Rise of the Reds Update: Russian Hardware Redux, Part II Options

[MARS]

After the presentation of our overhauled Buratino and Msta, it is time to present you two other iconic units of the Russian Federation that have been given a new appearance, complete with a more detailed model and sharper textures.

View Kodiak with ERA

The famous Russian Kodiak tank of today has only little left in common with the late Cold War era models it was originally based on. The stagnation of the Russian economy in the first two decades of the 21st century turned the implementation of the much touted Armata programme into a difficult endeavour, which is why President Suvorov decided to scale down the project and re-adapt some of its state-of-the-art technologies into the vast fleet of existing vehicles to save costs, for he preferred to improve the nation's crumbling infrastructure, industry, education and healthcare system during the early years of his reign. The result was the Kodiak tank, which sported an entirely new 125mm smoothbore cannon with advanced optics and stabilisation, a 1.300 HP gas turbine and a turret section that was controlled entirely from within the chassis. During the booming years of the Russian economy prior to the African debacle of 2041, the new Kodiak managed to be more economical while almost as capable as the tank that was originally meant to replace its predecessor, even though it was by now apparent that the old 80s era baseline no longer offered any room for improvement. General Aleksandr of the Advanced Weapons Research & Development Corps was therefore tasked to develop a new main battle tank for future mass production.


View Sentinel with ERA
View Sentinel with Warden Missile System
View Sentinel with Arena Active Defense

First shown to the public during the May 9 victory parade of 2026 amidst growing opposition against the incumbent President, the now famous Sentinel started out as the ugly duckling of the Russian Army which regarded the new tank as an overpriced, overengineered outgrowth of the Armata programme, armed with a dual 160mm cannon to rival the Chinese ZTZ200 Overlord on the export market. Due to its perceived incompatibility with the established Russian armour doctrine, the new tank was derisively designated as the HT-28, with the Cyrillic acronym HT standing for 'novyy tank' or 'novelty tank'. After the downfall of the corrupt regime in 2028, the Sentinel was redesigned from scratch but retained its original designation as a symbol of transition between the old and the new Russia. The HT-28M1 was equipped with a sturdy, heavily motorised chassis and its signature 220mm cannon, which turned the vehicle into a distinct mix between a tank destroyer and an assault gun. The M1 model was well received during its service in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Africa and became the baseline for all future modifications: The improved M2 variant which entered service just prior to the outbreak of the Russo-European War and the most recent M3 variant, which is the final production model of a unique prototype version that was field tested by the famous 'Black Bears' - the single most successful tank crew of the entire war - whose legacy lives on with this proud war machine. Most noticeably, the HT-28M3 sports a pair of bulldozer blades, an improved cannon and a more streamlined appearance. During the ECA's return to Russian-occupied Belgium in December 2048, the new Sentinel distinguished itself in the climactic battle of Liege, where an outnumbered contingent of Russians defended a vital salient against a combined force of the 1st Panzerdivision, the Royal Dragoon Guards and the 7e Brigade Blindée for eight days in a massive mechanised confrontation that was later dubbed 'the Belgian Prokhorovka'. Ever since then, the HT-28M3 forced the European and American troops to pay dearly for every step of their way towards Berlin, where General Aleksandr was preparing his troops for the mother of all battles.

[Pickysaurus]

Loving the tanks, the sentinel now looks like a distant relative of the golem and not a different tank entirely

[MARS]

Well, The Hunter briefly described the design process of the HT-28M3 as making it 'more Russian', so that's that.

[__CrUsHeR]

It was wonderful, I loved the new tower and chassis of the Sentinel. A description of both tanks also pleases me - explains important details related to RL - exellent update!

[Knightmare31]

Awesome update! The Sentinel and Kodiak look so badass now, so 'Russian'. Can't wait for these babies in-game
Can we expect a video feauturing all the improved models in-game?

[Shiro]

Holy sh!t, YES YES YEEEES! Brilliant. Will the mine plows on the Sentinel be functional or only eye candy? :3

[Svea Rike]

Holy FUCK, and yes, I didn't censor it, that Sentinel looks fucking BEAST!

EDIT: Will the helicopters receive an overhaul as well?

This post has been edited by swedishplayer-97: 8 Jul 2013, 12:53

[Chuck Kawosky]

Loving the story lines behind the new designs

[Сергеј Иванович]

Damn, i love those turret designs!!! Now they look more like their predecessors, but with hi-tech tweaks. xDDDD
P.S. Still waiting for USA Robotech part 2. XDDDDDDDDDD

[Nemanja]

Those models and textures look amazing.
I never liked Sentinel,but with those few changes it seems that I am finally
changing my mind towards it,especially because it somehow fits better into
Russian theme,it actually look like it is Russian,and not some imaginary tank.

I have one minor complain for you MARS,you've calling it HT-28 all the time,
but most of fans would not realise that HT is actually нт not ht.
I'm telling you because you should call it NT-28 since all of your lore is in English,
and to stop further confusion,especially in fan wiki department.

[flyingpancake]

I love the new looks, especially the sentinel. it fits better with the rest now.

This post has been edited by flyingpancake: 8 Jul 2013, 14:31

[JamBai]

The new Sentinel is one of the most beautiful thing i have ever seen! It's mesmerizing! It is absolutely gorgeous! this is a rather joyful view to see since i haven't checked up on the updates lately. is every Russian vehicle planned to get an overhaul?

[MARS]

I have one minor complain for you MARS,you've calling it HT-28 all the time,
but most of fans would not realise that HT is actually нт not ht.
I'm telling you because you should call it NT-28 since all of your lore is in English,
and to stop further confusion,especially in fan wiki department.

I actually did this because it was probably the -only- way to make -any- sense out of that odd, non-standard HT-28 designation which wasn't even my creation to begin with; it's been around since the first SWR Sentinel lore ever. I didn't want to outright change it without explanation, so I tried to build some backstory around the existing name instead.

[Comr4de]

The new Sentinel is one of the most beautiful thing i have ever seen! It's mesmerizing! It is absolutely gorgeous! this is a rather joyful view to see since i haven't checked up on the updates lately. is every Russian vehicle planned to get an overhaul?

Almost everything in the Russian faction is being looked over to see if it needs an update of some sort. Vehicles especially - but buildings as well. Updates on those Soon ™

[JamBai]

Almost everything in the Russian faction is being looked over to see if it needs an update of some sort. Vehicles especially - but buildings as well. Updates on those Soon ™

Thank you for the fast answer!

[X1Destroy]

I love the new Sentinel, but the the square box at the back of the new kodiak's turret is kinda disturbing IMO. It shouldn't be here

Other than that, everything is beautiful

This post has been edited by X1Destroy: 8 Jul 2013, 14:59

[MARS]

I love the new Sentinel, but the the square box at the back of the new kodiak's turret is kinda disturbing IMO. It shouldn't be here

It's there to add visual contrast, like the off-colour texture spot on the top of the old one, except not as weird looking.

[X1Destroy]

Well, the old one is already good enough. The change made it feel weird, cause I like it as an old all round T tank turret, not something fancy like T-84, Black eagle and so on.

Well, I know this won't change.

This post has been edited by X1Destroy: 8 Jul 2013, 15:17

[MARS]

It had to look a bit different from the standard old school T-80. For all of our story talk about Russia being all modernised and prosperous thanks to Suvorov, most of their vehicles where still heavily based on Soviet era hardware and while that's not a bad thing stylistically, we did want to add a bit of a modern feel to them while keeping it distinctly Russian.

[X1Destroy]

Well, It will take a while to get used to it then.

BTW, anything change with the stats of the Sentinel? Since it is the Black Bear version, after all

[Cobretti]

Very nice, the new Sentinel is a massive improvement over the original and is immediately recognizable as a Russian design.

I love the new Sentinel, but the the square box at the back of the new kodiak's turret is kinda disturbing IMO. It shouldn't be here

If memory serves me the extended turret has been there since the old model, its just more detailed and prominent on the redesign. It looks like the new models of the T-90/T-80.

[X1Destroy]

I just checked it a little bit.

Yeah it was there long ago, sorry. But wasn't that noticable back then.

[flyingpancake]

Is the infantry also getting a update?

[Dangerman]

While I do wish the Kodiak was a bit more modern/futuristic looking it is an improvement over the old one but the new Sentinel looks fucking awesome and more practical looking.

EDIT: Is the revamped Sentinel even less taller than the previous one because on the cover photos with the group of tanks looking towards the player on Facebook the new banner presents the new Sentinel being shorter than the older one. Also the revamped banner seems to make the Kodiak be bigger as well.

This post has been edited by dangerman1337: 8 Jul 2013, 15:51

[Comr4de]

While I do wish the Kodiak was a bit more modern/futuristic looking it is an improvement over the old one but the new Sentinel looks fucking awesome and more practical looking.

The Kodiak, while originally resembles the T80-UM1 has enough elements now that it resembles it somewhat and a fictional tank. (Also at some point the Kodiak was going to get ARENA but never came to fruition until we placed it on the Sentinel; which actually worked out nicely to give it a support role.)

For those that are wanting a more futuristic tank, we hinted at Aleksandr getting a much more modern and futuristic Main Battle Tank with Railgun upgrades!