And so do the aircraft: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=2987

does anyone have any idea what their updated color would be. I'm hoping a brownish red

This seems to answer at once a lot of requests people had been having.

- Russians, well, duh. And Chinese!

- Aircraft

- Hero walkers

A pity there's really not much new in terms of the walkers and infantry.

how much can they add so quickly b4 the game gets too complex i feel that warfare will be the complex game and this will be more buy in

I say good job to them..

they NEED to put them out on this scale..with out relasing a new core or anything.. this is the way to make them quickly playable..

i cant wait to see what else they do. this REALLY gives me hope for the future.

The thing is that the addition of the SSU does not make the game any more complex (other than the addition of aircraft). It's just a new faction, and it no more complex to play axis vs allies than it is to play axis vs soviets.

PS: Is it just me or that helicopter looks kinda goofy?

One thing I think afew of us missed is that the first hero walker will be available too.

Here's a rundown of the SSU forces, from what I gather:

Command Squad - Just like a normal command squad, but the Mechanic has an anti-walker Power Tool. If it doesn't have any drawbacks, it should cost more than 40AP.

NKVD Close Combat Squad - Looks like the Soviet equivalent of BBQ squad, but with what looks like a heavy laser and throwing molotov cocktails.

NKVD Battle Squad - Looks like a Recon squad, but with two powerful DPM machine guns.

Chinese Volunteers - Strangely I don't see any special weapon figure in this squad. They all seem to have the same kit of MG and grenade.

Nadya - KV-47 with two Sulfur-Throwers.

Natalya - KV-47 with two Circular Saws.

Natasha - KV-47 with two 45mm Howitzers.

Grand'm a - Koshka's KV-47 with a Sulfur-Thrower and a Howitzer.

Koshka Rudinova - Doesn't look like she's much of an infantry combat force, with just that pistol. She probably grants her walker some special abilities and have other strategic value once she's on foot.

Airborne Transport - A troop transport, instead of a fighter/bomber, though it does have triple guns.

Im just glad to see all items out at one time. I like to make my purchases in one big deal and get on to the painting!!!! And yes the chopper is a little weird, so may modify it but will know more when available.

I think the soviets will be REALLY mobile, lots of units with Scout, Fast, Charge, etc. Cause in terms of long range weapons they seem terribly underpowered. I seriously doubt those Howitzers on the Nadya have unlimited range, and not having ANY units with U weapons can really force your hand in certain scenarios.

Loophole Master said:

No, that helicopter looks stupid. I like the Transport skill though. And I'll bet the Chinese have something nasty up their sleeve too.

Yeah, that thing is ugly in real life too. sorry for the edits.

Well, I guess the chopper compensates for the lack of U weaponry. If you can't hit something that's far away, just land a chopper next to it with a squad of maniacs with molotov cocktails.

hey mentioned commisars so im fairly certain that they might be able to kill one of your own troops for incresed potential

Wow! What a very awesome surprise! This is one where the pre-orders will need to be in ASAP just to get all the choppers everyone will want!

That's awesome - very happy with the look of the units.

That chopper is goofy looking, but as already posted, the Soviets did have some pretty goofy looking stuff in real life.

I wonder if the howitzers will be Artillery class weapons (I assume they will) - meaning a flamer/howitzer equipped mech could be a very handy utility vehicle.

I still want some SSU armoured bears though :-)

Well, that's a neat suprise:D I was hoping for a core set with those guys but you can't have everything:P Won't be buing them any time soon but looking foward to see them in action.

Cool the third faction. Not digging the helicopter too much, just needs to be 20% longer and ditch the 3 weird window portholes on it then we're good.

Does anybody get a very "Advance Wars" feel from the helicopter?

I get "where is my sturmovnik!" feeling or "why not pick MI-24 instead of this"

Maximum said:

Yes, also this whole game has a very similar feel.

I really like the chopper... That is all

Lska said:

WOW just WOW

Just into 2012 and what a surprise.

Worst Miniture of 2012 and its only the 3rd week. The good thing is that my 3 year old Newphew has a bath toy helicopter and its very similar in design. Granted it would need painting and the toy helicopter wings are more fat. But the toy will be alot cheaper.

Although alot of people seem excited - this is worse than I feared.

Our group knew that the SSU was going to be under whelming. They should have been released mid last year before the other factions got some much stuff out. The troops are ok (just basic stuff you need to pad your SSU force out), the paint job is remarkable for branding the SSU to look like the allies (With the exception of the Chinese Volunteers - who look 1960/70s).

The KV-47 are nice (but already known about) and will also be required to pad out your army.

The real debate was - to make the SSU different FFG would need to pull something out of the bag (beacuse most standard units were going to be basicallly slight varitaions of the German and allies troops already out).

The transport is a good idea, but its got to be the worst looking model ever released and totally out of character for the game. Zombie hordes attack Starlingard and toy helicopters (that look more Vietnam and ww2) circle above.

God I hope that don't release these for the Germans and Allies. I want Alternative second World war (Mechs, Zombies, Aliens etc..) but not a ww2 that had helicopters flying around.

Next campaign incoming: Red Hawk Down:D

Lska said:

I would rather say "Red Fat Chicken Down" But I agree - Mi-24 Hind influences are obvious.

Chopper looks ok to me, could have been alot worse and yes better but im content, the chinese are drop in troops, so drop in one action and blast the hell outta ya with the 2nd, thats enough special ability thanks!

All units look cool.

Think that will be it for the medium walkers, I mean the Allies only have Mickey variants and the Axis ludwig variants.

Probably different fast and heavy walkers, if like mentioned already there purpose will be infantry numbers and just swarm all over you like red ants.