll also be able to deploy South Africa’s very own attack helicopter design, the badass-looking Rooivalk.
  
• Infantry will include Bokkop regular riflemen, Parabat paratroopers, SASF special forces, and many more units such as militia, recon, MANPADS, engineers. You will find Portuguese-speaking Angolan UNITA squads, as well as SADF’s own 32 Battalion (the Buffalos) as a veteran light infantry formation.
  
• SADF weaponry features imported or locally built R1 and R4 rifles, SS-77 and Mini-SS MG, LRAC and APILAS LAW, but also the more original HK-21, FT5, Inflict and, of course, the iconic Y2 grenade-launcher and NTW-20.

What happens next?

That’s all for now. We’ll be back with more news about when to expect Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa soon.

Until then, make sure to follow us. Check out our Eugen forums, or (Facebook page and Twitter)!

Hello!

We are going to look into the dashing flyboys of the South African Air Force (SAAF) in today’s deep dive of our upcoming Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa. Let’s see what the fixed-wing inventory looks like in-game.

Note that everything you’ll be reading is work in progress and is subject to change. Keep in mind that most of the following plane models are finished, but the plane’s munitions are still being worked on. This is the main reason the planes are not being shown with any missiles, ordnances, or weapon pods under their wings in this post.

Bombers and Close Air Support

The SAAF kept some of their vintage aircraft operational long into the 80s, using most of these in a dedicated bomber or close air support (CAS) role. In our new expansion, you’ll get to play with several distinct “families,” including some golden oldies:

• Rocket family: much like South Korea, SAAF uses the old CL.13B Sabre Mk.6 as a rocket attack aircraft, armed with two 18-rocket 68mm SNEB pods (same as fielded by the British Harrier GR.3). A dedicated successor is also featured, the Impala Mk II. Based on the Italian Aeromacchi MB-326 built under license by the South Africans, this plane features twin 30mm guns in its nose and fielding twice as many rockets.
  
  
  
  
• Bomber family: the first plane available in this category is the venerable, light Vampire FB-52 (1953!) carrying two Mk.77 napalm bombs. This plane is followed by the heavier Canberra B(I)12 bomber, with a load of eight Mk.83 500kg bombs for some serious Bush War carpet bombing.
  
  
  
  
• Anti-tank: alone in this role, the Buccaneer S.Mk.50 is equipped with no less than four AS.30 anti-tank missiles. This is the predecessor of the AS.30L, used by the French Armée de l’Air in-game. The older AS.30 shares the same long-range and heavy AP (30!) like its successor, but without the laser guidance system. Being only MACLOS, it is much less accurate.

All of the above planes are pre-1975, and therefore available in all era-restricted decks. This also means they lack ECM and are often quite slow.

Fighters

The SAAF’s fighters will come in two families: a mainstream section and a single, lone prototype.

• Mainstream fighters include the Mirage IIICZ (1973), equipped with one medium-range R.530 (the same as on the ANZAC Mirage IIIO(F)) and two short-range indigenous V-3A Kukri. These latter missiles are basically a more accurate version of the AIM-9B. Next in line is the Mirage F1CZ (1979) with better optics and ECM and fielding four V-3B Kukri (with the same stats as the V-3A but slightly more accurate). The last member is the Cheetah C (1995 prototype), a heavily modified Mirage III which is faster, more agile, and integrates better optics and much better ECM (40%). This plane is armed with two long-range V-4 R-Darter missiles (similar to the Israeli Derby) and two medium-range V3C Darters - the latter being another improvement on the V-3 series with better accuracy, and more range and damage compared to its predecessor.
  
• Carver prototype. A never-produced fully domestic South African design (1995 prototype) planned with all the optics and engine improvements of the Cheetah series and better ECM. This fighter deploys with two long-range V-4 R-Darter missiles (same as the Cheetah C), as well as two U-Darter, the latest version upgrade of the V-3 series of missiles, bringing improved accuracy and damage. A drawback compared to the preceding planes is that the Carver is armed with one instead of twin 30mm guns.

Multirole

There is only one set of planes in the Multirole category.

• Mirage IIIEZ (1973) with a single AS.30 (see the Buccaneer above) anti-tank missile and two V-3A short-range missiles. Like its French and export counterparts, it features no ECM.
  
• Mirage F1AZ (1975) comes armed with four Mk.20 Rockeye cluster bombs and two of the ubiquitous short-range V-3A Kukri missiles.
  
• Mirage IIIE2Z (1987) is an improved Mirage IIIE benefiting from some of the Cheetah improvements. It includes better optics and ECM (not as good as Cheetah though) and is armed with four Mk.82 HE bombs and two V-3B short-range missiles.
  
• Cheetah E (1988) is a major improvement over the Mirage III, especially in terms of optics and ECM (30%). This multirole plane is armed with two Mk.83 Griffin (aka GBU-16) 500k laser-guided bombs and two V-3C missiles.

Wild Weaselin’

SAAF planes didn’t bother with ECM or Wild Weasel missions in the early years of the Border War, as the country’s enemies rarely deployed efficient SAM defenses. Over time, and especially after the delivery of Soviet and Cuban weapon systems to Angola, South African plane losses grew significantly.

By 1988, air defenses in Angola were one of the best outside the Warsaw Pact. The SAAF, under embargo, didn’t have access to proven anti-radiation munitions and as such had to “make do” with whatever they could produce domestically.

The South African solution was the BARB (Boosted Anti-Radiation Bomb). This Frankenstein of a weapon mated an Mk.83 bomb together with a 127mm rocket booster. Rounding out this ordnance was a makeshift anti-radar guidance sensor. In-game, this weapon will be considered as a very short-range SEAD missile with HE damage only. As a result, it might not destroy a well-armored radar AA unit (such as featured on the Gepard) in one strike. On the other hand, it could still damage its target if it misses by a short margin. Especially if a player had the great idea to keep a supply vehicle near their AA - there is a good chance both units will be taken out in the same attack.



The one South African SEAD plane will be the Cheetah D (1988), featuring the same avionics and characteristics as the Cheetah E, but armed with two BARB bombs and two V-3C Darter missiles.

In case you were wondering: while the Cheetah C sports the first letter alphabetically, it is actually the latest and most modern of the Cheetah series. The E and D variants feature a speed of 900km/h (the same as Mirage III) with 30% ECM, while the C flies at 1000km/h with 40% ECM.

Nation Pack: South Africa in detail

In case you’ve missed it, we’ve already covered the combat arms historical context of this upcoming Nation Pack:

• We have put a spotlight on the all-important grunt: SADF Infantry. Read all about it here. And if you want to know how these forces appear in-game, check out this detailed gameplay deep dive here.
  
• We also took a look at the SADF Armor force, which you can read more about here. Curious how these units look in-game? Check out this gameplay post here.
  
• The flyboys claim all the glory in our SAAF Air Force article, which you can read here.
  
• Hugging the earth, SADF’s rotorcraft fleet get a special treatment in our Helicopter showcase, which you can read here.

What will the South Africa Nation Pack bring?

Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa will feature:

• Close to 90 new SADF units, including 20 brand-new vehicle models, as well as many new variants. All feature new Afrikaans and South African-accented English voice-overs, aie boet!
  
• These include the ubiquitous Casspir and Ratel APCs (in numerous variants, from IFV, recon, command, mortar, and even SAM), the Rooikat wheeled tank (including variants and prototypes), Eland (license-produced French AML), Cactus (French Crotale), the only tracked Olifant MBT, many armed variants of locally made SAMIL trucks (Ystervark and Bosvark SPAAG, Valkiri and Bateleur MLRS), to the iconic G6 Renoster self-propelled howitzer.
  
• The Air Force includes old Buccaneer[/], Vampire and Impala as close-air support, and several French Mirage variants and the locally modified Cheetah as fighter and multirole aircraft. Furthermore, you will find the Atlas Carver prototype, the first full South African prototype plane design (which never left the drawing board).
  
• Helicopters include the French Alouette III, Puma, Super Frelon and their locally produced versions and prototypes such as the K-Car, Oryx and XTP-1 Beta. You’ll also be able to deploy South Africa’s very own attack helicopter design, the badass-looking Rooivalk.
  
• Infantry will include Bokkop regular riflemen, Parabat paratroopers, SASF special forces, and many more units such as militia, recon, MANPADS, engineers. You will find Portuguese-speaking Angolan UNITA squads, as well as SADF’s own 32 Battalion (the Buffalos) as a veteran light infantry formation.
  
• SADF weaponry features imported or locally built R1 and R4 rifles, SS-77 and Mini-SS MG, LRAC and APILAS LAW, but also the more original HK-21, FT5, Inflict and, of course, the iconic Y2 grenade-launcher and NTW-20.

What happens next?

That’s all for today. We’ll be seeing you again in two weeks.

Make sure to follow Eugen. Check out our Eugen forums, or (Facebook page and Twitter)!

Hello!

Welcome back to another deep dive in our upcoming Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa. In our last post, we put the spotlight on the South African Infantry forces as they would appear in-game, including armament and transport options.

This week, Armor receives our special gameplay treatment. Let’s look at what you can expect from the South African armored fighting vehicles, from tanks to SPGs, from imported to domestic designs and rare prototypes!



Please keep in mind that everything is still very much work in progress and is subject to change. In case you were wondering: the integration and balancing of these units is done in close consultation with a leading South African military expert!

Kings of the battlefield

First up: the almighty TANK, which in Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa is brought to you in three distinct South African “families”:

• Olifant main battle tank. The tracked heavy-weight brawler of South Africa’s arsenal comes in a myriad of versions such as the Mk1 (including command variant), Mk1A (1985), Mk1B (1991), and Mk1B Optimum (1994 prototype). The Mk1 can be considered a rough equivalent to the Israeli Sh’ot Kal with a +1 FAV, but slower. With the Mk1A, the Olifant reaches the 2275m range, with a slightly better motorization and accuracy/stab over its predecessor. The Mk1B gets +2 FAV and a major motorization, accuracy and stab upgrade. The Optimum is an up-armored Mk1B with improved optics.
  
  
  
  
• Loggim prototype. This tank is a 1994 prototype MBT, a planned but canceled South African “heavy.” It is close to a USMC M1A1(HC) Abrams, featuring the same FAV but lesser side and rear armor, but more accurate and with 23 AP.
  
• Rooikat wheeled tanks. These rapid and cool-looking vehicles can be deployed in two variants: the Rooikat 76 Mk1C (1989, including a recon variant) and the Rooikat 105 (1994 prototype). With 3 FAV, they are incredibly fast (120km/h) “glass-cannons.” The 76mm variant has 2100m, while the 105mm gets 2275m range. Their key feature is their high accuracy (65%) and almost full gun stabilization, making these wheeled tanks ideal for hit-and-run strikes.

Using HESH rounds, all 105mm and 120mm South African tanks receive a “British” +1 HE damage bonus.

Reconnaisance

Next up are the reconnaissance units. Aside from the ubiquitous recon Rover jeep, RECON only fields two families of armored recon units:

• Eland 90, both 1978 vehicles. The original Eland 90 is identical to the French AML-90. The Eland 90 ENTAC (prototype) is armed with two extra ENTAC anti-tank missiles, in the same way as the existing Ferret ENTAC (see below).
  
• Rooikat 76. This vehicle is the same as the wheeled tank variant (see above) but in a dedicated recon configuration.

Tank destroyers

The South Africans have two tank destroyer families:

• RCL Vehicles, which include the ubiquitous Rover 106 (pre-1980), armed with a M40 recoilless rifle, and the Ferret Mk2 106 (1976). This latter unit is “jalopied”, meaning its turret is removed, and the operator stands in the now-empty turret ring. The Ferret is equipped with an improved M40A1C.
  
• ATGM Vehicles, which begins with the already mentioned Ferret ENTAC (1975), can also to be found with the ANZAC forces in-game. This unit is followed by the Ferret Mk2 MILAN (1980), another “jalopied” Ferret, but featuring a MILAN launcher this time around. The vastly more effective Ratel ZT3-A1 (1987) is also available. A non-transport Ratel armed with a ZT3A1 Swift ATGM. These guided missile launchers are 70% accurate, 20 AP and have a 2625m range. The Ratel carries 12 of them, with 3 ready to fire.

Indirect fire

There are quite a few artillery options, including:

• MRLS vehicles. There is a Rover 107 (1981). This one is only encountered in Airborne and Support decks, being a light MRLS based on a Chinese-made 16-tube Type 63 107mm rocket launcher bolted on a Rover jeep. In-game, it will come with an incendiary loadout. The Valkiri (1981) is manufactured on a light Unimog chassis. This unit is the most widespread and standardized South African MRLS, with a classic HE and smoke loadout for its 24-tube 127mm rockets. Finally, we have the Bateleur (1989) built on top of an armored Samil, carrying two 20-tube which can rain down devastating salvos of its 127mm cluster ammunition.
  
• Mortar vehicles include the Eland 60 (1978) 60mm mortar carrier, identical to the French AML-60. This vehicle evolved into the Ratel 81 (1985) and Ratel 120 (1994 prototype), which are respectively a 81mm and 120mm mortar carriers. All of these vehicles come equipped with HE and smoke rounds.
  
  
  
  
• SPG vehicles include the venerable WW2 relic Sexton (1944!) with its still decent 25-pdr gun. Nonetheless, this grandfather of self-propelled artillery is rather slow (as you would expect) and only belatedly replaced by the excellent 155mm G6-45 Rhino (1987). This latter unit is a lightly armored but fast-wheeled SPG, being among the world’s most accurate artillery pieces by the end of the Cold War. In-game, it is a 40km ranged 155mm howitzer, with a round dispersion closer to a regular mortar.

A little bit of anti-air

And last up, the South African anti-aircraft vehicles, pooled in two distinct families:

• AA cannon vehicles with the Ystervark (1980) leading the way. This is a Buffel light armored truck fielding an Oerlikon 20mm gun. This vehicle was succeeded by the Bosvark, an armored Samil truck with captured ZU-23-2 twin 23mm guns. Finally, the Rooikat ZA-35 (1992 prototype) is a variant of the wheeled tank with its turret removed and replaced by a radar-guided twin 35mm system. This means that SEAD can target this unit. In-game, the Rooikat is roughly equivalent to a German FlakPz. Gepard A1 with the same ranges, faster and slightly more accurate for the ZA-35, but with a lower RoF.
  
• SAM vehicles. The South Africans can field the Cactus (1971), identical to the Crotale, which the SADF received before the French, as well as the Cactus SAHV (1992 prototype). The latter unit is a Cactus used as a testbed for a new SAHV missile under development - in-game featured as an IR version. Replacing the R440 missiles, the SAHV-IR missile provides slightly improved anti-helicopter range and accuracy, with its Fire&Forget trait. Lastly, the Rooikat ZA-HVM (1992 prototype) is a Rooikat with its turret replaced by a system firing SAHV-3 missiles. It retains the anti-helicopter and accuracy of the IR version and improves its anti-airplane range to 4200m range. Being radar-guided, it can be targeted by SEAD.

Nation Pack: South Africa in detail

In case you’ve missed it, we’ve already covered the combat arms historical context of this upcoming Nation Pack:

• We have put a spotlight on the all-important grunt: SADF Infantry. Read all about it here.
  
• We also took a look at the SADF Armor force, which you can read more about here.
  
• The flyboys claim all the glory in our SAAF Air Force article, which you can read here.
  
• Hugging the earth, SADF’s rotorcraft fleet get a special treatment in our Helicopter showcase, which you can read here.

What will the South Africa Nation Pack bring?

Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa will feature:

• Close to 90 new SADF units, including 20 brand-new vehicle models, as well as many new variants. All feature new Afrikaans and South African-accented English voice-overs, aie boet!
  
• These include the ubiquitous Casspir and Ratel APCs (in numerous variants, from IFV, recon, command, mortar, and even SAM), the Rooikat wheeled tank (including variants and prototypes), Eland (license-produced French AML), Cactus (French Crotale), the only tracked Olifant MBT, many armed variants of locally made SAMIL trucks (Ystervark and Bosvark SPAAG, Valkiri and Bateleur MLRS), to the iconic G6 Renoster self-propelled howitzer.
  
• The Air Force includes old Buccaneer[/], Vampire and Impala as close-air support, and several French Mirage variants and the locally modified Cheetah as fighter and multirole aircraft. Furthermore, you will find the Atlas Carver prototype, the first full South African prototype plane design (which never left the drawing board).
  
• Helicopters include the French Alouette III, Puma, Super Frelon and their locally produced versions and prototypes such as the K-Car, Oryx and XTP-1 Beta. You’ll also be able to deploy South Africa’s very own attack helicopter design, the badass-looking Rooivalk.
  
• Infantry will include Bokkop regular riflemen, Parabat paratroopers, SASF special forces, and many more units such as militia, recon, MANPADS, engineers. You will find Portuguese-speaking Angolan UNITA squads, as well as SADF’s own 32 Battalion (the Buffalos) as a veteran light infantry formation.
  
• SADF weaponry features imported or locally built R1 and R4 rifles, SS-77 and Mini-SS MG, LRAC and APILAS LAW, but also the more original HK-21, FT5, Inflict and, of course, the iconic Y2 grenade-launcher and NTW-20.

What happens next?

That’s it! We’ll be back in two weeks.

Make sure to follow Eugen. Check out our Eugen forums, or (Facebook page and Twitter)!

Welcome back!

In our previous Wargame: Red Dragon posts, we highlighted the various combat arms of the South African Defense Force as they appear in our upcoming, new Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa.

We’ll go even deeper this time and lift the veil on how each unit will be featured in-game, including their weapon and transport options. First up on the stage, the almighty grunt - Infantry.

Mind you, please treat all the following as work in progress - subject to change!

Boots on the ground

Before we continue, let’s have a happy family shot, and we let you guess who’s who!



The SADF Infantry (as “foot soldiers” in general, not just the INF ones) will be composed of:

• BOKKOP. Your regular soldier, available in all decks (except Airborne). These troops can deploy in all manners of transports (soft-skin, Buffel, Casspir, Ratel, Puma helicopters). They feature R1 (~FN FAL) battle rifles, RPG-7 and Bren LMG. An upgraded ’90 variant will come with R4 (~Galil) assault rifles, FT5 and FN MAG.
  
• MECHBAT are your “armored” soldiers, available in Mechanized and Armored decks. Their main ride will be the Ratel APC (and variants). They are armed with R2 (R1 with folding stock) battle rifles, LRAC F1, and SS-77 machine-gun. An upgraded ’90 variant will feature the R5 (R4 with folding stock) assault rifles, FT5 and SS-77.
  
• PARABAT are airborne soldiers, available in Airborne and Motorized decks. They will be transported either in soft-skin trucks or the Buffel - and of course helicopters. Armed with R2 battle rifles, RPG-7 and SS-77, the upgraded ’90 variant deploys with R5 assault rifles, FT5 and Mini-SS (~Minimi).
  
• BUFFALOS represent the famous “32 Battalion” with its Portuguese-speaking Angolan troops. They are available in all decks, except for Armored and Mechanized. Being light infantry and used to live in enemy territory, they are 15-man squads armed initially with former Portuguese weapons: G3 battle rifles, HK21 LMG, and the ubiquitous RPG-7. Later, an upgraded ’85 variant features AKM, RPD, and MILAN missiles.
  
• SAPPERS are 5-man squads armed with R1 battle rifles and old-school Lifebuoy flamethrowers. They are available in all decks and can be deployed with all transports.
  
• BURGERMAG are 10-man militia squad, armed with R1 battle rifles and a Super Bazooka. They are accessible in all decks, except for Airborne or Marine, and can only deploy in soft-skin transports or Buffel APCs.

Other Units

Some more specialized units are:

• MILAN teams are the only infantry ATGM available to SADF. They are available in all decks and with all transports.
  
• STRELA-2 and STRELA-3 teams. These are SADF’s (captured) MANPAD squads. They are available in all decks and with all transports. Available in 1988 yet considered as a prototype in-game are the STINGERS (UNITA) squads. These teams are anti-communist Angolan allies of the SADF, which had access to this more modern MANPAD while South Africa’s forces - under international embargo - weren’t.
  
• KOMMANDANT are the SADF commanders, available in all decks (except for Armored) coming in all transports.
  
• B-10 (UNITA) is the first FIST option for the SADF. These are available in all decks, with the B-10 being the same RCL as the Chinese license-produced Type 78 used by the TÁNKÈ SHĀSHǑU. The second squad option is the Inflict, available from 1985 in Airborne and Support decks. This team deploys with a single 107mm MLRS tube used as “pocket artillery” by South African airborne troops.

Special Forces and Recon

The list continues!

• SASF. The crème de la crème of the SADF, available in all decks except for Armored and Support, and with all transports except for the Ratel. Armed with R5 battle rifles, LRAC F1 and Strela MANPAD, they also come in a ’90 variant with R5 battle rifles, APILAS and Stinger.
  
• SASF SNIPER. These are elite 2-man recon teams equipped with the (then prototype) Denel NTW-20 heavy sniper rifle. This weapon can be considered a NATO counterpart to the Yugoslavian SENKE.
  
• TRACKERS. Recon squads as light scouts, armed with R1 battle rifles and Bren LMG, and are available in all decks and with soft-skin, Buffel, and helicopter transports.
  
• PARA PATHFINDERS is another recon squad restricted to Airborne and Motorized. Available from 1983 in the same transports as PARABAT, but armed with R5 assault rifles, HK21 LMG, and Y-2 automatic grenade launcher.

Transport options

Our SADF grunt will hitch a ride on the battlefield in one of five transport families:

• SAMIL - soft-skin trucks
  
• BUFFEL - light APC
  
• CASSPIR - light APC, including the K-Car variant with a 20mm autocannon.
  
• RATEL - IFV, and while classified as light in terms of armor, these vehicles can sport heavier ornaments. This includes the Ratel 20 (20mm autocannon), Ratel 20 MILAN (same with additional MILAN), Ratel 60 (60mm mortar) and the Ratel 90 (you guessed it… with a 90mm gun).
  
• PUMA 330H - a helicopter, which also includes its domestically upgraded Oryx variant (equal to a Super Puma).

Nation Pack: South Africa in detail

In case you’ve missed it, we’ve already covered the combat arms historical context of this upcoming Nation Pack:

• We have put a spotlight on the all-important grunt: SADF Infantry. Read all about it here.
  
• We also took a look at the SADF Armor force, which you can read more about here.
  
• The flyboys claim all the glory in our SAAF Air Force article, which you can read here.
  
• Hugging the earth, SADF’s rotorcraft fleet get a special treatment in our Helicopter showcase, which you can read here.

What will the South Africa Nation Pack bring?

Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa will feature:

• Close to 90 new SADF units, including 20 brand-new vehicle models, as well as many new variants. All feature new Afrikaans and South African-accented English voice-overs, aie boet!
  
• These include the ubiquitous Casspir and Ratel APCs (in numerous variants, from IFV, recon, command, mortar, and even SAM), the Rooikat wheeled tank (including variants and prototypes), Eland (license-produced French AML), Cactus (French Crotale), the only tracked Olifant MBT, many armed variants of locally made SAMIL trucks (Ystervark and Bosvark SPAAG, Valkiri and Bateleur MLRS), to the iconic G6 Renoster self-propelled howitzer.
  
• The Air Force includes old Buccaneer[/], Vampire and Impala as close-air support, and several French Mirage variants and the locally modified Cheetah as fighter and multirole aircraft. Furthermore, you will find the Atlas Carver prototype, the first full South African prototype plane design (which never left the drawing board).
  
• Helicopters include the French Alouette III, Puma, Super Frelon and their locally produced versions and prototypes such as the K-Car, Oryx and XTP-1 Beta. You’ll also be able to deploy South Africa’s very own attack helicopter design, the badass-looking Rooivalk.
  
• Infantry will include Bokkop regular riflemen, Parabat paratroopers, SASF special forces, and many more units such as militia, recon, MANPADS, engineers. You will find Portuguese-speaking Angolan UNITA squads, as well as SADF’s own 32 Battalion (the Buffalos), as veteran light infantry formation.
  
• SADF weaponry features imported or locally built R1 and R4 rifles, SS-77 and Mini-SS MG, LRAC and APILAS LAW, but also the more original HK-21, FT5, Inflict and, of course, the iconic Y2 grenade-launcher and NTW-20.

What happens next?

That’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed the read! We’ll be seeing you in two weeks!

Make sure to follow Eugen. Check out our Eugen forums, or (Facebook page and Twitter)!

Hello there!

We are back again with another Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa showcase. This time, we’ll be looking at them dakakadas set to be featured: SAAF Helicopters.

In case you’ve missed it, we’ve already covered several other units of this upcoming Nation Pack:

• We have put a spotlight on the all-important grunt: SADF Infantry. Read all about it here.
  
• We also took a look at the SADF Armor force, which you can read more about here.
  
• The flyboys claim all the glory in our SAAF Air Force article, which you can read here.

The Alouette III leads the way

While the South African Air Force (SAAF) experimented with a handful of Sikorsky machines, the first dedicated helicopter use was the Alouette III (and some Alouette II) in the 60s. The diminutive Sud Aviation rotary-wing aircraft saw immediate action in the Rhodesia conflict, where the helicopter demonstrated that although light, it was sturdy and mechanically reliable.



Over the years, South Africa bought over 120 Alouette IIIs, which saw extensive use, taking part in almost all of the military operations and conflicts of the era, including the Border War. The versatile helicopter was deployed in a variety of roles, from transport to recon and flying command posts. Not only that, the Alouette III was extensively modified into several unique designs, such as the K-Car.

The famous K-Car (standing for “kill-car”) was developed by the Rhodesian Air Force, featuring WW II-era German MG-151 20mm autocannons positioned in a side mounting, the same as the French Puma Pirate. The K-Car was extensively used by the Rhodesians during the Rhodesian Bush War, being deployed as command and fire support helicopter key in their Fireforce (vertical envelopment) air assaults.

South Africa’s workhorse

South Africa’s flying workhorse was another French helicopter: the dependable SA.330 Puma. The South Africans were one of the first export buyers of this transport helicopter in 1969. The Pumas were extensively used by the paratroopers, either for insertions or extractions after an airdrop.

Due to the stringent international arms embargo, the helicopter fleet couldn’t be upgraded to the more powerful Super Puma standard. Rather, through various clandestine ways, the required parts were acquired covertly. South Africa would pay for the upgrade of the Portuguese Army’s Puma fleet, while Aerospatiale would deliver Portugal their new engines PLUS the South African ones, which were then smuggled to South Africa through a front company in then-Zaire. Meanwhile, South Africa also picked up new Puma airframes from IAR in Romania, which produced the helicopter under license. Once rebuilt, the improved Puma was named the Oryx.

A second heavy lifter in SAAF’s arsenal was yet another French design, the SA.321 Super Frelon, which was also used as a paratrooper heavy transport or as a logistical helicopter.

Alpha and Beta Prototypes

Another heavily modified Alouette was the Atlas XH-1 Alpha prototype. While never intended to be mass-produced, the design paved the way for what eventually would become the Rooivalk attack helicopter (more about that one further below). The Atlas XH-1 Alpha was also armed with a 20mm gun under the chin, a more modern Vektor one this time, giving it a classic attack helicopter configuration. The rather unusually looking prototype might remind some of the old hands among you of a similar design flying around in the Blue Thunder action movie.

Like the Alouette III, the South Africans used the Puma as a test platform for an indigenous attack helicopter. Two Atlas XTP-1 Beta prototypes were built based on the SA.330, which could carry a heavy weapon load: the same 20mm gun as the XH-1 Alpha, as well as 64mm rocket pods and either eight ZT3A2 Ingwe anti-tank missiles or two anti-aircraft missiles.

Attack Helicopters

After these prototypes, the SAAF finally managed to get their hands on their own rotary-winged crown jewel: the Rooivalk attack helicopter. This entirely domestic design benefited from the years of hands-on battlefield experience and the experiments on the XH-1 and XTP-1 testbeds.

Its performance in terms of mobility and firepower placed it in the same category as the Apache, Tiger, or Ka-50. Rooivalk’s armament was roughly similar to the one tested on the XTP-1: a 20mm gun, 64mm rockets, but with the difference of carrying both ZT3A2 AT missiles and smaller Mistral AA missiles.

For a nation that never had designed a helicopter before, the Rooivalk was a pretty good first try. Despite flying in 1990, the Rooivalk will be considered a prototype in-game, with the attack helicopter’s delayed entry and the end of the Cold War and South Africa’s Apartheid regime.

What will the South Africa Nation Pack bring?

Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa will feature:

• Close to 90 new SADF units, including 20 brand-new vehicle models, as well as many new variants. All feature new Afrikaans and South African-accented English voice-overs, aie boet!
  
• These include the ubiquitous Casspir and Ratel APCs (in numerous variants, from IFV, recon, command, mortar, and even SAM), the Rooikat wheeled tank (including variants and prototypes), Eland (license-produced French AML), Cactus (French Crotale), the only tracked Olifant MBT, many armed variants of locally made SAMIL trucks (Ystervark and Bosvark SPAAG, Valkiri and Bateleur MLRS), to the iconic G6 Renoster self-propelled howitzer.
  
• The Air Force includes old Buccaneer[/], Vampire and Impala as close-air support, and several French Mirage variants and the locally modified Cheetah as fighter and multirole aircraft. Furthermore, you will find the Atlas Carver prototype, the first full South African prototype plane design (which never left the drawing board).
  
• Helicopters include the French Alouette III, Puma, Super Frelon and their locally produced versions and prototypes such as the K-Car, Oryx and XTP-1 Beta. You’ll also be able to deploy South Africa’s very own attack helicopter design, the badass-looking Rooivalk.
  
• Infantry will include Bokkop regular riflemen, Parabat paratroopers, SASF special forces, and many more units such as militia, recon, MANPADS, engineers. You will find Portuguese-speaking Angolan UNITA squads, as well as SADF’s own 32 Battalion (the Buffalos), as veteran light infantry formation.
  
• SADF weaponry features imported or locally built R1 and R4 rifles, SS-77 and Mini-SS MG, LRAC and APILAS LAW, but also the more original HK-21, FT5, Inflict and, of course, the iconic Y2 grenade-launcher and NTW-20.

What happens next?

That’s it. We will be back in two weeks.

Make sure to follow Eugen. Check out our Eugen forums, or (Facebook page and Twitter)!