Preview of Soviet Vehicle Guide 1.5

[chico20854]

While Jason is the lead for the DC Group's new version of the v1 Soviet Vehicle Guide, I recently put together a small piece on the tanks of the Soviet Army during the war.

It's very graphics-heavy, too large to post directly here. It's located at http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeedox4/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/notes_on_soviet_armor.doc

I hope you enjoy it!

[kato13]

As always Impressive Work.

[Raellus]

Outstanding work, Chico. Very cool.:cool:

More than anything I've ever seen or read, your captioned photos make the Twilight War seem real. I'd LOVE it if you would put them all together (your home page pics, Czech vehicle guide pics, Naval War pics, all new pics, etc.) and create...

An Illutstrated History of the Twilight War 1995-2000

Just pictures and captions. Easy (easy for me to say, at least). Please? Pretty please?

I've already mentioned this elsewhere, but I'd like to mention it again before you go to press with your SVG 1.5. It seems that, as far as Soviet/Russian tank design goes, v1.0 canon and the real world (henceforth, TRW) line up pretty well. The respective designations may differ somewhat, but based on the v1.0 SVG descriptions, and real world developments, the parallels seem really clear.

The v1.0 T-90 is described as an entirely new design with a "very low profile turret". Based on the color plate, it looks like what many western observers have dubbed the T-95 (in TRW). The T-86 is a dead ringer for TRW T-90. Similarly, the T-74 could stand in for TRW T-80. The T-80 mentioned in canon is described as an imporved T-64. It can get a bit confusing.

A simple T-chart showing TRW equivalent for each v1.0 designation would be helpful to GMs seeking additional info on the various platforms.

Once again, great work Chico.

QUESTION: What are TRW tanks in the photo captioned "T-64BVs in Iran"? If they're really T-64s, that's the best photo I've ever seen of them. The cammo scheme looks like a modern Polish one. What was TRW context of the photo?

[Webstral]

Wow, Chico! What an impressive investment of time and effort! What a superb product! This will be an invaluable addition to the ongoing Twilight: 2000 effort.

Webstral

[Mohoender]

Very nice chico, with a lot of very interesting thought on the various tanks deployment.

[natehale1971]

I found this, and thought i would share it with everyone... pictures of a tour of a Typhoon-class Submarine!

http://community.livejournal.com/ru_submarine/17486.html

[Matt Wiser]

Well done, Chico. Excellent work!

[chico20854]

Glad you guys enjoyed it!

Outstanding work, Chico. Very cool.:cool:

More than anything I've ever seen or read, your captioned photos make the Twilight War seem real. I'd LOVE it if you would put them all together (your home page pics, Czech vehicle guide pics, Naval War pics, all new pics, etc.) and create...

An Illutstrated History of the Twilight War 1995-2000

Just pictures and captions. Easy (easy for me to say, at least). Please? Pretty please?

Maybe something for the new album feature here! I was actually just looking into setting up my website with a "slideshow" feature so it had multiple images (with captions) scrolling actively. Actually, the images were the most time-consuming part of the document, and they're giving Jason fits as he tries to combine the documents into the master Soviet Vehicle Guide.

I've already mentioned this elsewhere, but I'd like to mention it again before you go to press with your SVG 1.5. It seems that, as far as Soviet/Russian tank design goes, v1.0 canon and the real world (henceforth, TRW) line up pretty well. The respective designations may differ somewhat, but based on the v1.0 SVG descriptions, and real world developments, the parallels seem really clear.

The v1.0 T-90 is described as an entirely new design with a "very low profile turret". Based on the color plate, it looks like what many western observers have dubbed the T-95 (in TRW). The T-86 is a dead ringer for TRW T-90. Similarly, the T-74 could stand in for TRW T-80. The T-80 mentioned in canon is described as an improved T-64. It can get a bit confusing.

I agree on the T-90/T-95 matchup. TRW T-90 is a T-72 chassis with a T-80 fire control system & new turret, originally designated T-72S before Desert Storm destroyed the sale value of anything designated T-72. T-74 was a western intelligence system guess as the identity of the uparmored T-72B that came out in the mid-80s. There are numerous versions of the T-80 in TRW (the earlier , I wanted to use T-86 to distinguish the more advanced versions (TRW T-80U, Ukrainian T-84, Oplot) from the earlier versions (TRW T-80A and B versions).

A simple T-chart showing TRW equivalent for each v1.0 designation would be helpful to GMs seeking additional info on the various platforms.

Once again, great work Chico.

QUESTION: What are TRW tanks in the photo captioned "T-64BVs in Iran"? If they're really T-64s, that's the best photo I've ever seen of them. The cammo scheme looks like a modern Polish one. What was TRW context of the photo?

Ukrainian T-64BV on exercise in the last few years. I can't find the reference in the 125+ page discussion on tank-net.org (which revolves around the T-64/72/80/90 distincions).

[General Pain]

Impressive...

Keep up the good work.

[Jason Weiser]

I got that fixed Dan! I am right now adding the Soviet MRDs in blocs...and simply adding unit, army subordination, and home district. Some, I am doing stories for if we're not going to game with them in TWW (so far, just one, a Machinegun Artillery division that was pretty much stuck in the Soviet Kuriles..though I had it pulling security at some of the outlying Soviet Pacflt Naval Bases, and losing subunits when the places got nuked).

[Raellus]

I got that fixed Dan!

Great! So whipping up An Illustrated History of the Twilight War should be no problem!;)

Seriously, Chico, I would pay good money for such a thing. You gotta hook me up!

[Legbreaker]

Seriously, Chico, I would pay good money for such a thing. You gotta hook me up!
Sounds like we've got an addict on our hands.... ;)

[Nowhere Man 1966]

Good work, guys!

[chico20854]

And now the long-delayed successor, the guide to Soviet Artillery of the Third World War.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1iWKi-cwRMLMmQzOGI4NzItZTAxNC00MWE2LWI2YjgtZmFlMzVmZGMzY zgz&hl=en_US&authkey=CPqkv5YO

It's on google docs for now. I'll see about getting it on my website some time in the next few days.

Let me know what your preference is for the next piece: Soviet APCs, light AFVs, infantry weapons or a look at NATO armor and/or artillery.

Enjoy!

[Raellus]

Great stuff, as always. Good to hear from you Chico! Keep up the excellent work.

[James Langham]

And now the long-delayed successor, the guide to Soviet Artillery of the Third World War.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1iWKi-cwRMLMmQzOGI4NzItZTAxNC00MWE2LWI2YjgtZmFlMzVmZGMzY zgz&hl=en_US&authkey=CPqkv5YO

It's on google docs for now. I'll see about getting it on my website some time in the next few days.

Let me know what your preference is for the next piece: Soviet APCs, light AFVs, infantry weapons or a look at NATO armor and/or artillery.

Enjoy!

Chico, amazing work. I'd like to see Soviet light AFVs. I am already working on Pact Small Arms (see other threads) - feel free to use.

[antimedic]

Hell Yes!

[chico20854]

Chico, amazing work. I'd like to see Soviet light AFVs.

Finally finished! https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1iWKi-cwRMLR0RaeXBIektWUVU

It will be up on my web site shortly too.

Enjoy!

[Raellus]

Chico, you sir, are the man. Thanks!

P.S. I know that you are a busy man and I respect your time. That said, would your consider, for your next T2K-related project, creating/finishing a Polish Vehicle Guide?

[boogiedowndonovan]

Finally finished! https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1iWKi-cwRMLR0RaeXBIektWUVU

It will be up on my web site shortly too.

Enjoy!

good stuff, you rock!

[Ironside]

Many thanks! :)

[kiltedguard]

Awesome....just awesome.

[Targan]

Lovely work, Chico. I'm suppressing a nagging feeling of guilt, as though I've obtained a quality published T2K sourcebook without having had to pay for it. Wait... that's exactly what I'll have done as soon as I can download the complete product. I hope it becomes widely distributed and referenced.

[chico20854]

Thanks for the support! I hope you enjoy it!

Chico, you sir, are the man. Thanks!

P.S. I know that you are a busy man and I respect your time. That said, would your consider, for your next T2K-related project, creating/finishing a Polish Vehicle Guide?

I've started a Polish Vehicle Guide, but had been intending to wrap it into a more general Warsaw Pact Vehicle Guide type publication.

Our original intent was to generate unit histories for all the combatant nations by wargaming the 1996-97 campaign. That seems increasingly unlikely for a number of reasons, so I'm not sure if/when I'd be able to generate something credible for unit histories. I've got the beginnings of the Polish army done, the Czechs are obviously finished (but would have to be revised if we wargamed it), and the Hungarians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Italians and loyalist East Germans are nowhere near even started. (Jason has the lead on the Soviet unit histories, about 300 divisions and he isn't planning to even touch the independent Army and Front-level regiments and brigades. Plus I'm gradually pulling together the MVD, which is something like 15 divisions and still growing!)

Even with that said, it took me 9 months+ to get the Light AFVs piece together. I wish I had more time and energy for this stuff, but I just don't these days.

[Matt Wiser]

Nice work! When does it show up on the site, Chico? Long time, no see, I might add.

[James Langham]

Excellent work as ever Chico, I always look forward to anything you post. You have my sympathy regarding time!

Thanks for the support! I hope you enjoy it!



I've started a Polish Vehicle Guide, but had been intending to wrap it into a more general Warsaw Pact Vehicle Guide type publication.

Our original intent was to generate unit histories for all the combatant nations by wargaming the 1996-97 campaign. That seems increasingly unlikely for a number of reasons, so I'm not sure if/when I'd be able to generate something credible for unit histories. I've got the beginnings of the Polish army done, the Czechs are obviously finished (but would have to be revised if we wargamed it), and the Hungarians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Italians and loyalist East Germans are nowhere near even started. (Jason has the lead on the Soviet unit histories, about 300 divisions and he isn't planning to even touch the independent Army and Front-level regiments and brigades. Plus I'm gradually pulling together the MVD, which is something like 15 divisions and still growing!)

Even with that said, it took me 9 months+ to get the Light AFVs piece together. I wish I had more time and energy for this stuff, but I just don't these days.

[chico20854]

When does it show up on the site, Chico?

It's up now (along with the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces orbat).
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeedox4/index.html

[Olefin]

We really need to start a letter writing campaign to Far Future Net and show them the interest there still is in the game and convince them that there is a market for fan based guidebooks and modules for the game.

Between this, the Czech, Mexican, Polish guides, what I am working on for Kenya, and others we could possibly really get the game started again with new modules and a revised canon.

[chico20854]

Finally finished! https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1iWKi-cwRMLR0RaeXBIektWUVU

It will be up on my web site shortly too.

Enjoy!

And with a new speed record, Soviet APCs! https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1iWKi-cwRMLMFJSeUgwTkoySlE

I'll probably work on air defense systems next...

The APCs will probably be up on my web site sometime in the next week.

Enjoy!

[Raellus]

Very nice work, Chico. Your stuff always rocks. I especially love the pics you dig up and the captions you add- they give your work such a high level of verisimilitude. It's like I'm reading about an actual RL WWIII!

If I may offer a very modest suggestion, for the photo of the BMD in the Lithuanian village, you might consider changing the caption to some place in China. Those thatched-roof buildings just look like something you might see in village in the Chinese countryside.

[stilleto69]

Chico -

Excellent work as always. I look forward to everything you share with this great group. Keep up the great work.

[Jason Weiser]

As of right now, I haven't put too much work into the main project as we have to game out the Twilight War. We're working on ways to accomplish that. Also, I am working on another Twilight 2000 related project inspired by canon. I don't want to say too much. I sent an unfinished copy to Frank Frey to see what he thinks of it. Other than that, you'll all see when the time comes. It's closer to fruition than it was just a month ago. I'd say, expect something by August/September on THAT front.

[Matt Wiser]

Nice job, Chico! When's the piece coming to the web site?

[chico20854]

If I may offer a very modest suggestion, for the photo of the BMD in the Lithuanian village, you might consider changing the caption to some place in China. Those thatched-roof buildings just look like something you might see in village in the Chinese countryside.

Thanks for the suggestion. I thought that since the infantryman was carrying an AKM and appeared to be wearing a khaki-colored jacket, it was likely later in the war, when the elite airborne forces would most likely have been re-deployed from the Far East. The picture was actually taken last year in Ukraine.

Nice job, Chico! When's the piece coming to the web site?

It's up now. Due to space limitations, the document still resides on Google Documents but the web site has a direct link to the file. I also cleaned up the web site a little bit...

[chico20854]

And after several months, here's Soviet Air Defense systems, including guns, man-portable missiles, tactical missiles and the systems used by the PVO:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1iWKi-cwRMLaWJQSVpVTzhEeVk

Next up... Soviet Helicopters!

Enjoy!

[Rockwolf66]

Looks good so far.

[Olefin]

Not sure if its my computer or if there is something up with one of the google doc pages - looked really good but one of the first few pages didnt read clearly. Anyone else have that issue?

[chico20854]

Next up... Soviet Helicopters!

Enjoy!

And here it is https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1iWKi-cwRMLRkd6YlhPb0xrRms/edit

Next up (and about 2/3 done so far): Soviet unarmored cargo vehicles.

Hope you like it! Feedback is always welcome!

[Raellus]

I really dig your work, Chico. I know that I've mentioned this before, but your photo selection and the captions that you write to accompany them really bring the Twilight War to life. Each caption is like a little story starter and I find myself filling in the blanks with my imagination.

I am really looking forward to your article on Soviet unarmored cargo vehicles. We've discussed Soviet truck shortages before on the forum; I pointed out that Soviet satellites would probably be counted on to ramp up truck production to make up shortfalls so that Soviet factories could concentrate on producing AFVs. It'd be great if you could include a blurb on PACT-made trucks in Soviet service (TATRAs and STARs for example) in your article.

[chico20854]

Ok, I've finished the next segment, on Soviet Unarmored Cargo Vehicles.

Its at https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1iWKi-cwRMLWF9HNmJBS0FqWk0/edit?usp=sharing

Raellus, I included trucks from East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Jugoslavia in the document. Take a look for a LOT of details on the situation as far as trucks goes. I took into account your discussion "In Defense of the Red Army" and Webstral's work on the War in China, plus found a handy declassified CIA report that provided a lot of great background information.

Next up, probably, is a change of pace... the MVD Internal Troops orbat (completed) and unit histories (not really started).

Enjoy!

[Ironside]

Thank you for these; a lot of reading for me to look forward to :)

[Raellus]

Outstanding work, as usual, Chico! I like how the Soviets purchased trucks from western and non-aligned before the war in Europe kicked off.

Another thing that I really like about your work as that it includes rare "exotic" vehicles. My players might notice how one or two show up in my games shortly after the publication of your latest piece.

[chico20854]

and random unit histories for some of the MVD divisions...

67th CONVOY DIVISION
This division, based in Arkhangelsk on the White Sea coast in northwestern Russia, operated a series of labor camps spread out over several hundred miles of subarctic forest and swamps. Many of these camps had been established in the 1930s, and by the outbreak of the war they had well established railroad and forestry enterprises. Deaths by starvation and exposure, rampant in the Stalin era, were but a distant memory by the 1990s and small villages had been long established outside nearly all the camps, populated by guards and prison staff (often many generations of families worked in the local camps) and even some former prisoners. The war in China initially had little effect on the division; one of its two special motorized militia battalions was deployed as part of the 6th Operational Division and by late 1995 the first Chinese POWs arrived in the division's camps after train trips lasting nearly a month. As the war continued the trains of POWs continued arriving, eventually filling the camps with South Koreans, Iranians, British, American, Danish and POWs from a dozen other nations. in addition to the Chinese. The younger guards in 1995 and 1996 were gradually sent to the front, sometimes replaced by recovering soldiers (not necessarily even MVD troops), more frequently not being replaced as the Soviet war machine demanded ever increasing numbers of men. Soviet prisoners were gradually released or sent to the rear areas directly behind the front; the division sent a contingent of 1000 Soviet prisoners to Murmansk to assist with handling munitions and supplies headed to the front; further contingents followed to dig fortifications on the Litsa River line, repair railroads and roads damaged by NATO bombing and support military operations. Eventually Chinese, Korean and Iranian prisoners were sent to the Kola, as the supply of Soviet citizens dried up; NATO prisoners were not sent due to the risk of escape. Other POW contingents instead labored in mines throughout the north, cutting timber (wood pulp was an important raw material for nitrocellulose, used in gunpowder and for solid rocket fuel), at the Severodvinsk submarine construction yard and at the nearby Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The division started to take direct casualties as the nuclear exchange heated up; Severodvinsk and Plesetsk were struck by American nuclear weapons as well as air defense sites in the region, which were targeted to allow USAF cruise missiles and bombers to reach deeper into the USSR. Casualties rapidly rose as radiation sickness was joined by the traditional killers of prisoners in the region - cold and starvation - as the Soviet transportation system broke down, cutting off the supply of fuel and food. The division broke down in this chaotic situation; by the winter of 1998-1999 only a handful of widely scattered contingents of guards remained, based out of the remaining labor camps and their adjacent villages. Nominally loyal, in reality they were isolated and generally forgotten, their few remaining prisoners vital to the local subsistence agricultural economy, warmed through the long, dark winters by wood cut by the prisoners from the endless forests.

92nd CONVOY DIVISION
A unit responsible for operating labor camps throughout the Soviet Far East, including the notorious Kolyma gold mining complex, in which over 500,000 prisoners perished from the 1930s to the 1950s, and the eastern portion of the BAM. Construction on the BAM, which opened to its first through traffic in 1991, continued throughout the early part of the war, constructing additional tunnels, sidings and support facilities. This division’s camps grew very large from 1995, absorbing tens of thousands of Chinese POWs who were put to work in the mines, timber industry and on construction projects throughout the Far East and Sakhalin, all of which had suffered from labor shortages for decades despite propaganda and financial incentives for Soviet citizens to relocate from the European portions of the USSR. From its headquarters in Khabarovsk this division supported the Soviet economy while absorbing the first wave of POWs from the war in China, who quickly outnumbered Soviet prisoners in the camps. In early 1997 the first American POWs, captured in Korea by the Yalu Front and North Korean People’s Army, arrived in the division’s camps, followed in late summer by additional Americans and Canadians captured in Alaska. The division also maintained a handful of guard units that protected munitions plants and industrial facilities in the region, while its two special motorized militia battalions maintained order in the cities of the region. One of those battalions was destroyed by the American nuclear strike on the Petropavlovsk naval base. The breakdown of the communications and transportation network in 1997 and 1998 took a heavy toll on the division; its northernmost units disintegrated in the cold and hunger while others drifted apart. By June 1998 the division had lost two-thirds of its subordinate units and camps and the countryside was teeming with escaped Chinese prisoners attempting to return home. The remaining camps and units, however, were able to exploit the milder climate and abundant natural resources of the region with their large labor force (weakened by radiation sickness and famine) to remain intact and barter with other military units for needed supplies; eventually the division’s camps provided nearly one third of 1st Far Eastern Front’s food supply. As the Transbaikal, Far East and Manchuria drifted away from central Soviet control the division remained in place, loyal to the local military command.
Subordination: Far Eastern TVD
Current Location: camps located in Ussuri and Amur valleys and Sikhote-Alin mountains
Manpower: 1750

and

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1iWKi-cwRMLRE5pbFVHUzY3d1E/view?usp=sharing
A conscript of the 559th Guard regiment, 96th Guard Division checks a truck bringing materials to the Solikamsk munitions plant, April 1997.

96th GUARD DIVISION
Another MVD guard division, headquartered in Novouralsk (more commonly referred to as Sverdlovsk-44), this unit shared responsibility for protecting facilities in the eastern Urals with the 93rd Guard Division. The division headquarters and three of its regiments were co-located with uranium enrichment and nuclear weapons production facilities; other units of the division protected munitions and AFV production plants, the chemical weapon plant and depot at Krasnouralsk, steel mills and oil refineries. As with other guard divisions, the formation’s personnel were frequently changed, with older reservists or recovering wounded troops replacing younger, fit troops, who were sent to the front rather than stare out at empty Siberian forests. The division took losses from nuclear strikes on its facilities. The division commander and his staff, however, had established a secure backup facility in an abandoned mine which enabled the unit headquarters to remain intact throughout the nuclear strikes and subsequent fallout and harsh winter. In 1998 and 1999 the division abandoned facilities which had fallen into disuse, rallying around the chemical weapons depot and securing a pair of small hydroelectric plants. By prewar standards, their combined 9 MW of power was miniscule, but in the post-war period they were invaluable in enabling the unit to survive. The division was able to restore its remaining subunits to full strength by rallying survivors of the 93rd Division and by absorbing assorted local militias and passing stragglers into the division. The division maintained a small enclave of Soviet rule in the northern Urals, eking out an existence from the electrical plants and remnants of Urals industrial complex.
Subordination: Ural MVD District
Current Location: HQ in Serov, detachments in Krasnouralsk, Verkhoturye and Kushva
Manpower: 2500

[Matt Wiser]

Nice work, Chico.

[chico20854]

Outstanding work, Chico. Very cool.:cool:

More than anything I've ever seen or read, your captioned photos make the Twilight War seem real. I'd LOVE it if you would put them all together (your home page pics, Czech vehicle guide pics, Naval War pics, all new pics, etc.) and create...

An Illutstrated History of the Twilight War 1995-2000

Just pictures and captions. Easy (easy for me to say, at least). Please? Pretty please?

Well, it took a little over 10 years (!) but here it is...
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gM5KjRiSQHuDl2qANJ3NgbltIU-4D3OK

PM me if you want a higher rez version. It's over 450 pages, so I had to cut this version back to keep the pdf to only 33 MB.

Happy Holidays everyone, I hope you enjoy it!

[Raellus]

Christmas came early this year. Thanks, Chico! I can't wait to dig in.

-

[Ewan]

Absolutely brilliant 😊👍

[pmulcahy11b]

Happy Holidays everyone, I hope you enjoy it!

So you're saying that this rather high-rez version is not your highest-rez version?:confused: It's already beautiful.

I've loaded it into my tablet so I can read it when I take my Mom to her doctor's appointments.

[Vespers War]

Seeing the Pt47-65 near the end made me think of how useful Wolsztyn could be. It's the last place in Europe running regular steam service, and along with a rail museum there it's where the Pt47-65 is now, along with another running Pt47 (the 47-112) and one non-running Pt47 (the 47-106). It also has eight(!) Ol49 trains, five in service (49-7, 49-23, 49-59, 49-69, and 49-111) and three out of service (49-60, 49-85, and 49-99). The Pt47 is a heavy fast 2-8-2 locomotive (600 tonnes at 110 km/h), while the Ol49 is a light passenger 2-6-2 locomotive designed for use on poor rail. Plus, there's a roundhouse for storage and repairs (although the Pt47 can't use it because they're too long for the turntable).

[cawest]

GOOD God!!!!! this is amazing!!!!!

[Lurken]

Just finished it, and I found it to be simply amazing.

Hats of you Sir!

[Louied]

Chico

Fantastic !!!! Any more work on the US Army on your part ?

[bash]

This is impressive. Great work.

[chico20854]

Chico

Fantastic !!!! Any more work on the US Army on your part ?

Glad you guys liked it. It was a lot of fun to put together, over many years.

Louied, I'm slowly doing US Army unit histories. The Advent Crown document I put together in the spring/early summer gives me a "frame" of corps' histories that I can then start filling in details of individual divisions and regiments/brigades from. I currently have about 80 pages written, 52 of which are independent regiment and brigade histories. (There are a ton of corps-level artillery and engineer units, and most also had air defense, MP and aviation brigades assigned, and the state guards were all organized at those sizes). No real timeframe for completion on those... I thought this latest one would take a month or two to get cleaned up and it ended up taking nearly 6 months.