Wargame: Red Dragon

Started by Jarhead0331, March 29, 2014, 10:52:07 PM

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Jarhead0331

^agreed. I thought the video drew some pretty bizarre distinctions considering the differences in forces modeled. I also wasn't sure if all of his points were completely accurate, like with respect to reinforcements, veterancy rules, etc.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


Jarhead0331

Didn't see this one coming...very cool!

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Hello!

It's good to be back. That's right, at Eugen, we are working hard to provide our Wargame fans with some exciting new content.

Today we are ready to reveal ... a new Nation Pack for Wargame Red Dragon focusing on an oft-overlooked Cold War nation and its indigenous arsenal: South Africa!

Wargame Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa will feature this country's unique vehicle and weapon pool from when the South African Defence Force (SADF) was engaged in the yearslong Border War in Namibia and Angola...

With Wargame Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa, we will add close to 90 new vehicles, all fully voiced in either Afrikaans or South African-accented English. From the Olifant MBT and Casspir APCs to Cheetah fighters, SASF special forces, and even 32 Battalion troops, you'll find our SADF arsenal exhaustively researched and historically accurate!

Historical South African context

Wargame Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa puts the spotlight on the SADF, the South African Defense Force, the national army of apartheid-era South Africa. Mostly composed of conscripted white South Africans (both English and Afrikaans-speaking males), the SADF did feature a sizable amount of black and colored soldiers in distinct, segregated formations.

With unequal racial discrimination (apartheid) underpinning the South African's republic existence, the SADF fought numerous conflicts, the most famous being the Border War against Communist-backed guerrillas both in occupied Namibia and nearby Angola. This asymmetric conflict ran from the late 60s to 1989, increasing in intensity, especially in the later years. Cuba and South Africa became more and more actively involved as respective backers of local guerrilla groups vying for power and control, going so far to field their own forces on the battlefield. This culminated in the famous tank engagement in 1988 of the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, the largest of its kind of the Cold War on the African continent.

The Border War concluded with a peace treaty giving Nambia its formal independence in 1990. The SADF became the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in 1994, after the first free and multiracial election of the country, which saw Nelson Mandela become president.

Why did we pick South Africa?

South Africa is one of the rare countries missing from Wargame Red Dragon which featured a large indigenous armaments industry producing a series of cool-looking vehicles, from IFVs to helicopters. What about the Ratel, Casspir, Buffel, Rooikat, G6 Renoster, Rooivalk?

As a highly mobile and aggressive army, the SADF relied more than any other nation on speed and mobility, with a strong preference for wheeled armored vehicles. Going for motorized makes sense in the savannah and bush-like environment of Southern Africa. There was hardly any mechanized (tracked) weaponry in the SADF arsenal, besides the Olifant main battle tank.

The SADF of the Cold War was built for a different type of conflict: a highly mobile strike force, quickly able to cover vast distances, with a strong emphasis on aggressive infantry combat. It was also one of the few countries that fought an "open" war (even though the extent and length of Border War itself was hidden from South Africa's own population).

So: plenty of reasons why we wanted to include the SADF as a fighting nation in a new Nation Pack!

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, as well as 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 ... that 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 will 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, etc. You will also find Portuguese-speaking Angolian 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 heavy sniper/anti-material rifle.



Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


Destraex

#287
Yep. Did not see it either. Very cool.
I will probably bite. But I have to be honest, I struggle with the old warfame interface now we have steel division 2. The epic free version of red dragon must have eugen flush with enough cash to support this gsme again. Amazing. Some people are specilating on red dragon 2 because of this but I think the opposite.

P.s. It is a fact that wargame red dragon at the moment has double the player base of steel division 2. If it did not have before.
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JasonPratt

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Jarhead0331

South Africa Nation pack delayed, most likely until after August.

I'm excited for this one, but the delay doesn't bother me too much. Although the SADF is extremely cold war appropriate, I'm not sure there are any good REDFOR in the game presently for them to go up against. The SADF was highly trained and very motivated and they excelled in bush wars, but its hard to imagine them stacking up very well on large conventional battlefields. Would be cool of some of the African combatants were modeled too.

Oh well, we'll find out in September hopefully...

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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!

In the meantime, here are the details released about the major components of the SADF...infantry, armor, Air Force and helos. Cool stuff!

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/251060/view/3016823329556921166

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/251060/view/3048349794619388526

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/251060/view/3070869061072083812

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/251060/view/2993187041098594435
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


Gusington

South Africa's military, especially in the Cold War era has always been interesting to me, as well as the bush wars they fought in. I imagine their military is in less than stellar shape now.


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We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

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Jarhead0331

Quote from: Gusington on July 22, 2021, 08:44:37 AM
South Africa's military, especially in the Cold War era has always been interesting to me, as well as the bush wars they fought in. I imagine their military is in less than stellar shape now.

No comparison. It's a totally different military and a totally different country.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


Gusington

I bet...just seeing some video clips out of South African cities in the last few weeks definitely confirms that.


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We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Jarhead0331

Concerns have been raised as to the operational capabilities of the army given the high proportion of the army's budget spent on salaries (around 80%) and low amounts budgeted for capital (5%) and operational (15%) capacity. In addition to the large ratio of officers to soldiers, critical skills shortages, high average age of service personnel (48 years), and low proportion that are medically fit enough to be readily deployable (about 10% of personnel).

Sounds like night and day from the state of the SADF in or about 1991 and prior.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


Gusington

^48 years?? Holy crap. South African police are also sort of militarized also, or were...weren't they?

I realize we're treading into dangerous apartheid-discussion territory, but as a kid South Africa and its military and its history always captured my imagination.

I also met a few Jewish South Africans when I was a kid and they were great people too. Don't know what it's like now but there were also some super-hawt chicks.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Jarhead0331

Quote from: Gusington on July 22, 2021, 08:58:43 AM

I also met a few Jewish South Africans when I was a kid and they were great people too. Don't know what it's like now but there were also some super-hawt chicks.

So did I. There was a large community of Jewish South Africans in Dallas where I grew up.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


Gusington

^It blew my 14 year old mind.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Jarhead0331

SADF DLC pack scheduled for a September 30 release!  O0
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


fran