Eliciting commentary from all! Looking for suggestions of how an SSU force can handle enemy armor without buying an attack helicopter. That's right, without an attack helicopter!

Warboss Krag said:

Political platoons with resourceful to turn all your troops grenades into Molotov cocktails

Take two Commissar combined Fakyeli, (tons of grenades bearing down on them), followed by a Nadya and/or a Natalya, supported by a similarly Commissar-combined Ohotniki team (4 Widowmakers), and a Sniper Team (2 more Widowmakers ignoring armor), either softening up the opponents armor for the coup de grâce, or suppressing the opponent's supporting infantry, depending on what's needed more.

I think you pose a great question - especially because it seems we may have to wait some time before the attack helicopter will be released. It looks like the heavy tank (which we won't see rules for until Hades) will be released for tactics before the two units that I think the SSU really need - that attack helicopter and the airlift KV.

As for handling armor, I've played three small games (130 pts) with my SSU, and I've had some trouble with armor. So far, I think the Nadya is a fantastic walker against just about anything. I may never run a list without at least one. I've also had some success with widowmakers. I painted up a combat squad just before the book was released, and I wish I had put my efforts to painting up a rifle squad. There just seems to be no good reason to run combat squads over rifle squads (at least in my opinion). I think once Nikolai is released, he's going to be amazing in a unit of two rifle squads combined with a commissar. 4 Widowmakers hitting on blanks should do sizeable damage to light and medium armor.

On paper, Fakyeli seem to be a good option against enemy armor. However, I'm finding the unit to be extremely slow compared to other assault troops. I'll have to try screening them or running them behind my Nadya to keep them alive long enough to make contact. I think fakyeli really need to deploy from a helicopter to make the most out of them.

I haven't played it yet but I was going to go with a transport heli with a cc squad to drop wherever they are needed. The heli can suppress/kill lighter infantry while the cc squad will be close enough to handle everything else especially with an attached commissar.

Pael said:

Will you be paying the 5 points to give the platoon (thereby your cc squad) the Air cav rule?

yes since it is cheap and I plan to field the cc squads and heli's in the same platoon and then have auxiliaries in a different. Giving me an army of air cav on the cheap.

Pael said:

Then your plan is sound.

Hmm. Yes, not a bad idea, but not really fitting my original idea, which was no helicopters….my bad; I didn't specify that I wasn't going to have choppers at all. As it stands, I'm leaning in the direction of, eventually, multiple small platoons (Cpt. Koshka makes a wonderful platoon leader, in Gran'Ma), so I can field two sets of snipers.

Warboss Krag said:

You said no attack choppers, not transport choppers.

Which is important, as Fakyeli in a chopper is the SSU's only method of attacking anything above V5 without an attack chopper that doesn't involve a suicidal footslog across the map with slow troops.

Air Cavalry is going to be the only viable build until Hades.

Natalya is terrifying to armour. With Koshka's fighting spirit, Grand'ma has some nice potential. Linked rifle squads with Nikolai and a PTRS-47 equipped commissar is terrifying for light and medium walkers and Fakyeli are deevastating to everything up close. They get there best with choppers which is largely SSU's thing so if you don't like choppers then you are seriously hampering yourself in any SSU list. Its like playing axis and saying you don't like walkers… its like Christians against Christ or vegatarians that hate vegetables…

You could even take the resourceful ugrade and drown the enemy in multiple 10 man volunteer units with assault, 11 wounds, 10 molotovs, and a UGL. There are soo many ways to deal with a tank in any of the 3 factions… you just have to have a plan and make it so. Now imagine when people start using Yakov. Add Yakov to 10 chinese volunteers with molotovs and a commisar. Thats up to 16 damage up close to a vehicle 7, 15 wounds and assault…. for 60 points. How are you going to keep them from march moving straight at you? If you can, will you have enough bullets to stop the two Natalya's coming at you as well for 60 more points? What about the other 180 points from his 300 point list? No… I think the SSU will be just fine against armour….