Hi, friends. Today is a jubilee, fiftieth diary. This much all over again - and we can start the Early Access :) When speaking seriously, we look with pleasant surprise at the work done for this time, we think with joy about the perspectives and with thrill about the opportunity to show the game to you. And, of course, we hope that, like us, players will rejoice at victories, feel harshly because of defeats and work hardly on creating the ideal setup for your very best commander. And today, as you already guessed from the title and BA-20 render, we'll talk about the place of armored vehicles in Soldiers: Arena and the commander of a motorized infantry battalion, which may be the best choice for those who feel an apparent lack of mobility when playing infantry.

Armored car isn’t subtank.

In comparison with other types of armored vehicles, armored cars had weak armament and inferior protection, but they were much cheaper to manufacture, easier to service, and in speed they were superior to light tanks. Without armored personnel carriers, which were intended primarily for the transport and evacuation of personnel, any offensive operation could be overwhelmed. In Soldiers: Arena emphasis is placed on the cheapness, speed and multifunctionality of armored cars. Further on the text, we will talk about armored cars as a group of units, which in fact includes APCs, some cars, self-propelled units based on armored cars, etc. Almost any commander can use these units, but they will be most useful in supporting the infantry, compensating its main disadvantages: speed and low survival rate. Considering that infantry commanders can’t use tanks in the battle, armored cars can become a very important reinforcement. However, it would be a wrong move to perceive them as a budget-friendly substitute for light tanks, because the range of their use is much broader. And how can you transport a squad of riflemen with your tank in one ride, uh? If you want to have at least some kind of armor while playing with the infantry and the ability to transfer detachments quickly to the other end of the battlefield - the motorized battalion is the right choice. The main advantages of armored cars in the game are: mobility, low cost and a good line of sight. Using them correctly you can stop infantry rushes, and with a good roll of the dice you may win the fight with the light and some medium enemy tanks, carry out reconnaissance, find weaknesses in the opponents’ defense, and send sabotage squads there to capture the territory and neutralize the firing points. But most importantly, you can support your own and allied infantry in almost any fight. A wide selection of cars will help with that, starting with the self-propelled mortar Sd. Kfz.251/2, and ending with an always reliable Willys with two bazookas. The game focusing on armored cars is a game with a high risk share, given their weak protection, but also a big share of fun. What could be more pleasant than exchanging a expensive enemy unit for a cheap one? Quickly reduce the distance to some sluggish heavy tank, drop an infantry squad from your APC, send a pair of AT-grenades and prove that no one is large enough to frighten your men. Victory is built from such moments, isn’t it? Or capture the building in the rear, breaking through the front line and spoiling the enemy blood for a good half of the game, bringing the enemy out of balance and force him to make mistakes. And if on the way back you can capture and hijack an enemy cannon, we can assume that the day is not for nothing. You turn on your PC for such moments, my friend, don’t you?

There is a task - there is an instrument.

Each of the game factions, in addition to similar has its own unique units. This means that the game for the same commander will be seriously different depending on the chosen side of the conflict. Balancing and correctly picking up units is quite difficult, but damn interesting. For example, when introducing the above-mentioned Willys, we are not trying to attach bazookas to GAZ-67 or add flamethrowers to BA-20. Each side has its own advantages, and they will be shown in the game. Self-propelled flamethrower Sd. Kfz. 251/16 is especially useful because the Allies and USSR does not have it, which creates interesting situations on the battlefield and the variability of the gameplay. Speaking about Sd. Kfz.251... Let's look at the German armored cars and some units based on them that are already in the game.
As you can see, here are presented the lightest units such as BMW R12 and Kübelwagen, and the eleven-ton Puma with a 50-mm cannon. Here you can see Italian Autoblinda 41 and seven modifications of the most successful armored car of World War II: Sd. Kfz. 251, among which we can highlight the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun Sd. Kfz.251/17 with an anti-aircraft gun Flak 38, and a self-propelled howitzer Sd. Kfz.251/9 with a short-barrel 75-mm gun KwK 37 mounted on it, and an anti-tank version Sd. Kfz.251/22 with a 75 mm Pak 40/1, capable of spoiling the armor of the medium tanks and nerves of tankmen. Most of these units, despite being part of the same group, are used for different tasks. Light and cheap Sd.Kfz.222 and 223 are well suited for reconnaissance, and the flamethrower version of 251st - for the destruction of infantry both in the field and in buildings. Heavy armored cars can withstand light tanks at long ranges and armed with anti-aircraft guns are very good at close ones, where maneuverability and speed plays a decisive role. Mortar and howitzer modifications of the Sd. Kfz.251 are simply created for artillerymen who do not want to wait for the returning fire. We will expand the list of armored cars in the future and now we are thinking about adding a heavy self-propelled MRLS Wurfrahmen 40 based on the same Sd. Kfz.251.
And what armored cars do you personally lack, guys? Feel free to share your thoughts and, quite possibly, will soon see their implementation in Soldiers: Arena. Still wish you the best!

[ 2017-11-02 19:40:55 CET ] [ Original post ]